Pathetic window. What happened to the money earmarked for JCH and Collins? No wonder fans are sceptical. If May gets injured and/or Ladapo doesn't up his game, then we are totally fucked. We'll done Andy Scott
I mentioned this when the window opened, they leak big money signings which will never happen. The CBT money has covered the incomings just like the sponsorship money paid for May. I've never heard of most of these new players, maybe there will be a gem in there somewhere otherwise this team is going to struggle. If we appoint a decent manager we might have a chance but that's a big if. Dismal.
If you’d said on NYE that we’d make the four permanent signings we have (Conor Coventry, two centre backs that have been promoted out of this league in last two seasons and the best (apparently) right back in the league below), I think a lot of people would take that.
Add in Bakinson, Fiorini and Ladapo on loan.
It’s one of the strongest windows in the league.
Let's not get carried away. There is reason those players are dropping down from the championship and joining a club just above the relegation places.
We've replaced one of our most attacking players with a few potentially half decent players. Potentially is the problem, these could be the next batch of Kirk's and DJs so saying this is a strong window will only be know in the next few months.
If Jones does come in he has his work cut out that's for sure.
You described them as players you’d never heard of. I just don’t understand what your expectations are. I’m sure if I listed some decent Championship players you’d have not heard of them either - random example, should we not have tried to sign Adam Wharton who’s gone to Palace for £18m?
Perhaps maybe watch them play a few games before saying they’re range of ability is between “half decent” and “DJ or Kirk”.
Pathetic window. What happened to the money earmarked for JCH and Collins? No wonder fans are sceptical. If May gets injured and/or Ladapo doesn't up his game, then we are totally fucked. We'll done Andy Scott
I mentioned this when the window opened, they leak big money signings which will never happen. The CBT money has covered the incomings just like the sponsorship money paid for May. I've never heard of most of these new players, maybe there will be a gem in there somewhere otherwise this team is going to struggle. If we appoint a decent manager we might have a chance but that's a big if. Dismal.
If you’d said on NYE that we’d make the four permanent signings we have (Conor Coventry, two centre backs that have been promoted out of this league in last two seasons and the best (apparently) right back in the league below), I think a lot of people would take that.
Add in Bakinson, Fiorini and Ladapo on loan.
It’s one of the strongest windows in the league.
Callum, I would tend to agree with your analysis but until the new Manager/head coach can get these players to gel and play with some belief, the majority of cafc Fans/critics will point the finger at Andy Scott because he was the man who praised Appleton and chose him.
If Ladapo can get sharper (he has to) and May can find a position where he can still score even if that is playing in the 10 role then Coventry and Dobson can play in tandem with interchanging roles on who makes the runs forward and who holds.
It's impossible to judge Fiorini at the moment and will Jones 🤞 rate Louie Watson more than Apples ?
16 players each match will endeavour to keep Charlton up and hopefully Kanu can play his part even if it's from the bench with 30 minutes to go, to bring his energy to the side.
The wee Welsh man if he accepts the challenge and wages need to lift the black cloud that is constant over the heart and minds of all cafc fans over the last four seasons.
I don’t disagree with any of that. The negative sentiment is understandable, I’m just trying to say that it’s really not been that bad of a window.
Pathetic window. What happened to the money earmarked for JCH and Collins? No wonder fans are sceptical. If May gets injured and/or Ladapo doesn't up his game, then we are totally fucked. We'll done Andy Scott
I mentioned this when the window opened, they leak big money signings which will never happen. The CBT money has covered the incomings just like the sponsorship money paid for May. I've never heard of most of these new players, maybe there will be a gem in there somewhere otherwise this team is going to struggle. If we appoint a decent manager we might have a chance but that's a big if. Dismal.
If you’d said on NYE that we’d make the four permanent signings we have (Conor Coventry, two centre backs that have been promoted out of this league in last two seasons and the best (apparently) right back in the league below), I think a lot of people would take that.
