Squad development.

[andyh]

I hope it’s appropriate to start a new thread about players, rather than the speculation thread.

I would hope that there is some serious pruning of the squad for next season now that we know where we will be playing.
For me it’s pretty obvious that the following are not good enough and who between them contributed little or nothing to our season.

Jota
Lansbury
AEG
Hogan
Samatta
Taylor (this is a harsh one but his lack of offering anything going forward is his failure).

I think we could lose this lot and not even realise they were gone.

[cdbearsfan]

Don't mind El Ghazi and Taylor as squad cover. Get rid of the others you've mentioned. No more loaning players out to help teams that hate us though, thanks. If they want our players, they can pay for them.

[Villan82]

Jota's assist in the Everton home game was a lovely bit of play. Not a bad option .

[andyh]

Jota's assist in the Everton home game was a lovely bit of play. Not a bad option .

One pass in a season can’t be justification for keeping him though, can it?

[Villan82]

Jota's assist in the Everton home game was a lovely bit of play. Not a bad option .

One pass in a season can’t be justification for keeping him though, can it?

I just think he offers us something a bit different, he's an intelligent player if lacking physical attributes. No world beater  but an option, especially with the 5 subs rule. He also comes cheap. If we release him, that's another player needs replacing and less budget for the quality first team players we must buy.

[Mister E]

Here's who need to go, and soon.
Jota - a lightweight bit-player
Lansbury
Nyland
Kalinic
Hogan
Samatta
Taylor

AEG, Trez and Nakamba need to be put on notice that they need to massively step up a couple of gears.

Clearly, we need to bring 4-5 new players in: upgrades on what we had, and players with the right mix of experience and potential.


We should add 3-4 of the promising kids to the squad, and make a commitment to give each some game time: if we're not confident enough to do that, the kids ain't good enough so either loan out for a season or get rid.

We should have a hard, objective  look at the backroom staff re coaching, fitness and tactics: is who we currently have really top-tier? - if not, get rid and bring the best in.

Now is the time to move quickly to assess, adjust and push on.
.

[Risso]

Jota should be one of the first names gone, he offers very little.  He probably needs to go back abroad, the pace of the Premier League and even the Championship is too much for somebody as weak and slow as he is.

[paul_e]

GK (3)
Heaton - Keep
Reina - Sign for another season (isn't this already part of the agreement anyway)
Steer - Keep if he's happy as 3rd choice
Nyland - Sell unless Steer wants to go
Kalinic - Sell

Centre Backs (4)
Mings - Keep
Konsa - Keep
Hause - Keep
Engels - Keep (unless the rumours he wants to go are true)

Full Backs (4)
Guilbert - Keep
Elmo - Keep
Targett - Keep
Taylor - Replace if possible
Bree - Sell

Midfield (6)
Douglas - Keep
McGinn - Keep
Hourihane - Keep
Nakamba - Keep
Lansbury - Replace
New Signing (effectively replacing drinkwater)

Wingers (4)
Grealish - Keep
Trez - Keep
AEG - Keep
Jota - Replace

Strikers (4)
Wesley - Keep
Samatta - Keep for now
Davis - Keep for now
Hogan - Replace

Italic can go without being replaced, bold are the players I'd be looking to sign, I could live without replacing Taylor and Lansbury though, the other 3 need to have the majority of the budget thrown at them to get the highest quality we can.

[fbriai]

I agree with all of that, Paul.

[Dave]

Yup, reckon that's pretty much spot-on.

[cdbearsfan]

Bree! I'd forgotten about him.

[cdbearsfan]

I agree with the players you're replacing, but think we need more than one winger and a striker. I'd loan Davis out but not to anyone scummy.

[Des Little]

How do we even begin to replace Drinky?

[dave.woodhall]

When you look at that squad (I assume leaving out Luiz was an oversight), see how many of the good enough players were here when we got promoted and how many we had to sign, the facts speak for themselves.

It's obvious that if we spend as much this close-season as we did last, we'll be signing some stellar names for serious money.

[KevinGage]

Don't think you can replace Drinkwater.