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Just seeing the pics of Terry, Cole and Fat Frank I was wondering how much rebuilding our opposition will have for next season. Those 3 are a big part of the face of Chelsea and if they all go then I'd say it could have a big affect on the dressing room, never-mind on the field.

And the Rags with Vidic, Evra and possibly CamelGob, that's a full restructure of the back-line and in effect, at least one, probably 2 major signings.

Liverpool will require major imports to balance their squad for the CL and Arsenal still haven't solved their striker issue, as well as losing Sagna on a free.

Are we in a stronger position than most and how are our opposition going to fare if they lose a big part of their current first team?

I think we are in a stronger position than the others. No more major surgery is needed. Centre half, reliable cover for Zaba and another mobile ball winner in the middle and thats it. injury prone squad players out(Micah, sadly.. and rodwell)

Chelsea...I think theyll be ok, I can see them keeping terry and lampard on, moving torres and ba out and adding a striker or two...but they have more ins and outs than most and still challenge and win so they are used to it

arsenal...how stubborn is wenger? we shall see this summer...they arent tough enough but if arsenal fans think itll be easier if he went I dont agree. just like ferguson his departure would leave a power vacuum that may take a few years to recover from.

liverpool...squad depth more than anything needs to be rectified but even then a few of rogers' signings (aspas, borini) havent worked out so they are short if they are playing 9-10 games more next season

spurs...another season of disruption beckons. redknapp is as dodgy as fuck but spurs were a team going places under him and you cant say that has happened since pleats clive allen season really

scum...major surgery. keep the blood bags ready. money doesnt guarantee success...buying mercenaries isnt the answer...should build organically yada yada yada

Good analysis mate and at least 2 teams will have the added heartache of a different manager next season. Sherwood and Family Wrecker will be up the road and it will again take time for the new managers ideas/ethos to come along.

The Rags look like the most expensive to sort and with a new manager will come renewed heartache (I hope).

Beefymcfc wrote:Just seeing the pics of Terry, Cole and Fat Frank I was wondering how much rebuilding our opposition will have for next season. Those 3 are a big part of the face of Chelsea and if they all go then I'd say it could have a big affect on the dressing room, never-mind on the field.

And the Rags with Vidic, Evra and possibly CamelGob, that's a full restructure of the back-line and in effect, at least one, probably 2 major signings.

Liverpool will require major imports to balance their squad for the CL and Arsenal still haven't solved their striker issue, as well as losing Sagna on a free.

Are we in a stronger position than most and how are our opposition going to fare if they lose a big part of their current first team?

I really think we need only some fine tuning. Even Demi looks useful now. A decent centre half and maybe fiddling with strikers and midfielders to allow us to have top quality creativity even when there are injuries and susoensions. Jovetic might provide some of that and Negredo.might return to form and wouldn't it be lovely to have Dave and Sergio fit all season. We have the least to sort out of all the top clubs. Spurs are miles away btw.

Hasn't MP said that he knows the players who will be leaving in the summer? I guess he might know who is coming in as well or at least who he wants.I think he knows what he is doing and knows a player so we can trust him and I expect us to be quite a bit stronger overall next season.

Add to that MP's experience and knowhow in the premier league has developed a lot I think and we should be able to look ahead with confidence. Just the 2 little banana skins to overcome so that we can have our most successful season ever.

Can't see the Glazers sanctioning the spend needed to sort out the rags' squad in one season. More like but enough to get back into CL this year then bus on that year after.

Piccsnumberoneblue wrote:

Beefymcfc wrote:Just seeing the pics of Terry, Cole and Fat Frank I was wondering how much rebuilding our opposition will have for next season. Those 3 are a big part of the face of Chelsea and if they all go then I'd say it could have a big affect on the dressing room, never-mind on the field.

And the Rags with Vidic, Evra and possibly CamelGob, that's a full restructure of the back-line and in effect, at least one, probably 2 major signings.

Liverpool will require major imports to balance their squad for the CL and Arsenal still haven't solved their striker issue, as well as losing Sagna on a free.

Are we in a stronger position than most and how are our opposition going to fare if they lose a big part of their current first team?

I really think we need only some fine tuning. Even Demi looks useful now. A decent centre half and maybe fiddling with strikers and midfielders to allow us to have top quality creativity even when there are injuries and susoensions. Jovetic might provide some of that and Negredo.might return to form and wouldn't it be lovely to have Dave and Sergio fit all season. We have the least to sort out of all the top clubs. Spurs are miles away btw.

