I reckon that with just 2 signings, we have a good enough squad to survive this season:
Snodgrass: going to cost $$$, would be great competition for Wes Hoolahan, plus I like the idea of him linking up with Bradley Johnson, young, clearly got the hunger, would jump at PL opportunity considering our position and stability at this club (financially, manager has pedigree of developing lower league talent and converting it into Premiership quality). BUY UNLESS ALTERNATIVE ARISES
Rhodes: if Jackson ever gets injured, and with Vaughan's documented record of injuries, we will only have Morrison and Holt as our strikers, assuming Wilbraham leaves, this leaves us open to tactical exploitation by opposition, if we don't have a "quick, little man" option. Rhodes is clearly a brilliant prospect and I firmly believe that the money being talked about is worth it 100%, 2 years down the line, he is going to double or triple in price, and we can either sell him for huge profit or keep him as our main striker for 3-5 years time (if...as most suspect he is PL quality, then the £5-8m being touted, will seem insignificant to what we would pay for an established one) and it would be seen as a massive coup to all other Premier League teams, if we could attract this gem to us, and further demonstrate how far our club has come in the past 2.5 yrs. MUST BUY AT ALL COSTS
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To see how this would fit with the squad, consider this:
Ruddy (Cover: Rudd)
Tierney (Cover: Drury)
Whitbread (Cover: Ward)
Ayala (Cover: Barnett)
R.Martin (Cover:Naughton)
Johnson (Cover: Fox)
Hoolahan (Cover: Crofts)
Pilkington (Cover: Surman)
Snodgrass (Cover: Bennett)
Holt (Cover: Morrison)
Rhodes (Cover: Jackson)
...
Our essential 22...room for Lappin (utility-player), De-Laet (could send him back, and get another loanee?, useful back-up in the mean-time) and Vaughan (recovering from injury)
So, with just 2 purchases (going to cost £5m RS and £6m JR), which would be sound investments for the future rather than panic buys, we would have a formidable squad in relation to Swansea and QPR.
Don't forget that with Vaughan and Ward returning from injury-layoffs, these will be equivalent impacts to 2 new transfers...big confidence boost both in defence and further competition for the strike-force...
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Your Thoughts?
One potential avenue would be, and I think this is quite a good "bait" for Bates
, is that if we land Rhodes, he should go to Leeds for the rest of the season to get quality Championship experience...this would certainly lessen the blow of Snodgrass leaving, and perhaps lower the cost of buying the latter?
Snodgrass: going to cost $$$, would be great competition for Wes Hoolahan, plus I like the idea of him linking up with Bradley Johnson, young, clearly got the hunger, would jump at PL opportunity considering our position and stability at this club (financially, manager has pedigree of developing lower league talent and converting it into Premiership quality). BUY UNLESS ALTERNATIVE ARISES
Rhodes: if Jackson ever gets injured, and with Vaughan's documented record of injuries, we will only have Morrison and Holt as our strikers, assuming Wilbraham leaves, this leaves us open to tactical exploitation by opposition, if we don't have a "quick, little man" option. Rhodes is clearly a brilliant prospect and I firmly believe that the money being talked about is worth it 100%, 2 years down the line, he is going to double or triple in price, and we can either sell him for huge profit or keep him as our main striker for 3-5 years time (if...as most suspect he is PL quality, then the £5-8m being touted, will seem insignificant to what we would pay for an established one) and it would be seen as a massive coup to all other Premier League teams, if we could attract this gem to us, and further demonstrate how far our club has come in the past 2.5 yrs. MUST BUY AT ALL COSTS
---
To see how this would fit with the squad, consider this:
Ruddy (Cover: Rudd)
Tierney (Cover: Drury)
Whitbread (Cover: Ward)
Ayala (Cover: Barnett)
R.Martin (Cover:Naughton)
Johnson (Cover: Fox)
Hoolahan (Cover: Crofts)
Pilkington (Cover: Surman)
Snodgrass (Cover: Bennett)
Holt (Cover: Morrison)
Rhodes (Cover: Jackson)
...
Our essential 22...room for Lappin (utility-player), De-Laet (could send him back, and get another loanee?, useful back-up in the mean-time) and Vaughan (recovering from injury)
So, with just 2 purchases (going to cost £5m RS and £6m JR), which would be sound investments for the future rather than panic buys, we would have a formidable squad in relation to Swansea and QPR.
Don't forget that with Vaughan and Ward returning from injury-layoffs, these will be equivalent impacts to 2 new transfers...big confidence boost both in defence and further competition for the strike-force...
---
Your Thoughts?
One potential avenue would be, and I think this is quite a good "bait" for Bates

