Pre-season I posted my assesment of our squad on another forum; "How many more players do you think we need? THE SQUAD FOR THE PREMIERSHIP AS I SEE IT; Every premiership team needs at least 2 quality players in each position, here are 2 teams using our established system... 1. Michel Vorm ? 22.Angel Rangel 4. Steven Caulker 5. Ash Williams 3. Neil Taylor 7. Leon Britton 24. Joe Allen 12. Nathan Dyer 14. Stephen Dobbie 11. Scott Sinclair 10. Danny Graham ??. Morreira/Tremmel 29. Jazz Richards 5. Alan Tate 16. Gary Monk 23. ????????????? (Daniel Ayala?) 6. Ferrie Bodde 27. Mark Gower 15. Wayne Routledge 26. Kemy Agustien 28. Tom Butler 18. Leroy Lita Those left that have a fighting chance of getting in the first 22; ANDREA ORLANDI: (can replace Gower, Butler or Agustien) Last chance saloon for Orlandi, not sure I would have kept him on but I suppose he might represent the most quality for the least money within our budget. RYAN HARLEY: (plays in the Dobbie/Agustien role) Yet to see him in action but will be very pleasantly surprised if he could make the jump from League 1 to Premiership in his first season at the club...highly unlikely, but will be interesting. Could end up going on loan to the Championship. DAVID COTTERILL: (covers Routledge/Dobbie, allegedly can play up front) I understand we are looking to sell Cotterill, can't see us getting our money back. CRAIG BEATTIE: (covers striker) Could prove useful substitute if he can stay fit, has some experience...might look to sell one of him or Moore and replace with more potent striker if there is one available (I would probably sell Beattie before Moore). LUKE MOORE: (covers striker) In exactly the same situation as Beattie but has time on his side, let's hope he can get some consistency if he is given a run this season. YOUNGSTERS: Cornell, Walsh, Lucas, Thomas, Alfei (will benefit from playing against the premiership's reserve sides regulary...would like to see Cornell and Alfei go out on loan to gain some experience OTHER: McDonald will leave, for the best for him and us...and Donnolly is out on loan again, probably never to return FINAL ANALYSIS: Even if we buy Vorm and Ayala this week we still look short of 3/4 players. I would suggest we need at least 1 more defender aswell as Ayala (would prefer a centre half although an out and out left back would be fine...Ayala would then move to centre half and Tate would cover right back). If we were to get Ayala, a top class centre half and a natural left back I would be in dream world. I would also suggest we need another winger as although I'm prepared to give Butler a chance at this level I'm not 100% convinced he's good enough. Final point, I believe Rogers feels we could use another forward...I agree, but feel we should be looking for a forward who can play in the hole aswell as up front or a goalscoring midfielder. An out and out competitor for Dobbie if you will (Or a Pratley replacement). Spare squad no.s at the mo are; 1 - Vorm? 8 - That forward/attacking mid to compete with Dobbie? 21 - Winger? 23 - Ayala? / left-back 25 - Centre half who could fill in at right back?â What do the rest of you think?
even your final analysis is out of date, why did'nt you add the recent arrivals? i think we've got a chance if everyone is fully committed, we'll need a bit of luck along the way, but who does'nt.
Am I happy? 1 - Vorm - As we all know he has been a revelation 8 - Darnell Situ - Very pleased with this signing (although I've got muscle and extra back up for centre-half rather than goals). I can see him breaking into the first team this season. 21 - 23 - Federico Bessone - Shocked by this at first, but on reflection think it is a shrewd signing. He's cheap, wont replace Taylor (leaving Taylor disgruntled), knows the boys and the system inside out. 25 - Rafik Halliche - Not optimistic about this guy but did play well against England in the last World Cup (...and the whole team looked comfortable on the ball if memory serves me correct), so fingers crossed. CONCLUSION Would have preferred Matthew Bates to Halliche. Would have liked to see us sign that goalscoring midfielder / forward to play behind Graham aswell as Situ (what with him being so cheap and young enough not to need registering in the squad). The winger I was hoping for was Marvin Emnes (as he CAN play out there, but also is excellent cover up front). After his start in the Championship he's probably out of our price range. Would love it if we hijacked Brighton's Vicente deal today....wishful thinging though huh. So chuffed with Vorm. Overall I think Brendan's done a good job. What do you guys think?
Squad as it stands then; Team A Vorm Caulker Williams Rangel Taylor Agustien Britton Dyer Dobbie Sinclair Graham Team B Tremmel Halliche Monk Jazz Bessone Situ Gower Allen Routledge Butler Lita Extra = Morreira, Tate, Bodde, Orlandi, Beattie, Moore All of these fit into the 25, what with so many being under 21...and we've got the youngsters I mentioned in the first post if injuries get desperate (Should add that from Team 'B' I don't expect Jazz or Butler to see much game time as I believe Brendan would shuffle the pack first) Of the extra Bodde and Tate would obviously move into the first 22 when fit, forcing Richards and Gower out. LONG TERM If we can stay up I would suggest getting shot of Gower, Orlandi, Butler and one of either Beattie or Moore (or both!). Leaving us the mouth watering prospect of seeing 4/5 new players brought in next summer that would be of a significantly higher standard than the current first team (actually, 6/7 seeing as 2 of the first 22 are loanees) Jack Army!
The final analysis was part of the original post which I had copied and pasted from another site. Was busy writing the update when you posted.
We have a good squad but still would have liked a couple more players. our strikers must start scoring though, good passing is the key with plenty of forward play. crosses must improve by sinclair and dyer to enable danny and or lita/beattie to get on the end of them,.....we have the squad to do very well this season......KTF
I was expecting an extra attacking option in the transfer window, but I am still very happy with the squad and the management of it (both on and off the pitch). We haven't had a marquee signing, but we aren't taking the risks that teams like Newcastle and Birmingham and West Ham took to stay in this division, and long may it continue.
