SmogDane 4,056 Posted August 10, 2018 Share Posted August 10, 2018 Hugill out until the end of the month with a hamstring injury He got that trying to escape after he realised how much of a mess we are but Gary Gill and his minions caught him and dragged him back :cowboy: :fist: Don’t worry Gestede is back training next week Phew! Does he fancy a spin at full back? Link to post Share on other sites
Betamaxman 14 Posted August 10, 2018 Share Posted August 10, 2018 Hugill out until the end of the month with a hamstring injury He got that trying to escape after he realised how much of a mess we are but Gary Gill and his minions caught him and dragged him back :cowboy: :fist: Don’t worry Gestede is back training next week Phew! Does he fancy a spin at full back? I reckon Gestede would make a decent centre back. Not sure about full back though! Link to post Share on other sites
2plus2 290 Posted August 10, 2018 Share Posted August 10, 2018 Personally think there's a lot of overreaction regarding the strength of the squad. We are short in some areas, undoubtedly, but we don't need an overhaul to get to where we need to be. We don't need an overhaul, but we need an injection with a pretty big syringe full of creativity. We also have 2 full-backs in our squad and one of them is primarily a centre-back. If George Friend gets injured right this second, who plays at left-back? Johnson or Downing. Does that not fill you with any concern? Not really. An argument could be made that we only need 1 creative signing. And it seems that the plan is to bring in a versatile full-back in due course. Even Besic, as good as he is, is a player that we don't technically need. We're not that far off. Link to post Share on other sites
Tudders80 674 Posted August 10, 2018 Share Posted August 10, 2018 Personally think there's a lot of overreaction regarding the strength of the squad. We are short in some areas, undoubtedly, but we don't need an overhaul to get to where we need to be. We don't need an overhaul, but we need an injection with a pretty big syringe full of creativity. We also have 2 full-backs in our squad and one of them is primarily a centre-back. If George Friend gets injured right this second, who plays at left-back? Johnson or Downing. Does that not fill you with any concern? Not really. An argument could be made that we only need 1 creative signing. And it seems that the plan is to bring in a versatile full-back in due course. Even Besic, as good as he is, is a player that we don't technically need. We're not that far off. I'd suggest we are miles off. We were miles off top 2 last year. We never threatened to be anywhere near. We have a worse starting line up now than we did last year. We certainly haven't closed the gap. The only chance we have at present is that none of the teams in the league can do a wolves or Cardiff. And even then we need to overhaul another team that finished above us. We need a huge loan window. Link to post Share on other sites
LinoJo3 3,191 Posted August 10, 2018 Share Posted August 10, 2018 Personally think there's a lot of overreaction regarding the strength of the squad. We are short in some areas, undoubtedly, but we don't need an overhaul to get to where we need to be. We don't need an overhaul, but we need an injection with a pretty big syringe full of creativity. We also have 2 full-backs in our squad and one of them is primarily a centre-back. If George Friend gets injured right this second, who plays at left-back? Johnson or Downing. Does that not fill you with any concern? Not really. An argument could be made that we only need 1 creative signing. And it seems that the plan is to bring in a versatile full-back in due course. Even Besic, as good as he is, is a player that we don't technically need. We're not that far off. 1 creative signing? Sorry but what team have you been watching since last Xmas, I look at the team and can’t in a million years see how we are just one player away. Link to post Share on other sites
Red Rocket 244 Posted August 10, 2018 Share Posted August 10, 2018 My most hated phrase as someone who works in admin is 'due course'. :D It basically means whenever we feel like it. Fullback is my biggest concern right now, we're buggered if injuries happen. I'm also not happy that once again we haven't signed a creative midfielder but I'm pleased the young lads are being given a chance. Over all, just a case of wait and see but a disappointing transfer window. I'm getting annoyed when people tell me to not be negative though (not here twitter) because I'm gonna show up every week and back the lads, doesn't mean I'm happy with the way this window has played out. Link to post Share on other sites
wilsoncgp 9,283 Posted August 10, 2018 Share Posted August 10, 2018 Personally think there's a lot of overreaction regarding the strength of the squad. We are short in some areas, undoubtedly, but we don't need an overhaul to get to where we need to be. We don't need an overhaul, but we need an injection with a pretty big syringe full of creativity. We also have 2 full-backs in our squad and one of them is primarily a centre-back. If George Friend gets injured right this second, who plays at left-back? Johnson or Downing. Does that not fill you with any concern? Not really. An argument could be made that we only need 1 creative signing. And it seems that the plan is to bring in a versatile full-back in due course. Even Besic, as good as he is, is a player that we don't technically need. We're not that far off. Really? We had one genuinely creative player in our team and he's now gone to Wolves. We haven't replaced him so there's your 1. Do you think Traore would have been enough to take us up right now (assuming no injuries with full-backs)? For what it's worth, I do agree to an extent regarding Besic which is what pains me even more about yesterday. The only player we were due to sign barring final complications was a player we could probably move forward without. We are pretty well-stocked with centre-mids. Maybe not all the right kind but the emergence of Lewis Wing is hopefully going to be a positive there. Link to post Share on other sites
