Best ever January transfer window?!

[s20Blade]

I don't agree with everything you've said, but a lot of it I do...
I think Clarke, Choudhury and BBD are all really good January signings.

The two that standout are Cannon and Holding.

Cannon
It sounds like Sunderland never put money on the table. Their offer was always on an "obligation based on promotion" basis.
It begs the question, did we need to allocate that much resource on signing Cannon in January?
The knock-on effect of that decision was that it left us short for securing our No.1 priority, a Souttar replacement.

Holding
We know that Wilder wanted a permanent CB, he said he didn't want to have to leave loanee out out of his matchday squad as it would upset the dynamic.
From reports, it seemed we wanted Jimmy Dunne, Harry Darling or Japhet Tanganga.
Ultimately, we couldn't (or wouldn't) stump up the cash and, at the 11th hour, ended up with Rob Holding who hasn't played a professional game of football in 18 months... the opposite of what you need in January.

That doesn't feel like a joined up approach.

If we were sat here with Tanganga for big money and Adam Armstrong (went to WBA) / Tom Cannon / another CF on loan, then I'd be saying what a great window we had.
I just wonder whether we got the key signings wrong.

I think the board spent that on Cannon because he'd command a huge fee if he turns out good in the prem and a good one if he stayed a championship tallysman.

 

[Shadota]

Odd that we don't have a similar pic for Nwachukwu. Makes me wonder how thorough the process was re: medical and whatnot, if he's not here to have his mugshot taken.

 

[Greasy Chap Butty]

Odd that we don't have a similar pic for Nwachukwu. Makes me wonder how thorough the process was re: medical and whatnot, if he's not here to have his mugshot taken.

Probably because he is a development player, and doesn't have a visa yet:


Boss Chris Wilder said: "Christian joins the club after being identified through our new data driven transfer strategy.

"We are discovering something new here and it may take time before we see some results, but we're open to the new methods and we're looking forward to working with Christian, and others, to see how far we can go with it."

 

[Maidenhead]

. I'm somewhat surprised that Palace didn't tear up Holding's contract to allow him to join us on a permanent.

Holding's agent may have had something to say about that as I can't imagine that we'd want to pay him anywhere near as much as Palace are currently paying him.

Likewise, I can't see why Palace would want to pay his contract up in full when they can cut his cost by getting a fee and a wage contribution from us.

 

[Lane Ender]

Same for any club in this position, if we go up - it’s a great window.

New owners going for it, let’s hope we’re a Bournemouth, not a Reading

Any improvement on last season will do

 

[Harrisblade]

Who pissed on your cornflakes this morning?

I think he does it himself as part of his daily 'feel bad' routine.

 

[Lightsoot]

A mess that the majority of the championship would love to be in…

Sure…. but…. ultimately our goal is to make it to the Prem and survive up there. We look a million miles away from being able to do based on current performances, personnel and a coherent transfer strategy.

You’re thinking short term, I’m thinking medium-long. Wilder’s thinking…, I have no idea

 

[Lightsoot]

Do you think your post is "objective and balanced"?

Our main weaknesses were at CB, DM and in the front three.

CB: we chased players unproven at the highest level but with potential in Dunne and Tanganga. However, we were priced out of both; QPR will get nothing for Dunne when he leaves in the summer while I would imagine we'll have no issue meeting the £8m asking price for Tanganga when we're promoted. Rob Holding has 97 Premier League appearances which is more than any of our other defenders (JLT is closest with 54). He's fine as a stop-gap and is definitely an upgrade on Robinson which is what we realistically needed.

DM: Choudhury is a great signing as a backup/foil for Souza. Our defensive form has dipped which many believe coincides with Souttar's injury but in reality an equal loss has been Vini Souza. Wilder has history of seeing out promotion seasons by first and foremost making us hard to beat and it looks like that's the plan this time around too.

Front three: I can't see any argument that signing Brereton Díaz doesn't strengthen us hugely. He gives us a genuine goal threat from the wing as well as increasing the pace of our transitions. Cannon is the only one I'm not convinced by; not because he's not a decent player but because I can't shake the feeling that we've completely overpaid for someone who doesn't have any outstanding attributes. I don't know how many, if any, appearances our two leftfield signings (Cáceres & Nwachukwu) will make but their signings are encouraging as it's a sign that we'll look beyond the UK borders for incomings.