I don't think we will ever see Aguero fit for a whole season. And Silva has a permanent ankle injury which needs managing. We need one more attack minded player imo, plus that freshens things up.

It looks like Sagna will be coming on a free as backup to Zabs. Then we need at least one absolutely top level centre back & imo a more mobile player than Garcia to work with Fern & Yaya (probably Fernando).

There are rumours that we are trying to wheedle out of the deal for that Argy kid (don't know if true). Then it's whether we keep both Clichy & Kolarov or replace one.

Looks like Micah & Rodwell will be leaving so one 'club produced' squad place has gone with no way of filling it & one less 'association produced' player too if that happens. To properly replace Rodwell we would have to sign a home produced player.

Have a look at the players who haven't featured much (if at all) this season to see the one likely to leave - Lescott, Rodwell, Richards. It might be a season too early for Emlyn Hughes to step up to the first team (sorry Emyr Huws, I just can't resist) so we will probably need a decent midfielder and preferably someone who can share the workload with Yaya and Fernie so they don't get as shagged out as this season.
Personally I'm not sure we want to go another season with three injury prone strikers either.

I think I'd like to see Huws move to a mid to lower table PL team on loan next season - he was Birmingham's best player, but they were one of the worst teams in the Championship. I'd love to see how he'd cope playing week in week out at a PL club, then hopefully he's featuring regularly in 2015-2016. You know, like how the Guidetti to Stoke loan was SUPPOSED to go down.

I think we are going to have to be very shrewd when it comes to signings and keep an eye on our injury list. Injuries are not going to get any better with near enough all our first team heading for the WC and those that have had niggles aren't going to get any better.

Out of our recognised faces it's probably good to guess that Lescott is definately going with question marks over Garcia, Richards, Milner, Clichy/Kolarov, Nastasic, Rodwell, Boyata and Panti. There's also the thought of our most reliable striker in Dzeko moving on, which I hope doesn't happen but with 2 new arrivals and Aguero going nowhere, we may see a switch.

Could be a lot of movement this summer and it will be pivotal that we get the right players in to sustain a PL push, unlike last time we won it.

we NEED RB cover, and if the papers are to be believed that'll be Sagna.
we need center mid cover, and if the papers are to be believed that'll be Fernando from Porto
we need center half cover, and if the papers are to be believed that'll be Mangala from Porto.

aside from those 3 needs, we could use another winger/attacking mid as cover but that would purely be a luxury.


didnt we sign some Argie, Bruno Zucclini?, that plays defensive mid?

Reports in Argentinian daily paper Olè last week that we haven't signed Zucilini and suggestions that we may pull out of the proposed deal because his form has plummeted this season.

Hopefully we have an eye on Huws having some involvement in the first team squad next season.

BmoreBlue wrote:I think I'd like to see Huws move to a mid to lower table PL team on loan next season - he was Birmingham's best player, but they were one of the worst teams in the Championship. I'd love to see how he'd cope playing week in week out at a PL club, then hopefully he's featuring regularly in 2015-2016. You know, like how the Guidetti to Stoke loan was SUPPOSED to go down.

Thats the problem with loan deals. If the player doesn't get played for whatever reason it's six months or a season wasted.

I'd actually just as soon as promote Huws to the first team squad. If he's good enough then great and if he's not he'll either learn sharpish or move on. Playing with better players will only improve him. He apparantly has been Brums best player, or certainly one of them, and to be honest the quality at the foot of the championship can't be great.

Playing with Silva, Yaya, Fernandinho, Milner et al will improve the lad to the next level or two. Look at Barkley. No reason that can't be Huws in 18 months. Obviously we can't blood too many young guns at once, especially in Prem, but it seems to me midfield is where we can have a bit of slack as there are other players to cover. We can afford for him to learn on job basically. A luxury we can't afford a centre back or a forward

nottsblue wrote:

BmoreBlue wrote:I think I'd like to see Huws move to a mid to lower table PL team on loan next season - he was Birmingham's best player, but they were one of the worst teams in the Championship. I'd love to see how he'd cope playing week in week out at a PL club, then hopefully he's featuring regularly in 2015-2016. You know, like how the Guidetti to Stoke loan was SUPPOSED to go down.

Thats the problem with loan deals. If the player doesn't get played for whatever reason it's six months or a season wasted.

I'd actually just as soon as promote Huws to the first team squad. If he's good enough then great and if he's not he'll either learn sharpish or move on. Playing with better players will only improve him. He apparantly has been Brums best player, or certainly one of them, and to be honest the quality at the foot of the championship can't be great.

