The Summer 2020 Transfer Rumour Thread

[Pangloss]

'Experience' is hard to come by.

We had £130m to spend but a shed load of positions to fill. It's hard to get good experienced players based on the fees we are were willing to pay for individuals and the sheer number of positions we had to fill. I also believe that outside of one or two exceptions (such as Heaton since good keepers are very hard to find) we had a brief to sign players under a certain age limit (such as 26/27) in order to ensure resale potential. Therefore this latter restriction played a big impact on our decisions.

That said, we still botched it, I think there were better players out there that we didn't seem to bother signing. Billing and Trossard being two examples off the top of my head, fit the age requirement and better than Luiz and the shite we signed as wide options. Wesley was also a monumental waste of money and Samatta proves that much better value was out there in the market.

 

[Pangloss]

I think playing Jack deep, which is where he wants to play, we'd be a different proposition. Nakamba's good as a DM; with Jack as a major outlet then we can get moving upfield quicker.

I think DS very much deserved his chance. I've not entirely gone against him but there are big questions, big doubts.

Grealish is 10x better in the position he has been deployed this season. You get far more output out of him. He is no where near as good as a number 8 and it's a classic case of a player not knowing what his best position is in his mind.

 

[Platypus]

Grealish is 10x better in the position he has been deployed this season. You get far more output out of him. He is no where near as good as a number 8 and it's a classic case of a player not knowing what his best position is in his mind.

100% agree. Those early games this season Jack looked ordinary at No.8. I was genuinely worrying he wasn't going to make the leap, but pushed forward and free to roam he's a different prospect altogether.

Wish we could clone McGinn as he's a better DM than both Nakamba and Luis, plus the best attacking midfielder apart from Jack.

Transfer thread? Transfer thread. So, clone McGinn, or get in the player Luis was meant to be. Will there be a transfer window? More importantly, what league are we buying for?

 

[Wurzel]

But this lot were mainly bought by the new owners.

In a rush after a surprise promotion after a play-off win where you start several weeks behind everyone else.

 

[david-avfc]

I was calling for players with PL experience myself, but the problem seems to be if they have that, we are looking at double the transfer price we eventually paid for our signings. From their side of the argument we needed to sign 12/13 players (guess) and we had £130m to do it with.

We could have bought 1 or 2 less players and prioritised on key areas - we bought 4 central defenders for example. It’s not just a lack of prem experience, even the foreign players were young.

 

[South Side Villan]

At the start of the season though ?. Or midway?
Massively harsh on Deano not being given the opportunity to prove himself after last seasons great effort.

I'd say he's had more than enough time and has made the team worse, the way he sets the team up, massively open with huge exploitable gaps and no willingness to change and adapt styles to suit opposition and then to launch a tirade at his own players and blame them for not playing in a flawed system is taking the piss. Oh and lets not forget the embarrassing article of his Mommy begging for him to keep his "dream" job, If he really wanted to keep his "dream" job he would work on his faults.

 

[McParlandTheGreat]

We could have bought 1 or 2 less players and prioritised on key areas - we bought 4 central defenders for example. It’s not just a lack of prem experience, even the foreign players were young.

We used those 4 central defenders.

 

[ldgavfc]

I personally prefer Jack in his attacking midfield role, in a free role beside McGinn. What I think he lacked at the start of the season was a talented left winger to link up with, which is top priority in the transfer window.

I'm going to assume we will be playing premier league football next season and say we need a left back to compete with Targett, two wingers, a first choice central defender to partner Mings, and a right back.

I don't think signing players with experience is the way to go. Look at Sheffield United, Wolves, Bournemouth. They came up with tight knit squads of British/Portuguese players and they played as a team to stay up and succeed. What we need are more talented players who fit into the social group of Mings, McGinn, Grealish. We need more of a bond throughout the team. I want us to sign young British/Irish players such as Eze for left wing, Bogle for right back, Tuanzebe for central defence.

We need to hope the likes of Wesley and Douglas, who undoubtedly have talent which they have shown before joining, have settled in now and got to know the club, the fans, the players, Britain, Birmingham. We need to get rid of dead wood like Taylor, Elmohamady, Engels and replace them with young blood.

 

[ldgavfc]

I'd say he's had more than enough time and has made the team worse, the way he sets the team up, massively open with huge exploitable gaps and no willingness to change and adapt styles to suit opposition and then to launch a tirade at his own players and blame them for not playing in a flawed system is taking the piss. Oh and lets not forget the embarrassing article of his Mommy begging for him to keep his "dream" job, If he really wanted to keep his "dream" job he would work on his faults.

Made the team worse? We were lower mid table championship when he took over! Now we are 19th with a game in hand that'll lift us out of the drop zone in the Premier League, ahead of the championship winners of last season, league cup finalists.

Such a harsh comment. The man loves the club and pulled off a miracle to get us promoted, took us to the league cup final comfortably, we still have a comfortable chance of staying up despite season ending injuries to our first choice striker, our best midfielder and our first choice goalkeeper.

 

[david-avfc]

We used those 4 central defenders.

Exactly, because apart from Mings none of the other 3 stand out as being good enough to hold down a regular starting place, and that’s the issue we went for quantity over quality.

 

[JP Healy]

Pluses for Dean include the most unlikely promotion and the exciting attacking football. However,the tactical naievity this season has cost us points needlessly. Truth will surface eventually as to how much say Dean had in our transfer business. Reports suggested that the players he wanted included Bendhama (spelling?), Phillips and Maupay and arguably these players would have been enough to kept us mid table. However,l can't put out of my mind, opposition midfielders strolling through our one man defensive midfielder,the much maligned Marvelous. Advice to the Board? Let the Manager manage. Buying players by Committe £money men is flawed.

