January 2022 Transfer Thread

[Harry Genshaw]

I don't at all understand at all understand why people are comparing Charles to Doyle's record from several years ago. He hasn't been signed to replace Doyle from several years ago, he's been signed to replace Doyle now, who's got two goals from open play all season, and missed co countless good chances.

That's who Charles needs to be an upgrade on. Only time will tell but, god love him for last year, but I don't think it's a particularly high bar to make us better, and if he can get anywhere near his 20 goal a season form then it'll be a big jump.

I'd like six forwards across the front 3 positions. I'm happy Dapo, Amaechi and Kach are good enough, have to assume Charles will be, think Baka is staying. So I'd still like one more as Delf isn't and Izzy is both injured (and IMO not good enough).

I'd say you've pretty much nailed it there Pru. This notion that we've somehow lost a top goalscorer is nonsense. He hasn't been a top goalscorer this season! If Charles only manages 2 from open play before May we might have something to worry about but lets see eh.

Only place I'd disagree is Isgrove. I think we've missed his versatility and industry. He's definitely good enough for L1 imo.

[GhostoftheBok]

From memory, we have the 7th highest shots on goal of any side in the league, but also the 7th worst conversion rate. So yes, we need lads who can score.

The player with the worst conversion rate in the league though, for lads who have started more than 5 games, is Eoin Doyle, I believe. So we've arguably moved on a key part of the problem.

[Prufrock]

Was that a flash in the pan? You don’t know.

In fairness mate, neither do you. Gotta give him a chance...

I’m giving him a chance. I’m just saying we need others there because our goal scoring options with Doyle weren’t enough and expecting Charles to be enough immediately in a team struggling is asking too much. So we need another option. And some midfield players who score regularly too.

They weren't enough because the number 9, the one through the middle who's job is to score goals, got two from open play.

You say you don't care where they come from, but that's just thick. 5 were pens, Charles took pens for Accrington. I'm confident that we aren't losing anything significant there. I'll give you the header against Oxford given no feck* else looks like scoring from a set piece, so we've got 3 league goals to improve on.

[officer_dibble]

Aaaaanyway
Just watching city wondering if we can loan this number80 and thinking how mad that actually sounds. Number fuxking 80 in their squad! And we’ve got a couple of gcse lads making up the numbers!

[Mar]

Shame to see Doyle go but I understand the move given we've got Amaechi, Kachunga and Bakayoko in. I suspect Kachunga and Bakayoko add the cover for Charles. So I don't think we're particularly light up front and we may not have signed Charles had it not been for Doyle's drop in form or Amaechi & Bakayoko's injury woes.

Should be fine up top from here on in (providing they stay fit).

Midfield is definitely a concern, and given we're not hearing about potential midfield moves from third parties it doesn't look likely that we'll be signing someone before the next game. After all Doyle's and Charles' moves seemed to be intimated well before they actually happened. Not entirely sure if there's a leak or whether we're happy its a done deal by that point.

In no particular order...

Still, the cover for the ST position seems ok to me: Charles, Bakayoko, Kachunga, Delfouneso
Winger positions are covered: Dapo, Amaechi, Kachunga, Bakayoko, Delfouneso, Isgrove

Midfield however is where we definitely need a top signing given Sheehan & Tutte are out and Sarce is gone.

We're incredibly weak even when everyone is available.
Thomason, Lee, Tutte, Sheehan, MJ, Darcy, Delf?, Johnston?, Politic?

So to have lost so many out seems a shame. Lee (covid), Tutte & Sheehan (injuries), Darcy (regulations), Politic (managerial desire)


I'd be quite disheartened if we didn't bring someone in during this transfer window. I suspect we would've saved quite a bit on Sarce's wages (or maybe not depending on the situation). Hopefully its the right man at the right price.

[Worthy4England]

Was that a flash in the pan? You don’t know.

In fairness mate, neither do you. Gotta give him a chance...

