I think we are good in the goal keeper department - if any are going I would suggest it would be Gordon as I would have thought he was on the highest wages due to the fee he cost. I don't think we will bring a new keeper in. Defence, when fully fit we have a pretty good back four, my worry here is injury prone defenders. We are not going to get full season's out of Brown and O'Shea. I would see them as the starting pair in the middle. Left back is the main problem. Who knows if we will attempt to convert Colback or if he want's to be converted? Bramble can go for me. Midfield - I think this is an area that needs improving. Larrson in my opinion doesn't have enough pace to play right wing. For his ability the crosses don't seem to come from him, mainly Bardlsey from deeper. Maybe Larrson will become more central? For O'Neill style of play to succeed you need pace on the wings. If Larrson had pace he'd probably be a top 4 player. He definately seems to have tired as the season has gone on. Another right winger is needed to provide competition. Clearly O'Neill doesn't fancy Elmo. Perhaps Campbell is the answer here? In the centre I have doubts about Gardner - he played really well just after xmas but he seems quite inconsistant. We had our best run with Vaughan and Cattermole in the middle. I think all our Central midfielders are much of a muchness but they do provide competition for places. Again we do seem to lack pace through the middle. On the left Mclean has done well but needs to go again next year. Also cover is needed here. It's a lot to expect a full season from him next year with no dip in form. Up front - well in my opinion this has been a disaster this year. Bruce seemed to not plan this at all. I think we all knew even when Gyan was in the team that we were lacking up front. Very few options. Good to have Campbell back and with a pre season behind him he could be a great next season. Bendtner I just think would only come here if a last resort. I don't think he's done enough to make a top club come in for him. I think we would have to adapt our team to get the best out of him. Sess' who knows, hopefully he will stay? Will MON keep him in the same role? Can he do a job in central midfield or is that asking too much of Catts? I think Sess' has the ability to make a killer pass and a striker who plays off the shoulder and make runs would do fantastically from Sess. Who knows what system O'Neill will go for next season and what direction he will take us. One thing I'm sure of is that I'm a lot more confident that we will have a better team next season. I haven't named players I'd like etc as that would just be speculation. Just pointing out the areas I think we need strengthening. I know we also have some young lads out on loan and a decent set of youngster and who knows who may come through the ranks? I would like to see Noble recalled and given a chance of first team.
The spine of the team. I think Gordan will be off, Mon seems to rate mig over westwood but i don't think mignolet is good enough to be number 1. Paul Robinson is twice as good and if Blackburn do go down id like us to make a move. I think oshea, brown, bramble, turner are all decent but we could do with a next level defender to improve us. Same with the middle, we have colback, catts, vaughan and Meyler who are all much of a muchness, id love a gylfi siguurdsen in the middle of the park for that extra bit of class. Upfront is obviously priority. If we only buy one player it would have to be a striker. As been said im a big fan of Fletcher and hope we go after him. Id still like us to go after one or two more also. If Blackburn go down id like us to get Yakubu. If there's big money at mons disposal then id obviously love a marquee signing.
Well silly season is nearly upon us so we will probably be linked with around 500 strikers so maybe 5's not too many to ask for lol! Last window I noticed a drop off in links to us. I'll be trawling sites more than ever again.
Two for every position and three keepers! Nice if we can keep all three, would like to see Gordon play again this season to see if he has still got it! Right back: Bardsley plus a young up and coming full back (O'Shea and Brown can cover if necessary) Left back: despite Richardson and Colback's best endeavours, I think its time for an established international or premier league left back Centre backs: O'Shea, Kilgallon, Brown and a new signing .... Turner and Bramble ok but not good enough for a top six side. Wingers: Larson and McClean, Ricco as back up on the left, plus a new right winger with pace. Centre Mid: Important that we have a holding midfielder, best at the mo is Catts and Colback as back up (Meyler? I would love to see capture pre injury form) As for an attacking midfielder, best we have is Richardson, but has not played there often enough, so him and another top class creative, goal scoring midfielder. Forwards: I think MON will go with the big, strong, centre forward that can hold the ball up and get his share of goals too. I think he will continue to play Sess off the front man and use Campbell as back up for both ... we then need another striker to make up the 4 (put Whickham and Ji out to the championship to get experience and games under their belt. Gardner and Vaughan, no more than squad players. Bendtner, an expensive nice to have, but not the main man and not consistent enough for me after what I have seen and certainly not at current wage level or fee.
RB: Either convert Gardner to RB (he does a decent job there, recently better than in CM...) or get another player in. O'Shea should not play at RB LB: Between Ricco and Colback we are ok here. Another player would be nice though. Either Bridge or someone else. If QPR go down, Taiwo would be a good option. However, Killa can also play LB so LB is not a priority area imo. CB: Killa, Turner, Brown, O'shea are good there. So is Bramble, but if he goes (likely imo) then we need one more - not the Greek. LW/RW: LW is covered, but if we get Johnson in (big if) then we would have a good RW and LW options. Needed but not priority. CM: If we keep hold of Sess, we need cover for him. If not, then we need 2 players. Forwards: This has to be priority. Fletcher and/or Yakubu would be very good signing imo.
