January Transfer Window

[Btay]

On 23/11/2020 at 19:17, Romey 1878 said:

We should have had better forward planning and done this a year, or even two years, earlier.

I think there was a lot of hope for Kenny but I feel it’s time to move on from it. We need a first team RB with Coleman to cover. I’d feel pretty comfortable with Coleman coming in for a game and giving a strong performance as he’s such a good professional.

GK won’t happen in summer. Ideally this window we get a first team RB and Isco.

[Bailey]

Was Kenny injured at the weekend or just not selected? It would be pretty damning if it was tactical and would suggest that he isn't going to be in too many of Ancelotti's plans for the future.

[Palfy]

15 minutes ago, Bailey said:

Was Kenny injured at the weekend or just not selected? It would be pretty damning if it was tactical and would suggest that he isn't going to be in too many of Ancelotti's plans for the future.

Even if he wasn’t injured he wouldn’t have played, Ancelotti had decided to change the shape in the hope that the CD wouldn’t leave space between each other and hopefully that would make us stronger at the back, it didn’t work we still conceded 2.

If any good comes from this it’s that a CD who is leader and takes control is top of the list for incoming signings. 

[markjazzbassist]

2 hours ago, Bailey said:

Was Kenny injured at the weekend or just not selected? It would be pretty damning if it was tactical and would suggest that he isn't going to be in too many of Ancelotti's plans for the future.

He will be sold come summer I bet.  Not good enough

[Bailey]

5 hours ago, Palfy said:

Even if he wasn’t injured he wouldn’t have played, Ancelotti had decided to change the shape in the hope that the CD wouldn’t leave space between each other and hopefully that would make us stronger at the back, it didn’t work we still conceded 2.

If any good comes from this it’s that a CD who is leader and takes control is top of the list for incoming signings. 

Whilst I don't necessarily agree with that, even if it was correct, you would still expect to see Kenny on the bench to cover Iwobi struggling or having to go to 4 at the back. 

[Aidan]

2 hours ago, Bailey said:

Whilst I don't necessarily agree with that, even if it was correct, you would still expect to see Kenny on the bench to cover Iwobi struggling or having to go to 4 at the back. 

Maybe the plan was to move Godfrey into RB in that scenario, or if iwobi got injured to put a more attacking player into RWB such as Davies. 

Kenny hasn't had a fair run of games, but every time I see him play I dont see a certain area of strength. He's not great at whipping a ball in or beating a man, nor is he an exceptional defender. I believe he will grow into a good defender, possibly at this level in this league, but not one we can either afford to wait to develop or who will be good enough to push us forward. 

It pains me to say it as he is a blue and I do like him. 

[Aidan]

As for this window, if Isco is avaliable then great, but I don't want us to go out and buy a RB or even a CB unless it's the right player for the right price. I'd much rather us utilise what we have and try again this summer. It's clear our defense needs strengthening, but it will develop throughout the season and with Holgate coming back we will improve slightly in that area. 

The midfield and goalkeeper are at times as much to blame for us conceding as much as the defense. 

[Matt]

RB and Isco if possible. The GK, CB and a forward in summer 

[Btay]

15 minutes ago, Matt said:

RB and Isco if possible. The GK, CB and a forward in summer 

Agreed.

Odriozola might be an option at RB but we would be really starting to raid Real Madrid there.

[markjazzbassist]

5 hours ago, Matt said:

RB and Isco if possible. The GK, CB and a forward in summer 

this for me too.  

[StevO]

On 25/11/2020 at 08:32, Matt said:

RB and Isco if possible. The GK, CB and a forward in summer 

Would be ideal, but I can’t see us buying a right back in January to be honest. Not unless Kenny or Coleman get a big injury. 
 

It’ll be nice to to get to the point where we just buy one of two players in the summer, rather than the five, six, seven we’ve had in recent times. 

[Matt]

2 hours ago, StevO said:

Would be ideal, but I can’t see us buying a right back in January to be honest. Not unless Kenny or Coleman get a big injury. 
 

