Taking Stock with 33 days to the end of the Transfer Window.

[Woodwardfan]

How strong is our squad?

I reckon a fair comparison of our squad and our chances of staying up can be made with last season's Cardiff City squad which was battling away until the last couple of games.

Are we stronger than them? Maybe we have a better manager and way of playing and to be sure we have heart and spirit by the bucket load but so did Cardiff to be fair.

The following players represented Cardiff last season ( number of starts after names):

Etheridge 38
Smithies 2

Peltier 17
Joe Bennett 30
Sean Morrison 33
Bruno Manga 37
Greg Cunningham 8
Bamba 28

Arter 24
Ralls 22
Josh Murphy 30
Kadeen Harris 16
Bacuna 11
Hoillett 33
Mendez-Laing 21
Camarassa 33

Oumar Niasse 13
Bobby Reid 29
Danny Ward 16
Zohore 20
Patterson 2
Healey 3
Madine 6

I think we look strong already in comparison player to player but Cardiff exceeded my expectations of their chances.

At this stage we have holes in our squad and need quality to strengthen our cutting edge, we also need a quality keeper and numbers to create some depth.

With just a couple of real quality signings plus some additional cover we could give ourselves a fighting chance to finish higher than 4th from bottom.

Freeman and Jagielka are very good additions. Cranie would have been useful but maybe wanted to play more. By my reckoning we have 16 in our first team squad and really should be aiming for 23 minimum. There's a lot to do in 33 days.

I still worry whether we have the cash to give us a chance.

 

[FriethBlade]

If we sign Maupay and one of McBurnie/Watkins/Robinson and Hendo comes back we are stronger than Cardiff were in all 3 areas of the pitch.

Hopefully the championship striker (s) we buy will do better than Reid did, our defence is definitely better than theirs and weve got creativity in midfield with Duffy and Freeman. It's possible Morrison will add the wow factor and I'm sure CW will pick up a few more good back up players for little or no money.

Its goals that keep you up so fingers crossed for next weeks transfer announcements.

 

[FriethBlade]

Posted twice, sorry

 

[8lade]

Finally, a decent post and I love this sort of comparison thing! However comparing United to other teams is tricky given the way we play is different to almost everybody else so I'm going to award values for:
GK, Def, Mid, Att (sort of like a ZX Spectrum version of Championship Manager or whatever the kids play these days).
United (as it stands) Cardiff
GK 5 < 7
Def 7 > 5
Mid 7 > 6
Att 5 > 3

So as you can see I reckon we're going to be champions do better than Cardiff with what we have, however the landscape has changed a little, gone are the terrible Huddersfield and Fulham and only Brighton are that bad at the moment, so we need to be better than at least another 2 teams in the Prem so a comparison to Cardiff is a redundant one and I have just wasted 10 minutes.

 

[Harry's Game]

Wilder and Knill > Warnock and Blackwell

 

[Sithblade]

Finally, a decent post and I love this sort of comparison thing! However comparing United to other teams is tricky given the way we play is different to almost everybody else so I'm going to award values for:
GK, Def, Mid, Att (sort of like a ZX Spectrum version of Championship Manager or whatever the kids play these days).
United (as it stands) Cardiff
GK 5 < 7
Def 7 > 5
Mid 7 > 6
Att 5 > 3

So as you can see I reckon we're going to be champions do better than Cardiff with what we have, however the landscape has changed a little, gone are the terrible Huddersfield and Fulham and only Brighton are that bad at the moment, so we need to be better than at least another 2 teams in the Prem so a comparison to Cardiff is a redundant one and I have just wasted 10 minutes.

Newcastle look a complete shambles with manager, top scorer left and their best player last year, Rondon, no longer around.

 

[Manuel Azaña]

If we're going to formulate our chances of maintaining a PL status by comparing ourselves, why not take a look at the full statistics what really matter.

Here's the PL stats from Cardiff City 2018/2019

Cardiff City FC Statistics | Premier League

View the latest comprehensive Cardiff City FC match stats, along with a season by season archive, on the official website of the Premier League.

www.premierleague.com

Average - 0.89 p/m scored
Average - 1.82 p/m conceded

Out of the 38 games, they had 10 clean sheets, so by that, they conceded 69 goals in 28 matches.
There were 17 games in which they failed to score, 34 goals in 21 matches.

