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KeelansGlove

Squad Requirements for 2013-2014

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With the coup of RVW complete it is interesting to evaluate the squad and contemplate how far we are from the best squad possible for next season (provided we can crawl the last few steps to the finishing line)

Defence pretty good if we keep Garrido full backs should be OK. One more quality CB (Curtis Davies ?) and perhaps bring back Ayala as fourth or fifth choice and we should be fine. Need to ensure it doesn''t fall apart without Bassong. Overflowing with quality keepers.

Midfield is probably now the key to turn a good squad on paper into a good team.

Wide we have good cover especially if you consider Hughton now has the option  of a wide forward to hopefully make 4-5-1 more attacking with Kamara (I hope we keep him). Kamara , Pilkington , Surman , Bennett , Snoddgrass not to mention the Murphy twins waiting in the wings.

Centre Midfield is the key for me with a true Yaya Toure box to box midfielder the most important target now we have RVW.

Is there any future for Korey Smith or Tom Adeyemi ? I think Johnson and Tettey are solid and either can fill in with the steel required alongside the new man.

No10 position is also a puzzle but not necessarily in terms of new player more who to chose. Wes when he actually used to shoot regularly would be first choice but Bennett, Snodgrass, Becchio and maybe Butterfield give us numerous options.

I would suspect RVW is likely to be number one choice upfront on his own with Holt , Kamara and Becchio giving us enough options for either 1 or 2 up front. I cannot imagine any further additions unless a legend decides its time to move on.

So now only 2 players from a great team ?  

 

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Need another winger without doubt IMO.

Snoddy is great, but Pilks ismsoooo hit and miss. Not kver keen on our other options in that area. A quality winner, someone who can spray passes in central mid, a dc (curtis davies) and a left back on permanent deal would do it fr me. 4 signings. Although if being extra greedy then another striker.

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If we get Garrido and Kamara in (or similar alternatives) then there is only really the midfield that looks desperately in need of some additions.

Central midfielder who can get up and down, pass and tackle. Also I don''t think we have got much cover on the wings - I think Surman will be on his way, and Kamara I think will probably be seen as emergency cover for the wings only. I''d like to see someone with electric pace on the wings.

Then it''s just squad strengthening really. And I think that will largely be dictated by who we can bring in and who we can ship out. If there''s a better replacement available for some of the squad players then we could see quite a large overhaul.

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Henri Lansbury for the midfield.

Was good in his time with us, think he has matured into a better player recently.

Would definitely do as good a job as Wes

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We need a few starters, we have an organised defence that has shown with good additions and hughtons aching has shored up the conceding.

We need a wide player, creative goal scoring midfielder, left back and another striker. I would even go as far to say another goal scoring midfielder, injuries and suspensions could cause issues next season as we replace quality with our misfiring midfielders from this season.

Garrido can answer the left back position, centre back maybe required but again I think we will have a good 5-7 players leav from our squad but I also think we will have departures of players who have had no effect on the pitch and some not here all season, hence no back room cohesion losses there.

Hughton is building his squad, Whittaker, bassong, turner, garrido, tettey, snoddy are all upgrades on the field and clearly are playing as a unit.

It is ever so exciting. Lets get over the 40 point mark ASAP

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Assuming Kamara and Garrido arrive permanently, and now having added RVW, I''d rather see a few quality additions personally along the RVW lines, with a couple of areas needing cover.

A quality central midfielder, someone who is going to be equally comfortable spraying passes and putting the boot in.

We need another left winger, without Pilks we look light down that side, and someone, with respect to Pilks, but who will probably take his place.

Another quality CB as without Bassong we seem to struggle.

Probably another quality forward assuming Jackson and Vaughan will be moving on.

Another left back as cover/competition as Tierney doesn''t seem to be rated.

That''s the main requirements for me personally, but I''m also of the opinion that if there''s a quality player at the right price then hopefully we will see them arrive in other positions, but if they are not an upgrade on what we have it seems pointless.

This window is going to be great, its not about numbers its about keeping the revolution moving forward and getting the next calibre of quality in. Intent truly shown yesterday and I look forward to seeing more.

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How about this starting 11 come August??

 

                           Ruddy

Whittaker Bassong  Turner  Garrido

                   Biglia  Tettey

    Snodgrass    Hoolahan  Weimann

                        RVW 

 Providing we are still in the Premiership. Not beyond the realms of possibility.