Pathetic window. What happened to the money earmarked for JCH and Collins? No wonder fans are sceptical. If May gets injured and/or Ladapo doesn't up his game, then we are totally fucked. We'll done Andy Scott
I mentioned this when the window opened, they leak big money signings which will never happen. The CBT money has covered the incomings just like the sponsorship money paid for May. I've never heard of most of these new players, maybe there will be a gem in there somewhere otherwise this team is going to struggle. If we appoint a decent manager we might have a chance but that's a big if. Dismal.
If you’d said on NYE that we’d make the four permanent signings we have (Conor Coventry, two centre backs that have been promoted out of this league in last two seasons and the best (apparently) right back in the league below), I think a lot of people would take that.
Add in Bakinson, Fiorini and Ladapo on loan.
It’s one of the strongest windows in the league.
We have lost 2 attacking midfielders and not replaced them. Where are the goal providers in this squad?
Losing CBT is a blow but football isn’t played on paper. We still have more than enough goals in our team to climb up the league. It’s conceding the goals that’s the issue that needs urgent attention.
Pathetic window. What happened to the money earmarked for JCH and Collins? No wonder fans are sceptical. If May gets injured and/or Ladapo doesn't up his game, then we are totally fucked. We'll done Andy Scott
I mentioned this when the window opened, they leak big money signings which will never happen. The CBT money has covered the incomings just like the sponsorship money paid for May. I've never heard of most of these new players, maybe there will be a gem in there somewhere otherwise this team is going to struggle. If we appoint a decent manager we might have a chance but that's a big if. Dismal.
If you’d said on NYE that we’d make the four permanent signings we have (Conor Coventry, two centre backs that have been promoted out of this league in last two seasons and the best (apparently) right back in the league below), I think a lot of people would take that.
Add in Bakinson, Fiorini and Ladapo on loan.
It’s one of the strongest windows in the league.
If you’d mentioned those seven players on NYE I doubt most of our fanbase would have known more than two of them and that’s being generous in my opinion.
Only speaking personally but the only player (of the seven mentioned) I didn’t know before they were signed was Kayne Ramsay this evening.
Coventry, Ladapo, Gillesphey, REG, Fiorini and Bakinson all have good reputations at this level or above and if you kept up with EFL bits and bobs (which not everyone has the time to do) then I think it’d be pretty easy to know who each of these players are.
Pathetic window. What happened to the money earmarked for JCH and Collins? No wonder fans are sceptical. If May gets injured and/or Ladapo doesn't up his game, then we are totally fucked. We'll done Andy Scott
I mentioned this when the window opened, they leak big money signings which will never happen. The CBT money has covered the incomings just like the sponsorship money paid for May. I've never heard of most of these new players, maybe there will be a gem in there somewhere otherwise this team is going to struggle. If we appoint a decent manager we might have a chance but that's a big if. Dismal.
If you’d said on NYE that we’d make the four permanent signings we have (Conor Coventry, two centre backs that have been promoted out of this league in last two seasons and the best (apparently) right back in the league below), I think a lot of people would take that.
Add in Bakinson, Fiorini and Ladapo on loan.
It’s one of the strongest windows in the league.
Let's not get carried away. There is reason those players are dropping down from the championship and joining a club just above the relegation places.
We've replaced one of our most attacking players with a few potentially half decent players. Potentially is the problem, these could be the next batch of Kirk's and DJs so saying this is a strong window will only be know in the next few months.
If Jones does come in he has his work cut out that's for sure.
You described them as players you’d never heard of. I just don’t understand what your expectations are. I’m sure if I listed some decent Championship players you’d have not heard of them either - random example, should we not have tried to sign Adam Wharton who’s gone to Palace for £18m?
Perhaps maybe watch them play a few games before saying they’re range of ability is between “half decent” and “DJ or Kirk”.
