Transfer News Transfer Window Summer 21

[Golden Dr Otto]

Tell that to Brentford

 

[RyanioBirdio]

In this particular case.

 

[Golden Dr Otto]

For the record I agree with your point. I understand I’m not the manager, I don’t attend training, and I’ve no idea on dressing room dynamics….but I’m truly baffled. As are 98% of our fans it seems.

 

[brassmonkey]

Anyone know which players we have or importantly havent registered now that the season has started? (Hanson, Osie Yaw, Mousinho) Do we have any squad places free for new signings?

 

[westyorkshireexile]

Oh you mentioned goals per minute so I thought you may have the comparison data somewhere . My bad.

What on earth are you on about, I've never mentioned goals per minute.

 

[BigCrompy]

Anyone know which players we have or importantly havent registered now that the season has started? (Hanson, Osie Yaw, Mousinho) Do we have any squad places free for new signings?

I assume there's a final deadline date for player registrations which corresponds closely with the closure of the transfer window. i.e. we can play any bona fide squad members until a certain date presumably in two weeks, when a certain number need to be confirmed as registered.

The EFL website is too confusing for a dope like me, and doesn't appear to have updated from 2020 dates, although it probably has and I just can't see it.

 

[Golden Dr Otto]

What on earth are you on about, I've never mentioned goals per minute.

Sorry was responding to werthersoriginal who did….the long names beginning with “we” were too much for my little brain

 

[Teacher]

The obsession with another holding midfielder is still baffling me. It’s defensive cover we need.

CB was our best player on the park yesterday. Yes, we want him further up the pitch and Gorrin sitting in MOST games, but against the poorest sides in the division (like yesterday), putting CB at the base to dictate play is a great way of getting more bodies further forward.

We would’ve been less dominant if Gorrin played yesterday and Brannagan further forward. There are times you want 3 ball players in the middle.

 

[Swaby39]

The obsession with another holding midfielder is still baffling me. It’s defensive cover we need.

CB was our best player on the park yesterday. Yes, we want him further up the pitch and Gorrin sitting in MOST games, but against the poorest sides in the division (like yesterday), putting CB at the base to dictate play is a great way of getting more bodies further forward.

We would’ve been less dominant if Gorrin played yesterday and Brannagan further forward. There are times you want 3 ball players in the middle.

I’m not sure it’s an either/or discussion - it’s 2 separate conversations.

Defensive cover is to add to the depth in the squad to ensure we can last the course of a season. That means enough bodies of the right quality to remain competitive with suspensions, injuries, loss of form etc.

The call for a new holding player (or the return of consistency from Gorrin) is something I, and many others, believe is lacking from our strongest XI to enable us to compete at the top end of the table. While it’s not the end of the world, games like yesterday you have to close out - that means defend properly with no mistakes and we’ve got 3 attacking players screening our defence. That’s asking for trouble.

As a general rule, we are a very attacking side - we let our full backs go, we have a minimum of 2 central attacking midfield players and 3 forwards. That should be plenty to score goals. If the third central midfield player is also more attacking minded or shall we just say not naturally defensively focused, we are taking a huge and unnecessary risk. For one, we’re hedging our bets that the opposition does not have the quality to get out and attack our low numbers at the back and secondly, we are hoping we’re not going to come under any sustained pressure where a midfield General might get you out the mud for 10 mins. We are sacrificing CB in a deeper role when I think his ideas, energy and confidence would be of much greater use going forward - of that comes at the cost of Henry, I’m for it if it brings more balance to the side.

The way we play guarantees you goals but requires an insurance policy somewhere - someone who isn’t interested in scoring a goal, he’d rather kick someone in to the stands with 5 mins to go, take a yellow and see us over the line. Thats the difference between a 1-0 win and a 1-1 a lot of the time. CB, for how good he is, is not that player and I’d rather it be plan B or C than plan A this year. It’s the missing piece for me and would get the best of so many others.

 

[IsleofWightYellow]

What’s Dan’s goals per minute versus Winnalls?

I’ve no idea but would be interested to know

I worked this out once. Winnall’s is better than Agyei’s - but it’s also better than Taylor’s! And I don’t think anyone is suggesting Winnall should start over Taylor.

Agyei has played a lot of his games on the wing, and if you had chances created per minute, or free kicks and corners singlehandedly won per minute, I can guarantee you Dan’s would be a lot higher than Sam Winnall’s.

 

[werthersoriginal]

I worked this out once. Winnall’s is better than Agyei’s - but it’s also better than Taylor’s! And I don’t think anyone is suggesting Winnall should start over Taylor.