Adam P 331 Posted August 10, 2018 Share Posted August 10, 2018 Personally think there's a lot of overreaction regarding the strength of the squad. We are short in some areas, undoubtedly, but we don't need an overhaul to get to where we need to be. We don't need an overhaul, but we need an injection with a pretty big syringe full of creativity. We also have 2 full-backs in our squad and one of them is primarily a centre-back. If George Friend gets injured right this second, who plays at left-back? Johnson or Downing. Does that not fill you with any concern? Not really. An argument could be made that we only need 1 creative signing. And it seems that the plan is to bring in a versatile full-back in due course. Even Besic, as good as he is, is a player that we don't technically need. We're not that far off. I'd suggest we are miles off. We were miles off top 2 last year. We never threatened to be anywhere near. We have a worse starting line up now than we did last year. We certainly haven't closed the gap. The only chance we have at present is that none of the teams in the league can do a wolves or Cardiff. And even then we need to overhaul another team that finished above us. We need a huge loan window. We were miles off the top 2 last year because we couldn't beat a top half side with Monk in charge. We only started to pick points up against them once Pulis came in. Regarding overhauling teams that finished above us, there was only Villa who finished above us and are still here. We need a couple of wingers and a versatile defender to go with Besic and we'll be fine. The squad as it stands will beat the bottom 7/8 teams comfortably, and will more than compete with the next 6 or 7, we just need a bit more to be good enough against the top 6/7. Link to post Share on other sites
2plus2 290 Posted August 10, 2018 Share Posted August 10, 2018 I'm putting my Pulis-vision goggles on for this. ie, correlating our squad with that style/formation that Pulis will play. He doesn't play with a heap of creative players, hence there's no real need to overload our team with them. Not saying that I love the style he opts for. But given that's the road we're going down, then there's no point trying to think otherwise. Braithwaite and one more good signing would be just about fine, backed up by the youngsters, Downing etc. Up front, central midfield, goal, defence - again, it's just about fine. Bar a bit of full-back cover. Yes, Besic would be nice. Lastly, yes we were miles off the top 2 last season. A large chunk of that season was with Monk in charge. With free-spending Wolves in the league. And I'm not for one second trying to claim that we are the best team in the league this year. But it's not like we're completely outclassed by any side in the Championship. The goal is to compete for promotion and with a little luck hopefully get over the line. If we were to achieve that we're not going to do so with a glut of flair players with Pulis at the helm. Link to post Share on other sites
pikerman 1,121 Posted August 10, 2018 Share Posted August 10, 2018 Personally think there's a lot of overreaction regarding the strength of the squad. We are short in some areas, undoubtedly, but we don't need an overhaul to get to where we need to be. We don't need an overhaul, but we need an injection with a pretty big syringe full of creativity. We also have 2 full-backs in our squad and one of them is primarily a centre-back. If George Friend gets injured right this second, who plays at left-back? Johnson or Downing. Does that not fill you with any concern? Not really. An argument could be made that we only need 1 creative signing. And it seems that the plan is to bring in a versatile full-back in due course. Even Besic, as good as he is, is a player that we don't technically need. We're not that far off. 1 creative signing? Sorry but what team have you been watching since last Xmas, I look at the team and can’t in a million years see how we are just one player away. Even our own manager says we are not good enough to win promotion and that we were looking to bring in 5 or 6 players, is that not an overhaul ? Perhaps you know more than Pulis, now that I could believe ☺ Link to post Share on other sites
2plus2 290 Posted August 10, 2018 Share Posted August 10, 2018 Classic tactic of any manager to say we're not strong enough, need signings and grumble about the state of the squad. It doesn't mean we're a terrible side. In my opinion, bar the glaring lack of 1 required creative player, Pulis' concern is more at the lack of depth to the squad. Our bench is too youth-heavy. That said, by Pulis' own admission we are looking to give more opportunities to our youngsters, and they've shown promise of late. I suspect we'll see 3 players in via the loan system - Besic (to start); but not essential, a winger (to start); essential and a versatile full-back (to cover); ideally. At a push a second creative player. Link to post Share on other sites
