Wouldn't rule out getting a free agent winger if one becomes available, hopefully more of a Small signing than Lua Lua. I think getting Jones to sign a new deal and not selling Leaburn, Small or TC either is a sign of intent.
People keep saying we haven't replaced REG, we have with McIntyre. He himself has said he can play in midfield and Docherty's natural position is as a 6 so there's your Coventry cover. Z Mitchell on loan is a big show of faith in Josh Laq. GIlbert is an unknown quantity but at the very least will keep Berry on his toes as competition and means we have a like for like replacement on the bench rather than throwing Anderson on.
Totally get why it seems a bit underwhelming but we haven't lost anyone key and we've got in new players in 2/3 (4 if you include GK) that all fans wanted and NJ gets the smaller squad he's said he wants.
When did McIntyre last play centre mid out of interest? REG was never a serious option there for me, just a last resort kind of thing.
Wouldn't rule out getting a free agent winger if one becomes available, hopefully more of a Small signing than Lua Lua. I think getting Jones to sign a new deal and not selling Leaburn, Small or TC either is a sign of intent.
People keep saying we haven't replaced REG, we have with McIntyre. He himself has said he can play in midfield and Docherty's natural position is as a 6 so there's your Coventry cover. Z Mitchell on loan is a big show of faith in Josh Laq. GIlbert is an unknown quantity but at the very least will keep Berry on his toes as competition and means we have a like for like replacement on the bench rather than throwing Anderson on.
Totally get why it seems a bit underwhelming but we haven't lost anyone key and we've got in new players in 2/3 (4 if you include GK) that all fans wanted and NJ gets the smaller squad he's said he wants.
When did McIntyre last play centre mid out of interest? REG was never a serious option there for me, just a last resort kind of thing.
Seems he's also been deployed as an Attacking Midfielder as well in the past... Although thats the season that Reading were relegated from the Championship, so they must have been desperate for options.. His overall stats say that he's only played 16-games in Midfield, whereas he's played 103-games as a Centre-Back
REG on the other hand has only ever played 13-games in Midfield
Our midfield is extremely understaffed. Cov, Doc, Berry, Gilbert & Karoy. We play 3 in midfield so that's 3 from 5 and to be honest i now dread an injury/suspension to either Cov or Doc because any of the other 3 aren't suitable replacements. That's a big problem.
Also, who was the player Ron Noades son messaged one of ours? Surely a Palace player?
Tovide clearly either failed a medical or we couldn't agree terms with him or the club. We seemingly put all eggs in that basket without being prepared enough with a back up.
For me heads will have to roll as that's not good enough.
If someone else says that by keeping Jones & Small we've had a good window i'll remind them that that's the minimum we should be doing. We need to add to players like that not just be glad we kept hold of them.
Wouldn't rule out getting a free agent winger if one becomes available, hopefully more of a Small signing than Lua Lua. I think getting Jones to sign a new deal and not selling Leaburn, Small or TC either is a sign of intent.
People keep saying we haven't replaced REG, we have with McIntyre. He himself has said he can play in midfield and Docherty's natural position is as a 6 so there's your Coventry cover. Z Mitchell on loan is a big show of faith in Josh Laq. GIlbert is an unknown quantity but at the very least will keep Berry on his toes as competition and means we have a like for like replacement on the bench rather than throwing Anderson on.
Totally get why it seems a bit underwhelming but we haven't lost anyone key and we've got in new players in 2/3 (4 if you include GK) that all fans wanted and NJ gets the smaller squad he's said he wants.
When did McIntyre last play centre mid out of interest? REG was never a serious option there for me, just a last resort kind of thing.
Seems he's also been deployed as an Attacking Midfielder as well in the past... Although thats the season that Reading were relegated from the Championship, so they must have been desperate for options.. His overall stats say that he's only played 16-games in Midfield, whereas he's played 103-games as a Centre-Back
REG on the other hand has only ever played 13-games in Midfield
Thanks, so again looks like a last resort situation.
No idea how good or not Gilbert or Mullofkintyre will be but I’d say that one comes with little experience and the other with less than glowing reviews. They seem to me to be spot on Charlton signings that we’ve seen come and go over recent seasons. If I’m honest I’m less than impressed and certainly don’t feel these two will tip us over the edge into genuine promotion contenders. I posted many times on this thread that we shouldn’t get excited or our hopes up and took quite a few lols for the trouble. I have little hesitation in saying the summer will be rinse and repeat. No confidence that we’re moving forward. Clubs treading water and as far as I can see going nowhere.
