Toughest window in a long time that one.

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Overthehills

Overthehills

Long term sufferer - Ever optimist
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I’m sure the bedwetters and lovetohaters will be in the wings with stones in hands really to have a pop and listen you are entitled to have an opinion, just like I am entitled to have mine. We don’t have to agree with each others opinions, but don’t make it personal with one and other.

That window was always going to be a tough one, but in hindsight with the window shut, we have achieved a great deal.

This squad had a core that have been fruitful and had achieved former success for us, but it was aging and the cracks were well and truly showing. Our owner self admittedly couldn’t really afford to overhaul things, so he kept the core in tact and papered over the cracks with some pretty decent loans and a few questionable signings and hoped to for the best.

Contracts were expiring and as widely documented on here, a good few players were heading out of the door. For what it is worth, a large percentage were the right moves, whilst a couple I am sure we would have liked to have remained.

In terms of acquisitions and replacements, we’ve mopped up some of the finest talent in the EFL. The business was swift and the thought processes behind all of the players coming in are evident to see. I personally believe that we have probably assembled the most talented midfield in the clubs history on paper and if it comes together.

With everything going on behind the scenes, we have to be appreciative and congratulate all concerned for ensuring that we recruited the quality to ensure that we are competitive until the transition of the club takes shape.

We all have opinions of what else we should have potentially tried to do before the window closed, I like most would have liked another striker in through the door. We are a little light still, but the core is still fantastic and still carry us well enough until January. We also have talent in abundance and potentially the opportunity to explore players in more advanced positions.

The youngsters breaking through are ambitious and have really gone for it in the last month or so to give themselves the opportunity. Brooks and Peck have been stand out, others around them are taking not and are upping their game. I’m not saying the are ready, but having them in the fringes and giving them the opportunity as and when we can surely won’t hurt them in the long run.

Now let’s get this takeover stuff sorted so that we can concentrate solely on being a football club again. The transition has started, we have no option but to buy into it and support the team in the same respect that we always do.

UTB!
 
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Agree.....overall it's been an excellent window....as you say alot of good work done.
Our sales have been particularly impressive bringing in good money for either squad players or players with major weaknesses.

It's just a shame it all ended as a damp squib.....no one was expecting that....especially as we're so light up front.

We've strengthened about 80% of the squad really well and but criminally, done nothing regards the other 20%.
The problem is that, not sorting out the final pieces of the jigsaw.....may well jeopardise the 80% of great work.
 
Keen Blade said:
We have two empty loan slots.
It borders on negligence not to have one or two more through the door.
Just use Trusty & Slimane wages to grab a striker for the season.
We ought to be embarrassed at losing Cannon to Stoke whilst picking up their reject Campbell.
Click to expand...
Borders on negligence🤣 get thisen fucked off tha bedwetter!
 
Westran said:
You can be worried all you want, doesn't mean you have to use superlatives to make it sound like your point is more valid than someone who isn't as worried as you.
Click to expand...

so calling anyone who thinks we may not have done well this off season a 'bed wetter' is the best way to refute their opinion?
 
we’re not exactly in the right place, but we’re on our way towards it. What’s the saying.

Better to walk away with a little bit of something instead of a whole lot of nothing!

UTB!!
 
GK Cooper - Davies - Grbic
RB Gilchrist - Seriki - Sachdev
CB Souttar - Anel
CB Robinson - Norrington
LB Burrows - McCallum - Boyes
CM Souza - Shackleton - Davies
CM Arblaster - Peck - Coulibaly
CAM Hamer - Marsh - Hampson
CAM O’Hare - Campbell
CAM RakSakyi - Brooks
ST Moore - Brewster - Oné

For me there’s not a better starting 11 in the division, and keeping that midfield 3 is fantastic business and it shouldn’t go unnoticed how hard it must’ve been to keep hold of them. Very happy with every signing we’ve made.

Unfortunately though, it’s clear that if we suffer an injury to the keeper, the centre backs, the midfielders or the striker then the quality would drop dramatically. It’s unfair to judge them on cup games as not playing with the other good players in the team. Moore would be a massive loss and at his age I’d be amazed if he goes all year with no injuries.

Bogle, Osula, Jebbison, Trusty leaving for a rough total of around 24m I think is great business, especially in a window that we knew we had to sell players.

For me I’m happy with the window, could’ve been better definitely, but couldn’t been a lot lot lot worse.
 
