All the young lads will be going out on loan, except (maybe) Flint, as he can fill in at either defensive midfield or defence. So take Bryant, SB & Williams out the frame straight away.
Of the seniors that’s left, I’m struggling to see much of a future for Close, Westbrook, S’Barra and Hurst, so they’d be my choice for loan or moving on. That leaves us a very different picture:
Lawlor / Oram / new No1
Sterry / Nixon / Maxwell / Senior / McGrath / 2 x new CB’s
Broadbent / Bailey / Gotts / Clifton / Flint / new defensive midfielder
Sharp / Ironside / new striker / Molyneux / Gibson / Middleton / new winger
I make that 5, which could be a mix of permanents and loans.
Sorted!
At the very least we are going to be bringing in a further four players - keeper, two centre backs and a striker. That will be a squad of 28 players, without any departures.A goal keeper 3 central defenders and a striker have still not been replaced !
Essentially I think we still need:
- new first choice goalkeeper
- two new central defenders capable of playing in the first team. With Faulkner having signed a new deal that would leave us strong in this position
- a new central midfielder. I understand the argument that we have enough numbers, but to me that only means we need to rebalance the squad and move some out that are surplus. In the last two years our best from (by a mile) has been with Matty Craig or Charlie Crew running the midfield. We don’t currently have a player like that in the squad, and we need one to compete in League One
- a new striker in the mould of Rob Street (i.e. that can compete physically and run in behind)
Anything else is a bonus, but the above are fundamental to us competing in my opinion.
At the very least we are going to be bringing in a further four players - keeper, two centre backs and a striker. That will be a squad of 28 players, without any departures.A goal keeper 3 central defenders and a striker have still not been replaced !
Hanlan
Gibson Gotts Molyneux
Broadbent Bailey
Maxwell McGrath Pearson Sterry
Lawlor
Subs:
Oram
Nixon
Senior
Clifton
Sbarra
Middleton
Sharp
Ironside
Hanlan
Gibson Gotts Molyneux
Broadbent Bailey
Maxwell McGrath Pearson Sterry
Lawlor
Subs:
Oram
Nixon
Senior
Clifton
Sbarra
Middleton
Sharp
Ironside
Just curious. Have subs been increased to 8 this season?
In still not sure we haven’t weakened the team by Bailey coming back in midfield. He was a level above at centre half and everyone else clicked so much better in midfield.I don’t think we’ve weakened anything yet, as there are other players lined up to join us. But, there was no mention of a central defensive player being added, certainly not in this next batch anyway.
It’s a good problem to have of course
Now 25 on professional contracts:
Lawlor
Oram
Bryant
Nixon
Sterry
Williams
McGrath
Faulkner
Maxwell
Senior
Flint
Close
Westbrooke
Gotts
Broadbent
Bailey
Clifton
Straughan-Brown
Sbarra
Gibson
Hurst
Ironside
Sharp
Molyneux
Middleton
With potentially five or six players with some of them loans it’s looking a like a large squad with over 30+. So who’s going to be let go or loaned out ..Now 25 on professional contracts:
Lawlor
Oram
Bryant
Nixon
Sterry
Williams
McGrath
Faulkner
Maxwell
Senior
Flint
Close
Westbrooke
Gotts
Broadbent
Bailey
Clifton
Straughan-Brown
Sbarra
Gibson
Hurst
Ironside
Sharp
Molyneux
Middleton
Following the latest signings, now a squad of 27 players on professional contracts:
Lawlor
Oram
Bryant
Nixon
Sterry
Williams
McGrath
Pearson
Faulkner
Maxwell
Senior
Flint
Close
Westbrooke
Gotts
Broadbent
Bailey
Clifton
Straughan-Brown
Sbarra
Gibson
Hurst
Ironside
Hanlon
Sharp
Molyneux
Middleton
We need two experienced centre backs, then either one of the younger guys at the side of an experienced player or you put both older players in and use them as back ups.
If you have pace in front of them you can get away with it. Like you say if you have centre halves with little pace, your full backs must be able to tuck in and cover that. I would like to think we are going to be higher up the pitch and not dropping too deep, unless we plan on playing counter attacking football.
I think we'll see a bit of outward movement in the next couple of weeks.