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Squad of 25 suggests 3 keepers, then 2 in each position and a couple of spares.

I would go for this:

Ruddy

Bunn

Camp

Martin

Whittaker

Turner

Bassong

R Bennett

(New Signing - Ayala, Barnett etc won''t figure i don''t think)

Garrido - think he will be permanent

(New Signing - Tierney will be offloaded)

Snodgrass

Bennett

Johnson

Tettey

Howson

(New Signing)

Pilkington

(New Signing)

RVW

Holt

Kamara (will be made permanent)

Becchio

Spares being Hoolahan and another striker

Have i missed anyone?

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A new central midfielder is needed if we want to really push on I think.I agree with the thoughts on a new winger as well.The new striker- which we''ve now secured- was the most important signing we needed to make.

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Looking at things objectively the squad currently has a few areas that will need urgent attention. I have detailed this on another thread but this is the basics.

GK: Ruddy and Bunn - the only two currently contracted for next season including Rudd and Steer. I suggest in keeping Camp, if he wishes to stay as battling it out for 2nd choice.

Centre Back: Clearly need more reliable competition and back up. Bennett, Bassong and Turner the likely to stay - unless Ayala is loaned out again. Curtis Davies linked to us.

Left Back: Assuming we sign Garrido it will still leave us short by one. Martin Olsson of Blackburn (still trying to start their) Rovers.

Striker: Four is rarely enough unless you count Hoolahan. But I think we will go for a younger striker around the 20/21 mark to try and develop a bit and not count towards the 25.

Then another central midfielder. Priorities wise the squad currently looks like this:

GK: Ruddy, Bunn, Camp(?) (3)

LB: Garrido - if signed, - - - np - - - (2)

CB: Bassong, Turner, R.Bennett, - - - np - - -,(4)

RB: R.Martin, Whittaker (2)

RM: Bennett, Snodgrass (2)

LM: Pilkington, Surman(?) (2)

CM: Johnson, Tettey, Howson, - - - np - - - (4)

AM: Hoolahan, Butterfield(?) (2)

STR: Holt, RVW, Kamara, Becchio (4)

That by my maths would be the 25 unless any of those coming in were under the age needed to be named. Obviously the striker I am talking about could come from our youth ranks too but I think Hughton will loan them out first to test them rather than throw them straight into premiership footy.

For me, most teams tend to have their extra players in central positions. So three keepers, five central midfielders and five strikers. Or at least players that can overlap a bit.

We have that in defense as both Whittaker and Martin can play centre back.

CM is a bit of a problem, a suspension and an injury would currently leave us short with only perhaps Hoolahan and Surman able to play there as cover unless we change the formation / tactics.

There are other players in there that in terms of their future is much debatable. Butterfield and some people say Surman for example.

But we have made three signings already almost in RVW, Garrido and Kamara. Three more will be up to six. If they include Olsson and Davies I will be mighterly happy, if we get a creative/goalscoring midfielder I would also be happy.

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If we bring in a quality CD, then that leaves us with four, assuming that we continue with Bennett. In this case I doubt whether we need Ayala. To use up so many of your 25 places in the squad with central defenders is a little excessive. Surely four should be enough and in absolute emergency we could use Martin or Whittaker, who have both played there.

If CH gives up on Bennett, there may be a case, but I would suggest that four will be enough.

 

I agree that Tierney will probably go, so we certainly need an LB understdudy. I hope that he will be someone with pace, which Garrido lacks, and one who can get forward quickly.

We certainly need a strong, good-passing central midfielder with some pace. Johnson and Tettey can dominate the centre of defensively, but neither is particularly creative, especially in passing!

 

I like your confidence that we are only two players short of a great team. We are still lacking pace nearly all over the team, and we are still exposed by those teams which have pace. With the two players, I suggest, we shall have a good mid-table team, or better. If we really want to challenge to play in Europe I think that will take  more skill and pace.

 

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[quote user="lincoln canary"]

 

How about this starting 11 come August??

 

                           Ruddy

Whittaker Bassong  Turner  Garrido

                   Biglia  Tettey

    Snodgrass    Hoolahan  Weimann

                        RVW 

 Providing we are still in the Premiership. Not beyond the realms of possibility.

