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With the Window Closed....

Is the squad stronger or weaker?

  • Stronger

    Votes: 34 16.3%

  • Weaker

    Votes: 94 45.2%

  • About the same

    Votes: 80 38.5%
  • Total voters
    208
I've plumped for about the same as who knows? One of the defensive loans needs to be great. A lot of Championship clubs in the top half don't have centre halves of the calibre of Davies so here's hoping Lindsay is great or VDB is a prodigy. They don't need to be as great. If Molumby and Gordon and Sinclair get firing and Riis is given the time and patience Maguire has been given could prove a better, fresher collective.
 
It's a tricky one. I thought all the big 4 would leave (and Fisher would stay) so it's difficult to call on how well that has gone but given there was 0% chance of all of them staying getting Browne and DJ to commit for at least next season is decent.

It depends what the target is really. I think this window just shows it's all about plodding along this season in more or less the current position and make sure the club dosen't get dragged into a late relegation battle but should be already enough points on the board to seriously prevent it and it's very rare under AN the team goes ten matches without a win (has it ever happened in his tenure).

I think someone like Gordon has potential to be a high quality loan signing based on how he looked for Everton end of last season but it begs the question of why the club never seriously look to get in a striker with that potential on six month loan deal instead of Ched friggin Evans.

Didn't want to go all in for Brewster last January and missed out on top 6 and another window where the CF position has been fudged. To seriously challenge for top 6 you need to get that position right as the teams that finish in those positions have.

Not hugely sure on the defenders signed this window either so difficult to say the backline will be as strong but it's not been that great most of the season.
 
A window of mixed emotions really. We’ve lost 3 of our best players through mismanagement of contracts. I’m so pleased for BD in his move of a lifetime and wish him all the very best.

Ben Pearson & Darnell Fisher have both moved to Championship Clubs currently above us which is bad enough in itself, but made worse that I’m led to believe neither really wanted to leave. These 2 players had given good service to the club and in the end were treated rather shabbily imo.

We‘ve signed several new players, and the signing of Whiteman raised my hopes and he looks to be a great signing but my concerns now are that AN will try to convert him into Pearson’s replacement. Whiteman is described by Ali Maxwell as the best box to box midfielder in L1 for over the last 12 months. We’ve seen it before with AN playing players not in their best position. How long did he play DJ to far back when a blind man can see he’s more effective higher up the pitch. Come on Alex, don’t make the same mistake with Whiteman.

The other new players are all on loan, and I guess it’s down to them how they treat their time with us. Some will embrace it I’m sure, and I’m looking forward to seeing their contributions.

If anyone expects this bunch to fire us into the top 6 (with probably the worst strike force in the division) they are deluded imo.

I see this window as giving the squad a bit of a freshen up and to see us through to the summer when lots of good players will be out of contract.

I‘m expecting a big summer window, but I won’t be holding my breath.
 
Interesting anyway that club has gone away from league of Ireland and league 2 gambles this window.

Would be nice for that approach to continue in August as generally you get well up in this league having the odd good season long loan from premier league. Hopefully two of the four currently here will return next season.
 
Yoowell said:
On performance so far the best recruit in this window is easily the keeper.
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I’d argue it’s Whiteman. I’ve been really impressed by him so far and he’ll only get better. His leadership ability is shining through too and he’s only been here 5 mins. Once he’s settled in he’s going to be some player.
 
richiepne25 said:
I’d argue it’s Whiteman. I’ve been really impressed by him so far and he’ll only get better. His leadership ability is shining through too and he’s only been here 5 mins. Once he’s settled in he’s going to be some player.
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I agree with this and I get the same feel as I did for Pearson when he first arrived. You could see the class Pearson had within his first couple of appearances and he didn’t let us down except for some silly bookings. I just hope AN plays him in his best position and doesn’t try to make him into the next Ben Pearson which he isn’t.
 
I think we are about the same. Can’t wait for the line up on Saturday. So want us to do well on Saturday and have some momentum for the Rovers game. At the end of February games it will decide regarding our play off hopes.
 
europne said:
Far far stronger.

Sorry to see Davies go, he was class, but the unsettling influences of Fisher and Pearson won’t be missed, both had gone backwards recently. We now have a good group of players who will be there for each other, and plenty of cover at the back.

Pity we couldn’t find that elusive goalscorer we need ( the same one that everyone else needs ), but Evans and Riis will come good in the run in, and we need a few other players to stop firing blanks, we have plenty who know where the net is, Barky, Sinclair, Maguire, DJ, Browne, Whiteman plus the new lads.

I’m not at all bothered about the loans, about time we did it, everyone else does. And makes it easier to sort out our squad for the Prem next season.

This pandemic has brought out some miserable buggers on here, start smiling folks 😀😃😄😁😆
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Fisher won’t be
As for Pearson. Time will tell but remember we’ve not done a like for like replacement hopefully changing our backwards sideways style of play
Sadly Saturday was not good evidence of any obvious change though
 
Mighty Whites said:
If you pulled the Liverpool team apart, not all of them would walk into a top 4/6 Prem team. They are not a team of individuals, they are a true ‘team’. So us having ‘weaker replacements’ doesnt mean they wont gel as a team.

An obvious and current example is Liverpool buying Davo. If you get the team right, not all players have to be superstars

So, we have evolved whether we like it or not, lets see what these lads can do once they start playing together.

PNE
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Three of the five "weaker replacements" are empty pegs in the dressing room.

I think we can already predict what contribution they'll make.
 
we've lost some talented players but who knows, if the new recruits gel and get a good spirit going this could be just as important as the talent.
 
Defense - unknown until they play
Midfield - different - more attacking threat, less defensive security.
Forward - feels weaker somehow

Pearson is a loss of sorts. Davies is the bigger loss, but two CB's for 1 means we have better depth.
Johnson and Whiteman together makes me really interested. I hope Neil plays them together.
Gordon is a quality potential signing.

Above all else, we need to change our approach and tactics more than the individual players themselves.
The new players should hopefully give the likes of Sinclair, Barkhuizen etc a lift to produce more going forward.
 
PrideNeverEnds said:
At least the loans want to be here.
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A good point, perhaps they actually want to play football.
As an aside, and I don't know if this has been suggested before, but can either Hughes or Cunningham play right back? Would they be worse options than Browne? ( I'm not saying he's poor there by the way).
 
PrideNeverEnds said:
At least the loans want to be here.
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The fact there are a lot of loans bothers me not one jot. They are all putting themselves in th shop window even if not for us. It’s in their best interests to shine. If anything, I think that is an advantage at this moment in time. It’s the gelling and getting to know each other’s style and strengths that I think will be more concerning. All we can do is think positively and support.
 
I have no idea what the team will be on Saturday. Could probably only pick 4 or five for sure so this next week or two is going to be very interesting.
At last we have competition for places, especially midfield and forward so I expect those picked to play will up their game at the weekend.
 
As for loans. Just look at the number of permanent deals done in the last window by all clubs. They are few and far between. No one is committing large payouts at the moment.
 
I put about the same but if Neil gets his arm around Gordon's shoulder and whispers "I know you're shit hot at attacking the opposition but lets have a chat about your tracking back defensive duties" then my friends imo I believe we fall into the weaker bracket.
 
Paul Szacsky said:
I put about the same but if Neil gets his arm around Gordon's shoulder and whispers "I know you're shit hot at attacking the opposition but lets have a chat about your tracking back defensive duties" then my friends imo I believe we fall into the weaker bracket.
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I read something yesterday that Everton want him to learn this part of the game, the defensive side of things. Might be one of the reasons he ended up with us in the first place.
 
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