Squad size

[Aurum Lupus]

With a number of loans going out and no incoming yet I thought I'd look at the squad.

Gks- Rui, Ruddy
Cbs- Bennett, Coady, Boly
Fbs- Doc, Jonny, Vinagre
Cms- Neves, Moutinho, Saiss, Dendonker, MGW
Wingers- Jota, Costa, Cav, Traore
Striker- Jiminez

Then we have Giles , Watt, Goncalves and BAS youth players who could come in if we get injuries.

Now while I agree we only want to improve the squad, we're actually down to 18 first framers which is quite concerning!

Surely as a minimum we need a striker and fb this window

 

[JOSWolf]

As I've said on another thread. We must have the smallest senior squad in the Premier League. I get it that we dont want to sign any old **** but surely with Mendes help we can bring in a couple of reinforcements to bolster the squad? Couple of injuries and the kids would be in. Now that could be a good thing if they came in and did well but it would be very risky in the Premier League. I presume we are using the younger lads regularly in training as without them we couldnt field 11v11 in training games?

 

[JadeWolf]

Nuno likes a small squad apparently

 

[Ironfistedmonk]

We are running very lean and rely on the adaptability of certain players to be able to play in different positions

 

[JOSWolf]

Nuno likes a small squad apparently

A bit too small for my liking!

 

[Flea]

i remember when Villa won and they had just 13 or 14 players all season.

We need to trim down-Quality always beats quantity.

And...that´s the truth..Ruth.

 

[5150]

With a number of loans going out and no incoming yet I thought I'd look at the squad.

Gks- Rui, Ruddy
Cbs- Bennett, Coady, Boly
Fbs- Doc, Jonny, Vinagre
Cms- Neves, Moutinho, Saiss, Dendonker, MGW
Wingers- Jota, Costa, Cav, Traore
Striker- Jiminez

Then we have Giles , Watt, Goncalves and BAS youth players who could come in if we get injuries.

Now while I agree we only want to improve the squad, we're actually down to 18 first framers which is quite concerning!

Surely as a minimum we need a striker and fb this window

As Nuno said a few weeks ago... "We don't play with wingers".

 

[Keyser Soze]

I agree that our squad is a bit too small and we need 2-3 players in this month if we can and to strengthen while we are in a position of strength and kick on. Momentum is key

Having said that, we only want players good enough to directly challenge those in possession of a first team shirt and our team is so good now that that is not going to be done without significant investment, and at Jan prices I can see why we are waiting for those 'special' players as Nuno calls it

Jan the prices are all hiked up, even the loan to buys will come with a big price tag in the summer so it's going to be hard for our recruitment team to get the right kind of players in and is likely to go down to the wire and we may keep going as we are, which in itself is of course a gamble

There doesn't seem to be anything ready made in the Mendes carousel so we either need to gamble financially and pay the going rate for a January first team player at our level, or, take a gamble on a talented youngster that may come slightly cheaper but is obviously more of a risk

Personally I'd like to see us go for the latter and bring in some huge talent that needs refinement in the 19-21 age bracket, possibly in the £10-£15M price range and back our coaches and Nuno to make them players we'd need to pay £50M+ to buy now and I think that's what we're trying to do with the likes of Abraham and I'm sure there are more of that ilk in the pipeline come the end of the month and not the likes of Wilson who would obviously cost stupid money to buy now

 

[JadeWolf]

A bit too small for my liking!

But not Nuno’s

 

[JOSWolf]

Agree with Keyser. I would get in a few hot prospects in the mould of Vinagre that could feature in the first team now. Would bolster the squad.

 

[ShropshireLad]

Nuno likes a small squad apparently

True, Jade. I have seen it quoted but 18 is a very, very small squad. Good job we haven't had many injuries and discipline has been very good.

 

[JOSWolf]

But not Nuno’s

Not wishing to sound like I'm second guessing but I would guess that Nuno thinks we are a bit light on numbers now. Clear we could do with a couple of reinforcements.

 

[JadeWolf]

Not wishing to sound like I'm second guessing but I would guess that Nuno thinks we are a bit light on numbers now. Clear we could do with a couple of reinforcements.

Famous last words lol but I doubt we’d have let Hause, Bonatini, Bright etc go on loan unless we were confident to bring someone in

 

[Keyser Soze]

Agree with Keyser. I would get in a few hot prospects in the mould of Vinagre that could feature in the first team now. Would bolster the squad.

