Winter transfer window

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David Moyes' Stupid Face said:
Agreed, I like RLB but his use of subs has been fairly lacklustre pretty much from day 1... Really hope he can learn to manage the squad better, otherwise there's definitely a limit to how high he can take us, imo
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We won on Day 1 and the following three games ...

... no offence but I think we're starting to become a bit obsessed with this issue.
 
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SourPatch2 said:
You want Barnes to ask a relevant question? Good joke
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He asked RLB if he'd had an explanation about the 'ghost goal' at Derby.

RLB said 'No nothing'.

So Barnes asked three more questions about the f*cking goal <doh>

You could see RLB's eyes darting around the room hoping someone would throw a chair at him.
 
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williebeams said:
people are romanticising development and forgetting we’re trying to get promoted and an arguable consequence of not getting promoted is that said players won’t get that development chance anyway as they’ll be leaving

additionally the championship has proven to be a slog, players have fallen like flies.

our two left wingers have unknown return dates, have to get up to speed and avoid injury.

I think mundle is good to go but Watson is quite clearly a ways back in development despite his potential

we need options and it’s a fact, look at the state of the substitutions and game management at the weekend, slight exaggeration but it’s true.

Clarke left, enzo in the pocket looks markedly improved

fwiw I think Aouchiche is capable of doing the business on the left until the return of kindle but we’ve seen the gaffer ostracise him again after not doing anything wrong, shoe horning a midfielder in out wide in stead.

the gaffer needs the tools he wants OR to stop putting square pegs in round holes and play people in correct positions. People will miss out but that’s football.
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100%. People are falling in love with developing some of these players as if they won’t jump at the chance of moving to a bigger club when the offer comes. Doesn’t matter how happy someone is here, if a bigger opportunity comes and they’re offering much bigger wages they’ll be off. And if we fluff it by over-egging the emphasis on developing players then lose 4 of these lads because we’re stuck in the championship for another season where do we go from there? Sign 4 more who are huge prospects but nowhere near the level of those we’ve just sold meaning we’ve gone backwards to develop again. Has to be a balance in there.
 
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WorkyTicketFTM said:
100%. People are falling in love with developing some of these players as if they won’t jump at the chance of moving to a bigger club when the offer comes. Doesn’t matter how happy someone is here, if a bigger opportunity comes and they’re offering much bigger wages they’ll be off. And if we fluff it by over-egging the emphasis on developing players then lose 4 of these lads because we’re stuck in the championship for another season where do we go from there? Sign 4 more who are huge prospects but nowhere near the level of those we’ve just sold meaning we’ve gone backwards to develop again. Has to be a balance in there.
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No offence but I don't think there's a single supporter who's that gullible ... Clarke proves the point.

Seriously who do we sign replacements for now, who are better than we have and we can afford.
 
WorkyTicketFTM said:
100%. People are falling in love with developing some of these players as if they won’t jump at the chance of moving to a bigger club when the offer comes. Doesn’t matter how happy someone is here, if a bigger opportunity comes and they’re offering much bigger wages they’ll be off. And if we fluff it by over-egging the emphasis on developing players then lose 4 of these lads because we’re stuck in the championship for another season where do we go from there? Sign 4 more who are huge prospects but nowhere near the level of those we’ve just sold meaning we’ve gone backwards to develop again. Has to be a balance in there.
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Surely we can still love players who may or may not be here for long. Does your argument include not loving Amad in his time here and what he's now showing for Man Utd knowing we played a part in that - and that would not just be the club in my eyes but us as supporters as well. Do we not enjoy Jobe and the presence he now has at the age of 19? Did you not enjoy watching Clarke play and the goals he scored? Yes players are going to move on, there are only a certain number of clubs in world football that can stave off other clubs coming in for their players and we're not one of them.

Bringing younger players in does not mean going backwards, what about Watson or Mundle? Were they a backward move after Clarke? If you plan correctly bringing young players into the squad shouldn't be an issue and we seem to doing a decent job of it at the moment so I'm gonna let the club continue with what they're doing - they don't need me! <laugh>
 
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SourPatch2 said:
Yep. We need depth, rotation options and quality to bring off the bench.

We have 9 subs now with the option of bringing 5 on, that's half of your outfield players, our lack of bench options have led to us conceding the 3rd most goals in the league in the last 15 minutes.

