Summer 2016: Transfer rumours and suggestions

[Clark W Griswold]

Think I'd keep Clark...more experience and slightly less prone to clangers than Baker, who really needs to find a career somewhere more suited to him...Walsall?

I would 'off' both of them. Get someone else in, they've both had loads of opportunity and proved time and time again that they're shite.

[Mister E]

So what positions do we think are still required to be filled?

I was looking at what the squad might look like - would guess much like the Prem we would want a squad of 25 to account for extra games etc perhaps 3xGK, 2xRB, 2xLB, 5xCB, 6xCM, 3xWingers, 4xST

GKs - Gollini, Steer, Bunn
RBs - ??, Hutton
LBs - Amavi, Bennett
CBs - Elphick, Okore, Baker, ??, Toner
CMs - Gana, Tshibola, Veretout, Gardner, Lyden, Petrov (maybe)
WM - Grealish, ??, ??
ST - Gestede, Ayew, ??, Hepburn-Murphy

That would mean 1xRB, 1xCB, 2xWinger, 1xST required + 1xCM if Petrov isn't signed up.

This would leave surplus to requirements :-) - Guzan, Cissohko, Richards, Lescott, Clark, Westwood, Sanchez, Gil, Bacuna, Traore, Kozak, Agbonlahor & Sinclair

Can't see 5 more in & 13 out so I think we have to get used to seeing far too many of last seasons squad of cowards in the side again :-(

I can see Clark, Westwood and Kozak staying in the squad.

[tomd2103]

I wrote a season or two back was that the problem with Sanchez was that he wasn't quick enough to dictate the tempo of our game, and see we as a teamed struggled. He actually wasn't too bad at the intercept stuff and waas generally okay on the ball. Since he has tried to adapt more to the pace of the game and the change in thinking time, his technique has gone to pot. He dithers when closed and he can't react quick enough because he can't cope with having to think quickly with the ball. That's also why he looks better playing with a slower-paced Colombian national team.

I'd get rid of him because that won't change and in the Championship - at the very least it'll be 6-10 games in before sides stop trying to tear into us - he won't get as much time as afforded in the Premier League. He'll be a liability.

I agree Peter and due to his international exploits, I definitely think we'd find a buyer.

[sirlordbaltimore]

I think RDM will have four centre backs to pick from, two right footers Elphick and Okore, and two left footers Baker and Clark. I can live with that

Also noticed he paired them as a left and right footer at the weekend. Logical to me

Right back seems a problem still with 3 candidates of whom all are shit. Bacuna, Hutton and Richards reads like a comedy trio rather than professional full backs whatever league we're in to me

[robbo1874]

I'd have one more in, just in case. Preferably from the players already at the club. Any ideas?

[JB1811]

I think RDM will have four centre backs to pick from, two right footers Elphick and Okore, and two left footers Baker and Clark. I can live with that

Also noticed he paired them as a left and right footer at the weekend. Logical to me

Right back seems a problem still with 3 candidates of whom all are shit. Bacuna, Hutton and Richards reads like a comedy trio rather than professional full backs whatever league we're in to me




I think Hutton is still a decent player tbh, always tried, and never really let us down, and his attitude is much better than most of the old squad!

[Villafirst]

So what positions do we think are still required to be filled?

I was looking at what the squad might look like - would guess much like the Prem we would want a squad of 25 to account for extra games etc perhaps 3xGK, 2xRB, 2xLB, 5xCB, 6xCM, 3xWingers, 4xST

GKs - Gollini, Steer, Bunn
RBs - ??, Hutton
LBs - Amavi, Bennett
CBs - Elphick, Okore, Baker, ??, Toner
CMs - Gana, Tshibola, Veretout, Gardner, Lyden, Petrov (maybe)
WM - Grealish, ??, ??
ST - Gestede, Ayew, ??, Hepburn-Murphy

That would mean 1xRB, 1xCB, 2xWinger, 1xST required + 1xCM if Petrov isn't signed up.

This would leave surplus to requirements :-) - Guzan, Cissohko, Richards, Lescott, Clark, Westwood, Sanchez, Gil, Bacuna, Traore, Kozak, Agbonlahor & Sinclair

Can't see 5 more in & 13 out so I think we have to get used to seeing far too many of last seasons squad of cowards in the side again :-(

I can see Clark, Westwood and Kozak staying in the squad.

