Who’s in, who’s out, are we better?

[Hackblade]

We seem to have signed some decent players (5, is it?) but I’ve lost track of who has gone. Does anyone have a list of names?

More crucially, do people think we can improve on last year’s fine season?

 

[Scooter_mcgavin]

Sheff Weds:

Ins
I-Follow

Outs:
Radio Sheffield

 

[PokerBlade]

I've lost track of the outs but so far only Brooks that's a big one. If we survive to the end of the window with JOC and Fleck still with us then I'm very excited about the coming season.

 

[Carlton Blade]

Squad looks just about stronger than the end of last year.

1) Evans and Leonard have had 8 months to settle in. Hopefully Evans and Lundstram have lost a couple of KG and will be more mobile as well.
2) No Ched skulking around confusing everyone as to why he's anywhere near a squad
3) Woodburn and Brooks - thete is potential the BW could contribute more than Brooks did last year (although I think Brooks would have been better if he'd stayed)
4) CB - I'd say we look really strong

Only negatives are the GK group (although Moore is competent and Henderson could be good) and LWB/CF (can Sharp/Clarke/McGoldrick stay fit and produce?) could be a little light. Also Coutts is a complete unknown.

 

[PokerBlade]

Squad looks just about stronger than the end of last year.

1) Evans and Leonard have had 8 months to settle in. Hopefully Evans and Lundstram have lost a couple of KG and will be more mobile as well.
2) No Ched skulking around confusing everyone as to why he's anywhere near a squad
3) Woodburn and Brooks - thete is potential the BW could contribute more than Brooks did last year (although I think Brooks would have been better if he'd stayed)
4) CB - I'd say we look really strong

Only negatives are the GK group (although Moore is competent and Henderson could be good) and LWB/CF (can Sharp/Clarke/McGoldrick stay fit and produce?) could be a little light. Also Coutts is a complete unknown.

Egan should be a good signing and if Bryan is any good covering a couple of positions then we shouldn't fatigue as much as we did to the end of last season. The key for me is Woodburn. We desperately need a young version of Duffy as without him we don't create enough and it's a very difficult role to fill. Coutts back would be a huge boost but I'm not so pessimistic as some about Evans/Lundstram but playing either of them with Fleck again puts a lot of reliance on Woodburn to make us tick.

 

[Hackblade]

We do look stronger but it's such a strong league and the shadow of the boardroom bust-up is never far away. Improving on last year will be difficult.

 

[Boxer Blade]

Squad looks just about stronger than the end of last year.

1) Evans and Leonard have had 8 months to settle in. Hopefully Evans and Lundstram have lost a couple of KG and will be more mobile as well.
2) No Ched skulking around confusing everyone as to why he's anywhere near a squad
3) Woodburn and Brooks - thete is potential the BW could contribute more than Brooks did last year (although I think Brooks would have been better if he'd stayed)
4) CB - I'd say we look really strong

Only negatives are the GK group (although Moore is competent and Henderson could be good) and LWB/CF (can Sharp/Clarke/McGoldrick stay fit and produce?) could be a little light. Also Coutts is a complete unknown.

I take it you are not a "in Wilder we trust" fan

 

[Carlton Blade]

I take it you are not a "in Wilder we trust" fan

I'm not sure which bit I wrote refers to any opinions on Wilder? If you mean the strikers part I'm sure CW agrees that he can't 100% rely on those 3 strikers to replicate last season's returns - that's why we've been looking for additions

 

[Boxer Blade]

I'm not sure which bit I wrote refers to any opinions on Wilder? If you mean the strikers part I'm sure CW agrees that he can't 100% rely on those 3 strikers to replicate last season's returns - that's why we've been looking for additions

Point 2,you don't want ched anywhere near the squad, Wilder brought him in and is taking longer than hoped I agree, but I trust Wilder with ched at the moment, do you

 

[Carlton Blade]

Point 2,you don't want ched anywhere near the squad, Wilder brought him in and is taking longer than hoped I agree, but I trust Wilder with ched at the moment, do you

I still don't think Wilder had anything to do with Ched. Why would he battle so hard to get players for the right valuation but spend £500k on an injury prone player who'd played 20 games in 4 years? There was no competition for his transfer and Chesterfield had no leverage.

