[CONFIRMED] Another disappointing Transfer Window

[crucialkneeligaman]

You’re right we did and I think we certainly have some very solid players and some match winners in the team/ squad now like Murphy, Flynn, JCR, Jose, Scougall. I’m looking forward to seeing Wallace and some of the younger lads like Reed, Diego come through and play some part up to Christmas. My only disappointment, however is that Clough was clearly trying to bring in some additional faces and for whatever reason, on the last day of a very busy summer, we fail to get the players we want. I’m not about to speculate on why, but lets hope now that we can pick up some decent loanees until January.

Nigel says "Who's Diego" ?

 

[mattbianco1]

Jesus fucking Christ. We sign 11 players and people are moaning that we didn't panic buy for someone on deadline day.

A lot of players will now be available on loan deals following their clubs big transfer activity.

Chill out peeps!

 

[yuley82]

We signed quite a few players before the deadline. One of our busiest ever, I think? The window didn't open this morning you know.

I was talking about the last 24hrs of the deadline, maybe I should've made that abit more clearer for you.

 

[yuley82]

I think most people are just a bit peed because the apparent bids or moves for the extra 2-3 players we need didn't come off. The club shouldn't mention bids until they know they will come off otherwise most will just see it that we was lied to again.

 

[TarquinDelouche]

I think most people are just a bit peed because the apparent bids or moves for the extra 2-3 players we need didn't come off. The club shouldn't mention bids until they know they will come off otherwise most will just see it that we was lied to again.

And if they don't mention anything, people will complain about the club having no ambition and not even trying. Some people like to piss and moan about anything, and don't really care to consider what really happened. I think some people like the sound of their own typing too much.

 

[Jim Chimmerney]

I think most people are just a bit peed because the apparent bids or moves for the extra 2-3 players we need didn't come off. The club shouldn't mention bids until they know they will come off otherwise most will just see it that we was lied to again.

Yep, NC's fault for heightening expectation, fans have short memories and will have forgotten the good work we did early summer transfer wise. In his defence, daily interviews and social media makes it nigh on impossible to keep business quiet these days.

Damned if he does, damned if he doesn't though, we've seen that with recent managers.

 

[Esablade]

I think this is fast becoming a day of national paranoia, stoked by those buffoon's on Sky and some elements of the press.


P.s-and greedy agents who've hung on till the last minute then panic in order to 'make a buck'

 

[davidpinder]

Look on the bright side Harry back on loan next week plus another then ched out that means we could strengthen and not spend a penny.

 

[Bladesway]

Clough is as culpable in today's disappointment as the board is.

Ok assuming what you say is true. As I understand it Clough gives his list of players he wants to the board etc and they go to the club's and agree fees etc. How does it make clough culpable unless he never gives that list to the board?

 

[Jim Chimmerney]

Look on the bright side Harry back on loan next week plus another then ched out that means we could strengthen and not spend a penny.

Apart from covering half Harry's wages and paying Ched £20K a week you mean

Ok assuming what you say is true. As I understand it Clough gives his list of players he wants to the board etc and they go to the club's and agree fees etc. How does it make clough culpable unless he never gives that list to the board?

I guess he could be culpable if he left it until the last minute to decide we suddenly needed 2/3 players but I think we can safely say that wasn't the case.

 

[riselikeasalmon]

Brilliant thread, summing up in one place how a lot of posters think.

What I don't get is why the new management who in 12 months have quickly identified Weir wasn't the man and paid him off, brought in what will hopefully turn out to be one of the best 3 managers in my 35 years supporting the club, backed him with good champ quality loans last season and (is it?) 11 new signings, have made significant progress in the running of the club and for some reason think it's a good idea to communicate with the fans are being tarred with the same brush as McCabe who although had the best intentions made some shocking decisions, had poorer people running the club and was panicking in financial quicksand (OK, of his own making). Does anyone really think Clough would have been anywhere near BDTBL prior to 12 months ago?

Harry wanted to leave, let's get over it, I don't blame him, although he may come to regret it.

Suppose NC had all the money (and maybe more) to spend, but the players he wanted either didn't want to come or their clubs won't sell them? Should we spend it on players who he doesn't want?

We've played 5 games, have the loan window and January coming up, but some have seen after one game that nothing has changed and we aren't good enough.

Can people really not see how things have changed?

 

[yuley82]

Yep, NC's fault for heightening expectation, fans have short memories and will have forgotten the good work we did early summer transfer wise. In his defence, daily interviews and social media makes it nigh on impossible to keep business quiet these days.

Damned if he does, damned if he doesn't though, we've seen that with recent managers.

