Just one negative from the Famewo signing. It's brought home just how far apart we are from a club like Norwich these days
We'll be in the same division in 2022/23
Only because they become a yo-yo club between prem and championship …. the gap between the relegated clubs and the rest of the championship is getting wider because of this unfair parachute money
I think they're assembling a squad that will be around the playoffs at least. But the signings don't scream 'running away with the league.' They're getting them done early, which is obviously good for them. I think all things being equal, and presuming that the teams aiming for the top 2 positions end up bringing in players of comparable quality, it will come down to which manager can the best tune out of his squad (which sounds obvious.) Of course, like last year, you might get a contender or two that didn't make any particularly big-name signings, but were very well drilled, like Blackpool and Lincoln.
Yes, I don't think they've signed anyone I'd want us to bring in.
Funny, because almost everyone on here wanted Jordan Cousins back.
For the record I didnt.
I observed that Jordon Cousins was having a laugh after Stoke lost at the valley with a Cafc coach when he walk towards the tunnel early on in our championship season when he was an unused sub. The Stoke fans wouldn't have seen it from the Jimmy Seed but I wondered then if he was losing his Hunger for football and was content to be a bench warmer and pick up 15K a week (estimate)
If Jordon Cousins can't do a job in League 1 for Wigan at 27 then he has really gone down hill.
I’ll be very pleased once we get a (hopeful) goal scorer with a bit of pace tied up. Really need someone like a Wright-Phillips imo, someone who knows where the goal is, has pace and can get in behind.
Stockley is a target and Conor a worker. It’s missing the other type
I’ll be very pleased once we get a (hopeful) goal scorer with a bit of pace tied up. Really need someone like a Wright-Phillips imo, someone who knows where the goal is, has pace and can get in behind.
Stockley is a target and Conor a worker. It’s missing the other type
I agree with this. We should be targeting someone like Lawrence Shankland. Scored shedload of goals in Scotland, surely can do it in League one!
I’ll be very pleased once we get a (hopeful) goal scorer with a bit of pace tied up. Really need someone like a Wright-Phillips imo, someone who knows where the goal is, has pace and can get in behind.
Stockley is a target and Conor a worker. It’s missing the other type
I agree with this. We should be targeting someone like Lawrence Shankland. Scored shedload of goals in Scotland, surely can do it in League one!
I don’t think a 6’1” target man will have much pace in behind
I’m very tired and a bit hungover, and I think the exuberance of yesterday has taken it out of me a bit, but I just can’t get too overexcited about how we’ve so far, bar Dobson, managed to reassemble the squad that took us to 7th last year. Famewo and Stockley are very good signings, very pleased by both. I take it Matthews is first choice RB now, based on him signing and Gunter still on our books. I’ll be honest, I was thinking we need better. We only have Purrington at LB, and I think we need one more very good CB as I am not sure about Inniss’ fitness record and that exposes Pearce to playing a higher number of games.
We’ve resigned JFC who might not play until Feb, and I am not that hot on him when he’s fit. Watson’s still mooching about.
I think a lot of my thinking has to do with how uninspiring I found a lot of that team last season, that includes the players we have re-signed bar Stockley and Famewo, so in my head I wanted a clear out. I am sure it will come good, I just want new faces now for a bit of inspiration
I’ll be very pleased once we get a (hopeful) goal scorer with a bit of pace tied up. Really need someone like a Wright-Phillips imo, someone who knows where the goal is, has pace and can get in behind.
Stockley is a target and Conor a worker. It’s missing the other type
I agree with this. We should be targeting someone like Lawrence Shankland. Scored shedload of goals in Scotland, surely can do it in League one!
I don’t think a 6’1” target man will have much pace in behind
I’ll be very pleased once we get a (hopeful) goal scorer with a bit of pace tied up. Really need someone like a Wright-Phillips imo, someone who knows where the goal is, has pace and can get in behind.
Stockley is a target and Conor a worker. It’s missing the other type
agreed - this and a couple of central midfield 'governors' is where the 'division blowing' money needs to go
Realistically, the only other player from last season who might come back is Maatsen and that’s only a maybe.
We’ll have another 6+ players arriving (in addition to Dobson and MacGillivray) over the next few weeks. It will feel freshened up but I’m also pleased we’re not starting from zero and already have a decent sized group.
I’m also against the idea that last season’s squad should be totally torn up. There were some things that worked and some that didn’t. Let’s improve on our weaknesses and we’ll be a very good L1 team.
Stockley and Famewo only played 22 games each last seasno (Stockley arrived in Jan) if they both had a full season we would have made the playoffs comfortably. The real one we need to replace is Aneke, having a goalscorer off the bench to change the game is a real asset.
apart from when the injuries struck, last year's defence was pretty solid - strikeforce was okay and will be good once chucks is replaced but its always been the midfield for me that needs the reconstructive surgery
I’ll be very pleased once we get a (hopeful) goal scorer with a bit of pace tied up. Really need someone like a Wright-Phillips imo, someone who knows where the goal is, has pace and can get in behind.
Stockley is a target and Conor a worker. It’s missing the other type
A Karlan Grant type plus a Conor Gallagher type, a Krystian Bielik type and a better version of Johnny Williams who creates and scores goals and isn't always injured.
