I would expect at least 2 of the loan signings to be U21 players, and ones we intend to use as opposed to the January fill the numbers type loan signings. Akin to the likes of Dasilva, Bielik, Gallagher and Maatsen etc
I know nothing about either Johnson or Reed save for what little I have read. However Reed was described as the player most Swindon fans would be upset to see leave and knowing Garner already that seems exciting to me. Johnson seems a steady Eddie and plays whole seasons so seems promising. Would be happy with both.
I would expect at least 2 of the loan signings to be U21 players, and ones we intend to use as opposed to the January fill the numbers type loan signings. Akin to the likes of Dasilva, Bielik, Gallagher and Maatsen etc
If we only sign 7 players (including loanees) then I'll be throwing in the towel.
How many players do you think a L1 club should have??
We need about 10 new players but only need a net increase of 6 or 7.
As an example we have three wide forwards so only really have room for one more but one plus Kirk, DJ and CBT might not be enough, or the right balance. So one or two might have to be moved on.
We can't bring in another striker unless we move one on. We might have to give up a midfielder to sign another defender.
This squad was put together under different managers playing different systems and now we have another manager playing another one. It shows. It needs but an upgrade in quality and rebalanced else we will end up with square pegs in round holes, again.
Why not? We let Washington go and also sold Burstow.
Does Reed play in the same position as Dobson? If so, although I wouldn't argue about needing more depth in that position equally I wouldn't have seen it as a priority given the gaping holes elsewhere in the squad. Hopefully, we'l bring in enough quality elsewhere for that not to matter.
Even if he does, If you’re playing 4-3-3, you’d want two sitting midfielders.
Really appreciate when we have our guys in the know with the inside track on things and gets me buzzing for signings but also means i spend the rest of the day refreshing this page constantly and checking social media 🙄😂
Does Reed play in the same position as Dobson? If so, although I wouldn't argue about needing more depth in that position equally I wouldn't have seen it as a priority given the gaping holes elsewhere in the squad. Hopefully, we'l bring in enough quality elsewhere for that not to matter.
Even if he does, If you’re playing 4-3-3, you’d want two sitting midfielders.
That’s more of a 4-2-3-1 which we could go with Reed/JFC and Dobson as the 2. I think we will be more like Garners Swindon 4-3-3 which had Reed sitting and then Williams and Payne either side that were more attacking. At the moment this would be Dobson holding with JFC and Fraser either side. I think Reed is similar to JFC in that he is probably capable of playing as a holding midfielder and also as one of the midfielders either side
If we only sign 7 players (including loanees) then I'll be throwing in the towel.
That would be deeply troubling given that in an ideal world we'd sign 6 defenders without even looking further up the pitch. I don't think we're likely to end up with 2 quality players in every position though. In the 2011/12 season we signed loads of players in a time when it was easier to do that on a smaller budget and we still didn't really cover ourselves that well. Hughes was signed as a backup RB but never played there and ended up being the cover for Stephens at CM because Pritchard was signed as a punt, Alonso was a practical joke and there wasn't any depth there. Francis was technically there as backup but he played 2 league cup games, was terrible in both and I reckon Powell would have put Keith Peacock in there before he played Francis in a league game. Solly played 44 league games that season and the only games he didn't play we used Morrison and Wiggins at RB where they were both very bad. We only had one proper left-sided midfielder in Jackson, who had just recovered from an achilles injury recently. We started the season with two first choice strikers and Paul Benson who Powell clearly didn't fancy. We added Yann at the end of September and then Haynes and Clarke in January but we spent the first half of the season short up front in terms of depth. Part of the situation was that the loan market was different then; when Jackson got injured we brought in Ephraim and then Lee Cook, Darel Russell came in to cover Stephens and N'Guessan was brought in to add a bit of life to the attack. The ability to make those signings in November and March meant you didn't have to worry so much about building the squad out fully but we were so lucky with injuries that season. 44 league games out of Solly! 45 out of Morrison and Wiggins with them only missing a dead rubber where we rotated the full 11 at the end of the season, no injuries to Taylor or Cort. Hamer, Hollands and BWP all playing over 40 league games, with Jackson only missing 9 games across the whole season despite some knocks and only missing games in small groups instead of large chunks. I think Yann missed one game through being unavailable.
That's the key for us this season to be honest, stop having these ridiculous injury lay-offs for our players. We had a fantastic back four in 11/12 and there was honestly one game where we were unable to field it by choice (we drew, it was awful. Green on the left, Pritch on the right, Wiggins at right back. Horrible use of my Tuesday). That was the basis of our success. In front of that we had one long-ish injury absence and nothing else. We were really lucky that season but it does go to show that you can get away with a lot in terms of squad building if you can keep your players fit.
Francis went on to play in the Championship and the Premiership while we wallowed in L1. On that basis Powell isnt the judge you think he is and neither are you.
I normally don't respond to your trollery but Francis was very bad for Charlton. He was then very good for Bournemouth. Some players just don't work out at certain clubs, Powell set a L1 points record that season (which resulted in promotion to the Championship one year ahead of Bournemouth and Francis) and then finished 3 points outside the Play-Offs the next season despite there being no further investment. I think he might have been alright at judging what that team did and didn't need. My judgment is entirely open for questioning though, crack on.
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https://www.swindontownfc.co.uk/news/2022/may/harry-mckirdy-cleans-up-in-end-of-season-awards/
We do need to add some goals to our midfield as well though. Hopefully we have 1 or 2 players in mind that will chip in with a few.
Glad I'm keep with things.
Dobson has one year left on his contract though the club do have an option to extend it by a further year.
Only you !