Was it a good window? (3 Viewers)

[Terry_dactyl]

The amazing thing about Stuart Robson despite being a crock was the classy and energetic 60 minute appearances he put in.

His pre match warm up started out on the pitch with about 30 minutes of stretching before anyone else appeared. From what I heard his post match experiemce involved suffering a lot of pain.

He never lost the ability out on the pitch. It was just what he had to put his body through to achieve it defeated him in the end. His body had been weakened by surgery.

One of the classiest players to ever wear a city shirt.

I remember watching Saint & Greavsie (or grandstand) do a section on him when he must’ve been at West Ham. Showing all the physio/surgeries etc he had to go through as part of his recovery…a couple of years later we signed him.
I don’t know if it’s a good comparison but in my mind he was basically our version of Steven Gerrard. He could do everything.

 

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[Hobo]

A shame when Atherton left, he was a very good player. Did well at Wednesday.

I remember the pink or the telegraph doing an article about Furlong when we sold him, saying what a great bit of business it was as we’d doubled our money…£200k I think? A year or so later went for about £2.5mil! Genius!

I thought Furlong look slightly out of his depth at City and the drop down to Division One with Watford helped him develop.

But yes in the transfer market we seemed to regularly get mugged. Non worse than Mark Hately Portsmouth and a transfer tribunal, what a joke they were.

 

[SlowerThanPlatt]

Good post. I agree. Some good balance in the squad and some good players with experience at this level.

At the start of last season we showed some inexperience in the shithousery department. Now a lot of our squad have got a year of Champ football under their belt.

The only slight weakness is Walker - Gyo. Unless Tyler beefs up we don’t have a physical type striker to cover. This is why I bang on about Max, late comer into the game, cheap wage (presumably), commitment to CCFC. IF (I a really hope not) GYO gets injured I’m not sure we could play the way we do with Walker as Gyo’s stand in. We’d have to play to feet and with through balls without the ability to go direct.

look at the last goal we scored: long to Gyo, knocked back to oncoming mids, Gyo pulls their defence wide, Godden has space to finish.

Biamou was hardly a physical striker

 

[Terry_dactyl]

I thought Furlong look slightly out of his depth at City and the drop down to Division One with Watford helped him develop.

But yes in the transfer market we seemed to regularly get mugged. Non worse than Mark Hately Portsmouth and a transfer tribunal, what a joke they were.

My dad supports Pompey and sees that Hately deal as great business! Prat.

I’d agree about Furlong, looked slightly out of his depth but it was a big step up (Enfield?) and I think we only had him for a year? I hoped he’d develop with us.

we’ve done well a couple of times too…£500k for Andy Pearce!

 

[The Philosopher]

Didnt Terry Butcher sue the club for wrongful dismissal or something?........there is a dull barely flickering memory of such an event in my befuddled brain....

I think he did now you mention.

We signed him as a player, he became manager and then retired, only for us to sack him and he have a full season or two at a good level back on the pitch.
Bad business all round.

 

[clint van damme]

I'm really not sure who is voting 9 out of 10. I think the results so far have given a bit of a false sense of security. Should we lose I suspect we will see a few one and twos!

In reality it is somewhere in the middle surely? We have a lot of dead wood lying around and the signings have been average other than perhaps Gyökeres and Moore.

We're in our second season back in the Championship after along absence and a season behind closed doors, average is fine for now and an improvement on last season.

 

[Sky_Blue_Dreamer]

I thought Furlong look slightly out of his depth at City and the drop down to Division One with Watford helped him develop.

But yes in the transfer market we seemed to regularly get mugged. Non worse than Mark Hately Portsmouth and a transfer tribunal, what a joke they were.

I remember thinking that transfer tribunals always seemed to fuck us over. Went high value when we were buying and pitifully low when selling. I swear after Atherton one of the board said they were never going to go to a tribunal again because it was such a joke.

 

[Earlsdon_Skyblue1]

We're in our second season back in the Championship after along absence and a season behind closed doors, average is fine for now and an improvement on last season.

Sure, average is perhaps appropriate. That is not 9 out of 10 though.