I’ll do that but will you do likewise before declaring it a strong window?
Pathetic window. What happened to the money earmarked for JCH and Collins? No wonder fans are sceptical. If May gets injured and/or Ladapo doesn't up his game, then we are totally fucked. We'll done Andy Scott
I mentioned this when the window opened, they leak big money signings which will never happen. The CBT money has covered the incomings just like the sponsorship money paid for May. I've never heard of most of these new players, maybe there will be a gem in there somewhere otherwise this team is going to struggle. If we appoint a decent manager we might have a chance but that's a big if. Dismal.
If you’d said on NYE that we’d make the four permanent signings we have (Conor Coventry, two centre backs that have been promoted out of this league in last two seasons and the best (apparently) right back in the league below), I think a lot of people would take that.
Add in Bakinson, Fiorini and Ladapo on loan.
It’s one of the strongest windows in the league.
Let's not get carried away. There is reason those players are dropping down from the championship and joining a club just above the relegation places.
We've replaced one of our most attacking players with a few potentially half decent players. Potentially is the problem, these could be the next batch of Kirk's and DJs so saying this is a strong window will only be know in the next few months.
If Jones does come in he has his work cut out that's for sure.
You described them as players you’d never heard of. I just don’t understand what your expectations are. I’m sure if I listed some decent Championship players you’d have not heard of them either - random example, should we not have tried to sign Adam Wharton who’s gone to Palace for £18m?
Perhaps maybe watch them play a few games before saying they’re range of ability is between “half decent” and “DJ or Kirk”.
I’ll do that but will you do likewise before declaring it a strong window?
Happy to. With the caveat that I’m aware of what they achieved at their previous clubs, enough to be pleased about them signing for us initially. And that’s all you can go off of when it’s February 1st.
They are humans and so it’s not guaranteed to work out but I can’t see us attracting many better players then the ones we have, given our current predicament.
Pathetic window. What happened to the money earmarked for JCH and Collins? No wonder fans are sceptical. If May gets injured and/or Ladapo doesn't up his game, then we are totally fucked. We'll done Andy Scott
I mentioned this when the window opened, they leak big money signings which will never happen. The CBT money has covered the incomings just like the sponsorship money paid for May. I've never heard of most of these new players, maybe there will be a gem in there somewhere otherwise this team is going to struggle. If we appoint a decent manager we might have a chance but that's a big if. Dismal.
If you’d said on NYE that we’d make the four permanent signings we have (Conor Coventry, two centre backs that have been promoted out of this league in last two seasons and the best (apparently) right back in the league below), I think a lot of people would take that.
Add in Bakinson, Fiorini and Ladapo on loan.
It’s one of the strongest windows in the league.
Let's not get carried away. There is reason those players are dropping down from the championship and joining a club just above the relegation places.
We've replaced one of our most attacking players with a few potentially half decent players. Potentially is the problem, these could be the next batch of Kirk's and DJs so saying this is a strong window will only be know in the next few months.
If Jones does come in he has his work cut out that's for sure.
You described them as players you’d never heard of. I just don’t understand what your expectations are. I’m sure if I listed some decent Championship players you’d have not heard of them either - random example, should we not have tried to sign Adam Wharton who’s gone to Palace for £18m?
Perhaps maybe watch them play a few games before saying they’re range of ability is between “half decent” and “DJ or Kirk”.
I’ll do that but will you do likewise before declaring it a strong window?
Happy to. With the caveat that I’m aware of what they achieved at their previous clubs, enough to be pleased about them signing for us initially. And that’s all you can go off of when it’s February 1st.
They are humans and so it’s not guaranteed to work out but I can’t see us attracting many better players than the ones we have, given our current predicament.
I’m aware of what they achieved at their previous clubs too as I was with Fraser, Kirk, DJ, Payne etc etc. As always need to see if they can walk the walk for us.
