How would you rate our January 2023 Transfer Window?

[Rich]

Summer 2022 got a collective 8/10 on here in 54's thread from September.

 

But how does January 2023 stack up for you?

 

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IN

Garang Kuol from Central Coast Mariners for £0.3M

Anthony Gordon from Everton for £40M + £5M in add-ons

Harrison Ashby from West Ham for £1M + £2M in add-ons

 

OUT

Dan Langley to Spennymoor Town on loan
Joe White to Exeter City on loan

Garang Kuol to Hearts on loan

Chris Wood to Nottingham Forest on loan

Dylan Stephenson to Hamilton Academical on loan

Niall Brookwell to Darlington on loan

Jonjo Shelvey to Nottingham Forest for a nominal fee
Karl Darlow to Hull City on loan

Jay Turner-Cooke to Tranmere Rovers on loan

 

*Fees just based on media reports due to everything being "undisclosed"

[gbandit]

Have it a six, don’t think it was a bad window by any means but we haven’t signed anyone proven and our midfield is potentially weaker. Long-term it could be a really good window but short-term it might not help enormously for the rest of the season. I do love the outgoings though, was way way better than I’d expected

[Kid Icarus]

5

 

I think losing Shelvey with no like-for-like replacement is a mistake. That alone has a big impact on the rating for me. Without that I'd probably give it a 7. Looking back it may end up being a brilliant one if Howe continues turning water into wine though.

 

 

Edited February 1, 2023 by Kid Icarus

[Rich]

Despite Bruno's red card making the lack of a CM addition look even sillier, I'm still going to give them the benefit of the doubt with a 6 instead of a 5.

 

Kuol is raw but has a load of upside for £300k, Gordon is our second-most expensive signing ever and looks made for Howe, while Ashby is hopefully a perfect example of the sort of succession planning that has Brighton getting better and better.

 

I did not expect to see the back of Wood so soon and had resigned myself to another 18 months of Shelvey, so that's another positive for me, although it's impossible to argue that it hasn't left us looking very light in midfield. Getting Dúbravka back in place of Darlow was another win that I haven't seen mentioned too much, as well.

 

Still, January's not a great window to work in, we appear to have big plans for summer, and as SteV pointed out the other day there are now only 19 games left to play and only a handful of midweek games. It was still a small step forward overall, just not a massive stride like we saw last year or in the summer.

 

Finally, I was harsher with my scores for the last two windows than I probably should have been, so Howe and Co. will undoubtedly make me look silly again.

[bowlingcrofty]

Context is massively important here considering (a) how much we’ve spent in the past 12 months, (b) how little we’ve been able to recruit and (c) how much we expect to spend in the summer.

 

I’m a 7/10.

[Dancing Brave]

4 for me.

 Not a fan of A.Gordon but I'm happy to trust Howe.

 

[McCormick]

Got to be a 5. We’ve weakened ourselves (in terms of squad depth) in a position where we needed to strengthen/add to but added some quality young talent. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed that we didn’t “go for it” with a CL spot up for grabs but I’m sure we have our reasons for not doing so.

[Kanji]

Still frustrating we didn’t sign a CM which is why I gave a 5. 

[Rich]

I did not expect to see an eight... @Yorkie, feed us some of your optimism please.

[Yorkie]

Really good imo. We went into it deciding to strengthen from a position of strength and that's an approach to transfer policy that is so alien and so refreshing. Recouping a hefty fee for Wood and ending the Jonjo Shelvey experience were two unexpected bonuses, and I don't think a lack of replacement for either will impact us too greatly. 

[Kid Icarus]

We should never forget as well (mainly saying this because I just forgot for a minute) that in terms of effort it's a 10 again, and for me that's still all that matters after 14 years of our effort being 0.

 

 

Edited February 1, 2023 by Kid Icarus

[STM]

I went 8, largely because getting Shelvey and Wood off the books is massive for us in the long term and we got two of our needed positions sorted, with talented young players.

 

Obviously we didn't get that CM but I trust the club not to buy just anyone, therefore I'm happy with the calculated risk.

 

If we sign a Maddison or Neves in the summer, we will be buzzing that we didn't spend 30m or whatever on Gallagher.

[Kanji]

Our transfer team obv knows better than me, but I do get a little annoyed with the rigidity of the targets when we’re in need of quality CM. 
 

If we kept Shelvey I’d actually have given it a 7 or 8. Think this Gordon deal is absolutely brilliant upon reflection. 

[LionOfGosforth]

I'm at a 5. I felt we needed a CM before losing Shelvey so to spend what was clearly the vast majority of our January budget on a wide forward instead, felt a bit miscalculated initially. That said, they've more than earned our trust and Gordon likely fits us like a glove stylistically and tactically.

 

Ashby was likely a very good signing and one for the future who can contribute short-term hopefully as well.

