A very interesting season for us, from a few respects. Last season was very transitional, it was clear that the squad was very unbalanced, and that we had high earners to offload. James Maddison was a real unexpected bonus, both in the joy in watching him develop and play, and also in plugging the gap in our finances. Selling Murphy was good business too, I would loved to have seen him develop a bit further here, but the time was maybe right to go. Add in a wee bonus from Angus Gunn's move to Southampton (Man City poached him from our academy so we had a sell on clause) and I think Webber and Farke have managed to do a bit more business than they maybe expected to. It feels very much like we have a plan, our sporting director, Stuart Webber seems to have a vision of a type of football we want to play, and the type of player we want to fit into the system we are aspiring to, it all feels very deliberate and calculated, which is something we haven't had over recent years, it has felt like we have just bought someone hoping they can be shoe horned into our system, and we have frankly, got it wrong on too many occasions.
All the players we have brought in are interesting, they all have the potential to work out very well, but with small outlay for most. McClean could well be a real star for us this season, a powerful, box to box midfielder who loves to get among the goals, also has a good set piece on him. Aberdeen friends of mine reckon we have a very good player there. The lad Passlack we have on loan from Dortmund has been seen as a real coup, by neutrals, quality player that has maybe just lost his way a wee bit, which is a bit of a theme with a lot of the players we sign, if you can get the best out of them then you have a real star on your hands.
Leitner, although was hampered by injuries is another quality player that could help plug the gap in midfield vacated by Maddison. Throw in the returning players from injury and loan in Louis Thompson and Ben Godfrey and we have a lot of options. Onel Hernandez could have a big season too.
I think we will see a different style from us this season, you could debate that Maddison was both a blessing and a curse, he was literally undroppable, but it meant that Farke couldn't develop a longer term style, and who knows, was our reliance on Madders something to do with why our strikers had such a shite season? Temu Pukki and Rhodes both have potential, and importantly give us differing options up front, if you give Rhodes the right service in the box he could have a great season. Almost forgot about about Ben Marshall, who Millwall were desperate to sign, another highly rated quality player, who knows the Championship well. I think we have a very good blend of promising youth, and experience.
So, overall, I am pretty optimistic about this season, we have done some astute business, and although the proof of the pudding will be in the eating, I think we have improved the squad, as a whole, in almost every position. Goalie is still a bit of a concern, Krul could work out well there if that goes through. This season is vital for Farke, I think the fans were pretty patient last time out, understanding the transition we were in, but I think we would like to see a bit more this season, finishing behind a bang average Ipswich last season was a bitter pill to swallow, it mustn't happen again, or it could well be Auf wiedersun to Herr Farke.
