When last season finished, I was definitely of the opinion that the team didn't need an overhaul - evolution rather than revolution. SC and the board have been excellent in building a talented young squad and I believe that the team already had (and has) the ability to cause a lot of problems to most Championship teams and a mid-table finish is a realistic ambition. Having said that, with Wade Elliott retiring and JET being released (a decision I understood), I was expecting a handful of new recruits to act as replacements and to reinforce what was a comparatively thin squad. Of course, in Kodija we’ve potentially made an excellent start, and there’s plenty of time before the transfer window closes, but I’m surprised/a little anxious that eleven days before the season kicks off, and with only one friendly remaining, that there haven’t been more signings. The club and the manager have earned our trust, and I believe that they’re being extremely meticulous in their search for players on appropriate wages, but should there have been more signings made by this point so that they could have taken part in our pre-season and began to assimilate into the team? As much as having talented individuals, it was the group effort that made last season such a success, and it could be that plonking a new signing into a match day squad a few days after joining could blunt that advantage. So what do people think? Are we being savvy, not being held to ransom and being particularly choosy, or are we being complacent, naïve and in danger of last-minute panic-buying?
I'm totally relaxed by the transfer situation, the fact that we have let Greg go has got me virtually horizontal, the way I see it there are things in the pipeline, Cotts has hinted as much, we were not have let Greg go if that wasn't the case. I am pleased that we are not being linked with every Tom Dick or Harry and throwing stupid money around, the signing of Kodija was totally under the radar and I believe by the time we front up at Wednesday we will have more signings on board.
I share your concerns. A lot of people are quick to praise the manager and the board, but ultimately we should have won the league a year ago. We were easily one of the biggest teams in that league, and we shouldn't have been there in the first place. While Cotterill did fantastically last season, I think most fans on here are grossly underestimating the strength of the Championship (again). Initially, I was full of hope. I thought we'd make three or four signings to challenge for the first-team squad and keep the players we had. However, we've let more go, either on loan or permanently, than we've brought in, and now I'm really worried that we've reverted to previous poor form. What's worse is that we've sent worthy squad players out to rival teams in QPR and Preston. Finally, our signings last season were all done early, and the players had plenty of time to bond over preseason. That attitude was behind our initial success. Now, the preseason isn't far from being over, and we've made one signing. It's a good signing in Jonathan Kodjia, but it's still one signing to make up for letting a decent Championship level player go. I still believe we need the following: * A backup goalkeeper, unless Max O'Leary is ready to make that step up * A left-back to replace Cunningham, and since we've let a good squad player go we need to sign someone to compete in the first-team, and not a backup * A central defender to replace Osborne, who we let out on loan. Ideally, this player will also challenge for the first-team, and would be an older player with experience at this level and above * A central midfielder to replace Elliot. Someone in the Joey Barton mould; a player that can lead the team, and one that is technically capable, even if they're not able to play a full 90 minutes each game. That's four players to replace players we've let go to ensure that we still have a light, but workable squad. I'm usually pessimistic, but I reckon we'll get relegated with our current squad. We're a mere injury away in all positions from being able to compete. If we sign a competitive left back, a solid central defender, and a creative central midfielder we could finish mid-table with some luck.
We need a goalkeeper,central defender,a quality midfield player,and another striker. That is just too start the season with a squad capable of top half finish,if we are going for it then we need 5 or 6 quality additions on board.
We are sitting on a knife edge right now and the deeds need to get done soon if we aren't to enter the exciting new season short on players. The jump up the evolutionary chain demanded that changes needed to be made if we wanted to compete at the new level, and I would have expected more activity than we have done in the transfer market, so far, to facilitate the rebuild- and we haven't. Over the years I have sat back in amazement seeing average players moving clubs for ridiculous money only to hear them bleating the next year about how badly they need to go somewhere else. That kind of disenchantment isn't wanted down at Ashton Gate, even if we have seen it in the area over the years, so perhaps SC is going about his business his way and we will eventually pull back on the usual pre-season jitters rein and let him do the job, and if last season is any guide then we are in good hands. Soon please Steve.
When you look at the money that the likes of Middlesbrough are offering (£12m for Jordan Rhodes) it brings home that we are now a very small fish in a very large pond full of maneaters. However, what Bournemouth achieved on a relatively small budget has to be the benchmark for us to try and emulate.