Agyei has played a lot of his games on the wing, and if you had chances created per minute, or free kicks and corners singlehandedly won per minute, I can guarantee you Dan’s would be a lot higher than Sam Winnall’s.

Didn’t Agyei get five assists last year? He can make things happen

 

[ubermeistervonmeat]

Sheffield Wednesday and Oxford submit enquiries for Pompey’s Ellis Harrison

Portsmouth striker Ellis Harrison has attracted transfer interest from two of Pompey's League One rivals over a potential summer exit, with Michael Jacobs also heading out of the club

www.hampshirelive.news

Am I alone in hoping Wednesday beat us to him - really don't see why we need to strengthen our attack any further

 

[Teacher]

@Swaby39 I totally understand your points mate and standardly would agree in the main.

However, yesterday we didn’t lose the game because there was no Alex Gorrin style midfielder on the pitch. A clumsy tackle, which I don’t really blame Sykes for, has cost us two points. At no stage, did it really look like we needed an enforcer style player. If it did, surely KR would’ve brought Gorrin onto the field.

The fact of the matter is we were not clinical enough. We had a number of good chances which we did not take. Our goal comes about as CB switches the ball from deep, a ball he is particularly good at. 15 yards higher, he can’t play that ball (though he probably plays something equally as decent!)

I agree an on song Gorrin should be plan A. Plan B of CB dropping deep and doing that role against poorer sides so we can really dominate is a good second option.

IMO getting another enforcer is not warranted. People are very quick to talk about the ‘squad cap’, but don’t mention that we don’t have an unlimited budget in the same breath. Jerome also eluded to the fact that for the first time, we now have players who may become unhappy with limited minutes and KR now has to manage this situation. Bringing in another central midfielder will only make this issue a harder task.

We will not need to play a stopper in front of the back 4 every game this season. Most games we will, but definitely not all.

 

[Mystery Yellow]

I’m not sure it’s an either/or discussion - it’s 2 separate conversations.

Defensive cover is to add to the depth in the squad to ensure we can last the course of a season. That means enough bodies of the right quality to remain competitive with suspensions, injuries, loss of form etc.

The call for a new holding player (or the return of consistency from Gorrin) is something I, and many others, believe is lacking from our strongest XI to enable us to compete at the top end of the table. While it’s not the end of the world, games like yesterday you have to close out - that means defend properly with no mistakes and we’ve got 3 attacking players screening our defence. That’s asking for trouble.

As a general rule, we are a very attacking side - we let our full backs go, we have a minimum of 2 central attacking midfield players and 3 forwards. That should be plenty to score goals. If the third central midfield player is also more attacking minded or shall we just say not naturally defensively focused, we are taking a huge and unnecessary risk. For one, we’re hedging our bets that the opposition does not have the quality to get out and attack our low numbers at the back and secondly, we are hoping we’re not going to come under any sustained pressure where a midfield General might get you out the mud for 10 mins. We are sacrificing CB in a deeper role when I think his ideas, energy and confidence would be of much greater use going forward - of that comes at the cost of Henry, I’m for it if it brings more balance to the side.

The way we play guarantees you goals but requires an insurance policy somewhere - someone who isn’t interested in scoring a goal, he’d rather kick someone in to the stands with 5 mins to go, take a yellow and see us over the line. Thats the difference between a 1-0 win and a 1-1 a lot of the time. CB, for how good he is, is not that player and I’d rather it be plan B or C than plan A this year. It’s the missing piece for me and would get the best of so many others.

Excellent post & also agree with Steven Kinniburgh thoughts from yesterday, he made some good valid points on that midfield 3 on WATG

 

[Mystery Yellow]

Am I alone in hoping Wednesday beat us to him - really don't see why we need to strengthen our attack any further

I wouldn’t even say it’s an upgrade either on Winnall or Ayegi I’ve seen him enough times when he’s played for both Bristol Rovers & Portsmouth in both them playoff games he might hold the ball up now & again but does nothing with it & has no end product Ipswich where happy to let him leave now Portsmouth the same

 

[WuTang]

The obsession with another holding midfielder is still baffling me. It’s defensive cover we need.

CB was our best player on the park yesterday. Yes, we want him further up the pitch and Gorrin sitting in MOST games, but against the poorest sides in the division (like yesterday), putting CB at the base to dictate play is a great way of getting more bodies further forward.

We would’ve been less dominant if Gorrin played yesterday and Brannagan further forward. There are times you want 3 ball players in the middle.

