Summer transfers rumours, speculation, news

[gazlatic]

( Not a title winning squad yet)

As a matter of interest, who would we need that we don't have to make us a title winning squad, given we are expecting more in.

My knowledge of players is not what it used to be but the types of players I can certainly have a stab at. For me we need an experienced centre back, preferably one who is comfortable on the left. As good as Long has looked in pre-season he's got plenty to learn and having an experienced old head around would do wonders for him. Right back needs to be pacey with a good cross but someone who is happy to start as second choice and challenge any drop in form from Darikwa. A loan player might fill that spot.

Centre mid you are probably looking for someone similar to the right back. You want a hard tackling midfielder who will challenge any drop in form from those ahead of him - again a loanee could fill that mould.

We also have to consider what opportunities we afford to the youngsters, we don't want to be reliant on them as we were last season but we're going to see benefit this season for having done so. We saw last season how Aasgaard and Robinson came on in leaps and bounds after getting game time. The likes of Lloyd at RB, Long at CB and perhaps Scott Smith in midfield (plus this Pinnington lad perhaps?) will probably benefit equally from opportunities.

 

[king_dezeeuw06]

( Not a title winning squad yet)

As a matter of interest, who would we need that we don't have to make us a title winning squad, given we are expecting more in.

I don't think we have a squad that is absolute light years ahead of the rest division like we had the last couple of times where we dominated. But I'd say we could have a squad good enough to potentially be title winning, but until you see how it works together on the pitch it's difficult to say.

 

[king_dezeeuw06]

Maybe we plan to cash in on Pearce?

Everyone has a price, but in the market at the moment i'm not sure anyone is going to put enough money on the table to tempt us to cash in.

 

[king_dezeeuw06]

We don't really need another striker tbh, we have Lang, Keane, Wyke, and Humphreys who can all play in that position if required. McGrath should be our only midfield signing after Jones and Taylor.

Has to be all defensive recruitment from there.

But if we are planning to use Keane and Lang in midfield all the time, that's only 2 strikers, if 1 gets injured you wont have someone to bring on from the bench. If you have a decent season you play over 50 games at this level so we need to have the ability to rest, tactically rotate and cover for injuries.

I think a third choice striker wouldn't have to be a big name be an expensive signing, probably someone maybe in the role of a Noel Hunt - who plays in the cup games and who can do a job in an injury crisis if needed but knows they wont likely get many starts unless they can impress in their cameos. Presumably the role that Dodoo would've had if he stayed.

Wyke and Humphrys are big lads but neither seem to be target men you can bang long balls up to if needed and hold up the play - we brought in Proctor last season for that role and previously had great success with Moore, so i think if we can find a suitable target man willing to be a squad player i think we could do that.

I'm thinking maybe someone like maybe Maxim Biamou who was just released from Coventry. He's 30 year old, not likely to get a Championship move, never been overly prolific but a very decent player who may be willing to come and be part of the squad here rather than being a starter lower down L1.

Other players on frees who could fit into that mould maybe Robson-Kanu (32), Kieran Agard (31), Kyle Vassell (28), Yaya Sangoo (28) - lads who have shown they have ability in the past but at this stage of their careers / off the back of their previous season would likely wouldn't sign to be your first choice but would probably be willing to compete for a squad place.

 

[gazlatic]

But if we are planning to use Keane and Lang in midfield all the time, that's only 2 strikers, if 1 gets injured you wont have someone to bring on from the bench. If you have a decent season you play over 50 games at this level so we need to have the ability to rest, tactically rotate and cover for injuries.

I think a third choice striker wouldn't have to be a big name be an expensive signing, probably someone maybe in the role of a Noel Hunt - who plays in the cup games and who can do a job in an injury crisis if needed but knows they wont likely get many starts unless they can impress in their cameos. Presumably the role that Dodoo would've had if he stayed.

Wyke and Humphrys are big lads but neither seem to be target men you can bang long balls up to if needed and hold up the play - we brought in Proctor last season for that role and previously had great success with Moore, so i think if we can find a suitable target man willing to be a squad player i think we could do that.

I'm thinking maybe someone like maybe Maxim Biamou who was just released from Coventry. He's 30 year old, not likely to get a Championship move, never been overly prolific but a very decent player who may be willing to come and be part of the squad here rather than being a starter lower down L1.

Other players on frees who could fit into that mould maybe Robson-Kanu (32), Kieran Agard (31), Kyle Vassell (28), Yaya Sangoo (28) - lads who have shown they have ability in the past but at this stage of their careers / off the back of their previous season would likely wouldn't sign to be your first choice but would probably be willing to compete for a squad place.

