| Lessons from last year 15:24 - Jul 18 with 2411 views | greyhound |
One of the key messages from last year was our transfer business was to late. With that I almost expected an early deluge of signings and us to know where we would be with a fairly over inflated squad going on the training camp.
There's a lot floating about around our lack of business, joe meanwhile has rightly pointed out we have a squad size of 28 which is problematic from a registration perspective. However of those 28 we have to many goalkeepers, not enough forwards and are imminently going to lose 2 fairly key people from the last 2 campaigns.
Is it going to be another summer which leaves us gelling into October, i don't know, I'm just concerned that the squad won't be settled in a situation where we all have hopes of a return to the prem with better capability.
The business model was always set out to buy players and sell for profit so im not overly concerned about the loss of delap and Hutchinson, I would just like those roles replaced with their new counterparts sooner rather than later.
For instance Al hamadi and hirst is an extremely concerning forward line. Injuries, aside I don't think there's the goals we need between them. |  | | |  |
| Lessons from last year on 15:34 - Jul 18 with 2084 views | Steve_M |
Yep. although I think it's worth noting that it won't be quite so hard to get the team to gel in the Championship as it was last season. It is a bit concerning at the moment though, the players we have bought in so far merely filling gaps that have opened up since the end of the season.
We needed two central midfielders and two strikers when the season finished and we still do. That can't have been the plan three weeks from the start of the season.
Yes, we're being ambitious with some of our targets and it might be worth waiting but it's three seasons in a row now we've seen the transfer window close with us a striker short. |  |
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| Lessons from last year on 15:43 - Jul 18 with 1975 views | Herbivore |
I think what will emerge as our best XI will only contain two players who weren't here last season (the two CMs), possibly a Hutch replacement but we can field a three behind the striker of Philogene, Szmodics, and Clarke and still have Chaplin, Ogbene, Broadhead, and Burns in reserve. What we're seeing is probably lower than average squad turnover for a newly relegated side, but it's churn we've not been that used to necessarily. Appreciate CM is a key area so not being flippant about the level of change, and no doubt the squad will be bolstered in other areas, but I don't think we should be unduly concerned. Other relegated sides in recent years have had WAY more upheaval than we're experiencing and still gone up, or at least finished top 3. |  |
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| Lessons from last year on 15:45 - Jul 18 with 1932 views | jayessess |
think there's some truth to this but also not.
By the time we'd finished last Summer's transfer windoww we had bought a new player for every single position on the pitch. Although it didn't actually pan out as such in the end, it's likely that the intention behind our transfer business was that 8 of our 11 regular starters would be new recruits (Muric, Johnson, O'Shea, Greaves, Phillips, Cajuste, Szmodics, Ogbene, Delap).
This season, it's more like 2 of our 11 regular starters are going to be new and we've acquired one of those already (Matusiwa).
We need a number 8. We'll want to reinforce our bench. But it isn't the same magnitude of problem. Only 5 transfers by the end of July killed us last season. 5 transfers by the end of the July would probably be close to job done. |  |
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| Lessons from last year on 15:45 - Jul 18 with 1927 views | tractorboy1978 |
| Lessons from last year on 15:34 - Jul 18 by Steve_M |
Yep. although I think it's worth noting that it won't be quite so hard to get the team to gel in the Championship as it was last season. It is a bit concerning at the moment though, the players we have bought in so far merely filling gaps that have opened up since the end of the season.
We needed two central midfielders and two strikers when the season finished and we still do. That can't have been the plan three weeks from the start of the season.
Yes, we're being ambitious with some of our targets and it might be worth waiting but it's three seasons in a row now we've seen the transfer window close with us a striker short. |
We don't have an easy start either. Two automatic promotion rivals - arguably it doesn't come harder than Birmingham away under the lights and then Southampton. Not games we can 'phone it in' at 75%, we will have to be right at it.
