Was the window a success?

[JonTheJack]

The whole thing hinges on whether Ntcham; A - Signs, and B - Delivers. It could still go either way.

We've added the ball playing defender most people wanted, and effectively swapped a forward that most thought couldn't play under Martin for one who should be able to.

The big question mark remains over midfield. If ON can add the dynamism that's been missing for more than two seasons then we'll probably be fine until Jan. If he doesn't and we're still reliant on Grimes to do it then we might have a problem.

I'd be happier if we'd f*cked Grimes off for the £2.9m and brought in Fosu instead, but Martin clearly really, really likes Grimes. I hope he's not let down.

Agree with all of this. Ntcham will either have us pulling our hair out or we'll make a tidy sum from him.

 

[JackBaston]

Id say its a pretty successful window
Though the small faults were not loaning out whittaker and Williams who he obviously wanted upgrades on, but that could turn into a blessing in disguise if they push on this season
And I think he'd have liked a new lwb but couldn't shift bidwell

But we have a lot of young talent come in and even better than that they've come in as our players
Not loaning every player like what happened with Cooper leaving us with 4/5 gaps on top of other player departures at the end of the season

R Williams will be huge for us, champions league and top level premier league experience and obafemi has the potential to be a 20 goal championship striker with a good run of games. How we got him so cheap is insane
Ntcham is a slight gamble but on a free and has the ability

 

[Dr. Winston]

Out of interest, where would you have seen Fosu playing for us? Up front or Attacking Midfield?

AM.

I just think we've got too many similar midfielders. Grimes, Fulton, Smith and now Downes all seem to want to sit deeper and pass the ball about there. That invites the high press, traps us in our own lines and leaves the forwards starved of the ball.

Like many I felt that we needed a bit more further forward and given that we now have Downes would have sacrificed Grimes to pay for an alternative.

 

[Bryanswan]

Think its been an okay window, brought a couple in who could prove to be useful. Disappointing not to bring Fosu in as we couldve used so more depth, but provided Ntcham signs it hasn't been too bad.
Lowe going for decent money is fine by me, has never really impressed, hopefully obafemi can offer more.
Roberts is disappointing, but what can you do when teams in the prem come knocking. Laird seems a capable replacement for the season.

Hopefully a good international break and we'll be looking better after it.

 

[bakajack]

Remains to be seen how good a decision it was to hold onto Grimes who I felt hasn't looked all that interested so far this season and his unwillingness to take his lumps in a 50/50 challenge has already cost us several goals.

Personally I am happy that Whittaker is still with us and to an extent Cullen too. If they can learn from Piroe and Obafemi and have an impact up front for us then great. Also since we are playing with two up top then having 3-4 forwards is important for managing workloads and player fatigue.

Remains to be seen how good it will be to have Rhys Williams, that gives us an incredibly young back three with Lati, Williams and Cabango and there will be some concerns that they might get bullied by more experienced strikers. But if that frees up Manning to play his preferred left wingback position then great, that still leaves Bennett and Naughton who can offer experienced heads at the back if needed.

Ntcham looks like an upgrade on Fulton and as said by someone else feels closer to a de Guzman in that he will operate box to box but prefers to do his work at the business end of the pitch. Hopefully we get that one over the line too and I will see it as a solid if not spectacular transfer window.

 

[Vetchonian]

Id say its a pretty successful window
Though the small faults were not loaning out whittaker and Williams who he obviously wanted upgrades on, but that could turn into a blessing in disguise if they push on this season
And I think he'd have liked a new lwb but couldn't shift bidwell

But we have a lot of young talent come in and even better than that they've come in as our players
Not loaning every player like what happened with Cooper leaving us with 4/5 gaps on top of other player departures at the end of the season

R Williams will be huge for us, champions league and top level premier league experience and obafemi has the potential to be a 20 goal championship striker with a good run of games. How we got him so cheap is insane
Ntcham is a slight gamble but on a free and has the ability

I think you have missed something Williams and Laird are loans so its similar to last season and the gaps left from last seasons loanees was actually 3...Geuhi who we will miss,Hourihane say no more and Woody who many didnt like and were shouting for Benda who himself is getting lots of critiicism..... , Williams is not a permanent signing and I guess you could say Obafemi is cheap as there may be some "underlying" issues hopefully we have done our due dilligence.

