I agree. Going back to my earlier comment about 'realism', if we spend a lot of money on Championship players next season whilst letting our own players go, we'll have little money to spend if we are promoted. Get promotion and then spend, IMO.
This is the problem, top end champ players will not come cheap with the new PL deal starting, so even to get those I think we will start having to pay 8 figure sums. Look at the prices goal scorers are going for! Afobe, Rhodes, dare I say Johnson! Anyone who thinks we can improve by spending less than £8M at least domestically is going to be a little shocked I think. Bah!
Equally though, it's a much bigger risk to not spend this summer and jeopardise a chance of promotion. Obviously there's two extremes here and the club will no doubt take a middle ground, but for me it's quite risky to bank on promotion. I'd like to think the club will realise we've got the skeleton of a promotion-winning side, and recruit promising players who may not immediately walk into the first team, but look to have the potential to step up to the Prem. Obviously they don't come cheap, but perhaps in Maddison and others we already have those players. The amount of pre-season time our youngsters get will certainly be interesting. Any players who are the "finished article" at championship level should be limited to shrewd dealings like bringing Gary O'Neil to Carrow Road (I'll be the first to admit I never thought I'd type that 18 months ago!).
gm I think we will spend in the summer, DH, but just not the kind of huge sums that GM referred to. As I said on the previous page, "Much will depend on what AN thinks that Murphys, Toffolo, Loza, McGrandles, Maddison, Thompson and Godfrey will be able to do. My hope is that it'd be an opportunity to develop a team instead of just bolting one together. We have a lot of older players and we need to start planning for the future." We won't be in a position to spend huge sums, but that doesn't mean that we won't strengthen the team whilst also looking at the potential of our young players.
But with the way prices are rising, csn we improve our starting XI without spending at the very least £5m? For a striker or a top champ CB I would argue more like £10m. These are the sums we realistically need to be spending to improve the areas we most need to do so. Bah!
I don't see any of our fringe players from the youth team being given substantial game time next season. Under NA youth was given a chance and we almost put ourselves out of promotion contention before AN took over. Given the strength of our team and squad that season we should have strolled to the title rather than get in via the play offs. If we go down and that is by no means a certainty (although after our past two performances I fear the worst) I feel we won't see a lot of transfer activity. If we can hold what we have I am sure the board will feel that AN has sufficient resources to get us back up, particularly in the knowledge that we will have the funds to strengthen come January if necessary. However if we stay up we chronically need a decent Centre half and a finisher. Easier said than done I know but if we can't score or keep clean sheets it will be another tough season for us.
As a slight aside I note that there still seems to be a lot of support for Redmond staying despite the fact that he still cannot nail a position in our team. Is the general consensus that he will actually have a breakthrough season at some point? Got to say that I have my doubts that he will ever play at a higher level than us and that next season he will be both a joy to behold and a huge source of frustration for us.
I tend to agree with your views on Redmond and perhaps in a different team/formation, he could go on to become a really good player, but if he stays, I feel he'll excite and frustrate the fans in equal measure!!!
I've gotta say that whilst I agree we will have enough quality coming down to mount a challenge for a return to the PL, I kind of want us to flex our muscles a bit and actually try to buy a striker who can bridge the gap in the summer. If the likes of Burnley, Borough and Derby are spending big, I'd like to see a statement of intent, keep our best and add a 25 goal striker and a clean sheet machine at the back. I don't know who these players are? But lets go in with the attitude and a squad that we should win every game. With those two additions I'd wanna believe the title would be ours to lose. Bah!
I'd been hoping this year would be his breakthru season, but as you say he has frustrated as much as excited. I suspect the same would be the case but hope for different. If someone came in for him with £12-15M I'd seriously consider it, I believe there are players out there for that sort of money who would be more consistant and serve us better. I still don't believe the Murphy's are that far behind him, so a more consistant performer with a Murphy sparkle from the bench if we were chasing a game, would probably be a better set up overall. But then I can't name a player who for that money would come to us and be generally better on our wages. Certainly not Jarvis or Howson! Bah!
Redmond's greatest weakness shows when the ball is lost. Jarvis is starting because he is good at getting back to cover and still have the pace to get forward effectively. Redmond's weakness would be less of a liability in the Championship, but it would still be a problem. If Brady leaves, however, Jarvis is more likely to play on the left with Josh as back-up/impact sub (a job he could do well, IMO). While Jacob can do a similar job on the right, we'd need another more experienced player there if Redmond leaves. At striker, Jerome was a 20 goal scorer last season and could be again. We'd still need one more at least, and more if both Mbokani and Naismith leave. If Klose leaves, we'd need another CB, and as with the striker this could be on loan if not on a permanent.
Let's not forget that Maddison from Coventry is joining us next season and could well be the Hoolahan replacement. I'm not suggesting he's 'the Messiah', but he's got to be an improvement on what we currently have.
Without sounding like a broken record... CB and Striker positions need attention. Who thought we'd still be banging on about these positions 2 years later. Upfront we've had band aids at best. At CB we've barely even rubbed some savlon on it.
That's a nasty bump, I hope you didn't hurt yourself! Now we have lost our foundation rock, I fear whatever ins and outs there are will not help us!
Apologies, I've not read all the replies. With the big tv money coming in, we can hold out for better deals. Use the money wisely in the required areas. I've long thought that Redmond, Brady and Howson would want to go. If Klose is out for longer, hopefully he'll slip under the radar and could play on until the January window at least. Then there's the ones who 'should' go. Bassong, Martin, Whittaker, Mulumbu and Dorrans for example. Is Hoolahan too old for next season? Many of the same players have failed again. They'll be older next season which could outweigh their experience. Playing too many youngsters could upset the balance. Would the current crop out on loan be any better next season? Getting the mix right will be a challenge. Sadly, I fear a long stint back in the Championship. We don't have a right to come back. Remember the arrogance of 1995 and 'on loan to the Endsleigh'? It'll be tougher with Villa and probably Newcastle in it too, unlike with Cardiff and Fulham last time.
