How would you rate this transfer window?

[MilkyBarYid]

I'll try and add a poll in a moment, I thought it was a fantastic window, if Luka was to be injured I am glad it came before the window closed as I feel this forced our hand with Niko.

Bassong, Crouchio and Niko, very good business, just missing the backup to Palacios as we have backup to Modric in NK. Hopefully this will be sorted in Jan in the form of Sandro.

Window rating: 8/10

Reasons: No star players out, very little net spend, clearing out the deadwood and backup players in key areas.

 

[PT]

What I can't grasp in this modern age of technology is that time and time again, Club staff complain that they can't get the transfer / loan documents through to the FA on the fax numbers as the deadline approaches.

Why the hell can't the FA accept pdf files by e-mail? It is staggeringly backwards to rely on fax. Even if e-mail fails as a result of server crashes etc, then fax can be the back -up but it e-mail doesn't seem to be the option.

 

[Rob]

Added poll

 

[Rob]

What I can't grasp in this modern age of technology is that time and time again, Club staff complain that they can't get the transfer / loan documents through to the FA on the fax numbers as the deadline approaches.

Why the hell can't the FA accept pdf files by e-mail? It is staggeringly backwards to rely on fax. Even if e-mail fails as a result of server crashes etc, then fax can be the back -up but it e-mail doesn't seem to be the option.

Emails aren't legally binding for various things. That's the excuse I got when someone needed something faxing. Stoof will legal you up if it's true or not.

 

[CrazyKen]

i would say 7/10..really should had a better back up/partner for Palacios in the middle..
But happy with Bassong and Niko..no fan of Crouch at all, but he's welcome to prove me wrong..

 

[nick04]

Window rating 8/10:
very decent players coming in (Kranjcar, Crouchy Bassong, Naughton promising), kept modric, lennon, hutton...
I agree re palacios back-up but apparently we tried very hard (Sissoko, ...)

 

[danielneeds]

All in all a really good solid window, not spectacular, but we signed good players who know what is needed to compete in the Premier League.

Would have liked one "wild card" signing like Sandro, someone who could potentially develop into world class, just as Palacios has been doing since January, but maybe we will get him in the next window as well.

 

[Pinto]

I am with CrazyKen. Repped. :clap:

Also not a huge fan of Crouch but he will do a job for us, ugly as it might be but Bassong and Naughton were great moves and Niko might fill the gap while Modric is out so pretty good overall.

Would have loved to see Sissoko or Sandro or someone to backup Palacios but hopefully we won't need much of a backup until Jan anyway so it isn't the worst thing in the world to have Jenas/Huddlestone to fill in when needed.

 

[Hoowl]

I find it hard to judge a window right after it's closed. It's best to look back a couple of weeks or months down the line when passions aren't riding as high. I'm not saying we should use the benefit of hindsight to say that we should have predicted certianly injuries, but we will be able to look at the actual signings and sales apart fom the ITK information and newspaper rumours. At the moment we're in an artificial reality where we 'know' Spurs were after players like Sissoko and Sandro but didn't get a CM and this inevitably leads to dissapointment and a slightly negative view.

 

[MilkyBarYid]

Paul Merson was confused why Arsenal didn't go in for Niko, I can't see how he would fit into their team personally and they need a decent DM. Just hope Wenger in Jan doesn't gazump us for any DM we want especially when they are languishing in 8th.

Thanks Rob for adding the poll.

 

[Caco]

10 out of 10. We brought in decent players and didn't lose anybody we wanted to keep.

 

[scat1620]

9/10 - would've been a perfect 10, but with O'Hara going I just don't trust anyone else to step in and fill Palacios' boots if he gets injured (suspensions don't worry me as one missing game is fine, but I worry about him getting an injury that keeps him out for several games). I think that Jenas and Huddlestone are both excellent central midfielders to play alongside Wilson, but as happy as I am with them individually I just don't trust their ability to form an effective partnership together without Palacios.

For me, Palacios is the only player in the squad who I think is effectively irreplaceable if he were to be out for more than a few games - as much as I hope they play every week, I think we have the players to cope with prolongued injuries to other key players like King, Modric, Defoe et al. However, if we get a significant injury to Palacios then I don't think we have someone who can come in and do a similar job to what he does. I also don't agree with the people who claim that worrying about this possibility is simply being a worrywort for no good reason - injuries can happen to any player at any time in a way that none of us can predict, and Palacios is the only player in our squad who (IMO) it is VITAL that he stays fit and uninjured.

If we had signed a reasonable Palacios back-up (or managed to hold on to O'Hara until the next transfer window), then I'd be very confident that we could get away with an injury to any of our 'first choice' players and not be significantly weakened, and the window would've been a 10/10 for me. As it is, we're very nearly there, but we'd better pray to every deity going that Sergeant Wilson stays fit as a fiddle until January at least.

 

[Dan Ashcroft]

6/10 for me.


Cleared all the deadwood.

Brought in a few useful squad players

but

Desperately short at CM - no competition/cover for Huddlestone or Palacios.

We need a better first choice #9 than Crouch or Pav.


So solid but very unspectacular particularly as there has been no improvement to our starting 11.

 

[Mr-T]

In terms of buying megastars and icons it was both pants and toilet. No Gazza-esque or Ginola-ish players.

But in terms of strengthening where we needed and getting the players we need to improve the squad - without upsetting the squads balance - it was pretty much spot on.

 

[SpurSince57]

Paul Merson was confused why Arsenal didn't go in for Niko, I can't see how he would fit into their team personally and they need a decent DM. Just hope Wenger in Jan doesn't gazump us for any DM we want especially when they are languishing in 8th.

Thanks Rob for adding the poll.

So, no change there, then.

 

[lishiyo]

7/10. I think we still need a CM who can challenge Hudd/JJ, but we'd have to take a massive risk there since PL-proven ones aren't available to us. Hopefully Hudd at least will finally step up this season.

We've added plenty of strength in depth though, and personally I think Crouch will prove to be a very clever signing. Bassong I rated last season and is one for the future, but for now should be playing alongside an experienced partner with good positional sense. I have no idea why we bought Naughton, but perhaps he can also cover left back?

 

[Dan Ashcroft]

7/10. I think we still need a CM who can challenge Hudd/JJ, but we'd have to take a massive risk there since PL-proven ones aren't available to us. Hopefully Hudd at least will finally step up this season.

We've added plenty of strength in depth though, and personally I think Crouch will prove to be a very clever signing. Bassong I rated last season and is one for the future, but for now should be playing alongside an experienced partner with good positional sense. I have no idea why we bought Naughton, but perhaps he can also cover left back?

Not really. I've seen him play there before when e was covering for Naysmith and he didn't look at all comfortable. Notice how Hutton was played there ahead of him against Doncaster last week as well.

 

[jrio]

Getting 4m for KPB and over 8m for Zokora is almost worth a 10 regardless of anything else that happens. Given that Harry had to virtually rely on the money generated from player sales, he could have done little better.

 

[daffygremlin]

8/10

didnt spend crazy money on anybody. got out some deadwood (chimbonda, boateng, rocha, gilberto). made two very good signings (imo) in both bassong and niko. the only thing missing possibly was backup to palacios. we also got good prices on db (who i liked) and zokora. plus we didnt sell any key players.

 

[dontcallme]

8/10 for me. The key others have stated is we kept all our top players. Harry has filled all the holes other than a backup for Palacios but it has taken us decades to find him so finding two in a year is unlikely.

We've filled the squad with Premiership experienced players mostly one who Harry knows so we shouldn't have any new players with bad attitudes. A good, solid window.