| IF we do go up...What business needs to be done? 16:14 - May 1 with 3565 views | ITFCBlues |
Considering the players who will be out of contract & then the loans that'll be ending, that leaves quite a few holes that'll need filling.
Keepers - by all accounts, Vas is close to a new deal. I can see Walton moving on to get first team football. Although, he's on good money here & who knows if he's due more on promotion. As good as Vas has been, especially with his feet, he does let in some soft goals - see Hull 3rd goal and even last night. I do think we need another keeper myself.
LB - Need cover for Leif, goes without saying.
RB - Donacien will leave you'd assume. Tuanzebe has done a decent job there and Clarke is decent enough, but i'd like to see another RB myself and perhaps move Axel back into CB.
CB - Wolf, Burgess, Tuanzebe & Edmundson still on the books - assuming Tuanzebe gets his year option taken up. Another CB will amost certainly be added. I can see us switching to a back 5 next season, in which case we'd almost certainly need another CB.
CM - Ball almost certainly leaving & Travis will return to Blackbun. We need more legs in midfield - not sure Luongo & Morsy will both be able to play together next season. Could do with a more athletic midfielder. I could easily see a couple of CM's added.
Wingers - Sarmiento, Jackson, Aluko & Omari all leaving. Harness also hasn't featured much of late, so you'd think he's likely to move on. This will leave quite a big hole - i believe there was an option on Sarmiento to stay if we did win promotion, interested to see if we take that up. Will certainly need to strengthen in this area.
AM - Chaplin struggled a bit the last 10 games or so. Could see Taylor playing a bit more advanced next season perhaps. With Omari leaving, this is another area we'd need to improve.
Strikers - Moore likely to head back. Leaves Ali & Hirst. I could see a world where Ali gets loaned out for next season & another striker comes in.
Overall - we'd probably be looking at quite an extensive squad refresh overall. A lot of players out of contract/returning to clubs from loans - would leave the squad very thin. |  |
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| IF we do go up...What business needs to be done? on 17:44 - May 1 with 676 views | HighgateBlue |
I agree with most of that.
One factor which I think hasn't been discussed a lot is that our recruitment thus far has been very UK-based. Teams which are not loaded (or living like they are) and are trying to be upwardly mobile have succeeded in recent years by having broad based recruitment including some from overseas. It will be interesting to see whether we can get that scouting infrastructure in place quickly enough. Also, integrating players into the ITFC family has been a key part of the Ashton-McKenna approach, and that has been done incredibly. Bringing in players from other leagues who may take more cultural and footballing integration will be a new challenge (but if done right, will pay dividends). |  | | |
| IF we do go up...What business needs to be done? on 18:11 - May 1 with 641 views | turtle2 |
| IF we do go up...What business needs to be done? on 16:57 - May 1 by Illinoisblue |
Nothing too controversial there. Sure there have been targets drawn up all season with various scenarios on the table depending on what league we’re in.
Tricky balance between not killing the spirit the squad and club has now, but ensuring we buy enough quality to finish 17th. Have total faith in KM that he knows what we need. |
cheers - from my heart I'd stick with all the current team - what an amazing bunch of great lads - but in reality we know that cannot happen - I think too KM has total trust of all fans in what he does |  | | |
| IF we do go up...What business needs to be done? on 18:15 - May 1 with 634 views | BlueBoots |
| IF we do go up...What business needs to be done? on 17:00 - May 1 by Swansea_Blue |
We will obviously look to strengthen, but don't underestimate the understanding the current bunch have developed in adapting to KM's ways and the team spirit. Both can take you a surprising long way in the PL and we may better looking for evolution rather than revolution.
Having said that, the thought of some of the PL front lines running at our back 3/4 scares me witless! That's assuming we do go up of course - still got a job to do. |
Exactly this - still need to finish the job on Saturday.
Plenty of similar threads before this season started discussing who needed replacing...lots of players have more than proven their doubters wrong.
If we could sign Omari, would be great business not just because of how good he is (and could become), but because he'll still be young enough not to count towards the 25 man squad next season (only did this season as he is a loanee) which would free up a spot.
There's the natural churn every window with loanees returning, players who want to move on, and players coming out of contract; what has been working well on the pitch is largely down to what has worked off it - around 5 signings every window looking to improve on what we have, rather than ripping up the squad. |  |
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| IF we do go up...What business needs to be done? on 18:29 - May 1 with 608 views | MK1 |
I think.