I'll never believe the Ched signing was anything other than a deal to stop the club being sued/pre-agreement with SUFC/Cesterfield/Ched

 

[bromtom]

I think we're stronger on and off the pitch.

Deadwood gone, or going.

Brooks gone but for a decent fee, with Woodburn taking his place. I think Woodburn will be as good if not better because he looks to be a better finisher as well as AM. Think we were always going to lose Brooks before next season anyway, so it's probably good business to get a loan and sell Brooks, if disappointing that he left.

Fee also takes a bit of pressure off the board while they're wrangling.

From what I've seen of Egan and Henderson I'm impressed.

Bryan was out of nowhere but is well regarded.

McG is happy and scoring goals. If he stays fit then we're well away. A better link up player than what we have.

Building relationships with top 6 EPL teams, good for loans. Beating off competition from traditionally "bigger" teams like Villa.

Experience of the league for the players we bought last season.

Freeman is fit and CCV isn't here to smash his knee off.

Weaknesses, LWB (if Bryan can't play there) and another young striker would be nice.

 

[Hackblade]

Who are the deadwood that have gone?

 

[bromtom]

Who are the deadwood that have gone?

Carruthers, Hanson, Heneghan, Ched, Donaldson. Donaldson played his part but his legs went big time towards the end of last season, Hanson the same in the promotion season but they weren't what we needed.

Lavery looks like he's going too, and Holmes, and we've sold or released some unknowns who probably aren't going to be at Championhip and above levels in their careers.

 

[Hackblade]

Thanks. Difficult to see any of those being part of a squad pushing for promotion.

 

[TTMeysh]

What would turn a good window into an exceptional one is getting a decent striker in. McG will no doubt play a part but is a like for like replacement for Donaldson, Bill and Leon both a year older....

I'm not suggesting this a particularly staggeringly insightful comment btw.

 

[mattbianco1]

We still need that striker. I'll get shot for this but Clarke isn't all that.

He failed to score on too many occasions last year, needs to be more consistent with the chances he gets.

He only scored 5 goals after 8th December. That isn't good enough for a team playing for promotion.

If we get a prolific scorer, we'll be top 6

 

[Boxer Blade]

I still don't think Wilder had anything to do with Ched. Why would he battle so hard to get players for the right valuation but spend £500k on an injury prone player who'd played 20 games in 4 years? There was no competition for his transfer and Chesterfield had no leverage.

I'll never believe the Ched signing was anything other than a deal to stop the club being sued/pre-agreement with SUFC/Cesterfield/Ched

You obviously know more than most about it, I have no problem with people having opinions about players obviously ,we all do, I just think your comments about ched are way over the top, what you have said on the subject may have some truth,I don't know, however one thing is certain, Wilder bought ched and I think we should support him like any other player going through a bad time, if it doesn't work out fair enough but no need to have a go at him,I would love to see him come back and have a career at the Lane,ain't saying he will but hope eo.

 

[Carlton Blade]

You obviously know more than most about it, I have no problem with people having opinions about players obviously ,we all do, I just think your comments about ched are way over the top, what you have said on the subject may have some truth,I don't know, however one thing is certain, Wilder bought ched and I think we should support him like any other player going through a bad time, if it doesn't work out fair enough but no need to have a go at him,I would love to see him come back and have a career at the Lane,ain't saying he will but hope eo.

Personally, I definitely didn't want him back and I'm glad he's left (if only temporarily). I think the signing/wages were a waste of money from day 1 and could have been used in a much more productive way

I don't think it's a bad time with Ched, I think he had one good season in L1 5 years ago, had his legal troubles and lost any shot he had of hitting those heights again

I'd be surprised if he ever plays for us again now

Also I know no more than anyone else and everything I say could be complete rubbish! Luckily it's all only opinions so it doesn't matter

 

[Pierre's PC]

We seem to have signed some decent players (5, is it?) but I’ve lost track of who has gone. Does anyone have a list of names?

More crucially, do people think we can improve on last year’s fine season?

As a journalist (or at the very least someone who has ties to the industry) isn't it kinda your job to know this?

 

[Antonb]

We won't really know till the season is in full swing. My concern is the older players being able to cut it again this season.i still think we will finish around 10th. And still feel that will be a decent season for me. Still really looking forward to it though, and hope we might sneak in the playoffs

 

[gavtheblade]

If we manage to pull the waghorn signing off,i really think we will challenge the top six.
Weve got coutts to look forward too in 4 -6 weeks(probably see him in the first team after the international break 15th sept)
Im very pleased with buisness so far,and if its true that we still hav'nt touched the brooks money,we are probably in the best financial position this club has ever been in??

