Holmesy

I said yesterday that I’m fairly underwhelmed and would have liked us to have done more, not in terms of the quality we’ve brought in, but the numbers. And I stand by it. But when the season starts, I’ll be fully behind the team as always. It’s just my opinion. It might be a shit one, but it’s mine. The outrage it caused was ridiculous though. People were genuinely up in arms!

Are you alright mate? You seem really offended that someone has a different opinion to you. That’s kind of the way the world works you know! It’s not meant to be offensive, it’s just different points of view.

'Slating' is a bit strong. I haven't seen anyone on here saying he's shit. That would be slating! Saying you would prefer to go into next season with a specialist mobile full back instead of Dan Burn playing there, isn't.

I'd be more than happy with Targett as our left back. I thought he did great when he first came, but the reason I, and I guess most other people don't talk about him as our first choice LB is because Eddie doesn't seem to see him as that. Even last season when most people were calling for Dan Burn to be dropped and Targett to come in, Eddie stuck with Burn and Targett warmed the bench. If he's our first choice LB this season, great!

I stand corrected

His lack of mobility kind of dictates the systems we can play though. What if we're getting stifled down the right and we need to open up the left hand side to give us a new line of attack? We can't, because we have a CB playing LB. You can ask a full back to play a defensive role. You can't ask a 6'5 CB to get forward and trouble his opposing winger/full back if he doesn't have it in his locker because of his physical limitations. A mobile full back gives us options. Dan Burn, to an extent, robs us of those options. And let me just reiterate, before people start crying, I like Dan Burn, I rate Dan Burn and i'm comfortable with him being backup CB (even first choice CB) and backup LB, but I would prefer a more modern, mobile first team left back and I'm disappointed that doesn't seem to be the club's priority

That's not my job, it's Dan Ashworth's. I'm sure of the 120,000+ professional footballers in the world, there is one young enough, good enough and affordable enough within the boundaries of FFP, that would improve our first team. If not, i'm happy to stand corrected.

It's not hate at all. I rate him and i think he's a really good guy, but he's a CB filling in at LB. It's hardly lunacy to suggest I would prefer a good specialist left back playing in that position is it? Are there any other teams in the Premier League or Champions League that played almost the entire season with a centre back playing as a fullback? He will be targeted next season, you know he will. Add speed, mobility, crossing ability and attacking prowess on that left hand side and we look more balanced and more threathening.

Careful mate. Get your helmet on

No one said it mate but that seems to be the suggestion on here

I've made a correction to the post because what i meant obviously wasn't clear. Fuck me, this site has almost gone the other way - any post that isn't unbridled joy or non-objective discussion is absolutely unacceptable! I'm not absolutely delighted we're going into a CL campaign with Dan Burn at left back but it seems anyone who doesn't share that opinion isn't a true fan.

I wasn't suggesting all of them at the same time

Calm down with the drama pal. I'm not saying we're shit and the club is in crisis. This is the Transfer Rumours thread and we're discussing the club's transfer activity. You've been in here long enough to know people don't necessarily agree with each other and that's ok. I'm not slagging the club off, i'm just expressing disappointment that we haven't done more (yet). We might end the window with a flurry of amazing first team signings. If not, i'll enjoy the season like everyone else.

Plug the glaring gaps in our squad and build greater strength in depth. As people have pointed out, we're at risk if any or some of Burn, Tripper, Schar, Botman, Wilson and Isak, Miggy, Barnes get injured. And by screwed, obviously we have players who can fill in but the step down is significant. We have a CB playing at LB and our right side options aren't good enough for a Champions League campaign (IMO). All i'm saying is I would've expected us to sign 3/4 first team players in key positions by now. I'm not talking about a squad overhaul in one window. It's realistic concern based on the above. I don't want us to go into the CL with Jacob Murphy at right wing because Miggy is injured. I'd rather we went in with a quality right forward and Miggy as our backup. It's not an outrageous concept.

It just isn't as simple as you're making out. Plans and targets can be fluid and readjusted if your momentum/achievement is greater than you forecasted. It comes down to aggression of ambition, and personally i'm disappointed that we don't look to be building significantly on our achievement, despite it being ahead of where we thought we'd be.

Yes, that's kind of cementing my point though. I know we can't go out and spend a billion pounds but we've just finished 4th. Build on it. I guess there are two approaches - accept that it was a bit of a fluke and be happy with 6th next season or use it as a launch platform and try to cement our place in the top 4. Given the ambitions of our owners, I thought it would be the second option. As it is, it looks to be the first, and i can't be the only one that's disappointed with that?

I get your point, but finishing 4th and then finishing 6th is not improving, it's literally going backwards.

And I was one step away from being semi-pro! It’s seriously fine margins at PL level. Can Willock add end product to his game? Hopefully, but there are no guarantees. Forgive me for being cut-throat but I’d rather we signed a genuinely class, guaranteed improvement and if Willock fulfils his potential, great problem to have! Wilshere was touted as the next world class CM maestro not long ago and ended up having an underwhelming career. He was much higher rated than Willock and ended up a journeyman.

Yeah, it was a fairly negative view of a squad that played and finished amazingly last season. But you have to improve, firstly because everyone else is and secondly, because every team has spent since last season analysing us and figuring out ways to beat us. Going into a season with some unknown factors usually helps. I guess we’ll see where we end up at the end of the transfer window, but given how long it takes Eddie to get players up to speed, early signings would’ve made a lot more sense. I realise it’s not Football Manager but come on ??‍♂️

I get where you’re coming from but it’s the lack of depth and balance that concerns me. People rave about Willock but he has no end product. Wilson is injury prone and we only have Isak behind him. Almiron had a good season but he’s not top drawer. Trippier is our only RB and we don’t have a first team LB. Burn looks to be our backup option but that’s a depressing thought. Schar or Botman get injured and the replacements are a significant step down. It’s not all negative obviously. We’ve got some great quality but there are glaring gaps. With full first teams out, I’d say we’re on a par with Spurs and Man Utd. I’m more worried about Villa this season though. Would Almiron, Burn, Targett, Murphy or Willock get into any of their squads, let alone first teams?

I think the feeling of disappointment around this transfer window is triggering my Ashley PTSD. I know we’ve signed two international players but it’s hardly been the most exciting window for us. I think we were all hoping for much more by this stage.

Their front line of Mahrez, Maxi and Firmino is going to do some damage

Shady as fuck!

We’re going into a Champions League campaign! Do you really want to see Dan Burn at LB? Half of our supporters were calling for him to be dropped in the last 3rd of the season, not because of his defensive contribution but because we had nothing attacking-wise down the left. Targett was available for large parts of last season but didn’t get a game, so Eddie clearly doesn’t rate him as a first choice LB. Teams will have done a shitload of analysis on us in the close season, so we can expect a hell of a lot more pressure on our right hand side. If we don’t add another attacking dimension it could come back to bite us.

Surely we can’t go into this season with no first choice left back?! It’s arguably the position we’ve needed to strengthen most and we’re about to sign another right back. I know ‘trust the process’ and all that shit but the full back situation is a bit of a head scratcher!