January 2025 Transfer Window

I see Peps argument but for me in principle he's wrong. Football is still position specific just that the positions in a traditional sense have changed. Centre backs will always be centre backs, this playstation FIFA idea might work a TV screen but players will always have an asset to their game that determines where they play. Most kids there days are athletes so the specialist box to box player is dying off, but you can't fill your team with them as you need a creative spark somewhere, this usually ends up in the now infamous '10' role. Alongside that you need the Kante type who breaks up play by never stopping running, the list goes on dependant on your managers style.

 

Yes they would, all we do is speculate about players we think we should sign. The manager will sign who he feels will fit his system.

 

We're in division 2 you need a big centre forward like cook whatever your formation , who scores goals .we have no one like him unfortunately can't see us going up this year , another year in division 2 !

 

I doubt GA even looked for a like for like replacement for Andy Cook. He was more likely to look for someone who can play the role Kavanagh plays but better.

 

Connor Wickham probably has more the attributes we need, but his injury record is terrible, hence him being available.

May not be a bad shout for GA to get 1 or more down on trial with a view to the end of the season though.

Are there any non-UK options on a free? Like Derbyshire but better

 

Goal scorers are always the hardest and most expensive to find.
I just get the feeling we did not even try and goals win you games.
Yes we have had a good run before Saturday and that game had virtually nothing in it , bar our bad defending for their goal.
I hope i am wrong and we pick up the pace again on Saturday, but i and we have been here before.
Kelly and Richards injured and they were quickly covered, partly because of transfer day. I just felt if we pushed the boat out a little more, that boost could just push us over the line come May.

 

Obviously it doesn't work around the pitch, there will always be certain slots. But more and more you aren't seeing a traditional striker or winger anymore coming onto the scenes. The full back doesn't really exists anymore. Looking at the most recent England U21 squad, Liam Delap is the only out and out striker they call up. Since 2021, only him and Stansfield at Birmingham have been what you'd call a striker, but the other attackers are Hutchinson, Philogene, Dibling, Rak-Sakyi, Gittens or Morgan Rogers. All players who'll play any of these fluid roles in the final third rather than traditional wingers, midfielders or strikers. Rico Lewis, Livramento, Lewis Hall, these lads aren't just one sided fullbacks anymore, they are wing backs who play boths sides on most cases. Lewis-Skelly at Arsenal is another who was a midfielder now playing LWB or left back at the minute. Archie Gray should be a midfielder but is playing anywhere but keeper at the minute. Jobe is following Judes path of starting as a sitting midfielder but playing more and more forward.

With how the games evolving and these U21s are cropping through, it's becoming a less rigid play and these lads need to know to play multiple areas rather than being an old style CM, Striker, winger etc.

 

We won't win many headers from long balls with Kav up front. I hope the club know what they are doing, experience suggests maybe not, bottom line I feel is the budget is spent as we have signed a lot of players, and they dont want to pay over the odds for a striker.

 

All irrelevant, GA won't be interested.

 

We all see things differently , however I do see a budget that can’t afford an established goal scorer, and that’s what it boils down to not social media nonsense . Not one club in this division and probably only Wrexham in L1 have paid top dollar in signings and wages to buy one , or in their case two such players . The rest are kids or players out of favour with their existing clubs, like Leigh as a classic example . The fact he can play the false 9 AND attacking midfielder says it’s a decent bit of business which I’m sure we all agree?

 

I think its a 7.5 out of 10 for this window.
If we could have moved Oduor and probably Byrne on that would have made it better, can not see either being any where near a league match squad. Might have made a bit more room in the budget.
Walker is an odd one, undoubted talent , but commitment and fitness levels looked poor so far this season.
I bet he wishes he had taken the new contract last summer, yes less weekly money, but for a longer period i am pretty sure it pissed the club off as well.
He needs to be playing, no good just kicking his heels on a match day.