[/quote]Yes it''s certainly not beyond the realms of possibility to think we will still be a Premier League team in August.....

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Firstly would get Garrido and Kamara on permanent deals with both deals already available should we want them.Then we need:LB - Young back-up for Garrido with potential to be a great playerCB - Someone to put pressure on Turner and Bassong, maybe foreign league?CDM - Cover for Tettey & Johnson, good passer would love BridcuttAM - Unless Butterfield can step up need a pacey direct player to compete with/replace HoolahanLM - Look to find better than Pilkington, can see us spending a lot on this positionST - Weimann if Holt/Jackson leavesCan see these all leaving: Barnett, Tierney, Ward, Fox, Smith, Vaughan & Jackson

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We need pace out wide.

Pilky has been indifferent, snoddy will be a starter next season (his delivery against Sunderland was superb), eb is not good enough, Surman is a great squad player but not that wide player we need for pace.

Kk is not a certain signing if he wants it he has to prove it, but he can play out wide. I could see him playing off rvw out wide, but I do wonder if he is level we need.

So a striker or the modern wide exciting player is needed definitely.

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The players from our current first team move down to the bench. You would have to say they have not really lit up the premier league, I cannot see eb, pilky, being looked at by other premier league clubs. Maybe those coming up and they will become like a greening or Steven Reid like player who are on the cusp of being considered a very good championship player but who cannot quite reach the levels demanded in this league.

Holty to boro if they came up, maybe... He is good enough for a few goals a season.

If we bring in the four to five starters we need then we may need the odd new back up kk and becchio are very capable back up. But we need a strong bench and two creative goal scoring central midfielders are needed we have seen how in effective we have been this season from those two positions.

Just love transfer speculation

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I dont agree that Pilks has been indifferent. He is the one pacey midfielder we have. He does occasionally seem uninvolved as we funnel our play down the right to snoddy.

we miss pilsk when he isnt there, which is why we need another of similar or hopefully better quality,

From fewer games Pilks has scored as many goals as Snoddy (without taking as many set pieces) and just 1 less assist. One is up for POTS and the other indifferent. For me both are crucial to the creativity to the team and both work tirelessly at the back too.

Squad requirements next year?

1 x central midfielder

2 x left backs (1 to be garrido)

1 x Kei Kamara (or an alternative should any leave - Kadlec my preference)

1 x left midfielder

To leave

Tierney, Jackson, Martin (C), vaughan (unfortunately), Fox (unfortunately), Barnett

Possible sells

Surman, Howson, Butterfield, Adeyemi, K Smith, Ayala

My squad mix would be

Squad

Ruddy Bunn (Rudd Steer underage)

Martin Whittaker

Bassong R Bennett Ayala (or ANOther)

+1 Turner

Garrido +2

+3 Howson

Tettey Johnson

Snoddy E Bennett

Kei Wes Surman

Pilkington +4

Ricky Holt Becchio

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"To leave

Tierney, Jackson, Martin (C), vaughan (unfortunately), Fox (unfortunately), Barnett

Possible sells

Surman, Howson, Butterfield, Adeyemi, K Smith, Ayala"

I think you can probably put Smith in the ''to leave'' category. It is well publicised that he had talks with Hughton about his future. I would take it that no contract being signed since then would suggest he is on his way out.

I think Howson is the least likely possible sells as he has been in and around the team all season - more so than any player on that list.

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Martin has been a rock this season, captain for me next season please.

I like whitaker, and wonder if he could do a job in midfield. What little weve seen of him he can defend and loves raiding forward.

Maybe if he had been fit while tettey was out we might have seen him there.

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2 players for each position......

Ruddy/Bunn

Martin/Whittaker

Garrido / ?

Turner/ Bennett

Bassong / Curtis Davies??

Tettey / Johnson

? /Howson

Snodgrass / Bennett

Pilkinton / ?

Hoolahan / ?

Van Wolfswinkel / Holt

 

5 required signings in my opinion....including Curtis Davies

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GJL, that list would be 22 players, meaning we still have 3 spots spare.

One would be a third keeper

One would be an extra defender (versatile?)

One would probably be a striker (Becchio?)

We need a youthful leftback to learn from Garrido

We need a CB, Davies would be a great signing and one that is quite likely with Hootun''s ties to B''um

We need another central midfielder, with either Johnson or Tettey missing we are clutching at straws to fill the gap - Howson isn''t the answer, he''s too attacking.

