Transfers Summer 2018.

[AucklandRover]

Totally agree on the fact as a first team we are possibly 2 players shy but as a squad we will be thin on the required quality needed
Defensively maybe just a right back is needed but it's on the offensive front is where we are thin on the ground
Whittingham struggled in league one and probably will do the same in the championship and as I said the wings are non existent and as for up front we really only have an ageing Graham
I know you are not keen aucks on flooding the squad with new players but I feel we are a good 6-7 players away from a competitive championship squad.

It's my natural caution!
I suppose my issue is that if we sign six or seven players of Championship quality, they will be signed to PLAY. That being the case, I don't see how we could retain the core of the current team as well.
For example, if we sign a really good right back, will he be ahead of or behind Nyambe in the pecking order?
The same with a top-notch (for the Championship) striker. In our regular formation, there isn't room for TWO out-and-out front men, and I'm not sure that such a signing would be as happy to sit on the bench for 70 minutes as Nuttall has been.
I think we could do with two really good wingers, right and left, but they would never both be on the pitch at the same time in our standard set-up.
Then there's the problem of the creative central midfielder (Payne/Whittingham). If they both go and we get a first-rate replacement, he will presumably be starting in place of one of the "holding" midfielders, which means a re-jig of Mowbray's favoured formation this season.
Don't get me wrong: I totally agree with you and Champs that the squad needs to be bolstered, but I just can't see how seven extra players could all be fitted in. For a start, does that mean there are seven players in the current starting-squad who are not good enough for the step-up? If that IS the case, then it DOES mean we will be virtually starting again from scratch, because the seven new players will surely have been signed because they are judged to be ahead of the seven old ones.
And, of course, none of that takes account of the fact that such a squad would have even less room for players from our Under-23 team.
I'm not been awkward here. I really do think it's going to be a difficult balance to strike. That's why I would be happy with three signings: someone like Chapman; an up-and-coming "Tugay"; and a possible replacement for Graham if next season doesn't go as well for him as this one has done.
The first thing we'll know, of course, is which players TM judges to be surplus to requirements in the summer. That should give us some indication of how many new ones he's looking for.

Sorry - I forgot this: one thing I reckon we definitely DON'T need is a replacement holding midfielder. Even if Evans goes and Smallwood has reached his ceiling, it's one area where we are absolutely packed with talent in the Under-23s.