Another holding midfielder? We only have one, Gorrin. So we absolutely need another in my opinion.

Bold point, Pep and Klopp must be wrong always starting a holding midfielder then. In fact the only time Pep didn't start a holding midfielder was the Champions League final and it was a disaster, constantly countered and broken through. It actually stopped them being able to hold onto the ball.

Man City - Fernandinho
Liverpool - Fabinho
Chelsea - Kante

Oxford - No need for one because more ball players helps?

Sorry, can't agree on that one! Unless we are losing and chasing the game, anyway.

 

[Swaby39]

@Swaby39 I totally understand your points mate and standardly would agree in the main.

However, yesterday we didn’t lose the game because there was no Alex Gorrin style midfielder on the pitch. A clumsy tackle, which I don’t really blame Sykes for, has cost us two points. At no stage, did it really look like we needed an enforcer style player. If it did, surely KR would’ve brought Gorrin onto the field.

The fact of the matter is we were not clinical enough. We had a number of good chances which we did not take. Our goal comes about as CB switches the ball from deep, a ball he is particularly good at. 15 yards higher, he can’t play that ball (though he probably plays something equally as decent!)

I agree an on song Gorrin should be plan A. Plan B of CB dropping deep and doing that role against poorer sides so we can really dominate is a good second option.

IMO getting another enforcer is not warranted. People are very quick to talk about the ‘squad cap’, but don’t mention that we don’t have an unlimited budget in the same breath. Jerome also eluded to the fact that for the first time, we now have players who may become unhappy with limited minutes and KR now has to manage this situation. Bringing in another central midfielder will only make this issue a harder task.

We will not need to play a stopper in front of the back 4 every game this season. Most games we will, but definitely not all.

See your angle completely and Interestingly I said in the match thread the same thing with regards the lack of ruthlessness which seems very much the standout issue - I wasn’t at the game myself, so it might be if I saw it first hand that I would see that a holding player would have made little difference. So I’m talking more long-term. From the match report and highlights, I can certainly see CB heavily influenced the game in that role. For me, he’s one of the top midfield players in this league.

I am speculating slightly in the fact I’m talking about the team from last season and not this season on paper and what I think would benefit us tactically but without actually seeing the game to diagnose where we went ‘wrong’ yesterday.

Ultimately it comes down to preference. I would rather us have balance and security from the start at least in away games and tougher home games and then the holding player be sacrificed if build up play is suffering or were chasing the game.

The danger of playing CB in there and all our creative players at the start is that we show our hand very early. We do have options but if we go ahead, we don’t have the players on the pitch to really shut things down and that nastiness is lacking in key moments of games. That’s my main concern.

 

[holdsteady]

Another holding midfielder? We only have one, Gorrin. So we absolutely need another in my opinion.

Bold point, Pep and Klopp must be wrong always starting a holding midfielder then. In fact the only time Pep didn't start a holding midfielder was the Champions League final and it was a disaster, constantly countered and broken through. It actually stopped them being able to hold onto the ball.

Man City - Fernandinho
Liverpool - Fabinho
Chelsea - Kante

Oxford - No need for one because more ball players helps?

Sorry, can't agree on that one! Unless we are losing and chasing the game, anyway.

It is an under rated role, it doesn’t just shore up the defence, which obviously is very helpful, it gets you the ball back further up the pitch and in a better attacking position.

England played two in our best tournament performance in 55 years recently.

Personally would have Gorrin in if fit every game.

 

[oufc1991]

Does KR try to fit players in because he thinks they have to play not having a dig because was only our first game but why play Brannigan in gorrins position unless gorrin is injured and why play Whyte on the left yesterday when we have Cooper knowing Holland was out some decision don’t make sense sometimes i like most poster know Brannigan is better further forward but KR doesn’t agree or maybe there is nobody else to play in that position at the moment

 

[WuTang]

It is an under rated role, it doesn’t just shore up the defence, which obviously is very helpful, it gets you the ball back further up the pitch and in a better attacking position.

England played two in our best tournament performance in 55 years recently.

Personally would have Gorrin in if fit every game.

Exactly that, it surprises me how undervalued those players and roles are.

It also relieves so much pressure on your ball playing midfielders, they will play with more creative freedom. At the moment, they know if they lose it we have the opposition running at our back line in seconds.

Gorrin will suffer suspensions, fatigue and always a potential injury at some point. He also had a dip in form last season, like all players can suffer. I really think we need a defensive midfielder in to take us to the next level.