Jump to content
IGNORED

Well done City, well done with the recruitment.


reddogkev

Recommended Posts

Let’s look at each position: 

Keeper: lost Steele, brought in Niki. Probably similar quality of keeper (?), yes we wanted a quality number 1 but for a number of reasons couldn’t get one. Result: No difference.

Fullbacks: Brought in Hunt, who is an upgrade on Pisano. Only concern is fitness. Kept Bryan (so far). Result: Improvement.

Centreback: Lost Flint, In Webster. Webster looks fantastic but again concerns around fitness. Flint will be a big loss in terms of character and goals, but Webster plays out from the back more which LJ would like. Also mention of Vyner who will be getting championship games under his belt ready to fight for our shirt next season, which I think is a great move. Result: If Webster is fit then improvement as we have a long term player who plays how we want. If he doesn’t then loss. 

Centre Mid: Lost O’Neil. Brownhill should play more centrally this season, and Packs signed a new long term deal which is great. I would of liked an experience head in there but there’s only so many players who can play, and this gives Walsh a chance too. Result: No different.

Wingers: In Watkins, Adelakun. Eliasson is looking like a new man this year, which is very exciting. Plus Pato signing a new contract can only give him a boost, superb on his day, lost when not however. We’ve expanded in this position, gives us a deeper squad in a position where Brownhill had to chip in previously. Watkins most likely to make the immediate impact, and can also play up front. Adelakun definitely looks like one who will step up in the next few years and could be a bargain. Result: Improvement, just.

Strikers: out Reid, in Eisa, Wiemann. Now I thought Reid embodied our best style of play last year; quick press, lots of movement, strong attacking play. Loosing him to Cardiff is a massive blow, but City have done well to recuit a player with similar energy in Weimann. Will he have the same goal score prowess? Probably not, but he can complement Diedhiou very well like he did with Benteke in the past. These two up top should be a threat to any defence, plus we now have the likes of Eisa off the bench to go at tired defences with his pace and power. Something we lacked last season. Result: Loss in quality overall, increase in depth and options. Overall this is one position where we could of done with that bit of quality, something I thought Marriott would of been.

Overall: Stronger squad. Good Championship experience throughout the team. Concerns with fitness of key players (Hunt, Webster) and that additional quality up front.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Surely strengthening the squad mitigates a weaker starting 11, as we will get injuries and suspensions and maybe have a cup run, which means a strengthened squad is more important than concentrating on having a better 11 that we know won’t play every game.  The collapses over the last two seasons show that we didn’t have strength in depth I would say unless of course you blame LJ for those runs and not the lack of strength in the squad.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, cidercity1987 said:

We have done ok. I think we've purchased too many players that'll likely be benchwarmers (Wiemann, Maenpaa) or not in the squad (Watkins, Adelukan) if everyone is fit. Was it GJ who said only buy players who would improve the first XI. Maybe football has changed since then, with depth more to the fore. We also haven't improved CM for some strange reason.

On the other hand Webster and Eisa seem exciting with the former definitely better than who he has replaced. 

it's a shame he didnt practice what he preached. he signed some absolute garbage at time towards the end of his tenure. Left a very shoddy squad

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The two issues I have with the recruitment is again we have failed to bring in a top first choice keeper. As much as I like Frankie, I am sure we could do much better. I can’t for the life of me believe that we can’t find a better keeper who is within our budget and who is willing to join us. The second issue is the striker position. Yes we have signed a couple upfront but Eisa is a gamble and Weimann will probably not replace Reid’s goals. I just think that knowing Fammy was going to be out for the first 6 that the club would bring in someone who could bag the goals we will be missing whilst also providing him with tough competition when he come back after his ban. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, MC RISK77 said:

No sorry I do not share you’re optimism around recruitment and think this could be a tough year. The experience we bought from this league is all well and good but apart from Webster I would suggest they were players their clubs were happy to let go.

Buying talent from lower leagues is fine and a shrewd way of doing business but have we really bought the best talent from lower leagues? I may be wrong but I can’t see adelakun or Eisa being more than bit part players if everyone is fit.

we have not sorted out the GK issue and gone out and bought a new established number one which was an absolute priority, and we go into the forest game likely to start with someone who has played one league game in 3 years.

no real statement of intent signings albeit we do have a week of the window left.

signing up pack for another 3 years was the best bit of business we did this summer.

happy to be proved wrong but I have been a little underwhelmed by our transfer dealings.

Interesting to hear your opposing view points, fascinating how we can have two contrasting mind-sets.  I see no reason why Maeenpa can not be our number 1, his experience is vastly impressive and suggests he will be an improvement on FF.

