Time to reflect on this summer transfer window (and what a window it was)

[Parky]

Replacing Dyer with Smith looks the only mistake so far, time will tell with the rest of his signings.

 

Creativity could be a problem for us.

 

Creativity is an issue and although we are getting more organised and will concede less, goals win games as they say.

 

Still think Smith will come good.

[ohmelads]

Still think we're lacking genuine creativity.

 

It's a very valid concern, but I'd rather we gone down this route for the time being. Building from the back and shorter term experienced signings. I just hope Allardyce does have plans to bring in younger and more creative players further down the line, because although we can name a few flair players he's bought, relatively speaking he hasn't bought many in his time.

 

I do think the Smith money should have gone on a genuine winger, we knew for ages Dyer and Solano wanted to leave. That's taken the shine off the window for me, our squad lacks options to change a game but I think a lot of us accepted a while ago that we're gearing up to play Bolton football, it's not pretty but it gets results, I guess. The jury is still very much out on whether Allardyce can adapt to a bigger budget or just turn us into a rich man's Bolton. My money is on the latter and I think he will only take us so far playing that way, but he'll lay solid foundations here and might prove a few of us wrong after a few transfer windows.

 

Overall though positive strides forwards, let's just keep our fingers crossed Zog and Milner stay fit because without them we are a bit screwed.

[Baggio]

Replacing Dyer with Smith looks the only mistake so far, time will tell with the rest of his signings.

 

Creativity could be a problem for us.

 

Are you joking Dyer is going to be out for months and months. Who would you want us too replace him with, there aren't many players out there who aren't crocks. Can only think of players like quaresma who would cost a bomb.

 

Hindsight tastic.

 

We should have replaced Dyer with someone with pace, it's been obvious in the first few games that we've lacked someone with the ability to run with the ball and stretch the game, Smith is going to offer graft but little else.

 

[La Parka]

Still think we're lacking genuine creativity.

 

It's a very valid concern, but I'd rather we gone down this route for the time being. Building from the back and shorter term experienced signings. I just hope Allardyce does have plans to bring in younger and more creative players further down the line, because although we can name a few flair players he's bought, relatively speaking he hasn't bought many in his time.

 

I do think the Smith money should have gone on a genuine winger, we knew for ages Dyer and Solano wanted to leave. That's taken the shine off the window for me, our squad lacks options to change a game but I think a lot of us accepted a while ago that we're gearing up to play Bolton football, it's not pretty but it gets results, I guess.

 

Overall though positive strides forwards, let's just keep our fingers crossed Zog and Milner stay fit because without them we are a bit screwed.

 

Can't think of anyone who would have come for the wing to sit on the bench though.

[Incognito]

Replacing Dyer with Smith looks the only mistake so far, time will tell with the rest of his signings.

 

Creativity could be a problem for us.

 

Creativity is an issue and although we are getting more organised and will concede less, goals win games as they say.

 

Still think Smith will come good.

 

Agree with most of that but Smith is stuck between two rocks as regard his favourite position is and in my opinion he ain't good enough in either.Certainly lack creativity going forward so while we look strong defensively(how good does that feel to post),our midfield doesnt have the key to unlck dour,ie Aston Villa,defences.

[Baggio]

Still think we're lacking genuine creativity.

 

It's a very valid concern, but I'd rather we gone down this route for the time being. Building from the back and shorter term experienced signings. I just hope Allardyce does have plans to bring in younger and more creative players further down the line, because although we can name a few flair players he's bought, relatively speaking he hasn't bought many in his time.

 

I do think the Smith money should have gone on a genuine winger, we knew for ages Dyer and Solano wanted to leave. That's taken the shine off the window for me, our squad lacks options to change a game but I think a lot of us accepted a while ago that we're gearing up to play Bolton football, it's not pretty but it gets results, I guess.

 

Overall though positive strides forwards, let's just keep our fingers crossed Zog and Milner stay fit because without them we are a bit screwed.

 

Can't think of anyone who would have come for the wing to sit on the bench though.

 

Why aim for someone to sit on the bench?

 

If SWP was available for £10 million then sign him and stick Milner on the bench.

[Parky]

Still think we're lacking genuine creativity.

 

It's a very valid concern, but I'd rather we gone down this route for the time being. Building from the back and shorter term experienced signings. I just hope Allardyce does have plans to bring in younger and more creative players further down the line, because although we can name a few flair players he's bought, relatively speaking he hasn't bought many in his time.

 

I do think the Smith money should have gone on a genuine winger, we knew for ages Dyer and Solano wanted to leave. That's taken the shine off the window for me, our squad lacks options to change a game but I think a lot of us accepted a while ago that we're gearing up to play Bolton football, it's not pretty but it gets results, I guess. The jury is still very much out on whether Allardyce can adapt to a bigger budget or just turn us into a rich man's Bolton. My money is on the latter and I think he will only take us so far playing that way, but he'll lay solid foundations here and might prove a few of us wrong after a few transfer windows.

