Panic Buys

[canarychris 0]

So far i have supported Granty in his summer activity and have sympathy with him as regards to release clauses however i am now becoming concerned about the depth and quality of our squad.

We have a squad that contains 3 goalkeepers but only 1 right back, 1 left back and 3 centre halfs. If we pick up a couple of injuries tomorrow amongst these 5 players will it lead to panic buys or wasted money on loan signings.

Are Brellier, Russell and Cureton better than Saf, Etuhu and Earnshaw, i''m sorry but i don''t think so. Marshall and Ostembor look as if they will be good signings, hopefully Strihavka will aswell. Gilks is merely a backup player.

To me the squad appears thinner and with less quality than it was last season, yes the kids are a year older but i doubt,with the exception of Martin and Spillane, if they are ready for a busy Championship season.

The first month of the season will be vital to keep fans onside, the last thing this club needs at the moment is a poor start followed by demonstrations in September. I know people will say that the transfer window doesn''t close until 31st August, but i fear that the damage may already be done by then. We have sold / released 9 players in the summer and signed 7 (including 2 goalkeepers). Surely with forthought and planning players should have been lined up to replace the outgoing members of the squad without relying on loan signings.

[Marty 0]

[quote user="canarychris"]

So far i have supported Granty in his summer activity and have sympathy with him as regards to release clauses however i am now becoming concerned about the depth and quality of our squad.

We have a squad that contains 3 goalkeepers but only 1 right back, 1 left back and 3 centre halfs. If we pick up a couple of injuries tomorrow amongst these 5 players will it lead to panic buys or wasted money on loan signings.

Are Brellier, Russell and Cureton better than Saf, Etuhu and Earnshaw, i''m sorry but i don''t think so. Marshall and Ostembor look as if they will be good signings, hopefully Strihavka will aswell. Gilks is merely a backup player.

To me the squad appears thinner and with less quality than it was last season, yes the kids are a year older but i doubt,with the exception of Martin and Spillane, if they are ready for a busy Championship season.

The first month of the season will be vital to keep fans onside, the last thing this club needs at the moment is a poor start followed by demonstrations in September. I know people will say that the transfer window doesn''t close until 31st August, but i fear that the damage may already be done by then. We have sold / released 9 players in the summer and signed 7 (including 2 goalkeepers). Surely with forthought and planning players should have been lined up to replace the outgoing members of the squad without relying on loan signings.

[/quote]

Add to that a fully fit Chadwick and Brown with a new look Croft not to mention Jimmy Smith on loan.

So you can go like for like and things may look no stronger but who knows how they are going to gel as a team. The defence is a slight worry I admit that. 

Let''s not forget Safri was not always fit and a touch over rated, Etuhu had stack of potential but only showed it fleetingly and Earnshaw had a very good goal scoring record but was rather selfish and maybe de-stablised the team formation somewhat.

It is all about finding the right balance of the team, not just the best possible players available.

Also, we have two left backs, Lappin and Drury.

We cannot afford to double up in all areas of the pitch, that is why we have the younger players coming though also. It''s always going to be a delecate balancing act and you will always hoping for a little bit of luck regarding the injury situation.

 

 

 

 

[Carlos Valderrama 0]

We have 2 right backs, you forgot the highly rated Cave-Brown.  Centre backs, Shackell, Doherty, Dublin and Spillane.  Agree left back is a problem, hopefully we can solve this with a loan signing.

Midfield IMO has far more quality than last year.  Brellier, Smith, Russell and Fotheringham all vying for a middle spot with Spillane as another option here.  Huckerby, Croft, Chadwick and Eagle all vying for a place on the wings.

Plus an abundance of strikers, Cureton, Strihavka, Brown and Martin.  Dublin can also cover in this position.  Not forgetting Renton and Jarvis also waiting for their chance.

Also, don''t discount young Bally Smart who by all accounts is an exciting prospect.  Rossi Jarvis is another who could make the step up this season.

I think that overall the squad is far more balanced than last season and more importantly the prima-donnas and big earners have gone.  For me the only blow is losing Andy Hughes who could cover a myriad of positions.

Also there is nothing wrong with a good loan signing.  For me it is a good short term solution.  Agree though that the Zesh Rehmans of this world are a complete waste of time.

Finally, if (big IF) we do sign Carter and Davenport that will really help the squad and for me complete the jigsaw.  Riordan would also be nice as an extra striker/cover for Hux (is Eagle good enough?!).

 

[Chunky! 0]

Canarychris,

Who exactly (aside from Earnshaw) have we sold that has reduced the "quality" of the squad?  It could be argued that Safri was "quality" but he hardly ever turned up and more than equalled his "quality" with some of his rash challenges.  Etuhu and quality were only ever present when he could be bothered?

