This time last season we had many posters enthusing about our chances and a common quote was 'The future's bright, the future is red and white' It's quite normal to be positive about your team at the beginning of the season so just how do we compare with the squad from last season? On the strikers; We had Gyan, Bent, Campbell and Wellbeck. I wish we had those now, instead we have; Gyan, Ji, Wickham and possibly Sess. One proper striker, two unknown quantities and a midfielder used as a makeshift striker. On the midfield; We had Catts, Henderson, Zenden, Riveros, Malbranque, Meyler and possibly Muhammed Ali and Richardson. We have strengthened with Vaughan, Gardner and Larsson but have lost Malbranque, Zenden and Henderson. We also have Colback in contention. I don't see a big improvement, 3 in and 3 out with Colback in for Meyler. Defence; We've lost Onouha, Da Silva and Mensah (and probably Angelieri) and have brought in O'Shea and Brown. We still have Titus, Anton, Phil and Turner. 2 out and 2 in who may or may not be better than last year. Muhammed Ali and Richardson are also used as defenders. Goalies; Gordon, Mig and Colgan(?) We've replaced Colgan with Westwood which is an improvement but with Gordon being continuously injured we have just 2 goalies who really should be back up for Craig. I haven't included the 2 lads McLean and Deacon as they probably won't feature in any meaningful way this season. So then, we have 8 (+2) in and 4 loans out together with Henderson, Malbranque, Zenden and Riveros, Da Silva and probably Angelieri away. 8 in and 8 out. Spent £24M. Sold £40M+ If somebody told me that this transfer window we would bring in 8 first teamers I would have banked on us getting what we ALL know we need; a LW a LB and a striker to replace Bent AND Wellbeck yet we have done none of this. Bent and Wellbeck would probably be valued now at £44M+. It's true we needed to find some goals from midfield but we all know the 3 main priorities. We could have got N'Zogbia who apparently wanted to come here and many pundits say he was a bargain at the price Villa paid. We probably could have had Adam Johnson if we hadn't dithered about it. We haven't had a left side since Gray and Julio. SB says it's hard to find left footed players but other teams manage it. I bet Poolie could give him a list right now. Are we going to get Kranjcar, Bellamy, Defoe? Are we going to get proper left sided players? or are we keeping the left positions open for whoever trains best during the week? When will we replace Bent? I must admit I don't know the finances at SAFC but looking at it simply we have 2 players out for £40m. leaving £16m. in the bank. We have the TV money, gate receipts, marketing money, sponsorship money and money from other sales like Waggy and Murphy. I expected more from the club this season but I feel we are weaker than this time last year. Feel free to pick this to bits lads.
superb article tin hat on we were stronger up front and at the back. Zenden should have been used more often as he showed he still had it everytime he played. Onouha is much better than bardsley and could play anywhere across the back four.
Not a chance i'd pick it to bits mate, very good post and i agree with you on most points. Think some of the mitigating factors is that obviously Gyan didnt come until later on and so him and Bent hardly played together before Bent wanted away, Welbeck was often played on the left side of midfield due to circumstances and Fraz suffered shocking luck with injuries. So a very good supposed starting 11 very rarely came into fruition hence why i think Bruce has done so much business in the transfer market to try and prevent a mid season collapse due to lack of depth.
Strikers we were better, but Campbell is injured, it was very unlikely we were going to get Welbeck back (and after the start to the season he has had, 0% chance now), Bent buggered off for whatever reasons, and finding a like for like forward was always going to be hard work. Wickham and Dong may surprise a few yet though, give them some time to bed in. (look what most were saying about welbeck last season, up until about his 8th game then he was on fire), Still feel Gyan will come good, but Sess playing off him isnt really working atm. Midfield I believe we are better than last year, Steed could hold the ball up and the ball seemed to stick to him, but he couldnt score for us if his life depended on it, Henderson, really not sure about, yes he had the potential, but he could never beat the first man at corners/free kicks, and he wasnt exaclty a specialist free kick taker in front of goal, Riveros never really got a chance, Zendon wanted more games that we could give him. We have Larsson who can knock a good set piece in, and Gardner and Vaughan who can play nice through balls, and score the odd screamer or 10. Defence: We are better than last season, I didnt think Mensah ws that good, season before exceptional, last season, just wasnt up to it. Da silva like Riveros never really got a chance, Neddum, another loan who was always going to be hard to get back (but we still might yet). Brown and O`Shea, Lots are saying Man U rejects, over the hill etc, but they are the best couple of defenders we have had for years, and if they both give us a good 3 years, I for one will be very happy. I still think we need the left side sorting, but we have Sess, Richardson, Wickham that can play left wing, so we do have players that can play there, it just depends if SB sees it that way. We also need another striker, but then that pushes Wickham and Dong down the pecking order even more, so its a hard one to call. and getting a 15-20 goal a season striker, wont be easy (even Bent has only scored 20 league goals twice in his career, once for us, and once for Ipswich in the Championship over a 46 game season). PS: Sorry I picked it apart, good post none the less.
