January 2018 transfer window thread.

[BlueToff]

Really? bloody hell, is Walsh here just to go on jollies and let the manager pick the players??

What was he hired for again, because it literally makes no sense what he does.

Well a DoF is responsible for all footballing matters around the club. Not just transfers.

Academy side, the set-up seems to be working very very well. It has always been strong and has improved further since Walsh got here.

But Allardyce having to come in and sort out his own sports physologist, sports scientists, staticians etc again shines a light on what Walsh isn't doing. That should already have been set-up. The point of the DoF is to ensure an infrastructure is in place at the club, no matter who the manager is. Then, the other major part is obviously player and coach recruitment. Making sure that there is set template for how we do business.

Serious questions for me now as bar the first point, Walsh seems to be seriously failing at all of the above.

 

[Bebeto]

I really hope the Doucoure rumors are true. Exactly what we need in transition. Really impressed by him. Fast, physical, but his vision and passing are extraordinary. Would transform our midfield IMO.

Still need a LB, though. Just kills us having to cover for Martina all game. Phillip Max for me, but anyone decent will do.

We could not even get their manager so extremely unlikely we will be getting arguably their best player! They will be asking 40 millions or more easy...

 

[Eggs]

..AC Milan DoF is being reported as saying Silva will be going nowhere in this window. Sounds like one rumour we can dismiss.

 

[BlueToff]

Not convinced we'll sign anyone else yanno

Sam has said he wants another two at least, in fairness. S'pose it depends on injured players as well.

Reckon it'll be late in the window though myself, as the main priority will probably be shifting another 3-4 players first and foremost.

Not exactly chuffed with it, but feel it may be the case.

 

[bol-uk]

I really hope the Doucoure rumors are true. Exactly what we need in transition. Really impressed by him. Fast, physical, but his vision and passing are extraordinary. Would transform our midfield IMO.

Still need a LB, though. Just kills us having to cover for Martina all game. Phillip Max for me, but anyone decent will do.

I want him so bad now, just from reading what you put.

 

[chazzle_dazzle]

Well a DoF is responsible for all footballing matters around the club. Not just transfers.

Academy side, the set-up seems to be working very very well. It has always been strong and has improved further since Walsh got here.

But Allardyce having to come in and sort out his own sports physologist, sports scientists, staticians etc again shines a light on what Walsh isn't doing. That should already have been set-up. The point of the DoF is to ensure an infrastructure is in place at the club, no matter who the manager is. Then, the other major part is obviously player and coach recruitment. Making sure that there is set template for how we do business.

Serious questions for me now as bar the first point, Walsh seems to be seriously failing at all of the above.

I think Toff, the main point in his remit to me (like you say above is);

"Define a infrastructure, playing style and identity of the club - so no matter who the manager is the club moves forward" - the joke of the manager recruitment shows we don't have that, they all had vastly differing styles of play.

He is badly failing, he should have just been given the title of head of recruitment, because he has done sod all else - and even the recruitment strategy has been absolutely woeful since he has been here.

The academy am not sure benefits either, haven't we seen a few key people come and go in the last 18 months? including someone who was highly rated here for a week or something?

I know there was rumours of the club being frustrated with what he has brought to the table, my concern is that he has done nothing but strengthen his position with the Allardyce appointment. I have zero confidence in what he does at the club, because in reality no-one know what he does.

 

[ijjysmith]

Sam has said he wants another two at least, in fairness. S'pose it depends on injured players as well.

Reckon it'll be late in the window though myself, as the main priority will probably be shifting another 3-4 players first and foremost.

Not exactly chuffed with it, but feel it may be the case.

I'm so very far from chuffed with everything Everton at the moment that i'm seeing everything in the worst case scenario. Then if something else happens it's a nice shock. My mate messaged me the Angry Birds picture of them welcoming Tosun to the family yesterday. I really really hate Everton at the moment .

I'm finding some of Allardyce's words hard to believe currently (nowhere near Martinez/Koeman levels I should add), so take him with a pinch of salt.

 

[Steve0]

We could not even get their manager so extremely unlikely we will be getting arguably their best player! They will be asking 40 millions or more easy...

Bit more wiggle room with players though, we couldn't wait indefinitely for Silva (didn't want him anyway).

We could offer higher wages than Watford and if he lets it be known he wants to go it puts Watford in a position where they have to decide to keep an unhappy player or let him go for a good fee.