We really need to get deals over the line for one more CM and a striker as a real priority for me. | | | |
| Lessons from last year on 15:56 - Jul 18 with 1796 views | pointofblue |
| Lessons from last year on 15:43 - Jul 18 by Herbivore |
I think what will emerge as our best XI will only contain two players who weren't here last season (the two CMs), possibly a Hutch replacement but we can field a three behind the striker of Philogene, Szmodics, and Clarke and still have Chaplin, Ogbene, Broadhead, and Burns in reserve. What we're seeing is probably lower than average squad turnover for a newly relegated side, but it's churn we've not been that used to necessarily. Appreciate CM is a key area so not being flippant about the level of change, and no doubt the squad will be bolstered in other areas, but I don't think we should be unduly concerned. Other relegated sides in recent years have had WAY more upheaval than we're experiencing and still gone up, or at least finished top 3. |
I think we're four players short - three central midfielders (to replace Cajuste and Morsy, plus additional cover) and a striker in lieu of Delap. Every other area seems well stocked right now.
Loan out Baggott and Humphreys whilst selling Hutchinson plus one of three keepers and we should be well set numbers wise. | |
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| Lessons from last year on 15:58 - Jul 18 with 1791 views | Guthrum |
| Lessons from last year on 15:56 - Jul 18 by pointofblue |
I think we're four players short - three central midfielders (to replace Cajuste and Morsy, plus additional cover) and a striker in lieu of Delap. Every other area seems well stocked right now.
Loan out Baggott and Humphreys whilst selling Hutchinson plus one of three keepers and we should be well set numbers wise. |
I'd have Humphreys instead of one of those midfielders. Now is the time for him to break through. |  |
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| Lessons from last year on 16:02 - Jul 18 with 1722 views | Herbivore |
| Lessons from last year on 15:56 - Jul 18 by pointofblue |
I think we're four players short - three central midfielders (to replace Cajuste and Morsy, plus additional cover) and a striker in lieu of Delap. Every other area seems well stocked right now.
Loan out Baggott and Humphreys whilst selling Hutchinson plus one of three keepers and we should be well set numbers wise. |
Can't see three more CMs coming in. If we bring in two more that's three newbies plus Taylor competing for two spots. We might keep Humphreys for cover, as he can cover other positions too, Johnson is also capable of covering in the midfield if needed. I think having four new CMs plus Taylor, you aren't going to be able to keep them all happy unless one is a 30+ player on the way down who is coming in to add a bit of experience and doing their badges at the same time, but not sure we'd want to go down that route. | |
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| Lessons from last year on 16:04 - Jul 18 with 1677 views | jayessess |
| Lessons from last year on 16:02 - Jul 18 by Herbivore |
Can't see three more CMs coming in. If we bring in two more that's three newbies plus Taylor competing for two spots. We might keep Humphreys for cover, as he can cover other positions too, Johnson is also capable of covering in the midfield if needed. I think having four new CMs plus Taylor, you aren't going to be able to keep them all happy unless one is a 30+ player on the way down who is coming in to add a bit of experience and doing their badges at the same time, but not sure we'd want to go down that route. |
Humphreys is still going to be U21, so keeping him as a 5th midfielder probably necessary to make the squad limit. | |
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| Lessons from last year on 16:08 - Jul 18 with 1625 views | Herbivore |
| Lessons from last year on 16:04 - Jul 18 by jayessess |
Humphreys is still going to be U21, so keeping him as a 5th midfielder probably necessary to make the squad limit. |
He can also cover LB and the number 10 roles of need be, good versatility. The ideal would be to get him a season of regular Championship football on loan but staying with us and getting 15-20 appearances (probably off the bench mainly) wouldn't be bad for his development. | |
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| Lessons from last year on 16:13 - Jul 18 with 1582 views | Pique |
| Lessons from last year on 15:34 - Jul 18 by Steve_M |
Yep. although I think it's worth noting that it won't be quite so hard to get the team to gel in the Championship as it was last season. It is a bit concerning at the moment though, the players we have bought in so far merely filling gaps that have opened up since the end of the season.
We needed two central midfielders and two strikers when the season finished and we still do. That can't have been the plan three weeks from the start of the season.
Yes, we're being ambitious with some of our targets and it might be worth waiting but it's three seasons in a row now we've seen the transfer window close with us a striker short. |
The striker thing is critical and a lesson we must learn. For the last two seasons we've had a winter striker problem due to Hirst injuries.
