I'm going to put my football neck on the line

Another one bites the dust (Giles)..

Squad is looking very very light outside of GK, CB, CM (if we keep Payero) and 10 (if we keep Chuba).

So far the window has played out exactly how I opened my first post. 1 week till Millwall now.
 
I thought we were brilliant today. Granted, we are lacking a left back and a goalscorer (assuming Akpom goes) but I’m sure we will address that and be challenging 🤷‍♂️

Genuinely baffled by any negativity.
 
Paulroddam7 said:
Genuinely baffled by any negativity.
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We’ve lost steffen, Giles, mowatt, Ramsey and archer and akpom hasn’t been seen all preseason which stokes the rumour mill.

We’ve signed what based on last season looks like an inferior keeper and a bunch of kids for minimal fees with no pedigree of this league, the majority of which won’t be in the starting XI you’d think

I can’t see why you would be baffled, we are a long way off the team which finished 4th last season and ultimately wasn’t good enough, or is this just a treading water season while carrick clears the decks and we get rid of the high earners (if any are still left) like woodgate before him.
 
I’d say losing out on Giles and being unlikely to get Ramsey and Archer back, Steffen being gone too, makes us a weaker side.

We’ve signed what appear to be good championship squad players who Carrick, Woody and Danks might get a tune out of but nobody that improves us from last season.

If anything, we looked a little bit like we’d been found out a tad in the last stretch.

We now likely need a right back to boot, Howson isn’t any younger, Chuba is uncertain even if he does stay, Forss is not Archer standard.

This may seem pessimistic to some but that’s what I currently see.

Maybe Chuba will play as a deep forward, two wide lads will be pushed on high and Payero/Mcgree and Hackney will play either side of Howson? At the moment I’m not convinced we’ll be knocking on any doors but should be able to win enough games to stay in the top half.
 
Th OP is largely right, although struggle is probably the wrong word. We are nowhere near as strong as the squad that finished last season as things stand. It’s disappointing but there will surely be quite a few more incomings, and maybe one or two departures yet. Let’s see what the final squad looks like after the window closes before we make any positive or negative predictions
 
As far as I see it - the squad itself is stronger. We can put out a competitive Championship starting XI drawn completely from players we own, rather than relying on loanees.

A larger squad also means we have more options from the bench now, which was partly why we lost to Cov.

We need a left back. One is definitely coming in, otherwise Bola wouldn't have gone. A shame it won't be Giles.

We need a centre forward. We did last year and ended up with Muniz the Archer, so we'll get something done.

I also have faith that we'll use Carrick/Danks' connections to get the stardust we're missing.

Two weeks until the season starts, 6 weeks until the window closes - exciting to see where we end up.
 
LaPennaBianca said:
As far as I see it - the squad itself is stronger. We can put out a competitive Championship starting XI drawn completely from players we own, rather than relying on loanees.

A larger squad also means we have more options from the bench now, which was partly why we lost to Cov.

We need a left back. One is definitely coming in, otherwise Bola wouldn't have gone. A shame it won't be Giles.

We need a centre forward. We did last year and ended up with Muniz the Archer, so we'll get something done.

I also have faith that we'll use Carrick/Danks' connections to get the stardust we're missing.

Two weeks until the season starts, 6 weeks until the window closes - exciting to see where we end up.
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Great post, the hurt from the Giles transfer is still raw but fans need to realise we never even had a bid accepted for him.

People need to stop hanging their hopes on what’s said on oneboro because it’s all made up nonsense by attention seekers.

I trust Scott and co to bring us in someone else with a load of potential like we have seen all summer.

Move on from Giles, Archer and Ramsey. We are shopping in the permanent transfers market.
 
uncle_rico said:
There are a number of positions that are a huge concern at this stage. Fortunately there’s a way to go before the end of the window but we can’t rely on so called “projects”.
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Can’t we? It’s the way we do business now so we are going to have to.
 
Sexpom said:
Can’t we? It’s the way we do business now so we are going to have to.
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Not if we want to go up. We relied heavily on Akpom, Giles and Archer last season. Looks like we’ve lost at least two of those, possibly three. To lose that quality and try to replace them with inferior and untested players isn’t going to work, no matter how much we all would want it to.
 
Sexpom said:
Can’t we? It’s the way we do business now so we are going to have to.
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Bargaining.

I hope you're right I really do, if we do it with the kids it will be the best season ever.

It doesn't change that on paper we're looking very light.
 
Most pre-seasons are like this, fans going into a mild panic about who other clubs have signed and why we haven't signed more/better players.

In seasons gone by I think that nervousness has been for good reason, before Scott, Carrick and the restructuring we really flattered to deceive in the transfer market, but I think things are different now.

Whether we start the season with a stronger team than we finished lay season is debatable, due to the affordability of Archer, Giles, Steffen and Ramsey.

It's also more likely than not that Akpom will be sold too.

But I still think we'll be competitive, most likely with a stronger squad overall, with a minimum of two strikers, both full backs and maybe a midfielder too. I don't see any of the new signings as starting many games, other then the keeper.
 
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