Totally agree with you, me personally I didn't expect us to sign anyone else but fully expect us to dip into the loan market which in some ways are better than a perminant transfer cos if it doesn't work out then no money really wasted. An quite honestly with some of the names that where banded about I'm glad we didn't spend.

 

[Houso]

Ok assuming what you say is true. As I understand it Clough gives his list of players he wants to the board etc and they go to the club's and agree fees etc. How does it make clough culpable unless he never gives that list to the board?

You'll notice I said culpable in the disappointment; that being that we were told by the manager that we needed more players to get out of this league, and then many unsurprisingly expecting we would sign them. If he keeps quiet and plays the usual "we'll keep an eye out and may get involved" I think the expectations would have been prepared better.

To me, it also seems that Clough has taken a good while to get his head round the fact that we need more in. His preparation this summer was poor and in a couple of cases, he picked up players because they didn't sign for others. Higdon for example was close to signing for two other clubs before the transfers fell through and we decided to make him an offer. If he was the right player, we should have identified that from the get go and been at the front of the queue; not waiting for Chesterfield to muck up negotiations.

I know some will take this to an extreme and try to suggest that I'm saying "Clough Ahhhhht", but I think he's the best man for the job and will take us forward (most likely this season). However, I also think he's not the greatest in the transfer market and is inflexible in the players he goes after.

 

[true99blade]

After watching how well we played West Ham and Preston I am not worrying whatsoever about us challenging. Some people really jump to the extreme far too early on this forum.

 

[Houso]

I agree true (in that I think we will challenge still).

The thing is, we can't suggest the judgement of the manager is beyond reproach in one sentence, then disagree with his summation of the squad in the next.

I'd also suggest that if we lose Collins or McGahey to injury, we're utterly knackered in central defence. We have GREAT depth in central midfield and on the flanks, but we're threadbare elsewhere.

 

[ghandi]

If they had say 3 bids rejected why not forget 1 player and increase the bids of the player(s) for the most needed position(s)?

Interesting that other clubs appreciate their players (as Clough quotes in the official release) and rebuffed bids but we never appreciate our players and are always open to bids. Says it all really.

 

[Woodwardfan]

May I suggest that, in a nutshell, if Clough had signed three strikers who had impressed us all, there would be no anxiety whatsoever, even after a barren day yesterday.

The fact we all have to live with, including Clough, is that our "strong strikeforce of four" that Clough talked about in the summer is actually: Higdon, McNulty and Porter and Diego if he counts.

Personally I have not given up on Higdon, though I do not like big, slow centre forwards Clough has made that choice. McNulty has yet to settle. Diego has loads to come but we might never see it. I gave up on Porter well over a year ago.

Through necessity we might play without a striker again and we did OK earlier this year in both Cup and League. Seem like misssed opportunities to me though.

 

[Jim Chimmerney]

The fact we all have to live with, including Clough, is that our "strong strikeforce of four" that Clough talked about in the summer is actually: Higdon, McNulty and Porter and Diego if he counts.

Despite the 'where to play him' debate, I think you can replace Diego with Baxter.

It's obvious he wants a replacement for Porter which, again, makes it all the more ridiculous that we re-signed him.

 

[davidpinder]

Apart from covering half Harry's wages and paying Ched £20K a week you mean

That doesn't count Jim you should know that.

 

[Lane Ender]

I agree true (in that I think we will challenge still).

The thing is, we can't suggest the judgement of the manager is beyond reproach in one sentence, then disagree with his summation of the squad in the next.

I'd also suggest that if we lose Collins or McGahey to injury, we're utterly knackered in central defence. We have GREAT depth in central midfield and on the flanks, but we're threadbare elsewhere.

I dont know whats gone off with Butler but when he signed i thought it was a good signing proven at this level thought Clough would have made him captain with him and Kennedy we have adequate cover there.

 

[Houso]

I agree on Butler. Should be very solid given his experience at the level, really needs to find his feet here though. For some reason I thought Tel was injured, but again, you're right that he should be more than adequate cover.

 

[IOM Blade]

If someone were to reboot the C**d poll this morning, i'd wager the results would be rather different.

 

[Kenilworth]

After watching how well we played West Ham and Preston I am not worrying whatsoever about us challenging. Some people really jump to the extreme far too early on this forum.

Wow! I bloody am.
There was some really positive points from both those games but the conclusion you should have also come to at the end is that we are desperately short of fire power to make any sort of realistic challenge.