I think the early couple of wins have gone to people's heads.

 

[Liquid Gold]

We're in our second season back in the Championship after along absence and a season behind closed doors, average is fine for now and an improvement on last season.

I agree with you, I'm happy with average but that's why I've rated it as slightly above average. If we do a few slightly above average Championship windows then we'll be in a very good place. Not a bad thing and not giving it a high score doesn't mean I'm unhappy.

 

[NorthernWisdom]

I’d agree about Furlong, looked slightly out of his depth but it was a big step up (Enfield?) and I think we only had him for a year? I hoped he’d develop with us.

What any secure manager, not worried about Regis's presence, would have done would have been to have kept Regis at the club, allowed Furlong to learn from him, and had Furlong sub in whenever Regis needed a rest, to get some experience and develop properly.

 

[clint van damme]

Sure, average is perhaps appropriate. That is not 9 out of 10 though.

I think the early couple of wins have gone to people's heads.

I said at the start and I stick by it, I think 2 to 3 places better off than last season.

I don't think it's just the wins though, we look far more at home in this league now even in the games we've lost we've been competitive.

 

[Sky_Blue_Dreamer]

We're in our second season back in the Championship after along absence and a season behind closed doors, average is fine for now and an improvement on last season.

It is but I think we have to progress relatively quickly due to our smaller budget. At the moment we've got some players on less money than they would ordinarily be on because they signed while we were in a lower league, giving us more money to spend elsewhere. As time goes one those players will either need to be given a new contract or be replaced. That's going to up the wage costs and give us less leeway in terms of bringing in ability/depth unless we can massively increase our income.

 

[Terry_dactyl]

What any secure manager, not worried about Regis's presence, would have done would have been to have kept Regis at the club, allowed Furlong to learn from him, and had Furlong sub in whenever Regis needed a rest, to get some experience and develop properly.

Exactly this.
His track record in management speaks for itself.
Its interesting to me how influence on the pitch/in the dressing room as a player doesn’t always translate effectively to management. Tony Adams leaps to mind.

 

[Liquid Gold]

I said at the start and I stick by it, I think 2 to 3 places better off than last season.

I don't think it's just the wins though, we look far more at home in this league now even in the games we've lost we've been competitive.

The Blackpool win and their manager's comments made me see how far we've come. They were very much like us in the first 10 games last season, played some good stuff but very much overawed by the pace and intensity of it all. We looked miles ahead of them and I bet Luton thought the same about us last season. If we can emulate them I'll be very happy.

 

[NorthernWisdom]

Exactly this.
His track record in management speaks for itself.
Its interesting to me how influence on the pitch/in the dressing room as a player doesn’t always translate effectively to management. Tony Adams leaps to mind.

You can also be a rubbish player, but a half decent manager - Mourinho is the obvious! Older ones would have included Graham Taylor, Jim Smith... before we stuck him in as a square peg in a round hole, anyway.

What we don't seem to do nowadays however, is let managers have that space to find themselves. If they don't come in with a profile of sorts, they seem doomed before they begin at the higher level.

 

[Liquid Gold]

It is but I think we have to progress relatively quickly due to our smaller budget. At the moment we've got some players on less money than they would ordinarily be on because they signed while we were in a lower league, giving us more money to spend elsewhere. As time goes one those players will either need to be given a new contract or be replaced. That's going to up the wage costs and give us less leeway in terms of bringing in ability/depth unless we can massively increase our income.

I Think something we can see in this division is budget doesn't automatically equal success.

There are a lot of teams that are paying huge wages to players that don't make match day squads or aren't even at the club anymore. That Reading team that we had o the ropes for 80 minutes have a wage budget of £29m.

If we follow Brentford's model of by young hungry and cheap, develop and reinvest we'll be doing alright. It's getting those replacements right. I fully expect Hamer and O'Hare to be off next summer. It'll be absolutely key to us to replace them and improve another couple of positions with the money. Get it right and we're on our way, spunk the money and we'll struggle.

