Your Thoughts On Summer 2015 Transfer Window

[Mantis]

Surprised at how many seem disappointed with the summer. Aside from the lack of a proven goalscorer (which would've eaten up a lot of our budget and probably wouldn't be as good as Benteke anyway) I can't think of how the summer transfer window could have been realistically much better.

 

Even then, Ayew and Gestede could yet come good. At the very least Sinclair is banging them in at the moment.

Edited September 2, 2015 by Mantis

[ejs1111]

I'm very happy with our summer dealings!

 

but i'm a 'glass is half-full' type person also

[PaulC]

The amount of money spent in the Premier League this summer is obscene. I really hope that Sherwood has got it right but its going to take a long time until we know how all these new signings will blend. Ayew has been a bit of a disapointment so far. I wasn't too enamoured by that signing when we made it. Lets hope I'm wrong! Gueye, Traore and Amavi look very good. We know what Richards can do and Lescott will be a good aquisition. I like Veretout but he has to get up to speed.

[AVTuco]

My life feels a bit empty now.

[DCJonah]

With this new lot of players - and you could probably include Grealish in there because Lambert never played him.

Grealish was 17 at the start of last season so it was always likely that he would only make a few apperances - clearly the more he matures the more likely he is to play. Plenty of sticks to beat Lambert with, without resorting to the ridiculous

Yep. And Lambert did play him.

He wasn't very good when he played.

Which is probably down to Lambert as well, but the accusation that he never played him is false.

If I remember there was lots of talk of Grealish going on loan in January, 2 months later and he's our best player in nearly every game he played.

Lambert didn't have the faith or put the faith into Grealish, giving him the odd 10 mins every so often.

Sherwood started him in a massive game for the club and he hasn't looked back since.

[briny_ear]

Striking options need addressing in January,  if the money is there or can be generated

 

Think January is usually the worst time to try to get a new striker.

[Richard]

Striking options need addressing in January,  if the money is there or can be generated

 

Think January is usually the worst time to try to get a new striker.

Not saying it's ideal,  I agree with you but it needs doing

We bought Bent in a January, Torres moved in a January,  Carroll moved in a January and I guess they all back up your point ,  inflated fees and never really achieved for their new teams .  However thats the situation we are in now we need a new striker

 

[osmark86]

we might not even have to look for a new striker in the January window. as pointed out a number of times before it really is too early to tell with Ayew and Gestede. I think we'll have a much better picture at the end of the first half whether it will be a necessity or not.

[briny_ear]

we might not even have to look for a new striker in the January window. as pointed out a number of times before it really is too early to tell with Ayew and Gestede. I think we'll have a much better picture at the end of the first half whether it will be a necessity or not.

Spot on, I think. We have two new strikers who have pretty good track records and we should have a bit of faith in them.

Not convinced there will be any money around for an extra striker in January anyway.

[BOF]

Let's see how this lot do up to January first.  On the plus side, we did bring in Carew & Young in a January window.

[Supervillan78]

I think it's been a fantastic window despite the loss of Benteke.  LB had been a problem for years, but Amavi is just pure class.  Midfield looks strong even without Delph. If I'm honest I would have liked another striker, however Sinclair has started brightly, while Gestede and Ayew will only improve.

Edited September 4, 2015 by Supervillan78

[CrackpotForeigner]

we might not even have to look for a new striker in the January window. as pointed out a number of times before it really is too early to tell with Ayew and Gestede. I think we'll have a much better picture at the end of the first half whether it will be a necessity or not.

Spot on, I think. We have two new strikers who have pretty good track records and we should have a bit of faith in them.

Not convinced there will be any money around for an extra striker in January anyway.

There will be if we're in relegation danger again. Lerner's not that stupid.

[Xela]

Thought i'd let the dust settle before making my comment as I was disappointed we didn't sign another striker. Adebayor, I was convinced would happen due to his relationship with Sherwood but wasn't to be. Embolo would have been an exciting option and Rondon as well but I guess we don't know whether we had the budget left to buy a player like that. Still, lets give Ayew and Gestede a chance. 

For a minimal net spend, we have massively strengthened the squad and we have some very exciting young players here now. Well done to Fox, Sherwood and the rest of the team.

8.5 / 10 (would have been higher with another striker)

[Shomin Geki]

I too was disappointed in the lack of another striker, particularly considering the links... but I've had a brief think and have chosen to once again polish that legendary Villan patience.  Sure, it's frustrating, but...

How many players have acknowledged feeling embraced by the club because of the seriousness, if not length, of our pursuit?  How many times has Sherwood mentioned his long-time awareness and appreciation of a new signing?  Obviously, we have done our homework.  Obviously strikers were identified.  Maybe we were priced out of our top choices?  Maybe it's vital we get this choice right?  Certainly, there's a bit of a crisis of signing strikers in the PL right now.

Basically, Tim and co. have things planned.  I'm sure they're aware of this situation.  And I'm sure they have detailed plans that will be enforced when necessary.  This is not ideal.  It's just a little bit more waiting than we'd like.

[Marka Ragnos]

... while Gestede and Ayew will only improve.

I hope you're right. 

[Rob182]

I think it's been a fantastic window despite the loss of Benteke.  LB had been a problem for years, but Amavi is just pure class.  Midfield looks strong even without Delph. If I'm honest I would have liked another striker, however Sinclair has started brightly, while Gestede and Ayew will only improve.

I reckon many of us would ideally like another striker, but I think that's only because Gestede and Ayew have been 'alright' so far (even if the former did get our winner against Bournemouth!)

 

The thing is though, that if we brought in another striker, I genuinely think we'd have too many options to keep happy.

