January Transfer window.. The verdict

[FleaPitBlade]

I am disappointed for one reason and one reason only. At this level to get anywhere we need a front pairing (and back ups) one of which is a 20+ a season and the others 15+ between them.

Done needs 6 goals to tick your box, Pommpey. I'm willing to bet you a print for your bog wall that he'll get them...

My view is that between McNulty, Murphy, Baxter, Flynn, Scougall, JCR (Davies, Higgo, Adams et al chipping in ad hoc) and now Done that there are enough players capable of scoring enough goals betwix them - the problem we've had is providing a consistant stream of goal scoring chances, opening up teams - particularly when oppo's park the No 57 infront of their goal.

I dont disagree that a lethal striker would be the icing on the cake but I do also think the dealings this window have gone some way to addressing our threat to opposition goals.

 

[Jehovah]

I think I have no choice but to reserve judgement until I see them play more. I just have not seen them play enough. I know what Brayford is capable of , but I thought he was below average Saturday and Coutts was non existent. I hope they all turn out to be good signings, but I am not going to say its a brilliant transfer window based purely on the fact we have actually signed a few players.

 

[Flatulent_Bob]

Pompey_Blade, All I'd ask is who we should have bought? I think we genuinely tried to bring in 3-4 forwards who we thought could play at a higher level and we fell flat due to players wanting to go elsewhere and players not wanted to play league one. Was there someone who moved to a league one club, where I'd expect us to be able to compete with anyone, that you think we should have snapped up?

 

[pommpey]

Done needs 6 goals to tick your box, Pommpey. I'm willing to bet you a print for your bog wall that he'll get them...

Oh, he may well do that. I'd prefer his ten league goals this season were ours, mind!

Like I say, let's see. We have seen one game so far with Coutts, Brayford and Freeman in the lineup and we won that, against a team I expected us to be beaten by. There's great potential there, and hopefully the new input will show it's worth.

What I'd give for that marquee striker though.

pommpey

 

[pommpey]

Pompey_Blade, All I'd ask is who we should have bought? I think we genuinely tried to bring in 3-4 forwards who we thought could play at a higher level and we fell flat due to players wanting to go elsewhere and players not wanted to play league one. Was there someone who moved to a league one club, where I'd expect us to be able to compete with anyone, that you think we should have snapped up?

Wrong Pompey Blade Bob. I'm 'pommpey' (small 'p', two 'm's' since 1997-98) and Pompey Blade doesn't live anywhere near Portsmouth (I think)

Who should we sign? No idea. Given we are paying for some bloke to swan round abroad to scout and bring in playing business and Clough has more footballing contacts, I have no idea who is 'actually' available and who is just whining about moving to renegotiate a contract extention or get a pay off. There's a whole load of unseen business that we are not privvy to and will never be dealt in on. One thing is for certain though - we need a striker. With apparently £2.5m available and a pledge fro the board that 'money would be made available' as a 'GCI', I would imagine some specific targets would be within reach, even in the lower reaches of the Premier League.

pommpey

 

[Woodwardfan]

There is an article on the BBC website from the Wet Spam chairman David Gold about recruiting players last night.

"Sorry for keeping you up late but at the last moment the main deal collapsed (edit: Adebayor) and the rest folded like a pack of cards," tweeted Gold.
He thanked co-owner David Sullivan and manager Sam Allardyce for their efforts, blaming the Premier League club's failure to land new players on "people out their that you just can't do business with".

Just goes to show that "game changing investment" is in some cases down to external forces and not due to Internal forces.

Perhaps the detractors may cut our board and management a bit of slack to now get on with the job of getting us out of this shit division.

There is ALSO the loan market which opens soon, so the "dealings" may not yet be finished. Brighton may get someone on loan which may in turn release COG. Just give the management their due respect.

UTB

I go along with that Fulwood but it is a fact that you and I and everyone else know full well we have needed a striker ever since Clough joined us back in October 2013. To mount any serious assault for automatic promotion he didn't do the necessary business last summer. At least 3 striker signings should have been his priority and he signed McNulty as a development player which would have been fine if he had signed two more senior players. We got Higdon and nobody else.

The O'Grady situation turned out to be all "his eggs in one basket" and it has failed again at least for the time being. The manager has had plenty of "slack" over the 16 months in truth.

The big question in my mind is how much we have paid for Done and whether we have got good value and only time will tell. I have watched him play twice this season v us and v Stoke. I don't remember him at the Lane and I thought he was lively but raw and rushed against the Prem opposition. I think we were desperate yesterday and maybe overpaid but price and value depend on your circumstances and we are certainly in need of strikers for the rest of the season, and we have cash available to spend obviously. Done is reveered at Rochdale but he is a recent convert from the wing and his goals before this season are modest. As far as I know Rochdale always play 4-4-2 which is an interesting factor.

