Rate our Window- a pre season appraisal | Vital Football

Rate our Window- a pre season appraisal

Pope John XXIII

Pope John XXIII

Vital Football Legend
Thought it would be worth having a thread where we all discuss our appraisals of the summer's transfer activity. We have spent more this summer than we have in the last ten, possibly this while century. We are certainly a bigger and better squad.

I am assuming the goal is automatic promotion this season when I review the below. Let's look:

Goalkeeper

Last season- Smith, Stojkovic, Evtimov

This season- Pantillimon, Kapino, Smith, Evtimov

Verdict- 8/10
Pantillimon isn't perfect but is as good as we are likely to get in this division. Kapino is ok, as is Smith although two of the three back ups probably need to go.

Central defence

Last season- Mancienne, Fox, Worrall, Hobbs, Mills

This season- Dawson, Figueiredo, Worrall, Fox, Mancienne

Verdict- 7/10

Fig is very decent and Dawson should be a good addition. Concern is still over set pieces, a farcical problem last season that reports from the recent friendlies suggests still hasn't been solved. This may well play itself out as Dawson gets into it though.

Dawson is unlikely to make a whole season and his cover is a bit suspect. Mancienne should never wear the shirt again and Worrall costs us with experience. In addition, Fox has tended to have a long spell out injured every season so far. A fig and Worrall combination would worry me a bit in experience.

Fullback

Last season- Traore, Fox, Darikwa, Lichaj

This season- Robinson, Osborn, Darikwa

Verdict - 3/10

At the time of writing, this has been a near disaster. We are short of cover and desperately short of quality. 26 goals from set pieces tells a from tale of our aerial ability but an even worse tale of our group of Fullbacks. There has been only one addition this far- Robinson, a decent, solid player but hardly a season changer. We are probably weaker than this time last year for the loss of Lichaj's cover

Defensive midfield

Last year- Bouchalakis, Bridcutt, Vaughan

This season- Colback, Watson, Guedioura, Bridcutt, Yates

Verdict- 8/10

The difference in quality is quite stunning here. Bridcutt last summer was a good addition but Colback is the sort of player I didn't think our club could sign. Vaughan was good but we were just waiting for the years to catch up with him, as they did last year. That isn't the worry with any of the new ones; we have experience in there and the excellent prospect of Yates.

Only question marks are over Watson and whether either of Watback can drive forward in the way that long term targets such as Leadbitter or McDonald can.

Attacking midfield

Last summer- McKay, Osborn, Cash, Dowell + Walker/Brereton

This summer- Carvalho, Goncalves, Dias, Lolley, Guedioura, Osborn, Cash, Soudani (have I forgotten someone?)

Verdict- 10/10

Outstanding progress here. The three Portuguese look superb and too good for this division. Lolley is one of the best young attacking signings in years and will play a big part I think. Osborn could be incredible around better players and Cash has found a manager who has really brought him on. I'm not sure how this could have been better.

Forwards

Last summer- Murphy, Brereton, Cummings, Vellios

This summer- Grabban, Soudani, Brereton, Murphy

Verdict- 7/10

Some will disagree with this, but I think this has been an area of weaker business for us. We have signed only one out and out striker. Grabban is a proven goalscorer... But only over a couple of seasons. At 30 as well, he isn't a 'get promoted in two years' striker.

I personally think he will score well for us but we are set up to be too reliant on him. Brereton cannot finish and shouldnt have the responsibility to. Murphy is showing us we cannot rely on him to put in a performance and that leaves us with seeing how well Soudani can deputise up front. It wouldn't take much bad luck to see us really struggling up front and with no cover striker likely to arrive,I would suggest this is a weaker area.

Overall- 8/10

Given that the target is to go from "let's vaguely build for promotion sometime in the next decade" to "let's fucking bust this division" I think we have done bloody well.

I don't think we have built a squad that is going to smash the doors in of this division like Wolves did (over two years, of course) but I feel we've done enough to be competitive. If we have luck with injuries and players click into a good run, we could be there or thereabouts. Much rides on how much of a ringer the three Portuguese are and wether they can all maintain consistency over 46 games rather than doing a Dowell/ McKay.

Fullback is a concern, but hopefully I will be able to amend this post later in the week.
 
