I totally accept the "too many players" thing, but the step up in quality is startling.
8 May 2023
2.0K
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Hwang to Naaarch confirmed (season loan)
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On McKenna, if you watch Cooper's press conference on Thursday he is absolutely glowing about him and says he thinks he is doing well and is capable of stepping up and being a top premier league defender. Now there could be some psychology going on there, perhaps even some salesmanship, but he made it sound like he was firmly in his plans. Don't forget too how short we have been at centre back given the injury records of Felipe, Boly and Niakhte, we like to play 3 sometimes, and that McKenna is left footed which makes him something of a rarity. As has been pointed out, AO and Muriello are both very young for first team centre backs too.
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So we made 13 signings this window. Which is nice, because the song still scans. (Not that that matters to football crowds anyway.)
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I think those two are in a transition phase, not going straight in but being acclimatised for next season when Felipe, Boly and McKenna, as well as currently Worrall although I hope he gets a new one, are out of contract.
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So 5 or 6 quality signings becomes 13. And we didn’t even get our first choice in Hendo.
Disappointed to lose Brennan and his understanding with MGW.
But excited to see CHO and what he can do with MGW.Also frustrating that we didn’t secure a loan for G Shelvey, Mighten or McDonnell, or moves for J Shelvey, Dennis, Arter (altho I wouldn’t be against reintegrating Dennis into the first team, if there is space!)
A lot of money on two young centre halves. Remember how surprised we were on spending £5m on a young PSG defender three years ago!It’s another huge turnover and going to need the same patience with SSC to craft a team and harmonious dressing room from it, especially with no cup games until January.
Anyway know what the 25 will look like?
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The volume and quality far exceeds what I expected. The danger is assuming that they will all hit the ground running....they probably wont. It will need the hat-trick of miracles from SSC, and I hope sufficient patience is extended to him. He's shown that he's a coach who can handle integrating new players into a team way better than the average. The squad now looks very strong, so it will be all about meeting different expectations.
I like Brennan, and he's been amazing for us. I hope it's a good move for him personally. I think it's a good move for us. Time will tell, but it's allowed us to substantially upgrade our first team.
I have no idea who we actually have on the books, never mind who we are going to use, and how.
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Our full list of over 21 players I think is (we're probably hoping the Saudis bail us out a bit on this):
Vlachodimos
Turner
Hennessey
Horvath
ShelveyWorrall
Felipe
Niakhate
Boly
McKenna
BianconeToffolo
Montiel
Aurier
Williams
Aina
TavaresSangare
Dominguez
Yates
Danilo
Mangala
Kouyate
Shelvey
ArterMGW
CHO
KonateAwoniyi
Origi
Wood
Dennis
Larsson -
Then we have under 21s in:
Murillo
Omobamidele
Aguilera
Elanga
Mighten -
So we need to drop 8(!). Assuming no Saudi sales:
Hennessey and Shelvey.
Toffolo.
Shelvey and Arter.
Konate.
Dennis and Larsson.Not as bad as I thought.
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Konate and Larsson?
Home grown, presumably on fairly low pair contracts?
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Maybe some element of rose-tinted glasses but I detect signs of two trends in this window. First we have become recognised as a team that can be a stepping stone into the premier league for a better level of player, secondly there seems to be evidence of forward thinking. Both of which are positive in terms of establishing a long term presence in the big boys league.
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A beautiful glass half full post on what has been a very good window.
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I read it as more of a glass half empty post?
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Fair enough.
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I'm pretty sure Joe signed a new deal a week or two ago.
