| Tonight’s game highlighted the depth in the squad 03:16 - Sep 16 with 1681 views | Joey_Joe_Joe_Junior |
I’m sure everyone is bored of it after a long summer but as it was the B team, a quick snapshot to consider.
Don’t get me wrong, great window and the bench looked stronger than ever Saturday but in another way it’s still really imbalanced when you scratch beneath the surface.
If we keep relative health, we have a very good team in front of the defense, a decent enough back 4 (although very upgradable in areas) and credible PL bench. Tough to do it all in a few windows but the squad still needs thinning out, especially in the below areas;
Center midfield
Left attack
Goalkeeper
I don’t see any future at the club for
Palmer
Jack Taylor
Kipre
McAteer
Mehmeti
And those currently on loan.
Getting fees are hard when they’re not playing football we also might need to take the odd loss as well bit should be a good chance to make a profit on few like Taylor, Palmer and Mehmeti.
I expect to be in the relegation mix this January but in a much better position than two years ago. Would love for us to be aggressive if we need to but it might take some outgoings.
What tonight did highlight (and I don’t think it’s telling us anything new), is that we would be screwed with literally any defensive injuries. Also to the people asking what Walton’s done wrong, well nothing but he’s not a PL quality keeper either.
And before anyone says we should keep some of them in case we go down, well maybe but after two relegations we should be thinking above some of those names listed above with the windows and money we’ve spent. Anyway, hopefully it doesn’t come to that.
[Post edited 16 Sep 3:25]
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| Tonight’s game highlighted the depth in the squad on 07:34 - Sep 16 with 1367 views | Dubtractor |
Pretty much agree with all of that. Our group at the game last night also made that point about the problems if we get an injury or two at the back. |  |
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| Tonight’s game highlighted the depth in the squad on 07:58 - Sep 16 with 1272 views | NthQldITFC |
I've been hoping that McAteer would make further gains like he suddenly seemed to at the end of last season, but no real sign in his minutes so far.
Taylor, also, but realistically he's got at least four ahead of him and we've moved on too much for him.
Mehmeti has skill, but runs into trouble rather than building things for the team.
Kippers and Palmer have done well for us at times, but as you say, too much of a step down.
Any or all might stay given finances/rules but agree that all need to be upgraded just as backups. |  |
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| Tonight’s game highlighted the depth in the squad on 08:06 - Sep 16 with 1240 views | BiGDonnie |
I'd rather not see Furlong, Kipre or Walton in a Town shirt ever again. |  |
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| Tonight’s game highlighted the depth in the squad on 09:32 - Sep 16 with 1089 views | Guthrum |
It's not so much a case of thinning out, but that, with the best will in the world, it is not possible to hire 20+ Prem quality players in a single window. Near-impossible to attract anyone of that level in the Champ (barring the odd hidden gem such as Leif Davis) and getting relegated will lose you most of those at a good level (c.f Hutchinson and Delap).
A first-season squad is always going to have a number of players who would struggle going toe-to-toe with the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal (whose second string are a decent Prem side in themselves).
Acknowleging we are, perforce, in that position of not yet being fully top-tier equipped, it would be mad to not register the ones we have to make a squad of 25. It doesn't imply that they have a long-term future, simply that we need them for now to make up the numbers, to cover for emergencies and for cup fixtures.
I'm sure there would be outgoings to make space for future signings, they won't be standing in the way (unless they suddenly become brilliant). The loaned out senior players are effectively gone already. But we'd done as much as we could in this summer's window and must go with what we have. |  |
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| Tonight’s game highlighted the depth in the squad on 09:43 - Sep 16 with 1057 views | Guthrum |
| Tonight’s game highlighted the depth in the squad on 08:06 - Sep 16 by BiGDonnie |
I'd rather not see Furlong, Kipre or Walton in a Town shirt ever again. |
I thought Kipre had a pretty decent game for most of last night. A number of crosses and balls into the box firmly dealt with. | |
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| Tonight’s game highlighted the depth in the squad on 13:27 - Sep 16 with 917 views | Joey_Joe_Joe_Junior |
| Tonight’s game highlighted the depth in the squad on 09:32 - Sep 16 by Guthrum |
It's not so much a case of thinning out, but that, with the best will in the world, it is not possible to hire 20+ Prem quality players in a single window. Near-impossible to attract anyone of that level in the Champ (barring the odd hidden gem such as Leif Davis) and getting relegated will lose you most of those at a good level (c.f Hutchinson and Delap).
A first-season squad is always going to have a number of players who would struggle going toe-to-toe with the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal (whose second string are a decent Prem side in themselves).
Acknowleging we are, perforce, in that position of not yet being fully top-tier equipped, it would be mad to not register the ones we have to make a squad of 25. It doesn't imply that they have a long-term future, simply that we need them for now to make up the numbers, to cover for emergencies and for cup fixtures.
