Transferometer: January 2022 Edition

[r0cafella]

6. We needed to upgrade Fraser and get another CF but failed. 
 

Really worried about where the goals will come from. 

[ElDiablo]

Put Wilson in that side and it looks 100x better tbf.

[Super Duper Branko Strupar]

Before the window, with what I thought were reasonable expectations given the state of the club, our position, January difficulties etc, I had as my list 2 CMs (one typical "DM"), a CF so we didnt only have Wilson (Wilson injury made that more pressing and shifted the calibre up a bit), a CB, a new starting RB ideally and a LB to challenge Lewis. We had no midfield, no Wilson backup, light on quality in CB though I like Fed and Schar, and only 2 realistic full back options, our best being Manquillo, which said a lot. I'd rather some of the quality we've brought in was weighed towards other positions, though. But Im absolutely not complaining. 

 

Didnt expect our RB to be so good. I'd probably have passed on a Trippier-level RB to get a quality DM in and sacrifice for a lesser RB, though. But Im not complaining we've got him. It also gave us another LB instantly, 2 birds with one stone.
Burn is a solid addition. His name doesnt set the transfer window alight but Ive seen him a lot this season and he's very good at what he does. Not an all round defender to solve all our problems, but a good addition. Has to start with Schar but if Fede comes back and can get form I'm very happy with those 3, whoever starts. I do see Schar and Burn being a similar defender with deficiencies Fede's talents can cover, mind. I love Fede, man. 

Wood, I'd have been happier with him as backup and Wilson not to be injured for another month. Id not have picked him and to get more quality would have been amazing, but I do see the logic in the signing. We can get the ball in the box no problem, it's who is in there to finish it which we struggle with. I do hope WIlson is back sooner than expected and stays fit though. Wilson fit for the rest of the season and we have no worries scoring imo. Big if though.

Bruno G is next level. Beyond any expectations. Superb. From what Ive been able to learn he seems like he's got the ability to drastically change how we progress the ball. And keep the ball. We've not had that for years. He's not your hard tackling, protect the back 4 DM, but he seems to be good at disrupting play and turnarounds. Which will be huge. He has to replace Shelvey and he has to be part of a midfield 2 with Joe imo. And we have to play Willock or Miggy in front. Bruno seems far too good on and just beyond the half way line to have him deeper in midfield. And Shelvey sure as fuck cant play there. And Joe cant. So instead of a deeper DM with 2 CMs in front imo you need 2 CMs and 1 beyond them more like a 10 (even though you have 3 up top). Joes running and combative nature in midfield since he's moved there has been genuinely impressive. A disrupter with quality feet with the ball. Bruno G seems to be however many levels better. Those too can sit and move and take it forward and pass through and sideays all fucking day and I think it'll be great. Whilst also protecting the back 4 as a 2. Then a central outlet in front. With the 3 ahead. Thats how I see it anyway.

Targett is a strange one. Again, Id have preferred a DM. But there's no doubting he's good. We did have a (albeit only very recently and only for a handful of games) decently performing left back, whos shown ability in his career in Lewis. Who I do have confidence in. And a decent option in Manq after getting Tripper in. Which makes it seem like a bit of a superfluous singing, given where else we could have got more. But again, he is good.

 

So all in all, good but not perfect imo. I was never asking for perfect to begin with though I only ever expected minimum good enough to stay up. I hope we have it. I do hope Wood fucking scores a couple this next month, like!

 

 

Edited February 1, 2022 by Super Duper Branko Strupar

[r0cafella]

19 minutes ago, Super Duper Branko Strupar said:

Before the window, with what I thought were reasonable expectations given the state of the club, our position, January difficulties etc, I had as my list 2 CMs (one typical "DM"), a CF so we didnt only have Wilson (Wilson injury made that more pressing and shifted the calibre up a bit), a CB, a new starting RB ideally and a LB to challenge Lewis. We had no midfield, no Wilson backup, light on quality in CB though I like Fed and Schar, and only 2 realistic full back options, our best being Manquillo, which said a lot. I'd rather some of the quality we've brought in was weighed towards other positions, though. But Im absolutely not complaining. 

