I make it the squad of 25 currently stands at 24. so what position and who is left to come in? I'd still like another striker and a midfield ball winner Jakupovic Harper McGregor Bruce Chester Davies Dudgeon Faye Figueroa McShane Rosenior Aluko Boyd Brady Elmohamady Koren Meyler Quinn Huddlestone Livermore Sagbo Proschwitz Graham Fryatt
I recall Bruce saying upon promotion something along the lines of "what we have at the top of the park will to a large extent define our team". Frankly, I do think there might be enough room in the projected budget for one more, but if it means offloading Mclean and Stewart beforehand then I'm not counting my chickens. If there is room for one more regardless of the current deadwood then I would personally expect an attacking midfielder or striker to come in, but frankly, there are opportunities in all areas for improvement if the right quality came along - so perhaps the strategy is to see who becomes available in the last couple of weeks of the window and see if we can make it work financially? I still wouldn't rule out a cheeky bid for a Bent/Odemwingie/Barton/Taarabt type if they haven't found a club on the final day of the window.
We're sitting on 23. We've got 24 players, but Brady can be put on the U21s list. Outside of that we've also got McLean, Stewart, and Cairney (from January to consider. Obviously we get to submit a completely new squad in January so we don't need to leave a gap for Cairney coming back, but if we were to bring in 2 more players to complete the squad you'd have to ask which player we would drop to add Cairney back in. Unless we're solidly playing a back 4 we're unlikely to just drop Bruce or McShane to do it as it would reduce our options. Incidentally, if we still have McLean and Stewart here at the end of the window we have to name them in the 25 man squad if there's a space. So as things stand they'll both be in it. During August and January we can play anybody we want, so we could put Stewart on the bench on Sunday and then at the end of the month leave him out the squad and put McLean in in his place. We can also use the two of them to give our first team players a rest for Cup games even if they're not in the squad, which has the added bonus of hopefully attracting some loan window interest in them.
Barton's at QPR, Bent and Taarabt have moved to Fulham already. I think we have our own targets, rather than relying on other people's cast offs. Brucey said we might have to look to Europe, so maybe that's where his eye is now. At the end of the day, we've brought in 10 new players, surely that's enough?
As I mentioned on another thread last night, I still suspect that SB would like another striker with a relatively prolific goal scoring record in the squad before he's finished. Fully expect Mclean to be gone before the window closes and wouldn't be surprised to see Fryatt heading to a Midlands Championship team as well!
Yeah but we aren't going to play 3 strikers at once, so do we bring in yet another striker that'll take a spot in the first team? Who would you sacrifice; Sagbo, Graham, Aluko? One of them will play, two of them won't. Not forgetting Fryatt, Proschwitz, Boyd and Brady who also like to play in advanced forward positions. I think both Proschwitz and Fryatt will be given a shot in the PL, the former because of his height and strength (making him a different option off the bench) and the latter because he's a natural goalscorer. Whether they can cut it is a different matter entirely, but I don't expect to see either one leave before the transfer window shuts and if one were to go out on loan, it'll be Fryatt. I think the want for a striker is what the fans are after, not Brucie.
May be talking rubbish (and quite possibly) , I would love to see prozzy given a chance, I think if fryatt does become subject to a bid then Gedo would be a fine replacement, however I do wonder if we are a little short on the left? I mean, take brady out the picture, who would be our natural left winger? quinn is more central and I know boyd can play there but not ideal?
Aluko, Boyd, Brady, Rosenior, Townsend, Dudgeon, Quinn, Sagbo (in a more advanced position) and Figueroa can all play there. I think we're covered.
As would I, but it looks like Bruce is waiting to see if we need him first. No point bringing him in for the sake of it, we have youth players we can stick in the squad if that's the case. I'm looking forward to seeing CJM in the cup squads, I think he'll be a decent player. Doubt he'll make the first team this season, but I said the same about Cairney when he played in the Southend game.