 

We may end up looking back on getting rid of Wood and Shelvey (without obvious like for like replacements) as a really good thing in the end though. Wages etc freed up for the summer when, hopefully, sponsorship etc will be in place allowing us to compete fully.

 

Got to trust them. I'm actually hovering between a 5 and a 6 but it could end up being a 7-8, depending on how the new signings bed-in. We've risked a lot with the CM thing though, last night already exposed it.

[Dokko]

5. Should have nailed 1 or 2 more positions IMHO. 

[Guest]

7.

[Yorkie]

Another important point that's easy to forget these days, given the change in culture, is that we didn't lose anyone important. Even well-run and ambitious clubs lose their best players sometimes. Even if it was never likely we'd lose say Bruno or Joelinton, it still counts towards a positive score. 

[The College Dropout]

11 minutes ago, Dancing Brave said:

4 for me.

 Not a fan of A.Gordon but I'm happy to trust Howe.

 

 

7 minutes ago, McCormick said:

Got to be a 5. We’ve weakened ourselves (in terms of squad depth) in a position where we needed to strengthen/add to but added some quality young talent. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed that we didn’t “go for it” with a CL spot up for grabs but I’m sure we have our reasons for not doing so.

 

 

Went with 4 but could've been a 5.

 

Positives:

- Secured some good targets for the long-term

- Think Gordon is a good addition to the squad

- Good fee for Wood 

-Getting rid of deadwood

 

Negatives:

- Weaker now in our weakest area of the pitch midfield

- Don't think we've strenthened the best XI

- Missed opportunity to capitalise on being 3rd halfway through the season to push for Top 4

- Haven't addressed our biggest weakness as a team - quality in the final third

- Think Shelvey would've been useful to keep for this season.

- Anderson isn't ready for any meaningful game time but can't be loaned. Stunted development.

- Think we may miss Wood's expertise from the penalty spot in the final

[LionOfGosforth]

1 minute ago, Yorkie said:

Another important point that's easy to forget these days, given the change in culture, is that we didn't lose anyone important. Even well-run and ambitious clubs lose their best players sometimes. Even if it was never likely we'd lose say Bruno or Joelinton, it still counts towards a positive score. 

 

It actually feels churlish and silly to complain about literally anything right now. We're in a cup final and third in the league. I mean most days I feel like i'm dreaming, so moaning to myself we didn't sign a CM, I keep telling myself to shut the fuck up and enjoy it.

[toontownman]

Solid 7 I think. I was close on 6 but shifting the players that we did was fantastic. Two very great young additions to help with the home grown rule. Obviously elephant in the room was not adding another central midfielder or another body upfront.

 

Howe is an advocate of small tightly knit squads and not bringing players in for the sake of it. As frustrating as that can be the club haven't deviated from that plan. It's also served us well so far.

 

We are set nicely for the summer. Let's hope our players stay healthy and in form until then.

[GWN]

8 , we didn’t need much , we got a good one 

[Tiresias]

As much as losing Shelvey feels a risk (and I was keen for us to sign a backup)I think we're fine, with Joelinton, Bruno and Longstaff all able to play in the deep midfield position in our 4-3-3 with Willock and Anderson able to play the other two positions should really be enough. 

[SUPERTOON]

I’ve gone 5, obviously not bringing in a midfielder when we needed one even before Shelvey left is a mistake imo. I’ve still only gone as low as 5 because I don’t rate Gordon and don’t think he improves us that much, but spending 45 million is still a big statement from us.

[The College Dropout]

1 minute ago, Tiresias said:

As much as losing Shelvey feels a risk (and I was keen for us to sign a backup)I think we're fine, with Joelinton, Bruno and Longstaff all able to play in the deep midfield position in our 4-3-3 with Willock and Anderson able to play the other two positions should really be enough. 

This lad has not started a league game in a division above League 1 and... is not a CM as far as I know.

 

We are 1 further injury or suspension away from being forced to change formation or put square pegs in round holes.

 

It may work. We may get away with it. But we're short squad-wise.

[The Prophet]

I'll go with a solid 6.

 

Securing much needed backup for Trippier and a flexible forward who is comfortable playing in a number of positions undoubtedly improves the squad.

 

Shifting Shelvey and Wood off the wage bill was fantastic business, particularly when it sounds likely that we'll receive a chunky fee for the latter come the end of the season.

 

My main grips was that we look a bit short of bodies in the middle of the park. A couple of injuries will now require a system change, but more practically having that player to bring off the bench to rest and rotate can't be underestimated. Though, given how early we are in our build, missing Bruno will always be a problem regardless of the backup.

 

Overall relatively satisfied. I was expecting one first teamer and a couple of development players before January and that's pretty much what we've bought, granted I thought it'd be a number six we bring in rather than a forward. Bringing in young players and shifting some of the old guard off the wage bill sets us up really nicely moving forward. Really excited to see what we have planned for the summer.