 

Didnt expect our RB to be so good. I'd probably have passed on a Trippier-level RB to get a quality DM in and sacrifice for a lesser RB, though. But Im not complaining we've got him. It also gave us another LB instantly, solving 2 birds with one stone.
Burn is a solid addition. His name doesnt set the transfer window alight but Ive seen him a lot this season and he's very good at what he does. Not an all round defender to solve all our problems, but a good addition. Has to start with Schar but if Fede comes back and can get form I'm very happy with those 3, whoever starts. I do see Schar and Burn being a similar defender with deficiencies Fede's talents can cover, mind. I love Fede, man. 

Wood, I'd have been happier with him as backup and Wilson not to be injured for another month. Id not have picked him and to get more quality would have been amazing, but I do see the logic in the signing. We can get the ball in the box no problem, it's who is in there to finish it which we struggle with. I do hope WIlson is back sooner than expected and stays fit though. Wilson fit for the rest of the season and we have no worries scoring imo. Big if though.

Bruno G is next level. Beyond any expectations. Superb. From what Ive been able to learn he seems like he's got the ability to drastically change how we progress the ball. And keep the ball. We've not had that for years. He's not your hard tackling, protect the back 4 DM, but he seems to be good at disrupting play and turnarounds. Which will be huge. He has to replace Shelvey and he has to be part of a midfield 2 with Joe imo. And we have to play Willock or Miggy in front. Bruno seems far too good on and just beyond the half way line to have him deeper in midfield. And Shelvey sure as fuck cant play there. And Joe cant. So instead of a deeper DM with 2 CMs in front imo you need 2 CMs and 1 beyond them more like a 10 (even though you have 3 up top). Joes running and combative nature in midfield since he's moved there has been genuinely impressive. A disrupter with quality feet with the ball. Bruno G seems to be however many levels better. Those too can sit and move and take it forward and pass through and sideays all fucking day and I think it'll be great. Whilst also protecting the back 4 as a 2. Then a central outlet in front. With the 3 ahead. Thats how I see it anyway.

Targett is a strange one. Again, Id have preferred a DM. But there's no doubting he's good. We did have a (albeit only very recently and only for a handful of games) decently performing left back, whos shown ability in his career in Lewis. Who I do have confidence in. And a decent option in Manq after getting Tripper in. Which makes it seem like a bit of a superfluous singing, given where else we could have got more. But again, he is good.

 

So all in all, good but not perfect imo. I was never asking for perfect to begin with though I only ever expected minimum good enough to stay up. I hope we have it. I do hope Wood fucking scores a couple this next month, like!

100000% agree with your point about Bruno and Shelvey. Bruno can do everything Shelvey and more playing them together would just hobble how our midfield functions and I really hope Howe doesn’t make that mistake. 
 

As we saw when someone posted Shelvey stats up, he contributes absolutely nothing and when we play him we are essentially playing with a handicap. 

[Stottie]

7.5 probably. For a new transfer team, they did brilliantly, so ferk it, let's give them 8.

 

Lingard, and it would have been close to 10, mostly for Lingard's ability but also for having second threat to draw shifts and doubling up away from ASM. The main fear is that injury to ASM or Wood leaves us exposed.

 

From the last eight games actually played, us 9 points, Norwich 6, Burnley 5, Watford 1. On top of that, we're the one who got five new players, two of them world class. If Burnley's new striker bangs in a dozen, then yeah we may go down. Rafa racked up the points but we still went down because the Mackems did too. Muto and Joelinton also scored goals in the Bundesliga, so I do not fear this new Burnley blerk myself. For us, Bruno, Burn, Targett, and Trippier should give us far more possession, and the job now is to turn that into the right service for Wood. I'd be tempted to try Ritchie back at RW just for his crossing ability. Trippier gets up and down, so we could work it on that side with overloads and triangles, not pace and trickery.

 

[Super Duper Branko Strupar]

Oh, also, kicking out Lewis and keeping Krafth in is criminal. I can only imagine the thinking is Krafth can "play" CB and RB. And with Targett we have 3 LB options in him, Manq and *cough* Dummett, who can also "play" CB. Who is also very lucky to keep a place.

 

I'm clutching at straws as to the reasoning. I just think Lewis is the wrong one to deregister.

 

EDIT: I forgot Ritchie  How?! What can he possibley do?

 

 

Edited February 1, 2022 by Super Duper Branko Strupar

[rickyprickles]

[DMLeazesender]

Ok, I confess....I gave it a 10/10....fucking delighted.....watch the first interviews with the new boys Targett and Burn - level headed professionals....add on Bruno and Trips......Wood will improve with the added quality (as with all the team).....ok, we missed Lingard and Ekiteke....but neither was through lack of trying.