I''d still agree that we need to buy a centre-half or get a long term long.

OTBC!

Chris

[MightyYellows50 0]

Firstly don''t panic, I am sure there are fingers in pies that we dont know or hear about.  He hasnt done wrong by the club so far, so lets give the guy a chance to work some magic.

Take a look at the players coming in and out when Worthy was in charge, and how late it was left to get players in and then tell me that PG has not done a good job so far. TBH I think people are panicking over nothing, we have until the end of the month, and if he hasnt brought anyone in by then, then panic lol.  Be positive [:D]

[Saint Canary 0]

[quote user="canarychris"]

So far i have supported Granty in his summer activity and have sympathy with him as regards to release clauses however i am now becoming concerned about the depth and quality of our squad.

We have a squad that contains 3 goalkeepers but only 1 right back, 1 left back and 3 centre halfs. If we pick up a couple of injuries tomorrow amongst these 5 players will it lead to panic buys or wasted money on loan signings.

Are Brellier, Russell and Cureton better than Saf, Etuhu and Earnshaw, i''m sorry but i don''t think so. Marshall and Ostembor look as if they will be good signings, hopefully Strihavka will aswell. Gilks is merely a backup player.

To me the squad appears thinner and with less quality than it was last season, yes the kids are a year older but i doubt,with the exception of Martin and Spillane, if they are ready for a busy Championship season.

The first month of the season will be vital to keep fans onside, the last thing this club needs at the moment is a poor start followed by demonstrations in September. I know people will say that the transfer window doesn''t close until 31st August, but i fear that the damage may already be done by then. We have sold / released 9 players in the summer and signed 7 (including 2 goalkeepers). Surely with forthought and planning players should have been lined up to replace the outgoing members of the squad without relying on loan signings.

[/quote]

I think everybody will agree (including Grant) that more cover is needed at the back.  However maybe Grant thinks that Cave-Brown, Jarvis and Spillane are more than capable of providing cover, I don''t know.  I trust Grant enough not for him to go and make panic buys and he stated several times last season that he was not prepared to waste money on loan players who offered no improvement on what we already had.

I disagree that the squad is thinnner than last year.  We have the same number of players as last time but the squad actually has players in it that Grant will/can use.  Last season we were carrying players like Thorne and Louis Jean, they have been replaced by player Grant wants and will play.  As for quality, maybe Cureton, Brellier and Rusty are not as good as Earnshaw, Etuhu and Safri.  However what good did the "talents" of these 3 "stars" actually do us?  Not much and the replacements are at the very least team players.  On paper our first 11 last year had as many "quality" players as our title winning team but on the pitch it just didn''t work.  There is a lot to be said for team work (Colchester springs to mind) and this may take us further than our "stars" did last year.

[Citizen Journalist Foghorn 0]

We desperatley need a SOLID defensive signing.  I would like to see Danny Mills back here, if he was willing to take a wage cut and the fee was minimal.  He can play Right Back and Center Half, is only 30 so has at least 3 or 4 years in him yet and would add some much needed experience and BACKBONE to our spineless defensive unit.

[silver fox 0]

Be patient and I''m sure Grant has another couple of surprises on the way.  Don''t underestimate the youngsters either as they are more than capable of stepping into the fray if required.

[NCFC_Chris 0]

i agree with you about the size of our squad, a few injuries in certain positions are we''re relying heavilty on inexperienced players but i disagree about russell and brellier, i''d much rather have them over Safri and Etuhu, up front we have lost Earnie but imo we now have Strihavka, Brown, Cureton and Martin who will do much more for the team and give us more options

[canarychris 0]

Thanks for the comments guys, just a few points on some of them:-

If the youngsters are ready to step up and provide defensive cover why have they been so sparingly used in preseason. Doc, Shacks and Drury played more minutes than anyone else in the friendlies.

Lappin is NOT cover for Drury, he is a midfielder who can play left back in an emergency. If Drury is out 4 a month we cannot rely on Lappin at left back.

Cave-Brown couldn''t make an impact an Kings Lynn last season so is clearly not ready to provide cover for Ostembor.

I am not saying that Brellier, Russell or Cureton are bad players, just that these are the type of players we should be bringing in to compliment the likes of Earnshaw, Saf and Etuhu to give the squad strength in depth.

We should have 2 players for every position, a squad of 22 players capable of performing regularly in the Championship. The squad is unbalanced we have 3 goalkeepers but only 4 left footed players (including Eagle and a centre half). We still don''t have a creative midfielder (Smith is injured and isn''t ours anyway, Fozzy isn''t good enough). If Hucks plays on the left we have no pace up front, just backs to goal strikers.

