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So...if the unthinkable happened and we got promotion...


spudski

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... would you want the Promotion winning squad of lads given a chance to shine in the Prem...or bring in more recruits in the summer?

Tough call?

I know it's getting ahead of ourselves...but it's something that crossed my mind this morning, when considering bringing in any new recruits during the January window.

A tough call for any manager in our present position...buy to get promoted, or buy for the Prem?

Take into consideration injuries, contracts, budget, league position etc....a lot to think about.

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Seeing as Huddersfield as our latest template I reckon we would follow them and would bring in about 5 new players, (in all probability mainly from Northern Europe) so splitting the difference.

Half the current side would get their chance, the other half would be squad players.

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7 minutes ago, spudski said:

... would you want the Promotion winning squad of lads given a chance to shine in the Prem...or bring in more recruits in the summer?

Tough call?

I know it's getting ahead of ourselves...but it's something that crossed my mind this morning, when considering bringing in any new recruits during the January window.

A tough call for any manager in our present position...buy to get promoted, or buy for the Prem?

Take into consideration injuries, contracts, budget, league position etc....a lot to think about.

I reckon a good proportion of our first team, based on their performances this season, could cut it against most of the PL sides.

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As i watch the Merseyside derby i feel we would need 2 creative midfielders, not 1 as we do now, 2 strikers not 1 as we do now and a right back, as we do now... That will cover us. 

In any event Spud, it goes without saying that City, like all clubs these days, simply have no choice but to strengthen as the quality in each division continues to rise inexorably.

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2 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

Seeing as Huddersfield as our latest template I reckon we would follow them and would bring in about 5 new players, (in all probability mainly from Northern Europe) so splitting the difference.

Half the current side would get their chance, the other half would be squad players.

This is how I think also Graham.

Knowing how the Club works now, they must already have lists of potential buy's depending on where we sit come the end of the season.

1 minute ago, ZiderEyed said:

I reckon a good proportion of our first team, based on their performances this season, could cut it against most of the PL sides.

It would be definitely interesting to see mate. Phil Neville's remark about Newcastle having to buy Prem players to do well, made me think of this as well. He suggested Newcastle were just Championship players and would struggle.

Is our team as strong as the Newcastle one that went up last season?

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I hope a lot of players could hold their own but I'm not one for sentiment. We tried that for the first few months when we got promoted under Cotts and found ourselves in the relegation zone. If players can shape up, great. If we can get players in who improve the squad, get them in.

That said, I don't think the gap between the Premier League and the Championship is as big as it once was. I reckon a few key additions and we'd have a fighting chance of staying up.

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12 minutes ago, spudski said:

... would you want the Promotion winning squad of lads given a chance to shine in the Prem...or bring in more recruits in the summer?

Tough call?

I know it's getting ahead of ourselves...but it's something that crossed my mind this morning, when considering bringing in any new recruits during the January window.

A tough call for any manager in our present position...buy to get promoted, or buy for the Prem?

Take into consideration injuries, contracts, budget, league position etc....a lot to think about.

No time for sentiment in football. We would need to seriously invest. 

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6 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

Seeing as Huddersfield as our latest template I reckon we would follow them and would bring in about 5 new players, (in all probability mainly from Northern Europe) so splitting the difference.

Half the current side would get their chance, the other half would be squad players.

Pretty much my thinking as well

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1 minute ago, LondonBristolian said:

I hope a lot of players could hold their own but I'm not one for sentiment. We tried that for the first few months when we got promoted under Cotts and found ourselves in the relegation zone. If players can shape up, great. If we can get players in who improve the squad, get them in.

That said, I don't think the gap between the Premier League and the Championship is as big as it once was. I reckon a few key additions and we'd have a fighting chance of staying up.

Gap is still big. To think Sakho destroyed us for Palace and everyone on here was reacting as though we played against Messi. The guy is not rated by Palace at all in Prem 

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I’ve made this point many a time before and my view hasn’t changed. If you look at the sides who have gone up and had relative success they have kept at the very least the core who got them there as opposed to buying established, but only lower half, prem players.

Our “DNA” is to sign and improve young hungry players and make them better. Teams in the premier era like Swansea, Reading, Ipswich were packed full of players who hadn’t played at that level and busted a gut for the opportunity with their mates. Add in the ability which some of the squad have and I’d be more than happy with our current batch plus 2-3 to be given the chance they’d have earnt if they make it to see just what the ceiling is

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We would need a new GK. Much as I like Frankie. Does Steele have the potential I think he has?

Our defence should survive if all fit but need quality cover.