We spent fuck all on arrival in the PL last summer , losing our best 2 players in the process and duly went down.
We are receiving parachute payments which puts us in a better position than most of our Championship rivals.
And yet we have a striking dept barely worth the name.
A 3 year contract to a 32yr old , an unfit Stoke reject and Brewster.
We have two empty loan slots , sold Trusty and let Slimane out , but didn't manage to loan a striker who went to Stoke feckin City.
Yes , I would say that's negligent management.
What happens when our 6'5" striker - the big bloke around whom we've designed our shape - gets injured ?
Do we have a replacement in the building ? NO.
We have Campbell & Brewster , neither of whom are anything like Moore.
The former is unfit , the latter is made of biscuits and neither has ever played as a lone striker.
A few days ago Wilder was talking about using the remaining loan slots and that was before the two outgoings today.
What the actual fuck ?
It doesn't take much to spot our Achilles heel this season.
And it's not asking a lot to bring in one line-leading striker on loan.
Lack of firepower could well undo all the other good recruitment.
 
The transfer window was more positive regarding who we held onto rather than who we bought. Hamer Vini and Arblaster are the key players for us this season. The only question is whether Vini is motivated to perform. Anel looked like he wanted to be off. Hopefully he will put his head down and perform like his first season with us.

Burrows Cooper and O'Hare, are good additions.
The first 11 will be decent but over the season with injuries and suspensions the overall squad will be tested I would have added a CB and a striker. For whatever reason we didn't get them.
 

Was always going to be a tough window especially with the departure of so many players but I think we've done alright.

Apologies for waffling on and making this a long read.

1) Keep hold of Hamer and Arblaster, two of our key players in the squad, given one is a potential Captain and the other is a championship cheat code. Even keeping hold of Souza and Anel, especially Souza is a good thing as CW has praised Souzas attitude.

2) Selling less important players to rebuild the team with better quality, we financed the rebuild by selling Osula, Traore, Bogle and Jebbison, bringing in the likes of O'Hare, Moore, Burrows etc. selling Trusty probably gets rid of our remaining debt so we don't get near FFP/PSR trouble like quite a few clubs recently.

3) Getting the right players in, every player we have signed (especially O'Hare, JRS and Moore) has chosen to come to us instead of other clubs, if the likes of Johnston and Cannon were meant to come and decided against it suggests that they aren't the right sort of players for us.

4) Finally sorted the GK situation with Cooper on a long deal for a steal at £2-4 million, especially with a young prospect like Faxon who hopefully will get proper development with us.

5) The contracts are looking good for all of our players now, we've got 2 senior players out of contract next summer, JLT and Brewster, everyone else is under contract until 2026 or longer. (Not counting Coulibaly as I'm not sure about his contract)
 
Rupicola said:
Great start to the window and looked very promising, very poor finish. Evened itself up to mediocre for me in the end. Not sure what changed over last few days including today. Be interesting to find out.
Click to expand...
Exactly the sale of Benie Traore is baffling now as we don't have a replacement he has 2 goals and 2 assists in his first for games at Basel that is already biting us on the arse.
 
It was in danger of being a 1 out of 10 window in June, we dragged it up to a 5 with some good signings in July.. but then stalled when an 8 was possible..

Due to the sheer lack of depth I can’t give it more than a 5.

Which is better than last year when it was a 2
 
Not the best transfer window given that we're still a few bodies short, but better than I expected given all the circumstances involved.

Positives:
* We got rid of a lot of the deadwood who've been here too long and were in decline.

* We made some good fees on players who were unlikely to make much of an impact this season, including unexpected profit on Trusty and a huge fee on Osula.

* We've gotten rid of three of last seasons bad signings, two of which being sold.

* We've kept Arblaster and Hamer.

* The players we have paid for are all solid players and should do good for us.

* The midfield options are the strongest we've had in years.

* We've not overpaid for anyone and we haven't panic bought either, though I have question marks over Shackleton.


Negatives:
* We're stuck with Davies and Grbic as back up to Cooper.

* We're lacking a consistent and reliable goalscorer.

* A lot of the academy players are in the squad due to lack of players in the squad and not on merit.

* The entire takeover saga has hugely hindered us and meant that Wilder has had to sell before he could buy.

* Due to the takeover sell before you buy saga, many players who have arrived were behind on pre-season prep and not ready for the start of the season, ala same mistakes as last season.
 