Where's the weakness?
Where's the strength?

The facts are there to see, there's no summising.

Are Cardiff City the club we should be comparing ourselves with?
At the beginning of last season, who would Cardiff City have compared themselves with?

The season begins with an open book, a blank canvas, we can have our opinions on who's better than who,
but it's facts and facts don't lie. It took them until mid October to record their first victory, against Fulham, another club who were relegated.

What was CCFC's record against the bottom six/eight and accordingly against the mid table six/seven and top six?

Their top scorer(s) were Camarasa and Reid, both with five goals.

Check the link, check the stats for the clubs who finished in the bottom six/eight.
It'll be interesting to compare now to last season's PL clubs and then look back at the end of the season and discover who we actually were closest to in stats/facts to last season's PL.

 

[Manuel Azaña]

Wilder and Knill > Warnock and Blackwell

Standards too low,
we should be wanting it to be
Klopp & Buvac, Simeone & Burgo and most of all, Estiarte & Guardiola.

 

[FallowfieldBlade]

Think if we sign Maupay and another of Mcburnie/robinson/watkins we would have had a perfect window for what we likely can spend 25/30 million plus a few quality value signings like jags/ravel/hogg.

Also important what newcastle and palace are doing only a few weeks ago newcastle where about to win the league with new megabucks owners
Now there selling perez/rondon/ritchie/longstaff and Rafa has gone , id put them down as faves for relegation that place will be toxic.

Also palace if zaha leaves along with AWB would been down there with us

Makes our chances much much better if theres 7/8 teams who can go down and not just 4/5

 

[Manuel Azaña]

I WANT my Sheffield United to be comparable to the best, not clubs who flirt with success.

Come the day when we set our benchmark at clubs who, are not like Cardiff City, an awful comparison to begin with (they were relegated),
but clubs who have the ambition and drive to want success.

This won't happen overnight, granted.
It was only in 2000 that MCFC were promoted to the PL.

#UTB #PositiveNotNegative

 

[Benny and the Blades]

The only Thing that really counts for longeverty at this !level is how much money you've got......

 

[BushBlade]

The only Thing that really counts for longeverty at this !level is how much money you've got......

No, it’s also how well you spend it. Villa spent a lot and went down.
The most important thing for us is to get as much value as we can with our spending, and spend as much as we can afford without putting our future at risk.
Going down isn’t the end of the world. Going down with an overpaid squad of wasters would be a disaster.

I’m happy so far but we haven’t finished yet.

 

[FallowfieldBlade]

I WANT my Sheffield United to be comparable to the best, not clubs who flirt with success.

Come the day when we set our benchmark at clubs who, are not like Cardiff City, an awful comparison to begin with (they were relegated),
but clubs who have the ambition and drive to want success.

This won't happen overnight, granted.
It was only in 2000 that MCFC were promoted to the PL.

#UTB #PositiveNotNegative

Slow and steady where only a new owner away from becoming a wolves/leicester who want to break top 4/6

 

[Woodwardfan]

If we're going to formulate our chances of maintaining a PL status by comparing ourselves, why not take a look at the full statistics what really matter.

Here's the PL stats from Cardiff City 2018/2019

Cardiff City FC Statistics | Premier League

View the latest comprehensive Cardiff City FC match stats, along with a season by season archive, on the official website of the Premier League.

www.premierleague.com

Average - 0.89 p/m scored
Average - 1.82 p/m conceded

Out of the 38 games, they had 10 clean sheets, so by that, they conceded 69 goals in 28 matches.
There were 17 games in which they failed to score, 34 goals in 21 matches.

Where's the weakness?
Where's the strength?

The facts are there to see, there's no summising.

Are Cardiff City the club we should be comparing ourselves with?
At the beginning of last season, who would Cardiff City have compared themselves with?

The season begins with an open book, a blank canvas, we can have our opinions on who's better than who,
but it's facts and facts don't lie. It took them until mid October to record their first victory, against Fulham, another club who were relegated.

