2018 Summer recruitment

[Basingstokered]

McLean yes we will miss absolutely no doubt. A tremendous player however Ferguson has certainly stepped up to the plate since he arrived.

Rooney. Remind me what he did last season that will make us miss him? I loved Rooney but he offered nowt last year, blame that on him, blame it on the manager, blame who you like but not sure how we will miss a last seasons ineffectual Rooney.

I still have faith in May.

How many goals did may score last year ??

Rooney may have been ineffectual as you say but still scored 11 goals more than double what may got. Anderson may get more however mciness is more likely to play cosgrove who won’t get anywhere near 11.

Also Anderson said in the paper that Rooney would give him tips during training so good luck Bruce with getting tips of the ones your left to train with now.

[afc_1983]

I can't see how you can call it that way.
We have extended contracts already (McKenna twice, Ross, Rogers & Lewis (albeit a year ago, but will have factored into future budgets)), we have paid out on transfer fees (Forrester and Ferguson pending) and I would not be surprised if Devlin and Cosgrove were brought in early to get prepared for this season, but still effectively from this years budget.

I'd like to think there is some set aside to extend Shinnie

I'd guess there are still funds available, I'm just not convinced as to how much and certainly not to say there is £1M still available

If there is £1 million still left in the pot - and I know it's not you that's saying there is - then we should not be scrimping on paying for a striker in the 500k bracket. The fact we are suggests there's not as much as people might think. It is correct of course than some of the wages we have freed up are used to re-sign existing players on better contracts, such as McKenna. Shinnie is the big one.

If we get to the end of the month with: a top striker we all recognise and are happy with; Jonny Hayes or equivalent; a defender in as cover then we can look optimistically to the season. The absolute priority has to be to get in a striker though - we should be pushing the boat out if it comes to it - scrimping over say 100 or 200k now will cost us hundreds of thousands if not a million plus in revenue from prize money, Europe, cups etc from the season and cast doubt on future DNA revenues too. Time for the board to show their ambitions match those of the fans.

[afc1903mad]

Anyone who doesn’t think we are weaker than we were last year is kidding themselves.
And that was after McInnes said himself in April after the semi final embarrassment they we were effectively weaker then than we were the year before.
So we’ve regressed further.

It’s going to take a couple of cracking signings to convince me otherwise.

And let’s be realistic, that’s highly unlikely.
A couple of uninspiring loans & that’ll be it I suspect.

I don't think anyone is saying we are not currently weaker than last year, but the window is not closed yet.

[RedStarTorphins]

I don't think anyone is saying we are not currently weaker than last year, but the window is not closed yet.

Hence the middle paragraph

[Pacman1903]

Yes, we appear weaker, certainly in depth than we were last year, so far.
.

And goals. Our joint top scorers both gone with May and Cosgrove still here.

Lets see how the window goes

[amp]

I'm glad you were happy with him.

I'm delighted he's gone.

McLean was outstanding for us. A cut above what we had then, and significantly above what we have now. Sad that you seem to have some sort of a personal problem with him.

[RedStarTorphins]

And goals. Our joint top scorers both gone with May and Cosgrove still here.

Lets see how the window goes

When the defenders are all fit, I’d say defensively we’re better.

However, creatively, & up front, we’re absolutely weaker.

We won’t, but in an ideal world, we’d be signing a left back to finally replace Considine, a no 10, a right winger & a first pick no9.
Of the 4, no 10 is least important.

As I said earlier, it’ll be “who?” from Burton Albion or the likes & on loan.

[BogBrush1903]

The incessant moaning on here reminds on Sevco's hordes with the "We deserve better" plea...

No-one knows whether we're weaker or stronger than this time last season. We don't know if Gleeson & Forrester will become duds or astute signings, we don't know if May will find goal scoring form (although I'm not a believer), or if Ferguson will ensure we all forget about McLean (I've forgotten about him already to be honest)...

We should be taking action to stop the new stadium, like other fans have done when faced with situations that put their clubs in peril...but moaning and stamping your feet never achieves nothing

Milne hasn't backed the manager this summer, the sourcing of players seems worryingly bereft, the chairman has conned the fans with the DNA, and the new stadium plans need shelved. I think that's our main concerns.

But greeting about players we haven't taken in, players Hibs, Hearts and Sevco have taken in (nobody knows if they'll be any good) is pointless and dull. I would rather we wait than take in someone in quickly to placate the fans...

[Don_Corleone]

When the defenders are all fit, I’d say defensively we’re better.

However, creatively, & up front, we’re absolutely weaker.

We won’t, but in an ideal world, we’d be signing a left back to finally replace Considine, a no 10, a right winger & a first pick no9.
Of the 4, no 10 is least important.

As I said earlier, it’ll be “who?” from Burton Albion or the likes & on loan.

Yes, agree - if all defenders are fit, I think we're looking better in that area, although a left back would improve things further.

Striker and a creative wide player are the priorities for me. Forrester has been bought to play as the number 10 so he needs to get a chance - if he isn't up to it McGinn can play there and I dare say Wright or Ross could be given a chance as well.

I do still worry about how we will play without McLean - Ferguson has started well but I don't think anyone's expecting him to be a starting 11 pick all season - if he develops in the way McLean did over 3 or 4 seasons, by the end of that period we'll have an excellent player. My worry is with Ball and Shinnie as the two sitting players we don't really have the same kind of class in terms of pinging passes, driving forward or building moves. Shinnie can drive forward but he doesn't control things and make the play in the way McLean did.

Getting a couple of good quality players in could really make or break the season I feel.

[Red Zone]

I can't see how you can call it that way.
We have extended contracts already (McKenna twice, Ross, Rogers & Lewis (albeit a year ago, but will have factored into future budgets)), we have paid out on transfer fees (Forrester and Ferguson pending) and I would not be surprised if Devlin and Cosgrove were brought in early to get prepared for this season, but still effectively from this years budget.

I'd like to think there is some set aside to extend Shinnie

I'd guess there are still funds available, I'm just not convinced as to how much and certainly not to say there is £1M still available

My comparison is how much we are spending this season versus last season therefore any pay rises given last year are not relevant as they were also spent last year (I will give you McKenna a bit as his pay rises were part way through season). I would refer you to a post I made on Sunday (post 3856 on page 193), which gave a detailed analysis (mine only admittedly) as to how we are three wages down on last season (including factoring in Devlin and Cosgrove) and how we are cash neutral on transfers, including Ferguson. If you think I have missed anything from my analysis, happy to debate but as far as I can see we have definitely in the region of £1M to spend if we are to match last years spend plus the additional £500K from DNA.