It's only my opinion, but I see Mo Eisa as a signing of intent, he doesn't have to cost the earth, his goals and performances in League 2 are superb, and if he brings that talent to the Championship, he is going to be some player.  There must have been a lot of other clubs after him.  And yep, getting Pack for another 3 years is pretty impressive - but don't you just know it, there will be threads on here slating his performances this season.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, reddogkev said:

Interesting to hear your opposing view points, fascinating how we can have two contrasting mind-sets.  I see no reason why Maeenpa can not be our number 1, his experience is vastly impressive and suggests he will be an improvement on FF.

It's only my opinion, but I see Mo Eisa as a signing of intent, he doesn't have to cost the earth, his goals and performances in League 2 are superb, and if he brings that talent to the Championship, he is going to be some player.  There must have been a lot of other clubs after him.  And yep, getting Pack for another 3 years is pretty impressive - but don't you just know it, there will be threads on here slating his performances this season.

Fair enough mate but maenppa experience is extensively in the Dutch league which bar a couple of teams is not a strong league and he has no experience of playing in England regularly. 

Eisa is a punt could well come off but can’t see him being a regular at least for this season.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Phileas Fogg said:

Interested to hear which players @Ska Junkie@MC RISK77 and @core321 would’ve liked to see us go after as yours seem to be the most concerned reactions in this thread. 

Nobody in particular Phileas, maybe Marriott of the summer rumours, or someone similar, if we were ever in with a chance. I just don't think we look as good in front of goal as we did last season. To nullify my own point, this time last year I had the same concerns and look what Bobby did, he proved me wrong. I'm hopeful Weimann et al can do the same this time around.

I'm just a supporter, not a coach / Manager and they get paid to make these decisions so would know a lot more than me so it's not a criticism, just my impression WTGR.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nothing like blind optimism, I just think that we have lost 2 very key players and brought in a load of OK players, and a promising, but unproven striker. Nobody knows how the players will settle, or how they will gel, so let’s wait and see. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, Chappers said:

Nothing like blind optimism, I just think that we have lost 2 very key players and brought in a load of OK players, and a promising, but unproven striker. Nobody knows how the players will settle, or how they will gel, so let’s wait and see. 

Well put Chappers, made my point far better than I have. Thanks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, JonDolman said:

Good point. People moaning, yet they haven't even seen the new players play. I'd like it if people could specifically say what players are not good enough that we have signed.

I keep seeing people posting this

It doesn’t seem to work or be reeled in , in reverse does it

People waxing lyrical about players with many (Not all) Who havnt seen them play , and probably couldn’t tell you the first thing about them back in May and big proclamations how they are  better than the players they are replacing etc etc

A number yesterday polishing themselves over comments by about 8 Brighton fans on their forum as ‘Mäenpää ‘ never let them down ‘

They hardly saw much of him   , as one BHA poster pointed out ‘We don’t actually know If he’s  good or not’ 

 

As for  the ’op he was still regularly and loudly predicting Automatic promotion with about 8 games to go last season and then the Play Offs were nailed on until he realised it was mathmatecially impossible

:yawn:

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think business was alright, but Flint and Reid- plus the lack of a commanding number 1 while Fielding is out- is a concern.

I doubt we'll go down, but in a way though some of the signings are decent, versatile and value I still see issues- if we set up 4-4-2 for example regardless of this seasons team or last, it won't be a top 6 pushing season. 

Regardless of that though- Hunt is IMO an upgrade, Webster is a ball playing centre back which will give us more in some ways- but Flint is a big hole to fill nonetheless, Weimann and his versatility across the front line could be useful, Watkins is more versatile than a traditional winger which would be good and Eisa and Adelekun look interesting prospects.

What I don't get though is we are FFP wise in a great position- even if we don't add much why sell Flint especially for the fee we did to a Championship rival? We can afford otherwise.

Jury still out for me though- plus the churn factor, cannot underestimate the factor this plays.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

I think business was alright, but Flint and Reid- plus the lack of a commanding number 1 while Fielding is out- is a concern.

I doubt we'll go down, but in a way though some of the signings are decent, versatile and value I still see issues- if we set up 4-4-2 for example regardless of this seasons team or last, it won't be a top 6 pushing season. 

Regardless of that though- Hunt is IMO an upgrade, Webster is a ball playing centre back which will give us more in some ways- but Flint is a big hole to fill nonetheless, Weimann and his versatility across the front line could be useful, Watkins is more versatile than a traditional winger which would be good and Eisa and Adelekun look interesting prospects.

What I don't get though is we are FFP wise in a great position- even if we don't add much why sell Flint especially for the fee we did to a Championship rival? We can afford otherwise.

Jury still out for me though- plus the churn factor, cannot underestimate the factor this plays.

Now there’s a sensible post IMHO

:clap:

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

28 minutes ago, Ska Junkie said:

Nobody in particular Phileas, maybe Marriott of the summer rumours, or someone similar, if we were ever in with a chance. I just don't think we look as good in front of goal as we did last season. To nullify my own point, this time last year I had the same concerns and look what Bobby did, he proved me wrong. I'm hopeful Weimann et al can do the same this time around.

