January Business

Bachmann - Keep as backup, but new No1 needed
Ngakia - Possibly time to off load me thinks if we can bring in a replacement
Sierralta - Keep
Hoedt - Keep
Porteous - Keep for now. Started great but has regressed, however hopefully it's just a blip in form.
Lewis - Send him back if we can.
Ince - Keep as back up
Livermore - Keep and possibly make him captain
Rajovic - Keep, lousy all round footballer, but knows where the net is.
Louza - Cash in on him, he does not want to be here.
Kone - Keep, getting better all the time and what a shot he has got.
Sema - Keep King Ken he seems to love it here
Healy - Keep for now, he has not been given a chance as yet, but I have a feeling will do well when it is given.
Pollock - keep for now as back up.
Chakvetadze - Not sure about this guy, he can go or stay.
Asprilla - Keep
Bayo - Keep for now, he works hard but can't hit a barn door most of the time the opposite to Rajovic.
Dele Bashiru - keep as back up
Harmer - Needs to go, providing we can bring another keeper in.
Martins - Keep as back up for now
Kayembe - Keep
Morris - Keep for now as a backup
Andrews - Keep, but needs to keep improving.

Must bring in a new 1st choice keeper.
Could do with another RB and LB
Could do with another CB
Could do with more in MF
Need a 15-20 goal striker

 

Does anyone think we are likely to spend anything at all in January?

 

VI should be able achieve promotion with what he already has at his disposal. No need to spend.
Ps anyone suggesting that we should “cash in” on Louza should check out the current going rate for reserve champ CMs, given he is currently cover for Kone, Kayambe and 87 year old Livermore.

 

£6.50 or so.

He's a full international after all.

 

Think our January business will be completely down to where we are in the league in months time, if we keep the current gap the club might leave the bulk of any transfer activity to the Summer thinking we're safe.

I'd like to see the following:

A new GK , even if Bachmann remains number 1, I'd be concerned if a long-term injury meant we had to rely on Hamer.
If we can get another decent striker in that would be great, perhaps then loaning out Healey.
A new CM and then Louza can be moved on. Probably one of the few players that could make the club a few quid without really impacting the main squad and matchday results.
Perhaps some backups to the full-back positions.

 

Not sure where this he doesn't want to be here comes from but agree if we can get decent money for him
Really not as bad as people make out and has barely played in the last two seasons. Left back is very low down on priorities
Should play more of a part, not sure what he's done wrong
Like Lewis, really isn't as bad as people make out. He is a mid table keeper and that's where we are. Hamer looks awful so a back up might be useful
Out for a while with an injury but end of the season might be time for him to go
On loan for the season. There is a decent player in there but no assists or goals is clearly not great
We have a striker that may end up with 15-20 goals incredibly. Trying to buy one is nigh on impossible

 

Depends what our ambition is. If it's a play off push, then we'd need a new squad, however, if it's to ensure we stay in the league then we don't need too much in January. I suspect it's with a view of getting by this season, so we could do with a new keeper, LCB, DMF and a decent striker.

I think we've probably got Louza lined up to go to Udinese. Maybe we'd get someone from them to replace him with, but we really need a young Livermore type, as we've seen how effective having a player like him can be. Hamer is not good enough as a number 2 IMO, so we really need another number 1 to push Bachmann. Maybe someone who is decent but playing for a lower league or lower ranked club who sees Watford as a step up. The striker could be an EPL guy on loan. Maybe we can find a youngster who needs a bit of game time. I think Healey and possibly even Bayo are not really good enough for what we need, although I'd keep one of them around and loan out the other....don't mind which as I don't think they're all that to be fair.

 

Agree Hamer is not good enough as back up. Should be plenty of cheap / free upgrades floating around for that role. I understand the Porteous frustrations but I'd avoid any changes there until the Summer where better planning can take place or just generally there. I agree Louza to Udinese is a logical transfer. Ettiene Camara would come the other way I could definitely see from them as that also covers the CDM position. I'd keep Bayo who does have his good moments / use and loan out Healey to see if he can build some fitness elsewhere to see if it he still can play. Not sure who's available to come in on loan but there's going to be a good amount to look at in that category like a Man City product or similar.

I'd be wary of doing anything more than one in one out for transfers as want to avoid squad bloat.

Hamer --> New GK
Louza --> Camara
Healey --> New ST

 

Just need a new centre half to replace Porteous, that doesn’t keep passing to the opposition

 

Cover/rotation option for Livermore and an experienced 30+ year old striker would be sufficient imho.

