Transfer Rumours Arrivals / Departures lounges, Summer 2023.

Ida's contract expires in June 2024 , if he doesn't stay fit for most of that time he's not worth keeping in my opinion

 

But who would want him with his injury record. Nobody will pay him not to play.

 

A lot of assumptions being made about Idah's situation based on Michael Bailey's comments. He's on the bench today and unlikely to start a match anytime soon. Is the joint situation long or short term?

 

Not just this season Rick

 

Not "MB's" comments, Rick; he was quoting Dean Smith. My post was in the context of our reported loan interest in Undav, with people asking why there is that interest (if indeed the reports are true). The issue is simply whether Idah having to be "managed" leaves us light in the event of injury to Pukki or Sargent between now and the end of the season; it's not about Idah's future at the club.

 

I wasn't intending to question the veracity of the comments, Robbie, though I can see it sounded like that. My question was about how serious the problem is and whether we need to sign another striker as cover. Idah rarely starts a match which means that when he comes on, it's usually for 15-20 minutes at most.

If either Pukki or Sargent are injured, I doubt that we would play with two strikers from the start. If Sargent wasn't available yesterday, we could have used the same formation with either Cantwell or Hernandez tucked in behind Pukki. That doesn't mean we shouldn't sign Undav on loan, but if we do it would influence any other possible signings.

On a positive note, I'm impressed with Smith's willingness to alter the formation according to the opposition. The 4-3-2-1 with Hayden in the centre of the Christmas tree caused Swansea to struggle in the final third. Even when they did penetrate, they encountered Hayden, McLean and Sara ready to break up attacks. It was one of our best defensive performances this season against quality opposition away from home. Against Blackburn at home, I hope we revert to the diamond to suit Sargent's strengths.

 

Like Daniel Farke, Dean Smith tends to be dismissive of attaching too much importance to "formations". As you've often pointed out, formations easily mutate in the course of a game. To me, the main takeaway from DS's post-match interview was his having told the players they would be judged on "distance", i.e. how disciplined they were in staying compact, limiting the space between the lines and thus making it difficult for Swansea to play through them. Not just out of possession either; he specifically mentioned the need for the CBs to move forward quickly when we had possession, to maintain the same compactness in transition and attack.

 

True Robbie, but in this case the tree shape was pretty consistent, shifting forward and back as a unit situationally and it did stifle Swansea's attempts to go forward. It also had downsides though in terms of movement up front when we attacked. Sara and Sinani did have a bit more freedom as the shape moved forward and back, but Sargent seemed more bound by it, perhaps because he was away at the World Cup. It'll be interesting to see our tactics against Blackburn.

 

Roundup of rumours for January:

https://the72.co.uk/2022/12/14/the-...y-and-the-likelihood-of-each-deal-happening.l

 

I think any deal that relies on us to spend money isn't happening. Highly unlikely we spend anything unless we have money coming in. Maybe the £100k or so windfall from FIFA for Sargent's world cup trip gives us the bonus funds to pay the wages of a loanee, but I can't see anything else happening.

I don't think Smith has extracted enough from the players at his disposal to justify a signing either, there's no clear need in the squad really.

 

True. It's all about the money we don't have unless Aarons or someone else leaves. There's talk of Rashica signing on permanently in Turkey, but that's unlikely before summer. I agree that the squad we have should be enough and it's up to Smith to make that happen.

After Blackburn, we'll be halfway through the season and the chance of automatic promotion seems a long way off. A top 6 finish is a reasonable possibility though, looking at the teams around us.

 

Not sure how you can say auto is a long way of Rick. Going back to our league one campaign we were 11points behind Leeds well into the season and finished 11points ahead of them. The turn over required now is minimal compared to that.

 

Burnley aside, the Blades have only lost 2 fewer matches and converted a load more chances than us, wouldn't say that's 'a long way off'.
Granted so far our players haven't hit the heights many have expected, or perhaps they have and simply aren't as good as people seem to think they are?!? But there's plenty of time to overhaul a 6 point deficit.

 

The key word was 'seems' a long way off. As we reach the halfway point the gap is not insurmountable, but what I'm struggling with is where the improvement is going to come from. Sargent has improved hugely this season and it could be that Pukki is coming out of one of his slow patches now, but they can't do it on their own. The midfield has improved and Hayden finally looked the part against Swansea, but we need more than that if we are to make up lost ground. I hope that happens, but I haven't seen enough yet to convince me that it will. I'll keep hoping though.

 

Does anyone know the deal with Tzolis? I noticed he was back training with us. Is this just until he gets fit again or has his loan ended?

 

I'm pretty sure it's just until he gets fit again when he'll return to the Netherlands.

 

Glimmer of positivity

https://www.pinkun.com/sport/23208605.norwich-city-transfer-rumour-deal-struck-coritibas-thalisson/

 

Looks to have some potential and at 20, some experience as well.

 

I knew you would like that Rick as a glass half full guy



Love to see him next to Omobamidele in the future