Clough is an experienced manager and I don't think for one minute he threw money at the Done deal in a desperate gamble but I think he knows full well that he still needs a No.1 striker and in the loan market there is all sorts of quality. Done can play various positions which will be useful in the run-in.

It's so good to have the option to spend money and in fact to make numerous bids until both Cardiff and Rochdale have eventually said "yes".

 

[shorehamview]

That quote did allegedly come from BM - S24SU is like Brain of Britain compared to BM.

UTB

To be fair a welly full of tadpoles beats BM for brainpower...

 

[S5Blade]

Is it seriously so hard for people to understand Done is a striker and has been signed as such and also that it wasn't a panic buy or a last resort, we had numerous bids for his rejected throughout January (Confirmed by KH yesterday)

They even mention it twice in the first 2 paragraphs of the article on the OS:

"The Blades have secured the signature of the striker wanted by Nigel Clough.


United have signed Rochdale's Matt Done for an undisclosed fee. The striker, who has scored 14 goals so far this season, has signed a two-and-a-half year deal with the option for a further year."

So he wont have to compete with Flynn, JCR, Davies etc because he will be playing upfront.

 

[GRUMPY BLADE]

Oh, he may well do that. I'd prefer his ten league goals this season were ours, mind!

Like I say, let's see. We have seen one game so far with Coutts, Brayford and Freeman in the lineup and we won that, against a team I expected us to be beaten by. There's great potential there, and hopefully the new input will show it's worth.

What I'd give for that marquee striker though.

pommpey

If there was a 20+ striker available he wouldn't be a team player hence been available.

Available and desirable, Clubs like Bournemouth would wipe the floor with us.

 

[silver blade]

Taking into account the Arrivals, departures, contract extensions, not too bad, The Beard returning and Murphy's new contract the big pluses.

The big downer no out and out goalscorer signed (again)

As I mentioned in the Shoutbox this looks like the makings of a very good team to challenge for League one promotion... Next season, (as long as the board holds its nerve in the summer)

I am Not sure we have enough to get up this year.

Bringing in new players is only the first step, they need to settle into the team immediately, we are not in a position where we can loose games while they find there rythem.

 

[pommpey]

Clubs like Bournemouth would wipe the floor with us.

Just think about what you have written there, Grumpy.

Bournemouth = non-descript south coast outfit, recently changed stadiums to a smallish (12000) venue, with a support-base and attendance that has recently been down as low as 3500 for a home game and team largely unchanged since we beat them at the Broadsands over a year ago. Managed by 'Nice Guy' Eddie Howe who hasn't exactly spunked millions on playing staff.

Sheffield United = notable big city club with a 30000+ stadium, large, regular support base, good revenue throughput and a Saudi co-owner.

pommpey

 

[GRUMPY BLADE]

Just think about what you have written there, Grumpy.

Bournemouth = non-descript south coast outfit, recently changed stadiums to a smallish (12000) venue, with a support-base and attendance that has recently been down as low as 3500 for a home game and team largely unchanged since we beat them at the Broadsands over a year ago. Managed by 'Nice Guy' Eddie Howe who hasn't exactly spunked millions on playing staff.

Sheffield United = notable big city club with a 30000+ stadium, large, regular support base, good revenue throughput and a Saudi co-owner.

pommpey

And one of them is Premiership bound and tabled a £5M bid yesterday, one is not and didn't.

http://www1.skysports.com/football/...t-1635m-bid-for-demarai-gray-from-bournemouth

 

[Darthblade]

I'm personally very happy with our deals this January,we could go on a very good run now,i really fancy us to tear a few sides apart.

I shall watch in fascination, how we will "tear a few sides apart" when we cannot score goals and have not addressed this HUGE issue for the last 3 years. We can football teams to death, but if we haven't anybody to put the ball in the net ...........
UTB & FTP

 

[S5Blade]

I shall watch in fascination, how we will "tear a few sides apart" when we cannot score goals and have not addressed this HUGE issue for the last 3 years. We can football teams to death, but if we haven't anybody to put the ball in the net ...........
UTB & FTP

Except the striker we signed yesterday who has had no problem scoring for most of this season?

