13 minutes ago, booth said:

I think it's fair to say Coyle had an arguably better squad with the likes of Graham, Mulgrew, Conway and a hungrier Sam Gallagher. Not that it was any good back then but the point is we had more capable individuals.

I was looking at our current squad and our squad that got relegated and I think that our current squad is poorer than the one that went down. I'm really not sure what people expect with the current squad it is a poor squad.

48 minutes ago, roverblue said:

The same squad finished 7th last year with the only regular difference being Brereton. People need to stop making excuses for the manager, some of you on here are in complete denial about where this ends if they don’t change him.

Yes the manager significantly over achieved last season to guide us to our best finish since relegation from the Prem. Since then though the squad has lost more than just Brereton it has also lost Kaminski, Wharton, Travis, Ayala & Morton. And in that same period the only useful signing that has been made is Tronstad.

I'm really not sure where people expect this squad to be in the table as for me it is a bottom 1/3 of the table squad.

1 hour ago, booth said:

I don't believe this collection of players can do much better. We have no Samba's, Todd's, Kevin Moran's. There's been no rhyme or reason to picking up some of these players at all. Recruitment have just gone, here you go, make something of that.

We're relying on a moment of magic from Sammie every game. We simply don't have the forward players with enough about them in this league, we're playing without fullbacks when JRC goes forward. Chrisene and Siggy is suicide but what's the other option? Tronstad, without Wharton, was on his own. It's an absolute mess and we'll need a magician not a coach or a manager.

And at the same time there's so many players disappearing in the Summer, you have to wonder if they give a stuff.

The guys at the top don't seem to.

Completely agree with this, some of our fans need to wake up, have a reality check and realise that our squad isn't very good.

Honestly I look at it and I'm not even sure it is as good a squad as the one that went down under Coyle and Mowbray. 

Just now, davulsukur said:

Not really a team of kids today though:

Pears - 25

JRC - 24

Hyam - 28

Wharton - 26

Chrisene - 20

Tronstad - 28

Moran - 20

Dolan - 22

Gallagher - 28

Szmodics - 28

Sigurdsson - 24

Even more concerning we put in such a poor performance with those players.

 

It's just not a very good team. How many of those would you say are good solid Championship players 3 or 4 I'd say. I think some people overestimate our team but you look at that starting line up and bench today and it is a bottom 3rd squad.

15 minutes ago, SBlue said:

At last, a bit of balance. I’d say jury is still out on Sigurdsson, certainly made sense on paper, and I definitely rate Brittain.

Biggest and best signing he made was JDT. A masterstroke under any half functional administration imo

 

I don't rate Brittain one bit and whilst Siggurdsson is a decent footballer I don't think he looks suited to English football. JDT was a great appointment but then Broughton has let him down consistently in the transfer market.

2 minutes ago, SBlue said:

Mowbray probably thinks Messi is a good player. Still have to go and sign him 😂

Broughton isn’t a scout or an analyst, he’s a Director of Football. He brought Szmodics to the club, the end.

Even you you want to count them as his singings before this window in Broughton's time here we have brought in 14 players. Three of them have been good singings Szmodics, Hyam & Tronstad. Then you have Hill who was decent, the rest have been disappointments. 3-4 good singings out of 14 is a success rate of about 30% for a club whose finances are tight that is not anywhere near a good enough success rate.

4 minutes ago, J*B said:

Was there? I hadn’t seen that reported, can you link it? My understanding was that Ayala, Dack, Brereton etc where all let go because JDT and GB thought the funds could be better used elsewhere. We signed three players - Ennis, Sigurdsson and Tronstad, then “the project changed”.

But we have signed Sigurdsson on a permanent since then granted it does technically kick in until next season but it seems unlikely that he'd commit in December to sign for next season on a lower wage than we are currently paying him.

12 hours ago, Exiled_Rover said:

Or that's all Stoke want to commit to...

Well Evidently. But given he had 3.5 years left here and we evidently wanted him of the books I suspect we came to an agreement with him for him to get some of his salary (probably a year) from us.

Pleasantly surprised to wake up this morning and see the Fleck signing, good player and a good signing. But a 6 month contract? This whole window has basically been a 6 month sticking plaster and nothing resembling the 'player trading model' that has previously been spoken of.

