January 26 transfer rumours

It’s been said many times but January should never be a massive rebuild.
It should always be about tweaking your11 and improving the squad.

These new players definitely improve our 18 and give us different options.
Looks like we’ll be putting round pegs in round holes for a change.

 

Yep agree with all of that. My QPR supporting mate rates Ashby even though he didn’t play much there - I’m hoping he provides good cover for Neufville and pushes him to at his peak, similar to Halliday at the beginning of the season.

White hasn’t had the easiest start and don’t think GA helped him by starting him at Huddersfield. Hopefully he picks up.

The rest are improvements on the squad IMO, as previously wrote. I can’t help but think Sibley has a spark, something different to the rest of the squad, and if we can work out where best he fits in, he could be very useful.

 

I understand what we've attempted to do, and that's sign a generally higher calibre of player.

Has it worked?

Tom McIntyre => No Replacement
Neill Byrne => No Replacement
Lewis Richards => Louie Sibley (?)
Brad Halliday => Harrison Ashby
Alex Pattison => Lee Evans
Tommy Leigh => Joe White
Calum Kavanagh => Kayden Jackson AND Ethan Wheatley
Andy Cook => Paul Mullin

We have considerably fewer options in defence, but considerably more options in attack.

Considering we were absolutely bare bones in defence earlier in the season, this is a big, big risk for the back line. I would have thought one centre back would have come in, especially since we actually did have to call on Byrne and McIntyre at times.

Up front, though, looks like a solid upgrade. Kav wasn't going to get played as the spearhead, and Jackson and Wheatley are probably both better playing either side - where Kav wasn't particularly good. I adore Cook, as most City fans will continue to do so, but Mullin feels a bit like a younger version. I've no doubt Mullin could score a bunch in L2, but at L1 it's as much about doing the dirty work as scoring the goals as neither really have an ideal track record of sticking the ball in the net. With Mullin relatively injury free and a bit of a shithouse by the look of it, I'm confident he'll do a good job here even if he doesn't hit Cook's L2 heights.

Midfield is okay, Leigh didn't fit, but Evans is an obvious back up to Power - and much needed. I think the fact we've only signed Evans until the end of the season shows the confidence isn't really there, but he can more than fill in for either Metcalfe or Power, even if he's probably just that: back up.

Brad wasn't playing, and while Ashby and White have had a rough start, if they're on the bench most of the time then it's hard to call them a downgrade.

Ultimately, what happens with injuries among the backline will dictate how successful the window has been.

I'd call it a push right now. If the backline stays injury free, then I think we've definitely upgraded overall with the front 3 and central midfield needing the most reinforcing, BUT if they continue to struggle with fitness, well, we could find ourselves in a bit of bother, frankly.

I'll wait and see. We should have more goals in us now if all goes well.

 

Whilst I don't feel overly impressed with the window, that may be recency bias and an allegiance and bond towards a couple of players that have left.

In a way though, I see this window as very similar to last January in that we didn't sign anyone particularly special ( from memory) however we did ensure we had like for like cover and able deputies for players missing a game etc and look how that turned out.

The squad players have probably improved a tad, which is a good thing as the bench has begun to look a bit threadbre

 

The attack is definitely much stronger

we are no longer reliant on Humphrys leading the line as Mullin is an out an out striker and Wheatley and Jackson can also play there if required

I would like to hope it pushes Humphrys out wide and onto the left, especially during away games where Pointon Tends to fade

Jackson I believe is excellent cover for Sarc. Has similar levels of aggression but is more dynamic, which our forward line needs

Ashby is good cover for Neufville, although I do have a feeling he will become very prominent on the left, as I can see Touray filling at LCB, which would be ideal. Kelly is only decent in certain games there. As for Tilt, I said it at the start of the season, he belongs in the middle of the back 3, on the left he looks poor and unfortunately that has come to fruition

we also need to hope that Baldwin and Pennington don’t get injured because then we really are in trouble. I am fully expecting a CB to come in on as a free agent, that very well being McIntyre who I wouldn’t mind in the slightest

 

Final Squad

GK - Walker, Hilton

RWB - Neufville, Ashby
RCB - Baldwin, Pennington
CB - Wright, Tilt
LCB - Kelly
LWB - Touray, Wright

CM - Power, Metcalfe, White, Evans
LAM - Pointon, Sibley
RAM - Sarcevic, Jackson, Lapslie

ST - Humphrys, Swan, Mullin, Wheatley



Ins - Sibley, White, Ashby, Mullin, Jackson, Wheatley, Evans

Outs - Pattison, Halliday, Cook, McInytre, Richards, Bryne, Kavannagh, Leigh


Not sure when the submission for squad lists is, post January window, but will be interesting to see if Powell is still a part of the squad

 

Vadaine Oliver with 127?

 

My thoughts were the same going into the window, 3 or 4 quality additions and we'd be in with a good chance. I also think you might be right that we've been beaten to some of our targets by clubs with more spending power than us so we've maybe ended up with 2nd, 3rd or even 4th choice players rather than the ones we really wanted.

