Confirmed Ins and Outs Summer 2014 - Are you happy?

[Yellow Fever]

Also very happy; full credit to all those who worked so hard to make it happen.

 

[mustard gas]

.....very happy. Our reserve team would be promotion contenders too .

otbc

Agree, but which players would be considered reserves? Nearly every position has two fairly equal players contending for the first team. Injuries and suspensions will hurt us much less this season than ever before. All together an excellent window, both for the recruits and the retained. 10/10

 

[Keckers]

Can't really add much to what's been said already other than to agree with almost all of it and give the board and Neil a resounding 10/10

 

[Yellow Fever]

Looking at the comings and goings I reckon the club is about £7m better off and arguably a stronger side. Odjidja is a more versatile player than Fer but we need to see him play to compare the quality. Grabban is a great find and Lafferty will provide more as he settles in, but the greatest thing was hanging on to Hooper and Redmond (as well as Ruddy and Olsson). Given that they haven't played yet this season, Hooper and Howson are like new players added. It's hard not to feel confident.

 

[Salopian]

Louis Thompson, of course, will not be available to us, so he is really and advance signing for 12 months hence. For the rest it seems a good mixture of experience and potential.

For my part, I feel that the club has maintained its tradition of prudence, but has made a set of signings within the budget that offer stability, flexibility and hope in the medium term as well as in the current season.

 

[gerryinromania]

Well pleased with this Summers dealings..Don't think that the ones that have left,will be badly missed...Must not forget, that all the players that stayed, every single one has taken a pay cut. Contracts have been extended and new contracts have been signed...This seems as though there's a huge team feeling of togetherness...Well done the board, well done the NA team, well done the players..Now just need the support to keep doing their bit.

 

[Gaffer]

I think Fer hit the bar and got an assist for his first QPR game but the price we got for him was fair. Having said that BJ has done well so far and let's see how VOO settles in. All the new signings that have played so far have done well and it looks like we have 2 players in each position who could hold their own in the Premier League and are capable of winning the Championship. My only fear is RVW will flop this year and will come back at the end of the season expecting Premier League football. Still, even if we only sell him for 1 million  our losses wouldn't be too bad because of the money we're receiving from St Etienne. Bit too early to judge how well he'll do at St Etienne though.

 

[Yellow Fever]

In over 40 years of supporting City, I can't ever remember a squad with such depth and quality throughout. There are no 'squad players' that I can see. The competition for places will be intense, and that can only be a good thing. For once our fate doesn't seem to hang on injuries (one of the main contributors to our downfall last year. I don't envy Adams having to pick the team each week though.

 

[ZLF]

good summer with strong championship standard players brought in to replace those inevitable departures of players simply better than a championship ncfc - and held on to three top quality players in ruddy,  tettey and redmond who will make a real difference.

Problem areas of defensive midfield and centre back strengthened and good options in the attacking midfield area;  although we still look a little light up front with just 3 options to chose from in jerome, hooper and grabban.

This does feel like a squad that should be pushing hard for nothing less than auto promotion,  so a great summer,   just need to sustain the momentum we have created. 

 

[Yellow Fever]

What happened to Lafferty and Loza, ZLF?

 

[Killiecanary]

.....very happy. Our reserve team would be promotion contenders too  .

otbc

This is very true. I think we have at least two high quality players in pretty much any position.

Except maybe full backs?

 

[Killiecanary]

Do we think that, on balance, the squad is now stronger than it was in the Premiership last season?

 

[Canaryboy]

Do we think that, on balance, the squad is now stronger than it was in the Premiership last season?

Tough question, because I suspect that some of our players just aren't good enough for the Premier League if we went up this year and upon promotion we'd still need to invest a fair bit of money. The lack of pace in our defence would need to be addressed. 

But Cuellar has a one year contract, and Hooiveld is only here on loan for the season, and Miquel would probably go out on loan like Dani Ayala. I don't think we have a Premier League defence, that is for certain, but we probably have a top defence at this level. 

 

[Killiecanary]

I agree that some weren't up to the prem last season CB - that's one of the reasons we went down. Although some are now back at their level and having a much more positive time (Whittaker, Bradders)

But looking at the outs and ins, I would pop my head above ground to make a claim that the squad looks now,maybe marginally, stronger than it was last season. I wasn't fussed about losing Pilks, RVW had to go and Fer wasn't consistent enough for me to be a massive loss....if VOO is as good as we hope he might be then he has been well replaced.

I was very worried about the central defence, especially after Bennetts injury, but the arrival of Cuellar, Miquel and Hoiveld has hugely reassured me. I really rate Hoiveld and surely any player who has been paid to play football by both Barcelona and arsenal,surely has the talent to be excellent in he the championship?

 

[Killiecanary]

Sorry. - forgot to add that I think NA has built a squad to do the job this year...if we can go up I am sure another interesting summer next year would be designed to strengthen for another crack at the top flight.

I also like the eye to the future and the resale values of most of his signings (Thompson, Mcgrandles, Miquel even Grabban)

 

[yellowarmy]

Fair call on the defence, but at the end of the day by and large the core of this squad got us relegated and i personally don't feel the new players, although good champ players ( those we have seen) are good enough quality to keep us in the prem. I feel we would really need to bolster all positions yet again, but hey what do i know, 1.  we have got to get back up yet and 2. Lambert did ok with what on paper looked a champ side

 

[Killiecanary]

Yep - agree with you YA

But my point is that you use a transfer window to bring in plays to do the job this season, not really for a premiership campaign we don't yet know if we will have next year. And in fact Neil Adams has shown significant forward planning by brining in lots of youth with potential too.

You're right that this squad probably wouldn't keep us in the premier....but it sure looks strong enough to me to be good enough to get us there. The job of building a squad to stay there would be next summers job.

 

[yellowarmy]

Oh yeah totally agree Killie, Adams can only put a team together to do well in the league we are in.

 

[Dandy Mountfarto]

Overall very pleased. I kinda agree that some of the players we've bought we already know won't be good enough for the Prem but as stated, you build a squad for the league you're in, not the one you want to be in.

I think a good way of looking at it is to look at the players other Championship clubs have bought, and ask yourself if you'd have preferred we signed them. For me, its only Assombalonga and Adeyemi that look like better buys than our equivalents.

 

[Salopian]

Very happy. At first I was unhappy that we had not signed a top striker - Grabban scores, but also misses, Jerome hasn't scored many in the past 18 months ans Lafferty seemed a striker like Elmander.

I was asking for defenders and for someone to replace Leroy. Now we have what I asked, indeed more than I asked, - established players for the present and younger players with prospects, and cover in all positions. Many of the deadline players are also goal scorers.

Looking back, I can see the plan - secure  two or three strikers early on without denting the budget severely, and then see which, if any players we lose before a late splurge to replace them. If we had gone for an expensive striker, we could have failed in the later signings.

I feel that we have replaced those who have gone, and in most cases with someone at least as good. If Adams can keep all his 22 outfield players happy when they are not playing every week, and maintain their confidence, then we could be in for a very good season.