I think we’re only 5-6 signings from being a top 6 contender. Last summer was really scattergun and we also failed to recruit in crucial areas. We released our only recognised ball-winner in Smallwood and never replaced him. I’m certain Rosenior wants one this summer. He said he’s looking at height and strength as factors in recruitment. He said a player like Howson is exactly what we’re lacking after the Boro game. If we sign a quality ball-winner in the summer, with Simons as his understudy, I think the spine of our team will be complete. Add in a few more additions like a left-back, some wingers and another striker and we’re set.
Problem is the schedule of the championship now, ensures injuries will happen. If we let a good few go, likes of Doc etc who probably want more then bit part. We’ll need to replace them with depth options unless Rosie plans on having the best u21s on the fringes all season like Bielsa did at Leeds
Tbf he has already stated he wants a smaller squad to work with, so the u21s are going to be involved I would imagine. I would expect a smaller squad to be moulded, with a bit of experience and quality added. But he can't do that unless he thins things out.
Heres a thought.... if next season we had to use only the squad we have now, plus the under 21's, no new signings, no loans, where do you think we';d finish... I think around 8th, maybe even a sniff of 6th...
Every team in the cahmpionship is 5 or 6 signings away of being a contender. Judging by the last two transfer windows we are not working all that well in that field. And dont forget the teams coming from the premier league. Its almost imposible to break the top6 tbh.
Good question. All depends on injury situation. With better luck I'd say top 10, nudging top 6 even. Settled squad, stability in terms of manager, playing style, coaching staff all leading to continued improvement. We are surely due better luck with injuries.
Every season out 15 or 16 maybe two make it. Its imposible but almost. And Huddersfield is fighting relegation at the moment.
That’s why if we get it right this summer, I fancy our chances. It seems Rosenior is taking a more analytical approach based on injury record, how many sprints they do a game, tackles per game, aerial duels won per game etc. It’s a similar approach to Brentford’s data-driven recruitment policy. I think the main issue last summer was there wasn’t a clear direction for recruitment. Acun interfered too much. Hopefully, Rosenior is given autonomy to identify his targets, Acun tells him if they’re financially viable or not and they get most of the business done early.
top 2 is a different propositon alltogether than top 6 top 6 is achieveable for a number of teams including us next season TWT
Luton have done exceptionally well though. Since being promoted to the Championship they’ve finished 19th, 12th, 6th in that order and are currently 3rd this season. That’s very good progression imo. Since we were promoted back to the Championship, we finished 19th last year and are currently 15th. Not too different from Luton. We could definitely push for play-offs next year in our 3rd season back in the Championship just like Luton did.
We're also much bigger than Luton in terms of budgets and previous performance at this level. We were in League 1 for one year, it'd be a bit weird to consider that in the same terms as a club who were overachieving to come up to this level in the first place.
There's nothing revolutionary about Luton though. Of course, they're doing fantastically well but they have a clear style which makes it miles easier to recruit and don't fire and hire managers. I may be completely wrong but it always feels like they get their business done early in the summer too. They just scream stability and common sense and in a league of chaos it's no surprise that they're getting success
I think Shota and Acun were too close as friends, and Shota just accepted what Acun decided. It seems Acun quickly realised his mistake and has taken less involvement in the playing side since Liam was appointed.
Sure but that puts us in a stronger position to kick on in this league imo. Luton have overachieved but they’re not one-season wonders in the Championship. Barnsley got play-offs then relegated the following season. Huddersfield look to replicate Barnsley. That could’ve happened to Luton as well. They got 6th last season but unlike Barnsley and Huddersfield, they haven’t fell off. They look even stronger. We should look to them for inspiration even if our financial circumstances are different. There are a lot of clubs wealthier than us who have failed this season. If we recruit well in the summer and everyone at the club is singing from the same hymn sheet, there’s absolutely no reason why we can’t be serious play-off contenders.
I find Luton as a squad really interesting because they’ve been exceeding expectations for a few seasons now yet they don’t have any ‘star’ players. What I mean by that is they don’t have a particular player who stands out and who is linked with a big-money move to a PL club. Last season, we had KLP. Bristol City have Alex Scott. Coventry have Gyökeres. Blackburn have Brereton Díaz. Luton don’t have a player like that but they do have a good manager and a solid all-round squad.
It's about making small improvements each window. We got Darlow in January, Connolly too if he stays fit, if we could add a decent left back, holding midfielder and winger in the summer, that would be real progress. We'd be miles off being complete but we'd be better than we are now and then you could look to add 1 or 2 more next January and you see continuous improvements
a great example of this is carlton morris pretty much any championship team would have been able to sign him last summer he got relegated with barnsley and was never really profilic, never scoring 10 league goals before they obviously highlighted him as a player really fitting their system, and without really watching them he has 11 yellow cards this season and 6 last he seems he is very much a player who gets 'stuck' in and 20 goals 6 assists this season, is a remarkable return