I do sincerely hope that we are a better ''team'' this year, however with the exception of Hucks i don''t see matchwinners in our squad. We DO have money to spend and i''m sure there is funds available within the wages budget and this needs to be spent now. If we signed Mills, Dixon, David Vaughan, Ben Watson and Riordan we would go a long way to resolving the above problems.

[Saint Canary 0]

[quote user="canarychris"]

Thanks for the comments guys, just a few points on some of them:-

If the youngsters are ready to step up and provide defensive cover why have they been so sparingly used in preseason. Doc, Shacks and Drury played more minutes than anyone else in the friendlies.

Lappin is NOT cover for Drury, he is a midfielder who can play left back in an emergency. If Drury is out 4 a month we cannot rely on Lappin at left back.

Cave-Brown couldn''t make an impact an Kings Lynn last season so is clearly not ready to provide cover for Ostembor.

I am not saying that Brellier, Russell or Cureton are bad players, just that these are the type of players we should be bringing in to compliment the likes of Earnshaw, Saf and Etuhu to give the squad strength in depth.

We should have 2 players for every position, a squad of 22 players capable of performing regularly in the Championship. The squad is unbalanced we have 3 goalkeepers but only 4 left footed players (including Eagle and a centre half). We still don''t have a creative midfielder (Smith is injured and isn''t ours anyway, Fozzy isn''t good enough). If Hucks plays on the left we have no pace up front, just backs to goal strikers.

I do sincerely hope that we are a better ''team'' this year, however with the exception of Hucks i don''t see matchwinners in our squad. We DO have money to spend and i''m sure there is funds available within the wages budget and this needs to be spent now. If we signed Mills, Dixon, David Vaughan, Ben Watson and Riordan we would go a long way to resolving the above problems.

[/quote]

I think the potential signings listed is just wishful thinking on your part.  I doubt we will see more than two players in before the September.

In regards to match winners.  I think on his day Chadwick is that sort of player, he tore us to bits at Stoke last year.  Other than that I suppose there is little else but that is no different to any other club in this league really. 

In regards to Earnshaw, Etuhu and Saf, they did not want to be here and when that happens there is very little you can do.  As for the replacements, they probably are not as talented but that''s whats happens when you finish in the bottom half of the league.  The irony is that when we were just relegated and had some pulling powers for players we seemed reluctant to spend money.  Then when we have slipped down the food chain we start bidding £2m for Varney and Sharp.

[Syteanric 1]

[quote user="Saint Canary"][quote user="canarychris"]

Thanks for the comments guys, just a few points on some of them:-

If the youngsters are ready to step up and provide defensive cover why have they been so sparingly used in preseason. Doc, Shacks and Drury played more minutes than anyone else in the friendlies.

Lappin is NOT cover for Drury, he is a midfielder who can play left back in an emergency. If Drury is out 4 a month we cannot rely on Lappin at left back.

Cave-Brown couldn''t make an impact an Kings Lynn last season so is clearly not ready to provide cover for Ostembor.

I am not saying that Brellier, Russell or Cureton are bad players, just that these are the type of players we should be bringing in to compliment the likes of Earnshaw, Saf and Etuhu to give the squad strength in depth.

We should have 2 players for every position, a squad of 22 players capable of performing regularly in the Championship. The squad is unbalanced we have 3 goalkeepers but only 4 left footed players (including Eagle and a centre half). We still don''t have a creative midfielder (Smith is injured and isn''t ours anyway, Fozzy isn''t good enough). If Hucks plays on the left we have no pace up front, just backs to goal strikers.

I do sincerely hope that we are a better ''team'' this year, however with the exception of Hucks i don''t see matchwinners in our squad. We DO have money to spend and i''m sure there is funds available within the wages budget and this needs to be spent now. If we signed Mills, Dixon, David Vaughan, Ben Watson and Riordan we would go a long way to resolving the above problems.

[/quote]

I think the potential signings listed is just wishful thinking on your part.  I doubt we will see more than two players in before the September.

In regards to match winners.  I think on his day Chadwick is that sort of player, he tore us to bits at Stoke last year.  Other than that I suppose there is little else but that is no different to any other club in this league really. 

In regards to Earnshaw, Etuhu and Saf, they did not want to be here and when that happens there is very little you can do.  As for the replacements, they probably are not as talented but that''s whats happens when you finish in the bottom half of the league.  The irony is that when we were just relegated and had some pulling powers for players we seemed reluctant to spend money.  Then when we have slipped down the food chain we start bidding £2m for Varney and Sharp.

[/quote]

 

the last paragraph of ur post is spot on SaintC! when we had the money and needed to spend it we sat on our hands.. now that we maybe dont have the money and arent such in a position, we lose out on possbile signings.

 its much easier to fall down the hill then it is to climb it.

jas :)