Our midfield is extremely understaffed. Cov, Doc, Berry, Gilbert & Karoy. We play 3 in midfield so that's 3 from 5 and to be honest i now dread an injury/suspension to either Cov or Doc because any of the other 3 aren't suitable replacements. That's a big problem.
Also, who was the player Ron Noades son messaged one of ours? Surely a Palace player?
Tovide clearly either failed a medical or we couldn't agree terms with him or the club. We seemingly put all eggs in that basket without being prepared enough with a back up.
For me heads will have to roll as that's not good enough.
If someone else says that by keeping Jones & Small we've had a good window i'll remind them that that's the minimum we should be doing. We need to add to players like that not just be glad we kept hold of them.
Or there was never any truth in the Tovide rumour? It came from a couple of Colchester fans on X.
Our midfield is extremely understaffed. Cov, Doc, Berry, Gilbert & Karoy. We play 3 in midfield so that's 3 from 5 and to be honest i now dread an injury/suspension to either Cov or Doc because any of the other 3 aren't suitable replacements. That's a big problem.
Also, who was the player Ron Noades son messaged one of ours? Surely a Palace player?
Tovide clearly either failed a medical or we couldn't agree terms with him or the club. We seemingly put all eggs in that basket without being prepared enough with a back up.
For me heads will have to roll as that's not good enough.
If someone else says that by keeping Jones & Small we've had a good window i'll remind them that that's the minimum we should be doing. We need to add to players like that not just be glad we kept hold of them.
Or there was never any truth in the Tovide rumour? It came from a couple of Colchester fans on X.
He seemed baffled by them on Twitter so imagine no truth to them
Can they just let us know who they're trying to sign now please?
I dont care if it doesnt go ahead or not... I mean it doesnt matter if its not a secret, as no other club can sneak in and sign him
I honestly doubt we have much competition for the players we are in for.
Unless their recruitment team also have a fetish for crocked and bit part players.
Let's face it, we can't compete with championship clubs or top end league one clubs for money or status. With league one we are probably top 6 on choice. Let's face it, we cleared out some of our unwanted players, and we signed 2 unwanted players for a couple of months.
January window has been more about not selling our jewels. Is that showing ambition?
Mate, we have a top4 budget by their own admission. We have also been told of their wealth and their ambition to get this club promoted.
I don't believe hanging on to players is ambitious, as they're under contract. Signing Lloyd Jones was a massive positive, fair play. But respectfully, as a Charlton fan, I have much higher hopes than us competing with Wycombe for the signature of a player already on our books.
I don't care about any players that left, they're all pants (excluding Terry Taylor), fair play for managing to get rid. That still doesn't change the fact those are all signings sanctioned by the same board.
Let's see who this last player is anyway, could change the field.
They do have
Personally I'm glad the owners are not being stupid and throwing money at it because it's not necessarily guaranteed to get you promoted, if they go steady enough and we get top 10 this year that's an achievement on last year then we can aim for promotion next year when Birmingham and likely Wrexham or Huddersfield will be gone, if we happen to get play offs this season that's a massive added bonus.
Sorry but that's a load of tosh. This season is the first in the last 3 that we've actually got a change of the play offs. What's the point of wasting that chance because Birmingham & Wrexham are in the division. What happens next season when Luton & Stoke are in it instead ? Wait another season ? Strike while the iron is hot. But no, let’s just be happy that we'll finish 10th so an improvement on last season.
That’s all great but no-one’s actually explained why that means anything like what you’ve said it means. Still waiting for the club statement that says we’re packing up for the year.
Last time we got promoted out of this division we replaced Karlan Grant with Josh Parker - and our results actually improved.
”Strike while the iron is hot … don’t waste a chance of top six” = “satisfy my whiny desires for today and sod whether it makes sense tomorrow”
2+2=5 ? That improvement was nothing to do with Josh Parker. He played 10 games and made no impression in 9 of them and half decent in the final.(Winning that free kick )He scored Zero goals. Karlan Grant would've ripped up League 1 over the last 4 months as Cullen, Bielik, and Aribo all kept improving as the season progressed. Bielik was getting scores of 5 in the 1st part of that season when he struggled at 1st at CB before having some excellent games in midfield and was sublime in the two 4-0 wins towards the business end when he scored a cracker. Other than the Final, Sarr was much better in the 2nd part of that play off winning season and Purrington and Dijksteel were both steady and strong as the season progressed.