You would think Close and Hurst are now nowhere near the first XI, so out permanently I reckon.
The young lads obviously going out on loan.
I've had a feeling about Ironside going too, heard a rumour in January that he wasn't happy with lack of games, how true that is I don't know as just a rumour.
Couldn't actually see him going to Chessy.
We need two experienced centre backs, then either one of the younger guys at the side of an experienced player or you put both older players in and use them as back ups.
If you have pace in front of them you can get away with it. Like you say if you have centre halves with little pace, your full backs must be able to tuck in and cover that. I would like to think we are going to be higher up the pitch and not dropping too deep, unless we plan on playing counter attacking football.
Don’t think we need two more experienced CBs, one yes.
We're just about ready to rock n roll with TLT's arrival.
Any further quality additions will be a bonus really.
Bring on League One.
Think both of them will be addressed this week ^^We're just about ready to rock n roll with TLT's arrival.
Any further quality additions will be a bonus really.
Bring on League One.
We still need another CB
I don’t think we should underestimate the impact that having a central midfielder capable of dictating the play has had in the last two seasons. Both of those were temporary spells (Craig and Crew) and we were nowhere near as convincing when they weren’t there. My own view is that it surely has to be a priority this summer. Hopefully McCann’s lack of mention is just a case of downplaying it.I agree Jonathan, I think midfield is our biggest weakness - Craig, and to a lesser extent Crew, filled a gap there but that would have been my first priority in the window. Grant must be thinking another loan there to fill the gap, I'm praying he isn't putting his faith in the current midfielders as they are not good enough to boss League 1 (Bailey excluded - but I expect he'll be centre half cover at least some of the time).
McCann doesn’t operate a system that requires a playmaker in central midfield. Hence Close and Westbrooke gathering dust in the cupboard.
Going on what Grant has already told us, there will be another CB (Premiership young lad bid accepted) and that’s imminent. The next one will be a wide player and there’s been hints on the internet who that could be.
Then there’s another CB we would have to wait a while longer for?
The only area that hasn’t been mentioned is central midfield, but I’m in agreement that we havn’t got that physical player in the middle who can start attacks off. I heard weeks ago that Leeds were up for sending Crew back to us, as they were more than pleased with his development. Whether that happens remains to be seen, but we do need to add that missing link.
Going on what Grant has already told us, there will be another CB (Premiership young lad bid accepted) and that’s imminent. The next one will be a wide player and there’s been hints on the internet who that could be.
Then there’s another CB we would have to wait a while longer for?
The only area that hasn’t been mentioned is central midfield, but I’m in agreement that we havn’t got that physical player in the middle who can start attacks off. I heard weeks ago that Leeds were up for sending Crew back to us, as they were more than pleased with his development. Whether that happens remains to be seen, but we do need to add that missing link.
Now 25 on professional contracts:
Lawlor
Oram
Bryant
Nixon
Sterry
Williams
McGrath
Faulkner
Maxwell
Senior
Flint
Close
Westbrooke
Gotts
Broadbent
Bailey
Clifton
Straughan-Brown
Sbarra
Gibson
Hurst
Ironside
Sharp
Molyneux
Middleton
Following the latest signings, now a squad of 27 players on professional contracts:
Lawlor
Oram
Bryant
Nixon
Sterry
Williams
McGrath
Pearson
Faulkner
Maxwell
Senior
Flint
Close
Westbrooke
Gotts
Broadbent
Bailey
Clifton
Straughan-Brown
Sbarra
Gibson
Hurst
Ironside
Hanlon
Sharp
Molyneux
Middleton
Updated squad list.
Lo-Tutala
Lawlor
Oram
Bryant
Nixon
Sterry
Williams
McGrath
Grehan
Pearson
Faulkner
Maxwell
Senior
Flint
Close
Westbrooke
Gotts
Broadbent
Bailey
Clifton
Straughan-Brown
Sbarra
Gibson
Hurst
Ironside
Hanlon
Sharp
Molyneux
Ajayi
Middleton
In a good starting squad. I'm sure it will be refined as the season progresses.
[/quote With these new and exciting additions Is the club throwing down a gauntlet to the rest of the others their intentions to push to a higher level .