Hopefully the club doesn't think that as all those teams got more points than us over the last 29 games of last season! Fortunately, the current squad on paper won't be the squad come the 1st game of the coming season.
Well we definitely need a striker or two but didn’t Pozzo say the squad last season was talented enough to get promoted/play offs (fair point TuT) so maybe they don’t think we need much in the way of recruiting? I don’t see much more changing tbh. Maybe 2-3 more ?
Got the feeling Sissoko starts and is captain . He’ll probably go for experience first thing . Obviously PP will have no say on who comes in and will just be told to get on with it .
Was from his statement after the Cleverley sacking. “But I have seen real signs this season that we have the talent within our squad to challenge for the play-off places next season and, hopefully, promotion. Yes, there has been a lack of consistency at times which saw us drop away when I thought we could be in the top six, but we have a group of highly talented young players who will only have benefitted from the experience of this season and what it means to compete in the Championship” Now maybe he thinks the young lads in the Under 18s will suddenly turn into excellent first team players but that seems unlikely. Or is hoping the likes of Vata and Baah stay fit and are fantastic all season ? We’ll see I guess - there was one or two fans who agreed we should have done much better as well and only 5 wins in 20 isn’t particularly good for any level . But in reality the squad depth and quality was shown up big time .
TBF he said good enough ".....to challenge for the play-off places next season and, hopefully, promotion." I don't think it was as simple as "the squad is good enough to get promoted".
You are still three players short for a legal professional side. No sweat, Bill and Ben have signed up and Postman Pat.
Assuming Porteous, Tikvic, Louza and Rajovic all leave this is currently our senior squad without any U23 / U18 seen from last season: And this is our squad with the notable youth players we saw last season. I've included Ramirez-Espain, Nabizada and Massiah-Edwards as the youth players we could consider as realistic options as they all had notable minutes from last season in the League and / or Cup: Immediate thoughts: I'm more optimistic we'll have a decent squad now than I was at the end of the season as we've made a lot of early moves securing returning players and quality new ones but there's still work to do if we're to have a play-off challenging squad. We absolutely need another CB option. Only having Pollock, Abankwah and Keben as our senior CB options is not enough no matter what because we're an injury or suspension away from having one or none available at any time. I would even argue for having 2 CB options given Keben's injury history unless Clarridge or Akomeah are viewed as suitable cover. I haven't seen enough of either to give a strong opinion but I don't think they will be. We should look at another CM option if Louza leaves because we lack someone who can pick a pass in midfield like he can unless you drop Chakvetadze back into an attacking midfield role in that midifeld 3 which then leaves us looking thin out wide. That is unless we look to within. I like the look of Ramirez-Espain when he had a chance to play last season and I think he has a lot of Louza's attributes like an ability to put a foot in, dictate the tempo and pick a pass but I'm not sure the club will see him as a player who can immediately fill that role now. I'd be all for giving him that shot myself. Our winger options look thin. Vata and Chakvetadze are obviously quality at this level but Ince I don't really think is a strong option at all. I think Nabizada looked able to play a proper role for us this upcoming season and was very unfortunate to get injured during the later stages of last season when we could have seen more of him but Massiah-Edwards looked too light weight for the Championship though his work rate and versatility is admirable. I'd give him a loan in League 2 and see how he goes as there's quality there. Up front looks better than last season but thinner than I'd like. Doumbia looked raw for us but he started to find his feet in front of goal in the final 1/3 of the season to compliment his good technical skill and willingness to press and I'm very happy to give him plenty of minutes rotating with our other options. Semedo looks a very exciting option in the same vein as Doumbia with different attributes but the same willingness to press and be a nuisance. I would like a more experienced striker to round out the available options, though not a Glenn Murray level of experienced! In short, I'd like a Senior CB, CM, LW and ST still if we're to have a balanced squad with good effective depth. If we had to cut that down, a senior CB and ST are critical to us having a balanced squad and some effective depth.
I think Ashley Young is someone who could possibly do a job for us, in defence, MF,or attack. I also reckon that there is a good likelihood he will be signing for us, and that his versatility would be a great asset for the team.
With Abankwah confirmed - the current actual squad is; GK Selvik - Baxter - Bachmann RB Ngakia - Andrews - Ferreira LB Bola - Morris CB Pollock - Porteous - Akomeah CB Abankwah - Keben - Tikvic CM Kyprianou - Sissoko - Dwomoh CM Louza - TDB - Ramirez-Espain CM Chakvetadze - Kayembe RM Baah - Ince ST Doumbia - Rajovic - Hurtado LM Vata - Nabizada
Is Hurtado actually coming back? He's done well for PAOK (B) and they have an option to take him permanently. He's 22 in a couple of months and from the little I've seen of him he looks lightyears behind Doumbia.
As for must haves I'd agree a LB (probably Wiley based on the WO?), then a winger (Diallo?) and a senior ST (don't know who, but Rajovic + Hurtado can go). I want another quality CM, then TDB and Kayembe can leave. We'll also need a CB if Porteous leaves.
Less in depth than @simpleMASH (thanks for yours, I like the extra details) With Semedo GK Selvik - Baxter - Bachmann RB Ngakia - Andrews - Ferreira LB Bola - Morris CB Pollock - Porteous - Akomeah CB Abankwah - Keben - Tikvic CM Kyprianou - Sissoko - Dwomoh CM Louza - TDB - Ramirez-Espain CM Chakvetadze - Kayembe RM Baah - Ince ST Semedo - Doumbia - Rajovic - Hurtado LM Vata - Nabizada
Ageee with this - would imagine we’ll only get new CM’s if we sell any, if you include R-E we currently have 8 (9 with Ince)
Could be struggling for 7 HG’s in match day squad if we don’t buy any and someone like TDB goes. I suppose 2-3 extra U’21’s just get put on bench
I'm of the opinion that there should be an agreement with the FA and SFA that HG players should count if they had spent 3 years in England or Scotland before they were 21, that would help with players like Vata and Porteous. When you think that there are a lot of players in the English system, who are not English but happen to have been in an English team's youth set up for the required time, just like Bachmann.
I think we may see 4 youth players make some kind of impact this season . Ramirez-Espain Massiah-Edwards Nabizada Akomeah There is also Sangrahjka who has looked very good when I’ve seen him, Cleverly mentioned him as well . I noticed he was in the first team training videos from this week too .
Akomeah was the Chelsea Youth Player we signed back after he left us, wasn't he? Not seen enough to make a judgement. Massiah-Edwards got some minutes and thought he worked hard, was versatile but looked too light weight and needs to bulk up. Nabizada looked more capable at making an impact than M-E but was unforunately injured when he would have had some minutes near season end. Ramirez-Espain I thought always looked good when he had a chance under Cleverley and is the one I think will be the most up to speed of them.