Starting RB
Squad CB
Squad LB
Starting CDM
Squad RW
Squad LW
Starting 10
Starting CF
Squad CF
I think.
Donacien, Harness, Ball, Aluko, Jackson, Baggott and El Miz are sold/let go.
Obviously, none of those new recruits are going to come cheap, but don't need to bust the bank either.
Promotion has been a possibility since January, so I am sure the club have all been looking and working on this.
I could also see a few more going, but I can't think of that yet. |  | | |
| IF we do go up...What business needs to be done?team on 21:43 - May 1 with 528 views | Crawfordsboot |
Lots of realism in the posts here. Recognition that we have achieved hugely but that the reality is we are at or around the limit for most of our players.
I hope, but with little confidence, that next year our keyboard warriors do not turn on the players, team, manager, calling them all sorts of names and sh**e because they struggle in the prem. it would be a huge achievement if we could survive a first season and then consolidate. |  | | |
| IF we do go up...What business needs to be done? on 23:08 - May 1 with 488 views | yorkshireblue |
| IF we do go up...What business needs to be done? on 17:29 - May 1 by itfc48 |
If they're not going to integrate him into their first team Chelsea would be silly not to keep Hutch here. That said he does hold some of the cards given he'll be entering the last year of his contract. He left Arsenal because he couldn't see a path to the first team and I expect he'd do the same to Chelsea if no obvious pathway was present. |
Hutchinson is probably a 15-20 million pound player currently… if he was to sign a new deal and have a successful loan spell in the PL - say at a newly promoted club he knows well - his value will sky rocket. |  | | |
| IF we do go up...What business needs to be done? on 07:15 - May 2 with 404 views | ElephantintheRoom |
I seem to remember a similar argument put forward this time next year - that an overachieving squad motivated by a capable manager needed the revolving door to twirl to compete in a higher division
Most of the rumoured transfer targets failed to arrive - and almost by serendipity we are where we are.
Some of us are old enough to remember the last time Town rose two divisions under a capable manager…. that didn’t turn out too badly.
The ill-timed insult to shareholding supporters perhaps shows you where the priorités are. | |
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| IF we do go up...What business needs to be done? on 08:23 - May 2 with 366 views | Cheltenham_Blue |
| IF we do go up...What business needs to be done? on 07:15 - May 2 by ElephantintheRoom |
I seem to remember a similar argument put forward this time next year - that an overachieving squad motivated by a capable manager needed the revolving door to twirl to compete in a higher division
Most of the rumoured transfer targets failed to arrive - and almost by serendipity we are where we are.
Some of us are old enough to remember the last time Town rose two divisions under a capable manager…. that didn’t turn out too badly.
The ill-timed insult to shareholding supporters perhaps shows you where the priorités are. |
Well your tone has changed a bit. As a genuine question, why don't you just stop watching Town stuff? Your 'opinions' aren't really welcome. And If I'm honest, you feel like a relic of the last 20 years. |  |
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| IF we do go up...What business needs to be done? on 08:29 - May 2 with 363 views | BloomBlue |
| IF we do go up...What business needs to be done? on 07:15 - May 2 by ElephantintheRoom |
I seem to remember a similar argument put forward this time next year - that an overachieving squad motivated by a capable manager needed the revolving door to twirl to compete in a higher division
Most of the rumoured transfer targets failed to arrive - and almost by serendipity we are where we are.
Some of us are old enough to remember the last time Town rose two divisions under a capable manager…. that didn’t turn out too badly.
The ill-timed insult to shareholding supporters perhaps shows you where the priorités are. |
Precisely.
Too many fans are forgetting KM believes in his own ability to improve players - and given what has been achieved in the last 2 season nobody can argue with that.
For example fans have written off Jackson for the last 2 seasons even though KM has constantly stuck with him and praised him. Hutchinson has improved dramatically since his first couple of games here.
We will obviously see some movement of players but I don't believe we'll see massive changes.
We need to remember what many opposition managers have said about one of Town's key strength is our continuity. |  | | |
| IF we do go up...What business needs to be done? on 08:39 - May 2 with 351 views | portmanking |
We'll need at least a dozen new faces. That's a fact. Even Luton signed 14 last summer!
New GK
Backup LB
2x new CBs
New RB
Proper competition/replacement for Luongo
Proper competition for Morsy
1, maybe 2 strikers (with Al-Hamadi loaned to a Champ club for a season)
Replacement for Hutchinson
Proper competition/replacement for Chaplin
Proper competition for Burns
And that's before you look at adding a few more experienced squad players for depth.
