January Transfer Window - Your Team's Review

[Dave]

Going in to January, what positions did you feel you needed to improve?

 

And what names were you thinking could be good signings?

 

Did you strengthen in these areas?

 

What players did you sign?

 

How do you think they will perform?

 

Are you happy with your clubs transfer dealings?

 

If you were to describe your teams transfer window in one word, what would it be?

[Cicero]

Going in to January, what positions did you feel you needed to improve?

Left wing back more than anything. Followed by a striker and CM. 

And what names were you thinking could be good signings?

Sandro/Telles

Vidal/Naaingolan

A target man type of striker

Did you strengthen in these areas?

Yes

What players did you sign?

Emerson

Barkley

Giroud

How do you think they will perform?

Emerson, if he fully recovers, will be a great signing as he has all the tools to be a great wing back for club and country. 

Barkley I'm 50/50 about. Has the tools to take his game to the next level, but don't think he has the right mindset. 

Giroud is a great option off the bench, given his past record. 

Are you happy with your clubs transfer dealings?

Yes. 

If you were to describe your teams transfer window in one word, what would it be?

needed

[True Blue]

Going in to January, what positions did you feel you needed to improve?

Cover for Alonso, another AMF, and a striker in case Bats left.

And what names were you thinking could be good signings?

None of the we signed, Emerson excluded since i never saw him play.

Did you strengthen in these areas?

Added cover at best, none of them will be starters.

What players did you sign?

Barkley, Emerson and Giroud

How do you think they will perform?

Think Giroud will be decent cover, Barkley could go missing, while Emerson is completely new to me.

Are you happy with your clubs transfer dealings?

I'd say got cover for a decent price

If you were to describe your teams transfer window in one word, what would it be?

Average

[Rick]

Going in to January, what positions did you feel you needed to improve?

Realistically....a GK, CB, CM & an attacking player.

And what names were you thinking could be good signings?

Any GK on earth, Van Dijk, Goretzka, Lemar, Rondon

Did you strengthen in these areas?

In one.

What players did you sign?

Van Dijk

How do you think they will perform?

Probably have a harder time than expected due to being surrounded by pleb in defence (apart from Robertson) but hopefully can install some level on confidence back there.

Are you happy with your clubs transfer dealings?

Absolutely fucking not.

If you were to describe your teams transfer window in one word, what would it be?

Pathetic. Sold one of our best players in Coutinho, no replacement. Let Sturridge go out on loan, no replacement. Lost out on Goretzka. Didnt look to sign anybody else to strengthen. Ended the window a lot weaker than we started it. Yet again, disapointment with our transfer business. Klopp will walk if this keeps up.Qulĺote 

[Stan]

1 hour ago, The Palace Fan said:

Going in to January, what positions did you feel you needed to improve?

RB and maybe CB. 

And what names were you thinking could be good signings?

Literally no idea as our scouting range plucks out some right gems every now and then!

Did you strengthen in these areas?

Nope. Adrien Silva felt like a new signing so that bulked up our midfield quality. Our options there are Silva, Iborra, James, Ndidi. Mix of defensive and attacking capabilities there as well as a mix of youth and experience. Ndidi has come on leaps and bounds since last season. Can't wait til he improves even more.

What players did you sign?

Fousseni Diabate - another player plucked out of the French 2nd Division, following in the footsteps of Anthony Knockaert, Riyad Mahrez, N'Golo Kante. If Diabate can be as effective and popular as those players have been/were over the last 4-5 years then we'll all have reason to be excited. His performance against Peterborough was excellent.

As above, Adrien Silva has felt like a new signing. Comes with a wealth of experience in Europe as well and as that's where we want to be, hopefully it won't be too long before he becomes a first-team regular as he's got so much quality about him.

How do you think they will perform?

See above.

Are you happy with your clubs transfer dealings?

Yes. In funny circumstances though...

Signing the 2 above is satisfying considering they didn't cost too much either. 

The Riyad Mahrez debacle speaks for itself. There's enough said in that thread that I don't need to repeat myself.

