Review: Summer Window 2017

[Norm]

5/10 and that is solely for keeping Virgil. The lack of goals is a major concern.

[DuncanRG]

It's been very good indeed. Our current squad would have had to up its attacking game even if we'd signed someone.

 

I wonder how many fanbases aren't sat on their forums right now wishing they'd signed a pacey attacker. City, Liverpool...?

Edited 1 September, 2017 by DuncanRG

[DuncanRG]

Double post

[farawaysaint]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/premier-league-net-spend-how-11091823

 

@Heisenberg

[hypochondriac]

It's been very good indeed. Our current squad would have had to up its attacking game even if we'd signed someone.

 

I wonder how many fanbases aren't sat on their forums right now wishing they'd signed a pacey attacker. City, Liverpool...?

I don't think any fanbases have to deal with a worse goal record than us though. Edited 1 September, 2017 by hypochondriac

[Donatello]

8/10 easy.

[ALWAYS_SFC]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/premier-league-net-spend-how-11091823

 

@Heisenberg

 

We have lost our "title"...

 

But 8/10

[Heisenberg]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/premier-league-net-spend-how-11091823

 

@Heisenberg

 

Thank you

 

Has us at 13th, but doesn't seem to include fees received for Gazzaniga (£2m reported) or the loan fees we got for Reed, Clasie or Gallagher. Plus of course the nice bonus we get from the AOC transfer.

 

Probably leaves us around the 15th spot which is an improvement on previous years.

[saint97]

8/10's being given hahaha, take it they don't moan when we don't score at home then.

[Professor]

Buying yet another striker isn't the only way to address the need to score more goals. Working with what we have is a perfectly good option because the front players we have are good quality but need some direction which will be coming from the manager and coaches. Once we start putting away more of the chances that are being made, opinions will change.

The great success this window is the club standing firm on its policy of only selling players it wants to sell, or when a player who will not extend a contract is down to one or two years. The media were virtually unanimous in saying we would have to sell Van Dijk while TV was full of pundits and ex-players who think they know it all, just proving they know very little. That has been the great success for the club and for more stability in the game. Even if Van Dijk refuses to co-operate the club can let him spend as long as he likes kicking a ball around on his own, right through until 2022 if necessary because eventually he will have to conform or see his career come to an early end. When he does play for us, this year, next or whenever, he will still have only cost the £13m that we paid Celtic.

[Donatello]

8/10's being given hahaha, take it they don't moan when we don't score at home then.

 

You should try it. It's a lot healthier for your state of mind.

[verlaine1979]

The idea that there was a consensus that we only needed to strengthen at CB and DM is revisionist nonsense. Despite losing Fonte and VVD last season, we wound up struggling more profoundly up front than at the back. History suggests that high 30s/low 40s in goals scored is an eminently relegatable attack, so we're really counting on these defensive additions being the difference.

[Marsdinho]

Weve got to be the only club where "New" investement....actually means "No" investment.

 

Also, keeping hold of a contracted player is hardly a massive achivement.....he was under contract, we were hardly batting bids back left right and centre, and plenty of other clubs kept hold of players that wanted out - so I wont be slapping anyone at SFC on the back over that.

 

Appreciate that keeping hold of players in the past has been tricky, but they shouldnt be applauded just becasue VVD didnt go.

 

They also have spent 15m on a player who we probably didnt really need.

 

6/10 - Could have done so much better.

[Dusic]

You should try it. It's a lot healthier for your state of mind.

So when we went 6 without scoring you found it not worth moaning about?

 

Each to their own.

[tajjuk]

Hoedt was not 4th choice at Lazio, he started like 24 league games iirc. He's a young player who was looking for more game time but lazio couldn't guarantee it so good deal all round.

 

Overall for the window 7/10 if we get VVD back then I think we have the best back 4 plus 2 in front in the league. Goals for me is less of a worry, chances are being created and we have to give Pelligrino time to get his ideas and style implemented. I would have liked another attacker in but I reckon the club has some targets lined up but are seeing how much game time they get at a big club, I reckon come January we'll be picking up a young player from a European powerhouse.

[aintforever]

Happy with the signings but the lack of goals is our major problem and hasn't been addressed.