I'm sure there would be outgoings to make space for future signings, they won't be standing in the way (unless they suddenly become brilliant). The loaned out senior players are effectively gone already. But we'd done as much as we could in this summer's window and must go with what we have. |
Disagree they would have wanted to get rid of more than what we ended up being able to
do. | |
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| Tonight’s game highlighted the depth in the squad on 13:42 - Sep 16 with 872 views | franz_tyson |
We might just have to live with it and get the best out of the Championship players still here. We've just been promoted. What do you expect? Added some real quality amongst a squad with a number of Championship players. They might get shown up against Arsenal, Man U and Liverpool but we don't play them every week.
We've spent a fortune already and we can't offload weaker players so easily as they're on decent contracts that many Championship teams can't afford. Can we afford to offload more players on loans whilst paying their wages? It's not good business.
I'd like to think we'll have at least one eye on the circumstances of relegation and we might have to stop listing players who have the audacity of still being Championship players. That's where we came from?
Maybe it's up to our manager and coach and senior players to get a little more out of the squad rather than relying on throwing ,money around. |  | | |
| Tonight’s game highlighted the depth in the squad on 14:14 - Sep 16 with 816 views | PioneerBlue |
I dont really disagree with comments here but to add
January isnt a time where we will go heavy unless we suffer a big loss or sell to buy and replace
If we are in the relegation zone, most likely step is to prepare for Championship not PL, therefore cutting loose on Mehmeti or McAteer is unlikely unless there are bidders or perhaps we cycle those on loan and take loans ourselves
I think the squad depth is ok for starting finishing, the quality in the finishers would take time to increase, you would always be nervous covering longer injuries and defensively it is short (CB, LB). | |
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| Tonight’s game highlighted the depth in the squad on 14:31 - Sep 16 with 730 views | longtimefan |
| Tonight’s game highlighted the depth in the squad on 13:27 - Sep 16 by Joey_Joe_Joe_Junior |
Disagree they would have wanted to get rid of more than what we ended up being able to
do. |
I suspect the biggest difficulty moving on players is their wages. They'll now be on PL contracts and realistically no Championship club will match them or even get close to them. | | | |
| Tonight’s game highlighted the depth in the squad on 14:37 - Sep 16 with 708 views | Joey_Joe_Joe_Junior |
| Tonight’s game highlighted the depth in the squad on 13:42 - Sep 16 by franz_tyson |
We might just have to live with it and get the best out of the Championship players still here. We've just been promoted. What do you expect? Added some real quality amongst a squad with a number of Championship players. They might get shown up against Arsenal, Man U and Liverpool but we don't play them every week.
We've spent a fortune already and we can't offload weaker players so easily as they're on decent contracts that many Championship teams can't afford. Can we afford to offload more players on loans whilst paying their wages? It's not good business.
I'd like to think we'll have at least one eye on the circumstances of relegation and we might have to stop listing players who have the audacity of still being Championship players. That's where we came from?
Maybe it's up to our manager and coach and senior players to get a little more out of the squad rather than relying on throwing ,money around. |
Calm down it was just an observation. I am not expecting to have 26 reading to go PL starters, it was a mention on depth in key positions and that it's quite uneven
Well got promoted in summer 2024 and had 5 windows since, I would expect to not be relying on Jack Taylor and Christian Walton if we got relegated.
They obviously would have wanted to get rid of players like Palmer and others this summer if they could. The likes of McAteer on long contracts was poor business which we will cost us money in the short or long term. Not all will be hits but it does show we need to be as certain as we can be when spending over 10M+ in the champ as it will catch up with you at some point.
If we stay up, we can recycle some more of it, was just pointing out that the squad positionally is uneven and we have some players that aren't really needed as well. [Post edited 16 Sep 14:38]
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| Tonight’s game highlighted the depth in the squad on 16:34 - Sep 16 with 602 views | _CliveBaker_ |
| Tonight’s game highlighted the depth in the squad on 14:37 - Sep 16 by Joey_Joe_Joe_Junior |
Calm down it was just an observation. I am not expecting to have 26 reading to go PL starters, it was a mention on depth in key positions and that it's quite uneven
Well got promoted in summer 2024 and had 5 windows since, I would expect to not be relying on Jack Taylor and Christian Walton if we got relegated.
They obviously would have wanted to get rid of players like Palmer and others this summer if they could. The likes of McAteer on long contracts was poor business which we will cost us money in the short or long term. Not all will be hits but it does show we need to be as certain as we can be when spending over 10M+ in the champ as it will catch up with you at some point.
If we stay up, we can recycle some more of it, was just pointing out that the squad positionally is uneven and we have some players that aren't really needed as well. [Post edited 16 Sep 14:38]
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We've got a squad of 2 halves IMO. c. 50% are probably premier league quality to varying degrees. 50% are probably more suited to upper end of the Championship, the likes of Walton, Kipre, Nunez, Taylor, McAteer, Mehmeti, Akpom etc. The more minutes we can get out of the 15 or so in the former bracket and less reliance on the latter the better, as harsh as it sounds. That wont always be possible, and we're more susceptible in certain areas than others, but it'll go a long way to determining our fate this season.
Next summer will be busy again. If we stay up there's probably 10+ that will move on from the squad, plus those out on loan. Then we'll be having the same conversations, but it will be about whether the likes of Philogene, Diop and Maeda need to go. That would be a good problem to have though. |  | | |
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