First team squad

End of the season we are going to see a few contracts up leaving us with something like this:

GK- Krul, Elliot, Harper, Foster- Now Harper is out of favour and Foster looking likely to be sold on. That leaves us with 2 keepers, one unproven. Jack Alnwick in the u18s is a good prospect from what i hear but we could do with another, preferably with prem experience, if we are shipping out Foster and Harper. Personally i would keep Harper for what would be his final season but i think Pards has his sights set on shipping him out. Probably due to the wages. Maybe try and nick Ben Foster on the cheap from under West Broms noses if Birmingham dont come up?


Def- Simpson, Raylor, Santon, Taylor, Col, Williamson, Perch- We would do well to get rid of Perch although Pardew seems to like to play him for some reason, he could be the new Ameobi.... only the manager knows why he plays. We definately need a new CB, one who can challenge for a first team spot not just a squad player (Mariappa may not cut it). I suspect Simpson will be offloaded due to his stalling on contract negotiations (not that i will be too arsed mind) so he will need replaced (Pieters?, Clyne?). Col's contract is due to expire next season, do we cash in? Cant see him signing a new deal being on £80k a week and approaching the wrong side of 30. Everything goes against our current transfer policy. He has been one of the stand out players of this season so fingers crossed. We will at least get one more season out of him so if someone isnt brought in the summer as a replacement he will need replaced next season.

Mid- Cabaye, Tiote, Guthrie, Gosling, Obertan, HBA, Jonas, Ferguson, Marveux, Abeid, Smith- I have always criticised Guthrie, to be fair he has been **** or injured for a good few seasons. I would like to see him sign on though for a few more seasons. Gosling hasnt looked great, possibly could be shipped? there were noises about loaning him out in January? We need another CM to challenge Tiote and Cabaye in an ideal world, financially we might not be able to but we have looked terrible with them missing. Obertan needs dropping and HBA should play on the wing. Midfield is a strong point for us and Marveux will be like a new recruit having sat this season out (so long as he doesnt get crocked again). We were sniffing around a few French midfielders in the January window so see if we can unearth another gem. Smith will be gone at long last!!!

Att- Ba, Cisse, Ameobi, Best, Lovenkrands, Ranger, Xisco, Vuckic, Sameobi- The arrival of Cisse will hopefully lead to alot more goals and take a bit of pressure off Ba having to provide all our goals!!! Lovenkrands will be away, Ranger is being touted to leave, Xisco is pony, Ameobi is pony, Best is pony, Vuckic and Sameobi arent ready yet. I think we need another striker in to push Cisse and Ba.

Smith and Lovenkrands will be away and to be fair wont be missed, hopefully Guthrie will stop. Ranger, Harper and Foster will probably be sold. Simpson, Gosling, Best and Colocinni may also be sold. Heres hoping none of our better players are!!! Thats 9-10 first team players potentially leaving a squad which were already desperate for a CB. If this happens we will need a keeper, CBx2, RB, CMx2 (one to replace Guthrie if he goes, if not one should do) and a striker. 10 out 7 in, yes the squad reduces but we are top heavy on strikers anyway.

There are also 13 reserve players being let go at the end of the year. Coming through we have Ferguson, Abeid, Vuckic and Sameobi. Not much to shout about there although i have been impressed with Ferguson.

Could be.... or rather i hope it is, a busy summer. If we can get strength in depth, cut free the poor squad players and replace them with ones who can challenge the first team, we could have an even better season next year.

 

Ideal Shopping list:

A quality LB
Back-up CB (better than Willo)
Young player who can cover both full-back postions
Back-up CM
Young winger (Abeid-esque)
Young, back-up striker (someone like Mayuka, Luuk de Jong etc.)

 

Realist shopping list:

CB
LB

 

I'd say I probably have a little more faith in our youngsters, Vuckic will use Cardiff (where he will hopefully be for the remainder of the season) as a steep learning curve, he seems to be getting a lot from it. In his appearances for us he looks very bright and with more games under his belt should start getting involved a bit more. Ferguson I think is comfortably in our squad as cover, eased in I can see him becoming a regular. Sammy has talent but is very raw, needs loaning out but I can see him being a useful squad player. I can't comment too much on Abeid but by all reports has been impressive.

Just to add, Perch has looked okay in midfield and isn't on very high wages, okay as 4th choice I'd say. Dismissing Ameobi and Best as 'pony' though, how many clubs in the league have better 3rd/4th choice strikers? We can't have the same depth as Man City!


The Colo factor is a big one, a real test for our new financial policy.

 

Interesting read.. I do agree with the goalkeepers part, although i dont want Forster or Harper to be sold.

But.. i strongly disagree with the Perch matter. He has proved he can come in and do a good job for us. Its a lot like the Raylor situation, he was poor, got a good chance and now is a pretty good left back/good squad player. For the wages Perch is on i reckon he is good to have around the team.

I sort of agree with the Benny and Gosling points. Gosling has been pants when he comes on, he gets in some good forward positions but other than that i dont rate him yet. Although he is very young and we should keep him to see how he develops, he needs a good chance. With Benny, he is a world class player on his day, but his day only comes once every few weeks, if he can sort out his consistency and keeping hold of the ball he would be a regular in practically any team.

Regarding the strikers.. Best is not at all "pony" .. he is a great little player to have around to step in when needed, very little wages, great touch, good finisher and good work rate. Im not saying he is a first teamer but he is quite young as well so can only improve. Lovenkrands i believe will be missed, he has been a decent player for us, never once moaned about not playing apart from recently and is a top class professional/gentleman by the looks of things. Good luck to him if he leaves.

Also your shopping list is very very ambitious .. i know we got quite a few players last summer but we aint going to sign 5-10 players every summer.

 

New good young'uns coming in the summer.........go to bed now everyone.............

 

Just to add, Perch has looked okay in midfield and isn't on very high wages, okay as 4th choice I'd say. Dismissing Ameobi and Best as 'pony' though, how many clubs in the league have better 3rd/4th choice strikers? We can't have the same depth as Man City!
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Perch has been better lately and maybe he's just finding his real position.