A player being rotated to the bench does not mean they are bad or have been dropped, there's plenty of minutes to go around without harming development or player morale.

We're going up against teams like Leeds that have arguably the 4 best wingers in the league in the same squad, we have ONE fit wide player currently.

Think it's interesting that Kieran McKenna describes the substitutes as 'finishers' instead of subs as they have specific roles to play depending on the gamestate. I like this as I personally think people think being a sub is a bad thing but this changes the thought process.
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Shame our”finishers” always seem to lead to us conceding late goals
 
Smug in Boots said:
I have to say I'm not in the 'promotion at all costs' faction tbh, and I don't just mean monetarily.

I much prefer what we're doing because it's different and exciting imo.

I wouldn't want to either buy our way up, with a bunch of random signings, or change our football and 'do a Luton'.

Both of those options are very short term and exactly what we've done before ... it can work, at first, but it's built on sand.

Even the Peter Reid time, fun though it was, never gave me the feeling it could last.

Short threw money at the club but players came who had clearly been 'bribed' and had no love for the club.

I used to stand there singing 'We love you Sunderland' while actually hating most of the players on the pitch and often the manager.

I love the transformation of the club, over the last few years, and don't want all that work thrown up in the air. You can actually feel the bond with the players and supporters now, especially at away games, even if we lose. That's worth more than 'showing ambition' with endless mercenaries in my view.

Yes some players will leave, as Stewart and Clarke did, but we keep progressing despite the odd setback through injuries etc.

I know this post won't be popular but I'm loving what's happening and trust the club 100% to keep it all going.
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I appreciate that and I’m onboard

but based on our current position I wouldn’t blame them for ‘going for it’ and going for Clarke isn’t flexing never mind breaking the model anyway.

I think it’s totally justified and logic to be a bit ambitious based on the current predicament, this can be achieved without sacrificing model or philosophy.

additionally it’s kind of prudent because people will be away in the summer and whilst that’s part of the process there’s just as much chance that next year could be a development year rather than a year when we push on again due to player turnover.

that has to be factored into the equation and their thinking
 
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Bucky1989 said:
if Clarke comes back on loan,

would we see an improve with Roberts?
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Not sure, I think he’s missed his mate Amad massively, the connection they had (add in Hume) down that side was tremendous.

Seen elements of it with Rigg, Roberts and Hume this season but understandably not at the levels it was with Amad.

Clarke returning might take a little pressure off him who knows.

overall I think Roberts has had some unwarranted criticism this season, can he do better, absolutely but some (and im not suggesting you are one of them) love to look for a scapegoat
 
Gary Rowell world said:
Shame our”finishers” always seem to lead to us conceding late goals
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We could do with attacking 'finishers' as well as defensive ones. Fresh, skilful legs to run the ball down the channels, beat players and win free kicks / throw ins. Watmore used to do a great job of this, on occasions - push the fullbacks back and change the momentum.
 
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Smug in Boots said:
No offence but I don't think there's a single supporter who's that gullible ... Clarke proves the point.

Seriously who do we sign replacements for now, who are better than we have and we can afford.
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I think KS is good enough in the market to back an opportunity if one comes up and that’s the main thing I’m getting at. We aren’t openly flaunting we need players to replace the ones we have, we all know we have a brilliant young squad I don’t think anyone will argue that.. but if something too good like the loan for Le Fee comes up and it’s going to push Rigg out then we have to take that chance for the better of the team. His development shouldn’t even come into the equation. As I said previously, fans on this forum alone would’ve been in panic mode had you told them Ballard wouldn’t play this season yet we’re a better team without them. There’s thousands of footballers who are better than those we field every week so there’s any amounts of ways we can improve it’s just down to the club to do that in a way that doesn’t affect the model too much
 
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Robertson said:
We could do with attacking 'finishers' as well as defensive ones. Fresh, skilful legs to run the ball down the channels, beat players and win free kicks / throw ins. Watmore used to do a great job of this, on occasions - push the fullbacks back and change the momentum.
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Potential use for Samed too if he can't get in the team, play him up the pitch late on to press the defence and hold onto the ball when he does get it. Haven't seen loads of him (obviously) but I think it's something he's good at.

Lot better to defend from the front than what we've been doing.
 
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