 

Keeping Virgil seems like a victory at the moment but if he refuses to play or plays **** up until January we may have done ourselves out of a few quid and chance to solve our scoring problem. The problem we have with Virgil is motivation, he knows if he puts in amazing performances for us his value goes up and it makes his move harder - he's almost better off playing ****.

[Saint Garrett]

Hoedt was not 4th choice at Lazio, he started like 24 league games iirc. He's a young player who was looking for more game time but lazio couldn't guarantee it so good deal all round.

 

Overall for the window 7/10 if we get VVD back then I think we have the best back 4 plus 2 in front in the league. Goals for me is less of a worry, chances are being created and we have to give Pelligrino time to get his ideas and style implemented. I would have liked another attacker in but I reckon the club has some targets lined up but are seeing how much game time they get at a big club, I reckon come January we'll be picking up a young player from a European powerhouse.

 

We never buy in Jan really....

[SuperSAINT]

We never buy in Jan really....

 

Take your point, but there is slight encouragement that we do a sign a striker if we need one in January if we look at history:

 

- Sharp

- Tadanari Lee

- Austin

- Gabbi.

 

All January signings.

[Lighthouse]

The idea that there was a consensus that we only needed to strengthen at CB and DM is revisionist nonsense. Despite losing Fonte and VVD last season, we wound up struggling more profoundly up front than at the back. History suggests that high 30s/low 40s in goals scored is an eminently relegatable attack, so we're really counting on these defensive additions being the difference.

 

Yeah but mainly down to playing with an incredibly safe mentality, which was always going to lead to a low goal tally for both teams, regardless of personnel. I would have liked to get in a decent attacker but I think our problems are largely based on mentality, rather than talent. Tadic, Redmond, Boufal, JWP, Gabbi and Austin SHOULD have enough firepower between them to do a decent job, it's just getting the performances out of them.

[ally_uk]

Serious question could any of the players at the managers old team do a job for us?

[Badger]

Serious question could any of the players at the managers old team do a job for us?

 

From the little I've read, the GK seems reasonable but apart from that his stand out player lat season was a 20 year old midfielder on loan from Real Madrid and it appears they want to hang onto him.

[Badger]

Did well in so far as the only players to exit were those we were happy to see go, although I'm not convinced by Gallagher going on loan as he might have been able to have added something different for our attack.We have been left light in that department.

 

Of the incoming players, Lemina looks promising and glad we've got another CB which has been needed since Fonte left. Hoedt looks promising from what I've read but time will tell.

 

Annoyances for me are not making up our glaring shortcomings upfront with either another striker or better AM, and not bringing in another better GK either as first choice or greater competition ahead of the perpetually injured McCarthy. Extending the contract of FF defies belief after last season.

 

Jury's out on the selection of the manager, but seems an upgrade, just that he will have to work with the tools he's given just as Puel had to.

 

Wonder if we were sleeping when Krychowiak came available, or if it is that we simply don't want to consider loans. It doesn't appear a particularly imaginative window and recruitment from Les Reed but in his defence we don't know the financial restrictions he was working under from above, especially with the uncertainty of Gao's investment.

 

General view 6/10.

[tajjuk]

We never buy in Jan really....

 

Gabby, I'm pretty sure we tracked him for a while but he wasn't fully interested in the summer but come January he hadn't got games and was more interested in a move move and Napoli were more keen to sell. Look at many of our recent signings, all young ish players at bigger clubs looking for more game time, Gabbi, Lemina, Hoedt, even the kid from Atletico we were linked with was the same. Just sometimes these players and their clubs are less keen in the summer because it's a new season and they don't know how much game time they'll get, but come January the picture is clearer.

 

I reckoned we tried for an attacker at a big European club that wasn't a first teamed that we've been tracking for a while but he didn't want to come because he reckons he'll break into the team, but we'll get him in January if he doesn't.

[whelk]

Happy with the signings but the lack of goals is our major problem and hasn't been addressed.

 

Keeping Virgil seems like a victory at the moment but if he refuses to play or plays **** up until January we may have done ourselves out of a few quid and chance to solve our scoring problem. The problem we have with Virgil is motivation, he knows if he puts in amazing performances for us his value goes up and it makes his move harder - he's almost better off playing ****.

 

Yeah definitely worth paying sh1t. Keeps it up for years we’ll release him from contract and Walsall can sign him.

Don’t ever become an agent mate I don’t think you’d be very good at it,