 

[Richard]

Not really. I think we will struggle this season. No strength in depth. No creativity in midfield. Not much cover at WB if there are injuries / suspensions.

 

[Vetchonian]

Is Rhys Williams a ball player then or are we just assuming that because he's from Liverpool?

You don't spend the time he has at a club like that unless you can play. To be honest I find the whole "ball player" stuff a bit tedious. To be a professional at any level of the game you're in the top one or two percent of people who can kick a ball. Some are just that bit better. None of the players we already had were incapable of being coached in a more passing style.

Most were expecting mid table and a rebuild anyway, so that's not an indictment. Achieving more than that would put us ahead of schedule.

Funny how Martinez didnt see it that way.....He converted Leon from a winger to the outlet for the centre backs we had at the time ..who were both form PL backgrounds but ROberto felt they couldnt handle passing the ball out....

 

[Risc]

Not really. I think we will struggle this season. No strength in depth. No creativity in midfield. Not much cover at WB if there are injuries / suspensions.

I think it's going to be a struggle. Avoiding relegation is a must, and hopefully we can see the benefit in the following seasons.

 

[JackBaston]

Id say its a pretty successful window
Though the small faults were not loaning out whittaker and Williams who he obviously wanted upgrades on, but that could turn into a blessing in disguise if they push on this season
And I think he'd have liked a new lwb but couldn't shift bidwell

But we have a lot of young talent come in and even better than that they've come in as our players
Not loaning every player like what happened with Cooper leaving us with 4/5 gaps on top of other player departures at the end of the season

R Williams will be huge for us, champions league and top level premier league experience and obafemi has the potential to be a 20 goal championship striker with a good run of games. How we got him so cheap is insane
Ntcham is a slight gamble but on a free and has the ability

I think you have missed something Williams and Laird are loans so its similar to last season and the gaps left from last seasons loanees was actually 3...Geuhi who we will miss,Hourihane say no more and Woody who many didnt like and were shouting for Benda who himself is getting lots of critiicism..... , Williams is not a permanent signing and I guess you could say Obafemi is cheap as there may be some "underlying" issues hopefully we have done our due dilligence.

2 loans compared to 5? how have i missed something?
Woodman, Guehi, Palmer, MGW, Gyokeres

 

[Jackmanandboy]

We'll see, hopefully our manager can do his job, I'm a bit wary of the tendency he has to offer excuses.

 

[Magic_Michu]

I think the squad looks stronger than it did at the start of the window.

 

[Jinxy]

Out of interest, where would you have seen Fosu playing for us? Up front or Attacking Midfield?

I am not sure why Fosu in on loan has been something that people have hung their hats on as being the reason why it has been a bad window (not you btw) when he scored 4 and assisted 4 in a free scoring Brentford side last season.

For me, having a player who was an important part of a promotion-winning team the previous season is always a good thing. They must be a good player at this level to have been a regular and they come here with the confidence of winning in this division. Think of Dobbie being loaned to Blackpool in our first PL year. We didn't let him go until March, so he only played 10 games, but he scored 6 goals and helped push them into the playoffs.

That being said, I'm not judging the window solely on Fosu. He would have been a nice pickup, but if it was dependant on Grimes going as rumoured, then there's no use crying about it.

T2C made a good point on Twitter which I saw. We've signed 8 players (9 if Ntcham joins) in one window, a window in which we didn't have our manager until August had started. Combine that with a good number of departures and a difficult financial situation, that's a lot of business done and it looks a good window on paper.

Now it comes down to how good the signings are and how well we utilise them. Until then, we have no idea if it's been a good window or not. But doom-mongers like to announce we're doomed and the more optimistic like to look on the bright side, as always. Whichever way it goes, it won't stop people having the exact same view next window, no matter how wrong they may turn out to be. The joys of being a football fan. :lol:

Good post. Logically, the more windows Martin has, the more he should be able to get round pegs into round holes (and coax a few square ones in too!). Someone mentioned Grimes being demotivated possibly - I simply don't think he's wired that way - always gives his best and will comply with the new style imho.

 

[Manselton Jack]

I can't see how anyone can judge whether it's a success until we see how the players brought in fit into RM's system.

 

[thefranchise]

We thought January was a relative success, how silly.