In all honesty though, I doubt Connolly will be given a new contract in the summer, and Barnard isn't good enough for the Championship (as much as I love him) let alone the Premiership - So providing that we get promoted, that'd leave us with just Lambert, Guly and Tadanari.. We'd need AT LEAST one more striker and clubs would use our Premier League status to then demand more money for their respective player knowing that we could afford it with the £90m odd you get in television rights etc from being in the BPL. My message to NA and NC would be to go and buy that striker now, whether it be in the form of Hooper, Sharp or Sordell and save the hassle in the Summer.
Adkins on Solent: "Are you still making a big signing or was it Tadanari?" Adkins: "Deadline is Tuesday. The last two days, erm well from now, are always the busiest. Wait and see." "Perhaps things that we wanted to materialise haven't for one reason or another. There is still time. The window hasn't closed yet." "I can't make an announcement until a piece of paper has been signed."
That says to me that 1. Plan A (Hooper) failed to materialise, and 2. Plan B (Sharp?) is edging closer to completion but personal terms/contracts need to be sorted out.
I took that interview as we've failed with each of our top targets. Not encouraging especially as he says "Good squad anyway, loan window open in a few days..". So i've now reduced my expectations and don't expect much
As a PL team you can attract better players. The selling teams can demand more money in January too when they know buyers are getting desperate.
Whilst I agree about Connolly, we can't say Barnard isn't good enough for the Championship when he hasnt had a chance to prove us wrong - Didn't we all say this about Hammond and he is doing alright
Sorry but that's just my opinion mate, he's not quick enough and his technical ability/touch leaves a lot to be desired. I think he's a great League 1 player but not a Top 6 Championship player, plus he may be sent down by then anyway which would mean we'd probably terminate his contract.