Trying DCC and ABK as the central defence would improve us and the return of Lavia and Stuey starting would too but we badly need goals and so adding a striker and a goal scoring, creative 10 is essential in this window. I wouldn't write off Baz too soon as he is very young and Macca can come in and do a job if necessary.
Assuming that we do have a recall clause, it's something which I've been wondering if Jones might ask for. He's presumably seen more highlights of Tella this season than most of us. One person who I absolutely wouldn't be recalling is Bednarek. I'm somewhat bemused at the Telegraph (Mike McGrath) suggesting that we're considering that, if we don't manage to sign a new CB. Last time I checked, we signed two new CBs just a few months ago. Now sure, we might not have Toby and Virgil at CB anymore, but of all of the positions that I'd like to see us improve in January, CB is way, way down my list. If ABK and DCC aren't good enough, why did we sign them?!
Lavia suffered his injury end of August and is still struggling to come back from it 4 months later. He’s top class and transforms the team but how can we hope or rely on his fitness heading into a busy period of games? We can’t. We need another starting quality DM asap and really need to find a way to get the players we have into some kind of workable midfield unit until then. AMN was shocking against Luton and deserved to be dropped based on that performance but JWP and Diallo can’t play the DM and they sure as hell can’t play together in a 2. AMN has to start for me, probably due to lack of options with Diallo alongside and JWP in front of them. ABK should definitely be one of the 2 CBs as he is clearly the most talented and has the highest ceiling. But we need to decide on the other and stick with it IMO. I’d be tempted with giving him a run alongside DCC as he has the experience. The defence needs stability in formation and personnel. Keep it simple. We will likely continue to struggle in front of goal with the players we currently have, but a front 3 of Edozie, Che and Stu seems the most exciting/creative and potentially effective options we have right now. If we have killed the confidence of another highly thought of young GK then drop Baz, if not give him a run with a settled defence. Baz KWP, ABK, DCC, Perraud AMN, Diallo, JWP Stu, Che, Edozie
They are good enough. I have no concerns on that front. You have to presume the McGrath stuff is nonsense.
**** me. Saints fans and their keepers. So quick to want them gone. Bazunu is not at fault for our position in the league or performances. He offers so much more than others we have. Give the kid time.
I don’t think Bazunu is very good but he is only 20 and nowhere near the root of our problems. Alex Scott is drawing prem interest according to my mates, hopefully we are in for him. Fits the mould of what we are after and could make an impact immediately
Hoping for some transfer news to emerge within the next few days. We really need some decisive action in January to reinvigorate this squad, let alone some positive PR to improve the mood a bit. I was really hoping for Sport Republic to come in and implement a serious and effective recruitment strategy and identity. When you look at Brighton and how they recruit, they are leagues ahead of us with a similar budget. The fact we were better than them a couple years ago, when you look at how they played us off the park today, shows that it doesn’t take long for a team to improve (or collapse). The Joe Shields debacle, alongside the lack of striker, playmaker and backup DM purchases in the summer are pretty glaring. They’ve got time to change things around, but they’ve given themselves a pretty hard job.
I'd go in for Orkun Kokcu now just to piss PSV off. Id also do it because he would transform our midfield.
Does anyone think we will actually get a striker in during this window or will we gamely try, but fail on the last day? I'm a bit dubious as to whether we can compete for quality players so not entirely confident we'll see a huge improvement. Perhaps we need a poll...
I do think we will get a striker in yes. And I hope it will be early in the window, though I’m less confident on that part. Also the quality of striker I’m less convinced of as although we were targeting high quality forwards in the summer, we’re not in a great spot to convince quality to try and dig us out of the ****ter right now. If we are the only PL club that wants you then you’re probably not good enough to score the goals to keep us up, if other PL clubs want you (and plenty need a striker), why would you choose us right now!? That is probably one of the aspects ‘overlooked’ by the board when hiring NJ. Realistically no player is choosing to come here because of the profile or reputation of our manager and let’s face it, we don’t have too many other selling points over other PL clubs right now either. But hey, maybe I’m being negative and Jones can make an award winning PowerPoint presentation
Yep, like him or loathe him, Ralph was very well thought of at the start of the season and players wanted to come. I highly doubt any of the young talents we signed in the summer would have come to play for NJ and I mean no disprespect there but leaving Pep's squad to play for a side that gave them a good battle 3-4 times is not the same as where we are now.