 

I might have no been clear with my point, football is still position specific. A left wing back can't play right wing back, a number 10 can't play the housing midfield, a centre back cannot play wing back, you can put them in those positions but lose the effectiveness of the position they play. All sport is the same, every player brings something to the table that determines where he plays. Cricket for instance, why do batsmen come in at the fall of a specific wicket? Why do only some batsmen open the innings and some can't, they all just hold a bat right?

 

I'm agreeing with you if I wasn't clear. But my point was the way these kids are coming through, they aren't being taught to just play right back anymore, they play full back/wing back and more often than not these ones in the prem that are U21 and breaking through like Lewis, Livramento etc are used on the right and the left. Same with the forwards, they aren't coming out the academies after being taught to play as a left winger anymore, they all have to play both sides and switch often throughout the games. Even the 10s have to, guys like Rogers at Villa, Palmer started as a 10 and still floats there, Foden is all over the top up top. the 10s have to be fluid and be effective out wide now too.

I think the point that Pep made is that footballers coming through now aren't set in stone and gone are the days of maybe 8/9 outfielders in traditional positions and you have 1/2 players who are more free roles or switch roles. Now it's probably split where half your outfield play a set role and the other half can switch roles in a setup and play on either side of the pitch.

 

I’d have said around 7/10 , however moving Oliver , although not I guess all his wages, and Smith have been beneficial. What is totally surprising to me , for all his past attributes, Walker hasn’t gone to one of the bottom half clubs in the division? Do they think his time is up, I don’t , he can do a job for sure, but where he sits now he will be nothing more than a bit part in the squad. A shame , because I thought he’s a decent player but not quite up to our requirements at this moment in time.

 

Yeah there's a core of very fit athletes around the centre of the park who's job it to run and press and be competent enough to give the ball to the talented footballers who can are the game changers. It's why nowadays pace and athleticism come before anything else, can't carry passengers when it comes to pressing sides. Actually my big gripe with academies, they churn out 90% robots for this very role, can lead to very boring games of football.

 

GA for the last few weeks has been consistent in saying we didn’t need any further forwards. We have had two sat in the stands all season. The key to our fortunes is keeping our midfielders fit especially Pattison and Sarcevic and we can hope that there Squad replacements are up to it

 

I remember thinking when we played Reading in the quarter final of the FA Cup, that they all seemed to be 6ft + without an ounce of fat on them. Total athletes.

 

On Walker, if we go out tonight against Rotherham he is a member of an expensive group where we will have him, Oduor, Byrne and maybe Benn just sat in the stands awaiting injuries to fall and we'll have a good £10k+ in the stands every week. I think Walker is the one who might get a chance over the rest really. Looking at his output for people in the roles he will fight for, this has probably been his least productive season at City but he still could do a job. Goal involvements below, not enough data for Lapslie or Leigh this season, but here are the rest who might play in those supporting roles:
Sarcevic - 2 goals 4 assists in 1072 mins - GI every 179 mins
Pattison - 5 goals 4 assists in 1433 mins - GI every 159 mins
Pointon - 4 goals 3 assists in 1982 mins - GI every 283 mins
Walker - 1 goal 3 assists in 1522 mins - GI every 380 mins
Oduor - 2 goals 1 assist in 1260 mins - GI every 420 mins
Wright - 2 assists in 1104 mins - GI every 552 mins

I'd say Lapslie and Leigh are ahead of him too, so maybe he needs a few injuries to feature but Sarce and Pattison have shown issues so far. Wright is probably going to be LWB cover until Richards is back. He's currently down the order but if injuries and rotation set in, he might get a shot. I know hindsight is a great thing, but I'd maybe not have made the move for Lapslie without having Walker out the door. It already seems that Lapslie is 4th/5th choice in those attacking mid slots and wont play unless injuries come in. And that extra money might have been useful if we did want a forward.

 

That’s squad football……I’d hate to look in detail at a CC squad …say Boro in comparison? That has to be an aspiration so look at their squad depth and what it costs ? Probably terrifying numbers!