RB: less of a priority but Clarke solves a problem: Gilchrist is a solid defender but he has absolutely no attacking instinct whatsoever. He doesn't support his winger, he doesn't take on his man and his default pass is usually the safe option back to Ahmedhodzic from a standing position. Seriki is completely the opposite but he's too fragile at the moment.

Without us "spunking [even more] munneh" I don't know how this window could have gone better. Yes, ideally Hertha would have dropped their €2m asking price and accepted our €0.4m offer for Kenny and QPR would have accepted £1.2m for Dunne rather than £3m (both deals half dependent on promotion) but unfortunately that didn't happen. I would personally have preferred us to sign Will Lankshear on loan rather than Tom Cannon on a permanent but we've too many loanees as it is. I'm somewhat surprised that Palace didn't tear up Holding's contract to allow him to join us on a permanent.

Some good points and I think that’s a balanced post, although I can’t agree on Holding and the reviews on Choudary are abysmal.

But I stand by that my post was also objective. I praised the signings of BBD and Clarke.

I think we’ve made a mess of the CB situation, not helped by lavishing £10 million plus on Cannon. Dunne should never have been chased as a CB, in my opinion.

Proof will be in the pudding come May. Let’s see.

 

[SittingontheBall]

Condescending? Me?
Just trying to help you understand.
It’s okay not to understand, you know.

 

[Wright1889]

I think he does it himself as part of his daily 'feel bad' routine.

I want a turn to piss in them, then he’ll be in a really sour mood.

 

[Lightsoot]

Condescending? Me?
Just trying to help you understand.
It’s okay not to understand, you know.

Ha, try taking your own medicine. Let’s see how things pan out.

 

[Sydney Blade]

I can’t recall anyone mentioning it but I often feel our defenders look as though they’ve never seen genuine pace when they have to play against it (as was evidenced in the prem). This got me wondering as to whether or not these signings are, at least in part, there to add pace to the squad and give everyone a bit more experience of playing it day-to-day. Similarly, I find it weird when a whole squad/academy/etc. all play the same formation (as with the 3-5-2 era), making it more difficult when you come up against novel formations, etc. Not experienced with the patterns and movement.

 

[Jimmy Fleck]

Sure…. but…. ultimately our goal is to make it to the Prem and survive up there. We look a million miles away from being able to do based on current performances, personnel and a coherent transfer strategy.

You’re thinking short term, I’m thinking medium-long. Wilder’s thinking…, I have no idea

You’re being critical of players that haven’t kicked a ball for us yet. Holding is 29 not 35. He wanted to come here and that’s enough for me. We can establish ourselves in the prem when/if we get there.

 

[ancientblade]

im not quite as negative as most on here regarding cannon i think he will come good but imo weve missed a trick with adam armstrong if we knew he would be made available we should have been all over it he will fire west brom in to the top 6

 

[Addison]

In terms of getting bodies in its been a good start but only promotion will make it a successful one. We have improved the top end of the pitch and brought in some steel in the middle. Unfortunately the middle of the defence is still an area of concern. If Holding hits the ground running brings much needed experience and organisation skills alongside Anel then we will be in a better place. The alternative is he takes time to get up to speed and he's paired with JLT rather than Anel which brings back memories of how we were destroyed by pace in the first half against Sunderland at Home.

Players who can turn games will be critical over the next 16. Hamer avoiding injury and suspension is a must. The other 2 imo who fit this criteria Campbell and Seriki have injury issues but have to be in the match day squad when fit.

Owners have backed the manager in a way that wouldn't have happened under the previous regime. The flirtation with AI is interesting and may prove to be innovative in the long term but shouldn't be a distraction from the short term goal of getting into the EPL.

 

[GymClassHero]

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.

I'm curious as to what could possibly been done better, in your opinion?

Every area of the squad that needed addressing has been sorted, what more do people want!

 

[KOPPO]

buzzing we signed some reyt players were not used to getting lots of players in without selling a few these new owners mean buissness

 

[Lightsoot]

I'm curious as to what could possibly been done better, in your opinion?

Every area of the squad that needed addressing has been sorted, what more do people want!

My main gripe is the failure to bring in a fit centre half on the way up, not one in Holding who isn’t match fit whose career appears to be on a downward spiral.

 

[Lane Ender]

My main gripe is the failure to bring in a fit centre half on the way up, not one in Holding who isn’t match fit whose career appears to be on a downward spiral.