Im appeh.
Bring it on.

 

[dc_blade]

Very pleased with the business we've done so far. As others have said, we've cleared out some deadwood and brought in higher quality. We look a bit more like a Championship squad now than we did at this time last year. Good to see Wilder being backed with at least some of the Brooks money to spend.

Think we really do need one more quality addition up top. If we get a Waghorn/Gallagher/Hogan level striker I strongly fancy us to be in the mix for the play offs again.

 

[Hackblade]

As a journalist (or at the very least someone who has ties to the industry) isn't it kinda your job to know this?

I'm not currently a football journalist and I haven't been on the forums much over summer. I'm grateful for the updates. I suspect promotion may be beyond us but I'm very much looking forward to the new season.

 

[pommpey]

If we get a prolific scorer, we'll be top 6

Have always said that.

To get out of this league we need a 20 plus striker and two others in the mid to high teens.

For that we need people who can create the chances and those who will clinically stick them away. Maybe we'll have that with the new input, but it's telling that Clarke's early season successes suddenly ended post Coutts and his leg break. If we had to change things and be less direct then maybe that is why Clarke was denied the chances. We'll have to see that McGoldrick brings (provided he stays off the injury list)

pommpey

 

[Speedracer]

I am cautiously optimistic about our recent forward progression & think we look strong all over the pitch with decent options. Almost unbelievably we could be further improved if CW manages to bring in one or two of his targets before the transfer window ends. Yet I have a nagging feeling at the back of my head that because this is SUFC history has told me we are likely to fuck it all up when things are going well, so I think I will lock myself in a dark floatation tank until kick off tomorrow evening!

UTB.

 

[mattbianco1]

Have always said that.

To get out of this league we need a 20 plus striker and two others in the mid to high teens.

For that we need people who can create the chances and those who will clinically stick them away. Maybe we'll have that with the new input, but it's telling that Clarke's early season successes suddenly ended post Coutts and his leg break. If we had to change things and be less direct then maybe that is why Clarke was denied the chances. We'll have to see that McGoldrick brings (provided he stays off the injury list)

pommpey

He went two spells of 5 games without a goal and 1 spell of 10 without one. That's not consistent enough. If he had took his chances, he would've got 30:

http://www.soccerbase.com/players/player.sd?player_id=36472&season_id=150

He got 4 in the last 6 games so hopefully can recapture some kind of form.

 

[Fulwood Blade]

are we better?

YES

we just need to go and prove it now. It's a big year for CW after all his rantings since January. For me, the club have backed the managers call for extra resources without busting the piggy (S6 lol) bank. It looks like he and Mitchell have put the hours in, to come up with good signings by being creative with the budget. The deal for Bryan, whilst different in it's make up, suits where we are as a club. I can see us and others persuading the mega rich BIG clubs for deals like this in the future. It could also be an outlet for young English talent to break into football sooner and earlier.

UTB

 

[Topplayersleave]

Have always said that.

To get out of this league we need a 20 plus striker and two others in the mid to high teens.

For that we need people who can create the chances and those who will clinically stick them away. Maybe we'll have that with the new input, but it's telling that Clarke's early season successes suddenly ended post Coutts and his leg break. If we had to change things and be less direct then maybe that is why Clarke was denied the chances. We'll have to see that McGoldrick brings (provided he stays off the injury list)

pommpey

Yes, I agree.
I think Leon and Billy have still got 15-20 goals in them providing that the chances are created for them, especially for Billy.
Leon can occasionally create something unexpected for himself but Billy needs chances creating for him

The tail off last season was because the number of chances that were being created early on started to slow down

When a striker sticks away one chance in five, it's not so bad when you create 10 good chances per game, but when you only create two or three the goals are going to dry up

 

[blade too long]

we attack , its what we do
CW wont let us park the bus , so we will create chances
this season if we improve our conversion rate of chances just 10 per cent we should piss the play offs
We are solid at the back, only had 4 league games in first season back where we lost by 2 or more goals

 

[Tommoblade66]

Think the 2 latest signings will make the difference definitely top 6