Pathetic window. What happened to the money earmarked for JCH and Collins? No wonder fans are sceptical. If May gets injured and/or Ladapo doesn't up his game, then we are totally fucked. We'll done Andy Scott
I mentioned this when the window opened, they leak big money signings which will never happen. The CBT money has covered the incomings just like the sponsorship money paid for May. I've never heard of most of these new players, maybe there will be a gem in there somewhere otherwise this team is going to struggle. If we appoint a decent manager we might have a chance but that's a big if. Dismal.
If you’d said on NYE that we’d make the four permanent signings we have (Conor Coventry, two centre backs that have been promoted out of this league in last two seasons and the best (apparently) right back in the league below), I think a lot of people would take that.
Add in Bakinson, Fiorini and Ladapo on loan.
It’s one of the strongest windows in the league.
Let's not get carried away. There is reason those players are dropping down from the championship and joining a club just above the relegation places.
We've replaced one of our most attacking players with a few potentially half decent players. Potentially is the problem, these could be the next batch of Kirk's and DJs so saying this is a strong window will only be know in the next few months.
If Jones does come in he has his work cut out that's for sure.
You described them as players you’d never heard of. I just don’t understand what your expectations are. I’m sure if I listed some decent Championship players you’d have not heard of them either - random example, should we not have tried to sign Adam Wharton who’s gone to Palace for £18m?
Perhaps maybe watch them play a few games before saying they’re range of ability is between “half decent” and “DJ or Kirk”.
I’ll do that but will you do likewise before declaring it a strong window?
Happy to. With the caveat that I’m aware of what they achieved at their previous clubs, enough to be pleased about them signing for us initially. And that’s all you can go off of when it’s February 1st.
They are humans and so it’s not guaranteed to work out but I can’t see us attracting many better players than the ones we have, given our current predicament.
I’m aware of what they achieved at their previous clubs too as I was with Fraser, Kirk, DJ, Payne etc etc. As always need to see if they can walk the walk for us.
So does it come down to:
- “Cool we’ve got half a dozen potentially good players on our hands, strong window” vs - “I’m not saying they’re good players until they do it for my team, bad window”
or am I misunderstanding what everyone is saying?
Because the latter doesn’t make sense, we could’ve signed Messi, Haaland, Mbappe but until they prove it in a Charlton shirt it’s a a bunch of bad signings…
To me it's a window that wasn't bad, but it's very far away from being good.
It doesn't really matter how many players we brought in, as they were only replacing the bodies we lost, and we needed the extra bodies regardless. Question marks all over these players, sharpness, match fitness, ability etc. As an example, Coventry looks decent, but it's worth noting, he has less than 60 mens professional appearances.
I see comparisons to the other teams in the league, but our situation is a bit more unique. If you look at Portsmouth and Bolton for example, they kept the nucleus of their squad, strengthened, and have now primed themselves for a promotion push. Carlisle and Cheltenham are in the mud, have lost their better players, have now done what they can to replace them, and have added more bodies to give themselves a fighting chance. We on the other hand, lost our prized asset this season and didn't replace him. You could argue Ladapo replaced him, but regardless of CBT leaving, we needed strengthening up top. It's all relevant to clubs ambitions and expectations, Carlisle and Cheltenham probably prepared for relegation and are better equipped for it, it would devastate us on the other hand.
The biggest move was sacking Appleton, the second was appointing Jones (looking likely) and the third was keeping Dobson (hopefully). These are things that should have been sorted sooner though. Appleton should have been sacked on Boxing Day, that would have given Jones a whole month to navigate a transfer window, now he has to play with the hand dealt. Luckily, he's a proper coach, and should be able to do the job at hand.
There's still a lot of question marks for me, I believe if these owners (the money men) had any sense, they'd look at Rodwell, Methven and Scott's very recent failures, and consider other options.
Anyway, I'm a bit calm about it all, as we are getting Jones, if we didn't, this would have been a disaster imo.