I’m giving him a chance. I’m just saying we need others there because our goal scoring options with Doyle weren’t enough and expecting Charles to be enough immediately in a team struggling is asking too much. So we need another option. And some midfield players who score regularly too.

No doubt, we seem to have lots with "great movement, great off the ball" and no fcuker who puts it in the onion.

[Prufrock]

Aaaaanyway
Just watching city wondering if we can loan this number80 and thinking how mad that actually sounds. Number fuxking 80 in their squad! And we’ve got a couple of gcse lads making up the numbers!

Ha! I thought exactly the same but no chance. He looks special. But he's got a couple of PL starts and Mahrez is off to the African nations. Think they'll keep hold of him but if not suspect plenty ahead of us in that queue. Maybe one of the others though. That McAtee has played a little bit and looks another of the Foden clones.

[GhostoftheBok]

Midfield is definitely a concern, and given we're not hearing about potential midfield moves from third parties

Both Anthony Hartigan and Dean Campbell have been linked in the past 48 hours. How reputable those links are remains to be seen.

Hartigan we have certainly been looking at for some time.

[Bertie Wooster]

Shame to see Doyle go but I understand the move given we've got Amaechi, Kachunga and Bakayoko in. I suspect Kachunga and Bakayoko add the cover for Charles. So I don't think we're particularly light up front and we may not have signed Charles had it not been for Doyle's drop in form or Amaechi & Bakayoko's injury woes.

Should be fine up top from here on in (providing they stay fit).

Fine ?, is that because Kachunga & Bakayoko are so prolific & clinical in front of goal ? there is hardly a goal in either of them.

Who is going to score goals ?

[GhostoftheBok]

Who is going to score goals ?

Not Doyle, even had he stayed.

Both Baka and Kachunga have a better conversion rate than Doyle. So whilst nobody should say they are prolific, they're not less of a threat than Eoin has been this season from open play.

Arguing we need more scorers is fine, but it needs to be untethered from Doyle leaving. There is no Doyle-shaped hole in the squad.

[LeverEnd]

Shame to see Doyle go but I understand the move given we've got Amaechi, Kachunga and Bakayoko in. I suspect Kachunga and Bakayoko add the cover for Charles. So I don't think we're particularly light up front and we may not have signed Charles had it not been for Doyle's drop in form or Amaechi & Bakayoko's injury woes.

Should be fine up top from here on in (providing they stay fit).

Fine ?, is that because Kachunga & Bakayoko are so prolific & clinical in front of goal ? there is hardly a goal in either of them.

Who is going to score goals ?

We've obviously got to hope Charles and whoever else we sign can. Because you're right, those boys aren't going to in any great number. I'd be very disappointed if we don't sign another proper senior striker, but we're not going to be able to buy a guaranteed goalscorer I don't think. From what I've read we are looking for another though. Doyle wasn't scoring them though, and nor was he going to if we'd kept him.

[Worthy4England]

Shame to see Doyle go but I understand the move given we've got Amaechi, Kachunga and Bakayoko in. I suspect Kachunga and Bakayoko add the cover for Charles. So I don't think we're particularly light up front and we may not have signed Charles had it not been for Doyle's drop in form or Amaechi & Bakayoko's injury woes.

Should be fine up top from here on in (providing they stay fit).

Fine ?, is that because Kachunga & Bakayoko are so prolific & clinical in front of goal ? there is hardly a goal in either of them.

Who is going to score goals ?

We've obviously got to hope Charles and whoever else we sign can. Because you're right, those boys aren't going to in any great number. I'd be very disappointed if we don't sign another proper senior striker, but we're not going to be able to buy a guaranteed goalscorer I don't think. From what I've read we are looking for another though. Doyle wasn't scoring them though, and nor was he going to if we'd kept him.

Think that's top and tail of it, holding Doyler up as the answer we're now missing - don't get it.

[Harry Genshaw]

SKD? Do you mean SJM? SKDs penalties were not all that!

