2019/20 Marcel Brands

[orly]

I've said before, there's absolutely nothing wrong with signing a load of players at the same time. There are countless examples of it working perfectly.

Our problem last season was that many of the players we signed simply weren't good enough. Whether we signed 2 players or 20, Michael Keane would still have turned like a cruiseliner, and Sandro still wouldn't have been able to hit a barndoor. It's just putting two and two together and getting 5 to think our problems were related to the number of incomings.

If we recruit properly, by identifying the areas that need strengthening and bringing in players of sufficient quality, bringing in 7-8 players would not necessarily be a bad thing.

The thing is with Sandro, £5m for his goal return in Spain was worth the risk

£30m for Keane , £45m for Sig, £28m for Bolasie, those are utterly without justification

This time round, I think we will be more careful, maybe sell lots and only perhaps buy 4 players

 

[Barnfred 55]

Brands whose main signings have been around 5m and Silva who got hull relegated and got sacked at watford.

Is this really a step up.

Are you really asking the question is this a step up? Over Allardyce and Walsh.

Morcambe and Wise would have been a step up over those 2.

 

[Lanolin]

The thing is with Sandro, £5m for his goal return in Spain was worth the risk

£30m for Keane , £45m for Sig, £28m for Bolasie, those are utterly without justification

Oh yeah, I agree. I don't mind admitting that the Sandro signing really excited me at the time, I wasn't expecting wonders but I thought he could be a bargain. To be fair, if we sell him for a slight profit it's still not too bad a deal all things considered.

 

[orly]

Oh yeah, I agree. I don't mind admitting that the Sandro signing really excited me at the time, I wasn't expecting wonders but I thought he could be a bargain. To be fair, if we sell him for a slight profit it's still not too bad a deal all things considered.

I reckon we may make some money on him possibly, although his loan was so poor. Gylfi, Keane, Bolasie, not sure we will even get 50% back on what we paid, let alone wages and bonuses over that time. Incredibly poor business.

 

[BlueToff]

It depends what you mean by working wonders, but the best example of it having a huge impact would probably be Leicester, who finished 14th in 2015, brought in 7 first team players (and 2 more in January) and won the league in 2016. City have brought in 6 (effectively 7 due to Zinchenko having been immediately loaned out last season) this year and won the league, while Brighton (11) and Huddersfield (12) would argue that they've had successful seasons in a relative sense.

We brought in 10 last year and like you I don't think it was the amount of players that were the issue as such, but either the quality or their roles in the team not being defined. The issue perhaps wasn't who we signed, but who we didn't sign (a striker, a left-back).

However, because of the amount we brought in, we then had a squad of close to 30 including the young players and it all adds up.

I'd rather bring in 5-6 quality players with clear, defined roles in the side/squad, than 7-8 players who haven't got defined roles/uses, even if the quality is there (I think this has been part of Klaassen/Sandro failures, and was also part of the reason Sigurdsson struggled (as well as fitness).

We have a massive squad as it is and need to trim it.

We definitely need a left-back, a quality centre-back and a back-up goalkeeper. Those are musts.

We should be targeting a powerful central-midfield player who also has quality on the ball (I think Doucoure would be ideal, and someone like Serri from Nice could also be this type of player).

A striker like Dembele I think would be perfect for us, but there isn't enough room for four strikers in this squad. This is where the manager will have to decide whether he wants DCL or Niasse to stay moving forward.

Then the other position to target could be a quality winger/wide playmaker. Lozano would be a fantastic addition. However, this would also require us to ship one of our current wingers out - I do still like Bolasie and want to see what he can do after a pre-season with us, which he has never had, but he'd be the first to go out of the current bunch. We also need to ensure that wouldn't block the path of Lookman or Vlasic.

In terms of outs, this is the big area we need to focus on as well.

Definites
- Robles (free)
- Stek (free)
- Mori (he's a liability, get rid)
- Williams (stopped being arsed last September, he'll be gone)
- Martina (if anybody offers money, he'll probably be gone)
- Besic (Boro will probably take him or he'll go to Europe)

Maybes
- Bolasie (see my comments above)
- Niasse (see above)
- Klaassen
- Rooney
- Sandro
- Schneiderlin

 

[toffeejack]

We brought in 10 last year and like you I don't think it was the amount of players that were the issue as such, but either the quality or their roles in the team not being defined. The issue perhaps wasn't who we signed, but who we didn't sign (a striker, a left-back).

However, because of the amount we brought in, we then had a squad of close to 30 including the young players and it all adds up.

I'd rather bring in 5-6 quality players with clear, defined roles in the side/squad, than 7-8 players who haven't got defined roles/uses, even if the quality is there (I think this has been part of Klaassen/Sandro failures, and was also part of the reason Sigurdsson struggled (as well as fitness).

We have a massive squad as it is and need to trim it.

We definitely need a left-back, a quality centre-back and a back-up goalkeeper. Those are musts.

We should be targeting a powerful central-midfield player who also has quality on the ball (I think Doucoure would be ideal, and someone like Serri from Nice could also be this type of player).