We must be one of the only fanbases in the world that looks at lists like these and decides the guy with 59 goals in 3 seasons, supplemented by a guy that scored 17 last season as the second striker, isn't good enough for us and we need to also sign another striker that scores for fun, despite having another one sitting in our treatment room currently with a long term injury.
Just because Miles isn't playing, doesn't mean we don't need to pay him and he doesn't take up a squad place.
Yes we've lost some creativity in 2 players that *checks notes* loads of people said only has 2 moves and constantly goes missing and doesn't track back at all and didn't want to be here, and *re-checks notes* a number 10 that failed to register a single goal or assist all season long in a team that had up until very recently the leagues top scorer playing in it. That doesn't mean a lot, because at the end of the day what's dragging us down is a lack of composure and guile at the back, and a weak midfield, and we've signed a keeper, 3 defenders and 2 defensive midfielders to try and address that.
Not a bad window. Could have been better, but could been a lot worse.. basically a whole new side in a January transfer window.
Chuks, Taylor and Camara all back on the field, but should all be available for selection over the next 2 weeks, then all of sudden the squad is looking very strong with plenty of options.
Any similar window in the summer with Jones, then we should be all good next season.
1. Sold our most exciting player to a rival we still have to play twice. 2. Invested the money in a promising replacement for our best player and Captain who is still here. 3. Signed some favourites of the the head coach, who was subsequently sacked.
Other than swapping Alfie May for a highly-rated traffic cone found outside Man City's training ground, hard to think of anything more stupid.
I’m giving this window. … 5 out of 10. Massively disappointing we were out muscled for JCH and Collins, and lost CBT.
Could we have done that much more on those 3 players though?
JCH - put in a big bid for a guy with 5 months left on his contract. He's decided to stay and see out his contract. Collins - put in a big bid but he's chosen a club who look like they're going up. CBT - offered him a new deal but he wanted to move back closer to home.
I'm not trying to claim it's been an amazing window, but i don't think the club can be faulted for much on those 3 players. And when you factor in the signings of the likes of Coventry, Ladapo and potentially also getting Jones as manager, it's clear the owners are upping their game. If we are after similar level targets in the summer to JCH and Collins then next season should see us contending at the right end of the table.
I’m giving this window. … 5 out of 10. Massively disappointing we were out muscled for JCH and Collins, and lost CBT.
Could we have done that much more on those 3 players though?
JCH - put in a big bid for a guy with 5 months left on his contract. He's decided to stay and see out his contract. Collins - put in a big bid but he's chosen a club who look like they're going up. CBT - offered him a new deal but he wanted to move back closer to home.
I'm not trying to claim it's been an amazing window, but i don't think the club can be faulted for much on those 3 players. And when you factor in the signings of the likes of Coventry, Ladapo and potentially also getting Jones as manager, it's clear the owners are upping their game. If we are after similar level targets in the summer to JCH and Collins then next season should see us contending at the right end of the table.
That's a fair assessment Chris. I think we would have all liked, another forward, another number ten or a centre half. Players are coming back to fitness, it remains to be seen for how long with Camara and Chuk's and the loss of CBT will alter the way we play for sure. The positives are there though, Dobson will see the season out, we have options in the right back role hopefully giving Watson a much needed kick up the arse, but in fairness to him his ability to play right or left side is a bonus. The two centre backs in REG and Gillisphey need to bed in and hopefully stem the tide of goals that we concede. Can't knock the signings of Bakinson and Coventry and lets hope Fiorini and Lapado come good. We have got rid of a lot of dead wood, excluding CBT, and brought in better players, we now need a manager to make it work.
I'd happily take Gayle until the end of the season tbh. Would be a pretty useful option to have.
Think bar the lack of a No10 I like most of the window , the owners have clearly realised the squad wasn't good enough as is and have given the budget to go and correct it with players that are proven at this level.
