Consistency is really what is needed to show this team has moved forward. There have been injuries to first choice players but that has given opportunities to others which they often haven't taken. The kind of lethargy seen at the end of last season has periodically cropped up this season too. And it's not because of the opposition, some of the worst performances have been against weaker teams. If Phelan is making a huge difference we'll see continuing effort from players and no slackening. As with every season I fully expect some teams near the bottom to pull away with some good results, so we need to keep focused.
I always thought Sagbo was worth his salt, but it always struck me as very strange that we sent an unfit player out on loan; Sagbo should have been fit, end of. As for signings we need GK who has a better command of his box, a Striker who is capable of being a real threat in front of goal and, most important of all, a creative midfielder. Keep McShane (I've changed my mind on that one) and get Rosenior fit.
Left Back/wingback - Dudge & Figgy both out of contract end of season, leaves only Robertson (Brady can do a job but he's better suited further up the pitch) Goalkeeper - Harper out of contract, McGregor is good enough at this level but goes through bad patches of form too often for me, a good no.2 is vital. CM/attacking - our 3 man midfield is too static, meyler, hudd & livermore hardly run off the ball or run with the ball, we need someone like Ramirez signed. I disagree with a few ppl that we need a striker. We have Jelavic, Hernandez, N'Doye & Aluko, 4 is enough, 2 big strikers, 2 pacy strikers. We need to build a good strike partnership and you cant do that if your going to bring in a new striker every transfer window... Sagbo (Summer), Long & Jela (January), Hernandez (Summer), N'Doye (January). Centre Back is interesting.. playing 3 at the back means you need around 5-6 CB's in your squad. Currently we have Davies, Dawson, Chester, Bruce, McShane & Maguire. You always need to improve every transfer window if possible, and if we can bring in a better CB to partner Dawson & Chester, then id be happy to see Davies go. Dawson is our best defender and will probably captain us over the next few years, Chester will get better and better.. Davies for me will be replaced. I think we are covered everywhere else. If we are sticking with this 3-5-2 formation, then lets stick with it and buy the best players we can get for the positions needed. The players suited for this formation also work with your standard 4-4-2, 4-3-3 etc.. We also have wingers in Elmo, Brady, Snodgrass etc for when we do play with wide midfielders.
next season we need a new GK, a right back, a creative midfielder, And a defender (if Davies leaves) possibly a cheap striker (just incase)
Totally agree wth all of this, we have enough strikers now, going out and spending any more money on that position would be a waste, even though this season we've seen what can happen if you lose two, we now have a very decent front four. If we had to get a striker in, then it would have to be a loan deal or a free transfer for me. Interesting what you say about Davies, we know he's got the ability and I think it's the players like Bruce and McShane that need to be leaving so we can bring in some better quality to play alongside Dawson and Chester. I don't think we will see him go in the Summer, unless he fails to regain his first team place. CM we have Huddlestone, Livermore, Diame, Meyler and Quinn (assuming he signs this deal), Ramirez might go back to Southampton but I'd keep him if the deal was right for us, they clearly don't need him. Wide players we have Snodgrass to come back, we have Brady, Elmo, Aluko, Robertson (who I think might do a Bale and become a LW) but a new RB/RWB wouldn't go amiss, if only to provide Elmo with some competition. A new back up for McGregor would be my priority, he's played well this season and I see no reason he can't be our first choice next year too (the turning **** at 30 rule doesn't apply to keepers).
Cheap striker? Ain't we had our fill of these? Surely cheap strikers are strikers that don't score or contribute to the team performance . Hence them being cheap! We need a wonder kid who can cut it at this level. keep it under your hat though,or everyone'll be after him!
We need a new goal keeper to take the place of McGregor, who has proved many times that he isn't as capable as we all thought he was when he first signed for the club. I'd love us to sign Butland, he's only young and needs games, he could be our goal keeper for the next 10 years, unless we sell him to a big club. We need a capable left back, as Robertson and Brady and predominantly wing backs/wingers. (Robertson was signed as a left back, however he isn't good at defending, so we need to convert him into a winger) Possibly the young lad from Ipswich who has been earning rave reviews, Tyrone Mings? He was released by Southampton because he was too small, he's now 6ft5. Conor Townsend can play second fiddle to him, obviously that means we have Brady and Robertson as cover if needed. We could also do with a new central midfielder, depending on who goes down obviously, but we could go in for Delph (Might be out of our reach), or Jedinak? One other player could be Grant Leadbitter from Middlesbrough, he's had 7 assists and 11 goals this season, that's if they do not get promoted. One of Bruce, McShane, Davies will go. I hope it is Davies, for a profit. Maguire can then step up in the pecking order and be sent out on loan with a recall clause if we need him. Fig, Dudgeon, Harper, Sagbo will all be out of the door, including a few from the youth team.
Our squad needs tinkering with only. I expect that SB/Phelan have already worked out what we need. Only Figueroa and Sagbo are 100% certain not to be staying.
Please highlight how we need better. Other than these free kicks, he doesn't let many stupid ones in and does more good for the club
We still have a battle ahead of us this season, but if we do stay up the future will be looking rosy with all the Sky money coming