No! Traore has to stay - the guy needs the right guidance from a decent manager and coaching set-up this season.

[Chris Jameson]

No! Traore has to stay - the guy needs the right guidance from a decent manager and coaching set-up this season.

He needs somebody to tell him to stop getting injured.

[paul_e]

So what positions do we think are still required to be filled?

I was looking at what the squad might look like - would guess much like the Prem we would want a squad of 25 to account for extra games etc perhaps 3xGK, 2xRB, 2xLB, 5xCB, 6xCM, 3xWingers, 4xST

GKs - Gollini, Steer, Bunn
RBs - ??, Hutton
LBs - Amavi, Bennett
CBs - Elphick, Okore, Baker, ??, Toner
CMs - Gana, Tshibola, Veretout, Gardner, Lyden, Petrov (maybe)
WM - Grealish, ??, ??
ST - Gestede, Ayew, ??, Hepburn-Murphy

That would mean 1xRB, 1xCB, 2xWinger, 1xST required + 1xCM if Petrov isn't signed up.

This would leave surplus to requirements :-) - Guzan, Cissohko, Richards, Lescott, Clark, Westwood, Sanchez, Gil, Bacuna, Traore, Kozak, Agbonlahor & Sinclair

Can't see 5 more in & 13 out so I think we have to get used to seeing far too many of last seasons squad of cowards in the side again :-(

I can see Clark, Westwood and Kozak staying in the squad.

No! Traore has to stay - the guy needs the right guidance from a decent manager and coaching set-up this season.

I agree, Add Clark, Traore and Kozak to the original list and remove Hepburn-Murphy (He's not played enough games to be included, Lyden and Toner would be borderline for me as well) and I'm ok with that.  It leaves us needing a right back, an attacking midfielder/winger and a striker and I'd probably got another defensive midfielder because Tshibola, Gardner, Lyden and Petrov making up 4 of the 6 spots is a huge risk given injury records and experience, a right back who could cover there would work as well.

For the attacking midfielder role I'd love to see us go for Hakim Ziyech.  I've mentioned him before but to quantify this the dutch office for my work is based in Enschede so there are a lot of Twente fans and they have all been raving about him for a couple of years.

He's ne of those players who gets linked to clubs but nothing comes from it, has been happening for 3 windows in a row.  Swansea and Middlesbrough are the more recent links so I don't think he'd be beyond us if we really sold it to him and he'd definitely give us goals from midfield and improve our set pieces.

[tomd2103]

Think I'd keep Clark...more experience and slightly less prone to clangers than Baker, who really needs to find a career somewhere more suited to him...Walsall?

I would 'off' both of them. Get someone else in, they've both had loads of opportunity and proved time and time again that they're shite.

I prefer Clark over Baker, though both have been around the first team for a number of years and still make the same errors they made when they first started out.  I remember the cricketer Shane Warne saying that someone had played 20 first tests, meaning that they had never really improved over that period.  I think the same applies to those pair, although Clark did have a good spell of form a couple of seasons ago.   

[RussellC]

Quite a few links to Preston's right-back Greg Cunningham popping-up online this afternoon. I've no idea about him to be honest.

[brontebilly]

Quite a few links to Preston's right-back Greg Cunningham popping-up online this afternoon. I've no idea about him to be honest.

He is a left back, was highly thought of at City a few years back but got lost in the lower leagues for a while

Galway lad, hometown of Eamonn Deacy

[in exile]

Talking of left backs, wasn't Cissohko's agent telling the world his client was off to Turkey a month or so ago?

[sid1964]

Not another left back, what is it that all the managers see in our current left backs, that make them want to sign another

Oh I get it, they are all shit!

[peter w]

Quite a few links to Preston's right-back Greg Cunningham popping-up online this afternoon. I've no idea about him to be honest.

He is a left back, was highly thought of at City a few years back but got lost in the lower leagues for a while

Galway lad, hometown of Eamonn Deacy

Which City would that be? There are quite a lot of them.