Absolutely, experience is not an issue for us anymore and we have plenty of players in the squad now who can play that role, so we can use our transfer budget to bring in those hot prospects who can be part of the first team squad straight away and go up in value. Players at the elite clubs who are not being given a chance there so would be open to a move to a Premier League club where they will see a direct route to the first team

Fits the Fosun business model after all and we should be playing in that market now. They won't come cheap but also won't cost the earth

Plenty of them out there, surely. Time to back our scouting network!

 

[Michellis]

I'm still holding out for a goal scorer.
But I'm not holding my breath .........

 

[5150]

Absolutely, experience is not an issue for us anymore and we have plenty of players in the squad now who can play that role, so we can use our transfer budget to bring in those hot prospects who can be part of the first team squad straight away and go up in value. Players at the elite clubs who are not being given a chance there so would be open to a move to a Premier League club where they will see a direct route to the first team

Fits the Fosun business model after all and we should be playing in that market now. They won't come cheap but also won't cost the earth

Plenty of them out there, surely. Time to back our scouting network!

Being so close to the magic "40 point " safety mark, can't see us paying over the top January fees. Save it for the summer

 

[Norris]

i remember when Villa won and they had just 13 or 14 players all season.

We need to trim down-Quality always beats quantity.

And...that´s the truth..Ruth.

Ive never known us be so lucky for so long without injuries to key players.
Maybe playing more youngsters helps, or training methods or being lucky?
It’ll catch us out one day, the strange thing right now is we’re not chasing anything of any real importance.
When the stakes go up we’ll need more strength in depth for sure.

 

[Keyser Soze]

Being so close to the magic "40 point " safety mark, can't see us paying over the top January fees. Save it for the summer

If we're looking at top youngsters in the £10-£15M mark I wouldn't call that over the top and would still leave us in a position to bring in some serious quality in the summer. Or more likely use the loan to buy option as we did with so many last season which has worked very well for us

and I have feeling our owners will be aiming higher than just safety, even this season

 

[Flea]

Being so close to the magic "40 point " safety mark, can't see us paying over the top January fees. Save it for the summer

It´s more like +70 marks from here on in,I recon.
We need to come round the fact we are them of the big clubs in the years to come.
I am expecting us to to that no problems at all...
Those are the glorious times.we should all enjoy it to the fullest!

 

[5150]

Ive never known us be so lucky for so long without injurie.

Absolutely ... how Doc manages to stay fit/injury free is amazing.
No coincidence that our awful history with injuries pretty much stopped when Nuno and his staff arrived.

 

[5150]

If we're looking at top youngsters in the £10-£15M mark I wouldn't call that over the top and would still leave us in a position to bring in some serious quality in the summer. Or more likely use the loan to buy option as we did with so many last season which has worked very well for us

and I have feeling our owners will be aiming higher than just safety, even this season

What is the max loan players we can have ?
The owners probably do but I cant see them throwing a shed load of money at it.

 

[Keyser Soze]

What is the max loan players we can have ?
The owners probably do but I cant see them throwing a shed load of money at it.

I think there's a difference between how many loans we can have from abroad and how many from Premier League clubs, which is limited to 2 or 3. But from abroad we can have more, ala Jimenez but I'm not sure of the exact limit

Currently we only have Jimenez and Dendonker so I think we have room for another 2 or 3 loans at least if we needed them

 

[JadeWolf]

I think there's a difference between how many loans we can have from abroad and how many from Premier League clubs, which is limited to 2 or 3. But from abroad we can have more, ala Jimenez but I'm not sure of the exact limit

Currently we only have Jimenez and Dendonker so I think we have room for another 2 or 3 loans at least if we needed them

Jonny too

 

[Deleted member 6754 (removed at own request)]

Absolutely ... how Doc manages to stay fit/injury free is amazing.
No coincidence that our awful history with injuries pretty much stopped when Nuno and his staff arrived.

This. The fitness and conditioning staff he brought in are the unsung heroes of the last 18 months. *touches wood worryingly*

 

[Keyser Soze]

Jonny too

I knew there was another one! Thanks Jade

 

[peter&thewolf]

who could play the coady roll, if he got injured

 

[Keyser Soze]

who could play the coady roll, if he got injured

I almost want it happen just to see who he'd play there

Has to be Dendonker or Saiss surely

 

[Shifnal Wolf]

After letting Hause go we need cover at CD

Midfield and front 3 are ok IMO

That just leaves cover for Jimenez and we’ve obviously tried with Tammy, it wouldn’t surprise me if we didn’t get that position sorted until the summer.