It’ll be nice to to get to the point where we just buy one of two players in the summer, rather than the five, six, seven we’ve had in recent times. 

To be honest, that should’ve been the goal for the last 5 years. 
 

I wouldn’t mind us paying extra for a RB in January regardless, assuming it’s a top quality target. Seamus getting repeated muscle injuries means things are only going to get worse with the congested fixture list at that position. 

[markjazzbassist]

I would sell Kenny to German league team and replace all in one window.  It’s clear he’s not good enough.  We’d be set at RB for a few years then and could concentrate on seeing if it shores up the defense or if CB is needed still.

[Bailey]

On 24/11/2020 at 22:31, Aidan said:

Maybe the plan was to move Godfrey into RB in that scenario, or if iwobi got injured to put a more attacking player into RWB such as Davies. 

Kenny hasn't had a fair run of games, but every time I see him play I dont see a certain area of strength. He's not great at whipping a ball in or beating a man, nor is he an exceptional defender. I believe he will grow into a good defender, possibly at this level in this league, but not one we can either afford to wait to develop or who will be good enough to push us forward. 

It pains me to say it as he is a blue and I do like him. 

Maybe it was but then why work on a system all week to exploit width and then put a centre back in that position. I just think it is unusual when we have 3 central midfielders and Bernard on the bench. I think the likely scenario is Ancelotti thought that those players could do as good of a job as Kenny at right back if they were needed, which says a lot.

I agree with you about Kenny though. I couldn't say I have seen enough of him to say how good he is, but at the same time, I couldn't say I have seen anything that would immediately jump out at me as being above the level of a Championship player. We watched N'kounkou, albeit against lower league teams, and he immediately jumped out at you, whereas Kenny blends into the background.

[StevO]

51 minutes ago, markjazzbassist said:

I would sell Kenny to German league team and replace all in one window.  It’s clear he’s not good enough.  We’d be set at RB for a few years then and could concentrate on seeing if it shores up the defense or if CB is needed still.

The hard bit with selling a player is needing someone to buy them. It’s all well and good saying sell them, but it’s never that simple. 

[Zoo 2.0]

1 hour ago, StevO said:

The hard bit with selling a player is needing someone to buy them. It’s all well and good saying sell them, but it’s never that simple. 

It's a bit like saying that we should sell the stadium because one of the stands has blown away - it's difficult to shift deadwood (just look at Manchester United). 

Not saying that Kenny is deadwood mind, but you get my drift.

[StevO]

2 minutes ago, Zoo 2.0 said:

It's a bit like saying that we should sell the stadium because one of the stands has blown away - it's difficult to shift deadwood (just look at Manchester United). 

Not saying that Kenny is deadwood mind, but you get my drift.

He’s more driftwood than deadwood, that’s what you meant right?

[Zoo 2.0]

4 minutes ago, StevO said:

He’s more driftwood than deadwood, that’s what you meant right?

Eeeeeeeeexactly.

[markjazzbassist]

5 hours ago, StevO said:

The hard bit with selling a player is needing someone to buy them. It’s all well and good saying sell them, but it’s never that simple. 

Schalke wanted to buy him this summer.  Already a team willing.

[Aidan]

When is his contract up? If someone is willing to buy in January then I'd be happy if we sold him, as long as a replacement is avaliable. 

[StevO]

2 hours ago, markjazzbassist said:

Schalke wanted to buy him this summer.  Already a team willing.

They signed Kilian Ludewig. They weren’t going to just not get a right back because they didn’t get Kenny. They were a team willing about six months ago, and got an alternative. The game moves fast. 

[markjazzbassist]

2 hours ago, StevO said:

They signed Kilian Ludewig. They weren’t going to just not get a right back because they didn’t get Kenny. They were a team willing about six months ago, and got an alternative. The game moves fast. 

He’s young, on a pittance of a wage, and did well in Germany.  It’s not like we are trying to sell Sandro niasse or Gylfi here.  If we put him on the trading block I imagine there will be no shortage of championship or German clubs looking to sign him.  The transfer fee will be low but it won’t matter, anything we get will be a profit and his wages will be gone.

