Are we stronger or weaker?

[Ringwood]

With the incomings and outgoings from this transfer window?

 

[Andrew - North Hill]

Oh ffs. Do you really need to ask?

 

[Skippyjack]

Depends who's coaching them

 

[Dr. Winston]

Depends who's coaching them

This.

In terms of players it's still basically the same squad that was ambling along fairly boringly in mid table until Williams lost his marbles. Nowhere near bad enough to have been putting in the kind of performances it recently has, potentially better than we'd seen through to December. Our single biggest problem remains in the technical area, and things aren't going to improve until that change is made.

Fortunately we can do that whether there's a transfer window or not. Question is whether the club can be trusted to make a change for the better.

 

[Swanjaxs]

We will be instantly stronger when Williams gets sacked, it's getting more and more obvious that he doesn't want to be here any more than we want him around. Pay him off and start the process, before Bristol City. Get it done.

 

[magicdaps10]

Ever so slightly weaker.

I still firmly believe that whoever comes in will make little difference as manager if any with the squad we have. I genuinely don't see where the goals are coming from and the creativity to supply the opportunities.

 

[3swan]

Without any doubt we are weaker.

The only plus point is the hope that O'Brien is better than Grimes (I'm sure he will be)

Most things have already been mentioned but I'll still get my thoughts off my chest.

1 Loan back up CB changed for another.
As above 1 midfielder perm for a loan.
Squad player not replaced.
1 signing loaned back till the summer.

We were told that there was an extensive list of targets that was being whittled down.
So on the face of it none happened, were they really achievable?
Were we so naive as a club that things would just drop into place.

We are where we are but looking forward is very bleak.

We're on an abysmal run of results and more importantly performances.

Currently a buffer of 7 points, which can disappear quickly adding more pressure.
Obvious but we need to win the next 2 games. Then its Stoke Blackburn and Preston.
Then Boro, Watford Burnley & Leeds

Then the run in apart from Sunderland could potentially be 6 pointers.

My final thought. End of season whatever division we will lose the 3 loan players and 5? out of contract players. Do we also need to transfer out returning loan players
That could mean 8 players needed just to stand still without increasing the squad numbers.
Having failed now what chance of getting improvement in the summer.

I haven't bothered with the Williams situation as I've said enough

 

[jack_lord]

I want to know how Jacob Wright was basically a Swansea player and then, out of the blue (like so many other transfer windows) he wasn't and worse still, at the last minute he ends up at Norwich. I'm not saying a 19 yr old would have made us significantly stronger but we get sucked in by the hype and we need some battlers. We are probably weaker because of the way the team is coached to put everything through one player but if we can over that then we are stronger. It will probably involve a change in manager and they can't say they havent got the funds to bin LW off because they have just saved to big loan fees.

 

[sainthelens]

With questions like that, not only do I fear for the club, but also those who follow.

 

[magicdaps10]

With questions like that, not only do I fear for the club, but also those who follow.

This is the concern.
I am not against Williams going, replacing him with someone who will have the same working conditions and players at hand and just think it's like waving a magic wand is a head scratcher for me........plus the amount it will take to get it done.

 

[T8AD365]

This is the concern.
I am not against Williams going, replacing him with someone who will have the same working conditions and players at hand and just think it's like waving a magic wand is a head scratcher for me........plus the amount it will take to get it done.

Any manager who can change things during a game to positively affect the outcome would be a massive improvement on Williams. He sets out his tactics at the start of a game and doesn't change them, regardless of how the game is going.

It was clear after about 20 minutes on Saturday that the formation wasn't working and he could easily have re-jigged it to a 4411 without making any subs (by putting Christie at RB and moving Key up on to the wing) but he stuck with the formation right through the game, even ending up with Ronald as a RWB.

He often says after games that "we started well but seemed to get worse as the game went on", it's because every other manager is making subs and tweaking their tactics during the game but Williams sticks with his initial setup and makes like for like changes

 

[PSumbler]

Irrespective of who is coaching them our squad now is weaker than it was on January 1st

 

[Cooperman]

Other clubs will have strengthened so even if we consider the Grimes/O’Brien exchange as neutral, we will have gone backwards by virtue of standing still. There is no defence of Coleman.

 

[Nocountryforoldjack]

Anyone defending Coleman I'd question their sanity

 

[ARQS]

Irrespective of who is coaching them our squad now is weaker than it was on January 1st

And what a lot of people seem to be missing is that it's going to be even weaker again come June 1st.