Would we strengthen further in January if leading?

The Gooner

Well-Known Member
Or would we be worried about upsetting the balance of the side. I don’t doubt the filth would be under enormous pressure to buy but would we?
 
At the risk of sounding pretentious, as if I'm one of the staff or something, I think we've made our position clear. We are always looking to strengthen and if needed (injuries, sales etc), or if the right player becomes available at the right price, then we'd make a move.

Think it's a never ending process.

So would we? Yes. Will we? Too many ifs, buts and maybes to answer that right now.
 
I don't think we need to at the moment. For the first time in as long as I can remember, we don't seem to be overly-reliant on one or two players and if anybody drops out, we have someone of quality to replace them with.

Someone might come up who is too good to turn down, but unless we get hit with a lot of injuries, I can't see it.
 
On current form, I would guess only if there are injuries or someone becomes available that we wouldn't want to miss out on.

We might change our mind by January though if someone is not cutting it or if we sell someone.
 
Or would we be worried about upsetting the balance of the side. I don’t doubt the filth would be under enormous pressure to buy but would we?
It depends on a lot of factors.
How strong we are, who is available and at what price, what business celtic do, how close they are to us etc
 
I think it would be very much if someone was available who was better than we have then we would. Or if we were to pick up an injury.

Not wanting to single anyone out but I would rather see a better option than Barker be signed if possible.
 
I think the financial landscape of football is on the cusp of changing and every club in the UK will be struggling. I think the real financial woes for the economy won’t be felt and truly realised until the next 6 months to a year.

I was actually surprised with the amount of investment and money spent in the summer and was doubtful we would spend as much as we did.

55 is and will always be the goal but long term survival through this period is the main goal.
 
If we do it will only be if they add real quality to the team. Would only expect one maybe two signings, unlike previous years - although of course this might change if anyone leaves in January. Probably likely we push ahead with pre-contract deals though, like the Lundstrom link mentioned today.
 
A team like ours should always be looking to improve, so if a player becomes available that the manager thinks will strengthen us then yes, we will i think.

Yes, it'd be different if it was like the summer of 1999 when we maybe only needed one player to make a difference but as things stand, there's a number of places in our team (and certainly the squad) which would be upgraded if we have the funds.

We're in a great place right now where pretty much most of our players are on form, we've only got Katic as a long term injury and we're happy enough with the squad (or new) players coming in like Bassey, Defoe and Arfield (Roofe and Itten too)

It only takes two injuries to the first team though and you're then using your squad players with no room for more. A bout of the old Covid could cause serious issues as well.

From what I heard speaking to a director, Gerrard was still pushing to bring in another player right up to the last minute of the window. Whether Zungu was that person or it was someone over and above him, I don't know but we'll always be looking to strengthen.

If there's a reasonable EL showing again and we've banked another £3m in bonuses on the books, January would look to be a sensible time to strengthen what we'd hope would be an already decent position.
 
I had actually seen Wilshere as a sort of potential early January signing. I think of someone of that ilk is available and we think they could offer a bit of additional quality to get us over the line then I think we would do it. I wouldn’t anticipate us making a multimillion pound outright signing at that stage though, unless we had some serious injury issues and / or lost someone key
 
I doubt we will strengthen in January, unless we get a big offer and sell one of our main players or have an injury crisis.

However, in the summer we were linked with quite a few players in last year of contract e.g. Johnson, Lundstram, Samuel so will be interesting if we try and get any of them on a pre-contract for next season.
 
At the risk of sounding pretentious, as if I'm one of the staff or something, I think we've made our position clear. We are always looking to strengthen and if needed (injuries, sales etc), or if the right player becomes available at the right price, then we'd make a move.

Think it's a never ending process.

So would we? Yes. Will we? Too many ifs, buts and maybes to answer that right now.
I think this would be the outcome mate I do agree.

Long term injuries aside, I'm sure the staff are always looking to improve.
 
100% yes
It would be criminal if we never.
Would hardly say criminal if we are still playing really well and leading by a good few points , I can’t see point in us spending any money for them to sit on the bunch , unless it’s someone who would come straight into the 11 and we probably would struggle to find a player good enough to do that right now who we could afford.
 
I think we could go for a decent young wide player on a loan to buy. It's the one position that needs strengthened. Unless we play Aribo or Roofe away from their best position then the drop of in quality from Kent and Hagi to Barker and Jones is massive. I also think their is a decent chance Kent will be away in the summer for his 20 million release clause, so getting a good young wide player in earlier as eventual replacement could make a world of difference next season.

Outside of that I doubt we will sign anyone unless we sell or get a long term injury on a key player. We could see a pre contract signed for Lundstrom or Johnson then if Kamara is sold (I'd rather he stayed but loads of interest from good teams), we'd offer a small fee to get them in early.
 
