Gibson's best decision.

Looking back to 2006, Gibson has made some really poor decisions { hiring Monk and Woody as managers , his Stockton remarks etc} , but hiring a Director of football ( re Scott and his recruitment team) has to be his best . We have to admit the football world has changed ( for the worst) ,since we had Rav and the little fella . We can no longer splash the cash , and have to cash in on some of our home grown jewels( Tav, Hackney?). We now stand with our best leader for a long time , we can see a plan , transfer targets look plausible . If we can keep McGree , and Ayling then the main target should be 2 midfielders , and George B type ,and a playermaker to repalce HH . Anymore would be a bonus , but expect more eg a winger and a forward . The young one's coming through eg Finch , McCabe, Coburn etc are a lovely bonus . Promotion is the goal but you have to love the Championship , at least you have a chance ! Really looking forward to see Scott at work this summer , enjoy the summer with hope of better times ahead UTB .

Priority for me, along with midfield as you say, is still another striker.

Granted, ELL is the greatest player in Europe, and now means our Main Man is sorted, but we need someone pushing him and able to pick up the baton if he is unable to play.

Coburn is striker no.3 for me, we need a no.2.

But agree with the sentiments of your OP

MichaelDebeve said:

Priority for me, along with midfield as you say, is still another striker.

Granted, ELL is the greatest player in Europe, and now means our Main Man is sorted, but we need someone pushing him and able to pick up the baton if he is unable to play.

Coburn is striker no.3 for me, we need a no.2.

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A physical CDM who can play out, I think sometimes we have missed that extra protection, especially when we are chasing the game.

A dangerous quick left winger who can knock a good ball in, would make us potent down both flanks.

Another CF (we will definitely have to rotate Lathe at times and he works so hard off the ball) Josh and another CF would be the icing on the cake.

Agree with everything you said

Assuming Greenwood and O’Brien don’t stay centre midfield and attacking midfield are priority.

A lot will depend on who leaves of course. I expect three or four to maybe move on.

there must be a young george boateng out there somewhere. preferably one who can actually pass the ball 10 yards consistently though. that was the only reason old george never played for the big clubs.

The squad is a good size so we really only need to replace anyone who leaves. I’m happy to have Latte Lath, Coburn and Forss as striker options. Anyone else coming in will only hold back the progress of the others and isn’t likely to start ahead of Latte Lath anyway. We let Kavanagh leave to free up a path for younger prospects so signing another striker doesn’t make sense.

Letting McNair go leaves Lennihan and Fry as backup for centre back with academy prospects to fill in if needed. Again I’m happy with that if Carrick thinks they’re ready.

Centre mid and left wing are the positions I’d be looking to recruit assuming Ayling is a done deal. Push the boat out for the best possible option in both positions and we’re a strong challenger for promotion.

SilentProf said:

The squad is a good size so we really only need to replace anyone who leaves. I’m happy to have Latte Lath, Coburn and Forss as striker options. Anyone else coming in will only hold back the progress of the others and isn’t likely to start ahead of Latte Lath anyway. We let Kavanagh leave to free up a path for younger prospects so signing another striker doesn’t make sense.

Letting McNair go leaves Lennihan and Fry as backup for centre back with academy prospects to fill in if needed. Again I’m happy with that if Carrick thinks they’re ready.

Centre mid and left wing are the positions I’d be looking to recruit assuming Ayling is a done deal. Push the boat out for the best possible option in both positions and we’re a strong challenger for promotion.

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Lath Coburn and Forss have not been good enough this season mainly due to injuries. So we need to strengthen the forward line and Forss rarely plays through the middle so you are left with LL and JC. We need at least one striker but that in itself causes a problem. If we are assuming LL will be our number 1 barring injuries then anyone coming in needs to be a decent level and that would push Josh down to number 3. He needs games to continue to develop so what do we do with him. Loan him out again or stick with him as our 3rd choice striker if we bring someone else in. Its a quandary.

asredastheycome said:

Lath Coburn and Forss have not been good enough this season mainly due to injuries. So we need to strengthen the forward line and Forss rarely plays through the middle so you are left with LL and JC. We need at least one striker but that in itself causes a problem. If we are assuming LL will be our number 1 barring injuries then anyone coming in needs to be a decent level and that would push Josh down to number 3. He needs games to continue to develop so what do we do with him. Loan him out again or stick with him as our 3rd choice striker if we bring someone else in. Its a quandary.

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A fully fit Coburn is good enough to be backup to Latte Lath and Forss is easily good enough to cover if either of them are out injured or suspended with Finch, Matthews and the other prospects getting minutes here and there off the bench. If we sign another striker we might as well let one of them go. They may ask for a permanent move anyway if Carrick doesn’t think they’re good enough to even be 2nd choice.

Completely agree with the OP. We had been lurching from one extreme to the other since the Southgate relegation and other than the Karanka years, it’s been a tough slog at times. I didn’t think Gibson would ever go down the DoF route. We are lucky with Scott and it looks a real coup that Gibson managed to get him here now. Exciting times.

Midfielder, CF and left sided forward are the key positions for me. Championship ready. A young RB to ease in alongside Ayling and Smith and a development midfielder the others.