Harking back to the Mason Greenwood debate, he's apparently been signed by the La Liga side, Getafe (near Madrid), on a season-long loan...
Well it's all done and dusted , we are what we are ,I'll give the window 7/10 some needs met and no big sale, OK Chuba, I'm a bit disappointed we didn't bring a RB and CB in, we have talent we now need them to compete and stop the bad goals going in
I think that it has been one of the most interesting windows for many years. A dozen or so acquisitions who split into three groups
1. A quality senior pro filling a gap - Dieng
2. Quality players for important roles who were only available on loan - O'Brien and Greenwood. Both of them were quietly impressive in their first encounter with the local media.
3. Talented younger players who could become an important part of the first team and a source of major transfer fees - everybody else. In fact, some of this group are more advanced than others with solid experience from overseas leagues and some are a bit more at the project stage but all with good prospects.
This all looks dangerously like joined-up thinking and, at least for me, bodes very well for the future. As for this season, I'm very much looking forward to seeing one of our new left-backs marauding up the wing and O'Brien and Hackney behind Greenwood or Thomas with Latte up front and two out of McGree, Silvera, Jones, Forss, Crooks, Coburn and Gilbert filling in the other spots.
Ever an optimist, I know but .... it does look promising.
UTB
Ever an optimist, I know but .... it does look promising.
As they say, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. It does feel like we have come up with a plan and stuck to it. Now it comes down to how good the coaching team is at getting the best out of it and how good the players we have recruited actually are.
Maybe it also means that over the next few windows, at least until we go up, we don't have to completely rebuild every time.
It's a brave departure from what we have done over the last 5 years and, let's face it, our ability to identify and recruit promising youngsters from overseas has been worse than zero. If it works, though, there are some exciting youngsters to watch. However, football is a short-term business and the players we have bought need to start getting results on day 1.
Way too early to judge the window, especially this year, but you can see the categories.
Championship pros: Dieng, O'Brien
Players from equivalent level: Engel, Latte Lath, Bangura?
Young players from a higher level: Greenwood
Young players from an equivalent or lower level: Silvera, Rogers (City U21s but has Championship experience on loan)
Taking a punt: RVDB, Gilbert,
Plugging a gap: Glover, J Jones
There is a lot of room for improvement and plenty of time for the team to grow together.
The Powmills are now safely back in Scotland and testing negative for Covid, although I have to say still feeling decidedly under the weather. Many thanks for all the kind wishes. Our brush with Covid doesn't come close to what some of the Diasboro have to contend with on an ongoing basis and fortunately we are generally in good enough health to cope.
That all said, this is my fifth brush with the virus and I haven't felt so bad since the very first time, so this current variant is a nasty little blighter. Do take care everyone to keep as safe as you can while it is circulating.
Now, this is the transfer window thread. There has been good analysis by quite a few of you already that I am not about to repeat. Overall I am feeling more positive than negative (and not in a lateral flow test kind of way!!) about the balance of ins and outs, but the proof of the pudding is always going to be in the eating. Generally, where there have already been first impressions, these have been at least neutral if not favourable. Fingers crossed as the matches come and go and the team/squad will (hopefully) gel.
The only real gripe for me is that we have already played four league games and two Cup games by the time the window has closed. That is not at all helpful to any club and certainly means that so far as a truly representative competition goes, it is only from now that we can honestly gauge teams against each other and yet we are already 11 points adrift of top spot.
The transfer window system is not fit for purpose, well at least the summer one isn't. I get that there is an issue with different leagues in the same nation, let alone internationally, starting on different dates, so it is difficult to set a window that is equitable across all leagues. So how about the authorities stop trying to apply a one-size fits all policy and come up with a transfer window that adapts to suit the reality.
My idea would be to separate the management of incoming and outgoing movements to try and ensure most, if not all, transfers between clubs have to be completed before the start of the season of the receiving club.
1. A club can only sign a player registered with another club during the close season of the buying/borrowing club with all registrations completed a minimum of seven days before the start of the season.
2. A club can sign an unregistered player at any time.
3. A club may not enter into discussion either directly or through any third party/parties with a player that is registered with another club during that club's active season without the consent of the club holding the registration.
4. A club is entitled to enter into discussion with any player that is registered with another club at any time during that club's close season, except any discussions (or continuation of discussions) taking place within seven days of the start of the season on the club holding the registration can only take place with the consent of the club holding the registration.
5. A club holding the registration of a player may choose to sell or to loan that player at any time, but the transfer of the registration can only take place during the close season of the club taking over the registration and must be completed a minimum of seven days before the start of the season.
6. A club may choose to terminate the contract of any player at any time, but in doing so it must also release the registration of that player, effectively making the player a free agent.
What does the collective brain of the Diasboro think?
Sounds like a plan !
The only trouble is it’s too sensible for the authorities in football to implement it !
OFB
When it comes to football administration it seems very little is fit for purpose and the transfer system is a peculiar mix of historic anomalies, food-chain economics and not in the slightest transparent in terms of what the transaction has entailed.
The actual contracts are in many cases worthless in stopping a player from moving on if he's determined to - so perhaps I'd start with how the football regulators can enforce some adherence and prevent players being directly approached while they are under contract - though your 4th point mentioned that would be only enforced during the season.
OK, in the real world people do actually look for new jobs and have interviews without informing their employer and then give their notice - though many key workers often have six month notice periods.
That works in both directions so not sure on your 6th point that would allow the club to terminate a player's contract at any time - unless of course they paid up the remainder of their contract.
I don't whether 12-24 month rolling contracts would be a better solution as then either side could give notice and still allow time to make suitable alternative arrangements - a player could leave earlier if both sides agreed.
In theory, the January window could be dispensed with altogether and maybe just allow clubs a max of 2-3 loan deals of players that have been given notice.
Of course what drives these transfer windows is money and clubs may be happy to sell players in January if they receive a large inflated sum. However, with the arrival of state-owned clubs and now the Saudi league, clubs being made offers they can't refuse will simply allow the rich to get what they want regardless of the regulations.
Though in general, I'd be in favour of your suggestion of ensuring the transfer window is closed before the season starts and what about limiting the number of new players that can be signed or registered in a window - or indeed prevent stockpiling of players by wealthy clubs by making players not registered in their 25-man squad available to other clubs.
Not sure if anything will ever change as a cynic may suggest chaos is what makes money in football - or indeed in any market. The pressure to do business before the deadline often drives clubs to offer more money than they would otherwise do without it.
Look at Spurs who made a last-minute offer for Forest's Brennan Johnson of £47m - having of course last year offered up to £20m for Djed Spence and then didn't play him and now he's been packed of to the Championship at Leeds. Clubs are not going to turn down silly money but sadly there are not enough Spurs around to finance all the other clubs.
From the Beeb's live text commentary on the SheffU vs Everton match, which finished 2-2:
What a moment for Cameron Archer, who only joined Sheffield United in an £18m deal from Aston Villa on Sunday. Aged 21 years and 267 days, he becomes the youngest English player to score on his first Premier League start since Matty Longstaff for Newcastle against Man Utd in October 2019 (19 years 199 days).