We look like we're discarding Patto, though (one of the original Academy four). And its entirely possible that Riggy is scratching round for minutes. That's four for four. There's no absolute truth in what I'm saying here. I'm on the outside and as such this is just speculation. However, even with KLDs ambition to 'give it a real go', the spectre of relegation is very real. We need to make absolutely damn sure that we aren't burning bridges as a club.
Is it not plausible that Neil was told of the ambition of we went up and thought ‘I need to be playing’ Might not be financial may be ‘I love the club but I’m prime age’ It’s clear Xhaka takes that short and I expect Rigg gets the bulk of sub appearances.
So, I'm now fully focused on new CBs and a new striker. One minor injury to Wilson for example, shows how short we are up front. Clear as day we need centre half reinforcements. Looking forward to see who we bring in.
Patto will just need to compete for his place like everyone else. Players have had zero competition for a while due to bad depth, now they have some actual genuine competition if we get signings over the line
We gave Riggy plenty of minutes last season (possibly too much for such a young lad). I'm confident that when fully fit he'll get plenty of minutes again - just more of them may be from the bench or in cup games. He's a prized asset and we'll want to give him plenty of exposure. The more minutes he plays, the higher the price tag will be when the big clubs come knocking with offers we can't refuse. I expect him to really kick on this season too, particularly with the calibre of players around him. He'll certainly learn a lot from Xhaka.
Simply stated we need a big squad and we need improvements the young lads like riggy need compeititon, I want them to do well but they can’t play every week it’s not best for the club and for them really.
Xhaka supposedly flying in from Dusseldorf with KLD also on board landing at 8:40 tonight on aircraft OH-WIX. Flight not on flight radar but from the lad OTR who gets flight info