 

[Brighton Sky Blue]

The Blackpool win and their manager's comments made me see how far we've come. They were very much like us in the first 10 games last season, played some good stuff but very much overawed by the pace and intensity of it all. We looked miles ahead of them and I bet Luton thought the same about us last season. If we can emulate them I'll be very happy.

This isn't one of those transfer windows that requires much combing over to be honest, the big 'injection' of players to improve the squad was last summer, we've kept the core. Upgraded in goal and up front, James might not be as big a miss as first anticipated, likewise McCallum. The only place we're weaker is central defence but you can't have everything and hopefully the superior goalkeeper balances that out a bit.

6/10 move along

 

[Terry_dactyl]

You can also be a rubbish player, but a half decent manager - Mourinho is the obvious! Older ones would have included Graham Taylor, Jim Smith... before we stuck him in as a square peg in a round hole, anyway.

What we don't seem to do nowadays however, is let managers have that space to find themselves. If they don't come in with a profile of sorts, they seem doomed before they begin at the higher level.

I think Wenger didn’t get past ligue 2 and Houllier was a teacher…which I guess makes sense.

There’s always one or two top flight managers that seem to be on borrowed time, almost regardless of results/performances…yet more recently others like arteta and Solskjaer seem to be given the chance, and the money.

 

[NorthernWisdom]

I think Wenger didn’t get past ligue 2 and Houllier was a teacher…which I guess makes sense.

There’s always one or two top flight managers that seem to be on borrowed time, almost regardless of results/performances…yet more recently others like arteta and Solskjaer seem to be given the chance, and the money.

And the overseas managers were allowed to build their reputations abroad, which meant they had one by the time they got here - Benitez (another with no real playing profile) starting with a failure or two, which would end his hopes of managing in the top flight here.

 

[Hobo]

It is but I think we have to progress relatively quickly due to our smaller budget. At the moment we've got some players on less money than they would ordinarily be on because they signed while we were in a lower league, giving us more money to spend elsewhere. As time goes one those players will either need to be given a new contract or be replaced. That's going to up the wage costs and give us less leeway in terms of bringing in ability/depth unless we can massively increase our income.

Some of the wages will have increased already with promotion. But yes all teams will be limited by their budget.

The reality is you can only spend the portion of the budget you free up through natural wastage or transfers. Unless additional money comes into the club.

 

[SlowerThanPlatt]

Pretty decent. Ignoring any financial implications and just looking at ability.

FIRST XI
Moore > Marosi
Kane > Mason (and Dacosta)
Maatsen ? McCallum
JCS ? Osti (advantage is a LCB)
Sheaf = Sheaf (but looks to have improved)
Bright ? Kastaneer (should be an upgrade but when will we get to see it?)
No replacement for James
Waghorn > Biamou
Gyokeres = Gyokeres (but looks a better player. Improvement on Bakayoko)

O'Hare, Hamer and Dabo still here

U23
Rus > Young
Cashman > Bremang
Howley ? Bartlett (but hopefully will prove an upgrade)
Dinaga
George Burroughs ? Thompson/Williams.
Newton haven't been replaced, and we may have lost a decent prospect in Tyler.

So overall a decent window. Upgrades in a variety of positions and have kept our big names. Missed out on last years loans and we've still got a few players here who ideally would've moved on because they won't feature like Hilssner and Jobello and some who look unlikely to make the step up like Shipley.

7/10

Howley is an obvious upgrade on Bartlett given he’s been around the first team in Championship games. Bartlett wasn’t even a regular starter for the 23s

 

[slowpoke]

Yes, and I don’t think we have spent as much budget as last season if we count transfer fees yet brought in better and more championship experienced players plus one or two Cashman & Rus with future in mind.

 

[Londonccfcfan]

Transfer window. So far from what ive seen.

Moore....9/10
Gykores..9/10

Maatsen...7/10......Not too far off maccallum.
JCS.............7/10......Potentially good solid aquisition.
Sheaf.........7/10.....Happy with him...alot more to come can only get better.