I disagree about the need for a third striker. We're only ever going to start 2 from Wyke, Humphrys, Lang and Keane unless one gets shifted to the flank at the expense of Edwards, Massey or Blackett-Taylor. Keane and Wyke are target men, Lang is the pacey forward and Humphrys the livewire. Assuming we add Jones and CBT then that gives us 9 players competing for at most 4 spaces in attack, whether we're playing 4-2-3-1, 4-4-2 or 4-3-3.

I can't envisage a scenario where we'd need another body in there. If we're unlucky enough to lose all 4 front line strikers at the same time then we could still draw on a makeshift attack of Edwards, CBT, Jones and Massey and have Aasgaard on the bench.

 

[king_dezeeuw06]

I disagree about the need for a third striker. We're only ever going to start 2 from Wyke, Humphrys, Lang and Keane unless one gets shifted to the flank at the expense of Edwards, Massey or Blackett-Taylor. Keane and Wyke are target men, Lang is the pacey forward and Humphrys the livewire. Assuming we add Jones and CBT then that gives us 9 players competing for at most 4 spaces in attack, whether we're playing 4-2-3-1, 4-4-2 or 4-3-3.

I can't envisage a scenario where we'd need another body in there. If we're unlucky enough to lose all 4 front line strikers at the same time then we could still draw on a makeshift attack of Edwards, CBT, Jones and Massey and have Aasgaard on the bench.

Keane and Wyke despite their height aren't target men - a lot of their struggles over their career came from teams thinking they were and banging balls up to them as if they were a Kieffer Moore / Heskey type when Keane is more like a Nick Powell and Wyke apparently is more a Will Grigg type according to Sunderland fans and that seems to be true judging from preseason. So we are missing that big brick shit house type.

I don't think you have to get 4 injuries to need to call on a 3rd striker. If just 1 of Wyke or Humphrys get injured for a period and you want to bring on a striker due to fatigue, injury or tactics you probably want to have an alternative forward rather than being forced to move Keane or Lang from their positions in midfield that they are more effective in than as a striker.

I think if there is a decent striker, who is happy to come for relatively cheap wages and willing 3rd striker you take them on as deep back up to cover all eventualities. Keane, Lang, Wyke and Humphrys will probably all play nearly every game this season if fit either starting or other coming on - We obviously hope we wont get lots of injuries, but just like when he had Grigg and Toney then Grigg and Vaughan with Hunt waiting in the wings if needed we will probably want someone for that role again. If that deep back up could also be a big target man it also adds another string to our bow that we currently don't have.

 

[gazlatic]

Keane and Wyke despite their height aren't target men - a lot of their struggles over their career came from teams thinking they were and banging balls up to them as if they were a Kieffer Moore / Heskey type when Keane is more like a Nick Powell and Wyke apparently is more a Will Grigg type according to Sunderland fans and that seems to be true judging from preseason. So we are missing that big brick shit house type.

I don't think you have to get 4 injuries to need to call on a 3rd striker. If just 1 of Wyke or Humphrys get injured for a period and you want to bring on a striker due to fatigue, injury or tactics you probably want to have an alternative forward rather than being forced to move Keane or Lang from their positions in midfield that they are more effective in than as a striker.

I think if there is a decent striker, who is happy to come for relatively cheap wages and willing 3rd striker you take them on as deep back up to cover all eventualities. Keane, Lang, Wyke and Humphrys will probably all play nearly every game this season if fit either starting or other coming on - We obviously hope we wont get lots of injuries, but just like when he had Grigg and Toney then Grigg and Vaughan with Hunt waiting in the wings if needed we will probably want someone for that role again. If that deep back up could also be a big target man it also adds another string to our bow that we currently don't have.

Thing is, I just don't think you are going to get a player come in who is happy to play that role who would be any better at it than Wyke or Keane. While the target man role suits neither they can both do the job while offering value in other ways. Hunt was brought in to help mentor the younger players and provide experience in what was a very young squad without ever having expectation of playing in many games outside the cup. That's shown by the fact that over a season he played less than 30 minutes of league football and didn't make it on to the pitch any earlier than the 84th minute.

I would also be worried if we find ourselves needing to resort to lumping it long on a regular basis. Signing someone for that role would be wasting money, that would suggest the need for investment further down the pitch.

 

[king_dezeeuw06]

Thing is, I just don't think you are going to get a player come in who is happy to play that role who would be any better at it than Wyke or Keane. While the target man role suits neither they can both do the job while offering value in other ways. Hunt was brought in to help mentor the younger players and provide experience in what was a very young squad without ever having expectation of playing in many games outside the cup. That's shown by the fact that over a season he played less than 30 minutes of league football and didn't make it on to the pitch any earlier than the 84th minute.