What was CCFC's record against the bottom six/eight and accordingly against the mid table six/seven and top six?

Their top scorer(s) were Camarasa and Reid, both with five goals.

Check the link, check the stats for the clubs who finished in the bottom six/eight.
It'll be interesting to compare now to last season's PL clubs and then look back at the end of the season and discover who we actually were closest to in stats/facts to last season's PL.

Very good point re Cardiff's strengths and weaknesses evidenced by stats.

My view is that such results/stats are principally the net result of the quality of players/squad and management. The Cardiff stats were fairly predictable and they fell a few points short.

I chose Cardiff because they were favourites to go down as we are now. They had a physically strong defence if a bit slow, a useful and functional midfield and a shortage of quality up front at this level.

I put it into the context of our summer recruitment and how we can finish higher than fourth from bottom.

I'm all for being hopeful, indeed optimistic, but surely the main objective in our first season is to stay up and improve again next season. My o.p. was intended to be re-assuring not negatively critical.

Thanks for adding value to the thread Lazarus. I agree there are other ways to try and assess our chances.

 

[Woodwardfan]

Prompted by Lazarus's searching posts , maybe another comparison is to look at our own squad in 2006/7 when we nearly stayed up.

For sure we are better placed now, assuming we put together a 23/24 man squad that is.

Appearances noted. Games + subs.


Kenny 34, Bromby 12 +5, Davis18+3 , Morgan 21+3, Jagielka38, Shelton 2+2, Stead 12+2, Hulse 28+1, Webber 13+9, A.Quinn 11+8, Bennett 2, Sommell 4+1, Kozluk 17+2, Kilgallon 6, Monty 22+4, Tonge 23+4, Gillespie 27+4, Armstrong 24+3, Gerrard 2, Lucketti 8, Wright 1, Geary 26, Leigertwood 16+3, Fathy 2+1, Law 2+2, Nade 7+18, Kazim-Richards 15+12, Unsworth 5, Ifill 3, Akinbiyi 2+1, Kabba 0+7. S.Quinn 15.

32 different players!!

Let's hope our new signings make more of a contribution collectively.

 

[mancunianblade]

Standards too low,
we should be wanting it to be
Klopp & Buvac, Simeone & Burgo and most of all, Estiarte & Guardiola.

Ah German Burgos.. what a hero. The only man who shares a name with a country whilst being the size of one.

I mean look at him.. Legend

What’s crazy is he could still run through Knills legs

 

[Manuel Azaña]

Prompted by Lazarus's searching posts , maybe another comparison is to look at our own squad in 2006/7 when we nearly stayed up.

For sure we are better placed now, assuming we put together a 23/24 man squad that is.

Appearances noted. Games + subs.

Sorry Woodwardfan to pick up on this again, but you may as well quote appearances made by the 1975/76 season's players.
Unless it's all based around failure on an appearance statistics, but to make a comparison, it would need to be made when the season closes and there's facts to be studied.
Until then, we can all use assumptions to get our point across, but what's the point in that?

It's nothing personal. I just don't understand what you're trying to state.

 

[8lade]

Kenny 34, Bromby 12 +5, Davis18+3 , Morgan 21+3, Jagielka38, Shelton 2+2, Stead 12+2, Hulse 28+1, Webber 13+9, A.Quinn 11+8, Bennett 2, Sommell 4+1, Kozluk 17+2, Kilgallon 6, Monty 22+4, Tonge 23+4, Gillespie 27+4, Armstrong 24+3, Gerrard 2, Lucketti 8, Wright 1, Geary 26, Leigertwood 16+3, Fathy 2+1, Law 2+2, Nade 7+18, Kazim-Richards 15+12, Unsworth 5, Ifill 3, Akinbiyi 2+1, Kabba 0+7. S.Quinn 15.

32 different players!!

Different world now, I'm looking at those players and would only be happy with
Kenny, Jagielka, Hulse, displacing any of the current team and the following as squad members:
Morgan, Stead, Quinn, Quinn, Geary.

 

[MancBlade85]

Patterson only started 2 games? Not sure thats right...

