Well done LCFC on a commendable transfer window

[5waller5]

We have become so accustomed to incompetence over the last 5+ years that a “normal” transfer window is lauded. 
 

Player trading to improve the squad, suit the manager’s style and represent better value should be a given not a surprise.

 

Congratulations are due however, to James McCarron, for finally restoring competence to our player trading activities.

 

Shame on King Power and Top for not giving a toss about the basics of running a football club for so long. 

[Lambert09]

51 minutes ago, Stadt said:

People were quite triumphant about the last summer window, giving 8 or 9/10.

 

It remains to be seen how good a window it is, we’re light in a few areas. Chiefly at CM, if Page or Braybrooke get injured all of a sudden we’re lacking technical ability centrally.

I have a nagging doubt in 2028/2029/2030 the Burns, Cullen and maybe the Riis deal start to look poor business.

 

Shifting Winks, Vestergaard, Mavididi, Kristiansen and so is great though, does feel  refreshing.

I think we have good options now and considering how serious our situation is we needed to do whatever we can to get out this division in one go. 
 

I think Cullen, burns and even Chaplin actually feel a little unnecessary business but if they contribute towards achieving our goals I don’t think it matters.  We weren’t breaking the bank for them and we’ve blended it with a couple of brave signings in kanga and bristic. 
 

let the season play out before we judge it because the football has to do the talking at the end of the day! Many fans mentioned the toxic atmosphere as our biggest problem and the guys brought in have all been known to be top professionals to have around. Maybe we shouldn’t underestimate what they might be bringing to this young group outside of football 

[Ricey]

I for one can not see any problems with basing our squad rebuild around players that Russell Martin likes and/or has worked with before. None at all.

[StanSP]

13 minutes ago, Merchant_Banker said:

I think it’s unfair to judge a window on how they bed in, no one can know that at the time of the transfer. You can only acquire players who have the right attitude and potential, in the right position with the right skills at the right price. We seem to have done most of that. How they go from here is unknown.

That's my point . Want to judge it later in the window and how they perform by end of the season... 

[MPH]

1 hour ago, StriderHiryu said:

I don't fully agree. A lot of players have gone, but those were the ones whose contracts expired. Faes is still here, Mavididi and Skipp have left but only on loan and still will be here. 

 

As for players brought in, we have brought a ton of duffers from the Championship and jobs for the boys for Russell Martin. Liam Cullen is doing his best to impersonate Casper the Ghost and the Ipswich lads have been massively underwhelming at best. This is whilst we have sold some of the "crown jewels" of the academy in Jeremy Monga and Darren Motsi. 

 

I think we will win the division and will get promoted comfortably. But then the parachute payments run out and we will be left with a lot of older players who are likely going to be past their sell by date in the Championship. 

 

Our best players this season have been the academy graduates; Jayden Joseph, Sammy Braybrooke, Will Alves and Louis Page. So maybe instead of signing players like Cullen and Burns, we could have given minutes to Jake Evans and Kirsten Otchere instead?

 

Overall I would say the window has exceeded my expectations, but as I say, I won't be truly convinced till next season in terms of how good it was or wasn't. 

 

so note that I chose my words carefully.. I mentioned that it was a commendable effort and I wouldn’t  suggest the  window was perfect. I will however  suggest you reserve judgement on the likes of Faes and Okoli still being here as Faes has been frequently linked with clubs in a country who’s window is still open.

 

The ‘duffers’ . I think the quality of players we are allowed to sign is in direct correlation to the fact we are now a league 1 club on a tight budget with an owner trying to sell us. When we then change our playing style, and with those limitations in place, the manager will of course bring in players who he knows can play the style he plays.. 9 times out of 10 I’d prefer a manager to be picking our transfer targets rather than some person who sits in an office all day. I think the main issue I have with the signings is that they are of a much less quality than what we are used to, but this comes back to my original point about or budgets, owner and the 1st division.

[Fox in the North]

It is what it is. It’s a decent start to what should hopefully stop the rot, and build a team that we’ll want to support. Fingers crossed they can build on the recent performances.

[Death by Football]

Mixed bag on the incomings: a couple of unknowns from Europe who may or may not come good; a couple of seasoned pros; a complete ghost.

I'm happiest about the outgoings even if a couple are loans.  Waving goodbye to Vestergaard, Choudhury, Daka, Ayew, Mavididi, Winks and Skipp feels like the end of a shitty era.

Shame to lose some good youngsters but that was inevitable with the relegation.

I guess you can't judge the window until the end of the season really but it does feel different to the last few windows where we've done nothing or just bought shit players on agent recommendations. I'm happy to take some positives from it without going overboard on the praise.

[adejo92]

Keeping Page is as important as anyone we have sold or brought.

 

If Man Utd pulled out, fair enough, but if we have actively blocked the transfer, that's a good sign. Especially having seen Monga leave for Manchester City etc.

 

Edited 2 September by adejo92

[iancognito]

9/10

 

Disappointed to still have Faes but an absolute bonus to lose Skipp. Not fussed on Okoli, we need back up for Thomas at reserve CB.