I would also be worried if we find ourselves needing to resort to lumping it long on a regular basis. Signing someone for that role would be wasting money, that would suggest the need for investment further down the pitch.

If we don't get a third striker we can make do, but the reason we are talking about this is Richardson said he wanted 6 or 7; we look set to sign 2 wingers, we know we almost certainly want 1 right back, 2 centre backs and probably another central mid. If we got those 6 and look at the squad, i think a striker is the most likely position that final player would be added to.

Hunt only playing a tiny amount of league football was down to the fact that we didn't have any injuries to the strikers so thankfully we didn't need to use him. But if we had any injuries he probably would've been needed, even just as a regular sub. We signed him in the hope we wouldn't need to use him, and it would probably be similar if we opted for a third striker now. Richardson was here when we did that so i imagine he will probably look into doing something similar again.

We wouldn't be looking at signing someone who's overall a better player than what we already have, but we might be able to get someone who is better in a certain area in this case just being a physical presence - you'd obviously take Wyke and Humphrys over someone like say Robson-Kanu every day of the week, but if you were looking at ability to be a target man he probably fits that mould better than those 2 despite not being as good as them in all the other areas. But i don't think it is vital they are a target man as we probably just need someone to act as deep back up who we believe can do a job if called upon. But if we can get someone a little different to what we have that is probably a nice bonus we can call up on if needed.

We heard the rumour about Bobby Duncan, no idea if it's true but that could be the path we go - a young player with potential that may be brought in for third choice this year but with the view to expand their role in the future.

If we do go for a third striker i imagine it will most likely be closer to the window shutting when players still without clubs are going to be happier to get shorter deals, cheaper wages and be settle for back up. As we wont want to be spending much on a player we effectively hope we wont need to use very much. It's obviously not a priority for us, but i think if we can find someone who fits what we want we'll probably bring them in.

 

[Bickymon1]

Hope we have not been pipped at the post with expected signing if there was to be one
Was alot of talking but seems to have gone quiet since

 

[king_dezeeuw06]

Jordan Jones has apparently been left out of Rangers squad for tonight's Champs League Qualifier. Also seen someone on Twitter claiming he's at the training ground today.

 

[Yon Mon]

If we don't get a third striker we can make do, but the reason we are talking about this is Richardson said he wanted 6 or 7; we look set to sign 2 wingers, we know we almost certainly want 1 right back, 2 centre backs and probably another central mid. If we got those 6 and look at the squad, i think a striker is the most likely position that final player would be added to.

Hunt only playing a tiny amount of league football was down to the fact that we didn't have any injuries to the strikers so thankfully we didn't need to use him. But if we had any injuries he probably would've been needed, even just as a regular sub. We signed him in the hope we wouldn't need to use him, and it would probably be similar if we opted for a third striker now. Richardson was here when we did that so i imagine he will probably look into doing something similar again.

We wouldn't be looking at signing someone who's overall a better player than what we already have, but we might be able to get someone who is better in a certain area in this case just being a physical presence - you'd obviously take Wyke and Humphrys over someone like say Robson-Kanu every day of the week, but if you were looking at ability to be a target man he probably fits that mould better than those 2 despite not being as good as them in all the other areas. But i don't think it is vital they are a target man as we probably just need someone to act as deep back up who we believe can do a job if called upon. But if we can get someone a little different to what we have that is probably a nice bonus we can call up on if needed.

We heard the rumour about Bobby Duncan, no idea if it's true but that could be the path we go - a young player with potential that may be brought in for third choice this year but with the view to expand their role in the future.

If we do go for a third striker i imagine it will most likely be closer to the window shutting when players still without clubs are going to be happier to get shorter deals, cheaper wages and be settle for back up. As we wont want to be spending much on a player we effectively hope we wont need to use very much. It's obviously not a priority for us, but i think if we can find someone who fits what we want we'll probably bring them in.

Perhaps Leam doesn't want to have the option of a big lad upfront and the extra signing you mentioned was a 3rd goalie.
Regarding Bobby Duncan if he was to come I would expect him to be part of the u23s to start with as I think he's not ready for the 1st team. The same would apply to the Tristan lad from Ipswich.

 

[Yon Mon]

Jordan Jones has apparently been left out of Rangers squad for tonight's Champs League Qualifier.

So was Leon Balogun .

 

[The_Pon]

I don't think another striker is a priority tbh. Wyke and Humphrys are the no.9s, but Lang and Keane are both more than capable in that position.

I reckon Aasgard could also step in in a real emergency as well, though that'd be far from ideal.