Also Patterson.. a defender by trade was playing up front for them for a lot of the season,.

 

[Woodwardfan]

Sorry Woodwardfan to pick up on this again, but you may as well quote appearances made by the 1975/76 season's players.
Unless it's all based around failure on an appearance statistics, but to make a comparison, it would need to be made when the season closes and there's facts to be studied.
Until then, we can all use assumptions to get our point across, but what's the point in that?

It's nothing personal. I just don't understand what you're trying to state.

I'm trying to measure the relative strength of our squad, not statistics, no assumptions whatsoever, not getting any point across, just a reflective glance at other squads who just failed to achieve their main objective of consolidating in the P.L.

By the time the season ends it will all be history.

Add Maupay, Morrison, McBurnie, Hogg and Harry Wilson to our strong squad and we will be mid-table, surely.

 

[Manuel Azaña]

I'm trying to measure the relative strength of our squad, not statistics, no assumptions whatsoever, not getting any point across, just a reflective glance at other squads who just failed to achieve their main objective of consolidating in the P.L.

By the time the season ends it will all be history.

Add Maupay, Morrison, McBurnie, Hogg and Harry Wilson to our strong squad and we will be mid-table, surely.

Ahhh. Now I understand. You're looking at clubs who only stayed a season in the PL after gaining promotion?
Two from last season. Cardiff City and Fulham. Wonder what the transfer outlays were from both clubs, spending a great deal doesn't mean success. In this case, success would have been not being relegated (Fulham).

I wonder what it would cost United to buy the players you quote?

Maupay, Morrison, McBurnie, Hogg and Harry Wilson.

I have no idea as to what their market values are, someone with a greater knowledge may like to answer that question.

 

[Woodwardfan]

Patterson only started 2 games? Not sure thats right...

Also Patterson.. a defender by trade was playing up front for them for a lot of the season,.

Sorry, typo. It's when I'm out using my phone usually. Never one for precision though.

 

[Woodwardfan]

Ahhh. Now I understand. You're looking at clubs who only stayed a season in the PL after gaining promotion?
Two from last season. Cardiff City and Fulham. Wonder what the transfer outlays were from both clubs, spending a great deal doesn't mean success. In this case, success would have been not being relegated (Fulham).

I wonder what it would cost United to buy the players you quote?

Maupay, Morrison, McBurnie, Hogg and Harry Wilson.

I have no idea as to what their market values are, someone with a greater knowledge may like to answer that question.

It's not about the cash Lazarus. I think you're misinterpreting the main purpose of the thread.

Edit: Ah I see I put a footnote about the budget in the o.p. Fair do's.

No way do I ever imagine we'd do a Fulham
.

 

[Manuel Azaña]

It's not about the cash Lazarus. I think you're misinterpreting the purpose of the thread.

Aye. You're right. I am.
I'll leave it.
Thanks.

 

[nicksufc]

It is the 10th of July and there are 33 days to go until the transfer window closes.

A sensible time to review our summer activity, then. Up next: a review of our January transfer window dealings on 2nd January.

 

[Woodwardfan]

It is the 10th of July and there are 33 days to go until the transfer window closes.

A sensible time to review our summer activity, then. Up next: a review of our January transfer window dealings on 2nd January.

Sarcasm but I fully agree. This thread was not for that.

 

[Woodwardfan]

Aye. You're right. I am.
I'll leave it.
Thanks.

Respect.

 

[8lade]

It is the 10th of July and there are 33 days to go until the transfer window closes.

Window closes 8 August, so I make that 30 days.

 

[elgoog44]

We have time and most of the transfers from the out side looking in seem to be going on and some movement no matter how slow, I personally think it will be one of either McBurnie or Maupay cant see us being able to afford both.

By Next week I think a clear picture and direction will go in for Morrison, and the Notts Forest chap will be a step closer too, Plus any sales out of the club Ched, Leon and the others, 30 days is a long time so plenty for us all to look forward to and new faces in, to join the other new and old faces already in the United fold.

Plus the most important signing of Mr Wilder is all wrapped up, and the other side of the city look to be losing Bruce too, all keeping a smile on our collective faces ready for what will be a tough tough year