 

[Keyser Soze]

After letting Hause go we need cover at CD

Midfield and front 3 are ok IMO

That just leaves cover for Jimenez and we’ve obviously tried with Tammy, it wouldn’t surprise me if we didn’t get that position sorted until the summer.

In an ideal world I'd love a Vinagre for the right hand side as well. But I am greedy

 

[JonahWolf]

Likes a small squad but worryingly small for me.
Credit to the fitness staff as well, and they are obviously making their own luck to a large extent...but everyone gets unlucky sometime.
Surely City have the best of the best in the medical back room, but they’ve only survived a pretty hefty injury list because of their embarrassment of riches squad wise.

A CB, WB, and any kind of forward player would make me a lot less nervous.
Just 3 players needed to be able to relatively comfortably ride out a couple of key injuries.

 

[JOSWolf]

Club must be aware that the senior squad is pretty thin now. Hopefully a couple of reinforcements on the way.

 

[Deleted member 4023]

We have a wafer thin squad - we've been lucky with suspensions & injuries on the whole so far. We do need reinforcements

 

[JadeWolf]

who could play the coady roll, if he got injured

My guess would be Dendoncker, but I could see Boly playing in the middle in an emergency.

 

[Wolves Heathen]

I make it that we have a squad of 20, Norris every Premier team has 3 Goalkeepers, and so far as im aware Bonatini is still here . If those numbers are okay with Nuno for now, then im happy to go along with it..

 

[Chris H]

For me in the summer it felt like the only position Wolves appeared to be actively pursuing that we didn’t get was another wing back.

So based on that I’d think in an ideal world we’d probably want a wing back still, and then a CB with Hause gone and a CF with Bonatini looking like he may be going.

As others have said though, January isn’t normally a great time to get players in and I wouldn’t be overly worried if we went the rest of the season with what we’ve got if the right players aren’t available this month.

 

[JonahWolf]

For me in the summer it felt like the only position Wolves appeared to be actively pursuing that we didn’t get was another wing back.

So based on that I’d think in an ideal world we’d probably want a wing back still, and then a CB with Hause gone and a CF with Bonatini looking like he may be going.

As others have said though, January isn’t normally a great time to get players in and I wouldn’t be overly worried if we went the rest of the season with what we’ve got if the right players aren’t available this month.

All fair enough...apart from the last bit for me. I would be worried for the rest of the season.

Looks like we’re taking the FA cup seriously. Could only take 2 injuries, not even necessarily in the same position, to be a fielding quite a sub-optimal side.

 

[JOSWolf]

We have a wafer thin squad - we've been lucky with suspensions & injuries on the whole so far. We do need reinforcements

Totally agree and I am surprised at the complacency amongst fans about this. Maybe some dont realise just how thin the squad now is? I will be seen as a moaner no doubt but was looking at other premier league squads the other day and it made me realise just how light on senior players we now are. Our luck with injuries has helped but I would like to think that we wouldnt go into the second half of the season so light on senior squad players when we are in such a good position to maintain our position or do even better.

 

[JOSWolf]

All fair enough...apart from the last bit for me. I would be worried for the rest of the season.

Looks like we’re taking the FA cup seriously. Could only take 2 injuries, not even necessarily in the same position, to be a fielding quite a sub-optimal side.

Exactly! Why take the risk when with a few additions we have still a lot to play for this season. Few injuries and with the current lack of depth we would be struggling. I was surprised we let Hause go with no replacement signed and will be surprised if we let Bonatini go and no one comes in. Asking for trouble if we get suspensions and injuries.

 

[Boss Hogg]

There’s no point in having an academy if you’re not going to use it. Would rather see some youngsters on the bench than some journeyman out for a final pay day.

I have no doubt the likes of Buur, Watt, Giles, Ennis or Ashley-Seal could all step up if needed, Kilman looks like he is close too.

 

[JOSWolf]

There’s no point in having an academy if you’re not going to use it. Would rather see some youngsters on the bench than some journeyman out for a final pay day.

I have no doubt the likes of Buur, Watt, Giles, Ennis or Ashley-Seal could all step up if needed, Kilman looks like he is close too.

I'm all for young players getting a chance but you have to be really good when it comes to the Premier League. Would be a big risk to rely on unproven players if we suddenly got a couple of injuries or suspensions, which is all it would take now as the squad is so thin on numbers.