A striker like Dembele I think would be perfect for us, but there isn't enough room for four strikers in this squad. This is where the manager will have to decide whether he wants DCL or Niasse to stay moving forward.

Then the other position to target could be a quality winger/wide playmaker. Lozano would be a fantastic addition. However, this would also require us to ship one of our current wingers out - I do still like Bolasie and want to see what he can do after a pre-season with us, which he has never had, but he'd be the first to go out of the current bunch. We also need to ensure that wouldn't block the path of Lookman or Vlasic.

In terms of outs, this is the big area we need to focus on as well.

Definites
- Robles (free)
- Stek (free)
- Mori (he's a liability, get rid)
- Williams (stopped being arsed last September, he'll be gone)
- Martina (if anybody offers money, he'll probably be gone)
- Besic (Boro will probably take him or he'll go to Europe)

Maybes
- Bolasie (see my comments above)
- Niasse (see above)
- Klaassen
- Rooney
- Sandro
- Schneiderlin

I'd keep steak this summer tbh, don't really need to be make extra effort to fix that position as well, a Robles replacement can be one of the last things to look at, we don't really need to make it a necessity.

Id be happy keeping niasse, but we need to spend big on a proper striker. Think niasse is a great option to have as third choice striker, suppose we always have Walcott as another option if we did sell him though. DCL needs to go out on loan though, he's shown something last season tbf, but needs a loan like tammy Abraham has just had.

 

[Jt5688]

They would kill for him back. They now realise how good he was and what he did.

They’ve strolled to the last two titles, as a they did with Pep and they’ve been knocked out narrowly by Real Madrid in the quarters last year and semis this year. They’re doing exactly how they did whilst he was still there....

 

[toffeejack]

I'd also keep mori, I still think a good manager can actually get him playing well. We desperately need rid of Williams and jagielka this summer, we don't need to make that three, regardless of my lack of confidence in Keane and to an extent mori himself.

 

[Pabbers]

They’ve strolled to the last two titles, as a they did with Pep and they’ve been knocked out narrowly by Real Madrid in the quarters last year and semis this year. They’re doing exactly how they did whilst he was still there....

Im just repeating what ive heard German journo's say mate.

 

[Albro]

Cannot believe some actually think ridding of Mori is a good idea. Despite how bad some people think he is, we still have Jags, William's and Keane on our list who are all worse. Let's not sweat on a relatively unproven Holgate either. At the least Mori is a perfect back up.

Literally the least of our concerns.

Same with Martina.

 

[Seathestars]

The slug has left, Gravy Train Steve has left, Elstone has left, all in the space of two days.

The board has been restructured and we have a proper DOF.

We`ll have a new manager very soon.

Can we not just be happy for a few days , before we start with the moaning again ?

Thanks in advance x

I don’t think it’s moaning mate, just people giving opinions and I agree with @BigBlueNose AKA Frank AKA ChEeRs tEd
I’m not sure Silva would be the right man, not when the likes of Benitez is in reach. I’d even go for LVG before Silva.

 

[Seathestars]

I think we need to spend a lot.

Pickford
Coleman ? ? ?
?
Walcott Sigurdsson Lookman
? Tosun

At least 5 first team players are needed. £200m needs spending, IMO.

I think it could be mate. But the Mosh is not likely to say we’ve got 200 to spend, otherwise people will take the proverbial.

 

[BlueToff]

Cannot believe some actually think ridding of Mori is a good idea. Despite how bad some people think he is, we still have Jags, William's and Keane on our list who are all worse.

Literally the least of our concerns.

Same with Martina.

Jagielka is far better than Mori.

He's still our best defender.

Keane stays. The quality is there.

Mori is a liability. Hot-headed when it comes to rushing into tackles. He's all over the place.

I like him as a person, seems great, but he's nowhere near good enough.

Our CBs next season should be:

- New CB, ideally in their prime. Quality.
- Keane
- Holgate
- Jags
- Feeney

 

[havrey0123]

Are you really asking the question is this a step up? Over Allardyce and Walsh.

Morcambe and Wise would have been a step up over those 2.

Walsh came on the back of some decent signings from leicester so you can see why he was offered the job. And allardyce has a reputation for keeping clubs up, again you can see why he was signed at the time.

Brands and Silva have no pedigree what so ever.
It's like giving someone the job of being a surgeon after only completing 1 year of a medicine degree.

 

[Albro]

Jagielka is far better than Mori.

He's still our best defender.

Keane stays. The quality is there.

Mori is a liability. Hot-headed when it comes to rushing into tackles. He's all over the place.

I like him as a person, seems great, but he's nowhere near good enough.

Our CBs next season should be:

- New CB, ideally in their prime. Quality.
- Keane
- Holgate
- Jags
- Feeney

Disagree entirely.
Mori at this stage is our best defender. Strongest, best in the air, and quickest.

Far more mobile than Jags and Keane. And Jags ain't getting younger.

Not a massive drain on wages either.

The red card against Liverpool was like 3 years ago, let's all get over it for crying out loud. It was only 18 months ago that some of Europes biggest clubs were sniffing around him.