Disposed of Ulloa, Musa and Slimani all on loan. I fully expect them to leave in summer, too. I'd wanted to get rid of the first 2 for ages as I felt they were surplus to requirements at our squad and they didn't offer anything that anyone could. Slimani is a funny one as I'd have thought we'd keep him til summer but he's not as effective as other players so we didn't need to keep him. A loan deal works as he'll get more game-time in Newcastle and maybe help his confidence as a way to get a move in summer. Can't see us clawing back much of the £30m we paid for him though. 

If you were to describe your teams transfer window in one word, what would it be?

Promising.

The reason I use that word is that Diabate was the main signing - and he shows a lot of promise anyway given his age and first performance already. Given himself a great platform to build on.

The other reason I use it is in relation to getting rid of deadwood (Ulloa and Musa) as well as in relation to the Mahrez saga - our club showing resolve and some power against the top 6, as well as against the club. The badge on the front is bigger than the name on the back, and to use another footballing cliche, no player is bigger than the club. We've certainly emphasised that no matter how upset Sky Sports were about it. 

 

[RandoEFC+]

Going in to January, what positions did you feel you needed to improve?

A striker and a left back.

And what names were you thinking could be good signings?

Literally any left back in the world who is a left back and goodness knows up front who would join us.

Did you strengthen in these areas?

We got Tosun up front, Walcott adding goals to the attack hopefully but no left back.

What players did you sign?

Walcott, Tosun, Mangala

How do you think they will perform?

Walcott should be a good addition for at least this season. Tosun looked okay on his debut but has already been dropped for Niasse again amid rumours of a lack of effort in training. Mangala no idea.

Are you happy with your clubs transfer dealings?

Yes and no. Depends how Tosun turns out but I'm not impressed that the likes of Lookman and Sandro get loans to better teams further demonstrating they should have had more opportunities with us instead of players like burnt out Calvert-Lewin, half fit Bolasie and waste of space Schneiderlin.

If you were to describe your teams transfer window in one word, what would it be?

Waitandseehowtheygeton.

[Dickie]

If you were to describe your teams transfer window in one word, what would it be?

Paul Lambert....... ffs....

[Dan+]

Going in to January, what positions did you feel you needed to improve?

I felt we probably needed another right back as I didn't trust Amartey there, and maybe another attacking midfielder. People definitely needed to leave though.

 

And what names were you thinking could be good signings?

Hatem Ben Arfa was linked and while I think I'll get a lot disagree with me here, I think he could've been a very shrewd signing. He's clearly got the talent, and we happen to have the only manager who has really gotten any consistency from him in recent years.

We were linked with Andre Almeida, Kieran Trippier and Pavel Kaderabek at right back, but nothing ever sounded concrete.

 

Did you strengthen in these areas?

We didn't, but to be fair, Amartey finally started to show some decent form at right back following Simpson's injury, and the need for one went down (although I still think we'll have to get one in the summer).

 

What players did you sign?

Fousseni Diabate from Gazelec Ajaccio for a fee believed to be around £2mil. He's a Malian winger once of Stade Rennais, four years younger than Mahrez, signed four years after Mahrez, from the same league and plays the same position.

We loaned out Leonardo Ulloa, Ahmed Musa, Andy King and Islam Slimani in the last three days of the transfer window. I was hoping for a couple permanently truth be told, but we needed to trim the squad down and our schedule from now on isn't that demanding, so I think we'll be OK.

 

How do you think they will perform?

Diabate is a bit of an unknown quantity, and a low-risk signing due to his fee and age, but going off the cup game against Peterborough I think he might prove to be yet another steal for us. Some players have had strong debuts and gone onto nothing, but he really did look like he had that touch of quality about him. He's played with Demarai Gray twice and outperformed him on both occasions. Far too early to say for certain, but we've clearly got some good links in France and with us now having a French manager we may utilise them even more.

 

Are you happy with your clubs transfer dealings?

Fairly. I don't like seeing money squandered and I don't think we needed to panic and go and spend loads of money in a notoriously overpriced window. The biggest blow for us, obviously, is what happened with Mahrez late on. We've held onto him, but he doesn't sound happy about it and that could harm us this season if we don't handle it properly. We've taken a big risk by not taking the money, but one I think we deserve some credit for as well. If he goes on to have a good season, then it was the right move. But we need to sell him in July.

 

If you were to describe your teams transfer window in one word, what would it be?

Nearly.

Reason for that? Because we nearly went through the month without having it ruined. We may not have done, but time will tell.