Assessment of the Summer Signings

[DazBlade88]

I've had a bit of time to kill, so I thought I'd do this. Feel free to discuss, or offer your own verdicts on our signings this summer

Ched Evans - Man City - £3m: Not match fit yet, but has made a solid start. I've got no doubt he'll be an excellent signing.

Lee Williamson - Watford - £600k: Very unfortunate to get a back injury, have to hold judgement until he's played for us.

Andy Taylor - Tranmere - £400k: Hasn't overly impressed me so far. Defensively, his positional play is quite poor. He's not really got much pace to recover from that and is a bit lightweight. I think he'll get better in time, though.

Keith Treacy - Blackburn - Loan: Looks a very good player, but struggling to keep fit. He's quick, and gets at the full back. Just what you need from a winger. If he can stay fit and get 90 minutes in then he'll do well.

Mark Bunn - Blackburn - Loan: Looks impressive. His only visible weakness is his tendency to punch. Not really had a chance with any of the goals conceded, so can't fault him other than that.

Kyle Walker - Tottenham - Loan: I was dissappointed when we sold him and loaned him straight back. This has nothing to do with his footballing ability, I would have just preferred us to move on if we're selling. He's brilliant going forward, but can be suspect positionally. Luckily, unlike Taylor, his pace gets him out of trouble. He'll improve massively with experience though.

James Harper - Reading - Free: This could be the signing we've been looking for since Michael Brown left. He's always impressed me, and put in some excellent performances against us. He went stale at Reading, so I think the move will do him good.

Jordan Stewart - Derby - Swap for Hendrie: Dissappointed with this one. One player I've never liked since his days at Leicester. Left sided, where we have 2 players in each position and couldn't even get in Derby's team. I'm baffled to be honest

Kyel Reid - West Ham - Free: Has looked dangerous when brought on and in the friendlies, especially running at defenders. His final ball seems to let him down, though. Decent signing.

Glen Little - Portsmouth - Free: Even if he doesn't play, I believe he'll have a positive effect on our team. He'll help Cotterill improve his game, and can be a calming influence at the later stage of the season if needed.

Ryan France - Hull - Free: Another one I was dissappointed when we signed, and he hasn't done anything to prove me wrong unfortunately. Don't think he's up to it. His main attribute is his versatility.

 

[manicblade]

Agree with your assessments. I believe that Jordan Stewart was forced on us by Derby in order to afford Hendrie's wages. It was probably take on Stewart or part subsidise Hendrie's wages.

 

[Fiery Blade]

Not that bothered about Stewart although very disappointed with Taylor - hes not good enough to lace Armstrongs boots!
Harper should be an excellent signing if United have not cocked things up which is rumoured re: too late to sign.
Not over impressedwith Evans but still a youngster and having to play up front with the Donkey! Treacey and Bunn look reasonable

 

[Hartyblade]

Personally i think this has been the most enlightening transfer windows for united in quite a while.

Positive thinking from Blackwell, he has brought in 4 good attacking midfeilders, 1 clinical striker, and a good replacement for Kenny.

He's got rid somehow of Howard for 500k, has got rid of hendrie which will help towards the wages of the other players. Got rid of Sharp on loan, which is the BEST deal that could of happened... Gives him chance to get regular football, hopefully see him come back when he's on form, if not could easily ship him off.

Managed to keep Kilgallon, Morgan & Monty. Who are the heart of this football club pretty much.
Disappointed at the sale of Bromby but bromby deserves first team football. And not really happy at the signings of Stewart or France.

All in All though 8 Positive signings, 2 worrying ones, and 1 (Taylor) that is yet to pull off yet im sure it will.

Very good transfer window, very good start to the season considering i beleive that we have had THE toughest start to the league out of anyone, only result being a bit of a downer was the 1-1 against leicester but we're still unbeaten!

cmon you blades!

 

[Wilnecote Blade]

Kyel Reid - West Ham - Free: Has looked dangerous when brought on and in the friendlies, especially running at defenders. His final ball seems to let him down, though. Decent signing.

As long as he's binned the blue boots for the black ones I agree

 

[Elsecar_Blade]

Mark Bunn - Blackburn - Loan: Looks impressive. His only visible weakness is his tendency to punch. Not really had a chance with any of the goals conceded, so can't fault him other than that.

Why is that a weakness? For me, it's a massive improvement on the bag of spuds we had in net last season who NEVER came for a cross.

If a cross/corner/throw is on our six yard line, which would you rather?

(i) Paddy Kenny style, stand on line, bounce left, bounce right and wait for opponent to head at goal. Save if straight at keeper, goal if anywhere else.

(ii) Mark Bunn style, make a decision and go for the ball as you have the advantage as you can use your hands. Clear everybody including own defenders and clear that ball by punching. Make odd cock-up that results in goal.

I'd take Bunn every time.

Jordan Stewart - Derby - Swap for Hendrie: Dissappointed with this one. One player I've never liked since his days at Leicester. Left sided, where we have 2 players in each position and couldn't even get in Derby's team. I'm baffled to be honest

Give him chance. You've just said that you're disappointed with Taylor - Naysmith is injured - so doesn't Stewart make sense? And even if he doesn't play, he'll still be cheaper than Hendrie.