Overthehills said:
I’m sure the bedwetters and lovetohaters will be in the wings with stones in hands really to have a pop and listen you are entitled to have an opinion, just like I am entitled to have mine. We don’t have to agree with each others opinions, but don’t make it personal with one and other.

That window was always going to be a tough one, but in hindsight with the window shut, we have achieved a great deal.

This squad had a core that have been fruitful and had achieved former success for us, but it was aging and the cracks were well and truly showing. Our owner self admittedly couldn’t really afford to overhaul things, so he kept the core in tact and papered over the cracks with some pretty decent loans and a few questionable signings and hoped to for the best.

Contracts were expiring and as widely documented on here, a good few players were heading out of the door. For what it is worth, a large percentage were the right moves, whilst a couple I am sure we would have liked to have remained.

In terms of acquisitions and replacements, we’ve mopped up some of the finest talent in the EFL. The business was swift and the thought processes behind all of the players coming in are evident to see. I personally believe that we have probably assembled the most talented midfield in the clubs history on paper and if it comes together.

With everything going on behind the scenes, we have to be appreciative and congratulate all concerned for ensuring that we recruited the quality to ensure that we are competitive until the transition of the club takes shape.

We all have opinions of what else we should have potentially tried to do before the window closed, I like most would have liked another striker in through the door. We are a little light still, but the core is still fantastic and still carry us well enough until January. We also have talent in abundance and potentially the opportunity to explore players in more advanced positions.

The youngsters breaking through are ambitious and have really gone for it in the last month or so to give themselves the opportunity. Brooks and Peck have been stand out, others around them are taking not and are upping their game. I’m not saying the are ready, but having them in the fringes and giving them the opportunity as and when we can surely won’t hurt them in the long run.

Now let’s get this takeover stuff sorted so that we can concentrate solely on being a football club again. The transition has started, we have no option but to buy into it and support the team in the same respect that we always do.

UTB!
Click to expand...
Overthehills said:
I’m sure the bedwetters and lovetohaters will be in the wings with stones in hands really to have a pop and listen you are entitled to have an opinion, just like I am entitled to have mine. We don’t have to agree with each others opinions, but don’t make it personal with one and other.

That window was always going to be a tough one, but in hindsight with the window shut, we have achieved a great deal.

This squad had a core that have been fruitful and had achieved former success for us, but it was aging and the cracks were well and truly showing. Our owner self admittedly couldn’t really afford to overhaul things, so he kept the core in tact and papered over the cracks with some pretty decent loans and a few questionable signings and hoped to for the best.

Contracts were expiring and as widely documented on here, a good few players were heading out of the door. For what it is worth, a large percentage were the right moves, whilst a couple I am sure we would have liked to have remained.

In terms of acquisitions and replacements, we’ve mopped up some of the finest talent in the EFL. The business was swift and the thought processes behind all of the players coming in are evident to see. I personally believe that we have probably assembled the most talented midfield in the clubs history on paper and if it comes together.

With everything going on behind the scenes, we have to be appreciative and congratulate all concerned for ensuring that we recruited the quality to ensure that we are competitive until the transition of the club takes shape.

We all have opinions of what else we should have potentially tried to do before the window closed, I like most would have liked another striker in through the door. We are a little light still, but the core is still fantastic and still carry us well enough until January. We also have talent in abundance and potentially the opportunity to explore players in more advanced positions.

The youngsters breaking through are ambitious and have really gone for it in the last month or so to give themselves the opportunity. Brooks and Peck have been stand out, others around them are taking not and are upping their game. I’m not saying the are ready, but having them in the fringes and giving them the opportunity as and when we can surely won’t hurt them in the long run.

Now let’s get this takeover stuff sorted so that we can concentrate solely on being a football club again. The transition has started, we have no option but to buy into it and support the team in the same respect that we always do.

UTB!
Click to expand...
Overthehills said:
I’m sure the bedwetters and lovetohaters will be in the wings with stones in hands really to have a pop and listen you are entitled to have an opinion, just like I am entitled to have mine. We don’t have to agree with each others opinions, but don’t make it personal with one and other.

That window was always going to be a tough one, but in hindsight with the window shut, we have achieved a great deal.

This squad had a core that have been fruitful and had achieved former success for us, but it was aging and the cracks were well and truly showing. Our owner self admittedly couldn’t really afford to overhaul things, so he kept the core in tact and papered over the cracks with some pretty decent loans and a few questionable signings and hoped to for the best.