If we do bring in a striker, it needs to be a proper old fashioned target man, because despite Wyke and Humphrys both being bigish lads 6'2" and 6'1" I think (and Keane is tall, if a bit lanky) they're not target men in terms of their style of play. It would give another option to our style with a big battering ram type, but how many games would they get? Only a loan would be worth it, and loanees typically being young, we'd probably struggle to find a teenager with the physicality needed to be a L1 target man in the loan market. I think we're well stocked for strikers tbh.

I'm more concerned about defence. I like Darikwa, but we have no experienced cover for him (except Power who was poor at RB). I think Long has the makings of a very good CB, but I'm not sure he's ready for a 50 game season as first choice just yet. Even if Leam thinks he is, we still have no cover there. LB is OK so long as Pearce stays, since Robinson looks the part as cover and could even be challenging Pearce for first choice.

A deep playmaker (in the Lee Evens type role) would also be good. We have some good midfielders in Power and Cousins, but I'm not convinced they could take that more creative role effectively. I think of them more as 'engine room', high energy kind of players.

Will be interested to see what happens and who comes in, but I really hope we don't take loanees unless we absolutely have no other option.

 

[The_Pon]

So was Leon Balogun .

Balogun back would be phenomenal, but I can't see it happening... not in L1 and I doubt we could even scratch the surface of what Rangers are likely paying him. Would say exactly the same about Cedric... not getting games at WBA, but he'd want to go somewhere above L1. Shame Tilt is injured... it's have him back in a heartbeat if he was available, and in the last year of his current deal, he wouldn't cost the earth.

 

[Jimmy Jazz]

Dont tease me like that

He has come home eventually

 

[Lazysid]

So was Leon Balogun .

Recently signed a 1yr extension and I thi k he was suspended for tonight's game.

 

[king_dezeeuw06]

So was Leon Balogun .

Think Balogun is suspended but Rangers didn't name a full bench so Jones defo on the way out.

 

[ZAKKY]

Hope this jones fella is not as big headed as Windass Reading and looking at his playing record. Think we can do better.

Your not allowed to be negative John till after the season starts

 

[king_dezeeuw06]

Balogun back would be phenomenal, but I can't see it happening... not in L1 and I doubt we could even scratch the surface of what Rangers are likely paying him. Would say exactly the same about Cedric... not getting games at WBA, but he'd want to go somewhere above L1. Shame Tilt is injured... it's have him back in a heartbeat if he was available, and in the last year of his current deal, he wouldn't cost the earth.

Tilt's hamstring injury isn't as bad as they initially feared as he appears to already be back in training based on his Twitter.

So we could look to bring him back before the window shuts but it seems like Rotherham are short on players and planning to use him.

If Kipre is not anywhere near the first team as we approach the window shutting i could see him becoming available. He's hardly played since leaving us and I dont think he even did much while on loan in Belgium when he went on lpan in January so I think coming back here to kick start his career with a manager he knows could be appealing if financially we could make it work.

Just had a look - Kipre is 5th choice centre half at West Brom (they play 3 at the back) local press had speculated the recent arrival of Clarke would likely see the door open for him to leave. I am sure Kipre will try and find a club better than L1 but his stock is quite low so I think we have a chance on that.

 

[king_dezeeuw06]

I don't think another striker is a priority tbh. Wyke and Humphrys are the no.9s, but Lang and Keane are both more than capable in that position.

I reckon Aasgard could also step in in a real emergency as well, though that'd be far from ideal.

If we do bring in a striker, it needs to be a proper old fashioned target man, because despite Wyke and Humphrys both being bigish lads 6'2" and 6'1" I think (and Keane is tall, if a bit lanky) they're not target men in terms of their style of play. It would give another option to our style with a big battering ram type, but how many games would they get? Only a loan would be worth it, and loanees typically being young, we'd probably struggle to find a teenager with the physicality needed to be a L1 target man in the loan market. I think we're well stocked for strikers tbh.

I'm more concerned about defence. I like Darikwa, but we have no experienced cover for him (except Power who was poor at RB). I think Long has the makings of a very good CB, but I'm not sure he's ready for a 50 game season as first choice just yet. Even if Leam thinks he is, we still have no cover there. LB is OK so long as Pearce stays, since Robinson looks the part as cover and could even be challenging Pearce for first choice.

A deep playmaker (in the Lee Evens type role) would also be good. We have some good midfielders in Power and Cousins, but I'm not convinced they could take that more creative role effectively. I think of them more as 'engine room', high energy kind of players.

Will be interested to see what happens and who comes in, but I really hope we don't take loanees unless we absolutely have no other option.

You can get very good players you'd have no chance of signing permanently on loan.

A few years ago Huddersfield were a bit rubbish but got in 5 good loan players who were mostly young players from Prem reserves and it carried them to promotion.

I think the loan market is a very effective tool if you can identify the right players.