Decent window all things considered. Yes we’d have like more attacking options but there is notoriously little value in January and no point spending for the sake of spending. is the right player were available at a reasonable rate we’d have paid it. Nathan Jones will have to work with what we’ve got and I believe he will keep us safe and spend a few months working out exactly what he needs next season
If someone had predicted on 1st January we’d make 5 permanent signings and bring in 3 loans they’d have received 10s of LOLs and been told no chance, believe it when I see it etc.
In terms of numbers it’s as much of a rebuild for a January window as we could have realistically expected.
How many we’ve heard of is irrelevant, the biggest names we’ve signed have been some of the worst signings in recent years.
Hopefully the majority work out well, Jones is announced as manager soon and we get the 20 or so points we need to stay up, that’ll give us a good platform for the summer - I’m glad the owners now appear to understand this can’t be done on the cheap.
So, we lost 2 attacking midfielders, CBT and Fraser, and did not replace them. We may have brought in a decent defender Gillesphey, which remains to be seen. We bought in Coventry, who appears to be in Dobson's position, so no improvement there, Fiorini is unfit so who knows. Bakinson looks good. Ladapo is unfit. REG who looks like a utility player. And some lad from league 2. Overall not much to write home about. Where is the creativity? Who is the leader in defence? Whoever is the next manager is now stuck with this squad.
If the one who is tasked with keeping us up and taking us forward, got who he wanted in a targeted position and has who he needs, with the right technical components for his tactical plan, then it’s been a good window!
Yesterday was a good day! Time to enjoy the process (through gritted teeth for a couple of weeks)
Harrogate Town are in League Two and you forgot Edmond’s-Green too but I agree with the sentiment that we have brought in numbers but are they any good and that’s if they are even ‘oven ready’ in some cases as we were promised.
Stay up this season and hopefully Jones can shape the squad in the summer but again there will be a churn again with players on loan going back, players out of contract and then those left in contract who we want to ship out.
Teams wont make their better players available for transfer unless they're surplus to requirements, have a Contract running down... Or its a loan
Always felt its more of a month for teams who have fucked up in the Summer, and is basically a "Get out of Jail" attempt for the most part.
That being said; Coventry | Edmonds-Green | Gillesphey seem decent permanent options - Just have to hope this can get us through the rest of the season; February is going to be a difficult month, and whilst we're too good to go down, the League Table wont care about that - We can then spend the rest of this season, and start of the summer, addressing the squad as a whole.
I’m giving this window. … 5 out of 10. Massively disappointing we were out muscled for JCH and Collins, and lost CBT.
Could we have done that much more on those 3 players though?
JCH - put in a big bid for a guy with 5 months left on his contract. He's decided to stay and see out his contract. Collins - put in a big bid but he's chosen a club who look like they're going up. CBT - offered him a new deal but he wanted to move back closer to home.
I'm not trying to claim it's been an amazing window, but i don't think the club can be faulted for much on those 3 players. And when you factor in the signings of the likes of Coventry, Ladapo and potentially also getting Jones as manager, it's clear the owners are upping their game. If we are after similar level targets in the summer to JCH and Collins then next season should see us contending at the right end of the table.
The problem is, you could argue we did what we could with the likes of CBT and JCH, but then what was our back up plans?
If we had money, and bid for JCH, why didn't we find another target. I know we did with the young lad from Cheltenham who we of course lost out to (again) but is that as far as our scouting goes?
Aaron Collins would have been a good CBT replacement, similar playmaker stats and versatile enough to replace CBTs potency on the left flank. We were outbid by Bolton, that's the key part here, Collins didn't outright pick them, he went to the highest bidder. If we outbid Bolton, he'd be a Chartlon player. Undoubtedly would have had a preference, which would have been Bolton due to league position, but ultimately we didn't outbid them and that's why he's ended up there. So again, where is the money?
