Woodwardfan
Woodwardfan
- Banned
- #1
When Clough arrived at Bramall Lane he said the squad he inherited was too big. Then and in the summer he said he would aim to work with 18/19 as an optimum number.
At one stage of the early summer he was heading down to 10 and therefore he needed to act swiftly and decisively, and he did. It was so encouraging to see early activity in the summer.
I've just done a count of the current squad and we are at 22, excluding Reed and Diego etc. and apparently we attempted to sign 3 new players last Monday. Somethings therefore have not gone to plan.
I'll list the 22 and show the players Clough inherited in the first batch:
Howard, Flynn, Doyle, Murphy, Baxter, McGinn, Willis, Collins, Porter. Clough has re-signed Porter and Flynn ( and maybe Howard ).
Alcock, Harris, Wallace, Butler, Basham, Scougall, McNulty, Davies, McGahey, McEvely, Campell-Ryce, Higdon, Turner.
To my mind, I reckon Clough may not satisfied with the quality of players he has brought in. Obviously there is a problem with Butler and Wallace struggles for fitness as yet but it seems to me that for a strategic target of 18/19 to be exceeded by 3 already and attempts made to sign another 3, there is concern that we are not where we wanted to be.
For the Board that has financial implications. Clough had agreed his budget and presumably spent that around the 19 player mark.
We are woefully short up front and IMO short in central defence. We have loads of quality midfielders and could pick two midfields almost. All of a sudden we have enough full backs thankfully.
Presumably if 3 come in then up to 6 could depart if 19 is an optimum number. Porter (why did we sign him again), McGinn, Butler, are obvious candidates but who else? Far from being too tight, could it be that the Board have had to sanction a much bigger budget recently because things have not gone to plan.
Let's face it we have struggled to date and we all realise it takes time for players to settle, especially those who are unfit on signing. We have a number of players who have yet to make a positive contribution. To think we hoped to have a further 3 new faces this week just cannot have been in the original plan. A further 3 players who need to settle in and gell with teammates.
It could be at least November before things start to settle down. Clough will value the contribution the above players in the first batch are making, though he was slow to include some of them at the start of the season. It seems to me the new signings are not meeting the manager's expectations, nowhere near.
Will there be pressure on Simon Clough at this point in time? I would think so.
At one stage of the early summer he was heading down to 10 and therefore he needed to act swiftly and decisively, and he did. It was so encouraging to see early activity in the summer.
I've just done a count of the current squad and we are at 22, excluding Reed and Diego etc. and apparently we attempted to sign 3 new players last Monday. Somethings therefore have not gone to plan.
I'll list the 22 and show the players Clough inherited in the first batch:
Howard, Flynn, Doyle, Murphy, Baxter, McGinn, Willis, Collins, Porter. Clough has re-signed Porter and Flynn ( and maybe Howard ).
Alcock, Harris, Wallace, Butler, Basham, Scougall, McNulty, Davies, McGahey, McEvely, Campell-Ryce, Higdon, Turner.
To my mind, I reckon Clough may not satisfied with the quality of players he has brought in. Obviously there is a problem with Butler and Wallace struggles for fitness as yet but it seems to me that for a strategic target of 18/19 to be exceeded by 3 already and attempts made to sign another 3, there is concern that we are not where we wanted to be.
For the Board that has financial implications. Clough had agreed his budget and presumably spent that around the 19 player mark.
We are woefully short up front and IMO short in central defence. We have loads of quality midfielders and could pick two midfields almost. All of a sudden we have enough full backs thankfully.
Presumably if 3 come in then up to 6 could depart if 19 is an optimum number. Porter (why did we sign him again), McGinn, Butler, are obvious candidates but who else? Far from being too tight, could it be that the Board have had to sanction a much bigger budget recently because things have not gone to plan.
Let's face it we have struggled to date and we all realise it takes time for players to settle, especially those who are unfit on signing. We have a number of players who have yet to make a positive contribution. To think we hoped to have a further 3 new faces this week just cannot have been in the original plan. A further 3 players who need to settle in and gell with teammates.
It could be at least November before things start to settle down. Clough will value the contribution the above players in the first batch are making, though he was slow to include some of them at the start of the season. It seems to me the new signings are not meeting the manager's expectations, nowhere near.
Will there be pressure on Simon Clough at this point in time? I would think so.
