Swansea have seemingly replaced de Vries with Moreira, Pratley with Dobbie (last season), and could be said to have replaced Dobbie with Graham up front. Now Lita is scheduled for a medical to ratify his £1.75m deal, and Routledge is in the wings for a £2m deal that is in ongoing discussions. Add to that the loan deal for Caulker, a couple of trialists and new deals almost across the board - it's all looking promising if unspectacular for the new season. My questions are where else (and who else) do you think we can/will/should sign for the upcoming season, and also what do you think of the signings so far? Personally, I'm quite happy with the way things are progressing but I do think we still need 4-5 players for the upcoming season. The fullback positions are being covered by Tate, Jazz and Alfei - not exactly what I'd hope to see for a Premiership campaign. Also we have only Cornell as goalkeeping backup, so another face there is a prime concern for me. So I'd like to see Lita sign, Emnes to come too and give us options up front and on the wing, also with Routledge for that. At the back I'm unsure of who the fullback options could be for us unless it's a Bertrand-type loan deal for one or both of them. A good goalkeeper for us could be Lee Camp who Forest are keen to hold onto but we've not tested them with a £3m offer that could see him move. With a squad along those lines I'd be fairly confident of us finishing above the drop zone. What about you guys?
I am also fairly happy with the signings that we have made, although I am a tad concerned about the new keepers ability to deal with crosses - to be determined - but if Caulker is alongside Williams then maybe things will be different. Our biggest exposure right now is across the back line. Our coverage is Jazz - who I am actually OK with, Tate - who I am nervous about; Alfei - who has yet to prove himself but may have the talent to succeed and be a pleasant surprise; Monk - for me the same as Tate. Monk / Tate - some are going to argue are going to be fine, but they are going to be cutting it by applying experience rather than plain raw talent and only time will tell. We still need a #1 or #2 keeper unless Cornell can prove himself in the pre-season. I am not sure we need to add any more to the front line if we pick up Lita and Routledge. In midfield we have numbers - question is do we have efficacy - again time will tell. The Man City game is going to be an early bell weather. If we come unglued with what should be our best starting XI then we have some serious work to do. A respectable performance on the other hand - close loss or better and we can walk away with something to build on. If we can muster the energy and drive we saw on our best games at the end of last season we could give Man City quite a surprise - I'm hoping.
