Did we do the right thing?

[blade too long]

Lets do what spurs have done today
Sign a player on loan for 20m and pay his 600k a week wages to add a bit of punch up front .......simples

 

[Charlieblade]

Due to our budget constraints every signing has been a gamble to a certain extent as to whether they can improve the starting 11. Look at our signings since winning promotion;

McBurnie - jury is still out
C Robinson - failure, gone
Jags - back-up squad player
Rodwell - back-up squad player
L Freeman - failure, gone
Osborn - squad player at best
Moose - jury is still out
Sander - should come on this season but at the moment jury is still out
J Robinson - back-up squad player
Burke - remains to be seen if he will have an impact
Bogle - cover for George but could break through
Lowe - cover for Enda remains to be seen if he will have an impact
Ramsdale - We needed a keeper, he has the qualities but not an improvement
Foderingham - back up squad player
Ampadu - remains to be seen if he will have an impact


So that's 15 signings....(I may have missed one or two) since promotion yet the starting 11 v Wolves had 9 players who were with us in the Championship so therefore we have quite clearly failed to improve on the starting 11 signing gambles and squad players.....the writing was on the wall for me when we offered Rodwell and Jags new deals and there is only hope that any of the new signings this window will make an impact.

Would we have been better off not playing the numbers game and instead signing 3 or 4 players who would have walked into the starting 11 and then given the likes of Slater, RND more of an opportunity within the squad?

I think you are being a bit harsh with some of those assessments. Rodwell is ok. Luke Freeman still belongs to us and he’s done nothing wrong so far. The same applies to Jack Robinson, a capable deputy.
Osborn is so much more than a squad player, energetic and versatile. Lowe looks to have promise after just one game.
Ampadu is class and still very young.
Berge is the future of this club, if only we can keep hold of him.
Overall, too dismissive, in most cases after only one competitive game. Burke will become the new Basham, I’m sure of it.

 

[BushBlade]

I will give you 90 out of 100 for your post mate .I agree with most of it apart from the dig regarding Sheffield .Jumped in the car yesterday and within half a hour was sitting on a bench overlooking Great Hucklow with a pint in hand thinking where else would I like to be other than here?Answer Nowhere.

If Sheffield’s good because it’s near Great Hucklow, Bradda must be fucking brilliant.

 

[petcharlie]

If Sheffield’s good because it’s near Great Hucklow, Bradda must be fucking brilliant.

It is

 

[Pittsburg Blade]

Contender for most naeve post of the season.

naeve
any congenital growth or pigmented blemish on the skin; birthmark or mole.

Sorry, you lost me from the get-go

 

[LenTednTony]

Do you feel we approached recruitment correctly?

We finished 9th. To go down via the bottom 3, we would need 9 teams to out perform us. That would be some drop off and regardless of aspirations, 17th is always going to be a good achievement at this level.

Whilst Norwich had a bad season, they were not helped by a continued spate of injuries. Things may have turned out differently if they could have fielded a settled back 4 for instance. The time we were here under Warnock, one single injury to Hulse pretty much sent us down, regardless of the whole Tevez stuff.

Post lockdown form showed that without just Fleck and O'Connell we were not as effective overall and that is despite Robinson and Osborn having decent matches during the period.

Apart from the keeper, which needed resolving, we've covered ourself with depth. We have proper options at wingback now and a very shrewd signing in Ampadu to cover both midfield and defence.

However, unlike Berge, none of these immediately go straight into the team.

So we probably had a choice.

Improve the depth almost like an insurance policy to reduce the drop off if players are unavailable, or improve the immediate first XI, but be open to the risk of a large reduction in quality should a couple of players be out.

It appears that we have favoured the former.

We won't know for sure yet until the window shuts, how much we had to spent or how much we could still use on the first XI.

But have we been conservative and done the right thing or should we have been more bold but risked having a defence potentially containing Freeman, Jags or Rodwell for the run in instead of say Bogle and Ampadu?

But surely if you improve the first Xl you improve the depth as those that were first teamers become squad......or am I looking at it too simplistically?

 

[Yoonited]

I don’t think he would be consistently good enough to play at the required level for a lengthy period of time, for a few games he is a suitable replacement but not a long term stand in. That’s my opinion and would like to be proved wrong though

I guess only time and games will tell if he can break into the team. Personally I like to watch him but of course as always that's only my personal preference. We can only say what we see.Cheers Tom.
Let's hope whoever plays, Dean Smith is grimacing come the final whistle on Monday.