Contracts were expiring and as widely documented on here, a good few players were heading out of the door. For what it is worth, a large percentage were the right moves, whilst a couple I am sure we would have liked to have remained.

In terms of acquisitions and replacements, we’ve mopped up some of the finest talent in the EFL. The business was swift and the thought processes behind all of the players coming in are evident to see. I personally believe that we have probably assembled the most talented midfield in the clubs history on paper and if it comes together.

With everything going on behind the scenes, we have to be appreciative and congratulate all concerned for ensuring that we recruited the quality to ensure that we are competitive until the transition of the club takes shape.

We all have opinions of what else we should have potentially tried to do before the window closed, I like most would have liked another striker in through the door. We are a little light still, but the core is still fantastic and still carry us well enough until January. We also have talent in abundance and potentially the opportunity to explore players in more advanced positions.

The youngsters breaking through are ambitious and have really gone for it in the last month or so to give themselves the opportunity. Brooks and Peck have been stand out, others around them are taking not and are upping their game. I’m not saying the are ready, but having them in the fringes and giving them the opportunity as and when we can surely won’t hurt them in the long run.

Now let’s get this takeover stuff sorted so that we can concentrate solely on being a football club again. The transition has started, we have no option but to buy into it and support the team in the same respect that we always do.

UTB!
Click to expand...
It has been a decent window because of the players that have remained rather than those that have come in. Whether this is down to the fact that we resisted bids or whether we didn’t receive any is still not known. I suspect it is the latter.

When you consider the fees that have come in for the players leaving compared to the few fees paid out for incomings the fact remains that we have spent less than we received and probably reduced the wage bill as well

Yet again the Prince has not invested any of his or the clubs money and I think the failure to bring in a striker is going to cost us and this lack of ambition to invest is a failure yet again on behalf of the board
 
Tony_Kaufman said:
Not the best transfer window given that we're still a few bodies short, but better than I expected given all the circumstances involved.

Positives:
* We got rid of a lot of the deadwood who've been here too long and were in decline.

* We made some good fees on players who were unlikely to make much of an impact this season, including unexpected profit on Trusty and a huge fee on Osula.

* We've gotten rid of three of last seasons bad signings, two of which being sold.

* We've kept Arblaster and Hamer.

* The players we have paid for are all solid players and should do good for us.

* The midfield options are the strongest we've had in years.

* We've not overpaid for anyone and we haven't panic bought either, though I have question marks over Shackleton.


Negatives:
* We're stuck with Davies and Grbic as back up to Cooper.

* We're lacking a consistent and reliable goalscorer.

* A lot of the academy players are in the squad due to lack of players in the squad and not on merit.

* The entire takeover saga has hugely hindered us and meant that Wilder has had to sell before he could buy.

* Due to the takeover sell before you buy saga, many players who have arrived were behind on pre-season prep and not ready for the start of the season, ala same mistakes as last season.
Click to expand...
Nice, balanced thread.

Agree with your negatives but personally I’m very happy with how we’ve done the window overall. In particular:
  • not selling Hamer, Anel, Souza, Arblatser. These are top quality championship players and I’m sure there were offers for them but he haven’t taken a lowball. Now it’s up to Wilder to motivate them and, if he can’t, someone else.
  • getting Cooper on a permanent. He is a top, top quality keeper. Those of us who enjoy the stats and data side of the game have been hearing about him for years. Similar with O’Hare, to a lesser degree.
  • flip reversing most of last year’s recruitment. Did anyone really think we could get c.10m for Trusty and Traore? Unbelievable Jeff.
  • balancing of the books. I will await the usual comments from the numpites who say ‘the only thing that matters is the players on the pitch’. But anyone with half a brain cell understands that if we dont run the club properly we ain’t getting a strong first team. I was sad to see Osula go, but to get 25+ million for mainly fringe players, whilst also decreasing the wage bill considerably has secured the club.

Yes we have some obvious weaknesses in the squad - strikers, RBs, LCBs, LW - and would have liked a couple more in. When injuries hit we’ll be in trouble.

But to achieve what we have this window with the takeover going on in the background is great work. Definite top 6 squad (and potentially a top 3 starting 11). Wilder shouldn’t have any excuses if we’re not there by December. Add in the new training ground, exciting youngsters emerging (slowly), hotel, fanzone, discussion around getting to Cat 1 status. Glass is definitely half full for me.