Let's look a little closer at those two performances

• We defended brilliantly - bar two woeful moments that both led to soft goals being conceded. Can we really cut out those lapses of concentration and attention deficit enough to matter? - One clean sheet all season (including friendlies at lower league opposition) suggests not.
• Howard has been immense during both matches - Can he maintain that for 41 more league games and however many cup games if there are still one or two rickets taking place every match? Highly unlikely he can continue that superb form over all the games remaining so he needs resolute defending in front of him - and he needs to stay fit.
• Can Baxter come up with a Worldy every game to secure the points (a point)? He's a class act and our most gifted individual but it's not very probable.
• Will OG come to our rescue sufficient times like he did at Sham? I suspect not more than one a game and only for 3 or 4 a season even allowing for the number of quality balls that are going into the opposition box. Without that OG at Sham we would not have reached penalties - despite the fact that McNuts had a good game and worked his socks off he never worked the goalkeeper once - neither did anyone else for that matter.
• How often will we score more than one goal a game to give us a chance to close out the match? There's not very many in the squad that can boast more than 10 league goals in a season is there?
• Will we need to play it into the corners 9 mins before FT in every game we are 1 nil up in to secure 3 points? Given the current level of goals per game that seems a necessity at the moment.

We all know - and so does NC - that a pacey, nippy, goal grabbing out of nothing striker to complement the lumps we already have is the key element missing - we can cover the rest of it if we are scoring enough goals at the business end. The trouble is that we are not. Unfair to expect McNuts to be that player straight away - he has potential but he lacks pace.

Loans? Is that the answer - well it will have to be, won't it? There is no other choice - but therein you have a large problem in my mind - they can be recalled whenever the parent club wants them (some exceptions) and it is depriving one of our own a place in the team and in so doing is giving some other club the longer term benefit of that game time and that experience.
MK Dons is a prime example in our own division from last term. They had Chelsea's Patrick Bamford on loan for 5-6 months and were going great guns with him - trouble is he went back and got loaned out to a higher division club because of that success. consequently MKD lost a potent goal threat and didn't manage to sustain their challenge.
How can you guarantee a successful loan spell? We of all clubs should know the answer to that conundrum.

So October rolls round and Mr Tag Man comes out on license - will he be the goal getter of 2012 or will he be the goal nesher of 2010 and 2011? It's a big "OR" and that's IF he comes back and IF the shit storm that will inevitably engulf us enables him to take any part before he is shipped off elsewhere to allow the hurricane to subside.

Clough now has to work a fucking miracle to get in the quality of player needed to fire this team into a promotion challenge. We will be neat and tidy and create a lot of chances but we have nothing like the quality of forward player necessary to convert them. We get nowhere near them at the moment. He has to get in a very decent loan player that will, no doubt, cost a lot of money in wages and fees - but that is just renting instead of building an asset for our future.

It's not about the final day of the transfer window - we have known about the goal striking shortcomings for ages. It's about the fact that 11 players have come in and we have still not solved the glaring gap in the format. If he thought Higdon and McNuts were to be the answer then so be it. On the evidence so far, a collection of around 12 matches over the pre season and competitive games to date, they are clearly not.

In conclusion, as it stands now, I am absolutely worried about us making a challenge worthy of the name. With the current potency of our attack we will fall several spaces short of even the play offs, even though will be hard to beat. The bare truth is that If we are betting our whole campaign on the gamble of selecting a decent loan striker that will fire us into the championship, then we are fucked.

...again.

 

[super_pig]

it is as simple as this. we have never replaced Ched.. we had Blackman who was starting to make a fist of it . then we sold him.. as usual

 

[Zanzibar]

Wow! I bloody am.
There was some really positive points from both those games but the conclusion you should have also come to at the end is that we are desperately short of fire power to make any sort of realistic challenge.

Let's look a little closer at those two performances

• We defended brilliantly - bar two woeful moments that both led to soft goals being conceded. Can we really cut out those lapses of concentration and attention deficit enough to matter? - One clean sheet all season (including friendlies at lower league opposition) suggests not.
• Howard has been immense during both matches - Can he maintain that for 41 more league games and however many cup games if there are still one or two rickets taking place every match? Highly unlikely he can continue that superb form over all the games remaining so he needs resolute defending in front of him - and he needs to stay fit.
• Can Baxter come up with a Worldy every game to secure the points (a point)? He's a class act and our most gifted individual but it's not very probable.
• Will OG come to our rescue sufficient times like he did at Sham? I suspect not more than one a game and only for 3 or 4 a season even allowing for the number of quality balls that are going into the opposition box. Without that OG at Sham we would not have reached penalties - despite the fact that McNuts had a good game and worked his socks off he never worked the goalkeeper once - neither did anyone else for that matter.
• How often will we score more than one goal a game to give us a chance to close out the match? There's not very many in the squad that can boast more than 10 league goals in a season is there?
• Will we need to play it into the corners 9 mins before FT in every game we are 1 nil up in to secure 3 points? Given the current level of goals per game that seems a necessity at the moment.