That said though, Sibley came in very early, Ashby and White weren't far behind and Wheatley's name has been there since the beginning of January, even if he didn't get announced until yesterday. That's 4 of the 7 new arrivals that appear to have been at the top or very close to the top of our list from the start. Those 4 players may well go on to do a great job for us but from what we've seen of them/know of them so far, they don't scream promotion material in terms of quality or Sibley aside, experience.

The other 3 arrivals seem to have been panic signings following our recent bad run of results and injuries to Swan and Sarc. I said a few days ago that their injuries may turn out to have been a blessing in disguise as I very much doubt we'd have seen Mullin and Jackson (or alternatives) arrive if both those players had been fit.
Evans looks to have come about pretty much last minute as a replacement for Leigh and I do think he's an upgrade and will be a decent deputy for Power or Metcalfe.

Overall, a bit of an underwhelming window given where we were at the start of January and the real opportunity we had to push on and consolidate our position in the top 6 or even at a push with the right additions, 2nd. It feels like we've gone with a softly, softly, don't push the boat out kind of approach which may still pay off but if it doesn't, I don't think I'll be the only one feeling miffed at the end of the season that we didn't grab the opportunity when it was there for the taking.

 

Just harbouring on the McIntyre question. Strictly that doesn’t make any sense for the player whatsoever?
GA advised him to further his career he needs to move on as he won’t get game time, and some want him to return to get no game time ? Sorry I can’t get my head round that conundrum.

 

Impressive January window even by our standards.

No one should be complaining.

 

he's spotted that after a couple of games yet he still hasn't realised the experiment of playing Humph as a centre forward / target man isn't working....or he's too stubborn to admit it

 

I’m not convinced Offy.

 

Just realised that Kamil Conteh, the young DM that we were linked to a few windows back after he did well at Grimsby moved yesterday. Grimsby sold him to Bristol Rovers for £300k in Jan 2024 and he's been with them since, but last night they loaned him out to Lincoln. He's gone from a L2 relegation scrap to a L1 promotion battle on loan. Sounds like a try before you buy kinda deal.

 

I was told, before the transfer window opened, we were keen to bring him in on a permanent deal but couldn’t reach agreement on a fee and so it fizzled out

 

Well that was a busy transfer window
The players that have come in have generally played at a higher level than the ones who have left . Hopefully they settle in quickly
18games left 8 wins and 2 draws with 8 defeats
Sees us finish on 75 points and should be good enough for the playoffs
As a newly promoted team that is a great achievement and in one off games anything can happen
I don’t think we will be promoted personally, but good recruitment in the summer and the foundations are laid for further success

 

I wonder if GA has his eyes on another free agent centre back? Not sure who but maybe someone else released or who’s played abroad and is now available similar to Power.
Or will Goodman be the backup? Not sure how he’s done at Guisely

 

I'll be honest, I'm confused by our approach to January. Anyone else feel it was chaotic and reactionary?

Going into January I felt we just needed tweaks. Shift 4 or 5 of the fringe players on (Byrne, Kavanagh, Leigh, Powell, McIntyre going back). I wouldn't have been in a rush to let any of Cook, Halliday or Pattison go. And then I think we needed just 2 or 3 in. A striker, a midfielder and a 10 - but with emphasis on quality over quantity. We seem to have gone the other way and really pushed for numbers. And I'm not bowled over by any of the loans, though I hope Mullin is a strong addition and he does have a decent record.

Something about it just feels off. I think we've mismanaged it, and missed a really good opportunity to make specific tweaks to build on the first half of the season.

 

I think your other 3 includes Jackson who I wouldn't regard as a panic signing. I think the club have been looking for someone to compete with/potentially take over from Sarcevic and he is capable of doing that. Not sure if he was our first choice or not but that signing makes sense to me.

I wish we'd brought someone similar in for the left.

 

Not many out there, but I did see that Kortney Hause is trying to make a comeback now. He was a decent CB about 4 or 5 years ago for Wolves and Villa in the CH, then he has just had a nightmare of a career since 2022 with a knee issue that just wouldn't repair. Multiple surgeries and issues with recoveries has pretty much derailed his career, his last competitive appearance was in September 2022, he finally rehabbed enough to comeback for Villa u21s from April last season, then was released in June. He's not been able to find a club since, he's been training with Sheff Weds and apparently turned down an MLS offer because he wants to stay in England. A huge gamble, but he was also a good talent before his issues. But it's pretty much him or McIntyre..... the free agent CB market isnt that deep.

Goodman was playing right back out on loan the last time i checked on him, think he's been extended for the season.

 

I think we've overachieved and are amongst teams with far higher budgets sadly, so I don't think these quality players were available to us at a price we could afford or were willing to pay. But yes, it does feel a bit chaotic, I feel like we've brought in more than needed, but Cook, Halliday and Pattison likely wanted to go due to lack of game time, so we've probably brought in 7 rather than 4 or something like that to replace them.