Summer transfer, gossip, speculation and the usual butter ollocks thread

[AllanW]

Obligatory discussion of the 25 and movements this transfer window …

19/20 season squad;

GK; (Heaton inj), Steer, Nyland, Kalinic

CB; Engels, Konsa, Mings, Hause

RB: Elmo, Guilbert

LB; Taylor, Targett

DM; Luiz, Nakamba

CM; Hourihane, McGinn

AM; Grealish, Jota, Lansbury

Wingers; Trez, El Ghazi,

Strikers; (Wesley inj), Samatta, Davis, Vassilev U21, Hogan


Keepers; 4  Defenders; 8  Midfielders; 7  Wingers; 2 (both Right-sided)  Forwards; 5

Total; 26 (25 need to be declared)


Additions this window;    Reductions this window;
Cash RB/RWB £16m            Hogan £4m?
Watkins CF/W £28m
Martinez GK £17m
Traore LW £19m

now 29 (28 need to be declared) in squad

Additional moves this window?

Still think Rashica would be okay as a purchase because he can operate on the left but would far prefer Rhiann Brewster from Liverpool as a different striking option. But Blades seem to be in the box seat there if the ITK crowd are to be believed.

Sale or loan out options to get to 25 for squad declaration;  need 3 from the list below.

Kalinic £3m, Nyland £5m, Engels £7m, Guilbert £8/9m? Jota, Lansbury,

Those first 2 must be the priority as we now have plenty of cover.  Which leaves the next 4 as sale or loan-out options.

Attack; Depending on how the staff feel about Wes and Vassilev they may let Davis go out on loan but more likely is that Vassilev will spend most time in the U23’s, Davis will be on the bench to get playing time and develop and if Wes comes back at Christmas then Samatta can be sold/loaned in the January window provided no further injuries to strikers.

Defense; I hope we keep Guilbert and work out whatever beef is between him and Dean; I like him as a player and Elmo is not getting any younger. Happy to move Engels on provided we get a replacement and none seem possible from the U23’s at the moment.

Midfield/wingers; Equally happy to move Jota on if they have a buyer as Jacob Ramsey will need more game time to develop and can confidently be on our bench when needed. He doesn't need to be declared as U23 player so that gives us more flexibility.

Keepers; Should have enough cover until Heaton comes back and don’t need to buy in the next year with Martinez/Heaton and Steer as backup.

Summary;

Money spent; NET only £76m so far including Traore (initial cost is used here as the additions are only triggered over the succeeding years depending on certain conditions).

Attack strengthened significantly and invested in for the future.
GK position sorted for the next 5 years.
Manager backed on defensive call and investment on the right side.
Not strengthened in midfield apart from keeping Jack and Meatball and Luiz for another year.
Need options at Left back, might need Centre back replacement for Engels departure.

7 out of 10 going to 8 out of 10 if we get a decent centre back for Engels. That's as good as you can hope for, in my opinion and the window hasn't closed yet. Seems the calm heads and 'wait and see what happens' commenters were spot on ...  . Mind you, sales of adult diapers in the Birmingham area are a welcome filip to retailers during this covid nightmare

UTV

[Gareth]

Seen a couple of links to Rico Henry, personally if Taylor was to be moved on I’d hope that we would sign a ‘boring’ left back who can actually defend.  Henry strikes me as a faster version of Targett but equally poor defensively.

Maybe it’s just me but I have a real bugbear about the amount of easy ball that comes in from wide areas & sadly I tend to judge wingers also on their ability to track back & defend :-)

[PeterWithe]

I want Ozil.

I never understood this as a kid. Why would anyone want to wipe their arse with shiny greaseproof paper?

You wouldn't unless it was the only thing on offer (as was the case in my childhood household). Horrible stuff.

Does make you wonder. When you think of all the arse wiping materials to choose from they chose to market that as bog roll. Torn up sheets of old newspaper was much easier on your arse even if you were left with ink stains. Come to think about it sandpaper would have been better than that shiny stuff.

Our Nan used to work as a cleaner at one of the schools on Chelmsley and would liberate the bog rolls so we even had to use it at her house as well as at school, it had such a lack of purchase youd wipe your backside then have to check halfway up your back.

[fredm]

Seen a couple of links to Rico Henry, personally if Taylor was to be moved on I’d hope that we would sign a ‘boring’ left back who can actually defend.  Henry strikes me as a faster version of Targett but equally poor defensively.