We need a left winger, someone to really pressure Pilks into playing his best football again. I''d like to see us get an out and out winger down that flank.

We need a central attacking midfielder, a playmaker. Hoolahan is one of a kind, but we need a similar player who can thread passes, I don''t think Butterfield is that player, at least not yet.

Striker wise, I''m not sure Kei Kamara is a done deal yet, he still has to earn his stripes. Would people prefer us bringing in Hooper or another striker, or signing Kamara permanently? I''m not too sure. I hope Kei makes himself irreplaceable in his time here, like Hux, he''s doing a good job so far.

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[quote user="AJ"]GJL, that list would be 22 players, meaning we still have 3 spots spare. One would be a third keeper One would be an extra defender (versatile?) One would probably be a striker (Becchio?) We need a youthful leftback to learn from Garrido We need a CB, Davies would be a great signing and one that is quite likely with Hootun''s ties to B''um We need another central midfielder, with either Johnson or Tettey missing we are clutching at straws to fill the gap - Howson isn''t the answer, he''s too attacking. We need a left winger, someone to really pressure Pilks into playing his best football again. I''d like to see us get an out and out winger down that flank. We need a central attacking midfielder, a playmaker. Hoolahan is one of a kind, but we need a similar player who can thread passes, I don''t think Butterfield is that player, at least not yet. Striker wise, I''m not sure Kei Kamara is a done deal yet, he still has to earn his stripes. Would people prefer us bringing in Hooper or another striker, or signing Kamara permanently? I''m not too sure. I hope Kei makes himself irreplaceable in his time here, like Hux, he''s doing a good job so far.[/quote]

yes, I guess Rudd would be 3rd choice and will be over 21 so would have to be included in the 25 man sqaud, Becchio will still be here you''d think?, the extra defender may well turn out to be Ayala.

Midfield is the key next season as to how much Hughton plans to change th emphasis from a containing team as we have been this season to a more attack minded one. In order for that to happen it would be a choice of one of Johnson or Tettey in midfield not both at the same time, plus someone with a bit more vision. The other key signing is the "2nd striker" position, whether it be competetion or even a replacement for Hoolahan who can contribute more goals from that position......a Robbie Keane of a few years ago?!

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Think there''s still quite a few changes to be made and I expect us to be busy but we must look at players with talent to take us to the next level!

Attacking wise I think we will be saying thank you but goodbye to Jackson Martin and I still have a feeling Holt will be leaving us. Don''t think we are finished trying to get Hooper and Holt could play a part in that deal. I expect another striker here, Kamara deal would depend on how he performs for the rest of the season!

Midfield as we know is crucial, especially an alternative for wes. Weimann would be great but can''t see him coming here, Mcgugan from forest is worth a look, very talented just needs a kick up the backside and to be managed well!

If Saints go down, would Lallana be out of our range? Another highly rated player.

Winger is a must, Bennett not done enough to kick us on. I like Pilks and Snodgrass, 2 very good footballers but pace and directness is what we''ve lacked abit coming from wide areas. Nathan Redmond worth a look too, Hughton will know all about him! Bridcutt could be a very likely signing and would fit in alongside Tettey or Jonny well, can pass the ball with intent aswell as breaking up play.

At the back Bassong is number one, Whittaker will be our first choice rb and no shame having Martin pushing him every week, proved to be a very valuable player for us. Turners done great but I still have question marks over R Bennett so another CB is a must and as we''ve all said don''t be surprised to finally see C Davies here. Garrido needs another top Lb to push him, he is a classic example as a player becoming comfortable in his position. Ruddy is one of the best goalkeeper this club has seen in a long long time and we have seen a few, Bunns done great as a no2 and has real fire in him to push Ruddy.

Assuming we stay up we will have money to spend, it''s great we are now matching what other clubs are paying for players in our position re. RVW, even better we have got to this stage doing it the right way, debt free! I want to hide away during these last games and wake up when the seasons over, I can''t handle the stress of thinking how important it is that we don''t mess it up and blow a real chance to make this club a solid Prem club!

OTBC

Any idea on when we were planning to increase capacity on top of main stand? If we survive again next year?

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[quote user="lincoln canary"]

 

How about this starting 11 come August??

