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I disagree with some of that. Smith was a more than adequate right back, in my opinion of course. Left back, open to debate, I guess.It's a long term thing and you can't just look at individual things in isolation. Our squad isn't getting better and you have to include the loans because that is money we are spending. We are as weak now as any time since relegation.
Forss is a weird one because I assume the recruitment team were recruiting a striker and not a winger so is him not being good enough as a striker but being good enough as a winger a win or a loss for the recruitment team?
Nearly having a good 11 isn't a ringing endorsement. Especially when 2 of them play in the same position.
I agree Dieng is a good keeper but we have signed 7 keepers in the last 3 years so that's a lot of trial and error to get there.
We don't have a good enough fullback on either side. Smith was a weak link last season and needed improving but we had too many other holes to fill that he wasn't a priority and we have no real back-up because Dijksteel isn't trusted. We still need 2 new quality fullbacks (maybe Ayling and Thomas are them long term but for now we don't know). We also started the season with Coulson! as our full back.
We have been trying, and failing, to replace Howson for at least 3 years. That can only be classed as a failure. We still haven't done it and if we lose Hackney as well then we are down to just a 36 year old Howson (if he gets another contract) and Barlaser.
We have 2 strikers in our squad and one of them we were trying to send to Plymouth. The other one wasn't even there when we started the season. It was unbelievably risky to but all our eggs in that one belated basket.
If me naming a few good purchases by the recruitment team is not looking at things in the round then neither is naming a few bad ones. That has to work both ways.
The argument about forss is a silly one, he was either worth the money and has gone up in value or he hasn't. That has to be the only metric, surely?
I have no idea if we have been trying to replace howson for the last 3 years, so that is specualtion. We are getting to the point where we will have to replace him. You might argue that Hackney removed that need last season, to an extent. Barlaser for all the cack he gets thrown at him, is a decent player and I do seem to recall that Howson wasn't particularly well thought of by fans when he first joined either.
You are right, we do tend to start the season with a partial squad. I have no idea if other teams do the same, but it is likely they do too. This is a result of the transfer window not the recruitment team.
I am not suggesting the team has got everything right, but with massively reduced spending in recent years, and some very good sales, they are definatley showing a net positive on the balance sheet.
I don't agree the team is weaker this season than last. I agree the 11 we may be putting on the pitch is not as good, but that is again down to injuries. You cannot ignore that. Bare in mind, the team last year failed. You may even say they flattered to decieve. We were very poor in the last weeks of the season and pretty bad in 2 games against coventry in the playoff semi. The league this season is arguably stronger than last, it's not even a certainty that last season team would be in the playoffs this season, given how poorly our season ended.
You seem to be ignoring issues that every other team in the division will have and assuming it's just our recruitment team. They can identify targets, but, they have to be within the financial constraints placed on them and want to come. Plenty of the recruitment is out of the recruitment teams hands.