Waghorn...5/10....a bit underwhelmed, still better than Biamou just about.
Kane....N/a

 

[Mild-Mannered Janitor]

Remember Robson running the show away at Chelsea in 92 and scored in the 90th minute, shed end wasn’t happy and we had to sprint back to my mini metro for safety. Bossed the midfield and would never have been with us without his goal injuries. Wouldn’t take Wiltshire though, different game now to when we took a chance with Robson

 

[robbiekeane]

If we follow Brentford's model of by young hungry and cheap, develop and reinvest we'll be doing alright. It's getting those replacements right. I fully expect Hamer and O'Hare to be off next summer. It'll be absolutely key to us to replace them and improve another couple of positions with the money. Get it right and we're on our way, spunk the money and we'll struggle.

Makes me nervous but i'd expect the management team to have already identified (or being working very hard to identify) a shortlist of their replacements.

 

[COVKIDSNEVERQUIT]

Didnt Terry Butcher sue the club for wrongful dismissal or something?........there is a dull barely flickering memory of such an event in my befuddled brain....

Terry Butcher should have been sued for inpersonating a football manger.

 

[PVA]

When you look at our window in isolation I think it’s a good window.

When you look at it in comparison to the rest of the division I think it becomes very good. A few teams have done well, but plenty have had shocking windows.

I think we’re stronger than our squad last year, and I think we’re a lot stronger in relation to the rest of the league than last year.

 

[Legia Sky Blue]

I think there are still a hell of a lot of out of contract players out there, so although the window is officially closed there could still be a lot of players signed in the next few weeks or so.

In regard to our own situation I like the fact that we still have a few loan options left to use in January if the club are in a position to push on at that point.

 

[Ccfcisparks]

I think there are still a hell of a lot of out of contract players out there, so although the window is officially closed there could still be a lot of players signed in the next few weeks or so.

In regard to our own situation I like the fact that we still have a few loan options left to use in January if the club are in a position to push on at that point.

I really think Mo Besic could be a good signing.

 

[PVA]

I really think Mo Besic could be a good signing.

Was on £30k a week at Everton (apparently)...

 

[Skybluebeliever]

Pretty surprised that one or two more didn't go out
Hilssner and Jobello were always going to be hard to shift but there was interest in Shippers which has apparently come to nothing
Maybe we were looking for a fee?

I think they tried to pay them off but no luck , I think the January window will more important , if we manage to move on jobello ,Hilßner and Pask and bright has gone , this should free up enough budget to strength again , club disappointed not to get more loans out drysdale, Reid etc

 

[Ccfcisparks]

I think they tried to pay them off but no luck , I think the January window will more important , if we manage to move on jobello ,Hilßner and Pask and bright has gone , this should free up enough budget to strength again , club disappointed not to get more loans out drysdale, Reid etc

When can we expect to hear the announcement about Bright?

 

[hill83]

I'm really not sure who is voting 9 out of 10. I think the results so far have given a bit of a false sense of security. Should we lose I suspect we will see a few one and twos!

In reality it is somewhere in the middle surely? We have a lot of dead wood lying around and the signings have been average other than perhaps Gyökeres and Moore.

I was seeing 7-9 as a 7 really. Nowhere near a 9.
5-7 felt too low though with the 5. The number splits are weird.

 

[Sky_Blue_Dreamer]

Howley is an obvious upgrade on Bartlett given he’s been around the first team in Championship games. Bartlett wasn’t even a regular starter for the 23s

Sometimes a manager will see a prospect and really like them and end up promoting them into the first team before they're ready. Bapaga is a case in point. He was never near ready for the first team but MR put him in and around the squad anyway.

I expect he will be a better player but we've not seen enough of him to be able to say definitively.

 

[SlowerThanPlatt]

Sometimes a manager will see a prospect and really like them and end up promoting them into the first team before they're ready. Bapaga is a case in point. He was never near ready for the first team but MR put him in and around the squad anyway.

I expect he will be a better player but we've not seen enough of him to be able to say definitively.

Yes that’s the point I’m making, he’s around the first team because he has exceptional potential/ability. Bartlett never was. It would be easy to include Reid given we have one left back but he hasn’t.

You’ve seen enough of Rus to definitively say he’s better than Young though?