Best ever January transfer window?!

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Every position that needed strengthening has been strengthened, and we now have a proper squad rather than just a good 11. From that perspective it's a good window, but it only looks that way because of how woefully short we left ourselves in the last window.

Hopefully that's enough to get us into that top two, but I'd have hoped for a bit more quality to replace Souttar and Arblaster. I'm also not sure about Cannon with regards to the fee and how he fits our system. For those reasons I think it's been a good window rather than a brilliant one.
 

Lightsoot said:
Our primary objective was to sign a permanent centre half to replace the best centre half we had (Souttar). Instead, we end up bringing in a busted flush woefully short of game time at the eleventh hour in Holding. I do think Harry Clarke is a shrewd signing though as right back is a problem area, both in terms of fitness and quality (Femi, Gilchrist).

It’s great to get BBD back, but nothing in Cannon’s data or opening two performances suggest he’s going to cut it (assist at Derby aside). A relentless, expensive pursuit

Choudhury is a stop gap clogger with poor reviews from his previous clubs, but is possibly a necessary evil with Arblaster out, Peck knackered and Vinni not guaranteed to stay fit.

And two overseas signings literally could be anything.

Bodies in doesn’t necessarily equate to transfer objectives being met. But beyond that, I don’t understand what our transfer strategy is in relation to our playing identity, whatever that is either.

We’re currently a muddled mess, irrespective of what the league table says.
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Pre-January we were a team trying to play wingers but with barely any wingers. I can understand your "muddled mess" statement (though it's an exaggeration).

Now we've got a couple more options. Seems to me we can be a possession based team or a counter-attacking team. Aside from being a defensive team (which is an essential capability if promoted).

We're miles from being the finished article capable of evenly competing in the Prem - but I'd like to think it's possible - rather than... Think the worst.
 
I take no joy from saying this but aside from Diaz who I'm sure will come good once he gets match fit.. the transfer window flattered to deceive, we've seen another awful big money Wilder signing in Cannon (he's not fast, he's not big, he's not strong, he's not a grafter WTF?? I pray he turns it around but it's not looking good) A simple case of quantity over quality with the rest, Holding being particularly uninspiring signing considering how much we've struggled at CB since Souttar got injured. (again he might come good...but he was properly frozen out for a VERY long time, it's hard to imagine him coming good until the seasons almost over)

If the new owners have fairly limited funds then they're going to be furious with the lions share being wasted on Cannon, if there was genuinely no quality strikers available to us, that money should have gone on signing a top CB and a top RB.
 
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Having the depth got us over the line yesterday and Cannon and Diaz linked up to beat Derby.

Cannon according to Bettis was more a board signing than Wilder... They could only be "furious" with themselves.
 
Berkshire Blade said:
Having the depth got us over the line yesterday and Cannon and Diaz linked up to beat Derby.

Cannon according to Bettis was more a board signing than Wilder... They could only be "furious" with themselves.
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If you're trying to turn me against our new owners, you're doing a decent job...
 
Fjortoft's Aeroplane said:
If you're trying to turn me against our new owners, you're doing a decent job...
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Some proper melodramatic type on here recently. If we go up and Cannon plays a small part in getting points ( already one assist and a 'pre assist ') then that ten million was well worth it. Will be worth more than the previous 170 million the promotion used to bring due to a even bigger TV deal starting next year.

Bit like how I think Mousset and Mcburnie more than repaid their fees helping us get into the top half of the premier League
 
Berkshire Blade said:
Some proper melodramatic type on here recently. If we go up and Cannon plays a small part in getting points ( already one assist and a 'pre assist ') then that ten million was well worth it. Will be worth more than the previous 170 million the promotion used to bring due to a even bigger TV deal starting next year.

Bit like how I think Mousset and Mcburnie more than repaid their fees helping us get into the top half of the premier League
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McBurnie still owes in my opinion. But the ship has sailed thankfully.
 
Berkshire Blade said:
Having the depth got us over the line yesterday and Cannon and Diaz linked up to beat Derby.

Cannon according to Bettis was more a board signing than Wilder... They could only be "furious" with themselves.
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It does’nt matter to some that he’s not Wilders signing,that’s just a very inconvenient truth.
I just wish Wilder would sort out the leak in the roof above my seat.
Wilder out.
 
How on earth does anyone on here know that the owners wanted Cannon and not Wilder?
I always thought Wilder was his own man and wouldn't put up with team interference from anyone.
Wasn't this the reason Wilder walked out last time because Princy was wanting him to look at targets that he and his mates had identified and so he walked?
Cannon would no doubt be the player that HE wanted.
 
derfblade.3 said:
How on earth does anyone on here know that the owners wanted Cannon and not Wilder?
I always thought Wilder was his own man and wouldn't put up with team interference from anyone.
Wasn't this the reason Wilder walked out last time because Princy was wanting him to look at targets that he and his mates had identified and so he walked?
Cannon would no doubt be the player that HE wanted.
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Because Bettis is on record as saying so.
 
