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Will this current squad propel us into Europe?


Barry Sanchez

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I agree on this point, a good example is Jordi Amat. This 21yr old CB has represented the Spanish international youth teams at every age-group from the age of 15 up to Under-21 and also represented the Catalonia national team, he was given his debut at Espanyol by MP himself but Swansea sign him for £2.6m. Good bit of business by Laudrup, but can't stop feeling MP dropped the ball there.

 

You do know that Jordi Amat was deemed not good enough for Espanyol a year ago and went ouyt on loan to Rayo Vallecano??

If MP didn´t think he was good enough for Espanyol, why would he go in for him now??

 

Our CB targets this summer were probably Lovren or Astori and we got on of those. You cant bring in how many players you want cause you have other on contracts. Simple footballing business.

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In short as it stands we are being sold down the river, there is no way we will make Europe this season without signing and spending a lot than Cortese appears to want to, I am jealous of Swansea, Sunderland and Norwich's approach to this season, the last two transfer windows have been very very so so for us, I only hope the next 28 days are better for us.

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In short as it stands we are being sold down the river, there is no way we will make Europe this season without signing and spending a lot than Cortese appears to want to, I am jealous of Swansea, Sunderland and Norwich's approach to this season, the last two transfer windows have been very very so so for us, I only hope the next 28 days are better for us.

 

Confused as to why you are jealous of Sunderland's approach. They've signed lots of players, mostly unknowns to be honest, in the hope that they'll gel together and work. Who knows?

 

We've had one of the better windows in the PL. Let's just spot acting spoilt

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In short as it stands we are being sold down the river, there is no way we will make Europe this season without signing and spending a lot than Cortese appears to want to, I am jealous of Swansea, Sunderland and Norwich's approach to this season, the last two transfer windows have been very very so so for us, I only hope the next 28 days are better for us.

 

Swansea, trophy winners, European football. They have different agenda's to ours.

 

Norwich, yes I agree with you.

 

Sunderland, **** no.

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Van Wolfswinkel and Hooper.

 

Altidore Sunderland

 

 

Cheers Charl.

 

They wouldn't all get in though because they play in the same position. What you are saying is what everyone else has said, we need a striker.

 

None of Norwich or Sunderland's defensive signings would get near our team, no most of the midfielders.

 

Plus Hooper nor Altidore would start for us. They were good signings for Sunderland and Norwich though given their respective squads.

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Its subjective Charlie and you asked me for Christs sake ha ha, Lambert is a back to front stiker and the Premiership is not really the place for them, sure he scored a lot of goals for us last season but that wont last and can not be sustained, he is one year older and slower for us, a good impact player but we need a poacher/goalscorer, if our manager can not see that then he is in the wrong job.

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Never seen any explanation, just the same statement. I don't understand why you think the squad is so much worse than it was last season.

 

It is better, but I think our form at the end of the season showed that we had weaknesses, especially up front. Also, do you imagine that other teams like Norwich have stood still over the summer ? The fact is, we have strengthened, but have we done enough ? To me it feels like we always do this, we wait and see and then have to try and sort it out in January. Well, if that is the case i can see us in relegation scrap that we might or might not survive.

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Unless we significantly improve our performance in the final third - our ability to create and take chances, I'd say that 8-12 is our likely finishing range.

 

However, it's always interesting to see how others see us (be sure to view the poll results):

 

http://www.cominghomenewcastle.com/2013/8/1/4577000/southampton-fc-saints-premier-league-team-preview-2013-14-rickie-lambert-victor-wanyama?

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I don't think this squad is good enough to get into Europe, although we do have a decent squad. Probably at least 2 pr 3 top class players short. I think we will do better than last season as much because I can't see us starting as badly, the players now have experience of the league and we have certainly improved with our, to date 2 signings. I would be surprised if we could get into Europe before the 2015/6 season at the earliest.

If we end up 10th or above I would see that as a very big achievement. This is a tough league....

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Want and having are two different things chick.

 

They certainly are, the thing is Mave Cortese does not see it that way because he has not bought yet and the closer it goes to the end of the window the higher we shall pay, to be fair he has unearthed such gems as Mayuka and Forren in the transfer window................

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No, we need two more signings.

 

I think one would be enough to make the biggest difference, a mobile striker to compliment Ramirez and fit into the high pressing/fluid attacking unit we have. Without it I think it will be a season like the end of the last, frustrating the opposition without ever really threatening.