[Matt]

Well considering he’s on a pittance and Coleman is getting more muscle injury, surely it makes sense to loan him out rather than sell provided we get a quality RB in? That way we have 2 RB, potentially 3 for the a season. You are ruthless Mark, it does make me laugh  

[StevO]

6 hours ago, markjazzbassist said:

He’s young, on a pittance of a wage, and did well in Germany.  It’s not like we are trying to sell Sandro niasse or Gylfi here.  If we put him on the trading block I imagine there will be no shortage of championship or German clubs looking to sign him.  The transfer fee will be low but it won’t matter, anything we get will be a profit and his wages will be gone.

It’s exactly like trying to sell any of them, you can add Bolasie and Besic to that list too, selling players isn’t easy. 
 

Ive got this tv here Mark, do you want to buy it? It’s ok, not great, it’s cheap though. You might already have a tv, your tv might be better than this one. But it’s still cheap, and it’s relatively new. You want to buy this tv from me?

[Bailey]

I feel like not having adequate back up full backs could end up really hurting is this season. 

I hope that both Kenny and Niels can show their worth over the coming weeks and months. Even if Coleman is fit soon, he won't be able to play two games a week.

[Shukes]

On 27/11/2020 at 08:14, StevO said:

It’s exactly like trying to sell any of them, you can add Bolasie and Besic to that list too, selling players isn’t easy. 
 

Ive got this tv here Mark, do you want to buy it? It’s ok, not great, it’s cheap though. You might already have a tv, your tv might be better than this one. But it’s still cheap, and it’s relatively new. You want to buy this tv from me?

How cheap is cheap? And do you deliver?

[StevO]

10 hours ago, Shukes said:

How cheap is cheap? And do you deliver?

About £10m, the tv can deliver itself.

[duncanmckenzieismagic]

With neither Bernard or Tosun even on the bench today it is looking very likely that they are both leaving this window. Given Simms, Walcott and Keane also out on loan surely we must be bringing in a forward this window?

Its great that we are finally getting most of the deadwood off the wage bill with Losl, Bolasie and Pennington already gone but I think our squad is starting to look dangerously thin now

[Romey 1878]

8 minutes ago, duncanmckenzieismagic said:

With neither Bernard or Tosun even on the bench today it is looking very likely that they are both leaving this window. Given Simms, Walcott and Keane also out on loan surely we must be bringing in a forward this window?

Its great that we are finally getting most of the deadwood off the wage bill with Losl, Bolasie and Pennington already gone but I think our squad is starting to look dangerously thin now

Said the same thing in another thread. I’m a bit worried. 

[Zoo 2.0]

I'm trying to stay positive and play the long game when it comes to our January business, Leicester won the league using only around 23-25 players so it's not as though a large squad is essential - personally I'd rather have quality over quantity and am just pleased to see the decks clearing with players that aren't good enough, but can certainly see why people are worried. 

If we can get rid of the likes of Bolasie*, Lossl, Tosun, Bernard, Pennington, Besic, Delph, Kean etc then it puts us in a really good position to use the money that we have saved in January into summer recruits. As much as it's uninspiring now it makes busines sense and I would genuinely prefer to play the likes of Onyango over Delph and push more game time Gordon's way over the likes of Bernard/Tosun.

Nkounkou and Small are available as back-up on the left-side too. The only place we look desperately thin is up front, but hopefully some progress will be made on that before the window slams shut (even if that means a Dzeko coming in on the short term). 

I see our depth is something like this - I've not included anyone that I think will be leaving/is deadwood:

Goalkeeper: Pickford, Olsen, Virginia

Defence: Coleman, Holgate, Mina, Godfrey, Keane, Digne, Nkounkou, Small

Midfield: Allan, Sigurdsson, Doucoure, James, André Gomes, Gbamin*, Davies, Onyango

Wingers/Forwards: Richarlison, Calvert-Lewin, Iwobi, Gordon,

Squad Size: 23 players (providing Gbamin gets fit again!)

Departures (this window): Kenny, Delph, Tosun, Bernard, Olsen, Besic