Thank fuck the window is done - bring on the season proper.
 
Best window we've had in years. Signed a good goalkeeper, a few promising youngsters and a 2 solid championship strikers. We have also got rid of a load of shit/injry prone players. We have a dearth of young talent at the club to bring on as well. Had Mcabe been in charge Hamer/Arblaster wouldn't be here now. I am pleased that if this is the Prince final hurrah he's supported Wilder and the coaching staff. I think given the atrocity of last season this season was always going to be clearing the decks and resetting it will take 3 windows. I'd rather have no one than loan a Ben Woodburn/Mason Holgate or panic buy someone to be permanently on the treatment table like T Davies. Good work all.
 
Overthehills said:
I’m sure the bedwetters and lovetohaters will be in the wings with stones in hands really to have a pop and listen you are entitled to have an opinion, just like I am entitled to have mine. We don’t have to agree with each others opinions, but don’t make it personal with one and other.
Click to expand...
So someone who doesn’t agree with you is a bedwetter or a lovetohater, but don’t make it personal? An interesting take on it.
 
Woke up, checked the news and I am now happy with where we are.

It's not a finished squad but we haven't lost our better players and gives us a great platform to now build on.
Also looking back at those who we released, there isn't anyone who I am now wishing was here. Bogle for Leeds has looked exactly like he did for us, great going forward, poor defensively
Mcburnie wanted a fresh challenge and good luck to him.

I like some of the characters we have brought in and I am excited to see how the team gels and grows.

UTB
 
uptheblades12 said:
GK Cooper - Davies - Grbic
RB Gilchrist - Seriki - Sachdev
CB Souttar - Anel
CB Robinson - Norrington
LB Burrows - McCallum - Boyes
CM Souza - Shackleton - Davies
CM Arblaster - Peck - Coulibaly
CAM Hamer - Marsh - Hampson
CAM O’Hare - Campbell
CAM RakSakyi - Brooks
ST Moore - Brewster - Oné

For me there’s not a better starting 11 in the division, and keeping that midfield 3 is fantastic business and it shouldn’t go unnoticed how hard it must’ve been to keep hold of them. Very happy with every signing we’ve made.

Unfortunately though, it’s clear that if we suffer an injury to the keeper, the centre backs, the midfielders or the striker then the quality would drop dramatically. It’s unfair to judge them on cup games as not playing with the other good players in the team. Moore would be a massive loss and at his age I’d be amazed if he goes all year with no injuries.

Bogle, Osula, Jebbison, Trusty leaving for a rough total of around 24m I think is great business, especially in a window that we knew we had to sell players.

For me I’m happy with the window, could’ve been better definitely, but couldn’t been a lot lot lot worse.
Click to expand...
Who is this Davies person you speak of ? Is he a relative of a former John Ebbrell .
 
dexter101 said:
Woke up, checked the news and I am now happy with where we are.

It's not a finished squad but we haven't lost our better players and gives us a great platform to now build on.
Also looking back at those who we released, there isn't anyone who I am now wishing was here. Bogle for Leeds has looked exactly like he did for us, great going forward, poor defensively
Mcburnie wanted a fresh challenge and good luck to him.

I like some of the characters we have brought in and I am excited to see how the team gels and grows.

UTB
Click to expand...
I'm the same. There isn't a player who has left who I wish was still here, including Baldock. We'll always have question marks over Osula's potential but he didn't really do anything for us other than run fast and shoot poorly wide/straight at the keeper. But £10mil is a bid we couldn't turn down and none of us on here thought we'd get anywhere near that for him, let alone make profit on Trusty.

I'm pleased that we got rid of some of last season's poor signings, who I thought we'd be stuck with. We sold Trusty and Traore, and Norwich's manager wanted to work with Slimane again. No complaints there.

If only we could have gotten rid of Grbic and Coulibaly too. They're the only remaining deadwood.
 

Good balanced thread and I agree with the positive and the negative aspects of the window.
It started very positively, got rid of a lot of the ageing players even though they have been great servants to the club and brought in some real quality.
Kept the expensive talent and the first 11 on the whole looks strong. To me it was looking like an 8/10 window but as most have said it just went flat the last few days.
I think most of us were expecting to use the loans to bring in at least a back up to Moore and perhaps a left winger or another defender.
It didn't happen so it's probably a 6 or 7/10 from me.
Nothing to be done now except support what we've got to push them as high up the table as we can come January
 
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