 

[Pangloss]

For me, Smith has failed to find tactical solutions to recurring problems, he just isn't premier league standard.

 

[McParlandTheGreat]

Exactly, because apart from Mings none of the other 3 stand out as being good enough to hold down a regular starting place, and that’s the issue we went for quantity over quality.

We used those 4 bought defenders because of injury. Mings obviously, Engels for a bit (although looks like DS also dropped him for a bit). Chester wasn't fit. So we only had Konsa and Hause.

I grant you greater experience would have coped with the midfield being breached better. But I think we needed the sort of cover those purchases gave us.

 

[Villan57]

interesting to see Jack saying Konsa was the most difficult of our defenders to get past as he's so quick to recover. I've had no real cast-iron opinion on Konsa but Jack glides past most people so Konsa must have something . Might be worth persevering with. Could save us wasting more money

 

[sirdennis]

For a 21 year old in his first PL season Konsa has done fine. I think he will become a top player.

 

[david-avfc]

For a 21 year old in his first PL season Konsa has done fine. I think he will become a top player.

For he’s age he’s ok, for sure, but why on earth would we need a 21 year old who has never played above the championship in the first place?

 

[david-avfc]

We used those 4 bought defenders because of injury. Mings obviously, Engels for a bit (although looks like DS also dropped him for a bit). Chester wasn't fit. So we only had Konsa and Hause.

I grant you greater experience would have coped with the midfield being breached better. But I think we needed the sort of cover those purchases gave us.

The point about injuries is fair but ultimately unless your a champions league side you aren’t going to have equal quality across your whole squad, unless all of your players are equally mediocre. So to me I don’t buy in to the argument that you should deliberately sacrifice quality in order to get extra numbers in case someone gets injured.

I’ve used centre backs as an example, but I could also point out Nakamba and Luiz have each only started 18 out of 28 matches, and that’s despite there being an extra midfield slot because of Mcginn’s injury and with Jack Grealish being switched from the middle to out wide. The same story applies to them as the defenders in that neither one of them is good enough to hold down a regular starting place.

 

[Wurzel]

OK, how many first team players were we left with at the end of the promotion season that we thought were good enough to play at Premiership level and we actually wanted to keep?

 

[Melon Donkey]

I don't think signing players with experience is the way to go. Look at Sheffield United, Wolves, Bournemouth. They came up with tight knit squads of British/Portuguese players and they played .
We need to hope the likes of Wesley and Douglas, who undoubtedly have talent which they have shown before joining, have settled in now and got to know the club, the fans, the players, Britain, Birmingham. We need to get rid of dead wood like Taylor, Elmohamady, Engels and replace them with young blood.

.

I don't see the point in comparing clubs with each other such will be the differences in their situations at any one point.

Sheff united and Bournemouth were both promoted with managers that had been at their respective clubs for a decent length. They had time to build and bring a philosophy and attract players for that philosophy.
Bournemouth has continued their ethos from EFL into the greed league.
Far too early to be creaming over Sheff Utd. Lets see next season and after. If they are stil in the league then fair play. But history sometimes suggests that they will drop like a stone at some point.

As for Wolves. Promoted with a squad of premier league and indeed in the odd case champions league level players. They barely did anything to adapt to life on the greed league and flourished They didnt need to do anything.

So where are the comparison opportunities with us getting promoted? .Smith had been in charge for barely 7 months. A squad full of loans, ageing players and those running contracts down. Thrown into a situation where we needed a full team makeover .

We cocked it up with no experience . I accept that. Our philosophy is flawed. This enforced break might save us . We were going down if normal service played out.

But what our philosophy was upon promotion is not the point when comparing with those teams because as I have said their promotions were done under different club circumstances.

We need a team to compare with that was promoted unexpectedly like we were with the run that we had, with a new manager and a whole squad needing an overhaul in a few summer weeks. Then its easier to assess against us. Doubt there is one. As I said clubs are unique to an extent.

 

[ldgavfc]

.

I don't see the point in comparing clubs with each other such will be the differences in their situations at any one point.

Sheff united and Bournemouth were both promoted with managers that had been at their respective clubs for a decent length. They had time to build and bring a philosophy and attract players for that philosophy.
Bournemouth has continued their ethos from EFL into the greed league.
Far too early to be creaming over Sheff Utd. Lets see next season and after. If they are stil in the league then fair play. But history sometimes suggests that they will drop like a stone at some point.

As for Wolves. Promoted with a squad of premier league and indeed in the odd case champions league level players. They barely did anything to adapt to life on the greed league and flourished They didnt need to do anything.

So where are the comparison opportunities with us getting promoted? .Smith had been in charge for barely 7 months. A squad full of loans, ageing players and those running contracts down. Thrown into a situation where we needed a full team makeover .

We cocked it up with no experience . I accept that. Our philosophy is flawed. This enforced break might save us . We were going down if normal service played out.

But what our philosophy was upon promotion is not the point when comparing with those teams because as I have said their promotions were done under different club circumstances.

We need a team to compare with that was promoted unexpectedly like we were with the run that we had, with a new manager and a whole squad needing an overhaul in a few summer weeks. Then its easier to assess against us. Doubt there is one. As I said clubs are unique to an extent.

I'm not comparing our mentality last summer to Wolves, Bournemouth and Sheffield, rather suggesting that this summer we attempt to model our squad closer to how they have, with tight knit groups of like minded players who get on and speak the same language both literally and figuratively. Another case study of the importance of squad harmony is Burnley.