Grant and Taylor would've both scored over 20, plus assists and I will go to my grave believing we would have grabbed the automatic last spot. Our only striker was Lyle Taylor baby on his own before he became persona non grata. Both young Davison and Parker were far short of being League 1 strikers. Honest players but poor at that level.
That argument I have heard before and as some one who saw many games that Parker played including that bad miss in front of the Covered end he was an honest but 2nd rate footballer who was Steve Gallen's 6th choice on his list of 5 !
If anyone believes that Josh Parker was anywhere near the player that Grant was then Football analysis isn't for you.
Callum, I like your optimism when the grumpy old men are in full swing but that statement in bold hides so many things I saw at the time.
I think you are proving Callum’s point here
In 2018/19 we didn’t improve in the transfer window, we lost Grant and signed Parker. But we got better as a team in the second half of the season because our players improved, we had a mostly consistent team and players were used to playing together and the style
We’ve already got better as a team this season, so we could continue to develop and get better. TC and Small could start to add some more consistent end product, Leaburn has had some rest so could return to his form of a month ago or it could be that McIntyre is better than Gillesphey and Gilbert adds the creativity we lack. Just because we haven’t signed loads of players doesn’t mean we won’t improve between now and the end of the season, like we did in 2018/19 despite a poor window
You watch the highlights of games in various divisions and so many goals come from playing with width. Not necessarily wingers per se but players who are comfortable going wide: TC and Thierry Small have shown even on their 'wrong' side they can attack from a wider position which helps players running on to the ball which has given impetus for our push for the top 6.
The management have achieved their streamlining with players leaving either perm or loans but we will be short if we get the mandatory injuries which occur at most clubs and definitely at CAFC over a number of years. Holding on to Jones,( new contract) Small, TC and Leaburn were positives for now but not one permanent signing is disappointing when we managed to get to 7th and in contention for a play off place. Stick or twist could be a problem when we have to lay our cards on the table at the seasons end.
Personally pleased we keep Kanu as he can run on to chances which Godden, Ahadme and Aneke can't and Leaburn can only do on occasions when he's switched on. Godden is the six yard king but just can't do the hard yards. Chuks is looking a spent force but with his contract up soon might just find a 2nd wind !
The forward with pace who can play wide and cross the ball was much needed and I hope we don't rue this in the run in as if TC gets injured we will sorely rely on Ramsey and Small for width or Kanu and Dixon to step up to the plate 🤷🏻♂️
There has rightly been criticism of the summer transfer window, but it seems to me that the club has not done too badly in this one, achieving their target of reducing squad size and adding players in two positions where it was targeted. The issue is whether Gilbert and McIntyre prove to add to what we have or not. Some of the critics would do well to remember the poor ownership over a long period of time, the new owners and managers have improved the club in a number of ways and I believe they will further strengthen this summer, but promotion may take longer than we would all wish given there is much to do to get the club running properly in all areas.
NJ and Rodwell said they'd be trying to add a few but would also be happy with not doing any business. Therefore my expectations for this window were very low and have been met.
It's now up to them to prove the squad has enough.
No idea how good or not Gilbert or Mullofkintyre will be but I’d say that one comes with little experience and the other with less than glowing reviews. They seem to me to be spot on Charlton signings that we’ve seen come and go over recent seasons. If I’m honest I’m less than impressed and certainly don’t feel these two will tip us over the edge into genuine promotion contenders. I posted many times on this thread that we shouldn’t get excited or our hopes up and took quite a few lols for the trouble. I have little hesitation in saying the summer will be rinse and repeat. No confidence that we’re moving forward. Clubs treading water and as far as I can see going nowhere.
Jones' rhetoric all summer is that we would leave the window 'categorically stronger' than when we went into it.
On the face of it, I am not sure this window passes the sniff test.
GK:No Change
Defence: We added 1 LCB, but lost 1, a competent youngster in Mitchell and a utility defender who whilst not great, did provide options if needed. McIntyre's reviews from Pompey are hardly glowing and a scroll back through the twitter reviews of him during this season suggests this is a long held stance. So defence is weaker.
Midfield: Defensive: Taylor gone and not replaced, no back up in the squad for either Coventry or Doc should they pick up injuries. Attacking: Gilbert strengthens here and seems to be the profile we have been crying out for.
Strikers: Hylton tbc, but with the money freed up I bet we give him until the end of the season.
If we had signed Bennette, I still would have serious question marks over the idea of letting Reg, Taylor and Mitchell all go in the same window without bringing in any options.
