Summer Transfer Thread - The Verdict.

[KevinGage]

If we'd signed the players we did first up later in the window and vice versa we'd probably feel a lot more positive.

Seeing the value of assets like El Ghazi and Bert tumble so dramatically is a bit shit as well.

6/10 overall.

[robleflaneur]

Our chronic lack of pace hampers us ever being effective on the break, and we have not addressed it. We have signed 2 very solid midfield players which under the right manager can thrive.

Bednarek appears to be a liability, so let's hope his arse gets warm on the bench until Carlos returns.

Not much to get excited about. Luiz staying is good for the next manager.

Bailey,Watkins and Ramsey would make us effective on the break.

[robleflaneur]

And Archer

[eamonn]

By my reckoning there's room in the squad for both Guilbert and Sanson, does that look right? Assuming we don't register Carlos until at least jan.

Has our official squad for the season been published or does it not happen til after the window closes?

Sanson kept the number 8 shirt when the squad numbers were allocated. After his tentative but promising pre-season involvement it seemed another encouraging sign that he'd be involved but obviously that hasn't been the case and Gerrard has said a couple of times now that he was free to find a new club.

Unless it's happened late in the day and has yet to be reported, a move to Turkey is the only available option to him. If that doesn't happen, continued bombing-out of him especially with our current form would be more stubbornness/stupidity by Gerrard.

[pauliewalnuts]

Massively underwhelming.

Lots of fighting talk from Purslow and the owners but next to no actual substance.

[Five Villa Tattoos]

Desperately needed at least one decent striker.
That leaves us now with Archer and two of the worst forwards in the league currently.

[eamonn]

I wonder what our back-up plans were when Sarr didn't happen or whether that was an unplanned move in the first place.

[Dazvillain]

Loads, most, nearly all of our promising youngsters loaned out, after touring Oz.
Many of those would have been good on bench training with first team
Feel sorry for Samson and Guilbert, hope Luiz keeps his head head down trying to keep his World Cup dreams alive

Other than Carlos and Bouba, I’m not sure that any other signings are upgrades on what we already had ?

[PaulMcGrathsNo5Shirt]

Started off quite promising with Kamara and Diego Carlos coming in early, adding Coutinho for the fee was decent business. The signings of Augustinsson and Olsen were sensible if not spectacular.

Losing Diego Carlos and then having the poor start I guess the possibly of bringing in top quality signings.

Disappointed to lose Chukwemaka, but understand the fee was worth taking for a player with so little experience. Seeing the backs of Trezeguet, Traore, El Ghazi made sense. It looks like we've kept Dougie and a few younger lads have gone off to play men's football.

Sanson, Gilbert? No idea what happens with them,

[PeterWithesShin]

I'm starting to have odd nagging thought that we may not actually win the league this season.

[cdbearsfan]

Difficult to judge at this stage. They were unlucky with Carlos and the biggest failing to me is opting not to bring in another forward. I like Kamara. I like Coutinho, too. Hopefully he will be back to his old self soon. That's it for uninjured first team players. We've added a fair bit of strength in depth everywhere... except in attacking positions, for some reason.

Everything, though, is clouded by the poor form and managerial position. If we obtain a vaguely competent manager who can get the most out of the players we have, the window will look a lot better in hindsight and we, hopefully, have saved a few quid to give him the fabled "warchest" in January.

Overall: C  - could have been a lot better but not the all-consuming catastrophe that a handful of misery arses are making out.

I'm still fairly confident that the next window will be more exciting and we will have a much better manager waiting to greet the new recruits.

[robleflaneur]

Desperately needed at least one decent striker.
That leaves us now with Archer and two of the worst forwards in the league currently.

Brighton,Southampton,WestHam,Bournemouth,Wolves,Everton,Leeds,Forest,and possibly Man U and Leicester would put Watkins in their starting line up.

[olaftab]

Window was OK and almost good with Carlos and Kamara coming in however our problem is not the players.

[OzVilla]

I think this window has, for the first time, made me begin to question our genuine ambition. We've undoubtedly got unlucky with Carlos but after the first few games it was obvious that we're lacking in certain areas.  We've not done enough to change that unless Gerrard has a change of formation.

[villadelph]

If Coutinho was playing better it would be an easier pill to swallow but it seems like we bolstered the squad with bench players instead of finding real first team talent. Apparently, our wage bill is an issue.

I’ll be honest, I worry for us. We can’t keep doing this 15-19th battle every year, it’s pathetic and embarrassing for us. A commitment to grow the club isn’t dependent on the manager. The philosophy, the structure, the decision-making needs to come from someone/a group beyond the just manager. Please go get a proven progressional and stop messing around.

The skinnier our formation gets, the more we will fail. The heat maps over the last three matches is absolutely insane. Everyone standing on top of one another.

We know Kamara is good enough. I think if Dendoncker can play a part, this window will have been.. okay. That would be Coutinho, LD, Diego and Kamara signed.. not terrible? Unfortunately, we have a critical flaw in our management.

On the other side.. Hopefully Doug will stay focused and want to make it into the World Cup squad. I hold no ill will towards him. Playing 30-50 minutes, yet being call a “Top, top player” must get old.

I’m happy for AEG, he was great - this rollercoaster was in the up then. Hopefully he can be a good role model and do well.

Bert.. he had magic in him. Wish it was more often.

We need to start getting a better return on our transfers. It clearly points to a development and coaching issue at the top of the club, because our youth and academy setup doesn’t seem to have that problem.

We’ve got to support the players and do our part. Our situation is like the first time you boil water on an induction stove. Its boiling over wayyy faster than you thought it would and it’s painful to clean up.

We can reverse course and come good.. but we’ll do it next weekend because I’m busy this weekend and we play that team with the big nordic cyborg up front anyway.