The Transfer Market

Before the team can be strengthened, players will have to leave. If you do things the other way around, and you bring in players, and the players you wanted to leave to not do so, then your costs rise, and that is not acceptable to our present owners. So, like I say, players have to leave before others are brought in. So far, Toby Sibbick has gone on loan to Oostende, and Cameron Mcgeehan followed him to the same club on a permanent deal. Nevertheless, the club is still paying too many players who have not shown enough promise (Ben Williams, Jordan Green, Victor Adeboyejo, George Miller), and I have no doubt that it would like to see those contracted players leave. The problem is that they are all likely to drop to lower leagues, and due to salary caps, the maximum they can expect in those leagues is £2.5k per week (League 1) and £1.5k per week (League 2). If we are playing those players more than those figures, then they are unlikely to leave willingly, and even sending them out on loan limits the amount of their wages that we can recover from the loan clubs to those figures. There is of course no cap in the Championship or Premier League, although COVID 19 restrictions are likely to limit the income of clubs for the foreseeable future, and limiting income is bound to limit expenditure to a certain extent, especially when combined with FFP restrictions in the Championship on the trading losses of even the most ambitious owners (£39m over 3 years). All of this suggests that whilst the market for players from lower leagues might be easier in this transfer window, the inability to create room in our squad may still limit our ability to trade successfully.

 

Surely we aren't paying more than 2.5k per week for Vic and Miller, not sure about green, tbh not had much chance to show what he's got I know he's quick but not seen much else

 

For me if we don’t bring players in our current weaknesses remain and the manager probably won’t, so we have to strengthen irrespective

 

On the reverse side of the coin the current situation will only help us to retain our best laikers

 

we don't need a new striker, we just need to fit Browny with some blinkers so he can kick it straight at goal

 

I expect to see Ostend with a 45-man squad by the time the season starts.

 

The club has already moved on Pinillos, Thiam, Dougall Radlinger, Wilks & McGeehan. Ludewig has returned to his parent club and Sibbick has gone out on loan to Oostende. It has made room in the squad for bringing in a few new signings. Although I doubt we'll see anywhere as near the numbers we did last Summer.

 

Not forgetting Cavare, (as if )

 

True.

 

Good points

 

It will be a very ‘difficult’ window to sell in. I’d expect to see suppressed fees for better players and as the OP suggested a difficulty in moving players on. Still we have made sone early moves to trim the squad and will probably only be looking at a maximum of 3 signings so we may be ok.

 

The thing is, if we stick with the Struber system, we have lots of square pegs in round holes, and if we are to judge Struber properly, he should be given a chance to rectify that situation. And do not forget that Alex Mowatt is about to enter the final year of his contract, and that usually means that if the player does not extend, the club tries to move him on. I see it as a very much more difficult window than usual, which is strange, because the market for incoming players will be easier.

 

Assuming we don’t get rid of any of our main players (big assumption) I’d suggest we only need 3/4 quality players adding to the squad. You’d hope that would be doable with the wages we’ve got off the tab this season.

 

I honestly think if we get someone with height and a bit of muscle up front it would be like signing two players because I think Schmidt would really benefit from knock downs etc , he’s already shown how lethal he is in and around the box.

 

So we've lost 9 (wow) if we lose none of our key players, we should be able to recruit 3 or 4 decent players.

(just remember that the form since GS took over would see us mid table without adding anyone)

 

Add Vic, Miller, Green, B William's, Bahre out of the squad with through either, sale, loan or u23s then Mowatt in his last year of his contract will be sold and with offers coming in for Woodrow and Brown who will probably go this leaves the squad bare. Combine the two lists + Cavare is 17 players potentially less from the start of this season that may not be a part of next season's matchday squad. It shows how to big the squad was but it looks like another summer of rebuild as I would be sure Struber would agree backing from the board for him to stay otherwise we will be looking for a new management team as well as midfielders and strikers.

 

The problem there is that we defend from the front under Struber. Unless he totally changes the way that he wants to play, we will continue to play that way. That leads to the conclusion that he likes small and very mobile front players, who can put immediate pressure on the player with the ball when a good team wants to play their way up the field. The problem is of course, that the Stoke way of playing is to pack their team with big men and hit the ball long. They also shove everyone forward for set pieces, and our team struggles with that tactic because we do not have enough height. You pays your money and you takes your choice, but Struber's choice is the former.

 

We get a more mobile 'big' man then, you don't have to play the long ball game just because you have a bigger guy

 

I don't believe we WILL see huge changes with our squad. You, and others, may think differently, which is fair enough. It's my opinion we'll bring in another three or four players. If any current first team regulars depart, I'd expect to see those individuals replaced, too. However, at this moment in time, I simply don't believe we'll see a squad rebuild again this Summer.
It's only an opinion, though, not a claim of absolute fact.

 

The first half against Brentford was the way that Struber envisions the game. In fact he referred to it in his post match comments. We allowed the keeper to have the ball, and we did not mark the two central defenders, so he had two players to pass to. However as soon as he did, one of our quick front two immediately challenged. When the ball was passed to the second defender, he was immediately challenged. The second player had two options. Pass it to the keeper and the whole thing begins again, or hit it long and we win the ball back. It worked like a dream, and it only stopped working because Brentford strengthened their midfield by removing defenders. They went for it.

However, the system is very tiring, and big men cannot keep it up. That is why Cauley Woodrow does not play up front for Struber. He cannot play the press hard enough or for long enough.