Our present squad

Would it be good enough to survive in the championship, if we were to go up?

 

That's a great question, and one I was discussing with EI Addio at the Wycombe game. I think this squad is good enough to get promoted, but perhaps not yet strong enough to maintain Championship status.

What I'd like to see:
- sign Roberts on a permanent deal;
- our new back 3 are looking very promising but they're still unproven. I'd like to think they could develop into a Championship defence but they need more time. Crucially we need quality backup for these three and I'm not sure we have that yet.
- midfield looking OK I think, with Williams and Cadden as wing backs, Kane, Philips and ??? in midfield. I'm not sure about Luca, can't fault his effort but he's a bit erratic for my liking. He was pretty poor Saturday, admittedly great FK for Cosgrove goal but his distribution was terrible. I think we need more quality here.
- The front line is our weakest area I think. Cole has of course done what's required this season but can he do it in Championship? Or will he just move on? McAtee - love his attitude but he's a bit 'blood and thunder' - I think Luton know what they're doing loaning him out to a lower league - he needs to mature further and I'm not sure he's up to the required standard for Championship. I might argue we still need two new additions here.

 

Thing is Luca is very young and in my opinion for his age he is very consistent.I also think he'll get better and better.For me he'll shine in the Championship.

 

I would love to have Amine Bassi back if we went up

 

On instinct I'd have to say no, this team would struggle to survive in the championship. But if i break it down position for position it becomes clear that i instinctively underrate this team and they are more capable than i first believe, but its the strength in depth that could be an issue for sure.

Goalkeeper - vital we sign Roberts permanently otherwise this is straight away a weak part of our team and the way we play, its very important to nail this position down. Killip looks enough for back up keeper but not a starter.

Wing backs - Williams and Cadden both capable of performing in the championship i believe, O'Keefe would be a good back up but Cotter wouldnt be good enough.

Centre backs - Not seen enough of Pines to judge accurately, Josh Earl looks the part despite his mistake at the weekend, MDG i think is a good player and could make the step up like Andersen did. Cundy/Shepherd/Lopata/Lofthouse/McCarthy all unexperienced or unreliable so we'd definitely need to get in reinforcements for centre back.

Centre mid - Connell, Kane and Phillips all i think will make the step up with ease in the championship. Benson i think will be leaving in the summer because of his injury problems, Styles will fight tooth and nail to get out of the club and Russell is again a decent option to bring off the bench but not as a starter so again i'd be wanting to fetch in another centre mid to compete for a starting spot, Conor Grant has looked good so far so that could be the signing for us.

Strikers - Presuming we've no chance of signing Mcatee, i think we look like we've only got one player championship ready and thats Cole who's out of contract in the summer so that would be our main aim, get new strikers in. Cosgrove looks a good option but lacks technical ability and for a big lad he's not the best at putting himself about, hopefully he comes on more and we have a good target man there. Jalo is a brilliant young prospect. Watters unfortunately i think is done here, from all sides it would be best to cut the losses and move him on.

So at the end of it, i think if we add a few more players in to challenge for the starting spots (centre back, centre mid, striker) we'd be okay and have a good chance of stopping up. I'd love to sign Roberts though.

 

Not sure the squad will have enough quality. A first X1 (they show they are improving) and a couple more maybe. Some we need to see more of. Eg would Jalo be ready. Will those out on loan come through.

 

The XI that started against Derby should be capable of finishing lower mid-table in the Championship. Agree about the front line. Cole has done brilliantly for us but he's never scored goals consistently at a higher level. Not sure whether he ever will do. McAtee has the potential to be Championship quality in my opinion, but he's never going to be a traditional out-and-out striker. We'd definitely need two forwards as a minimum. One big but skillful bruiser and another small one with pace. So basically Kieffer Moore and Conor Chaplin.

I also think we're slightly lacking in pace in midfield and at left back. Love Cadden but he might be a yard too slow for the Championship. At right back Jordan Williams is more than good enough but I'm still not sure about O'Keeffe. As for Big Bad Barry, I absolutely love the guy, but can you imagine him against the attacking power of Southampton or Ipswich. Could get very messy.

 

In all honesty, we need to get out of League one first.
One step at a time, automatic will be ideal,as there's more time to plan for survival.

 

Connell is our best player. I don't think Kane would cut it, 50/50 with Phillips. Still, if Wednesday manage to stay up I won't have any fear whatsoever if we go up

 

Struggle, history shows majority of teams find it hard to cope and I can't see why this squad would be any different.

 

Kane would better in the championship than league 1 so I don’t,t agree with you he is quality.

 

If we finish this season strongly and get top 2 then no doubt this team can be good enough to compete in the championship. You always need to recruit well every season though but if we could hold on to Kane Cole Cadden Williams Roberts then we should be very pleased if they will commit to signing a new contract with us.

 

No our defending isn’t good enough and our striker force would struggle in the championship

 

No, we have about five or six players who are good enough. Even the likes of Adam Phillips, Nicky Cadden, John McAtee, Devante Cole and others who are really good at this level would struggle with the standard of the Champ. I even think it would take Mael and Connell a while to adapt to be honest.

 

Not sure about Luca? He's our best player, easily championship standard, and still nowhere near his peak.

 

We’ve got most of a bottom half Championship starting 11 in my opinion, if everyone was fit. But it wouldn’t be enough to stop up because we have nowhere near enough strength in depth. An injury or two and we’d be up shít creek.

Solid league one side, poor Championship side. We need a combination of good management, good recruitment, and the players who are here working hard to prove they’re better than League One.

 

I think its mental your point about Luca - best player in the league unquestionably. When he's unavailable everything changes for us. Easily have a great championship career when he's retired, at the minimum. How opinions work ey

 

First 11 looking like a team now and the more they play together the better they'll get..agree on lots of points made, Cadden lacks real pace, Cole would struggle against top defenders, Cosgrove needs to buy a DVD of Kiefer Moore and Bazza Cotter needs to remember to take the ball with him (but ah do love his commitment) but I'm more worried about the bench and player we're paying like Dallas and Shaw and the rest on loan cos if their not up to it now they need departing quickly if we go up to free up wages for better players to come in and reduce the squad size...

 

I think this is key to us flourishing in the championship. We can't afford to carry a big squad of players that are of that standard, so no scattergun approach to signing players, more focused on a quality squad of 22ish, with some opportunity for our better youngsters to fill any gaps throughout the season.

 

We'd struggle to score goals and keep clean sheets - would need significant improvements in the back 4 and front 2 to stand any chance.