I personally think it would be a good idea to have a left footed fullback behind a right footed midfielder, and vice-versa.
I will be ****ing delighted if Saturday comes and our squad is exactly the same. A bit of consistency in the squad will do wonders I feel and all our younger crop of last season are a year older dont forget. Plus Gosling and Marveaux are practically 2 new signings and we have Taylor fit again.
This, with Jonas and HBA cutting in it creates space for our fullbacks to get to the byline and put crosses in. Saying this though Simpson never seems to make it anyway, always crossing from deep.
and that deadline we failed as we have this deadline, penny pinching and keeping everything crossed that we don't lose anyone. A team in progression ? A team who has strengthened in the summer for Europa etc ?? A team who as fixed the issue at the back ?? Epic fail
Disappointing window for me. Keeping our big players is all well and good, but if we don't improve each window how long can we expect to keep the likes of Tiote, Cabaye HBA etc. Although Santon is young and still learning, our full backs are actually not far of the weakest in the top half IMO. Santon has plenty of room for improvement and I'm sure he will, but he is currently suspect defensively. Simpson is the opposite, appalling at over lapping (never see him hit the by line and cross, it's always from deep) but ok at defending. It can't and shouldn't be underestimated how big an acquisition Debuchy would have been for us, he would have improved our right hand side ten fold. He's quick, solid defensively and very aggressive in his attacking play. Also, should Senegal qualify for the ACON (not impossible) we are left with Shola as our only senior striker for up to 6 weeks (depending on how far they progress if they do qualify). If he is injured at the same time (far from impossible given his track record) we are left with Campbell, a great prospect but that's all he is for now. For me this window was a great opportunity to kick on and cement ourselves as a top 6 team. Sadly we appear to have stood still, and in football if you stand still you actually go backwards (due to other teams strengthening). It's a guarantee that Chelsea will finish above us and that last years top four are also currently better than us. Everton have strengthened and Liverpool have strengthened. I see completing a transfer a bit like buying a house, if you find your dream house you'll more than likely pay an extra 1k or 2k because you know it's perfect for you. Granted if it's 10k too much and out of budget you move on and keep looking, but for me Debuchy was the equivalent of paying a touch higher than you planned to in order to get the right home (in our case player/team), expecially as we've been bidding under his market value all summer.
I think we need to remember Pardew's comments in January before Cisse was signed. Look at his comments today, I wouldn't be surprised if tomorrow or Friday we see a few bids for messers Douglas Debuchy and Carroll launched. Debuchy maybe less likely now due to Lille's progression into CL. Carroll and Douglas isn't dead wood.
Agree with a lot of Sir Bobby says but the window isn't closed yet. Our starting eleven is as good as anyone bar the top 3,it is strength in depth we lack.Teams that will be challanging us for 4th -8th are/have strengthened and in my opinion wisely.We have a couple of players with a history of injuries - doesn't mean it will re-occur,just more probable.It is the likes of Spurs/Everton/Liverpool who will be the biggest threat to us and our challenge for the 4th/8th places they are better equiped now than in May '12 by a fair degree.We had/have the chance to make a statement and have so far failed(no disrespest to Anita). My worry is,also,some of our "names" will be more inclined to move on if we are not successful up to January.They will not be Euro. Cup tied and to Champions league teams it may be worth paying over the odds for a player if it means they progress even further in the competion, bearing in mind the prize money. Anyway the fat lady is only just beginning to clear her throat. "No new incomings says Pardew" White man speak with forked tongue (sometimes).Let's keep the faith and eveything crossed for a top signing or two before the window closes.
We have clearly improved our squad so the argument of "if we don't improve we're standing still blah blah" just doesn't have any substance. We have improved in both quality and depth of the first team squad. This is because we have signed an additional dutch international to replace Guthrie, signed a couple of younger midfielders, have plenty of emrging talent. The only area we have not strengthened is attack. For me the emergence of young Campbell offsets the Lovenkrands departure. Obviously Best left too so we are maybe a striker light. The club are trying to put that right. Defensively we haven't changed much but we already have a good defence, and the emergence of Perch as a serious option means we'll start in a stronger position than we did last season. A centre half better than Willo and another full back are just a bonus. I think we'll get one of those two anyway. If we do its been a fantastic window.
Has our pool of defenders improved? No is the answer. Has our pool of strikers got worse? Yes is the answer. So we've improved the midfield and no other area. Arguably we've improved the one are that we were strongest in. Curtis Good is for the development squad only this year, Pardew has already confirmed this. How you can say the squad is stronger/has more depth is crazy in my opinion. Granted the window isn't closed yet, and the signing of Debuchy or an alternative quality full back would certainly go a long way to creating a stronger first 11. You also only improve by signing players that are better than the ones you currently have, barring possibly Anita none of our other signings are an improvement on our current players for this season. Yes hopefully they will go on to have a great future in the game, but so far we are weaker than last year upfront and haven't strengthened a defence that clearly needs 1 or 2 additions.
Yes our pool of defenders has improved. When we started last season, indeed still halfway through last season, Perch would not have been considered a serious option by most. Tavenier would not have been considered a serious option. Through good coaching and commitment from said players they have improved. Santon is a better player now than he was at the start of last season. We have improved the depth of quality (not numbers) in our squad, to suggest we have not is just crazy talk. Anita is a better option than Guthrie. We have added young Bigismalls and Amalfitano. We just have better options all over the midfield area. Ferguson and Abeid have improved. Basically our midfield options are far superior to last year. We made our big signing in the strike area with Cisse and we'll struggle to carry another top class forward. We could maybe do with another option but it won't be easy to find one at the right price. And young Campbell has also emerged as a serious option. The defence is better for me when you consider the players have improved and we haven't lost anyone. We've added young Good but I don't really count him as he is more for development. We are not short in any areas. I'd like a step up on Willo and I'd like a left full back. We're not desperate though. It just seems to me we are not happy because we are not buying and spending loads. I'm not interested in going backwards by going down that route again. The board have proven themselves to be competent and they deserve the supporters getting behind their plans. I'm all for a good moan when things are not being doen right, but in this case they are. Buying is not the answer all the time. We need to give the young players opportunity too or you might aswell shut down the youth system.
I don't want us to be buying players if it means spending beyond our means mate but I just think the extra 1-2 million on Debuchy should have been spent, 7 million is still a fair price and he'd massively improve not only our defence but also our attacking play down the right hand side.
He's 27. Not over the hill by any stretch but the club has now committed itself to a structure that puts a limit on certain things. Age is one such thing and whilst sometimes this will appear to hamper us (like in this case), over the longer term we will be healthier. I'd like Debuchy. I'd prefer a left back to move Santon over but I can see why Pards is happy to leave Santon in his secondary role to accomodate Debuchy. He's a class act and would undoubtedly improve our squad. I still think it could well happen. Obviously it all depends how you run your club. Do you go tight and prudent like ourselves, Arsenal, Everton? Do you go silly billy like QPR, Sunderland or West Ham (two of those clubs owners can afford it mind - the porn boys are just numpties). Do you pretend to be Man U, Chelski, Citeh, Liverpool and spend really big? Or do you just settle and take no risks at all like some of the smaller clubs who have to take relegation seriously? There is obviously the idea of flexibility within a prudent system which I think is what you are suggesting. I think at some point in the future we may get to that stage, but I'd have to agree with the board in that we're not there yet. Lets not forget a certain person is still owed an awful lot of money that he would like returned! Add that to us only really having turned ourselves round for 2 seasons, we are still in the embryonic stages of full recovery. I just think we must remember where we were three years ago. We're still just getting the foundations set to ensure that type of ****e never happens again.