We all know - and so does NC - that a pacey, nippy, goal grabbing out of nothing striker to complement the lumps we already have is the key element missing - we can cover the rest of it if we are scoring enough goals at the business end. The trouble is that we are not. Unfair to expect McNuts to be that player straight away - he has potential but he lacks pace.

Loans? Is that the answer - well it will have to be, won't it? There is no other choice - but therein you have a large problem in my mind - they can be recalled whenever the parent club wants them (some exceptions) and it is depriving one of our own a place in the team and in so doing is giving some other club the longer term benefit of that game time and that experience.
MK Dons is a prime example in our own division from last term. They had Chelsea's Patrick Bamford on loan for 5-6 months and were going great guns with him - trouble is he went back and got loaned out to a higher division club because of that success. consequently MKD lost a potent goal threat and didn't manage to sustain their challenge.
How can you guarantee a successful loan spell? We of all clubs should know the answer to that conundrum.

So October rolls round and Mr Tag Man comes out on license - will he be the goal getter of 2012 or will he be the goal nesher of 2010 and 2011? It's a big "OR" and that's IF he comes back and IF the shit storm that will inevitably engulf us enables him to take any part before he is shipped off elsewhere to allow the hurricane to subside.

Clough now has to work a fucking miracle to get in the quality of player needed to fire this team into a promotion challenge. We will be neat and tidy and create a lot of chances but we have nothing like the quality of forward player necessary to convert them. We get nowhere near them at the moment. He has to get in a very decent loan player that will, no doubt, cost a lot of money in wages and fees - but that is just renting instead of building an asset for our future.

It's not about the final day of the transfer window - we have known about the goal striking shortcomings for ages. It's about the fact that 11 players have come in and we have still not solved the glaring gap in the format. If he thought Higdon and McNuts were to be the answer then so be it. On the evidence so far, a collection of around 12 matches over the pre season and competitive games to date, they are clearly not.

In conclusion, as it stands now, I am absolutely worried about us making a challenge worthy of the name. With the current potency of our attack we will fall several spaces short of even the play offs, even though will be hard to beat. The bare truth is that If we are betting our whole campaign on the gamble of selecting a decent loan striker that will fire us into the championship, then we are fucked.

...again.

A perfect post to describe our current situation.
Clough created the headlines by saying we are three players short of a challenge.
We still are.

 

[SUFC Handsworth]

The club apologists can sugar coat it as much as they want. The board have taken in nearly £5m extra revenue this year which wasn't budgeted for and in relative terms have spent jack all in return. This from a club that has no debts (McCabe wrote them off for a £1) and a Pearly Prince who promised to put money in for transfers. Clough had earmarked 3 players to improve the team and the board haven't backed him, although there should be plenty of cash sloshing about at the Lane.

Blades fans shafted again, Clough shafted for the first time as a Blade.

 

[riselikeasalmon]

Clough had earmarked 3 players to improve the team and the board haven't backed him,
Blades fans shafted again, Clough shafted for the first time as a Blade.

So, you either haven't read what Clough said about bids lodged, or you think the current board is 'deceiving' the fans (very poorly I'd say) like McCabe did (allegedly) and you think so little of Clough that he is prepared to be their puppet and read out their pre prepared statement? He doesn't strike me as that sort.

 

[S5Blade]

So, you either haven't read what Clough said about bids lodged, or you think the current board is 'deceiving' the fans (very poorly I'd say) like McCabe did (allegedly) and you think so little of Clough that he is prepared to be their puppet and read out their pre prepared statement? He doesn't strike me as that sort.

Don't forget that the 11 players we did sign since this increase of budget all came for free, no agents fees, no signing on fees, no wages or expenditure on them at all.

 

[alcoblade]

Don't forget that the 11 players we did sign since this increase of budget all came for free, no agents fees, no signing on fees, no wages or expenditure on them at all.

Of course you are correct, nothing is for free. But don't exaggerate in the opposite. Three of the 11 were here last year and free agents. Alcock and Butler were free agents. In fact, I suspect all but 2 or 3 were.

In the context of million pound plus cup runs, fantastic season ticket sales and the £2.5 million sale of Maguire - we really have spent "fuck all".

UTB

 

[Grecian2000]

I think the problem is that we've done the business we hoped was needed very early and, having seen the team in action, we now don't think it is enough.

Butler, Wallace and Higdon were "key" signings who haven't delivered for various reasons. They were all greeted with enthusiasm but they haven't had the desired effect (as yet). If they'd all hit the ground running would we be having any discussion regarding this being a "bad window"? After all we are used to the business being the other way and bloody late on.