Transfer Deadline Day... & Post Deadline Speculation

1356

Comments

  • SlackerSlacker
    MrsGrey said:

    There's always January.

    Ooh now that’s something to look forward to!🎉

  • MrsGreyMrsGrey
    Get that thread opened!
  • WhitehorsehammerWhitehorsehammer
    One of the reasons often mentioned last season for a our poor league form was that we bought in too many new players in one go, seven I think. Many thought that unsettled the tight knit group we had. I think two out and four in gives us a stronger squad than last season and to bring in more would have been a mistake.
  • LukerzLukerz
    What is the issue with the age?

    The back four are all in their prime years (25-29). The midfield 3 are all 25-29. Bowen & Benrahma are 25-29. It’s only Coufal & Antonio who are the other side of 30. Areola is young for a keeper.

    Then we have Kehrer, Mavropanos, Johnson, Cornet, Kudus, Mubama, Fornals. None of those are old. Ogbonna, Fab, Cresswell I am sure will be moved on next year.
  • thornburyironthornburyiron
    edited September 2023
    It’s one thing saying we should have bought a striker but another thing getting one in. There’s been at least three we were keen on but for one reason or another it didn’t happen.
    The Brazilian kid had umpteen representatives who all wanted something. El Nesyri never wants to make his mind up and Ekitike wanted to come but PSG would only sell to Frankfurt and have told him he’ll never kick a ball for them again.
  • PrestonHammerPrestonHammer
    thornburyiron said:

    It’s one thing saying we should have bought a striker but another thing getting one in. There’s been at least three we were keen on but for one reason or another it didn’t happen.
    The Brazilian kid had umpteen representatives who all wanted something. El Nesyri never wants to make his mind up and Ekitike wanted to come but PSG would only sell to Frankfurt and have told him he’ll never kick a ball for them again.

    We'll pick him up in January then. Sorted
  • buffybegoodbuffybegood
    edited September 2023
    Lukerz said:

    What is the issue with the age?

    The back four are all in their prime years (25-29). The midfield 3 are all 25-29. Bowen & Benrahma are 25-29. It’s only Coufal & Antonio who are the other side of 30. Areola is young for a keeper.

    Then we have Kehrer, Mavropanos, Johnson, Cornet, Kudus, Mubama, Fornals. None of those are old. Ogbonna, Fab, Cresswell I am sure will be moved on next year.

    The issue is that it costs money to replace players who are too old. Fabianski, Cresswell, Ogbonna and Antonio all need replacing, but we're unlikely to get anything for any of them unless we move them on in January for a million or two. If those 4 were younger, we could look to offer them a new contract, or sell them to contribute a decent sum towards their replacements, but as it is replacing them could well be our transfer budget next summer gone right there, without looking to upgrade any positions (LW, RB, another CF over and above Antonio) that might still need attention, as well as other players that are coming to the end of their contract.
  • jay_in_cptjay_in_cpt
    edited September 2023
    Buffy the 4 players you mentioned probably wouldn't muster much more than a few million each IMO, not even that much for Fab/Ogbonna, perhaps Antonio even at his age, just like you said....
    But if they weren't the age they are we would not have had all those years of service from them, like you can't have your cake and eat it as such...
    I'm not saying you haven't raised some very valid points, age/lack of a striker etc etc, but this is West Ham we're talking about!!!
  • ASLEFshruggedASLEFshrugged
    buffybegood said:

    I'm just so frustrated by our lack of activity;

    If you look back at the last four summer transfer windows under Moyes 2023 was pretty typical and 2022 was unusual for the number of new players signed.

    I'm delighted with our transfers, Ward-Prowse and Alvarez have started far better than any of last summer's signings.
  • stevesteve
    Could be worse ,Look at Everton =)
  • buffybegoodbuffybegood
    ASLEFshrugged said:

    buffybegood said:

    I'm just so frustrated by our lack of activity;

    If you look back at the last four summer transfer windows under Moyes 2023 was pretty typical and 2022 was unusual for the number of new players signed.
    Unfortunately this summer was typical, and that's why we've got the oldest squad in the PL; too many cans have been kicked down the road for too long and it will catch up with us sooner rather than later imo. 4 players next summer means just replacing Ogbonna, Fabianski, Cresswell and Antonio, so no chance to upgrade any positions on ability, simply those must haves on age; we're always behind the curve.

  • jay_in_cptjay_in_cpt
    steve said:

    Could be worse ,Look at Everton =)

    Do we have to 😉🤣
  • secrethammersfansecrethammersfan
    buffybegood said:

    . 4 players next summer means just replacing Ogbonna, Fabianski, Cresswell and Antonio, so no chance to upgrade any positions on ability, simply those must haves on age; we're always behind the curve.

    Why would they not replace old players with younger players who are also better?
  • buffybegoodbuffybegood
    secrethammersfan said:

    Why would they not replace old players with younger players who are also better?

    Of course they will, hopefully, but that's already 4 new players (our usual quota) that we need, apart from anything else that happens this season, or how badly any other players might play, or whether Zouma is up to another season in the PL, or any other contract situations that are currently brewing. We could very easily end up having to bring in 7 or 8 players next summer, when, with a better window now, we could have brought in 6 now and then only 5 or 6 next summer.