 

[Revolution]

I shall watch in fascination, how we will "tear a few sides apart" when we cannot score goals and have not addressed this HUGE issue for the last 3 years. We can football teams to death, but if we haven't anybody to put the ball in the net ...........
UTB & FTP

I am also skeptical. I think we'll make the playoffs because we've improved the defence and midfield so there may be more 1-0 wins like last year, but whilst Done may help with goals we aren't going to start hammering teams IMHO. Plus of course If we only play 1 up front that won't help.

 

[Darthblade]

Looking at the five ins Brayford Is outstanding signing, well done Nigel, Coutts could be if he gets and stays fit, Holt I know nothing about so can't judge him, Done looked very good for Rochdale when they played us but divided opinion at Barnsley so let's see, Freeman, well I didn't rate him last season and looked not great to say the least on Saturday.

Murphy great news about the contract as long as we aren't being strung along until after the season ticket renewal date has passed.

Not signing the out and out goal scorer is more than a downer it is a kick in the guts, and I accept it perhaps isn't necessary the fault of this transfer window but of three years of putting their heads in the sand since Evans went down.

Maybe Done is not one of our top list of striker targets and probably we have paid over the odds in desperation. So what? It is a step in the right direction ( if he is any good). When we unearth the talisman striker sometime Done can play various positions. Busy player who scores goals all of a sudden.

Is it a coincidence that CArdiff got Doyle? Did we agree to back off as part of the Brayford deal? Stranger deals have happened.

Coutts looks a gamble on his fitness. Freeman poor defensively,good with the ball, should improve and needs to.

Brayford is quality, maybe not a super hero, but quality. Whether we should have paid all that in our situation, time will tell.

Delighted about Kennedy getting that important contract.
Murphy extension the best deal in the window.

JTW 2015 - Landmark month when the board convinced the fans. At long last the club is United !

The Board did not convince me of anything and the jury is still firmly out on our degree of ambition and willingness to back NC with money, not rhetoric.
The Brayford deal is surprising, and excellent but there remains a bloody big elephant in the room !!

3 years and no decent striker .......... we're going nowhere until we can turn chances into goals !!
UTB & FTP

 

[Darthblade]

There is an article on the BBC website from the Wet Spam chairman David Gold about recruiting players last night.

"Sorry for keeping you up late but at the last moment the main deal collapsed (edit: Adebayor) and the rest folded like a pack of cards," tweeted Gold.
He thanked co-owner David Sullivan and manager Sam Allardyce for their efforts, blaming the Premier League club's failure to land new players on "people out their that you just can't do business with".

Just goes to show that "game changing investment" is in some cases down to external forces and not due to Internal forces.

Perhaps the detractors may cut our board and management a bit of slack to now get on with the job of getting us out of this shit division.

There is ALSO the loan market which opens soon, so the "dealings" may not yet be finished. Brighton may get someone on loan which may in turn release COG. Just give the management their due respect.

UTB

With all due respect ...... the Management (both team & Board ) will get the respect of the long suffering ( and still turning up) supporters WHEN they earn it.
To fail to sign a decent striker in 3 years is not just an omission, nor is it an oversight, its downright incompetence and it is keeping us in this agricultural Division again.
You don't win games if you don't score goals and we clearly have had that problem since Mr Evans went to Butlins with bars !!
UTB & FTP

 

[Darthblade]

Except the striker we signed yesterday who has had no problem scoring for most of this season?

I will be more than happy to hold my hands up and say "I was wrong", if we now turn it around, begin to score more than 1 goal in a game and not only make it into the play-offs , but are able to compete with Swindon / Preston / MKD to win the playoffs.

I shall not, however, be holding my breath because I do not see prolific goals in our squad (still) despite the transfer window. ( which I acknowledge has been much more productive than our usual JTW debacles ).

We are still far too small, weak and slow for this Division, which is why I fear we shall still be in it next Season.
UTB & FTP

 

[wizadry]

I shall watch in fascination, how we will "tear a few sides apart" when we cannot score goals and have not addressed this HUGE issue for the last 3 years. We can football teams to death, but if we haven't anybody to put the ball in the net ...........
UTB & FTP

Just give it a chance mate is all i'll say.

I don't know if you and a few people have forgot already,but we have just beat top of the league at the time 2-0,we also scored 2 against a side in the premier league who 3 days after beat West Brom,convincingly,away,3-0 in the premier league.

There are clear signs of improvement from us this month both in performance and our goal scoring chances.We have Brayford who when we aren't playing top of the league like Saturday,will push our team 10 to 15 yards further up the pitch,this will create even more chances,Matty Done has goals in him,Murphy is bang in form,JCR has goals in him,McNulty will score more freely now due to how our game will change after the signings we've made,Baxter will chip in,Don't know much about Holt but from what i've heard he sounds decent.