Playing with Silva, Yaya, Fernandinho, Milner et al will improve the lad to the next level or two. Look at Barkley. No reason that can't be Huws in 18 months. Obviously we can't blood too many young guns at once, especially in Prem, but it seems to me midfield is where we can have a bit of slack as there are other players to cover. We can afford for him to learn on job basically. A luxury we can't afford a centre back or a forward

What role do you see Huws playing based on what you have seen of him?

Dameerto wrote:Have a look at the players who haven't featured much (if at all) this season to see the one likely to leave - Lescott, Rodwell, Richards. It might be a season too early for Emlyn Hughes to step up to the first team (sorry Emyr Huws, I just can't resist) so we will probably need a decent midfielder and preferably someone who can share the workload with Yaya and Fernie so they don't get as shagged out as this season.
Personally I'm not sure we want to go another season with three injury prone strikers either.

My thoughts entirely.

If, FFP allowing, we're going to spend a more substantial amount of money, in order to strengthen the side, it's surely got to be on a couple of attacking players, preferably a striker and a creative midfielder.

That won't leave much for any other acquisitions so if Sagna comes in on a free, as a back-up for PabZab, then I wouldn't mind trying to pick up a centre-back such as Jonas Olson from West Brom.

In Olson's case, although he's not top-notch, he's adequate enough (particularly if Pellegrini could work his 'magic' on him) and, because he's now around the 31 mark, he would be a relatively inexpensive short-term 'fix'.

I haven't considered if there are any experienced centre-backs in the Championship, who might do a decent enough interim job for us, but it might even be worth looking there.

nottsblue wrote:
Thats the problem with loan deals. If the player doesn't get played for whatever reason it's six months or a season wasted.

I'd actually just as soon as promote Huws to the first team squad. If he's good enough then great and if he's not he'll either learn sharpish or move on. Playing with better players will only improve him. He apparantly has been Brums best player, or certainly one of them, and to be honest the quality at the foot of the championship can't be great.

Playing with Silva, Yaya, Fernandinho, Milner et al will improve the lad to the next level or two. Look at Barkley. No reason that can't be Huws in 18 months. Obviously we can't blood too many young guns at once, especially in Prem, but it seems to me midfield is where we can have a bit of slack as there are other players to cover. We can afford for him to learn on job basically. A luxury we can't afford a centre back or a forward

Douglas Higginbottom wrote:
What role do you see Huws playing based on what you have seen of him?

To be honest I've not seen him in action much. Only snippets off the tv. The role he seems to have played for Brum seems to be one Rodwell might have done. However his true role or worth to the team may not become apparent until he has had a number of games and got a taste of the action.

Worth a punt in my view

Well can be pretty confident that Lescott, Barry and Richards are leaving in the summer. I expect if buyers can be found for Rodwell and Sinclair they will both be off. That leaves us needing at least three british based players to step up into the squad.


We need cover at right back...personally i would like to see Nathaniel Clyne from Southampton arrive.
We need another central midfield player and I agree with the other thread to sign Barkley, possibly over Rodwell as a swap

are there any good british based centre backs?

If Pantillimon leaves we would need a goalkeeper, are there any good british based goalkeepers who could push Joe?

As Doug says, I think the decisions have been made, Sagna(who is a very sound player), and Fernando and Mangala. Where that leaves the non obvious outs, or fairplay nonsense, and which if any English trained lads we will recruit is whats more unknown.Though of course there are potential twists particularly with Mangala.I cant believe we are going to persist with Cliché and am hoping for Shaw. I note Chelsea are heavily linked with Costa and the Athletico Madrid left back, so maybe Shaw is more possible than we thought.

getdressedmctavish wrote:As Doug says, I think the decisions have been made, Sagna(who is a very sound player), and Fernando and Mangala. Where that leaves the non obvious outs, or fairplay nonsense, and which if any English trained lads we will recruit is whats more unknown.Though of course there are potential twists particularly with Mangala.I cant believe we are going to persist with Cliché and am hoping for Shaw. I note Chelsea are heavily linked with Costa and the Athletico Madrid left back, so maybe Shaw is more possible than we thought.

So we're selling Komps to Barca. So that we get Lionel on the cheap ?

getdressedmctavish wrote:I cant believe we are going to persist with Cliché and am hoping for Shaw. I note Chelsea are heavily linked with Costa and the Athletico Madrid left back, so maybe Shaw is more possible than we thought.

Especially since Soton is trying to sign Shaw's replacement from Nicé.

But I don't see it being possible to shell out that kind of money for those 4 players