Ghost of Clough

We'll sign forwards just like we'll sign midfielders. 10 goals is enough from CMs for a 50 goal total

20 goals from midfield!!?
In a L1 automatic promotion season, with games in the EFL trophy, our CMs (including Sibley) scored a combined 21 goals. 6 of those were Sibley.
Unless you're expecting a Playoff campaign, we won't need 20 goals from midfield

Of the 18 players with the most squad appearances for Ipswich last season, only 5 were in that age range (and one was Chelseas loanee, Omari Hutchinson, whop was the only player under 23). 8 were 26-29 and 5 were 30 or over. They had balance. That's what we need.

That's an odd age range you've come up with. Only 4 Championship squads had an average age below 25 last season.
Peak years are 24-29, so this should be the core squad, and will be the age range for the majority of our signings. We already have 7 players in this range. 

That's an odd age range you've come up with. Only 4 Championship squads had an average age below 25 last season.
Peak years are 24-29, so this should be the core squad, and will be the age range for the majority of our signings. We already have 7 players in this range. 

That's an odd age range you've come up with. Only 4 Championship squads had an average age below 25 last season.
Peak years are 24-29, so this should be the core squad, and will be the age range for the majority of our signings. We already have 7 players in this range. 

Mount who hasn't played for England since the 2022 World Cup. He's had a number of injuries this season, woth only 1 start since November.
Southgate began to phase Henderson out of the squad as soon as he moved to Saudi.
Rashford has had a poor season considering he's an attacking winger. This season was his worst minutes per contribution in his professional career.
Grealish has also struggled with injuries and consistency this season. Only 4 goals/assists in the league is a poor return. Only 3 starts in the league since December, with only 4 more coming in other competitions, with only 1 assist (0 goals) in the same period of time.
Wharton, Mainoo, Eze and Gordon have all played well this season. Wharton has already been linked with the likes of Man City and Bayern this summer, whilst Spurs, Man Utd, Liverpool have all been linked to Eze - both for £60m+, demonstrating the levels of performances from them so far. Gordon has had as many goals/assists this season as Grealish, Rashford and Mount combined.

Mount who hasn't played for England since the 2022 World Cup. He's had a number of injuries this season, woth only 1 start since November.
Southgate began to phase Henderson out of the squad as soon as he moved to Saudi.
Rashford has had a poor season considering he's an attacking winger. This season was his worst minutes per contribution in his professional career.
Grealish has also struggled with injuries and consistency this season. Only 4 goals/assists in the league is a poor return. Only 3 starts in the league since December, with only 4 more coming in other competitions, with only 1 assist (0 goals) in the same period of time.
Wharton, Mainoo, Eze and Gordon have all played well this season. Wharton has already been linked with the likes of Man City and Bayern this summer, whilst Spurs, Man Utd, Liverpool have all been linked to Eze - both for £60m+, demonstrating the levels of performances from them so far. Gordon has had as many goals/assists this season as Grealish, Rashford and Mount combined.

Mount who hasn't played for England since the 2022 World Cup. He's had a number of injuries this season, woth only 1 start since November.
Southgate began to phase Henderson out of the squad as soon as he moved to Saudi.
Rashford has had a poor season considering he's an attacking winger. This season was his worst minutes per contribution in his professional career.
Grealish has also struggled with injuries and consistency this season. Only 4 goals/assists in the league is a poor return. Only 3 starts in the league since December, with only 4 more coming in other competitions, with only 1 assist (0 goals) in the same period of time.
Wharton, Mainoo, Eze and Gordon have all played well this season. Wharton has already been linked with the likes of Man City and Bayern this summer, whilst Spurs, Man Utd, Liverpool have all been linked to Eze - both for £60m+, demonstrating the levels of performances from them so far. Gordon has had as many goals/assists this season as Grealish, Rashford and Mount combined.

Mount who hasn't played for England since the 2022 World Cup. He's had a number of injuries this season, woth only 1 start since November.
Southgate began to phase Henderson out of the squad as soon as he moved to Saudi.
Rashford has had a poor season considering he's an attacking winger. This season was his worst minutes per contribution in his professional career.
Grealish has also struggled with injuries and consistency this season. Only 4 goals/assists in the league is a poor return. Only 3 starts in the league since December, with only 4 more coming in other competitions, with only 1 assist (0 goals) in the same period of time.
Wharton, Mainoo, Eze and Gordon have all played well this season. Wharton has already been linked with the likes of Man City and Bayern this summer, whilst Spurs, Man Utd, Liverpool have all been linked to Eze - both for £60m+, demonstrating the levels of performances from them so far. Gordon has had as many goals/assists this season as Grealish, Rashford and Mount combined.

