Put your money on!

[norfolk white]

Calvin Ramsey…Liverpool right back has just gone to Bolton, league one, we can’t be bothered to match Bolton….oh dear.

[spaldy]

that is bothersome but....

there is the item of team chemistry and it's a big deal. Firpo, Shackleton and Grey have been playing well. who sits because we bring in Ramsay?

same thing applies to the next wunderkind we bring in at striker, wing or midfield.

If Farke thinks we are good enough and the team has told them that in training and talks with the players it's rather admirable. we are good enough to go up now if we go out and do it.

we also have probably the best player in the league in Rutter. Summerville's a close second. Even in the MB glory days we never had this dominant of a playmaker that made everyone around him better. Pablo was good but not this good.

[WTF11]

that is bothersome but....

there is the item of team chemistry and it's a big deal. Firpo, Shackleton and Grey have been playing well. who sits because we bring in Ramsay?

same thing applies to the next wunderkind we bring in at striker, wing or midfield.

If Farke thinks we are good enough and the team has told them that in training and talks with the players it's rather admirable. we are good enough to go up now if we go out and do it.

we also have probably the best player in the league in Rutter. Summerville's a close second. Even in the MB glory days we never had this dominant of a playmaker that made everyone around him better. Pablo was good but not this good.

Errr...are we at risk of persuading ourselves that Plymouth (and similar) didn't happen? Not saying wholesale changes are required, but we lose James and Summerville and we are toothless and lacking in energy, and the left side is, and for many seasons has been, a source of lethal weakness and remains unaddressed.

Many of the positions that we can be pleased with result from the performances of a single, standout player (your mention of Rutter and Summerville is spot on, and James, and Gray ditto, but who fills the gap when they are injured/suspended?). we lack, and have lacked, strength in depth (at least in terms of those players given game time), partly because the 1st team squad is relatively small, and the fact that Farke seems as unwilling to expose younger players to significant game time which might establish their true worth as 1st team players as Bielsa ever was.

Couple of posters have mentioned Hjedle, who as played (and shown capability) in the 1st team, but faces a further loan (and if it proves to be Sunderland, he can team up with Clarke!) to prove what?

Anyway, we will see what we will see, but we have a very poor record of success in the January TW (we haven't often set the world alight in the summer TW either!).

[Billyni]

Hjelde looks on way to Sunderland

I always thought Hjelde was signed as a centre half anyway.
Wasn’t he and Cresswell the ‘future’
Not as a full back.
Perhaps his new club will play him in proper position.

[WTF11]

I always thought Hjelde was signed as a centre half anyway.
Wasn’t he and Cresswell the ‘future’
Not as a full back.
Perhaps his new club will play him in proper position.

The lad was signed, and "plays as a defender" for LUFC, in August 21, and replaced Firpo in his 1st team PL debut in Jan 22.

He IS a full back, not centre half, and we could play him there if only Farke could be persuaded to do so.

[norfolk white]

David brooks just booked in at Southampton for a medical….and so it goes on.

[spaldy]

David brooks just booked in at Southampton for a medical….and so it goes on.

You could probably argue the same for us when we brought in KJA, Kiko and several other january transfers. It's hard to come in mid season and even harder with a coach like Farke that builds a core unit and tends to stick with it. It's hard to attract top talent when a player knows they have a strong chance of sitting.

WTF's point on suspension and injuries is spot on but we do have some good subs and a solid youth team.

I'm still crossing my fingers we don't lose anyone else beyond Heldje. we have some really high profile targes in Rutter, Summerville, Gray and James and kept them all so far. I still think Gnonto will emerge from his funk and hoping Sturjik comes back strong.

[WTF11]

Glad we agree on suspension and injuries, but the availability of "subs and a solid youth team" is only of any value if they are used (and we have allowed them game time during pre-injury/suspension periods to gain experience and confirm their ability to function well at 1st team level). None of that is happening anywhere near often enough.

[Billyni]

Isn’t the current squad a hastily arranged last minute job from the summer window?

Surely since then until now, someone has been looking into strengthening it.

Wouldn’t you think?

[WTF11]

Isn’t the current squad a hastily arranged last minute job from the summer window?

Surely since then until now, someone has been looking into strengthening it.

Wouldn’t you think?

Answers..."Yes", and "You would think so", but don't hold your breath on the latter.