Despite the sunny weather I am totally depressed. We appear to be going backwards as a club. Instead of building on 7th place last season we seem to have lost some decent players without getting rid of the dross and are only linked with players who have just been relegated or are has-beens. And now I read that we might be in for a 38 year old goal keeper - now there's ambition. I like Simon Grayson and often defended him on the old 606. I think he's the best manager we've had since O'Leary and that he'll go on to manage in the Premiership (hopefully with us). But something is obviously wrong. Why on earth are we in for old has-beens like Woodgate, Bowyer and Smith? Can you really see them getting us promoted and then keeping us up in the Premier League? Perhaps they could in Major League Soccer but not the PL. Why aren't we going for players with promise and their best years in front of them? And why are we STILL looking for a decent LB and DM/CM when we've been crying out for one for years? I suspect that the blame lies mostly at the door of Bates. He has spent very little money on the team. Against the newly relegated clubs with their parachute payments and the clubs willing to spend freely like Leicester, how on earth are we expected to compete? Sorry to be so negative but I have grave feelings about this season. Although maybe we'll sign Messi tomorrow and all our troubles will be over...
Jason, its by no means certain that we really are in for the players you mentioned. But if we are, its because SG thinks these guys may still be able to do a job. If all were to stay injury free, then yes all of those are better in their positions than what we currently have. Sad but true.
The fact we've been linked with players doesn't mean we're 'in for them'. I'll believe we're in for them once I see the proof on the official website, so I think it's harsh to criticize the club for looking at Dudek, Smith, Woodgate et al. when we don't even know for sure that Leeds want them signed. Next season I expect playoffs at least and I'm glad we got rid of Schmeichel, Johnson, Kilkenny, Higgs and Naylor who I don't think would have been good enough to get us there. We've got a one of the best attacking setups in the Championship still in place which I don't think will change; now it's time to reinforce that with a solid back four with dominant figures at LB and CB and a stronger midfield two to support Howson (who'll hopefully be thriving in that role behind the striker in the 4-2-3-1 again). We've got some interesting players to look forward to in Lees, Nunez and McCormack, as well as a hopefully fitter/stronger Sam, Paynter and Somma, so I'm not all doom and gloom just yet. I'll be ready to get angry if we make rubbish signings and keep on with the loanee/freebie trend, but I'm not going to be prejudiced against Grayson/Bates until we start to be active in the market. Give 'em a chance.
On the ex-players point, I just don't think any of them would add much to the team. Woodgate has hardly played over the last few years and it would be crazy to sign him on any other than a pay as you play deal. Bowyer has just been relegated with Brum and couldn't get into their first team and Smith has got long-standing injury problems too. It's just the lack of ambition that gets me. Even if we signed a load of players in their mid-30s who then got us promoted, could they really keep us in the Premier League? I would much rather we brought in younger players who we can mould into Premier League quality. The squad at the moment is a mess. We desperately need a new keeper, LB, and 2 or 3 CM. We could also do with offloading Bruce, Bromby, Paynter and Grella who are just not up to this level. I really hope that the likes of Nunez, Lees and McCormack develop this season but at the moment I can't see us challenging the likes of Blackpol, Brum, West Ham, Leicester and Forest for promotion.
Just to illustrate my point, here is a team we "could" have based on bringing in some players on free transfers. Bringing them in would require some investment in wages from KB but we wouldn't need to pay a transfer fee. Jason Brown Jonathan Spector Ibrahima Sonko Jlloyd Samuel Ricardo Gardner Max Gradel Nigel Reo-Coker Johnny Howson Robert Snodgrass Benjani Mwaruwari Becchio Squad players: McCormack Kisnorbo Sam O’Brien Lees White Stuart Parnaby Nikola Saric Giles Barnes Tamir Cohen Zoltan Gera Michael Woods Now here's a mix of young talent and experience, with the older players having a good few years left in them. This team could get us promoted and help us to stay in the PL. But it would require a bit of ambition on the part of Ken Bates.