"Realistic Aspirations" would be a top half finish since that's the upper end of what's realistic.
A battle against relegation should be a pessimistic outlook, whilst a top 6 finish would be very unlikely. Anything in between is reasonable. Only 8 points seperated 9th and 18th last season.

"Realistic Aspirations" would be a top half finish since that's the upper end of what's realistic.
A battle against relegation should be a pessimistic outlook, whilst a top 6 finish would be very unlikely. Anything in between is reasonable. Only 8 points seperated 9th and 18th last season.

Bernard has played most of the season at LCB and a few games on the right. I can't see him joining a club to be backup, and he wont get in the side over Cashin or Nelson. I dount he'd be ahead of Nyambe in the pecking order either. Any CB signing should be the key man in yhe middle of our defence.
Vaulks and Adams would be a very solid midfield pairing. Both lead by example and set standards on and off the pitch. Warne also got the best out of Vaulks, contributing 7 goals and 7 assists in his final season before he went to Cardiff.

Bernard has played most of the season at LCB and a few games on the right. I can't see him joining a club to be backup, and he wont get in the side over Cashin or Nelson. I dount he'd be ahead of Nyambe in the pecking order either. Any CB signing should be the key man in yhe middle of our defence.
Vaulks and Adams would be a very solid midfield pairing. Both lead by example and set standards on and off the pitch. Warne also got the best out of Vaulks, contributing 7 goals and 7 assists in his final season before he went to Cardiff.

Bernard has played most of the season at LCB and a few games on the right. I can't see him joining a club to be backup, and he wont get in the side over Cashin or Nelson. I dount he'd be ahead of Nyambe in the pecking order either. Any CB signing should be the key man in yhe middle of our defence.
Vaulks and Adams would be a very solid midfield pairing. Both lead by example and set standards on and off the pitch. Warne also got the best out of Vaulks, contributing 7 goals and 7 assists in his final season before he went to Cardiff.

That big lad will take some stopping. 

Not sure what the point is in getting rid of those players just to sign an older one who won't improve and also won't play.

Very generous by saying he's played in the Championship last season with just 137 mins played. He was barely a squad played in L1 either.
With Fornah, Thompson as our CM squad players, and DRobinson as backup, we don't need players to make up the numbers.
The last time he scored more than 3 league goals in a season? 19/20... in L1. Only 6 goals in 65 Championship appearances suggests he isn't at the standard we need.
We already have DBrown, Washington and potentially Collins as CF squad options. We need to sign starters.

Very generous by saying he's played in the Championship last season with just 137 mins played. He was barely a squad played in L1 either.
With Fornah, Thompson as our CM squad players, and DRobinson as backup, we don't need players to make up the numbers.
The last time he scored more than 3 league goals in a season? 19/20... in L1. Only 6 goals in 65 Championship appearances suggests he isn't at the standard we need.
We already have DBrown, Washington and potentially Collins as CF squad options. We need to sign starters.

A couple of useful options for our U21s, but Robertson is the only one who is first team ready. However, he missed half of last season due to injury 

A couple of useful options for our U21s, but Robertson is the only one who is first team ready. However, he missed half of last season due to injury 

We did that last year and all he proved was that sadly, he couldn’t manage it! Agreed, he is an undoubted talent but he’s played the equivalent of 22 full matches in the last 3 seasons, and just 377 minutes for us before breaking down again. At 23, and with the athletic demands likely expected by PW I can’t see it being a smart signing, whatever the deal.

Real Madrid won the champions league yesterday with 34 year old Toni Kroos and 38 year old Luka Modric both playing in the match.
Man City won the premier league with 34 year old Kyle Walker and 32 year old Kevin De Bruyne being key players.
Leicester won the championship with 37 year old Jamie Vardy playing up front.
Portsmouth won league one with 33 year old Marlon Pack playing a key role in midfield.
Those are just some examples for you. It’s an inaccurate generalisation that players over 30 in the modern game can’t play at a good level, especially given the sports science, conditioning, diets and squad depth involved.

For me there's no issue with us signing or having players over 30, the key will be having a balanced squad with some younger players around them.