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3canaries

7 In, 7 Out

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Etuhu, Earnshaw, Henderson, Thorne, Fisk, McVeigh, Colin all gone, with Gilkes, Marshall, Otsemober, Cureton, Smith, Strivahka, Brellier.  7 in and 7 out.  I still think we are 4 players short of having a half decent squad.  Our squad was threadbare last season, and with horrendous injuries last season we were struggling to field a team to compete.

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If you expect four signings then prepare to be disappointed, 4 youth players will make up the numbers.

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[quote user="3canaries"]Etuhu, Earnshaw, Henderson, Thorne, Fisk, McVeigh, Colin all gone, with Gilkes, Marshall, Otsemober, Cureton, Smith, Strivahka, Brellier.  7 in and 7 out.  I still think we are 4 players short of having a half decent squad.  Our squad was threadbare last season, and with horrendous injuries last season we were struggling to field a team to compete.[/quote]I agree 3, i think we need another left sided player to cover Drury and of course THAT centre back that we''re all patiently waiting and praying for. The lack of cover on the left was exposed against WHU. And with Saf out of the picture, maybe we need another midfielder although i think that''s why we got Smith and Russell. Certinaly when and if Jimmy Smith goes back we will need someone.But i don''t think we need 4. Two or three maybe. Bare in mind that of those you mention that have left, 5 of the 7 were squad players who were never going to get a regular place in the team under Grant. 6 of the 7 coming in however, are genuine 1st XI contenders that have been added to the squad.

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Henderson, Thorne & Fisk were never really going to set the place alight.  They have gone and been replaced with quality. 

For me, the squad is looking much stronger this season.  The kids who made the breakthrough last year will be even stronger this time round. 

All I would like to see is a quality centre half brought in like big Darren Moore or Chris Riggot.  Then if we play the loan market right, it does look a useful squad.

Finally.  Yes a big squad is handy BUT......if you do win promotion you need space in the squad and flexibility within the wage budget to invest in a few quality players.  This is very difficult when you have too many players, especially if no one wants them.

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The only thing against that is only two of the seven outs were regulars last year (Earnie & Etuhu), plus two bit parts at best (McVeigh and Colin), whereas I would hope Cureton, Smith (once fit), Otsembor, Brellier, Marshall, Russell (who actually makes eight in) & Strihavka will all be fairly regular members of the team / bench. I would think probably five of those will play regularly (injuires permitting).

I think we have increased the overall depth of the squad, although I do worry about losing Earnie and the lack of cover in central defence. I would love to see us sign a decent CB permanently or on loan for the season before next week, but other than that I think we haven''t had too bad a close season.

 

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You''ve missed out Lewis-John leaving (how could you have forgotten!) and Russell joining so thats eight in and eight out. Thats a very significant change around which could take some time to gel.

Several of the leavers contributed very little (a-la Mr Lewis-John) and to all intents and purposes were not part of the squad. The same could be said of Henderson, Thorne and Fisk. The new guys coming in will all hopefully be considered as members of Grants first team squad, giving many more options.

Another point is that the squad is much more ballanced, with most positions having at least two players competing for the shirt (Centre Halves excepted) - agian this is something that could not be said before the close season.

Try picking the first team now and it gets rather complicated with all sorts of options available. Last year the first 11 were virtually guaranteed a place, which shows how much the new buys have helped strenghten the squad. 

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Also Chris Brown and Luke Chadwick both hardly played towards the end of last season due to injury so they are a bit like having 2 x more signings making 10 in and 8 out.

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[quote user="Woza1976"]Also Chris Brown and Luke Chadwick both hardly played towards the end of last season due to injury so they are a bit like having 2 x more signings making 10 in and 8 out.[/quote]

Doesn''t count mate. Last year the same was said of Louis-Jean...

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I could be argued as 4 out, 8 in since between them Handerson, Thorne,

Fisk, McVeigh and Louis Jean played 13 matches, made 30 appearences as

a substitute, scored 1 and set up 4 (not sure on this, it may have been

4).  1 player could easily cover the "gaping hole" left by that

lot.

On the other hand Earnshaw scored alot, Etuhu played alot (scored 4),

and Colin started over half the matches last season.(30).  That

will be a big upheval for the team.

One thing which puzzles me is:

If Etuhu and Safri were 2 of our best 4 players, why wasn''t central

midfield one of our strongest areas on the pitch rather than the

weakest - they played atleast 26 matches (over half) as the starting

pair, so it can''t really have been the fault of other players all the

time.

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[quote user="3canaries"]Etuhu, Earnshaw, Henderson, Thorne, Fisk, McVeigh, Colin all gone, with Gilkes, Marshall, Otsemober, Cureton, Smith, Strivahka, Brellier.  7 in and 7 out.  I still think we are 4 players short of having a half decent squad.  Our squad was threadbare last season, and with horrendous injuries last season we were struggling to field a team to compete.[/quote]

Wheres Mr. Russel?

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