16 days to go....

CarrickBall

Well-known member
....until the start of the new season. A season that has huge hopes and expectations after we saw last year what Wilder can do with a squad of players not his own with limited coaching time.

Unfortunately, with only a little over 2 weeks to go until the West Brom game, our squad is MUCH weaker now than it was at Preston back in May and we continue to falter in the transfer market.

Huge holes to fill in the starting 11 never mind the squad, character and leadership needed. So much to do and the days and weeks tick by.

Goalkeeper, left sided CB, cover for Jones at RWB, 2 (maybe THREE) strikers, only 4 midfielders for 3 positions now in Tav, McGree, Howson and Crooks.

Looking at the photos from Portugal, Wilder has had to raid the Rockliffe nursery to fill plane seats.

And even when (or if!) we do bring in these players that are going to have to go straight into our starting 11, Wilder has had limited time to work with them, time that he's repeatedly stated he needs on the training pitch.

Then there's the Spence saga.. widely reported from many media outlets in the North East and London that he had his medical 2 weeks ago!?

Get a move on Boro.
 
....until the start of the new season. A season that has huge hopes and expectations after we saw last year what Wilder can do with a squad of players not his own with limited coaching time.

Unfortunately, with only a little over 2 weeks to go until the West Brom game, our squad is MUCH weaker now than it was at Preston back in May and we continue to falter in the transfer market.

Huge holes to fill in the starting 11 never mind the squad, character and leadership needed. So much to do and the days and weeks tick by.

Goalkeeper, left sided CB, cover for Jones at RWB, 2 (maybe THREE) strikers, only 4 midfielders for 3 positions now in Tav, McGree, Howson and Crooks.

Looking at the photos from Portugal, Wilder has had to raid the Rockliffe nursery to fill plane seats.

And even when (or if!) we do bring in these players that are going to have to go straight into our starting 11, Wilder has had limited time to work with them, time that he's repeatedly stated he needs on the training pitch.

Then there's the Spence saga.. widely reported from many media outlets in the North East and London that he had his medical 2 weeks ago!?

Get a move on Boro.
Agree that it's a bit disappointing how little time we'll have with new signings, before the season starts.

FWIW - I think that a decent keeper could make a massive difference. Not only by cutting out point-costing errors, but by also making the whole defence more confident. We'd have made the play-offs last season with a good keeper.
 
Aye, it’s been frustratingly quiet so far. It goes back to the age-old problem we’ve had of attracting players to Middlesbrough. I’ve no doubt we’ve been trying, an we have the money, I just don’t think people want to come here.

That being said, I like the look of Callum Kavanagh and I think he could do well under Wilder.
 
I know it's a strange one this year with the season starting earlier than usual.Im sure the right players will come in and settle .It's the same for every team at the moment.
 
Agree that it's a bit disappointing how little time we'll have with new signings, before the season starts.

FWIW - I think that a decent keeper could make a massive difference. Not only by cutting out point-costing errors, but by also making the whole defence more confident. We'd have made the play-offs last season with a good keeper.
yes we will be better at the back with a decent keeper, but until we can get strikers who can score, promotion wont happen
 
I just hope Wilder isn't going to be left disappointed, and with egg on his face, after the comments of 'marquee signings that we're going to bring here', and 'good players want to come and play here, this is an attractive club to come to' which have been rolled out on numerous occasions since the Preston game.

Our inability to deal effectively in the market is frustrating. I'm sure it's not for a lack of trying though.
 
Frustrating. Checking twitter and on here multiple times a day to see if there is any news. Still lots of time, but would have preferred more business done by now.
 
Patience needed unfortunately. There's a lot depending on the PL teams starting the transfer merry-go-round off. Aside from a few big moves, it'll be the lesser lights moving that kicks off deals further down the leagues, particularly loans.
 
Window doesn't close until 1 September although admittedly we'll be one month into the season by then. Is this usually the case?

I know there are always games before the window closes, but wasn't sure how many? Obviously the world cup has changed things up this year.
 
