The transfer Window. An initial review.

To preface this I’m not a football manager or scout. It’s just a springboard for discussion

I’m also a pretty mean points giver so you might see some marks as being on the low side.

I will bump this up to review just before January and again at the end of the season to see how far out we were so we can laugh at ourselves.

ins

7. Murphy Cooper so far Cooper looks a solid signing, He has made a few very good saves and saved pretty much everything thrown at him. Commanding his area is certainly something he needs to work on.

7. Tennai Watson. So far so good. Looks a good L1 player. Not especially flashy but reliable and players like him are invaluable in squad building

6.5 Nathanael Ogbeta. Sometimes looks a little uncomfortable defensively and drifts in and out of position. Certainly some talent to work with though

8.5 Caylan Vickers. A very good loan player with great control and a positive approach to every situation. Trying not to fall for a loan player will be hard in this case.

7.5 Patrick Kelly. Looks a very good prospect. One for the future and one for now. Great pick.

7. David McGoldrick still got the desire and seems a great guy to have around. Finishing leaves a little to be desired but he certainly offers a great option.

6.5 Reyes Clearly. Some lovely cameos but still very much a work in progress. Very exciting to see him develop.

Rooney. Can’t score yet.

3 players we clearly missed out on Koroma, Ballard and McAtee would certainly have added quality and depth and it’s a shame we couldn’t get at least one of those on line. We do look light upfront and every time we have had to sub McGoldrick or DKD off we have looked weaker. Going into a season hoping you don’t have any injuries does seem a little lax.

outs

Of the 9 that went out permanently I felt that only Lofthouse might be one to regret. Humphrys leaving though it caused a bit of a commotion seemed the right thing to do to me. The missing 4 months where his attitude was very poor were not compensated by 5 or 6 games where he put the effort in. Of the loans out again not really much controversy though loaning Watters have left us without cover which may turn out to be a mistake.

Retaining our better players seems more of an accident than a design. No one met our valuation so they weren’t sold so not especially creditworthy in my opinion other than having a value and sticking to it.

Overall score 7.

Early days and so far so good. The style of play and positivity that Conor has instilled in the players allied with some good signings is a real positive. The big negative for me was the failure to sign a different option upfront.

 

So come on give us your view.

 

I’d agree with the 7 out of 10. Jury still out on a couple of incomings and loses a mark for the failure to get another forward in. Also done well to offload a few unwanted players albeit mostly on loan.
Better than I expected back in May though so fair play.

 

I'd give the summer overall a 7 too. Squad looks better than it did last season, and improvement is all you can expect at our level really. Shame we didn't get that additional forward but it seems it wasn't for the lack of trying.

Cooper - 7.5 - been impressed with him, seems a solid GK all round. Bound to be the odd weakness, it's L1 after all, but he's doing well. Top of the BBS player chart thingy, says enough for me.

Watson - 7.5 - looks to be a proper full back, can do the whole job to a decent level, something we've been lacking.

Ogbeta - 6.5 - has had some decent games and a couple of dodgy ones. I reckon he's improving all the time though, and has knocked in some lovely crosses.

Vickers - 8 - looks a talent, sort of wide player I like, wants to get at players and always looking to create something. Works his nads off going the other way too. Shame it's only a loan.

Kelly - 7.5 - hasn't had as much game time as others, but what we have seen is an exciting prospect. A proper box to box midfielder, hopefully he can add a few goals as he goes. Could end up being a huge fan favourite.

McGoldrick - 7 - has shown flashes of why he's played at a high level. His touch and hold up play are very good, and has got a few goals, but agree he should have had more. Definitely a great addition though.

Cleary - 6 - has looked excellent coming off the bench a couple of times, but not the same impact on games in his starts. Has definitely got something to work with.

Rooney, nowt to score yet, just hope he's fully fit and over his injury issues.

 

Fair marks,I'd give Ogbeta a 7 but overall a good positve preview of our signings.

 

Good summary. The only thing I'd disagree with is that I didn't see anything to suggest that we'll miss Lofthouse - I'm equally as happy with the players out the door as I am the ones that have come in.

It was a centre forward short of a great transfer window.