I think what we have done, is patch one gaping hole in the squad which is the lack of creativity, but we have replaced it with a squad with many more smaller holes.
No idea how good or not Gilbert or Mullofkintyre will be but I’d say that one comes with little experience and the other with less than glowing reviews. They seem to me to be spot on Charlton signings that we’ve seen come and go over recent seasons. If I’m honest I’m less than impressed and certainly don’t feel these two will tip us over the edge into genuine promotion contenders. I posted many times on this thread that we shouldn’t get excited or our hopes up and took quite a few lols for the trouble. I have little hesitation in saying the summer will be rinse and repeat. No confidence that we’re moving forward. Clubs treading water and as far as I can see going nowhere.
We have quite clearly moved forward since Jones came in. We were scrapping for survival then and now we are level with 6th. In just a year that is definitely moving forward
No idea how good or not Gilbert or Mullofkintyre will be but I’d say that one comes with little experience and the other with less than glowing reviews. They seem to me to be spot on Charlton signings that we’ve seen come and go over recent seasons. If I’m honest I’m less than impressed and certainly don’t feel these two will tip us over the edge into genuine promotion contenders. I posted many times on this thread that we shouldn’t get excited or our hopes up and took quite a few lols for the trouble. I have little hesitation in saying the summer will be rinse and repeat. No confidence that we’re moving forward. Clubs treading water and as far as I can see going nowhere.
We have quite clearly moved forward since Jones came in. We were scrapping for survival then and now we are level with 6th. In just a year that is definitely moving forward
Need to see where we finish after 46 games, mid table or below is hardly moving forward
When told we would be happy with our next signing - which turned out to be McIntyre - I was envisaging anyone from some of these attacking player names we’d been suggested, who I know naff all about - your cornicks, moxons, tovides - anywhere up to Marcus Rashford!! Turned out to be a crocked centre half who’s previous clubs fans did by rate - bit of a stinker
I think the real deflation is that neither signing seems like an oven ready ‘let’s have a crack at promotion’ type signing - more with an eye on the future
No idea how good or not Gilbert or Mullofkintyre will be but I’d say that one comes with little experience and the other with less than glowing reviews. They seem to me to be spot on Charlton signings that we’ve seen come and go over recent seasons. If I’m honest I’m less than impressed and certainly don’t feel these two will tip us over the edge into genuine promotion contenders. I posted many times on this thread that we shouldn’t get excited or our hopes up and took quite a few lols for the trouble. I have little hesitation in saying the summer will be rinse and repeat. No confidence that we’re moving forward. Clubs treading water and as far as I can see going nowhere.
We have quite clearly moved forward since Jones came in. We were scrapping for survival then and now we are level with 6th. In just a year that is definitely moving forward
Need to see where we finish after 46 games, mid table or below is hardly moving forward
We finished 16th last season... So anything better than that is moving forward
I get trimming the squad if you've got unhappy players who want to play and most likely aren't going to get the opportunity. The problem is not replacing those players and hoping against hope that there are no injuries. In terms of the players we let go, we didn't lose much. Potts made 1 league appearance, Edun 0, Mitchell 1, Hylton 4 for a total of 37 minutes, Taylor 8. REG made 11 but three of those appearances combined for 6 minutes. He played as an emergency there is nobody else right back and completed the 90 once while there. Campbell played 12 times, 6 starts and the last one of those was at the start of December. Since then he'd played 31 minutes across 10 possible games.
That's 37 appearances between 7 players, a total of 1,825 minutes. That's 260 minutes per player across a possible 2,520 available to each one. That means on average all those players were worth about 10% of the available minutes. It's basically nothing if you're thinking purely logistically. We're out of the cups so don't need to rotate for pointless games anymore either. The problem is football doesn't work in logistical terms, it's random chaos. Injuries occur all over the pitch and sometimes all at once. We only played REG as much as we did because Ramsay got injured and then Watson, the player who we put in to replace him, got injured 4 minutes into his first start. Zach Mitchell was then injured after his one league start at RB so it was REG or nothing.
That's not a new experience for us, we've seen some of the worst injury crises imaginable in our teams over the years and we've seen the effect of being without players for long periods. Mannion, Jones, Ramsay, Leaburn, Edwards, Ahadme, Kanu, Watson, ZMitchell, Potts and of course Chuks have all been out for extended periods this season and in some cases we've really suffered for it.