 

Everything is moving in the right direction, this is just the beginning. We are the highest spenders in our first window under the new owners....that's a fucking statement of intent.

 

Everything about NUFC has changed since the takeover PR, Media, infrastructure, facilities, communication, community relations blah blah blah....That's why it gets a 10 from Len...... did none of you live through the previous 15 transfer windows?.......the future of NUFC has never looked so good.

 

HTL

[Thiago]

I think a lot of it depends on how influential Guimares can be. 

[Guest reefatoon]

Transfer window overall, decent. Midfield definitely needed some new blood, so Bruno was an amazing signing. Trippier is going to be huge for us too.

 

transfer deadline day: absolute gash as usual.  All that excitement early on and only coming out with Matt Targett on loan was a shite days work (not including Burn in deadline day as he seemed to be having a medical for days). So yesterday was a busted flush when it came to signings.

 

Have to say though, it didn’t seem for the want of trying. Think we all just got a little too excited around 9am and thought the day was going to be some ride. 
 

Hopefully no injuries to our attacking players as we are still criminally light up there. Keep them fit and we should be ok.

[Geordiebri]

Hello all. This is my first post so be kind.

 

Whilst the transfer window has been the best in many years aren't they still short of a decent striker? 
Wouldn't the money have been best spent there than Wood, who at best is a journey man?

[James]

8.

 

January market only has limited players available, especially up front - what clubs are going to sell their goal scorers / creators?

 

Nonetheless we were the highest spenders in Europe.

 

we didn’t spend too much on mediocre players like Everton did a few years ago and look what has happened to them since.

 

first time this season I’ve felt we have a chance of staying up but it’s going to be very close.

[Guest HTT II]

On reflection, to get 5 in, two being genuine real quality, in January, knowing other clubs will want to and have tried to rinse us, plus the backlash against the takeover, the owners deserve massive massive credit. That and we seemingly genuinely were an attractive proposition to the players we just missed out on or their clubs were unwilling to let join us, despite being in a relegation fight and for the past 14 years under Ashley a nothing club. Stay up and it won’t be long until we are signing more top players and moving up the league and back in Europe and competing for trophies!

[James]

Hello welcome.

 

we don’t like having too many threads on here and there are two threads already that discuss this so I’m sure one of the mods will kindly be moving it soon.

 

please check content is not already covered before starting new threads.

[tommo]

8 minutes ago, Geordiebri said:

Hello all. This is my first post so be kind.

 

Whilst the transfer window has been the best in many years aren't they still short of a decent striker? 
Wouldn't the money have been best spent there than Wood, who at best is a journey man?

Chris wood is a 1 in 3 premier league striker. Journeyman is slightly disrespectful imo. 

[Tyne81]

Little soft opening line there buddy. 

 

We would have liked another forward but we did try, as mentioned constantly forwards of a high standard are like rocking horse shite in the January window. We need Wilson back and hopefully fit for the rest of the season but in the meantime aim to play to Woods strengths. Hopefully with the Bruno signing and two decent full backs we are able to. I'm feeling fairly confident after yesterday we'll be alright.

[The College Dropout]

4.  
 

We are desperate but we haven’t don’t he business like a desperate club - to our detriment. 
 

I think we should have paid the premium for our first choice CB or attacker. Those positions are transformative to a football team.  
 

we went from a mid table team to title challengers signing a LW and CF. 

 

We may pay for this with relegation. 

[LV]

NWOAT

[SiLvOR]

It's hard to put a number on it right now, obviously because we've yet to see the new signings in action. However, they've addressed some key areas, and have obviously tried to get as much quality in as possible. Can't fault that, this is clearly not an easy task to sign 11 new players in January. We got dicked around by a few clubs which sucks, but at least a genuine effort was made. I'm just happy we're giving it a real shot. It's still in our hands, but we need to start winning games instead of drawing them.

[The College Dropout]

Have we significantly improved the spine of the squad? 
 

GK

Burn

Bruno

Wood

 

imo no. Wood brings in much needs depth but he’s no better than what we have. Arguably doesn’t even start when everyone’s fit. In a 442 I’m not convinced Burn is significantly better than what we have. 
 