 

                           Ruddy

Whittaker Bassong  Turner  Garrido

                   Biglia  Tettey

    Snodgrass    Hoolahan  Weimann

                        RVW 

 Providing we are still in the Premiership. Not beyond the realms of possibility.

[/quote]

That''s one heck of a team Lincoln - like it!

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For me the most urgent need we have is for a true playmaking midfielder. Someone who can link between defence and midfield and the spread the play to the wings or attack. We have the worst average possession in the league at 43.7% I''m not saying we need to be Swansea but that is pretty woeful.

To be honest I''m not that bothered if they can put a tackle in, that''s Tettey/Johnson''s job, and we have wingers capable of scoring. I want a pure passer, a quarterback, a better Fox.

I want a Pirlo.

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Aj I agree

Mahogany I do just feel our midfield goals have been poor this season. You need your wide men to ship in with a fair few goals and if you want to step up then you would have to say that as we have played wi pilks and snoddy all season we haven''t had loads of creativity this season.

Snoddy has been our best wide man by a long way, it is time to bring in those goal scoring wide men in. I think we will see a bid for Curtis Davies, garrido joining, 2 central midfielders, a wide man and a genuine striker are needed and that is without players leaving.

With holty maybe up in the air then we will need another as four strikers are needed.

Becchio, rvw and holt are on permanent contracts so far. Kk has not proved anything yet as he is not here on a months loan, he has to show it over the season.

I would like wide players in the mould of Malouda etc. to have rvp upfront and another quality striker as back up in case of injury and then two wide players who are getting in the box and capable of scoring 8-10 goals a season. Kk could be the answer on one side and snoddy on the other. But I would like a genuine goal threat with some clout as its all good getting great players but we need back up if rvw got injured for most of the season we have seen we have a misfiring group of strikers.

Garrido and Davies would not be big bucks, two central midfielders I think would be but I also believe the wide player and other striker would need to be too, if hooper is that and holty is involved then we get a good deal. We will have a fair few players leave which will help with the wage bill and then exciting players coming in and can pick that up. This could be an exciting summer.

I expect us to bring in starters, afraid there are a number of our players who are good but not good enough, if we are bringing in this calibre then players like pilks move to the bench. I would look at Scott Sinclair, not sayings I would think he would be on the list but I think out wide with his experience of playing with Chelsea and man city''s players will make him into a better player. His pace is electrifying and he is a constant threat to a full back.

Or again Europe, you get better deals than in the uk

Be interesting in the middle but I again feel that with fox leaving we will replace that sub spot with Howson and bring in some serious talent and I would look for another as I do think we need that ability in midfield. I think tettey and Johnson will be battling for one position next season.

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The one thing we must remember is that we have played 451 through necessity this season because we needed to be tight and battle for points and because we have basically, for most of the season, only had one Premiership forward.

I cannot see us playing the same way next season.

I agree with many of the suggestion of positions we need but would not, at this stage, give up on Ryan Bennett or Howson.

A name to consider is Scott Sinclair. Signed for Manchester City when he was the brink of getting an England cap after playing for the Gt Britain side, he has made 8 appearances for Manchester City this season and must have seen his England hopes fade quickly. The bright lights of the big, big clubs can seriously damage a long term career. The sooner he gets out of there the better for him.

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[quote user="Jimmy Smith"]Squad of 25 suggests 3 keepers, then 2 in each position and a couple of spares.

I would go for this:

Ruddy

Bunn

Camp

Martin

Whittaker

Turner

Bassong

R Bennett

(New Signing - Ayala, Barnett etc won''t figure i don''t think)

Garrido - think he will be permanent

(New Signing - Tierney will be offloaded)

Snodgrass

Bennett

Johnson

Tettey

Howson

(New Signing)

Pilkington

(New Signing)

RVW

Holt

Kamara (will be made permanent)

Becchio

Spares being Hoolahan and another striker

Have i missed anyone?[/quote]

 

Won''t bother retyping when a perfectly good post exists. This is exactly right to the dotting of an i.

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i think there will be a couple of surprise departures as CH finalizes HIS squad. i can see Wes being one of them unfortunately, but his effectiveness has diminished lately, and a stronger version could be on the cards. i doubt Wiemann will come to us, there are several murmurings of higher ranked clubs sniffing around.

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