Jamie-H 1,322 Posted August 10, 2018 Share Posted August 10, 2018 There's a case to be positive on our squad but there's not much of a case to be positive on the way we've approached transfers I think TP was way too downbeat on our squad. I'd argue we're stronger at striker than we ended last season IF we keep Braithwaite, Rudy's a bit of a crock we can't rely on him as our only hold up and flick on striker so Hugill definitely improves on that if he stays fit. People last season kind of forgot how big of a signing Braithwaite was/is he should rip this league as long as he isn't shifted to a wing every game like Monk was doing. IF we get Besic back, it looks likely but you never know with us, we'll have a decent starting midfield of McNair/Besic and JH or AC of course we'll lack a little depth in the advanced position but Wing looks like he could do a job there if McNair's injured. Gibson for Flint's not too big of a deal for me I've long said Fry will be better than Gibson I think he'll show that next to Flint or Ayala he's established for me hopefully for Pulis as well, we're missing a utility and the last time we needed a utility we signed Cranie let's hope we loan better than that it's a long season. Wide areas we have 2 senior wingers Downing and Johnson so we're back to where we were with Monk except we're missing Adama I can't be positive about this we've needed wingers since Karanka we've never really covered it right I mean Monk thought Fletcher and Bam could cover it how wrong he was. Tav and Chapman are both right sided wingers maybe we'll give them a chance in the Carabao match see who looks up to it because I'd love to believe we'll get loan to buys sorted but I'm beyond sceptical that Millwall will let Jed Wallace go now their fans would riot and the idea Ojo chooses us now is fantasy to me we'll see. I think we have the firepower to get promotion we just maybe lack the supply and that big Northern Irish unknown in midfield will he step up and give us those close to 10 goals from midfield we've been missing for years or not who knows? Link to post Share on other sites
Neverbefore 10,942 Posted August 10, 2018 Share Posted August 10, 2018 Classic tactic of any manager to say we're not strong enough, need signings and grumble about the state of the squad. It doesn't mean we're a terrible side. In my opinion, bar the glaring lack of 1 required creative player, Pulis' concern is more at the lack of depth to the squad. Our bench is too youth-heavy. That said, by Pulis' own admission we are looking to give more opportunities to our youngsters, and they've shown promise of late. I suspect we'll see 3 players in via the loan system - Besic (to start); but not essential, a winger (to start); essential and a versatile full-back (to cover); ideally. At a push a second creative player. He said the players who had to choose from are not good enough to get us promoted. Hes as concerned as most of us fans, I really can't see how anyone can think the squad of players we have will get us promoted. It's so far away, and everyone seems to agree, including within management, apart from one or two fans! Link to post Share on other sites
wilsoncgp 9,283 Posted August 10, 2018 Share Posted August 10, 2018 I don't think anybody is remotely suggesting Pulis is going to start playing football a certain way. I'm one of those who is content with his appointment. The only thing that has affected my thoughts of him right now is his approach to the transfer window and whether he has to be held accountable for taking us down that road. So I'm not anti-Pulis, I'm pretty pro-Pulis. But if you're putting your Pulis goggles on, you surely have to be seeing things from his perspective. And his perspective is that this squad isn't good enough for promotion. Link to post Share on other sites
Essuuaitch 330 Posted August 10, 2018 Share Posted August 10, 2018 team wise im not dejcted with the lack of signings especially given the names being touted. personally id have liked (from those mentioned) Byrom. Ritchie and Besic. but as i noted in an earlier post maybe Wing can fulfill the role Besic played as he seemed very similar in his movement with the ball. lets face it there was a genuine arguement on here prior to the window that maybe it would be unwise to have ateam full of Pulis signings only for whoever comes in after to want to change all over again . the main issue or rather concern that was clearly highlighted wasnt so much that we didnt add vast numbers to the squad , it was yet again the inadequcies and poor functioning of the team given the job to get them if they were not working under orders from above to not do so ,which is highly unlikely. thats 3 or 4 windows running weve dillied about for hours if not days on end chasing a certain deal up a blind alley. if we can get in minimum two good loans we should be ok . not slagging off Shotton or Downing but those two are currently holding down the two positions that we need to get good loan players in for. also seems a bit confusing regarding two seperate Comments fron Pulis firstly saying he wanted to trim the squad down then today saying were well short of numbers Link to post Share on other sites
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