 

We're probably going to play a formation with 3 'forwards' most of the time (grouping strikers and wingers together), as that's what Sherwood seems to prefer.

 

We currently have these options for those 3 positions:

Gestede

Gabby

Kozak

Ayew

Sinclair

Grealish

Gil

Traore

Bacuna (could possibly be played high up)

N'Zogbia (hopefully won't be played at all)

Joe Cole

 

A number of these might be preferred in deeper positions (Gil, Cole etc), but also, these are the players that will likely be in the hat for a forward role, or at least a 'wide forward' role. If we play with 1 main striker, then the likely options are Gestede, Kozak & Gabby. Overall, we have an awful lot of forwards. If we bring in one more, I think we'll probably have to get rid of one of the ones that we'd actually like to see playing, because otherwise we'll have 2 or 3 players on the bench every week, that are either deserving of a start or could do with the game time to reach their potential.

[Dr_Pangloss]

We do have lots of options and I'm happy with the defence and midfield (especially this position) now. Still, I'm not convinced we have quality up front and this is an area we should have done more to improve. 

[TRO]

Time alone, will tell whether the window has been good for us or not.

[VILLAMARV]

Summer 2015:

IN: Sinclair (Man City-£2.5m?), Richards (Man City-free), Bunn (Norwich-free), Gueye (Lille-£6.5m?), Amavi (Nice-£8m?), Ayew (L'orient - 8.5m?), Angel Crespo (Cordoba - 700k?), Veretout (Nantes - £7m?), Gestede (Blackburn - £6m?), Traore (Barcelona - £7m?), Lescott (WBA - 2m), Ilori (Liverpool - 1m season loan), Sarkic (Anderlecht - ?)

OUT: Cleverley (loan return), Bent (Derby-free), Sylla (Rennes - Und), Vlaar (free), Given (Stoke-free), Lowton (Burnley-Und), Weimann (Derby-2.75m?), Stevens (Portsmouth-free), Helenius (Aab-free), Luna (Eibar-free), Delph (Man City-£8m), Benteke (Liverpool - £32.5m), Herd (Released - free), Tonev (Frosinone - free?), Cissokho (Porto - season loan), Robinson, Baker (Bristol City - season loan), Donacien (Wycombe - 1 month loan), Bennett (Bournemouth - 4 month loan), Calder (Dundee - 4 month loan)

So..... I make that 13 new players and 20 out the door including the loanees. 13 gone permanently though. Here's my take on it all.

GK: Glad we're not paying Given anymore. Interesting signing in Sarkic, Uninspired by Bunn.

DF: Replacing Luna, Stevens, Bennett and Cissokho at LB with Amavi looks like a wonderful idea already. At RB we'll see what his plans for Ilori and Crespo are but I'm not convinced by Bacuna defensively or Hutton offensively. As Lowton didn't seem to want to be here he'll be no great loss. CB I'm pretty happy with. Richards and Lescott have played together many times and instills more confidence in me than Vlaar and Baker. Ilori sounds like a Portuguese Stones to me so Im excited to see how that pans out. Crespo adds more depth which is handy considering there is no Senderos in the 25. Still think we're a fair bit stronger here than the last few years though. Okore, the forgotten man still has frightening potential if he can stay clear of injury.

MF: Sylla and Herd will hardly be missed. Cleverley and Delph on the other hand create a gaping hole in last seasons first choice line up. I think Gueye looks ready made for the Premier League, Veretout looks a bit off the pace but as ever give the new boys time to adjust - as Sanchez has by the look of things. Westwood does what he does. Last chance saloon for Gardner this year. I think we look really weak on paper if we pick up a couple of injuries especially as Bacuna or Richardson could still make the odd appearance here.

FW: Out wide it's another top mark for Sherwood. Traore looks class and Sinclair likes scoring, Add to that we wont be seeing Tonev again and the emergence of Grealish and It's all good. Ayew looks like a striker being played out wide, so we'll see if he's an upgrade on Weimann in time. Helenius gone, Robinson out on loan and finally no Bent on the wage bill but of course the beast has gone leaving a massive hole up front. Big, big pressure on Gestede, Ayew and Kozak. One of them has to step to the fore and soonish. But then in the real world there should be pressure on strikers to score goals.

Overall: That Nzogbia is still here is disappointing, though not unexpected. That we can lose Delph and Cleverley and still think we might have upgraded overall is good but I'm worried about the strength in depth of our midfield. Defence looks a lot stronger in terms of depth and first choice players and I'm happy that he's building from the back so to speak. AMAZED Adebayor didn't join but I'm not unhappy about it, Berbatov was another nightmare waiting to happen. 2 bullets dodged there for me. Looks like Sherwood wants to play 4-2-3-1 from the balance of the squad and with Gil, Grealish, Traore and Cole kicking about it might not be a bad idea. Much better squad on paper than last year. Though being better than last year really shouldn't be a yardstick we ever use. Still think we'll finish 14th - 17th. Just a lot safer than the last couple of years. Lack of a proven striker is obvious, but given the available options and the fact that the club seems to be operating on a fairly small overall outlay again I don't think we can be too sniffy about Gestede or Ayew just yet. Looking to the future, next Summer looks all about a GK, RB, MF and FW barring any major departures and that's a lot easier shopping list than the major surgery we were looking at after Lambert's reign. Considering it's Sherwood's first ever window I think he deserves a lot of praise. B+

 

[Richie k]

the club couldnt have done too much better really. far exceeded my expectations. just wonder what position we would be in if benteke didnt leave. 

probably would have signed lescott, sinclair, richards, crespo,gana and gestede and thats at a stretch. glad we sold him