Last year we spent every game in December praying Delap wouldn't get injured or suspended (and when he did inevitably get suspended had to play Szmodics up front, which didn't work). The year before was even worse - Broadhead as a false 9 (which also didn't work) until we could get Moore and Al Hamadi in.
Can't take a third year of that personally. Two decent strikers in and Al Hamadi out should be the aim. |  | | |
| Lessons from last year on 16:22 - Jul 18 with 1521 views | surreyblue |
| Lessons from last year on 16:04 - Jul 18 by jayessess |
Humphreys is still going to be U21, so keeping him as a 5th midfielder probably necessary to make the squad limit. |
Unfortunately he won't - from the EFL regulations:
"‘Under 21 Player’ means a Player under the age of 21 as at the 1 January in the year in
which the Season concerned commences.
For Season 2025/26 an Under 21 Player is someone born on or after 1 January 2005."
Cam was born in 2003, so wouldn't have made the cut last year, let alone this year.
Edit: it seems that the PL has different rules and judges "under 21" from a year earlier. So last season Cam would have been classed as an under 21 in the prem but not in the championship.
"What constitutes an Under-21 player?
For the 2025/26 Premier League season, Under-21 players will have been born on or after 1 January 2004." [Post edited 18 Jul 16:26]
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| Lessons from last year on 16:41 - Jul 18 with 1400 views | FrimleyBlue |
You can have a dodgy august/sept in the championship
You can't in the prem |  |
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| Lessons from last year on 08:00 - Jul 19 with 1010 views | PioneerBlue |
I can’t disagree with anything here, I’m a let’s get all business done before preseason but we know that’s practically impossible in this market whilst it ends in Sept.
I’m happy in knowledge we only need 1 starter (8) which means continuity in preseason and builds on familiarity from last season.
I’m more concerned by the ongoing need for at least
a second 6
a better striker than AAH to share time with Hirst
stardust for the forward group when OH leaves.
These 4 will be those that have less pre season game time to pick up the game play.
I’m relaxed until Aug 01! | |
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| Lessons from last year on 08:06 - Jul 19 with 962 views | NthQldITFC |
| Lessons from last year on 15:43 - Jul 18 by Herbivore |
I think what will emerge as our best XI will only contain two players who weren't here last season (the two CMs), possibly a Hutch replacement but we can field a three behind the striker of Philogene, Szmodics, and Clarke and still have Chaplin, Ogbene, Broadhead, and Burns in reserve. What we're seeing is probably lower than average squad turnover for a newly relegated side, but it's churn we've not been that used to necessarily. Appreciate CM is a key area so not being flippant about the level of change, and no doubt the squad will be bolstered in other areas, but I don't think we should be unduly concerned. Other relegated sides in recent years have had WAY more upheaval than we're experiencing and still gone up, or at least finished top 3. |
^ that. |  |
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| Lessons from last year on 08:10 - Jul 19 with 939 views | tractordownsouth |
Apart from the midfield, I don't think gelling is going to be a big problem. Our first XI will probably consist of 8 players who were here last season. |  |
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| Lessons from last year on 09:10 - Jul 19 with 800 views | PrideOfTheEast |
It’s surprising to me that we’re a couple of weeks away from the start of the season and we have Ali as alternative to Hirst. I don’t understand why we find it so hard to find a striker - we’ve been looking for several windows now. Delap was always going, Hirst is yet to prove he can stay fit for a season and Ali isn’t a suitable alternative.
If Ferguson was on the list that seems incredibly optimistic. | | | |
| Lessons from last year on 09:17 - Jul 19 with 758 views | billlm |
Your right to be concerned,
I hope we don't go deep into this transfer window chasing unrealistic targets,
That will damage our season,
On the flip side some on here who have been fairly informative over the tears think we're going big and bold they normally are itk,
So my fingers are crossed we have got it right,
Would be a real mess considering we knew we were down kong before the season finished so had extra time to prepare, |  | | |
| Lessons from last year on 09:18 - Jul 19 with 738 views | Pinewoodblue |
| Lessons from last year on 09:10 - Jul 19 by PrideOfTheEast |
It’s surprising to me that we’re a couple of weeks away from the start of the season and we have Ali as alternative to Hirst. I don’t understand why we find it so hard to find a striker - we’ve been looking for several windows now. Delap was always going, Hirst is yet to prove he can stay fit for a season and Ali isn’t a suitable alternative.
