January transfer market.

Hearing rumours that the reason we’re signing midfielders and Morsy wasn’t involved at the weekend is because a Championship club is in for him (perhaps nothing more than gossip though).

 

Hirst done deal on loan.

 

I hope its only the annual rumour churning. Would be bad if we lost our skipper and powerhouse prime midfield mover now.

 

Town now closing in on Broadhead deal, reported 1.5 million fee agreed

 

Will be interesting to see who gets the minutes.

 

Our priority now must be a CB with leadership qualities……oh and to hang onto our better players!!

 

Hirst and Broadhead signings add much needed firepower and competition up front. I thought we might be getting one striker in this window, so to get two talented strikers is excellent business and demonstrates the ambition at the club. There’s no 2014/15-esque hesitation and caution from these owners - negotiating from a position of strength to increase the chances of promotion. Precisely what we’re all hoping to see!

It’s also positive to see that the transfer business appears to be sorted relatively early. With Hirst, Broadhead, and Ladapo in the squad, maybe we’ll let Jackson and/or Ahadme go? Alternatively, if John-Jules is going to be out for a few more months, might be worth cutting the loan short, if we can.

 

Broadhead done deal.

 

I don’t expect them all to work out but there must be a 15 goal man between them over the rest of the season with the number of chances we create. I think jackson will still play a part for his pace and wide play.

 

Great news, 3 and Half year deal....happy days!!
Any more in or do we think that's it for incomings. Personally i think we are good now, think we have enough in defence.

 

I reckon we still need a commanding CB to take charge - we’re lacking that Gareth McAuley character who will put himself on the line to stop goals. Our defenders can play out from the back but our weakest point at the moment is our defending.

 

Totally agree Yorkie,we’re scoring plenty and if only we could cut out a small number of our defensive mistakes several of those disappointing draws would have been wins.

 

I'm don't think we need another CB, think we're pretty well covered there, the mistakes we're making probably can be sorted on the training ground rather than personnel. I'd say if we were to get anyone else in I'd have to be a really top class CM/playmaker or no.10 who would make things tick (maybe a Humpreys with more experience).

Really good to see we've been active in the market and done it early. Is this really ITFC I'm reading about? Makes you realise how bad we were under Evans.

Don't know much about the strikers we've signed our whether they have been brought in to play as a striker or no.10 but I have confidence that McKenna knows what he's doing. Have to say neither has a particularly good scoring record especially in comparison to Ladapo, maybe the added competition will get fire into his belly, looked like he had a great game against Rotherham. Will leave some question marks over some of the rest of the squad, I'm surprised we haven't seen more of Adhame to be honest he looked like the ideal player for how McKenna wants our strikers to play

 

Totally agree re defenders ptc, it's more the odd silly mistake but on the whole the defenders have been ok. All defenders make the odd mistake, i think we may have been a tad harsh on the defence, its not as if we are conceding loads and sometimes you have to hold your hands up and say good goal to the opposing team, it's not always the fault of the defence!

 

Saying that...of course i wouldn't be upset if we upgraded in defence, just don't think it a major issue.

 

While I don't think defence is a major issue - if we are to make one final transfer this window, then central defence is the sensible position to upgrade.

I agree that defensively we've been good this season, bar the occasional lapse in concentration. On average, we have conceded one goal a game (which is the fifth best record in the division). As far as I'm concerned, Donacien in a three-man defence is one of the first names on the team-sheet. I guess if we ever revert to a back four, he's the first choice right-back, so there's a gap in central defence. That leaves us with Wolfenden, Burgess, Edmundson, and Keogh. I think Keogh's best days are well behind him and Edmundson has been uncharacteristically error-prone this season. So if we can bring in somebody with a bit of leadership and better concentration - who can compete for a first team position - then it's only going to strengthen us.

This squad is stacked though with proven quality and plenty of depth. Those two strikers look brilliant on paper, but we do have a strange record at Ipswich of turning previously prolific strikers into shadows of their former selves. I cannot fault the transfer business since McKenna has come in and the horror stories we heard about Ashton haven't come to fruition.

 

I'm going to do a bit of nit picking of your post Nuggets mainly because I think some of the points could be questioned and I'd be interested to know what others think.

The 2 strikers we've brought in look brilliant on paper. I would suggest on paper they're probably 2 of the least prolific strikers we've brought into the club since I don't know when. I'm not saying they will be bad signings but considering we're all clamouring for a 20 goal a season striker from what I've seen on paper at least they don't look it.

Secondly I'd say personally McKenna's dealings in the transfer market is open for debate... Out of the 2 transfer windows he's been town boss only 1 of his signings has established themselves as a consistently picked first team player all of the others have generally been bit part players.

Whilst the quality of football has gone up since Cook left I'd say the quality of signing (so far) has not been anywhere near as high, although arguably it hasnt needed to have been because we've had a good basis to build off. You could argue that except for the Left Back positions last season's squad was stronger than this seasons.

I'm definitely being picky here (sorry Nuggets)

 

No worries, it’s all about debate on here haha!

Regarding your thoughts on the strikers - firstly they’re both fairly young (Hirst is 23, Broadhead is 24), so they’re not going to have that prolific record that proven strikers have until their a few years older. Hirst got 15 in all competitions at Portsmouth last season, Broadhead had 10 goals in 20 league games last season - a great record before injuries.

I think you’re being harsh on McKenna’s transfer record. Only one signing in January last year and that was Walton on a permanent. Sensible deal. In the summer - Davis, Harness, and Ladapo are all first team regulars (although latter is likely to be upgraded now, but still has several goals to his name). Leigh was always signed as cover at left back, as we needed two through the door. Considering injuries, jury has to be out on Camara and Ball. Injuries also affected Ahadme, but I guess being harsh he’s looking like a poor signing. Keogh seems like he came in for the experience and leadership qualities behind the scene, but despite being a free transfer, he’s been too slow on the pitch. John-Jules hasn’t looked consistent, probably a poor signing there but he is a loanee. I’d argue, on balance, that’s generally strong transfer business but clouded by injuries.

I don’t doubt the quality of the summer 2021 window, Cook’s only window in charge. After all, we had Walton (loan), Burgess, Edmundson, Morsy, Evans, Chaplin, Burns, Aluko, Celina (loan), and Bonne (loan). All successes. We also had players like Thompson (loan), Penney, Coulson (loan), Harper, Fraser, Carroll, Pigott, and Barry (loan) - so there were several misfires.

I think Ashton is the main force behind the transfers anyway. I just feel that where I thought there was some tension between Cook and Ashton when doing transfer business, it feels a lot more integrated and joined up under McKenna.

 

Cook’s transfer window was formidable and he had a clean sweep of the squad. We won’t see the like again and neither should we. But the players were not all that until McKenna got working with them.