Been playing with CP under 21s saying that if he gets somewhere near his Arsenal form it will do me

 

[joe casey]

So far I'd agree that it has been a good one as normally we sign back up players who barely feature or make an impact. The fact all four started the other day was a huge statement. My main concern is how many are loan signings. If we go up then we're already down to 8 players and need to replace them before we even start strengthening and replacing other positions. That's an expensive outlay if we're serious about going up and staying up.

BBD and Hamza both have "options" to buy - if we go up and they do well, that's pretty straight forward.

Holding and Clarke both will have a year left - again if they do well, the fess will be relatively low and straightforward to sort.

 

[CaptainMorgans]

I don't agree with everything you've said, but a lot of it I do...
I think Clarke, Choudhury and BBD are all really good January signings.

The two that standout are Cannon and Holding.

Cannon
It sounds like Sunderland never put money on the table. Their offer was always on an "obligation based on promotion" basis.
It begs the question, did we need to allocate that much resource on signing Cannon in January?
The knock-on effect of that decision was that it left us short for securing our No.1 priority, a Souttar replacement.

Holding
We know that Wilder wanted a permanent CB, he said he didn't want to have to leave loanee out out of his matchday squad as it would upset the dynamic.
From reports, it seemed we wanted Jimmy Dunne, Harry Darling or Japhet Tanganga.
Ultimately, we couldn't (or wouldn't) stump up the cash and, at the 11th hour, ended up with Rob Holding who hasn't played a professional game of football in 18 months... the opposite of what you need in January.

That doesn't feel like a joined up approach.

If we were sat here with Tanganga for big money and Adam Armstrong (went to WBA) / Tom Cannon / another CF on loan, then I'd be saying what a great window we had.
I just wonder whether we got the key signings wrong.

I'm curious as to what could possibly been done better, in your opinion?

Every area of the squad that needed addressing has been sorted, what more do people want!

I had a go at answering your question above.
Whilst not a bad window, it could have been better.

Maybe Cannon & Holding will disprove my view, but I think we got the allocation of significant funds the wrong way around.

We can see, with hindsight, that better alternatives might have been available.

 

[GymClassHero]

My main gripe is the failure to bring in a fit centre half on the way up, not one in Holding who isn’t match fit whose career appears to be on a downward spiral.

It's well reported that we tried until the last minute to bring in a player of that criteria. The selling clubs obviously had demands that we were not prepared to meet.

I think it's commendable that firstly we would not allow clubs to hold us to ransom, and secondly we had solid back up options and weren't left panicking and scratching around.

Also worth mentioning that perhaps the options we were looking at might not be of enough quality should we be promoted. Renewing the search in the summer window - especially if we are by then a PL club - will give us more options and we would be in a stronger position financially, and attract more ambitious players.

 

[NAnstonblade]

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.

I smell pork!

 

[NAnstonblade]

I think we've done well. I've never managed a professional club so - like most of us here - I don't actually know what it's like trying to strengthen a squad during the January window. I imagine it being something like trying to bake a cake in a hurricane. Anyone on here had any experiernce of this. I'd be intersted to hear from a real 'insider'.

 

[Stanthemanfan]

Reasonably happy but still missing an attacking midfielder

 

[andy m]

Aye, thanks you condescending twat. The strategy was to sign a first team, fit and competent centre half, no? Happy with Holding then?

And before you spout Jimmy Dunne at me, he’s been excelling at right back BUT NOT at centre back. So why the fuck was Wilder chasing him?

It’s more muddled than you.

How do you know the strategy? Did you sit in on the meeting?

 

[Lightsoot]

How do you know the strategy? Did you sit in on the meeting?

No, did you? What’s your point?

 

[Fjortoft's Aeroplane]

With the clamour around all the new faces it’s easy to forget the fact that we’ve kept ALL our best players as well, which for me is the most pleasing thing. There will have been interest in some.

No longer a selling club.

Tbf the Prince didn't sell the family silver in January either...

 

[North Riding Blade]

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.

8.22 AM. Have you been on the piss, are you on the piss now or are you always this upbeat first thing in the morning?

 

[Lightsoot]

8.22 AM. Have you been on the piss, are you on the piss now or are you always this upbeat first thing in the morning?

What time is it acceptable to disagree with the status quo? I genuinely can’t believe some of the muppets I encounter on here. By all means disagree as others have done, but at least make some reasoned points in return that we can debate.