Ladapo always needed to come in on top of someone like JCH and Collins, as we were short on attacking options due to the injuries of Aneke and Leaburn.
I feel like all they've done is put bids in on very obvious players to go for in this league, this isn't unfamiliar territory for us, as we did it with a different regime.
The only thing that doesn't make me as dubious is the Jones link and Coventry as both wouldn't have been cheap.
I don't think we did anywhere near enough to secure our league 1 safety personally and the current crop haven't shown enough from the last two managers that they can kick and fight for the points up for grabs. We have took a huge gamble here, whichever way you look at it.
Comments
Perhaps maybe watch them play a few games before saying they’re range of ability is between “half decent” and “DJ or Kirk”.
Coventry, Ladapo, Gillesphey, REG, Fiorini and Bakinson all have good reputations at this level or above and if you kept up with EFL bits and bobs (which not everyone has the time to do) then I think it’d be pretty easy to know who each of these players are.
- “Cool we’ve got half a dozen potentially good players on our hands, strong window”
vs
- “I’m not saying they’re good players until they do it for my team, bad window”
or am I misunderstanding what everyone is saying?
It doesn't really matter how many players we brought in, as they were only replacing the bodies we lost, and we needed the extra bodies regardless. Question marks all over these players, sharpness, match fitness, ability etc. As an example, Coventry looks decent, but it's worth noting, he has less than 60 mens professional appearances.
I see comparisons to the other teams in the league, but our situation is a bit more unique. If you look at Portsmouth and Bolton for example, they kept the nucleus of their squad, strengthened, and have now primed themselves for a promotion push. Carlisle and Cheltenham are in the mud, have lost their better players, have now done what they can to replace them, and have added more bodies to give themselves a fighting chance. We on the other hand, lost our prized asset this season and didn't replace him. You could argue Ladapo replaced him, but regardless of CBT leaving, we needed strengthening up top. It's all relevant to clubs ambitions and expectations, Carlisle and Cheltenham probably prepared for relegation and are better equipped for it, it would devastate us on the other hand.
The biggest move was sacking Appleton, the second was appointing Jones (looking likely) and the third was keeping Dobson (hopefully). These are things that should have been sorted sooner though. Appleton should have been sacked on Boxing Day, that would have given Jones a whole month to navigate a transfer window, now he has to play with the hand dealt. Luckily, he's a proper coach, and should be able to do the job at hand.
There's still a lot of question marks for me, I believe if these owners (the money men) had any sense, they'd look at Rodwell, Methven and Scott's very recent failures, and consider other options.
Anyway, I'm a bit calm about it all, as we are getting Jones, if we didn't, this would have been a disaster imo.
We must be one of the only fanbases in the world that looks at lists like these and decides the guy with 59 goals in 3 seasons, supplemented by a guy that scored 17 last season as the second striker, isn't good enough for us and we need to also sign another striker that scores for fun, despite having another one sitting in our treatment room currently with a long term injury.
Just because Miles isn't playing, doesn't mean we don't need to pay him and he doesn't take up a squad place.
Yes we've lost some creativity in 2 players that *checks notes* loads of people said only has 2 moves and constantly goes missing and doesn't track back at all and didn't want to be here, and *re-checks notes* a number 10 that failed to register a single goal or assist all season long in a team that had up until very recently the leagues top scorer playing in it. That doesn't mean a lot, because at the end of the day what's dragging us down is a lack of composure and guile at the back, and a weak midfield, and we've signed a keeper, 3 defenders and 2 defensive midfielders to try and address that.
Chuks, Taylor and Camara all back on the field, but should all be available for selection over the next 2 weeks, then all of sudden the squad is looking very strong with plenty of options.
1. Sold our most exciting player to a rival we still have to play twice.
2. Invested the money in a promising replacement for our best player and Captain who is still here.
3. Signed some favourites of the the head coach, who was subsequently sacked.
Other than swapping Alfie May for a highly-rated traffic cone found outside Man City's training ground, hard to think of anything more stupid.