The club and management have been quite open about acquiring the right players if they become available. Looking at our model it seems to be working and improving. Buying with the next 6/12/18 months insight. Having the player in place to fill should another be sold instead of buying when selling and hoping they hit the ground running. I think that's why we are now starting to see the success throughout the squad and players really starting to shine.
No one can say for sure about January but I believe the days of spunking money in a panic are gone. Any additions brought in will be to the benefit of the club financially and moving forward.
 
If the right player came along as a 20yr old that would be blooded into the team over the next 18 months then yes, a 32+ yr old then no unless needed for short term to cover an injury!

Any player we should be signing from now on should be resalable at a profit!
 
I think the last two seasons have shown us that some of our players have a tendency to drop off in the second part of the season, possibly due to fatigue with European matches coming thick and fast as well as league and cup games.
Therefore, hopefully the management team will have that in mind when we hit January as a bit of freshening up may well keep the momentum going and help us over the line when it really matters.
 
At the risk of sounding pretentious, as if I'm one of the staff or something, I think we've made our position clear. We are always looking to strengthen and if needed (injuries, sales etc), or if the right player becomes available at the right price, then we'd make a move.

Think it's a never ending process.

So would we? Yes. Will we? Too many ifs, buts and maybes to answer that right now.

The pretentious tosser is right.
 
We should always be looking to upgrade. From the signings we have made and the methodological approach of our back room staff - I trust they are ready if the right player is available.
 
Last edited:
I can’t see point in us spending any money for them to sit on the bunch , unless it’s someone who would come straight into the 11 and we probably would struggle to find a player good enough to do that right now who we could afford.
Mate Kamara was 50k no one knows who we’re looking at.
We need freshness in december I fully expect 1 maybe 2 especially if we’re still in Europe.
 
It depends on injuries and transfers out. If someone picks up a serious injury or is transferred we should replace them like for like. It also depends on how new players like Itten and Zungu settle and what happens with Alfredo in the next two months. If Itten struggles to contribute and Alfredo leaves then id say we need to go into the market for a striker. Similarly, if Zungu fails to help the midfield we would still need an extra body there
 
We've got a big squad of 28 players now. I can't see anyone coming in unless we sell or pick up long-term injuries.
 
At the risk of sounding pretentious, as if I'm one of the staff or something, I think we've made our position clear. We are always looking to strengthen and if needed (injuries, sales etc), or if the right player becomes available at the right price, then we'd make a move.

Think it's a never ending process.

So would we? Yes. Will we? Too many ifs, buts and maybes to answer that right now.

With no cash coming in, would be doubtful
 
Yes, it'd be different if it was like the summer of 1999 when we maybe only needed one player to make a difference but as things stand, there's a number of places in our team (and certainly the squad) which would be upgraded if we have the funds.
True BUT if we win the league suddenly we have a pretty good chance of making the Champions League group stage which would greatly increase the funds available to us. From that point of view we wouldn't want to strengthen the squad with a £2m player in January only to have him take up the place of what could have been a £5m+ player in the summer.
 
I think Ross Wilson will chance our arm for a few loan to buy deals and hopefully a couple of pre contracts arranged for next season.
Maybe one in,in January
 
If the right player or deal is there to be made I am sure we will try and make it happen. Equally I expect we will have bids coming in for some of our top players given how things are developing currently.
 
Only slight weakness I can see is at RW, unless Roofe ends up playing there.

An incredible January would be Barker, Jones and Stewart out for a right sided Kent.
 
With no cash coming in, would be doubtful
Not so sure about that The board have shown a willingness to sanction moves and provide funds IF it brings value to the squad, and in turn value to the business. Speculating to accumulate on future transfer fees. I know when DK stood down, there was the announcement that from now on we'd need to start balancing the books (which I'm sure we all agree with, normalising the club), but if a real bargain became available, I don't know if they would pass it by.

Edit: and just to add, for every player we bring in now, there's probably a sellable asset to go the other way too.
 
I don't think we see much movement in January unless we need to replace a long term injury or we sell one of our big players.

Even then I think our squad is big enough that we could cope with most long term injuries without buying anyone (3 month or more injuries to Kent, Tav or Borna would see us go into the transfer market, I think.)

Beyond that, we might look at going for a high quality bosman that improves our squad next season.

Next season we could be champions, gearing up for a CL run, and I think we'd need to improve the XI to sustain that. A high quality GK or CM would be top of my list (basically players to replace McGregor and Davis' roles in the squad)
 
On current form, I would guess only if there are injuries or someone becomes available that we wouldn't want to miss out on.

We might change our mind by January though if someone is not cutting it or if we sell someone.
We have to plan for the champions league next year . So yes
 
Back
Top