I'm just a supporter, not a coach / Manager and they get paid to make these decisions so would know a lot more than me so it's not a criticism, just my impression WTGR.

Agreed, would've liked him. Happy with Eisa overall but Marriott would've also been a good signing.

Wasn't having a go by the way, just interested to see ideas from people who aren't as positive about the window.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, Ska Junkie said:

If I'm honest, I'm in the 'jury's still out' camp. I hope Weimann surprises me but think we're woefully short of a finisher and that puts extra pressure on the likes of Eisa.

Genuinely concerned but more than happy to be proved wrong.

Long old season ahead IMHO, far too good to go down but concerned just the same. 

Kinda agree, it is such a tough league it's so hard to predict it's going to go. You can get on a roll playing a particular style but then teams in this league can suss you out and you can then struggle unless you can adapt to either a new style or having the attrition to grind out results. You need a squad that is able to do that. I'm not convinced we do

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, BCFC Richard said:

Anyone who hasn't listened to the most recent pod should definitely take a look. The guys have done a great job profiling the new players and have interviews with people from the clubs we signed them from for most of them. 

That episode of the podcast was brilliant, looking forward to its return, deserves more coverage and praise on here @Shtanley et al deserve huge credit. Keep up the good work

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, city123456 said:

I don't think we have made bad signings, but neither at the same time do I see players who will take us to the next level.

In fact from pre season, 3 of the 4 more exciting prospects for the season, Eliasson, Kelly & Pring were already at the club last season, just not being player.

The new keeper is a direct replacement for Steele, but with Frankie injured, we are still lacking between the posts for a solid Championship standard keeper. Niki M may prove to be competent but I feel this is an area we need to approve but haven't.

We have lost Flint and replaced with Webster,  I am not unhappy with this.

My main concern is we still lack a creative midfielder, a position we have lacked for 2 seasons now.

We need to replace Bobby's goals. Wiemann and Eisa look good signings, but I a not sure they are 20 goals a season strikers.

For me we still need a solid Championship keeper, a Creative midfielder and a fox in the box number 9 for this team to progress, but we have signed some good squad players who will enable us to continue playing our pressing football, but for me we still lack the three main elements of the squad we have needed since the start of the window and pretty much since January (bar striker).

I like this post. We definitely need a keeper. Biggest ask of the summer and not done as of yet. Happy with Maenpaa but in the same way happy with Steele. Good option to have during injury but the current #1 is not good enough for what we want. 

Will wait and see about midfield. Know everyone hates waiting but Brownhill may have that creativity. Had 2-3 goals whenCOD was injured in October and was asked to play wide. That is a pace of 6-7 goals for the season. Generally gets the ball forward. Willing to see if he can be our 5m CM instead of spending. Walsh also has a lot of ability just needs the experience.

Weimann could be the fox in the box type. His goal against Bournemouth showed that. I can see why people want to wait and see though. He does not need to score 20 to be a good fit though. 10+ is a good number as think we all expect Fam to hit 15 or more. 

20 minutes ago, BobBobSuperBob said:

I keep seeing people posting this

It doesn’t seem to work or be reeled in , in reverse does it

People waxing lyrical about players with many (Not all) Who havnt seen them play , and probably couldn’t tell you the first thing about them back in May and big proclamations how they are  better than the players they are replacing etc etc

A number yesterday polishing themselves over comments by about 8 Brighton fans on their forum as ‘Mäenpää ‘ never let them down ‘

They hardly saw much of him   , as one BHA poster pointed out ‘We don’t actually know If he’s  good or not’ 

 

As for  the ’op he was still regularly and loudly predicting Automatic promotion with about 8 games to go last season and then the Play Offs were nailed on until he realised it was mathmatecially impossible

:yawn:

 

 

All I have is preseason but we played some lovely football at times. I am still in the wait and see camp but don’t think we are close to relegation. With losing Flint and Reid in mind, we’d do well to finish around where we did last season. I know not flashy but life at the club atm. It is not for the impatient. Think we improved our squad and it still needs it. We wasted years and resources in our first two years back up. Last two been trying to right that. Weare getting there 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, reddogkev said:

We grumble for months and months when we have a perceived bad transfer window, so now it's time to celebrate a damn fine one.

I like the look of all the players we've signed so far, and feel pleased we've raided the lower leagues again for some decent talent.

I'd like to tip my hat to City for bringing in an exciting, decent new crop of players. 

Looking forward to seeing them gel over the coming season.

Everyone else feel the same, that we've done a top job with the recruitment so far?  I am very impressed.