Good post, though possibly a tad premature as we haven't seen them in competetive action yet.

Wouldn't disagree too much with the keeper situation, or the central defence. Though as you know, I rate Worral a lot higher than you do.

Possibly a little harsh on the full back situation. Personally I think there's a decent player in Darikwa and he has come on in leaps and bounds since AK took over. We also don't know how good Robinson is. He seems highly rated by his previous clubs. Again, need to see them over a few games before passing judgement.

Agree with the defensive midfield, but think you are being wildly optimistic over our attacking midfield. We have zero idea how the three Portuguese lads and Soudami are going to adapt to the Championship. Until they have some competitive games under their belt it's impossible to say. Certainly no way you can say 10/10 at the moment. I really hope they turn out to be too good for this league, but way too early to say that as yet. Could just as easily turn out to be a 4/10.

Forwards I would tend to agree again. Grabban the only one worthy of the title at the moment. Murphy looks disinterested and I have huge doubts over Brereton right now. For me, we need another quality striker, even more so than a full back.

Overall though, the squad does look really competitive and if the Portugese gamble pays off, we could be looking at something really special.
 
I really impressed with the way the club has gone about building the new squad. We haven't gone out, done a derby and bought every top rated championship player for top money and top wages. We've tried to build a squad in a sustainable way and in a way which can easily be dis-assembled if things dont go our way.
 
paplane said:
I really impressed with the way the club has gone about building the new squad. We haven't gone out, done a derby and bought every top rated championship player for top money and top wages. We've tried to build a squad in a sustainable way and in a way which can easily be dis-assembled if things dont go our way.
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I agree.

If we need to we have real saleable assets. Carvalho's value is likely to hold. Osborn, Brereton and Worrall can all fetch a good price and we'll be able to add Lolley and Cash to that list soon.

My one concern is that if we don't make it, we will need to replace 3/5 of the midfield as well as look for an additional striker. That won't be cheap, especially if Marinakis has fallen out with Mendes as rumoured on twitter
 
Good post. The comparison in terms of creative players is particularly telling and for me suggests we will play a very fluid front four - all of who will be looking to contribute frequently to the goals for column. Having four / five players who can contribute 10-15 goals a season is a far better prospect than being reliant on just 1 or 2. For me the 3 Portuguese lads all have goals in them as does Soudani and Grabban. Add Cash and Lilley picking up 5 then they have great potential going forward

Defensively I agree - potentially very solid at CB put still questions over who the best combo will be and I do think the best sides tend to play a settled back five. I do think having Colback adds protection and we have good depth at DCM - hopefully Yates will emerge as a long term replacement for Watson. Full backs - I just hope we can get Byram to give a better option.

I would take the fallout with the proverbial pinch of salt - I thought the connection with Mendes had more to do with Karanka than the chairman. And at the end of the day - money is money. Anyway, one year or two year, I think something exciting is building.

One thing I would say is that how often have we started a season with a fully fit squad. For too long we've been plagued by injuries - it would be nice to think that AK has changed systems a personnel that this might not happen as frequently this year.
 
5/10. We got 1 semi proven Striker at this level, some portuguese youngsters unproven in this division and yet to receive a kicking, 1 average full back in a glaring area of weakness. If promotion is the aim its nowhere near enough. Top 10 maybe but promotion no chance.
 
10 out of 10 for no injuries going into the season and just one more addition to get that 10 balance. I have said before that we are looking at top half/top 10 but Aitor has signed most of his top targets and he believes he can get them to play the way he wants. So organisation is the first step and cohesiveness from organisation is the next. The structure is there for the back 7 and only time will tell if the front 4s freedom will produce. Anything can happen and this season is going to be exciting.
There's a bit of bite and a bit of flair in this squad plus a youthful looking attacking midfield that will be looking to better themselves.. Some healthy competition for Lolley and Cash who will want to reassert themselves into the starting 11. I remember at that age playing sports and training and always being in competition. All of a sudden in a short space of time I found myself being better at everything because I kept trying. I hope this happens for those 5 this year and they all fight for each other. 10 out of 10 for just that thought alone
 
Hardy Forest said:
Good post, though possibly a tad premature as we haven't seen them in competetive action yet.