Like i say,lets wait and see,we have a good run of fixtures on paper now so this will tell us all we need to know.I had concerns with our goalscoring exploits and have agreed with everything Revolution and many others have been saying regarding this situation but i can now see us improving dramatically in this area.

 

[Grecian2000]

What I'd give for that marquee striker though.

How many strikers the size of a marquee does one club need?

 

[Grecian2000]

but there remains a bloody big elephant in the room !!

I wish I'd kept my powder dry now.

 

[georgebernardshaw]

How many strikers the size of a marquee does one club need?

We do have one who's the size of Meadowhead roundabout...

Hope this helps

 

[Fulwood Blade]

Just give it a chance mate is all i'll say.

I don't know if you and a few people have forgot already,but we have just beat top of the league at the time 2-0,we also scored 2 against a side in the premier league who 3 days after beat West Brom,convincingly,away,3-0 in the premier league.

There are clear signs of improvement from us this month both in performance and our goal scoring chances.We have Brayford who when we aren't playing top of the league like Saturday,will push our team 10 to 15 yards further up the pitch,this will create even more chances,Matty Done has goals in him,Murphy is bang in form,JCR has goals in him,McNulty will score more freely now due to how our game will change after the signings we've made,Baxter will chip in,Don't know much about Holt but from what i've heard he sounds decent.

Like i say,lets wait and see,we have a good run of fixtures on paper now so this will tell us all we need to know.I had concerns with our goalscoring exploits and have agreed with everything Revolution and many others have been saying regarding this situation but i can now see us improving dramatically in this area.

How very positive wiz - this needs to rub off on a few of the others.

UTB

 

[robbiez666]

The jury is still out for me to a certain extent on the Board. We'll probably never know how much we spent on transfers but it's like to be not that far removed from the Harry money. I thought the Prince was meant to be investing in the playing side. It's difficult to know precisely how much he's invested on that. Having said that, we've cancelled a few contracts which costs a fair whack. Wages aren't a factor as we were struggling with FFP before he turned up.

We've actually extended contracts and not sold anyone we didn't want to. Also brought 5 in. You would assume that 3 of those will be regulars. We've got a huge squad and there could be be serious issues should we not go up.

We'll have to see come the end of the season.

 

[wizadry]

How very positive wiz - this needs to rub off on a few of the others.

UTB

It really is hard to not be positive considering we haven't got rid of any of our best players and have certainly improved our team and squad like no other window.The manager and players have to bring it to the table though now,and we should have no excuses from here on in to achieve our goal of promotion one way or another.

 

[Lord Bos of Eckington.]

I go along with that Fulwood but it is a fact that you and I and everyone else know full well we have needed a striker ever since Clough joined us back in October 2013. To mount any serious assault for automatic promotion he didn't do the necessary business last summer. At least 3 striker signings should have been his priority and he signed McNulty as a development player which would have been fine if he had signed two more senior players. We got Higdon and nobody else.

The O'Grady situation turned out to be all "his eggs in one basket" and it has failed again at least for the time being. The manager has had plenty of "slack" over the 16 months in truth.

The big question in my mind is how much we have paid for Done and whether we have got good value and only time will tell. I have watched him play twice this season v us and v Stoke. I don't remember him at the Lane and I thought he was lively but raw and rushed against the Prem opposition. I think we were desperate yesterday and maybe overpaid but price and value depend on your circumstances and we are certainly in need of strikers for the rest of the season, and we have cash available to spend obviously. Done is reveered at Rochdale but he is a recent convert from the wing and his goals before this season are modest. As far as I know Rochdale always play 4-4-2 which is an interesting factor.

Clough is an experienced manager and I don't think for one minute he threw money at the Done deal in a desperate gamble but I think he knows full well that he still needs a No.1 striker and in the loan market there is all sorts of quality. Done can play various positions which will be useful in the run-in.

It's so good to have the option to spend money and in fact to make numerous bids until both Cardiff and Rochdale have eventually said "yes".

Woody , we cannot moan at all . Mr Clough , the board , and all associated with SUFC have done wonders this JTW. We as a club have shown our intent for the promotion push this season , and if achieved , rebuilding will commence again next season.

A striker may come in on loan , but for the last couple of matches , we certainly ain't been goal shy.

Credit where credits due to the club , especially Mr Clough.

