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Summer Transfer Window 2017

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Mikey_Fitzgerald said:
I'd never even heard of him before this season, so I'm not sure how "highly rated" he was

Had Sunderland not had squad issues he probably wouldn't have even played that much this season. He was thrown in because they had a crisis and he's done well with his chance

Griffiths has been behind more experienced keepers who have both gotten minutes

He's had a mixture of praise and critiques from the clubs he's had loan spells at, which is par for the course for a 20 year old player

Goalkeepers generally get better as they get older

Simply put, it is too early to write him off. You might be right and he never makes it here, but it's by no means the certainty that you are making out. It never fails to befuddle me that so many of our supporters are so quick to want to boot young players out of the door. It's almost as if you want him to fail
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In fairness Pickford had a few games for Sunderland last season too mate. You're right in that he was lucky to get into the team this season due to Mannone's injury, but in fairness Moyes brought him straight back as soon as he was fit so you can say he took his opportunity well. He's generally accepted to be the best English keeper in his age group and is a regular for the U21s. He is still young so interspersed with his frequent spectacular saves, are the odd mistake. I particularly remember one game away to Southampton in which he made about 5 worldies, only to let one through his arms in injury time, completely undoing all the good he'd done earlier.

Also what we tend to see of Pickford are highlights, which will showcase the shot stopping (of which there are many examples due to Sunderland's defensive frailties) and the odd mistake. We don't see what Sunderland fans do week in week out, which is how he dominates his area, how he instills confidence in his defence and what his overall kicking/distribution is. By reading their fans forums it would appear that he is still lacking in some area's as you would expect. His distribution is apparently as good as his shot stopping though.

If we bought him it would need to be as a development player and I don't think it would be money well spent at the moment given we have other area's of more pressing need.

Don't agree with Forster by the way. He earned his reputation for two good spells of form either side of his serious knee injury, but I don't think he's been that great this season. He's also prone to more than the odd mistake so not sure his concentration levels are where they should be. Butland is a different proposition, but I think we need to see how he comes back from his injury first.
mightymoyes said:
no pickford has been highly rated from a young age, griffiths the opposite. i'd actually be surprised if hes still on our books next season.
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Wouldn't say Griffiths isn't highly rated mate. Not in the same terms as Pickford I agree but he has been part of the England youth set up at U19s and U20s so he must be considered amongst the best English keepers of his age group. Also 20 is young for a keeper and clubs are reluctant to play inexperienced keepers, so arranging loan deals at a decent level is very difficult. We did well getting a deal with Cheltenham and he was first choice there so his subsequent move to the bench at Motherwell was strange. Hewelt is the same age and he is the current regular for our U23s, but I confess have no idea which one is more highly thought of, or whether Griffiths will have his contract extended in the summer. At 20, the likes of Jack Butland was getting regular games (and excellent reviews) in the Championship, so that's probably an indication of how much Griffiths needs to make up.
 
The binman chronicles said:
So given our upturn in form what do people now think we need to challenge the top 4?

If we say we are keeping the Gueye and Morgs DM partnership and Davies keeps improving and Barkley becomes more consistent, then our midfield is already complete.

So do we get another CB to partner Williams and Holgate as part of a back 5 or do we buy 2 new CB's that can play as part of a 4. In which case do we need more defensive full backs? And obviously if we lose the width the can we count on just Bolasie to provide the width?

I would be happy to start next season with something like this:

New GK
Coleman Holgate Williams New CB Baines
Gueye Morgs
Davies
Barkley
Lukaku

Hopefully that team is strong enough to match the best, we'll soon see in the run of games we have coming up though.

I guess at some point to really kick on we will have to decide between Schneiderlin and Gueye and also between Barkley and Davies.
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Personally I'm hoping that we won't need to outlay on new keeper if robles keeps up his current form for the rest of the season. We need at least one new CB. I also think Funes Mori isn't good enough and we can maybe cash in on his status of first choice for Argentina. I'm sure clubs in Italy and Spain would pay good money for him. If so we would need a second CB. would love VVD but he may be beyond us. There are some very good English defenders around though who are used to the premier league, like Keane, Gibson, Maguire etc.

I think we need to have a squad that can play different formats for different games, one being a back 3 with wing backs. I don't think Baines' legs are upto the wing back role any more so I would bring in somebody to do that. We also need a left sided attacking midfielder and somebody like Perisic from Inter could fill both roles. He's also the class of player we need to bring in we are going to challenge for the league. The other type of player we need desperately is an attacking midfielder with guile/playmaker. Somebody who is also a dead ball specialist and will get a fair hare of goals from midfield. Sigurdsson is the name on everyone's lips for this and I wouldn't be too disappointed with this. I personally would take a punt on Lewis Baker from Chelsea if we can prise him away.

Finally we need a back up striker for Rom. Haven't a clue on who this should be, I'll leave that up to the experts. But it's desperately needed in the summer.

I think that would be a squad talented and balanced enough to challenge for the top 4 and even the league. Not saying it will be easy as the other 6 teams will also be looking to improve their teams, and the likes of United, City and \Chelsea will have full seasons under their new manager.
 

Only three first XI players needed - Mertens, Van Dijk, Keane. £100m. More than doable if we get Europa (probable) and we send out a message by signing up Rom and Ross to new contracts.

Backup players to be purchased depending on whether Koeman and Walsh think the likes of Connolly/Calvert-Lewin can step up if Baines/Rom get a knock.

4-3-3/3-5-2 swapping Davies for Holgate or vice versa depending on what's needed.
 
hetion said:
Only three first team players needed - Mertens, Van Dijk, Keane. £100m. More than doable if we get Europa (probable) and we send out a message by signing up Rom and Ross to new contracts.

Backup players to be purchased depending on whether Koeman and Walsh think the likes of Connolly/Calvert-Lewin can step up if Baines/Rom get a knock.

4-3-3/3-5-2 swapping Davies for Holgate or vice versa depending on what's needed.
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Hmmmm
 

I would take a punt on Pickford. He looked understandly rusty against us but looks to have a bit of personality about him which is important for keepers. Have him compete with Robles. I think u can keep them both happy if we have UEFA cup footy.

Would also take a punt on the young city striker who does not seem to be getting much game time now
 
If we were going to want Mawson and thought he was going to be the level that we need we would have been in for him when he left Barnsley for Swansea. Same with Bree who I know was talked up by the Barnsley fan who gave us the lowdown on both Stones and Holgate. I have a feeling that Keane will be here come the summer and that there will then be a push for another more continental type of ch aswell with better ball playing skills: hopefully one of Van Diyk or Menolas. Despite looking a bit ropey Id be in for Pickford too although if Joel keeps his form would probably be a buy and loan out signing to allow him to continue to develop. Definitely need another striker to either rotate with Rom or play alongside him still and an ace door-unlockerer.
 

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