 

Other than that another wide man or more attacking forward midfielder (as MP seems to like width from FB and his wide men to tuck in) as I do t have confidence in Punch to be consistant.

 

I did want pace but Isgrove excites me

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Agree, it will probably be a similar outcome to last season, bottom six due to the as yet un-rectified problem of not scoring enough goals in games that we dominate.

No, definitely not. As someone else said, we only just avoided relegation with practically the same squad!

 

But that's not a criticism, we're just not European qualification standard at this moment in time.

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This squad as it is now will see us finish 12th/13th, if we get a decent striker in we could go a few places higher, but I feel the team as it is now will throw away too many points against teams that sit back to finish any better than lower mid table.

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So, we've had over 50 posts and not one person is seriously suggesting this squad can get into Europe this season. Most are predicting (with satisfaction or not) more mid-table obscurity.

 

IMO that means NC and MP have not done their jobs (in their eyes, NOT mine) over the summer properly.

 

Its a pity, I liked the look of the team, a couple of additions would have made us a force to be reckoned with.

 

Their job isn't to convince us all that we're ready to challenge for Europe. Their job is to do it, though not necessarily this season.

 

There's a small chance we could get up there, but if we don't then that won't be any disappointment at all. The speed with which you've all picked up this sense of entitlement is unbelievable.

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Do you mean Europa Cup, Champions League or both?

 

Would probably bet high against both, agreed we could win a cup, but we definitely won't be seeing CL in the next ten years.

 

Sent from my HTC One S using Tapatalk 2

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Cork and Shaw coming into the team last year saved us. MP now looks like he is going with VW and Morgan and presumably will persist with this for a while rather than management admitting a huge expensive mistake. VW is the big lump many posters wanted in the centre and Cork has been overlooked by many the same way he was last year when Davis arrived. VW is a very different player to Cork and is more similar to Morgan. I do not see this partnership working and the impact of relegating Cork to the bench will have a profound impact on the way the team plays. I can see us struggling until Christmas and perhaps beyond and I would forget about Europe.

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Cork and Shaw coming into the team last year saved us. MP now looks like he is going with VW and Morgan and presumably will persist with this for a while rather than management admitting a huge expensive mistake. VW is the big lump many posters wanted in the centre and Cork has been overlooked by many the same way he was last year when Davis arrived. VW is a very different player to Cork and is more similar to Morgan. I do not see this partnership working and the impact of relegating Cork to the bench will have a profound impact on the way the team plays. I can see us struggling until Christmas and perhaps beyond and I would forget about Europe.

 

We are not going anywhere near the top with this team, if the management team thinks they are then they should not be in football, I hope to God they are looking for pace and goals up front and are prepared to pay for it, Lambert can not put us into the higher level, as much as I love Rickie we need pace and a striker who can play a more cultured game.

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We are not going anywhere near the top with this team, if the management team thinks they are then they should not be in football, I hope to God they are looking for pace and goals up front and are prepared to pay for it, Lambert can not put us into the higher level, as much as I love Rickie we need pace and a striker who can play a more cultured game.

 

Its the use of the squad that concerns me and in particular the likley CM pairing. With Cork back in and competition/cover for Lambert I think we would do very well. As it is though we don't have the striking options and MS+VW could well be a disaster unless MS can adapt his game to play the Cork role. VW doesn't make space to receive the ball like Cork does and we will end up going long and being one dimensional.

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With the current squad we are looking at holding our own and mid table obscurity. I don't see us struggling fighting relegation but I don't see us pushing on either as things stand. We seem to have a problem attracting our top targets, and in one respect this is understandable, only returning to the top flight last season - to the most avid South American 22 year old football fan we have been away from the big league a long time. However, the nearer that window gets to closing the more likely we are to get one of our major targets. The one thing that has surprised me, pointed out by earlier posters, is the apparent lack of impact of MP in pulling a few rabbits out of the hat from his long tenure in Spain, even an older player (like Gamez) in a Telferesque move would have been a welcome addition to what is a good team but a threadbare squad.

 

So, if things stay as they are, treading water, couple of quality additions (and some cover with nous) before the window shuts, we'll have a decent chance to push on in the league and have a decent go in the cups - if we are serious we must start winning trophies to build momentum. Tick tock...

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No, we just don't have enough goals in us.

 

With a Osvaldo\Damiao I think NC would have been entertaining a shot at top 6 but we are very vulnerable up front.

 

As things stand at this moment 8th-12th looks the best bet but NC may yet pull a rabbit out of the hat so we'll see.

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