We've got to be realistic. Forest didn't sign the amount they did for no reason. We won't go that extreme, but the squad will evolve. McKenna won't want to stand still. | | | |
| IF we do go up...What business needs to be done? on 09:18 - May 2 with 306 views | GlasgowBlue |
Striker. Preferably Ellis Simms. Would be very happy with a choice of Hirst, Simms and Al-HamadI.
T's been our biggest failing in the past two years that we have gone into the season very light on options up front. In 2022 we had Ladapo and Jon Jules but failed to get Hirst and took a punt on Ahadme on deadline day. This season we got Hirst in but chased Simms and failed resulting in a last minute loan for Scarlett. |  |
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| IF we do go up...What business needs to be done? on 09:31 - May 2 with 299 views | Westcountryblue |
'If' we do go up, i think we will see a similar, strategic approach to recruitment. Young, plenty of potential, huge upscale value etc...
You'd think that Hutchinson and Sarmiento could be brought back on loan, or maybe even signed. Hutchinson would probably set us back 15m though,
I also think that we could also sweep up some of the top quality loanees that currently play in this division...Downes, Harwood-Bellis, Delap, Rodon, Carvalho but also take some talent of clubs that will inevitably need to cut their cloth e.g Walker-Peters from Southampton, Sara, Jack Clarke, Whittaker, perhaps Stansfield.
However, you don't want to create a 'very good' Championship club in the Premier League. We will need to add a few seasoned pros that have played at the highest level.
I suspect given McKenna's stock, we will be in pole position for top English and European clubs looking to send talent out on loans. | | | |
| IF we do go up...What business needs to be done? on 09:31 - May 2 with 298 views | Jimmy86 |
| IF we do go up...What business needs to be done? on 16:29 - May 1 by baxterbasics |
I'm still holding onto hope that Omari returns for another season at least |
If we do finish the job and go up, the first thing we should do is sign Omari on a permanent deal... Chelsea are in the mire, having spent a billion, to be distinctly average... Hutch is only 20, 5 year deal, huge re-sale value.. that'll be the way forward...
I'd also look to sign Sarmiento too, for the same reason.. albeit he's older than Hutch | | | |
| IF we do go up...What business needs to be done? on 09:56 - May 2 with 271 views | Europablue |
I don't think it will be a total overhaul like it was at Nottingham Forest.
6-8 in with a few of the starters becoming squad players.
We built a mid-table quality Championship squad in League One and we end this season with a top quality Championship squad, which will not be enough in the Prem, but I think we'll bring in enough decent players to be able to achieve a fourth or fifth from bottom position in the Prem. | | | |
| IF we do go up...What business needs to be done? on 10:09 - May 2 with 262 views | ITFCBlues |
| IF we do go up...What business needs to be done? on 09:31 - May 2 by Westcountryblue |
'If' we do go up, i think we will see a similar, strategic approach to recruitment. Young, plenty of potential, huge upscale value etc...
You'd think that Hutchinson and Sarmiento could be brought back on loan, or maybe even signed. Hutchinson would probably set us back 15m though,
I also think that we could also sweep up some of the top quality loanees that currently play in this division...Downes, Harwood-Bellis, Delap, Rodon, Carvalho but also take some talent of clubs that will inevitably need to cut their cloth e.g Walker-Peters from Southampton, Sara, Jack Clarke, Whittaker, perhaps Stansfield.
However, you don't want to create a 'very good' Championship club in the Premier League. We will need to add a few seasoned pros that have played at the highest level.
I suspect given McKenna's stock, we will be in pole position for top English and European clubs looking to send talent out on loans. |
Hutchinson would cost 20-25m - we wouldn't be paying that for 1 player i doubt. I'm also not sure on the rules surrounding loans from PL clubs. I think you can only have 1 loan - although that maybe wrong. | |
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| IF we do go up...What business needs to be done? on 10:10 - May 2 with 261 views | ITFCBlues |
| IF we do go up...What business needs to be done? on 09:56 - May 2 by Europablue |
I don't think it will be a total overhaul like it was at Nottingham Forest.
6-8 in with a few of the starters becoming squad players.
We built a mid-table quality Championship squad in League One and we end this season with a top quality Championship squad, which will not be enough in the Prem, but I think we'll bring in enough decent players to be able to achieve a fourth or fifth from bottom position in the Prem. |
It'll be more than 6-8 i suspect. We've got 7 or 8 out of contract plus the loans that are ending - that takes us to at least 10 already! | |
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