 

[Pinchy]

Not that bothered about Stewart although very disappointed with Taylor - hes not good enough to lace Armstrongs boots!
Harper should be an excellent signing if United have not cocked things up which is rumoured re: too late to sign.
Not over impressedwith Evans but still a youngster and having to play up front with the Donkey! Treacey and Bunn look reasonable

Ah, the vastly over-rated parochial favourite 'Stretch'. The longer he's gone the better he gets. He'll be in league one within 12 months.

 

[bricktop]

Personally i think this has been the most enlightening transfer windows for united in quite a while.

Positive thinking from Blackwell, he has brought in 4 good attacking midfeilders, 1 clinical striker, and a good replacement for Kenny.

He's got rid somehow of Howard for 500k, has got rid of hendrie which will help towards the wages of the other players. Got rid of Sharp on loan, which is the BEST deal that could of happened... Gives him chance to get regular football, hopefully see him come back when he's on form, if not could easily ship him off.

Managed to keep Kilgallon, Morgan & Monty. Who are the heart of this football club pretty much.
Disappointed at the sale of Bromby but bromby deserves first team football. And not really happy at the signings of Stewart or France.

All in All though 8 Positive signings, 2 worrying ones, and 1 (Taylor) that is yet to pull off yet im sure it will.

Very good transfer window, very good start to the season considering i beleive that we have had THE toughest start to the league out of anyone, only result being a bit of a downer was the 1-1 against leicester but we're still unbeaten!

cmon you blades!

And as an added bonus you have saved me 10 minutes writing the same thing out

 

[La_Blade]

I'd agree with most of those assesments, I also agree that tewart was probably just a make weight in the Hendrie deal, which suggests Blackie was desperate to get rid. Does this only leave Naismith as the last of Robbos signings? I would disagree about Taylor though. From what I've seen he seems to have stepped up well, not a lot gets past him. He doen't offer much going forward but as a full back you've got to defend first, owt else is a bonus imo.

 

[DazBlade88]

Why is that a weakness? For me, it's a massive improvement on the bag of spuds we had in net last season who NEVER came for a cross.

If a cross/corner/throw is on our six yard line, which would you rather?

(i) Paddy Kenny style, stand on line, bounce left, bounce right and wait for opponent to head at goal. Save if straight at keeper, goal if anywhere else.

(ii) Mark Bunn style, make a decision and go for the ball as you have the advantage as you can use your hands. Clear everybody including own defenders and clear that ball by punching. Make odd cock-up that results in goal.

I'd take Bunn every time..

Oh, don't get me wrong, I'd take Bunn over Kenny everyday of the week. The only reason I brought up the punching was because there's been a few occassions where he's punched when it was much easier to catch. If he can get the balance right I wouldn't be able to pick a fault.

Give him chance. You've just said that you're disappointed with Taylor - Naysmith is injured - so doesn't Stewart make sense? And even if he doesn't play, he'll still be cheaper than Hendrie.

I'll give every player that wears a red and white shirt a chance, I really hope he proves me wrong. We'll have to see how he fits in to the squad and where he plays if he does.

I'd agree with most of those assesments, I also agree that tewart was probably just a make weight in the Hendrie deal, which suggests Blackie was desperate to get rid. Does this only leave Naismith as the last of Robbos signings?

I believe so, yes.

I would disagree about Taylor though. From what I've seen he seems to have stepped up well, not a lot gets past him. He doen't offer much going forward but as a full back you've got to defend first, owt else is a bonus imo.

So far, he's had a really mixed bag of performances and that's why I'm concerned about him. His positional play hasn't been that great in any game so far, but 5 games into the season with new players there's bound to be teething problems. I'm sure he'll come good.

 

[Robbie]

Does this only leave Naismith as the last of Robbos signings?

Sharp and Speed are still here.... Cotterill?

 

[SotonBlade]

Sharp and Speed are still here.... Cotterill?

I think the Sharp deal was agreed before Robbo signed, and wasn't Speed brought in by Neil?

 

[Robbie]

I think the Sharp deal was agreed before Robbo signed, and wasn't Speed brought in by Neil?

Was signed with Robbo in charge, and Speed was brought in by him too....

 

[La_Blade]

Fair enough Sharp is still on the books, but he's out on loan. I didn't count Speed cos he's not playing (possibly) any more, I thought Cotts was brought in on loan by Blackwell?

 

[Robbie]

I thought Cotts was brought in on loan by Blackwell?

Originally by Robson.....

He did have an eye for the players did Robson - shame he wasn't a very good manager

 

[Ollessendro]

Originally by Robson.....

He did have an eye for the players did Robson - shame he wasn't a very good manager

Blackwell and Robbo are polar opposites in that sense Robbie. Robson was able to attract the big names, proven player and potential talent to the club. However he just couldn't get them to play. KB really struggles to get proven players to the club. However he does a good job (or certainly better than Robson for arguments sake) at getting the best out of players.

Suggestion: bring back Robbo, but have KB pulling all the stings as his assistant!? :thumbup:

 

[BrixtonBlade]

The problem with that is that I don't agree it's necessarily a good thing that we were able (and did) bring in big names. I'd much prefer us to be bringing in young players fro the lower leagues - Ward's a great example - than old guys on massive money.

 

[Ollessendro]

My words were in jest Brixton.

I agree with you partly. It's important to bring in lower league player and younsgters through the ranks. But sometimes you need to bring in proven quality. Sometimes you need to bring in big names, or just players thsat you know will come up with the goods.