Quote from: coreyfeldman on March 29, 2023, 12:54:11 AMNot trolling, genuinely interested if people have changed their minds a little?Imo there was a lot of ott responses to January, and the fact that we have now one of the best managers and coaches in the league mean we can rely on him to improve to the team.Seems very clear that Emery has set transfer targets and won't fuck around with average players and is happy to risk having a smaller squad than players who will never play anyway hanging around.Just having time off made me think that end of January there was so much negativity about the window and what it meant that, actually, it's pretty alrightYes, it seems feasible, as many suspected, that we were told our first choices would not be released mid-season, and Emery wasn’t interested in buying anyone he didn’t rate as highly while the possibility of getting his first choices in the summer remains.
Not trolling, genuinely interested if people have changed their minds a little?Imo there was a lot of ott responses to January, and the fact that we have now one of the best managers and coaches in the league mean we can rely on him to improve to the team.Seems very clear that Emery has set transfer targets and won't fuck around with average players and is happy to risk having a smaller squad than players who will never play anyway hanging around.Just having time off made me think that end of January there was so much negativity about the window and what it meant that, actually, it's pretty alright
We're lucky that Ollie must be one of the most robust CFs around.He's been here nearly three years and in that time all he's missed is one game in 20/21 when he was wrongly sent off for diving v Man. United, two games at the start of 21/22 and this season all I can remember him missing is Brighton away because he was ill.Considering the injuries we've had to likes of Bailey, Carlos and Kamara in last 18 months we've had very good fortune with him but you can never get complacent and we certainly need another attacker in the summer if we're serious about playing 50 games in a season again.
Quote from: SoccerHQ on March 29, 2023, 11:31:49 AMWe're lucky that Ollie must be one of the most robust CFs around.He's been here nearly three years and in that time all he's missed is one game in 20/21 when he was wrongly sent off for diving v Man. United, two games at the start of 21/22 and this season all I can remember him missing is Brighton away because he was ill.Considering the injuries we've had to likes of Bailey, Carlos and Kamara in last 18 months we've had very good fortune with him but you can never get complacent and we certainly need another attacker in the summer if we're serious about playing 50 games in a season again.Charlie Aitken springs to mind. His non-injury record was phenomenal. Similar athletic attributes to Ollie.
In principle - our inactivity was seemingly a considered gamble.Possibly still too early to know if it pays off. Being thin on numbers could still cost us, and well have to see how the summer goes to see if waiting to get too targets was worth it But agree - so far so good - fingers crossed
Quote from: coreyfeldman on March 29, 2023, 12:54:11 AMNot trolling, genuinely interested if people have changed their minds a little?Imo there was a lot of ott responses to January, and the fact that we have now one of the best managers and coaches in the league mean we can rely on him to improve to the team.Seems very clear that Emery has set transfer targets and won't fuck around with average players and is happy to risk having a smaller squad than players who will never play anyway hanging around.Just having time off made me think that end of January there was so much negativity about the window and what it meant that, actually, it's pretty alright Not really. I still feel we left ourselves very short and an injury to a key player - particularly Ollie - could have derailed our season. Obviously we're not party to the negotiations, but if it was down to saving a few million on a player we want long term then I don't think the gamble was worth it. I think the opportunity is now and to retain our best players we need to start pushing up the league. I felt our lack of activity put that at risk.Of course with hindsight we may manage brilliantly with no serious injuries and finish 8th. But for me that's like a gambler saying see, I told you it would be red.
We haven't been able to name a full bench for weeks, and with Cash out it's going to be further depleted.