2 minutes ago, tomphil said:

There'll be no profit in Ennis he wasn't here for free and will have been paid up to go so great business it isn't don't be fooled.

However as damage limitation goes then fair enough at least hes gone.

Given he has only signed a 2 and a half year deal at Stoke I'd suspect that we probably paid him or are paying him a years salary.

The squad is undoubtedly weaker than it was at the start of the window. To let Travis and Wharton go and not replace either really beggars belief or at least it should do but sadly these days it doesn't. With the exception of Tronstad that is a League 1 standard midfield at best.

1 hour ago, matt83 said:

A kid who’s played 8 professional games for Dunkirk. Marvellous. 

Well we are most likely going to need some Dunkirk spirit for the rest of the season.

9 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

We have Tronstad, Garrett, Ayari, JRC, Buckley(back soon and the ideal player to replace Wharton in the 8 role), potential new signing

Our recruitment should fit the way we play football. 

I'm not sure he would start tbh here. I think Garrett or Ayari will take the place of Wharton

Buckley could barely get a start for 23rd place Sheffield Wednesday and it's only a few months ago you were supporting the decision to farm him out on loan.

The problem with moving JRC to midfield is that then we have no right back.

Garrett is nothing more than a lower league clogger and if you are expecting him replace Wharton then that is where we will end up.

9 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

Travis didn't suit JDT's type of playing style and what he wants from the number 6 role and the number 8 role 

What is it about the last 3 transfer windows that makes you think that JDT's playing style or what he wants has any impact on how the club operates in the transfer market.

7 minutes ago, simongarnerisgod said:

anyone got info on the mystery midfielder??

Just guessing he will be cheap and young.

9 minutes ago, rob_of_the_rovers said:

I'm willing to bet that Koumetio doesn't get a game here

Clinton Mola MK2

Venkys' legacy. A young local lad who supports the club views bloody Crystal Palace as a big club and an honour to play for.

15 minutes ago, ben_the_beast said:

I'm assuming Sigurðsson still counts as a loan. We loaned him for the season with no fee and he's then signed a pre-contract with us which in theory should only be triggered when his contact with Cska Moscow expires. 

He's never been a loan as he has suspended his contract with CSKA.

16 minutes ago, Mars Rover said:

Elokobi would provide plenty of experience

He is only a year older than our new centre back.

3 minutes ago, Neal said:

Would be a cracker, heavily linked with Celtic. If we moved, you know they would blow us out the water immediately. 

Not now Lawwell's back there they wouldn't

6 minutes ago, islander200 said:

Again I am not saying he has done excellent but he hasn't been totally shit and the circumstances he came to the club under have changed, including his budget.Some of ye expect to turn water into wine.Nobody in the championship Is challenging with the budget he had.And no centre forward that cost 300 grand is banging them in either 

Will Keane has 9 goals for Preston this season signed for a nominal fee rumoured to have been around £50K. Given he has been loaned out by Huddersfield I would imagine £300K would have been more than enough to get Jordan Rhodes he might well be 33 but I would still be backing him to outscore Telaovic & Ennis. Alfie May who scored 43 goals in the last two seasons in League 1 (for comparison Ennis manged 15 in a far better team) moved to Charlton for £250K where he already has 16 goals in a very average team. 

6 minutes ago, robfranlong81 said:

Just seen Boro are selling Rogers to Villa.  Follows on from selling Akpom in the summer. 

Clubs have to trade and that invariably involves losing your most valuable assets - i.e the ones that will command the biggest fees.  Unfortunately it's the way it has to be. 

The big difference is Steve Gibson will reinvest a decent chunk that money our owners won't.

47 minutes ago, islander200 said:

Again can you point me towards the strikers in this league of a decent standard that he could have signed with his budget?

It's not my job to but I would hope that had I brought in 3 centre forwards to the club they would have a better strike rate than 0 goals in 31 league appearances combined.

1 minute ago, booth said:

Broughton isn't perfect, but it's stuff like this that excuses the owners.

Broughton is a symptom of the owners he is yet another an incompetent chancer who talks a good game but in reality is well out of his depth.