Patto, Josh, Korey & COD may all be OK but need cover. Eliason not up to it yet and Marlon not Premiership I'm afraid.

Would need a quality striker unless we intend playing with a false no. 9.

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Huddersfield have set a good template agree but I really like the Burnley method too;

Keep faith with the manager and most of the squad, supplement it with a few quality signings that fit in and if relegation occurs you don't crash and burn but go again with the ethos in tact. It is paying great dividends for them second time around. 

Panicking & breaking the bank is not the way forward. With the right environment many of our lads could perform in the premier league.

I certainly never gueessed someone like Wes Morgan as a premier league player on one of his visits to the Gate. Let alone a champion and in the team of the year or playing in a champions league run.

With a side committed to the club a year in the top flight would be a great experience even if we went down.

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38 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

Seeing as Huddersfield as our latest template I reckon we would follow them and would bring in about 5 new players, (in all probability mainly from Northern Europe) so splitting the difference.

Half the current side would get their chance, the other half would be squad players.

I agree with this. I definitely wouldn't want us to sign a load of expensive journeymen.

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We would need quite a few quality additions. Keeper, RB, CM, wingers and strikers. I would love for the lads to step up but you need to give the real good ones better players to up their game. Out of our team I would be comfortable with Flint, Baker, Bryan, Brownhill, Paterson, O’Dowda and possibly Diedhiou. Others I think would be good squad options like Wright, Reid, Smith and Fielding. Most others probably need more time or flat out would not be too useful. 

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Also Huddersfield brought in about 12 and 10 if you don’t count Mooy and Kachunga who were on loan there when they went up. Though they rotate quite a bit I think so using a lot of the squad that took them up. Burnley went up and down a few times which is perfectly fine but not a guarantee. No better way of establishing yourself as a premier league club than staying there. It gets harder every season to go back up. 

If it were up to me, I would target many of those bigger club fringe youngsters. Tammy, Loftus Cheek, Fosu Mensah, Tuanzebe. Of course you would need some experience and I would look for mid to late 20 year olds for that if available. I think our brand of football would keep us up if we recruited well. 

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52 minutes ago, spudski said:

This is how I think also Graham.

Knowing how the Club works now, they must already have lists of potential buy's depending on where we sit come the end of the season.

It would be definitely interesting to see mate. Phil Neville's remark about Newcastle having to buy Prem players to do well, made me think of this as well. He suggested Newcastle were just Championship players and would struggle.

Is our team as strong as the Newcastle one that went up last season?

The big problem with "signing premier league players" as neville said, is that for a club like ourselves... The only premier league players we could realistically get would be journey men or realative failures at that level. Types previously like Steven fletcher...  Whilst he was a decent (nothing more) top flight player he effectively moved from one premier league fodder team to another. Burnley, wolves then sunderland. Would that type of player keep us up anyway?

What i'm getting at is players in established mid table teams are unlikely to come to us. So we would be looking at releagated players or just survived players if we were buying from the premier league.

Id guess we would look abroad again and for the first season try and supplement our current squad with a couple of additions from there. Basically look to try and do a southampton.

But i'm not going to get carried away. There is a long way to go this season.

 

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Believe our strategy both to get out of this division and compete in the one above is to get hungry players (no, not that type of hungry!), rather than experienced pros whose wages and signing fees plus maybe transfer fee leave us vulnerable should we either fail to go up or fail to survive.

Following promo to the old first division the likes of Hunter and Cooper were vital, but it’s a different financial world these days, and it all went horribly wrong last time.

I look at Watford, and them getting the likes of Chalobah from Chelsea as the right approach.  Not saying we’d get a-Chalobah-type, but an aspiring Prem player wanting games.

I saw Trippier for Burnley on loan from Man City (either in their promo season, or one before), and thought that is the way to go about it.  Not saying you get them on a free, but you convince these type of player that the big money move will happen if they play games.

Also, why not use loan with an option to buy....and of course the Euro market mentioned by others

Just don’t think we need to go mad.

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12 minutes ago, Up The City! said:

GJ made the huge mistake of sticking with the team that got us to the play off final when we had a real opportunity to attract some top players. LJ would have learned from that. You simply can't stand still and have faith in players because the football world is brutal.

Such a myth.

Our infrastructure was such that we weren't in a position to go for top players then.

What he actually did afterwards though was nearly doubled our record transfer fee in bringing in Nicky Maynard, who despite the silly way that it all ended, was exactly what the previous side had lacked, a prolific "fox in the box" striker.

Maynard was an outstanding signing, scoring more in a season for us than anyone since at this level up until we borrowed Tammy..

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