It's been a very quiet market for every team, it's about being smart for every side and I think we have been.
If you really think about it I actually think we've upgraded in the 3 players we've signed

GK - ??? - Roberts - (Lumley, Daniels)
RWB - Jones - Smith
RCB - Dijksteel - McNair - (Peltier)
CB - Fry - Leinhan (Bamba, Hall)
LCB - ??? - ???
LWB - Giles - Bola (Taylor)
CDM - Howson - ???
RCM - Crooks - ??? (Payero)
LCM - Tav - Mcgree
ST - Watmore - Coburn - ???? - ???? - ????
(Balogun, Connolly, Sporar)

Glaringly obvious what we're missing isn't it

My predictions
Zack Steffen ( Loan )
Greives from Hull
Aaron Mooy (Free)
Chodhury (Loan)
Gyorkeres - When Spence is done
Rodrigo Muniz (Loan - Option to Buy)
Cameron Archer (Loan)
Ryan Nyambe (Free)
 
Once the Spence deal goes through, I'm hopeful we'll see a domino effect and a rush of signings coming through the door.

I still think we'll be bringing players in well through into August mind, it's just the Boro way.
 
It's just the strikers where things are starting to feel a bit desperate, as we have no real options there.

Getting at least one across the line will calm everybody down.

The other squad shortages are manageable, though preferably would be sorted sooner rather than later.
 
Window doesn't close until 1 September although admittedly we'll be one month into the season by then. Is this usually the case?

I know there are always games before the window closes, but wasn't sure how many? Obviously the world cup has changed things up this year.

There were 6 games before the window closed last season, 8 this season, 7 in the league.

The season has started a week earlier because of Qatar, so there are 2 extra games to fit in.

There's 1/6th of the season in August, which is why I'm less calm about the striker shortages right now.
 
Scroll back 12 months and you will find the same sort of thread, and 12 months before and so on. I am not sure when the penny will drop that most signings usually happen late every single season, and its much the same for the majority of other clubs.
 
Scroll back 12 months and you will find the same sort of thread, and 12 months before and so on. I am not sure when the penny will drop that most signings usually happen late every single season, and its much the same for the majority of other clubs.

We're trying to buck the trend of last season, and the season before that, and the season before that though, not miss out on targets like we have for the last few years, or start a season without our preferred 11 like we have for the last few years.

8 games of the season before the window closes. How many points will be dropped in that period due to not having the team Wilder wants.

We missed out by a whisker last season.. small margins.

We've been told that the club have been working for specifically for this window 'since Wilder stepped through the door'.
 
Scroll back 12 months and you will find the same sort of thread, and 12 months before and so on. I am not sure when the penny will drop that most signings usually happen late every single season, and its much the same for the majority of other clubs.
Exactly. The PL need to sort their **** out first and then it’s a question of who and how it all trickles down from there. Guarantee there’ll be a last minute flurry at ten to midnight last day of august.
 
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There's 1/6th of the season in August, which is why I'm less calm about the striker shortages right now.
This is an excellent point.
However, I'd rather get the right 3 new strikers in for 5/6 of the season than go with Connolly/Balogun/Sporar calibre for a full season.

I am surprised at the sluggish performance to date in the market and the very strange treatment of Smith a free agent.
We need a GK, LCB and 2 strikers as starters.
We need RWB, DCM, ACM, Striker competition/quality cover.
That is 8 signings to add to what are our players.
If Bola or Tav leave we will also need to replace them.
There is an awful lot to do given the season starts in 16 days.
 
Scroll back 12 months and you will find the same sort of thread, and 12 months before and so on. I am not sure when the penny will drop that most signings usually happen late every single season, and its much the same for the majority of other clubs.
We're not missing 1 or 2 pieces though, we're 4 players short from the starting 11 alone. And we probably need another 4 back-up players. Not to mention we've got a squad full of players we don't want anymore that we can't/haven't shift/ed. They are so far away from being included that they haven't even travelled with the squad.

I don't mind adding another player or 2 once the season is underway but we're miles away. Hopefully we can secure a few more ins and outs in the next week otherwise that 1st game is going to be a makeshift team.
 
same story every summer and once again we are struggling to sign our preferred strikers and no doubt end up with players further down on our list
 
Roberts
Daniels

Jones
Dijksteel
Fry
McNair
Bola
Leinahan
Giles

Tav
Howson
Crooks
McGree
Boyd-Munce

Watmore
Coburn

16 players. Two weeks away. That’s it.
 
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