CapeTownRams Posted January 3, 2016 Share Posted January 3, 2016 Theres has been talk about this both from within and outside of the Club. There's no doubt that we spent a lot of money in the summer. No issues with the Butts/Johnson signings although we clearly paid top dollar. But when it comes to whether our overall squad was genuinely improved - and by how much- I have my doubts. Carson clearly also a good bit of business. Pearce - a good and decent CB who clearly doesn't fit in. Suspect a leftover Evans and Rush signing to provide 'cover'. Value to the great squad ? As it is, not a great deal. Bent ? Clearly a lot of money invested in terms of salary and another who doesn't really fit in. Value to the great squad ? Not a massive amount and feel we could have invested elsewhere and got a far better return. Likely a mistake. Baird ? Again, not a cheap signing when it came to salary etc. A bit-part player when the investment probably warranted a greater return. We could go on, but, at the end of the day, when you look at our squad it's good on numbers but not so great when it comes to increasing the quality. No direct competition for Martin. Ditto Thorne. Vulnerability re: full backs ? Genuine quality back-up CB who can push Shacks/Keogh ? Genuine wingers ? Not moaning, just coming to the conclusion that our squad really isn't strong as we - and others- might say. And we are still very vulnerable to losing a key player at the wrong time of the season and everything going pear-shaped again. Ok, accepted, this transfer window might patch up a couple of the holes, but that's to be seen and not really my point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddie Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 We're not top. Razors out. You people are now officially pissing me off with your bitchy whining and ridiculous Forest-level false sense of entitlement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Tibbs Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 When do teams ever get a summer 100% right? Pearce and Bent haven't featured much no but that's because we've got one of the best centre halfs and one of the best centre forwards in the division. The addition of Carson and Shacks alone have improved the team/squad no end. Twice as organised, twice the team we finished as last year. They've also brought the best out of players they're playing alongside of. If some signings don't work out then that's the way it goes, one thing I would say is there's not many players in the squad without value nowadays, including those we've recently brought to the club. They are players with stature and clubs will want these players if we ever make them available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cam the Ram Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 Because I have way too much time on my hands, I made a little table of how I see it. You might disagree on a few points, but I think overall we've improved the majority of our squad, Holding midfield is a bit light, but we've got Johnson who can also play there. Wingers is lacking but we're signing Camara soon so hopefully he can add something extra. And we're apparently in the market for another striker so that area should also improve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kernow Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 Just interested how you'd know the salaries of all the players? How would you know Baird isn't cheap in terms of salary? He's 34 in a month. Has averaged 11 games a season over the past 3 years. I doubt he's on an awful lot more than Eustace was, except he's more versatile and younger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RamNut Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 12 minutes ago, Cam the Ram said: Because I have way too much time on my hands, I made a little table of how I see it. You might disagree on a few points, but I think overall we've improved the majority of our squad, Yep. Fair summary. my call has been to limit transfer activity and show faith in the players we already have. Just sign a keeper - if carson is going to be out for a while - and possibly a back up no9. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ambitious Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 There is an argument to be had that improvement is far beyond that of players coming in over players leaving. Grant, Keogh, Christie, Warnock and Hendrick have all made improvements under Clement. Keogh and Christie's improvement, in my opinion, is worth more than two brand new signings. It also works the other way around, and Clement is accountable for some players not having the impact they did last season as well. Even during our slump last season, we created a disgusting amount of chances. Bent was perfect to capitalise on that. This season, we seem to lack creativity. We have become more efficient in front of goal, but we don't create as many chances. I don't think our change in approach has agreed with him. Ince, too, wasn't given the freedom he had under McClaren and his performances took a tumble. It's why some players excel at clubs and not at others. I don't see many players that could really go on and improve our team - we've got a great squad. I still feel there is room for improvement in the players we have. A couple of new faces wouldn't go amiss, but by and large, we can improve without investment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomsdubs Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 I think it's more of a balance issue right now coupled with some players not fitting the slightly changed tactics. For me the wide players have been a big let down this season, Martin looking increasingly disillusioned lately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Van der MoodHoover Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 I confess I keep flip flopping in trying to answer this question. And that's only because I am not entirely clear in my mind which systems and eventualities we are trying to build the squad to cover. At present we seem to fall between a few stools. We have a preferred 433 with cover in some positions but not others. We have a few hopefully game changing subs but seemingly no immediately identifiable plan b system. Plus a number of players discussed on other threads whose purpose is not now obvious as their signing was due to the old regime. It seems we have a good quality first 11 for a 433 formation but it tails away somewhat after that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRBee Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 9 hours ago, Cam the Ram said: Because I have way too much time on my hands, I made a little table of how I see it. You might disagree on a few points, but I think overall we've improved the majority of our squad, Holding midfield is a bit light, but we've got Johnson who can also play there. Wingers is lacking but we're signing Camara soon so hopefully he can add something extra. And we're apparently in the market for another striker so that area should also improve. A good assessment with the major error being the LW backup , where it would be great to see Weimann give a performance better than the best of Ward/Dawkins but so far he hasn't. He has speed and is better defensively but not looking good value at present. But that may be down to the question raised by such comparisons - does the performance of player not depend on how they are used? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Webram Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 Just a point: ref left side. From the limited videos I've seen of Camara (nepotism Mo?), he seems all left foot and pacey. Would this suggest that ince will go more central? Or possibly Camara down the middle in a 442. Boro aside, we are second and from what I've seen of Hull, we have nothing to fear, but one thing we lack going forward is pace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ewe Ram Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 Just a question... is this the first transfer window with no involvement of Chris Evans? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaintRam Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 7 minutes ago, Ewe Ram said: Just a question... is this the first transfer window with no involvement of Chris Evans? No. There were loads before he joined our staff. Unsure how much involvement he had in the tail end of the Summer, but officially yes, since PC joined us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ewe Ram Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 11 minutes ago, SaintRam said: No. There were loads before he joined our staff. Unsure how much involvement he had in the tail end of the Summer, but officially yes, since PC joined us. Haha! Never really liked the idea of him anyway so I'm glad he departed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yani P Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 We are not the only team chasing the spectacular new TV deal money that comes in next season..I would expect all of the sides that think they could get auto or play-offs having a long hard look at what they can spend in January. I think it is a unique transfer window just because of the money involved for those who are successful - we have never seen anything close to it before..so I believe there will be a few much stronger squads come the end of the month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Van der MoodHoover Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 2 hours ago, Ewe Ram said: Haha! Never really liked the idea of him anyway so I'm glad he departed That new TFI deal turned his head....? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stedcfc Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 As we saw last year, its really the second half of the season where the value of a good squad shows. The likes of Pearce and Baird are only going to be asked to play where we have injuries and suspensions. The fact that we're are continuing to play well without Hughes, Bryson, Carson and Forsyth shows how strong our squad is, take these 4 out of most teams in the Championship and they'd take a hit in form. The fact Pearce hasn't yet shown any value is down to the fact that luckily we've had no injuries or suspensions in that area, and I'm sure his time will come at some point. The same can be said for Bent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Van der MoodHoover Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 The idea of a strong squad in this sense is simple insurance. We may or may not need to call on it for reasons of injury /suspension. Who can say? All that we do know is that not being able to shore things up cost us last season when confronted with adverse situations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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