Maybe it’s just me but I have a real bugbear about the amount of easy ball that comes in from wide areas & sadly I tend to judge wingers also on their ability to track back & defend :-)

The problem is, I think, that Smith wants his back four to be a close unit and has the full backs tucking in alongside the centre backs.  Presumably he then wants the wide front men to track back and cover the opposing wide men. Unfortunately they cannot be relied upon to do this 100% of the time and even if they do they will be knackered after an hour. But I agree with you, all this does is allow the opposing wingers freedom of the park to get their crosses in which has me pulling my hair out.  I am with MON on this one, full backs job is to get out wide and stop any crosses coming into the box.  If a cross came in during his time at the club the full back soon got an earful.

[Clive W]

Seen a couple of links to Rico Henry, personally if Taylor was to be moved on I’d hope that we would sign a ‘boring’ left back who can actually defend.  Henry strikes me as a faster version of Targett but equally poor defensively.

Maybe it’s just me but I have a real bugbear about the amount of easy ball that comes in from wide areas & sadly I tend to judge wingers also on their ability to track back & defend :-)

The problem is, I think, that Smith wants his back four to be a close unit and has the full backs tucking in alongside the centre backs.  Presumably he then wants the wide front men to track back and cover the opposing wide men. Unfortunately they cannot be relied upon to do this 100% of the time and even if they do they will be knackered after an hour. But I agree with you, all this does is allow the opposing wingers freedom of the park to get their crosses in which has me pulling my hair out.  I am with MON on this one, full backs job is to get out wide and stop any crosses coming into the box.  If a cross came in during his time at the club the full back soon got an earful.

Call me old school and boring (both of which I am) but I like full backs that can defend. Anything in addition is a bonus

[Monty]

Seen a couple of links to Rico Henry, personally if Taylor was to be moved on I’d hope that we would sign a ‘boring’ left back who can actually defend.  Henry strikes me as a faster version of Targett but equally poor defensively.

Maybe it’s just me but I have a real bugbear about the amount of easy ball that comes in from wide areas & sadly I tend to judge wingers also on their ability to track back & defend :-)

The problem is, I think, that Smith wants his back four to be a close unit and has the full backs tucking in alongside the centre backs.  Presumably he then wants the wide front men to track back and cover the opposing wide men. Unfortunately they cannot be relied upon to do this 100% of the time and even if they do they will be knackered after an hour. But I agree with you, all this does is allow the opposing wingers freedom of the park to get their crosses in which has me pulling my hair out.  I am with MON on this one, full backs job is to get out wide and stop any crosses coming into the box.  If a cross came in during his time at the club the full back soon got an earful.

Call me old school and boring (both of which I am) but I like full backs that can defend. Anything in addition is a bonus

Game's changed. If your full-backs can't attack your chances of scoring basically ever go down dramatically these days.

[Brazilian Villain]

Call me old school and boring (both of which I am) but I like full backs that can defend. Anything in addition is a bonus

Game's changed. If your full-backs can't attack your chances of scoring basically ever go down dramatically these days.

Was going to make the same point as Monty. However Clive mentioning 'old school' put me in mind of Clive Thomas who reassuringly is alive and kicking at 84.

[AV82EC]

Seen a couple of links to Rico Henry, personally if Taylor was to be moved on I’d hope that we would sign a ‘boring’ left back who can actually defend.  Henry strikes me as a faster version of Targett but equally poor defensively.

Maybe it’s just me but I have a real bugbear about the amount of easy ball that comes in from wide areas & sadly I tend to judge wingers also on their ability to track back & defend :-)

The problem is, I think, that Smith wants his back four to be a close unit and has the full backs tucking in alongside the centre backs.  Presumably he then wants the wide front men to track back and cover the opposing wide men. Unfortunately they cannot be relied upon to do this 100% of the time and even if they do they will be knackered after an hour. But I agree with you, all this does is allow the opposing wingers freedom of the park to get their crosses in which has me pulling my hair out.  I am with MON on this one, full backs job is to get out wide and stop any crosses coming into the box.  If a cross came in during his time at the club the full back soon got an earful.

Call me old school and boring (both of which I am) but I like full backs that can defend. Anything in addition is a bonus

Game's changed. If your full-backs can't attack your chances of scoring basically ever go down dramatically these days.

Thats true but it does assume you have some element of control in midfield as well, not something we were blessed with last season in the majority of games. However I'm not in the camp of defensive full backs, it just smacks of Tony Pulis thinking.

[LeeB]

Seen a couple of links to Rico Henry, personally if Taylor was to be moved on I’d hope that we would sign a ‘boring’ left back who can actually defend.  Henry strikes me as a faster version of Targett but equally poor defensively.