We have 5 CBs for 3 spaces. There's cover to the right and left of centre back now but nothing in place of the main lynchpin. OK, can't be helped. We've got two players to play RWB but they are completely different; Watson is not Thierry Small and is also coming back from a long lay-off. At LWB you can't count Small twice in terms of squad depth so it's Edwards. If he gets hurt we can shift Small over but then we have most likely to shift Ramsay to RWB because we don't really want Watson playing there. Mitchell comes in, great, but then we're short of cover at CB. We're constantly stretched at the back to the point where two injuries unravels us. We don't have anyone at all to replace Small that won't completely change the gameplan. In midfield it's worse. We have again 5 players for 3 spaces and we are completely cooked if we get an injury and a suspension at the same time which feels inevitable. Coventry has no real replacement in terms of a controlled DM - Docherty will run about and tackle but I'm not convinced he'll have the same calm - and that feels like a real gap. Anderson can cover Docherty and we have cover for Berry in Gilbeyert. Up front we are weirdly overstocked if you include Dixon, which we maybe shouldn't.
The interesting thing is going into the window we all agreed there were two areas where we really could do with an actual proper improvement, and there was a third area where cover/an alternative off the bench would be good. Those two key spots were at LCB and in the most advanced midfield position. Those are the places where we've made signings this window. Gillesphey even in his best form for us is always due a mistake and yet he's been unkillable this season. He's missed one game, so has more appearances than anyone else in our squad. Luke Berry, the other player we needed to improve on, has also been injury free and has the third most appearances in our squad, one behind TC and only 2 behind Gillesphey. We didn't manage to get in a pacy alternative to Small or TC which is a shame but it seems like the transfer strategy this window was to make a big gamble; let the unhappy and unused players go - Taylor wanted to play more, I imagine REG and Campbell did too - and bring in hopefully superior players in key areas. That is all entirely balanced on everyone else in the squad staying fit. We can carry an injury up front, or at the back. Other than that though we are totally exposed if more than two of our players are hurt at the same time and that feels like incredibly risky planning.
Basically, if we continue our form, McIntyre and Gilbeyert are really good and no-one gets a bad injury then we're looking at this being a good window. That happened in 18/19; we lost Grant, Clarke and Ajose, signed Williams and Purrington who filled the glaring LB and creative midfield gap, signed Parker to be literally a body up front and got through the rest of the season without any major injury incidents and actually improved. If McIntyre is Gillesphey without all the Gillespheying and Gilbeyert does the Luke Berry job for 90 minutes instead of 25ish like Berry does then we've addressed our shortcomings and we're golden. But no-one can get injured. Ever.
I think the real deflation is that neither signing seems like an oven ready ‘let’s have a crack at promotion’ type signing - more with an eye on the future
When Lee Bowyer brought in Parker, probably like many others, I wasn’t impressed and for most of the games he played, to me, it looked like we were carrying him and for a striker I can’t recall if he actually scored or not but we did look like a team that would win games and as it turned out we were awesome and won at Wembley against an equally strong Sunderland side. Parker was clearly the last piece in the jigsaw puzzle.
Just over two months ago I’d have had no issues if Nathan went. I wouldn’t have been the only one. We just didn’t look like a team at times. We do now and a lot of that has come at the same time as we’ve been playing with a consistent team selection. Trimming the squad down and bringing in just two players in those positions just looks like the right thing to have done if we are going to give it a good go at challenging for promotion. One, or both of them, could be this season’s ‘Parker’.
I assume Alex Mitchell can play as the middle CB if Jones was out. Indeed he'll probably be more comfortable there in this system than the right CB/right back role where he had been playing.
Glad to read that many of you feel so positive and that there is absolutely no confirmation bias.
Bit of premature evaluation on the two signings though.
Last January we signed a Southampton reject who'd flopped at Port Vale and a league two defender. Both were written off by some before they kicked a ball for us.
Neither of this January's signings is a sexy big name and I have no idea if they will improve us but both play in positions we need to improve.
There are cases to be made for keeping REG and Taylor but not the other leavers. Asiimwe and Zak will hopefully benefit from game time.
IMHO, the big money men were sold the deal by CM on other costs being reduced so that more of their £8m pa input could be spent on the squad. So far that hasn't happened but I don't think they are going to throw even more money at us as that's not what they signed up to.
They, and the SMT, are banking on Jones getting the most out of budget and squad. The reshuffle this past month with fringe players moved on is part of that IMHO.
Jones was appointed a year ago today. He is building his squad.
He kept the kept players many said were as good as sold.