Wouldn't disagree too much with the keeper situation, or the central defence. Though as you know, I rate Worral a lot higher than you do.

Possibly a little harsh on the full back situation. Personally I think there's a decent player in Darikwa and he has come on in leaps and bounds since AK took over. We also don't know how good Robinson is. He seems highly rated by his previous clubs. Again, need to see them over a few games before passing judgement.

Agree with the defensive midfield, but think you are being wildly optimistic over our attacking midfield. We have zero idea how the three Portuguese lads and Soudami are going to adapt to the Championship. Until they have some competitive games under their belt it's impossible to say. Certainly no way you can say 10/10 at the moment. I really hope they turn out to be too good for this league, but way too early to say that as yet. Could just as easily turn out to be a 4/10.

Forwards I would tend to agree again. Grabban the only one worthy of the title at the moment. Murphy looks disinterested and I have huge doubts over Brereton right now. For me, we need another quality striker, even more so than a full back.

Overall though, the squad does look really competitive and if the Portugese gamble pays off, we could be looking at something really special.
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I think this is the closest to how I feel so far although having seen the Portuguese lads I have little concern about their ability and it will be more a case of how well they adapt both to a new league and a new country.

Overall it is 7/10 so far for me.

Byram would take it to 8 with an extra point if we were to get another decent striker in.
 
I think that the recruitment and the over all shaping of the squad has been impressive.

Karanka has managed to fill all but one of the positions that needed filling and given hope to the youngsters; there is a place in the squad to be had if they want one bad enough.

He has also managed to dispel the theory that he is a one trick pony who relies on a solid defence and counter attacking forwards; he has gone out and signed some creativity and flair to compliment the defensive pragmatism.

We now have a spine to the team that will stand us in good stead; and that spine is not reliant on players remaining fit as we can swap and change the central defence and midfield to suit.

The Portuguese players are undoubtedly a gamble, but I do not believe we have signed them without conducting a rigorous due diligence.

The situation at full back could be better, but I would expect to see an improvement there if we can defend from the front with more intensity.

I know some are not happy that we have not signed another forward but I do not see a problem there; Brereton should come on leaps and bounds and, if their differences have been resolved, which it looks like they have, Murphy is more than capable of filling in, provided his game time is managed.

Its 8/10 for me, with more promise on the upside than down side likely.
 
From where we were last few seasons this pre season has been better than anyway could have hoped. Perfect? No. But from we came from to where we are now it's huge progress. Probably not good enough for promotion yet but if the Portuguese kids,grabban and soudani all perform it could get very interesting.
 
The fact that we seem to have a realistic plan and the off-field nous to bring it into action is worth a lot of credit too.
 
Assuming we are working towards a two year promotion plan I think it's an 8 - Bryam would take it to a 9 for me.

While we had defensive frailties from set pieces, for me our biggest worry was a lack of creativity. It's a lot harder for the opposition to score if we've got the ball.

If promotion is the target this year it goes down to a 6.5 - largely because a number of the signings are from overseas and there is no guarantee they'll instantly adapt.
 
bit harsh on the forwards score imo but the overall analysis about right. probably closest to mao's opinion, particularly re aitor, squad has plenty of options, but agree with plumber re promotion this season.

all in all i reckon we are about where we should be and want to be, especially given where we've been last couple of seasons.

how's that for plain english!
 
Good post and good thread!

Byram will add an extra point for sure if we get him over the line, that said, Darikwa, Worrall, Fig will all benefit from the AK emphasis on organisation, so I see a dramatic improvement for these players on the horizon for (hopefully) being molded into a defensive Unit, in AK style, as opposed to individuals standing near each other - so in short I’m not too concerned about our fragility at the back....hopefully not proven wrong.

I’m giving us an 8/10 also on the whole, beyond our wildest dreams in comparison to anything in the last 10 years! 20,000+ season tickets second that sentiment.
 
9/10. Not sure we could ask for much more. 50million quids worth of talent and a typical score of 7.5? Jeez, maybe we should spend another 50 to please the unpleasable?

So why not a 10? point off for selling Eric ;)
 
Yeah of course its just predictions from journalists and it doesn't mean anything, but as a means of judging a transfer window before we've seen any of the players who we bought looking at the average perceptions of some football journalists is as good a guide as any
 
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