Time will tell.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, cidercity1987 said:

We have done ok. I think we've purchased too many players that'll likely be benchwarmers (Wiemann, Maenpaa) or not in the squad (Watkins, Adelukan) if everyone is fit. Was it GJ who said only buy players who would improve the first XI. Maybe football has changed since then, with depth more to the fore. We also haven't improved CM for some strange reason.

On the other hand Webster and Eisa seem exciting with the former definitely better than who he has replaced. 

To be fair, he said that knowing our academy didn't have anyone worthwhile in it at the time. His only option was the transfer market.

Today, we have an academy that has produced Championship (and in Bobby Reid's case, Premier League) talent, and this talent needs competitive games in order to compete. While we should absolutely be hiring players for the first XI, academy players can't just sit on our benches for a year because they'll never improve, so we need to loan them out for more experience while we bring in players that are happy for a shorter amount of time on the pitch.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, JoeAman08 said:

Yes but you could argue our starting XI was not the problem. It was our 12-18 which lacked the quality to see us through a long season. Just an argument though as I am curious myself how this season will go. 

On one hand, I see all the positives. At their best, this squad can push for top 6. I do not doubt that. 

However, at their best is a rarity for such a long season. I worry about Hunt and Webster staying fit. Have no qualms with Wright or Pisano but it is still a drop in quality(imo). Watkins and Adelakun may struggle to get ahead of Pato, COD and Eliasson(based on preseason). A good thing but then perhaps one a slight waste going forward? Getting through Diedhiou’s ban with a solid points haul is a concern. 

Idk. Guess what I am trying to say is if everything goes right I can see us top 6. Just think that is too big an ask and in reality can see us having a steadier season but ending up in a similar spot to last season. I would not be upset with that. I know that makes me a happy clapper or something of that ilk but losing Flint and Reid plus perhaps Bryan and no Fam for 6 matches, I think 10-13th would be a solid season which we could build upon again. We have 10m or so left from transfers this summer. Probably a sale or two next summer plus contracts expiring. We could have 20m+ to spend on 2-4 quality players plus the wages to get them done. Still growing as a club but we are almost at the level where we can compete with relegated clubs to a degree

Your first paragraph makes a very good point. But we have lost Flint and Reid, so we needed to address that with equal quality. Will be difficult as we’re not really a big attraction to players but here’s hoping they slowly build into top players.

Re - Webster’s fitness, he was only injured a short while last season? Think he will be fine. Thinking about it now, did Flint ever miss a game through injury? I certainly don’t remember. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 minutes ago, Lew-T said:

Your first paragraph makes a very good point. But we have lost Flint and Reid, so we needed to address that with equal quality. Will be difficult as we’re not really a big attraction to players but here’s hoping they slowly build into top players.

Re - Webster’s fitness, he was only injured a short while last season? Think he will be fine. Thinking about it now, did Flint ever miss a game through injury? I certainly don’t remember. 

 

He was injured for the last couple of months of his first season with us, that was probably it though. Osborne ended up being first choice over him, and probably would have started there for the promotion season if not for the horrendous injury he picked up in Botswana. How things might have been!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just like several people are stating you can't judge our transfers after 1 game, I don't see how you can praise the transfers before we've even kicked a ball!? Yes we we have played friendlies but we all know pre season games are nothing like championship standard.

IMO we should have done our business early on. Got the squad together to go away and gel. Use pre season to learn each others style of play and see what formations/players suit us best. Instead we'll get the excuse (if we aren't in a good position say after 10 games) of the team is still learning, we're a young squad, still don't know what our best 11 is blah blah blah

I just hope they pick up the 3 points Saturday and quickly gel!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, Red 90 said:

Just like several people are stating you can't judge our transfers after 1 game, I don't see how you can praise the transfers before we've even kicked a ball!? Yes we we have played friendlies but we all know pre season games are nothing like championship standard.

IMO we should have done our business early on. Got the squad together to go away and gel. Use pre season to learn each others style of play and see what formations/players suit us best. Instead we'll get the excuse (if we aren't in a good position say after 10 games) of the team is still learning, we're a young squad, still don't know what our best 11 is blah blah blah

I just hope they pick up the 3 points Saturday and quickly gel!

We did do our business early and think all transfers were in Spain and at least a week before bar Eisa. So that is a strange comment.

We are still a young squad but can’t use that with the experience we brought in and the fact most younger players are now championship experienced. 

All you can argue is on paper and if you saw any preseason. Just debates to get us to Saturday. We are all bored of it now and just want it to start. The season will tell us all we need to know. Until then it is opinions only. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, JonDolman said:

Good point. People moaning, yet they haven't even seen the new players play. I'd like it if people could specifically say what players are not good enough that we have signed.

 

Quite often in the past I've posted "don't knock them until you've given them a chance". The opposite is also true. Don't hype them up until we see them do the business. 

Among players whose arrivals here were lauded by some were the likes of Engvall and Kent. 

We really will just have to wait and see....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...