Comments
Seems he's also been deployed as an Attacking Midfielder as well in the past... Although thats the season that Reading were relegated from the Championship, so they must have been desperate for options.. His overall stats say that he's only played 16-games in Midfield, whereas he's played 103-games as a Centre-Back
REG on the other hand has only ever played 13-games in Midfield
Also, who was the player Ron Noades son messaged one of ours? Surely a Palace player?
Tovide clearly either failed a medical or we couldn't agree terms with him or the club. We seemingly put all eggs in that basket without being prepared enough with a back up.
For me heads will have to roll as that's not good enough.
If someone else says that by keeping Jones & Small we've had a good window i'll remind them that that's the minimum we should be doing. We need to add to players like that not just be glad we kept hold of them.
In 2018/19 we didn’t improve in the transfer window, we lost Grant and signed Parker. But we got better as a team in the second half of the season because our players improved, we had a mostly consistent team and players were used to playing together and the style
We’ve already got better as a team this season, so we could continue to develop and get better. TC and Small could start to add some more consistent end product, Leaburn has had some rest so could return to his form of a month ago or it could be that McIntyre is better than Gillesphey and Gilbert adds the creativity we lack. Just because we haven’t signed loads of players doesn’t mean we won’t improve between now and the end of the season, like we did in 2018/19 despite a poor window
Not necessarily wingers per se but players who are comfortable going wide: TC and Thierry Small have shown even on their 'wrong' side they can attack from a wider position which helps players running on to the ball which has given impetus for our push for the top 6.
The management have achieved their streamlining with players leaving either perm or loans but we will be short if we get the mandatory injuries which occur at most clubs and definitely at CAFC over a number of years.
Holding on to Jones,( new contract) Small, TC and Leaburn were positives for now but not one permanent signing is disappointing when we managed to get to 7th and in contention for a play off place. Stick or twist could be a problem when we have to lay our cards on the table at the seasons end.
Personally pleased we keep Kanu as he can run on to chances which Godden, Ahadme and Aneke can't and Leaburn can only do on occasions when he's switched on. Godden is the six yard king but just can't do the hard yards.
Chuks is looking a spent force but with his contract up soon might just find a 2nd wind !
The forward with pace who can play wide and cross the ball was much needed and I hope we don't rue this in the run in as if TC gets injured we will sorely rely on Ramsey and Small for width or Kanu and Dixon to step up to the plate 🤷🏻♂️
Some of the critics would do well to remember the poor ownership over a long period of time, the new owners and managers have improved the club in a number of ways and I believe they will further strengthen this summer, but promotion may take longer than we would all wish given there is much to do to get the club running properly in all areas.
It's now up to them to prove the squad has enough.
On the face of it, I am not sure this window passes the sniff test.
GK:No Change
Defence:
We added 1 LCB, but lost 1, a competent youngster in Mitchell and a utility defender who whilst not great, did provide options if needed. McIntyre's reviews from Pompey are hardly glowing and a scroll back through the twitter reviews of him during this season suggests this is a long held stance. So defence is weaker.
Midfield:
Defensive: Taylor gone and not replaced, no back up in the squad for either Coventry or Doc should they pick up injuries.
Attacking: Gilbert strengthens here and seems to be the profile we have been crying out for.
Strikers: Hylton tbc, but with the money freed up I bet we give him until the end of the season.
If we had signed Bennette, I still would have serious question marks over the idea of letting Reg, Taylor and Mitchell all go in the same window without bringing in any options.
I think what we have done, is patch one gaping hole in the squad which is the lack of creativity, but we have replaced it with a squad with many more smaller holes.
Lets hope that the team can stay fit.
Not ideal, but he will give another midfield option.
Glad to read that many of you feel so positive and that there is absolutely no confirmation bias.
Bit of premature evaluation on the two signings though.
Last January we signed a Southampton reject who'd flopped at Port Vale and a league two defender. Both were written off by some before they kicked a ball for us.
Neither of this January's signings is a sexy big name and I have no idea if they will improve us but both play in positions we need to improve.
There are cases to be made for keeping REG and Taylor but not the other leavers. Asiimwe and Zak will hopefully benefit from game time.
IMHO, the big money men were sold the deal by CM on other costs being reduced so that more of their £8m pa input could be spent on the squad. So far that hasn't happened but I don't think they are going to throw even more money at us as that's not what they signed up to.
They, and the SMT, are banking on Jones getting the most out of budget and squad. The reshuffle this past month with fringe players moved on is part of that IMHO.
Jones was appointed a year ago today. He is building his squad.
6.5/10 until I see Gilbert and McKintyre play.