Bruno is potentially a great signing but that’s it. He’s not going to score or assist loads. 
 

We needed to change the dynamic of the side. Imo that’s central defence and attackers. We needed an ASM level attacker minimum. Then we start to look a real dangerous team.  
 

likewise a real solid CB changes a lot.  I wasn’t convinced by the Sevilla defender but if we thought he was the one we push the boat out, pay the premium this one time to give us the best chance possible of staying up.  
 

At the moment we have a lower midtable team that are in a relegation battle with most of the squad knowing their days here are numbered.  Imo we should have used financial might in this window to stay up. Then play it smarter in the summer.  
 

I am glad we didn’t go the Everton and Villa route of signing players on the way down mind. If we stay up I like the type of players we’ve been after. But we’ve left survival to chance.  

[Geordie_once_removed]

I went for a 7.

 

On the positive side we got someone in Trippier and Bruno G who would get into the starting line up of all but 3 or 4 teams in the league and who will help us play in a different way that is more aligned with Howe's tactics.  We also avoided a James Rodriguez/Chris Samba style signing who would disrupt us and prove to be something of an albatross around our neck. Targett and Burn are both solid and will improve a back 4 that as a unit leaked goals like a sieve.

 

On the negative side we didn't get in players that will help us get the goals that would guarantee avoiding relegation.  Wood is average, we'll be lucky if he scores 5 before the end of the season, and we signed no one else to take the pressure off him, ASM and (when fit) Wilson. Also CB is still a concern, I wish we had gone for someone attainable like Burn much earlier and perhaps then concentrated on a similarly solid signing rather than spending so much time on trying and failing to sign a transformative CBs like Botman and Diego.

 

Given this you might question my 7 rating, but as we've been told time and again January is a tough window to do business in and this was made all the more difficult by our new status as a hugely wealthy club and the fact that we're sat in the relegation zone.  One of the most important things was to avoid signing that would damage us in the long term like signing players on huge fees who aren't interested/suitable and we won't be able to shift (hello Everton and Man U). 

[Gallowgate Toon]

I was disappointed last night after we didn't get Lingard in but I'm feeling pretty good about the business this morning.

 

We've not been far from turning draws into wins as it was, so to bring in 4 players that do improve us should see us through, but it's still riskier than I'd like. 

 

I think the full back acquisitions are going to be the most important for us for the rest of the season. We've gone from Krafth/Murphy/Manquillo (I like him but he has deficiencies) & Ritchie/Lewis/Dummett to Trippier & Targett. While the latter isn't a statement signing by any stretch, he's seemingly great defensively and has more assists than Dummett and Lewis combined  While Wood is the main man with Wilson out, full backs who can provide some form of quality into the box should nab us some goals.

 

As we've now got defenders who are actually decent defenders but also comfortable on the ball, you'd like to think we can get a foothold in games better than before which should give attackers more of a platform to get some rhythm going. I get the impression a lot of the work on the training ground so far has been shape and defence-based, as that's been the immediate need to see us through to January.

 

We're not going to be prolific by any stretch but there are some goals in our team and we've got to coax them out. ASM is converting at a decent rate, but Willock, Wood, Fraser and Joelinton all have tools to get a few goals each between now and the end of the season.

 

Gut feeling is that we're going to be quite a handy away side for the rest of the campaign.

 

Also, we should be an interesting set piece proposition now with a bit of work. Some big distracting targets in Burn & Wood.

 

 

Edited February 1, 2022 by Gallowgate Toon

[The College Dropout]

3 of our signings are in their mid 20s or older and have spent much of their careers in the lower half of the PL. They aren’t the signings that make me feel we can pull away from the battle because we’ve added real quality. 

[dinotheprehistoricgeordie]

7/10 I'm fairly content with our business. It would have been a 9/10 if we'd got another striker in and a 10/10 with another striker on top of that.

 

Excited about Bruno, he really seems to be a player we can build a top class team around.

[Interpolic]

I'd give it an 8 in the context we were operating in. Seemed a nightmare. Still managed to sign some big talent and some solid characters. 

 

I'm fairly confident we'll stay up now because of the signings and the fact Howe seems to have stopped the rot a bit. It'll be cagey though. 

 

Really hope that in the summer we sign a player that can play right across the front line, we've lacked one since Remy and it solves so many squad problems over the course of the season in the modern game.