FilthyDon wrote:
The club clearly read the forum from time to time, so why not.
We're likely heading to L2, and possibly have our most important summer transfer window in years. This summer needs to be the foundation for a squad capable of getting back out of L2 at the first attempt (or I fear we'll become a Leyton Orient) and then capable of challenging in L1 the following season.
The last few years (since summer 2015) have been atrocious overall in terms of recruitment and the type of players we have brought in. We seem to try and pick up leftfield bargains - players carrying injuries, foreign players with no experience of the EFL who look out of their depth, and has-been strikers with no real pedigree.
2015/16:
Benavente - No EFL experience, struggled, money wasted and offloaded within months
Aguza - As above
Gallagher - Inexperienced, was poor for us
Jennings - Overweight and carrying an injury, played a couple of games and then gone
Matt Upson - Carrying an injury, barely played then retired
Cropper - Never played a first team game in his life
Maynard - Well past his best, had only scored one or two goals in his previous 5 seasons
Church - Awful, hadn't had a good season for 6 years, surely any idiot could see that
JET - Contributed nothing
Long - Experienced but barely played!
2016/17:
Aneke - Carrying a long term injury when we signed him
Downing - Poor most of his time here
Wootton - Poor most of his time here
Muirhead - No EFL experience, struggled most of his time here and inconsistent
N'gombo - Literally contributed nothing, no EFL experience. Awful.
Nicholls - Personally think he's been very error prone but I know some rate him
2017/18:
Sow - Carrying an injury, no EFL experience and has struggled
Cissé - No EFL experience
Nesbitt - No EFL experience, inconsistent
McGrandles - No EFL experience, had been out for a season with a long term injury
Pawlett - No EFL experience, out of favour at Aberdeen
Sietsma - No EFL experience
Tshibola - Awful, inexperienced
Seager - Poor, inexperienced
Reo-Coker - Finally someone with experience, but hasn't bloody played!
In fact, it's easier to say which signings had a positive impact over the last three years: Aneke, Upson, Agard, JFC, Williams, Poyet, Barnes, O'Keefe, Revell, Murphy, Ward, Golbourne.
And what do they all have in common? Lots of EFL experience - apart from Barnes but he was some freak god-like player.
If ever there was proof of how important experience playing in the EFL is, we only need to look back at our own squads the last few years.
Look at all the top performing sides in League 1 - chock full of EFL experience, less reliance on loanees, not signing players with long term injuries.
So, whoever is dealing with recruitment this summer - please don't fuck about with random risky foreign gambles with no experience here, or inexperience in general, or players carrying long term injuries.
Bring in experienced L1/L2/non-league players, and include a couple of young loanees as icing on the cake.
All of our most successful squads (promotion and playoffs with KR and the L2/JPT year) were primarily full of experienced pros in key positions and I don't recall us signing anyone with long term injuries during those seasons.
Good post.
What happened last time we were relegated to League 2?
After our first relegation to League 2 in 2006, our 2006/7 recruitment under new manager Martin Allen included:
Keith Andrews - Hull City - Free transfer
Lloyd Dyer - Unattached - Free transfer
Sean O'Hanlon - Swindon Town - Undisclosed
Drissa Diallo - Sheffield Wednesday - Free transfer
Jon-Paul McGovern - Sheffield Wednesday - Free transfer
We finished 4th.
The following season in League 2, our 2007/8 recruitment under new manager Paul Ince included:
Willy Guéret - Swansea City - Free
Danny Swailes - Macclesfield Town - Undisclosed
Jude Stirling - Peatboghorror - Free
Alan Navarro - Macclesfield Town - Free
Jemal Johnson - Wolves - Undisclosed
Mark Wright - Walsall - Free
Kevin Gallen - QPR - Free
Colin Cameron - Coventry City - Free
We finished as the double-winning League 2 Champions & Football League Trophy winners.
From August 2007, no-one apart from Lewington & Wilbraham from the squad relegated to league 2 a year or so earlier, played regularly.
Whether relegation to League 2 happens again (98%) or not (2%), I hope that our new manager will make similarly effective recruitment, team selection & tactical decisions for the 2018/19 season.
COYD!