If its any comfort ptc, we have looked strong in both pre-seasons. But yes, its gonna be a tougher league than last time. Lets hope we get a couple more over the line before ko on Aug 8th.
Welsh connection and presumably would be guaranteed a first team spot at Wrexham. The club might look at it from a financial angle and think we can get a bit more to make a decent profit, if that’s their opening offer. I don’t think we should sell him though. He’s a very good Championship player and he had some positive performances last season. He should be a reliable squad player in the Premier League too, if we get promoted.
Would love to keep him but he wants to be a starter and he is behind Philogene and Clarke for the left hand starter - if Szmodics plays the 10 (with Chaplin as reserve) and if Hutchinson stays, he will be on the right with Ogbene / Burns.
I think this is a tough one. I really like and rate Broadhead, in his few performances last season he looked actually quite comfortable at PL level which I don't really think any of our forwards did last season. From what I saw it looked like he was the only player who could physically and technically cope in the central 10 position last season. His problem is the expensive traffic infront of him, we've paid substantial fees for players who can play in his position both on the left and centrally and considering this I can see us accepting a decent offer for him. It would be a shame because particularly centrally he's probably our only forwards who can equally beat a player with skill as well as split the defence open with a pass. I'm not sure why I think this because they are completely different players but his intelligence and movement often remind me a bit of a deeper lying Marcus Stewart.
Fingers crossed. This signing if completed soon would give me more confidence. However there's still quite big areas of weakness in the squad.
Sign Hackney, Brownhill or both....that's midfield sorted. Then it's just another striker or 2 and that is it, squad complete and more than good enough for promotion!! Broady....not consistent enough for me and 7 million is decent money, we don't need him, Clarke, Philogene, Ogbene and Burns are more than capable in the championship.
If we do get Hackney over the line I will be very happy. We do need another striker, even tho Al-Hamadi played well last night. Broadie has a strong emotional bond with Club, players and fans, so doubt he will go to Wrexham!
Its better to get the right players in late in the window rather than getting the wrong ones in early.
Agreed. Over the last few years, we've often preferred to get our business done early. I can see why McKenna would prefer a full pre-season with new signings, particularly given the tactical training required to get players up to speed. Having said that, over the last few seasons we've brought in the likes of O'Shea, Chaplin, and Edmundson a few days before the summer transfer window closed and they all went on to have good seasons.
Young isn't going to be a long-term solution at right back, but he's going to be a reliable first team starter this season. He's used to playing 30+ games in the Premier League, even in his late 30s for a struggling side, so I don't think the tempo of the Championship is going to tax him too much. Granted he won't be a guaranteed starter when we have three matches in a week, but I think he'll adapt easier than some people believe. Add to that his undoubted experience and vocal on-pitch leadership - something we certainly lacked last season. An added bonus is his set piece deliveries. Hopefully Davis gets back to the standard he showed last time in the Championship - but with Young on the pitch, the set piece burden will be shared a bit more evenly.
Possibly waiting for PL teams to confirm their squads and bring in their targets before looking to the loan market It's very rare a team promoted from the Championship doesn't make good use of at least a couple of loans Awkwardly for you, Birmingham and Southampton are two hard openers, equally they'll not be fancying facing Ipswich early doors
This is so true of our situation - we have a strong XI but we need more striking options to see us through to the January window.