I think after the debacle last season and losing Souttar to injury this season the defence should have been a priority this window, build from the back etc. ok, it's early days with Cannon and time will tell once he beds in otherwise another bunch of loans that need to be replaced if we go up
 
People have misunderstood what Bettis said. CW asked for 1 forward in his original JTW wish list which totalled 4. The forward was BBD. The owners, knowing CW had tried to get Cannon in during the summer but failed due to a lack of funds, were amenable to the later suggestion that Cannon would be a useful extra addition in view of his scoring record at Stoke. Bettis said the other 3 originals included replacements for Arblaster and Souttar and a right back which were subsequently filled by Choudhury, Holding and Clarke.
 

Where do we rank the JTW now we've seen how it has panned out? Proclemations of "best ever jtw" seem pretty far off the mark 😢

Everyone talks about blaming Wilder or the new owners for how the money was spent.. does some blame lie with chief scout Jamie Hoyland?
 
Fjortoft's Aeroplane said:
Where do we rank the JTW now we've seen how it has panned out? Proclemations of "best ever jtw" seem pretty far off the mark 😢

Everyone talks about blaming Wilder or the new owners for how the money was spent.. does some blame lie with chief scout Jamie Hoyland?
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BBD - has contributed with goals and assists but hasn’t exactly played well. Inexplicably starts every game regardless of performances.

Choudhury - a steady Eddy, he’s decent at destroying and had a decent game v Pigs which counts for a lot, but not as good as Souza who we could do with being fully fit ASAP. Bad on the ball.

Cannon - a lot of us said at the time that we’d overpaid for him, but seems a huge waste of money given the need for a Souttar replacement.

Holding - speaking of the Souttar replacement, this seemingly was it, but he’s not been given much game time, a lot of us are crying out for him to replace JLT but Wilder is stubborn as a mule so won’t listen to the clamour.

Clarke - Somehow managed to be 4th choice RB behind Seriki, Gilchrist, and an out of position Choudhury.


‘Best January transfer window ever’

Narrator: ‘but it wasn’t the best January transfer window ever, it was in fact, quite a poor one.’
 
Reflecting on our JTW this season did we actually bring anyone in who’s helped with the possible exceptions of BBD and Choudhury?

In

Sam Curtis - Peterborough, end of loan - back out on loan

Ben Brereton Diaz - Southampton, loan - Scored a couple but been fairly poor compared to previous loan

Tom Cannon - Leicester, £10m - made zero positive impact

Hamza Choudhury - Leicester, loan - had a couple of decent games but can’t pass forwards and means that we insist on playing a DM no matter the opposition

Harry Clarke - Ipswich, loan - injured

Rob Holding - Crystal Palace, loan - hardly used

Christian Nwachukwu - Botev Plovdiv, undisclosed - has he been to Sheffield yet?!

Jefferson Caceres - FBC Melgar, undisclosed - played for u21’s only
 
In terms of immediate impact the JTW has been poor. The only thing these players have added is squad depth which is useful, but when you're fighting for automatic promotion it would be nice to bring in at least one or two needle movers.

I think with Choudhury we always knew what to expect. He's just not the type player that will help much against deep sitting opposition. The Burnley game is where he will have to shine, if he plays.
Cannon I guess can be excused as a long term project, even though it would've been nice if he hit the ground running.

When it comes to expectations BBD probably has been the biggest disappointment because he hasn't really raised the level of the team at all so far. He even took JRS's place in the team who I think would've been a better option in several games recently.
 
Might as well have signed James Hanson, Martin Cranie and Jay O'Shea

It's a staggering outcome

Excusable if it had cost what the likes of Hanson and O'Shea did but we've wasted a fucking fortune
 
The January transfer window gave us squad depth that allowed us to push on and maintain consistency in results.

Clarke (injured) and Holding aside, who hasn't been given much of a chance, all of the signings have contributed to our position (yes, even Cannon - assist at Derby).

However, what worries me is that they didn't contribute to a better style of playing.
BBD and Cannon haven't really improved our attack.

Choudhury was brought in to sit next to Souza, and the experiment failed. He's now his deputy. A lot of folk said we needed to go for somebody more in Arblaster's mould (Tyler Morton, Tommy Doyle etc..) and in hindsight, that was the correct thinking.

Holding, brought in to replace Souttar, hasn't been good enough (or fit enough) to oust Jack Robinson.
This one is the poorest, for me. It was absolutely critical that we replaced Souttar and it was absolutely inevitable that Holding wouldn't be able to with how little football he's played in the last 3 years.

Clarke, didn't look an upgrade on Gilchrist. Gilchrist himself is being kept out by Seriki who hasn't been outstanding.

So whilst January was super important for keeping us in the fight, we didn't use the resources well enough to push on and we had the resources to do so.

In hindsight, should we not have just pushed the boat out a little further and brought in Jonjoe Kenny and Jimmy Dunne?
 
We had the resources to push on and win the league and when we don't, the January window will be blamed, which is quite fair, but the quality of our play and the manner of our performances would never have justified winning the league and probably not even 2nd

Without hindsight I can say that I would have gone for Morton over Choudhury, signed Dunne over Holding and never even considered spending 10m on Cannon - I would've preferred Riis or a deadline day loan. In hindsight I would have even preferred Ashley Barnes. Where I might have fucked up is agreeing a high obligation to buy price for BBD if promoted

Don't know if I'd have signed a RB but I would never have signed Clarke - that was a pure panic signing. Worked out great that
 
Brought in some good Championship players. Did not play well enough as a team.
 
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