I'd love Doucore here. Very impressed every time I've seen him.

 

[trueblue10]

Think we are waiting on United to act first mate, soon as United sign a new left back - we will move in for Shaw.

Agree with this.

If/when Utd get Rose from spurs, then i think we will be in for either Daley Blind or Luke Shaw

Neither would be my first choice, but beggers can't be choosers, as they say.

 

[blue to the bone]

As long as they're replaced with better players?

Some of them need replacing. But some don't

 

[Mashtray]

I dont understand why we would be stupid enough to pay anything for luke shaw, he was injury prone when he got to utd and still is, his legs are made of paper mache , would last a couple of months and be out again

 

[BlueToff]

I could agree or disagree on different players but, the object still has to be, to replace superfluous players with better versions?

Not entirely, because then you end up with a big and bloated squad and a huge wage bill.

We're now down to one game a week for the rest of the season, with 2-3 breaks for the FA Cup rounds as well.

We can't have a 30-man squad.

We need to dwindle it down to a core of 25 including youth players.

Like @MoutsGoat said, this is how the squad looks as it stands:

*indicates a player currently injured
A player who will leave this window imo

Pickford
Robles (if we get a decent offer this window, sell, as he isn't going to sign a new deal imo)
Stek

Kenny
Coleman*
Martina
Williams
Holgate
Keane
Jagielka
Funes Mori* (think he'll be given the chance to impress once fit in the back half of the season)
Baines*

Besic
Schneiderlin
Gueye
McCarthy
Davies
Baningime (loan)
Klaassen

Lennon
Bolasie
Lookman (loan)
Vlasic
Sigurdsson
Rooney

Sandro
DCL
Niasse
Tosun

Evidently, that's way too big but also imbalanced.

We need to be looking at shifting 2-3 central midfielders. I'd like Klaassen to be given a go, but McCarthy, Schneiderlin, Gueye and Davies are all ahead of him.

If three go, we may see a move for a player like Nzonzi.

We're relatively well-stocked in the wings with Bolasie back. Lookman needs games and needs a loan imo. Like Dowell, to a decent Champ club. Get him back playing regularly, beefing up a bit and hopefully scoring goals/getting assists. Same could also be said for Vlasic, though. So I'd look at one of them going on loan and the other being a regular on the bench. I want both to stay and I feel both will, but atm at least one of them needs regular minutes while the other needs a loan.

Lennon will stay, imo. He may even get a one-year extension, even if it is just to sell in the summer.

Niasse and Sandro will probably both be shown the door, which would mean one more striker coming in. I don't see us having any more or less, tbf, than three strikers come the end of the window.

Other than that, it's clear we need a left-back.

We can dream all we want but I doubt Martina will be going anywhere this window. He'll be off in the summer.

So...

Definite: left-back (or a left-sided defender who can cover a few positions)

Depending on outs: Central midfielder, striker

 

[CRIMHEAD]

We could not even get their manager so extremely unlikely we will be getting arguably their best player! They will be asking 40 millions or more easy...

They should be, but they won't. It's still Watford. The sad part is that Silva with his tactics, if he had a bit more cash, that team could be really good. If they can't move Deeney, they are also sitting on a big wage bill they can't move.

No so sure if I was Doucoure I'd be thrilled to play in a Big Sam side, but I'm sure we'd triple his salary.

 

[BlueToff]

Anyone wanting to keep schneiderlin or McCarthy needs to have a word with themselves.

Why mate?

McCarthy has come in and shown exactly the bite and aggression we've missed in recent months. If he can stay fit he's a useful player in more ways than one. He gets us up the pitch because he presses high. It's a big if though...

Schneiderlin. He was ace last season. He's been crap since. If there's an option to get a quality player like Nzonzi here then we should take it regardless of Schneiderlin staying or going. But it's not a banker he's off.

 

[BlueToff]

Mawson and Silva for reasonable fees would be epic.

Who is this doucoure?

Watford midfielder.

Big, quick, powerful. Their top-scorer this season I believe.

Came in last season as a glut of Mazzarazzi's signings but didn't really get much time until the last few months of the season. He may have been injured in fairness.

He's played pretty much constantly for Silva though and has been really impressive.

Very much a box-to-box midfielder.

Wouldn't really see him as an Nzonzi alternative however. I've said before that Nzonzi is much more of a sitter - a kind of deep-lying playmaker in a sense - than box-to-box.