[SIGNED perm] Francisco Sierralta

Off the top head, teams with better centre back options than us this season:

Brentford - Pinnock and Jannson
Norwich - Godfrey and Gibson
Swansea - Guehi and Rodon
Millwall - Cooper and Huthinson
Derby - Clarke and Bielek
Bournemouth - Mepham and Kelly
Cardiff - Nelson and Morrison
Forest - Worrall and Benalouane
Bristol City - Kalas and Mawson

You could potentially throw Reading, Blackburn, and Stoke in there too.

If we do have a big downfall - it is and will continue to be this position.

 

They do like changing their minds (Cucho esque)

 

That youngster from Rotherham was absolutely sensational and made the team of the season! No issues with not getting big names but there are a few classy CB's in the lower leagues that would of been worth a go.

 

Spot on KGT!

I totally agree with you about Kabasele, and I said as much in a post about a week ago.

 

Totally agree. I think Kabasele at this level will be very good and any mistakes he's likely to make are less likely to be punished as they would in the Premier League! On his day (when he's not having brain farts) he is a Premier League level player.

 

based on what metric?

 

That they aren’t Kabasele and Dawson!

 

I don’t have doubts about our CB’s Championship abilities. I don’t think any of them are close to PL level and I’ve said that for years. But in this league they’ll be adequate.

My worry is two-fold...While we are rebuilding elsewhere, I’d like us to look at building a settled defence that will be able to translate to the next level if we go up. But I accept situation dictates to that somewhat.

My second, and very big concern is while last seasons remaining CB’s may be competent at this level, they’ve never shown they are comfortable playing out from the back. And there isn’t a left foot among them.

 

We should be trying to get Rodon or Cooper out of their clubs if possible IMO.

 

This is something I will never be able to agree on.

 

I would love either of them, but I just can't see it.

 

Rodon less so. But I wouldn’t be sure that we don’t have the finances and pull to get someone like Cooper out of Millwall.

Where it falls down is that he’s a CB - our scouts likely don’t even know who he is.

 

I suppose my point it that it is hard to compare them as these defenders have been playing against Championship strikers not premier league ones.

Morrison also looked absolutely ***** in the premier league but he is clearly decent at this level.

 

I am not sure it is the scout's fault. They clearly identified Maguire, Kim Min Jae, Todibo etc who have all gone on to better clubs than us.

The problem is that the ownership just dont want to invest there.

 

The budget is -£50m. Who are you going to get?

 

££££s

 

No PL club is going to want to buy them and they aint gonna go to another championship club as they are probably on better wages than most championship clubs pay and are at what should be one of the stronger sides.

 

So you honestly believe we won’t be spending a penny in this window?

We clearly won’t be spending every penny that comes in. Far from it. But I think there will be players coming in for fee’s...

As for who - I’ve already suggested Jake Cooper. But moreover, we are fans. It’s not our job to identify these players. It’s the clubs and they have shown to be poor at it in this position.

He starts with a clean slate of course - but there’s no escaping the fact that Sierralta’s CV is poor and it’s underwhelming at this point to say the least.

 

Going to put more CB options in the suggestion when I get a moment. One though is Ben Davies at Preston. Left footed CB, contract expiring, only 25/26 I believe. Knows the championship. Was Celtic’s back up plan if they couldn’t get Duffy. He is a very decent defender and he will be cheap!

 

Small fees though - I'd be surprised if we spent >£10m on a player unless we sell Sarr for £40m+.

 

Don’t disagree.

I’m seriously hopeful Sierralta is an Angella mark II at this point.

 

I think that we tried to sign Branthwaite but were beaten by Everton and we have signed Wilmot, so I am not sure it is fair to say the club isn't trying.

 

Failing all else, ask Britos to come back for a year! Comfortable on the ball, has the mentality for this league and is left-footed.

 

So he doesn't start with a clean slate then ?

 

OK but that will rule out the best CDs in the champ.

 

The issue would be speed or rather lack of it. Very composed player but he's 35 and he was slower than slow 2 years ago.

 

Of course he does. You’re misunderstanding what I’m saying. I’m not going to just ridicule him as sh*t straight away - he has the same clean slate that all the players do. But I don’t think it can be denied he’s got little pedigree as a starting point.

 

I don't misunderstand what you're saying

 

Relegation + Covid? I don’t see big spending no.

I’ll go as far as to suggest this will be the quietest window with the lowest overall spend in years for everyone.

 

We haven’t spent anything yet.

 

Another bargain bin Udinese reject. What a window.

 

Angella and Ekstrand were bargain bin Udinese rejects. And Ighalo. Vydra. Abdi...