*mag opinion alert* I've never really understood why some mackems have reacted the way they have. They hear "8 new players" and hear "£24mill spent" and expect waves of new talent to add to the squad. In reality, as you've made very clear, it's just replaced players who have left and needed to be replaced. In some areas these players are better, in some they're the same, and in others they're worse. Difficult situation for Bruce though and I don't really blame him. If he wants to push forward he needs to get out of the habit of filling in the holes of the squad with loan players. It's not healthy to have so many players who aren't even a part of the club. Now he's eventually had to buy in a bunch of new players to finally have a full squad of his own. I expect this to be an inevitable and unavoidable part of his team building plan over the next few seasons. Unfortunately, this was just a necessary step which isn't exactly a part of the major ambition. I don't expect much in the way of table position improvements this season. Probably next season, if he's still there.
The article is spot on. Bent alone made us stronger last year, if Bent was in the current squad, i'd be really excited, based on a stronger defensive unit. We aren't spending money, we have reinvested half of player PROFIT only.
Do you think that Short is not giving Bruce the full amount of cash because he isn't 100% sure about the guy?
If we are being picky we could say the same with Ashley and Pardew. But i dont know the answer, our wage budget is about 80% of our turnover, then you have this silly fair play crap thats been brought in, so we need to keep within budget if we want European Football (not saying we will get it but would be crap if we got it but overspent and got banned from it), We dont get shown a lot on the TV to we dont get the extra revenue from that, we havnt got Europe, so no extra revenue from that either, balancing the books cant be easy at a PL club.
Very good article! Not sure Ellis is gonna spend much more with the downward economic spiral (lone star funds have lost a fortune over the past 3 months). I imagine we will bring in a left midfielder on loan and stick with the strikers we have.
Very good article fella with good reasoning and back up your argument. My only observation and not meant as a put down is O'shea and Brown, yes good players with good pedigree with coming from Manure. But injury prone and again no offence but not surrounded by the same quality in midfield so have to work harder. I see at as a move like NUFC used to do and buy players who are in the latter part of their careers and have a reputation which they struggle to live up to. Can see these pair being in and out of your team this season. Again this is just my observation of how I see it.
Make of this what you will Blackcatsteve http://www.safc.com/news/20110216/safc-announce-financial-results_2256213_2294695 It takes a morefinancially balanced mind than mine to understand it but it doesnt look good
I don't think we are skint, but I also don't think we will chuck money at it. Ellis is worth allegedly 1 billion which is actually less than Ashley (approx 1.3 bil). I can well imagine that we will soon start to see money seize up in clubs other than Chelsea and Man City. If it does go kaput and football does hit the skids, it might start to bring fans back on board with the players and the game.
read that before, the date is July 2010, would be good to see the figures from the past year, you have to remember though, the financial year is April 1st to end of March, (but looking at that football clubs do it different, meh!!) so the money for Henderson wont be in any new figures, and we also didnt get the fulll Bent transfer up front, or the Jones one for that matter, so even up to date figures, wont tell the whole truth.
Steed is going to be a big miss in my eyes. Onouha was still up for grabs so would have liked him. Meyler was flying until the first injury, likewise Campbell. We have made some good signings. (and more to come) Half of them haven't even been on the ruddy pitch yet. It's going to take a few games to find our best side and then to gel. SB has been loyal to a few that were already here. Colback, Richardson and tbh Cattermole (personally I think he is a liability). I think that will soon change and then we will know for sure just how good the lads will be this year.
apparently ashley lost an aboslute boat load during the recession and is probably knocking around the billion mark himself. its nuts to think thaty billionaires can't even compete financially in this league anymore.
I think more than anything the whole situation shows that Bent was huge for us and until we get a replacement (harder than ever, how many teams have a striker with such a good rate?) we can be competative but not as clynical as we need to be. I like our forward line a lot but there is not a top stiker/goal scorer among them.