    It's just about forward planning, rather than robbing Peter to pay Paul which always seems to be our policy under our current ownership.
  • YeoldhammerYeoldhammer
    Needed to upgrade both fullback positions. Big disappointment on that front.

    Everything else is okay. Not bothered about the striker situation as much, considering our previous striker choices have gone down the toilet. Antonio / Ings / Mubama should be enough. Midfield is fine. Defence is fine.

    Club still faces a problem of another season of a high turnover of players next season.
  • PrestonHammerPrestonHammer
    Maybe because we are on the UEFA ffp watchlist, we had to be careful how much we spend, so couldn't spend loads, so spent what Moyes thought was a priority.
  • MrsGreyMrsGrey
    Also, as per Buffy's suggestion that we may have some fires to out out later in the season... need to save some of our budget for that.
  • IronHerbIronHerb
    PrestonHammer said:

    Maybe because we are on the UEFA ffp watchlist, we had to be careful how much we spend, so couldn't spend loads, so spent what Moyes thought was a priority.

    Isn't FFP a bit of a red herring? We are on the UEFA watchlist as we have just played our third season in Europe so FFP comes into focus. Last seasons financial results will decide where we are at with respect to that.
  • IronHerbIronHerb
    buffy, I guess this is what you're looking for 😄 -

  • stevesteve
    Downes played that whole game
  • buffybegoodbuffybegood
    IronHerb said:

    buffy, I guess this is what you're looking for 😄

    Not at all, although fair play to them 👏👏👏.

    My point is that we're always going to have a limited budget to fund transfers, so to improve the overall quality of the squad year on year we need to be careful where we allocate funds; it's one of the main reasons that I was so anti-Maguire.

    Even a £75m annual budget only gets you 3 half decent signings at most, so unless we genuinely have saved this year's budget and spending surplus for use next summer, we could already be in a difficult position to bring in 4 players next summer.

    That's without any of the other issues/positions I mentioned in my long post, but I feel as though I'm just repeating myself and that most of you don't seem to think this is an issue at all.
  • secrethammersfansecrethammersfan
    edited September 2023
    Four out of 25 is less than one sixth of the squad. It is a little on the high side, but I don’t think it’s so drastic. If we had younger players, wouldn’t that also be a form of kicking the can down the road? As an absurd hyperbolic example, in 12 years, Sunderland will have to replace their entire first XI.
  • alderzalderz
    secrethammersfan said:

    Four out of 25 is less than one sixth of the squad. It is a little on the high side, but I don’t think it’s so drastic. If we had younger players, wouldn’t that also be a form of kicking the can down the road? As an absurd hyperbolic example, in 12 years, Sunderland will have to replace their entire first XI.

    A more realistic Sunderland example is that a lot of those players wont progress enough, and the ones that do will be nabbed by other teams. Change is constant in football, IMO.
  • ASLEFshruggedASLEFshrugged
    Chelsea has an average age of 24.6, 4th youngest side in the Premier League and the players they signed this summer have an average age of 20.5

    Paddy Power have just shortened the odds of Poch being the first manager to get sacked this season from 20/1 to 14/1

    Hmmm
  • secrethammersfansecrethammersfan
    alderz said:


    A more realistic Sunderland example is that a lot of those players wont progress enough, and the ones that do will be nabbed by other teams. Change is constant in football, IMO.

    As my daughter used to say, I agree 101 dalmatians!
    All it takes is for a player to not accept or understand a change of tactics, or to have a chronic drop in form, or whose wife suddenly gets homesick for Marseille and you need a new £40m player. I think the best bet -and really the only thing to do- is to deal with current needs.
  • IronHerbIronHerb
    Was'nt Moyes odds on a little while back? He's now 33/1 and behind Howe (28/1) and Klopp (25/1). How times change.
  • alderzalderz
    ASLEFshrugged said:

    Chelsea has an average age of 24.6, 4th youngest side in the Premier League and the players they signed this summer have an average age of 20.5

    Paddy Power have just shortened the odds of Poch being the first manager to get sacked this season from 20/1 to 14/1

    Hmmm

    I don’t think buffy was suggesting that a young squad is a guarantee of immediate success, though. More that having a younger contingent in the squad means you are more likely to safeguard the future of the squad more than an older one. Which I completely agree with. I am not particularly worried about it, but if it was Football Manager and I was in charge, I’d be trying to lower the age of the group a little, at least.
  • ASLEFshruggedASLEFshrugged
    edited September 2023
    Footballers seem to be staying fitter as they get older and playing longer

    Fulham has the 2nd oldest average age, 28.5 (we are 28.6)

    Tim Ream scored for Fulham yesterday, he will be 36yo in 32 days

    I don't care how old the squad is, as long as they can play at Premier League level

    (Never mind the quality, feel the width see the youth???)
  • alderzalderz
    They do stay fitter longer, but that doesn’t mean they can go forever
  • DeanscaleshammerDeanscaleshammer
    Made me think of Billy Bonds who made his last first team appearance aged 41 plus.
Sign In or Register to comment.