JCH - put in a big bid for a guy with 5 months left on his contract. He's decided to stay and see out his contract.
Collins - put in a big bid but he's chosen a club who look like they're going up.
CBT - offered him a new deal but he wanted to move back closer to home.
I'm not trying to claim it's been an amazing window, but i don't think the club can be faulted for much on those 3 players. And when you factor in the signings of the likes of Coventry, Ladapo and potentially also getting Jones as manager, it's clear the owners are upping their game. If we are after similar level targets in the summer to JCH and Collins then next season should see us contending at the right end of the table.
Think bar the lack of a No10 I like most of the window , the owners have clearly realised the squad wasn't good enough as is and have given the budget to go and correct it with players that are proven at this level.
Nathan Jones will have to work with what we’ve got and I believe he will keep us safe and spend a few months working out exactly what he needs next season
Kirk back to Crewe, hopefully he can get things back on track
In terms of numbers it’s as much of a rebuild for a January window as we could have realistically expected.
Hopefully the majority work out well, Jones is announced as manager soon and we get the 20 or so points we need to stay up, that’ll give us a good platform for the summer - I’m glad the owners now appear to understand this can’t be done on the cheap.
So, we lost 2 attacking midfielders, CBT and Fraser, and did not replace them. We may have brought in a decent defender Gillesphey, which remains to be seen. We bought in Coventry, who appears to be in Dobson's position, so no improvement there, Fiorini is unfit so who knows. Bakinson looks good. Ladapo is unfit. REG who looks like a utility player. And some lad from league 2.
Overall not much to write home about.
Where is the creativity? Who is the leader in defence? Whoever is the next manager is now stuck with this squad.
Harrogate Town are in League Two and you forgot Edmond’s-Green too but I agree with the sentiment that we have brought in numbers but are they any good and that’s if they are even ‘oven ready’ in some cases as we were promised.
Stay up this season and hopefully Jones can shape the squad in the summer but again there will be a churn again with players on loan going back, players out of contract and then those left in contract who we want to ship out.
Names like Collins and Clarke-Harris get bandied about and we end up signing players no-one has heard of.
Epic.
Ladapo will hopefully come good
Teams wont make their better players available for transfer unless they're surplus to requirements, have a Contract running down... Or its a loan
Always felt its more of a month for teams who have fucked up in the Summer, and is basically a "Get out of Jail" attempt for the most part.
That being said; Coventry | Edmonds-Green | Gillesphey seem decent permanent options - Just have to hope this can get us through the rest of the season; February is going to be a difficult month, and whilst we're too good to go down, the League Table wont care about that - We can then spend the rest of this season, and start of the summer, addressing the squad as a whole.
If we had money, and bid for JCH, why didn't we find another target. I know we did with the young lad from Cheltenham who we of course lost out to (again) but is that as far as our scouting goes?
Aaron Collins would have been a good CBT replacement, similar playmaker stats and versatile enough to replace CBTs potency on the left flank. We were outbid by Bolton, that's the key part here, Collins didn't outright pick them, he went to the highest bidder. If we outbid Bolton, he'd be a Chartlon player. Undoubtedly would have had a preference, which would have been Bolton due to league position, but ultimately we didn't outbid them and that's why he's ended up there. So again, where is the money?
Ladapo always needed to come in on top of someone like JCH and Collins, as we were short on attacking options due to the injuries of Aneke and Leaburn.
I feel like all they've done is put bids in on very obvious players to go for in this league, this isn't unfamiliar territory for us, as we did it with a different regime.
The only thing that doesn't make me as dubious is the Jones link and Coventry as both wouldn't have been cheap.
I don't think we did anywhere near enough to secure our league 1 safety personally and the current crop haven't shown enough from the last two managers that they can kick and fight for the points up for grabs. We have took a huge gamble here, whichever way you look at it.