Did SKD miss many penalties? Might be me misremembering but i always picture him burying them in the corner, no power particularly but always placed.

You're right re SJM though. Don't recall him missing any either.

[Prufrock]

SKD always terrified me and never looked convincing until he hit it but I think had a pretty decent record. There are only two types of penalty and all that.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

<Woken by forum kerfuffle>
<Checks calendar>
<Rolls over, goes back to sleep>
<Troubled by strange dreams about how we could ever possibly replace Crawford>

[GhostoftheBok]

<Woken by forum kerfuffle>
<Checks calendar>
<Rolls over, goes back to sleep>
<Troubled by strange dreams about how we could ever possibly replace Crawford>

Just don't dream about what this place will be like the next time someone misses a penalty.

[Mar]

Shame to see Doyle go but I understand the move given we've got Amaechi, Kachunga and Bakayoko in. I suspect Kachunga and Bakayoko add the cover for Charles. So I don't think we're particularly light up front and we may not have signed Charles had it not been for Doyle's drop in form or Amaechi & Bakayoko's injury woes.

Should be fine up top from here on in (providing they stay fit).

Fine ?, is that because Kachunga & Bakayoko are so prolific & clinical in front of goal ? there is hardly a goal in either of them.

Who is going to score goals ?

Hardly a goal in either of them? Really?

Bakayoko's stats:

L1:
Played 10
Goals 2
Assists 2
Minutes per goal: 257

FA Cup:
Played 2
Goals 1
Assists 0
Minutes per goal: 88

EFL Trophy
Played 2
Goals 2
Assist 2
Minutes per goal: 40

EFL Cup
Played 1
Goals 0
Assists 0
Minutes per goal: -

Total:
Played 15
Goals 5
Assists 2
Minutes per goal: 143


Even if we discount the cup games Bakayoko is on a goal every 257 minutes (Dapo stands at 1 in 280 mins). A one goal in three games record isn't bad which comes back to my initial point of if we can get past his fitness issues.

Compare that to Doyle who had a one goal every 328 minutes and we've got an improvement there without bringing in Charles.


Kachunga's stats on the other hand look worse admittedly but thats not taking into account the lack of pre-season and getting back to form. His record of 4 goals and 1 assist in the 8 games of November give me the impression there is more to come from him.


So yea, I think for cover we'll be fine. I certainly don't think the sky is falling.

[BWFC_Insane]

Who is going to score goals ?

Not Doyle, even had he stayed.

Both Baka and Kachunga have a better conversion rate than Doyle. So whilst nobody should say they are prolific, they're not less of a threat than Eoin has been this season from open play.

Arguing we need more scorers is fine, but it needs to be untethered from Doyle leaving. There is no Doyle-shaped hole in the squad.

This is getting silly. If half a season and still our second highest goal scorer is a disaster it suggests we’ve a lot of work to do to bring in others who can score.

Doyle played with injuries according to Iles as we had nobody else. Now you don’t know what Doyle would have done second half of the season we do know he has a goals record proven beyond anyone else we have. Whether age caught up with him or just too many niggles or anything else we will never know.

But we need to score more goals. And as of now how many do we have with a history of scoring double figures league goals on a consistent basis?

[officer_dibble]

SKD? Do you mean SJM? SKDs penalties were not all that!

Did SKD miss many penalties? Might be me misremembering but i always picture him burying them in the corner, no power particularly but always placed.

You're right re SJM though. Don't recall him missing any either.

Deffo missed at least one at the Reebok - hit it slowly straight at the keeper…can’t remember who against. Never looked convincing to me - seem to recall he only took his first one quite late into his career…mcginlay on the other hand was a master.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

This is getting silly.

Ship sailed, horse bolted. Haven’t seen so much supposition, extrapolation and guesswork since the last minor-channel UFO Week.

Some folk think it’ll be reet. Others don’t. Nobody seems in the mood to change opinion. Such is the way of things.