There were issues with recruitment last summer, and everyone and their dog recognises that.
HOWEVER, we could have picked up Sam Smith on the 1st June and he still wouldn't have made it. He had a decent pre-season at Reading and could have done the same here, and still not settled in the league. Obika (goal machine) had a good pre-season but was not good enough once the real games kicked in.
Carrathurs and Hall both had full pre-seasons, both looked good before breaking down and hardly playing again.
Holmes looked pretty good in his first few games, albeit with some cameo appearances. All the experts hoped his back op would give him 30+ games in a season.
As for the squad gelling, we probably had the best team spirit since our promotion from league 2. It is easy to be together when winning, but the fact that the squad stayed so close throughout the problems on and off the pitch is remarkable.
So far, we have the core of a decent league 1 side. We have picked up 2 permanent signings who are young and likely to increase as saleable assets for the future. We've picked up 3 promising youngsters to add to the u23's and push for first team chances. We've only lost Nelson who we knew about despite being told that Whyte, Brannagan and Dickie would be off and Mrs Eastwood was selling the family furniture!!
We're in a decent position, and I have confidence that we'll be looking even better in the next week or so.