UTB

 

[metalblade]

Gone for decent in the poll, by far the best news is Murphy extending his contract. Brayford has given the whole club a much needed lift but have we paid too much for a right back ? as good as he is that could well have been better spent upfront the one area in the team where we are desperately short of numbers. What do we have upfront Higdon is the only target man, McNulty who is one for the future so not a lot else unless we put a winger up top, Murphy Che Adams or the new lad Done ??? otherwise it is want away Diego the young fool who rather than believe all the hype should look to young Reedy or Terry Kennedy who has got his reward for some hard work, even Adams has shown more than Diego ever has. And Juve want a kid who can't break into our attack don't make me laugh. This is the area which will let us down the defence is good enough and we have enough in midfield for two teams now, god knows how Nigel will keep them all happy but they should all get some game time as we will be playing two games most weeks. We still need a powerfull striker imo otherwise if we pick any injuries up in attack we will be fooked.

 

[wizadry]

Gone for decent in the poll, by far the best news is Murphy extending his contract. Brayford has given the whole club a much needed lift but have we paid too much for a right back ? as good as he is that could well have been better spent upfront the one area in the team where we are desperately short of numbers. What do we have upfront Higdon is the only target man, McNulty who is one for the future so not a lot else unless we put a winger up top, Murphy Che Adams or the new lad Done ??? otherwise it is want away Diego the young fool who rather than believe all the hype should look to young Reedy or Terry Kennedy who has got his reward for some hard work, even Adams has shown more than Diego ever has. And Juve want a kid who can't break into our attack don't make me laugh. This is the area which will let us down the defence is good enough and we have enough in midfield for two teams now, god knows how Nigel will keep them all happy but they should all get some game time as we will be playing two games most weeks. We still need a powerfull striker imo otherwise if we pick any injuries up in attack we will be fooked.

Murphy came as an attacker,Done has come as one,we have McNulty and Higdon,that's atleast four options but i still think we'll bring one in on loan.It wont be straight away though as you can only get them for 93 days i think it is,we'll wait until he's elligible to play in the playoffs,if or should i say when we get there.

 

[Lord Bos of Eckington.]

Gone for decent in the poll, by far the best news is Murphy extending his contract. Brayford has given the whole club a much needed lift but have we paid too much for a right back ? as good as he is that could well have been better spent upfront the one area in the team where we are desperately short of numbers. What do we have upfront Higdon is the only target man, McNulty who is one for the future so not a lot else unless we put a winger up top, Murphy Che Adams or the new lad Done ??? otherwise it is want away Diego the young fool who rather than believe all the hype should look to young Reedy or Terry Kennedy who has got his reward for some hard work, even Adams has shown more than Diego ever has. And Juve want a kid who can't break into our attack don't make me laugh. This is the area which will let us down the defence is good enough and we have enough in midfield for two teams now, god knows how Nigel will keep them all happy but they should all get some game time as we will be playing two games most weeks. We still need a powerfull striker imo otherwise if we pick any injuries up in attack we will be fooked.

Were not doing bad on the goal front at the mo , but a further striker is the key.

If we had not signed Brayford , all and sundry would be saying we have no ambition to succeed .

Success reinforces success and Mr Clough finally seems to have got it right , as we cannot continue to progress whilst languishing in shit league 1 obscurity . The team being built is for now and the future . We are finally going forward and not in reverse when it comes to the calibre of players on the books.

You are right about Diego , but to me he doesn't even come into the equation,

Loan striker , and we've cracked it, the only issue i have got , is if we had done all this in June , we would be pissing this league .

UTB

 

[Grappler]

I voted "Decent". Players we could only get on loan last season are now our players. How many of us really believed that John Brayford would come back to SUFC when he is a solid Championship player? Coutts and Done, well time will tell but I hope they add something Done has shown that his gooal scoring tally is none too shabby since being pushed up front. The "proven striker" that we all want, well maybe the ones we want won't come to League One as a permanent player but will come as a loan player, so they are still, for all intents and purposes, a Championship player (and on decent wages). The two Murphy goals against Swindon were a joy to watch, McNulty can score, and others can chip in. Che Adams looks dangerous at times, and that was a lovely shot against Swindon in the first half, he realised he could not get further forward, so fired one to the far corner of the goal. Wasn't that far wide.

This is a team that should fear no one in League One, let's win the games in hand and make a push for the finish line.

Last but not least, none of us are board members or managers of SUFC, we can only hazard a guess at what goes on behind the scenes. We know that as a club we are too big for League One in reality (I said too big, not too good), teams with a regular gate pushing 20,000 should not be where we are. I doubt that Nigel Clough, Jim Phipps or anyone else for that matter, want us to fail this season, let's get behind the team, and the club.

Up The Blades!!