 

Overall though positive strides forwards, let's just keep our fingers crossed Zog and Milner stay fit because without them we are a bit screwed.

 

We will play 'narrower' football and press the midfield as seems to be his way. A lot more is hinging on Zoggy than it should really. The foundations are looking very good now and SA has said before iirc during the world cup that he doesn't understand the way he has been labelled  and the fact that he has purchased creative players. Football for me isn't the same if it comes down to percentages all the time.

 

 

But I'm happy and it is clear we've made strides.

[ohmelads]

The signings of Diouf and Anelka at Bolton give me some hope that Sam will invest in flair when he has laid the foundations. Mind, I don't see why he couldn't do the two at once.

 

Hopefully in a year or two when we have cobbled together a solid back four and spine to the team he will be a bit more risky in the transfer market and invest in some genuine flair to lift us above the also rans. I do worry that a lot of teams will set themselves up the way Villa did, exploiting our lack of width, and we are cutting a bit fine with just the two wingers.

 

I think Sam's played this window very cautiously, understandable given he admitted his first priorities will be short term. Unlike previous managers, he wants to keep his job long enough to implement longer term plans. Roeder was all about his longer term planning (so he made out, anyway) but lost sight of the short term. Sam is wary of falling into the same trap and so has gone for a big squad of experienced signings who can play his brand of football.

[Parky]

The signings of Diouf and Anelka at Bolton give me some hope that Sam will invest in flair when he has laid the foundations. Mind, I don't see why he couldn't do the two at once.

 

Hopefully in a year or two when we have cobbled together a solid back four and spine to the team he will be a bit more risky in the transfer market and invest in some genuine flair to lift us above the also rans. I do worry that a lot of teams will set themselves up the way Villa did, exploiting our lack of width, and we are cutting a bit fine with just the two wingers.

 

I think Sam's played this window very cautiously, understandable given he admitted his first priorities will be short term. Unlike previous managers, he wants to keep his job long enough to implement longer term plans. Roeder was all about his longer term planning (so he made out, anyway) but lost sight of the short term. Sam is wary of falling into the same trap and so has gone for a big squad of experienced signings who can play his brand of football.

 

 

This is what I can't figure out and am still a bit bewildered that we didn't sign at least one flair player, there will be home games where we won't be able to break sides down and now we haven't even got Nobby to do the odd unpredictable thing. Emre needs to step up.

[Wullie]

I think we've got creativity in the squad. Milner, N'Zogbia, Viduka, Martins, Emre, Barton and even Geremi could all be said to be creative - not to mention that having two decent full backs will help us immensely rather than having two who are woeful on the ball which is what we've seen so often in the recent past. We've also got five strikers who will all put away chances when given them most of the time.

 

To be honest, if it's true that we received a Smoggie bid for Shola this morning, it could be said that we made a mistake not taking it and then looking to see if we could bring a creative player in quickly, but we didn't and that's ok. We've got arguably our best and most creative midfielder to come back and if we had signed someone, we might have had a problem with too many in CM. Parky's right though, Emre does need to step up and I'm hopeful that he will because I like him a lot.

[Optimistic Nut]

Imagine the buzz we'll get if we're going into January knocking around 6th spot, then we sign a true flair player to go into our midfield three as the added ingredient to take us even higher?

[Dr. Nguyen Van Falk]

Still think when we push N'zogbia into the middle and have Emre, Barton and Duff back creativity won't be too harsh of a problem.

 

Still need a play maker and a pacey player though.

[Parky]

Still think when we push N'zogbia into the middle and have Emre, Barton and Duff back creativity won't be too harsh of a problem.

 

Still need a play maker and a pacey player though.

 

It's almost as if he's just done the most obvious things first. They needed doing mind.

[Thespence]

Emre - I don't think he is the creative player many think he is, most of his time he operates on the toes of CBs rather the heels of the strikers.  If we have two DMs either side of him he needs to leave the ball coming out of defence to the CBs & DMs because he is not good enough to pick the ball up on edge of 18 yard box & create from there, if he was he wouldnt playing for us.

[WarrenBartonCentrePartin]

The main priority has been resolved.

 

The defence has been sorted.

[Cronky]

It's been an amazing summer. In just a few weeks, Allardyce has completely re-moulded the squad and the whole character of the team has changed.

 

I'm not too bothered about the lack of a Deco-type flair player in midfield. There's plenty of good passing ability there, and by the end of the season, I'd expect us to be at the top end of the table and able to attract that sort of player.