If Ferguson was on the list that seems incredibly optimistic. |
Wait until Norwich replace Sargeant before we sign a striker. |  |
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| Lessons from last year on 09:35 - Jul 19 with 676 views | MisterBlue |
| Lessons from last year on 16:41 - Jul 18 by FrimleyBlue |
You can have a dodgy august/sept in the championship
You can't in the prem |
We were 15th going into October last year.
Wolves, Palace and Everton all below us ;) |  | | |
| Lessons from last year on 09:44 - Jul 19 with 628 views | darkhorse28 |
You’re 100% right about needing time to gel a team dynamic…, but I think you miss the important bit.
A lot of the players we collectively spent over £100 million on, could have an eternity together, and still wouldn’t be good enough. Quality just wasn’t there.
As evidenced by them actually doing far worse the longer they were coached and together.
They never gelled and that’s down to coaching, management, and lack of quality, it certainly wasn’t down to lack of time together. | | | |
| Lessons from last year on 09:47 - Jul 19 with 630 views | Metal_Hacker |
Don’t think there’s too many lessons to learn from last season
Last season was a result of playing against better opposition and simply us having to adapt accordingly
Role reversal this season and I don’t expect much different from our promotion campaign to be fair
It’ll be a case of the opposition adapting to us next season as opposed to the other way around
Why fix something when it’s not broken |  |
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| Lessons from last year on 09:57 - Jul 19 with 566 views | MK1 |
I'm ok with the lack of signing elsewhere in the squad, just the Midfield that concerns me. We have lost 4 from last season there and no arrivals. The back line have been together for a while now as have the front line, it's the 2 or 3 in Midfield that I would like to see arrive ASAP. |  |
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| Lessons from last year on 10:02 - Jul 19 with 513 views | jasondozzell |
Think these are fair points but it's also maybe worth remembering that KM has never been one for the 'star' player signing being essential. He's always been more interested in the sum of the parts and how things can work together and I think he'll feel he's got a squad already that he can be very competitive with.
It's the same with his attitude to strikers. Goals are great but they are only a part of it - he really values physicality, work rate, ability to bring others into play just as much if not more. He'll feel that if the team can play well the goals will come from many different sources.
That's not to say he won't be pushing for us to get business completed but he's always struck me as someone who sees past player hype/fixation and instead sees solutions and possibilities.
The Kayden Jackson approach typified this.
For me, the key thing this season is the determination and concentration. And I thought it was very notable that we were bang up for all the games last season even after we were effectively relegated. I think he'll have the players in the right frame of mind to see this as a season to attack from the front as the pace setters. |  | | |
| Lessons from last year on 10:08 - Jul 19 with 483 views | Mullet |
We are fishing in different pools again.
Last year we were unfancied Prem fodder, this year we can either go early on decent Champ players etc or wait for Prem dominoes to fall.
There will be squad players and PSR chicanery we can benefit from. Because of the window your squad is never finished by kick off either. It's annoying but also causes unnecessary anxiety in fans.
I expect to see us go for more players like Kipre who have been over here, might be in Europe now or languishing in Prem squads and want the opportunity to make money, headlines and a tilt at the Prem as a player etc.
So many players will look at Delap and Omari and want a piece of us for a shot at the biggest stages too. I just think we are at the mercy of bigger clubs now. |  |
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| Lessons from last year on 10:12 - Jul 19 with 442 views | HairBearBunch |
| Lessons from last year on 09:10 - Jul 19 by PrideOfTheEast |
It’s surprising to me that we’re a couple of weeks away from the start of the season and we have Ali as alternative to Hirst. I don’t understand why we find it so hard to find a striker - we’ve been looking for several windows now. Delap was always going, Hirst is yet to prove he can stay fit for a season and Ali isn’t a suitable alternative.
If Ferguson was on the list that seems incredibly optimistic. |
Look around, everyone finds it hard to find a striker. It's not just us |  | | |
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