Maybe it’s just me but I have a real bugbear about the amount of easy ball that comes in from wide areas & sadly I tend to judge wingers also on their ability to track back & defend :-)

The problem is, I think, that Smith wants his back four to be a close unit and has the full backs tucking in alongside the centre backs.  Presumably he then wants the wide front men to track back and cover the opposing wide men. Unfortunately they cannot be relied upon to do this 100% of the time and even if they do they will be knackered after an hour. But I agree with you, all this does is allow the opposing wingers freedom of the park to get their crosses in which has me pulling my hair out.  I am with MON on this one, full backs job is to get out wide and stop any crosses coming into the box.  If a cross came in during his time at the club the full back soon got an earful.

Call me old school and boring (both of which I am) but I like full backs that can defend. Anything in addition is a bonus

Game's changed. If your full-backs can't attack your chances of scoring basically ever go down dramatically these days.

And your defending better be good, because you’re going to spend a lot more time doing it.

[paul_e]

Seen a couple of links to Rico Henry, personally if Taylor was to be moved on I’d hope that we would sign a ‘boring’ left back who can actually defend.  Henry strikes me as a faster version of Targett but equally poor defensively.

Maybe it’s just me but I have a real bugbear about the amount of easy ball that comes in from wide areas & sadly I tend to judge wingers also on their ability to track back & defend :-)

The problem is, I think, that Smith wants his back four to be a close unit and has the full backs tucking in alongside the centre backs.  Presumably he then wants the wide front men to track back and cover the opposing wide men. Unfortunately they cannot be relied upon to do this 100% of the time and even if they do they will be knackered after an hour. But I agree with you, all this does is allow the opposing wingers freedom of the park to get their crosses in which has me pulling my hair out.  I am with MON on this one, full backs job is to get out wide and stop any crosses coming into the box.  If a cross came in during his time at the club the full back soon got an earful.

Call me old school and boring (both of which I am) but I like full backs that can defend. Anything in addition is a bonus

Game's changed. If your full-backs can't attack your chances of scoring basically ever go down dramatically these days.

Yep, the fullbacks are the players who get the most space to work in of any position on the pitch. They have so much time and space to work with that the idea of letting them sit on the halfway line and not get involved is almost unthinkable in modern football.

Attacking football now is about either getting an overload or moving teams out of their defensive formation to create gaps. Having someone like Jack who draws players in is great for the 2nd part but you can do it purely with tactics. Teams that hold their shape better have better defensive records (once you get to a level where defensive errors are uncommon).

What I suspect will come soon as a 'trend' is full backs who underlap wide players and break into the box from deep to try to create confusion as to who defends against them, if the timing is right you could have 3-4 people moving into the box from different places at the same time and that creates a lot of chances for errors.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Call me old school and boring (both of which I am) but I like full backs that can defend. Anything in addition is a bonus

Game's changed. If your full-backs can't attack your chances of scoring basically ever go down dramatically these days.

Full backs need to both defend and attack which is why we should we looking to bring in a new left back. Neither Targett or Taylor are good enough.

[sid1964]

reading the thoughts of the posters - it would seem that like last summer we need another 11 players

I would imagine once Traore has signed, I don't think that there will be anyone else signed unless we can get rid of a few

[paul_e]

reading the thoughts of the posters - it would seem that like last summer we need another 11 players

I would imagine once Traore has signed, I don't think that there will be anyone else signed unless we can get rid of a few

1 more, a centre mid coming in is really important. Shifting some out is clearly needed as well but I don't think they'll miss out on the signings we need because Lansbury (for example) gets no offers.

[Monty]

Call me old school and boring (both of which I am) but I like full backs that can defend. Anything in addition is a bonus

Game's changed. If your full-backs can't attack your chances of scoring basically ever go down dramatically these days.

Full backs need to both defend and attack which is why we should we looking to bring in a new left back. Neither Targett or Taylor are good enough.

True, but of the two I'd much, much rather have Targett.

[ozzjim]

reading the thoughts of the posters - it would seem that like last summer we need another 11 players

I would imagine once Traore has signed, I don't think that there will be anyone else signed unless we can get rid of a few

I think another winger and a central midfielder after Traore will still be wanted regardless, but I think that will be it unless there are some big outs. After this window I would think it would then be about adding 1-2 first team starters each window to push the squad along. Last season 12, this summer about 6, next maybe 2-3 ideally.

While I would love a better backup/ competition for Targett than Taylor, I don't have an issue with letting Targett progress this season and see how he develops. He has decent delivery going forward and is not as bad a player as is made out. One for next summer maybe.