I’ll follow with interest who we go for.
We aren’t blessed with wingers anyway.
There is an argument as per the OP that the path of least resistance is to go 3-5-2 or 3-4-1-2 or 3-4-2-1.
Let say we’d like Souttar, Walker and Phillips. Not saying we get them all but we’ve been linked and if we don’t get them then you’d expect similar to be targetted.
Already gives an overlapping back 5 of:
Seriki-Walker-Souttar-McCallum-Burrows
Or
Walker-Tanganga-Souttar-McCallum-Burrows
On paper, you’ve got Seriki, Walker, Tanganga, Shackleton/Sachdev/Curtis for the right side 2 positions. You’ve got Souttar backed up by McGuinness and possibly Tanganga in the centre. On the left you’ve got McCallum, Burrows, RND as first drop and then either you use one of those mentioned or likes of Buyabu breaks through, similar trajectory to a Seriki.
At present you’ve got Peck and Phillips. You still have Arblaster and Rothwell. You could then have O’Hare and Gus behind Bamford. You don’t really miss Brooks if that’s how you line up.
Still could lose Peck and then Arblaster would start. Still could lose Gus, but then maybe Campbell, Cannon or One start and you play two up top.
If it’s a season to cash in and remain competitive I’d probably take 8 figures for Peck and not bother losing Gus. The fee won’t be astronomical anyway at 29. See if him and O’Hare can have some fun and get us top 8.
You’ve still got Grbic, Zatterstrom, Baptiste, Ukaki, Chong, Matos, Nwachukwu to make decisions on to either save wages, bring in modest fees or even contribute as back ups. Could Ukaki be a rival for Seriki for instance? Can Chong and Nwachukwu provide back up for Hamer and O’Hare?
No idea how Chris sees the last batch but just as Coutts emerged, just as Lundstram emerged, there is room for one to do just that.