That should be a start. Add a few more loans, promote Wassim Aoucheria and Aaron Henry from the U23s and were done.
Easy, this football recruitment lark, ain't it :- )
if we announced tomorrow that we've managed to offload ronnie and signed a top striker, i reckon the midfield gems that we need would suddenly become very interested
I can definitely understand the argument that by bringing back last season's players is a bit "underwhelming" and I'm not totally unsympathetic to it but Adkins got a very good run of form out of those same players - it was the slump period that did us in. There were good performances before and after so those players do have the talent.
Plus as a lot of people are reminding everyone regularly team building and morale are very important, as much as talent is, so having a squad who know each other and Adkins is already familiar with will certainly help in that respect.
if we announced tomorrow that we've managed to offload ronnie and signed a top striker, i reckon the midfield gems that we need would suddenly become very interested
It doesn’t look like there’s a top striker out there that’s still available.
It seems more likely, to me, that we’re hanging our hat on Stockley and we’ll have to invest the majority of our budget on wingers who can score and assist.
I’d wager we’ll replace Chuks with a Premier League loan.
I think you have to put trust in the manager. The manager knows he would have failed come next May if he hasn’t delivered a successful season. Those players won’t be offered deals if the manager doesn’t want them or thinks they won’t be pieces in delivering that.
Stockley and Matthews clearly had other options and I suspect Famewo did too. They wouldn’t have resigned if they too didn’t see the positive potential.
I don’t care if our recruitment is taking time if it means we add to it the players the manager wants.
One of the gaps in the squad for me is the lack of left footed players going forward and at Left Back. Fanewo and Pearce now tick the LCB box.
Both Gunter and Matthews have played Left Back. Indeed Adam played in that position against Messi in Celtic's iconic victory over Barcelona. It will be interesting to see whether one of them will be utilised there .
In contrast last season we had Doughty, JFC, Maddison and Maatsen all as positive left footed options .
In my view we need three replacements another left back , a versatile left sided player on the wing and another left footed central midfielder .
if we announced tomorrow that we've managed to offload ronnie and signed a top striker, i reckon the midfield gems that we need would suddenly become very interested
It doesn’t look like there’s a top striker out there that’s still available.
It seems more likely, to me, that we’re hanging our hat on Stockley and we’ll have to invest the majority of our budget on wingers who can score and assist.
I’d wager we’ll replace Chuks with a Premier League loan.
I dont think that would be good enough to be honest we need to replace aneke with a proven goalscorer not a youngster who may or may not work out
we have lost a lot of goals and physicality with aneke going we HAVE to replace that !
if we announced tomorrow that we've managed to offload ronnie and signed a top striker, i reckon the midfield gems that we need would suddenly become very interested
It doesn’t look like there’s a top striker out there that’s still available.
It seems more likely, to me, that we’re hanging our hat on Stockley and we’ll have to invest the majority of our budget on wingers who can score and assist.
I’d wager we’ll replace Chuks with a Premier League loan.
I dont think that would be good enough to be honest we need to replace aneke with a proven goalscorer not a youngster who may or may not work out
we have lost a lot of goals and physicality with aneke going we HAVE to replace that !
Can you name a proven goal scorer at this level who we could realistically sign and not spend all of our transfer budget?
The only striker I can think of who could get 15+ goals and not break the bank is Stephen Humphrys, he’s about to sign for Wigan.
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I think we need another very decent one to provide backup/rotation though
I observed that Jordon Cousins was having a laugh after Stoke lost at the valley with a Cafc coach when he walk towards the tunnel early on in our championship season when he was an unused sub. The Stoke fans wouldn't have seen it from the Jimmy Seed but I wondered then if he was losing his Hunger for football and was content to be a bench warmer and pick up 15K a week (estimate)
If Jordon Cousins can't do a job in League 1 for Wigan at 27 then he has really gone down hill.
Stockley is a target and Conor a worker. It’s missing the other type
We’ve resigned JFC who might not play until Feb, and I am not that hot on him when he’s fit. Watson’s still mooching about.
I’m also against the idea that last season’s squad should be totally torn up. There were some things that worked and some that didn’t. Let’s improve on our weaknesses and we’ll be a very good L1 team.
That should be a start. Add a few more loans, promote Wassim Aoucheria and Aaron Henry from the U23s and were done.
Easy, this football recruitment lark, ain't it :- )
Plus as a lot of people are reminding everyone regularly team building and morale are very important, as much as talent is, so having a squad who know each other and Adkins is already familiar with will certainly help in that respect.
One of the gaps in the squad for me is the lack of left footed players going forward and at Left Back. Fanewo and Pearce now tick the LCB box.
Both Gunter and Matthews have played Left Back. Indeed Adam played in that position against Messi in Celtic's iconic victory over Barcelona. It will be interesting to see whether one of them will be utilised there .
In contrast last season we had Doughty, JFC, Maddison and Maatsen all as positive left footed options .
In my view we need three replacements another left back , a versatile left sided player on the wing and another left footed central midfielder .
we have lost a lot of goals and physicality with aneke going we HAVE to replace that !