 

Funnily enough, the one area of the squad which I think will need attention is striker. Apart from Shola, they don't look suited to the 4-3-3 that SA prefers. I also think we could do with a Bellamy-Beardsley type to link with the midfield and add a bit of variety. The four that we have are all out and out strikers.

[Guest Bramble OG]

Couldnt have realisticly asked for any more imo, been quite a nervous window at times, went a few weeks without looking like signing anyone mid window, but the panic was down to our last two managers being awful in the window.

 

Think we are one player of a very good team (attacking mid) and thats without seeing Emre + Barton under SA in the league, we have 9 new players all being near enough 1st team, hopefully we can be patient and give them time to fit in before demending to much

[beardsleymagic]

I'm fairly happy with the squad as it is now. I agree that in an ideal world we would have an extra playmaker and maybe a pacy midfielder/striker who can come on and change a game, but I would have taking this at the end of last season.

 

I think that the problem we have at the minute is that the players are still getting to grips with Sam's formation.

 

But giving a bit of time and hopefully a few clean sheets and wins, that will see the players grow in confidence and we should see players taking the risks needed in games to break down the likes of Villa and such.

[Parky]

It's been an amazing summer. In just a few weeks, Allardyce has completely re-moulded the squad and the whole character of the team has changed.

 

I'm not too bothered about the lack of a Deco-type flair player in midfield. There's plenty of good passing ability there, and by the end of the season, I'd expect us to be at the top end of the table and able to attract that sort of player.

 

Funnily enough, the one area of the squad which I think will need attention is striker. Apart from Shola, they don't look suited to the 4-3-3 that SA prefers. I also think we could do with a Bellamy-Beardsley type to link with the midfield and add a bit of variety. The four that we have are all out and out strikers.

 

Something I have been wittering on about in the old 'Have we got the wrong strikers' thread'.

 

There is decent passing available to us and Emre can very ocassionally not overhit a pass ...Let's see how many chances we create today against surely one of the poorest sides in the PL.

 

Overall things are a lot better, but imya an opportunity missed.

[Guest Guinness]

Really pleased with the Business conducted this summer. We've signed the captains of Marseille and Lyon bringing some much needed experience to the defence. We've signed two England internationals, the combative Smith and Joey Barton who should bring a lot to the side when fit IMO. We've signed a quality Premiership striker for free along with a quality Premiership midfielder for free. We've finally addressed the left back problem by signing the promising Enrique and we've also signed a Czech international defender. What a contrast to last season!

 

If I'm being super critical we could have done with a creative midfielder, but as far as priorities go they have all been addressed. Once Barton returns and Emre gets back to fitness we should have more than enough in midfield until we can eventually sign someone creative. I'm a little disappointed to see Nobby go, but he wanted to leave so I guess there was nothing we could do.

[Parky]

Really pleased with the Business conducted this summer. We've signed the captains of Marseille and Lyon bringing some much needed experience to the defence. We've signed two England internationals, the combative Smith and Joey Barton who should bring a lot to the side when fit IMO. We've signed a quality Premiership striker for free along with a quality Premiership midfielder for free. We've finally addressed the left back problem by signing the promising Enrique and we've also signed a Czech international defender. What a contrast to last season!

 

If I'm being super critical we could have done with a creative midfielder, but as far as priorities go they have all been addressed. Once Barton returns and Emre gets back to fitness we should have more than enough in midfield until we can eventually sign someone creative. I'm a little disappointed to see Nobby go, but he wanted to leave so I guess there was nothing we could do.

 

Agree with all of that. But I take it for granted that a business will address priorities, what makes a project a cut above is vision and we are currently seriously lacking it. As someone said earlier we are missing the player that will connect the mf to the attack or even a floating striker with license to wander and create chances.

[Karjala]

Be class if Deco was unveiled as a signing before kick off

[olliemort]

Hes done what every good manager should do......especially with the state of our defence for as long as I can remember!You work from the back up,Im a bit disapointed we didnt get any trophy player or a creative midfielder,but I reckon in January we will be in for some one.There will be alot better talent available then,ie Deco!I dont think Barca will be able to give him enough playing time to keep him happy!We no longer will be the laughing stock of the premiership,COME ON!

[ohmelads]

The pressure will be on Emre, Barton or Geremi to be the creator in a midfield three, but I think the real burden of creative responsibility will rest on the young shoulders of N'Zogbia and Milner. Playing 4-3-3 means these players are given more freedom to show their stuff, but with that comes the added responsibility.

[Thespence]

I find it crazy Sam has signed so many midfielders. Reading views on here: Emre is the creative force we are missing at the mo, Butt was many peoples Player of Last season & should play DM, Milner is the Yorkie-Ronaldo, Nzog is the potentially the best young winger in the Premiership.