 

Our January business is always utter tat.

Ben Watson made a difference to the season, but even Deulofeu didn't make a great deal of difference until the following season (Chelsea game aside)

 

I was thinking more of adding an extra CB rather than a swap out. We only have 4 (and one of them is Pollock). That's not really enough cover, especially when you consider how injury prone Sierralta is. I'd keep Hamer too, but only as 3d choice, as was the case with him previously. Okoye is still our player, but we got done over that transfer and he's not a solution, as he's even worse than Hamer.

Not sure on the profile of striker either, as VI likes a big target man. We'd probably be looking to get someone like that on loan, rather than a nimble, high energy guy.

 

I can't see it being anything other than Udinese transfers / swaps (This shouldn't be considered a bad thing BTW!).

 

Strange re Ben Hamer, he has made 338 1st team appearances, 12 in the Premier League and 1 in the Champions League so he obviously was a trusted keeper in his day!

 

In reality, we aren´t going to do much business, are we?

If you could only get one player in, what position would it be?

I'd say GK.

 

I'm hoping we'll bring in two or three blokes nobody has ever heard of who all turn out to be utter cr@p

 

I have a feeling we will return to this post come 1st Feb to find out you were spot on

 

After they are confirmed as duds, we later learn that we were committed to buy them by Manga in October.

 

Central/Defensive midfield to provide cover for or even upgrade on Livermore, who aside from being the wrong side of the prow of the hill, is about to pick up his first ban for yellow card accumulation and it’s still November, having played significantly fewer than all the minutes the team has accumulated in the league so far this season.

Either that, or centre back. Our only acceptable pairing is Hoedt and Sierralta, and el gaucho seems to have some consistent availability problems, whether that be down to injury or having to fly to and from South America with some regularity. That leaves Porteous who has been atrocious for too long to just play his way out of it at this point, and Pollock, who is just not at this level. A real injury or two could see us in very dire straits very quickly.

 

25% off air fryers, hopefully.

 

What's an "air fryer" ?

 

A Chinese pilot!

 

Lacist.

 

Truly bizarre. You can't fry air.

 

A large amount of my January business will be done early on after absolutely stuffing my gluttonous face all Christmas and New Year.

 

I thought we were in a relegation fight?

 

True, and wot about all them baldies who ain't got no bleedin' air left to fry anyway ?

 

I very much doubt we will sign a new first choice GK in Jan - Bachmann won't be moved from captain to a bench role in the space of a few weeks. I doubt we'll sign another backup GK either. It seems more a position that will be re-evaluated in summer, including a consideration of how Roberts is progressing.

I also doubt we'll sign another striker, unless we send Healey on loan and bring an alternative cheap third choice similar to Assombalonga last season.

Now that Livermore has made the starting DM role his own, then Camara coming in as a backup while Louza leaves would not be a surprising move. Ismael might now see Kayembe as a backup DM though, in which case if we got rid of Louza we might look to replace him with another more '8' type midfielder.

The two areas where I think it should be easiest to upgrade our starting XI are at RB and RW. Ngakia will never be good enough, even when fit, and Andrews is still inconsistent.
Similarly, Ince has been a bit disappointing and lacks mobility, and Asprilla is also inconsistent.
There's a reason why in pretty much all our games the majority of our attacks come down our left flank, and if we do want any chance of making the play-offs then we'll need to strengthen our opposite flank as well. Whether we actually can and will do that this window is another question.

Aside from those, I'd be surprised if we do much. The January window is rarely good for us anyway, and even the decent signings we've made during it have more been for the longer term and haven't hit the ground running.

 

A problem could be solved if Bachmann throws his toys out of his pram after losing the captaincy.

 

Okoye was a permanent departure. CB I think we'll try to hold off if possible as 4 CB's for 2 positions is thin but manageable. I'd look for a ball playing CB though as Hoedt is the only one who can do this and if he's injured we're really in trouble.

 

I would rather send Bayo out on loan again and keep Healey, particularly if we could sign a forward who can hold the ball up.

 

I think Healey really needs regular football and a chance to prove his fitness and get back his confidence in front of goal. Not sure we could rely on Healey playing most games and 90 mins of Raj were to get injured.

 

I’m sure it’s a dream under the current manager, but I’d like to see Healey given a go alongside a hold-up centre forward, Deeney/Vydra style.

 

You mean someone in the Keinan Davis mould, perhaps?

I actually thought Bayo held the ball up quite well vs Norwich. I'd rather have him in the squad than another Davis.