[coolhandfox]

1 hour ago, StriderHiryu said:

I don't fully agree. A lot of players have gone, but those were the ones whose contracts expired. Faes is still here, Mavididi and Skipp have left but only on loan and still will be here. 

 

As for players brought in, we have brought a ton of duffers from the Championship and jobs for the boys for Russell Martin. Liam Cullen is doing his best to impersonate Casper the Ghost and the Ipswich lads have been massively underwhelming at best. This is whilst we have sold some of the "crown jewels" of the academy in Jeremy Monga and Darren Motsi. 

 

I think we will win the division and will get promoted comfortably. But then the parachute payments run out and we will be left with a lot of older players who are likely going to be past their sell by date in the Championship. 

 

Our best players this season have been the academy graduates; Jayden Joseph, Sammy Braybrooke, Will Alves and Louis Page. So maybe instead of signing players like Cullen and Burns, we could have given minutes to Jake Evans and Kirsten Otchere instead?

 

Overall I would say the window has exceeded my expectations, but as I say, I won't be truly convinced till next season in terms of how good it was or wasn't. 

Not true, we had no choice, he chooses to leave. 

[coolhandfox]

Can only really judge a window 12-18 months later.

Edited 2 September by coolhandfox

[MPH]

1 hour ago, Samilktray said:

Going a bit overboard with this

going overboard would be saying things like it’s been a fantastic window or a fantastic effort. Instead, I chose words like ‘ good’ or ‘commendable’

[LCFCJohn]

Fair play to James McCarron as let’s be honest, the improved performance in the window can only be down to him.

 

It wasn’t perfect but perfect would have been unrealistic.

 

Of the incomings, the only one I think is a real waste is Cullen at the moment. Obviously if he pulls it together or others fail to perform that would change. I think people are even being harsh towards Burns. Chaplin jury is out but his fitness doesn’t seem promising. 
 

The signings of younger players like Kangasniemi and Bristvic are intriguing. The use of the loan market has been good. It’ll be interesting to see how O’Hora, Lundstram and Riis get on but they are reasonably positive profile of signing based on where we are. 
 

Getting so many out has been good. Yes one or two more out and in an ideal world, Mavididi, Kristiansen and Skipp would be permanent but needs must to get them out the way. 
 

Martin can’t say he hasn’t been backed. We have the most depth available to us and strength across all positions. It would be fair to say not going up would be a failure now. 

 

 

[Clever Fox]

3 minutes ago, iancognito said:

9/10

 

Disappointed to still have Faes but an absolute bonus to lose Skipp. Not fussed on Okoli, we need back up for Thomas at reserve CB.

I think Faes could do a better job than Skipp in that defensive midfield role.

 

He can certainly carry the ball forward can win headers and offer support at  Corners. 

 

I'd like to see him get a couple of games there.

[Vestan Pance]

Well let's judge it over the length of the deals rather than over 4 games. I wouldn't want the judge RM over 4 games so this shouldn't be any different.

 

 

[KansasFox]

21 minutes ago, MPH said:

going overboard would be saying things like it’s been a fantastic window or a fantastic effort. Instead, I chose words like ‘ good’ or ‘commendable’

Don’t bite MPH, being measured in a post is so unusual on here that people don’t know what to do!

your post was good, even commendable! 

[mozartfox]

The Club needed a massive Dump after Rudkin filled the squad with Turds over consecutive windows. The flushing has finally worked in part,  I am concerned though that we may have brought in some new floaters that we will be stuck with in the near future.  BUT all in all, a good window and keeping hold of Page was a massive result. Plus the other 4 youngsters is a massive positive.

 

We just need to stop the horrendous faffing around at the back.  

[Sooper Steve's shin]

It was the massive overhaul we wanted and needed. 30-odd players out (albeit including some end of loans and some developmental loans), 14 players in. That must be about as complete an overhaul as any team has done. We could arguably have got shot of a couple more, but we were clearly trying to do that and (like the property market) it’s quite complex with chains of deals happening. 
 

We should also recognise that we held ground/pushed back on a few that we wanted to keep - Souttar, Page - and we’ve used the opportunity to bring through what is an exciting crop of youngsters. 
 

Would I have chosen Russell Martin as our manager? No. Do I think all the incomings are great? No. Am I happy that we are in League 1? Of course not. But am I happy we’re not seeing Winks, Mavididi and the other silly bunch who’ve stunk our club out for two seasons? Yes. Am I enjoying watching Page, Alves, Braybrooke and Joseph strut their stuff in the first few games? Yes. Am I going to get behind the team and hope we have a decent season? Absolutely.

[AKCJ]

Looking like the absolute bare minimum to me.

 

 

[Dan]

I'm going to give them some credit and say well done on actually managing to get a good number of deals done. I would've gone for even more than this personally, and I would've been aiming to get them out even earlier so that we weren't playing mish mash sides in the opening games which set a pretty bad tone for the season. Something I don't think the manager could really afford, and still don't despite yesterday.

 

I wanted an absolutely drastic overhaul because I think you needed to get as many players associated with this doom spiral out as possible. Just get them gone. Their presence is a problem and their wages add insult to injury.

 

The rumours about Russell Martin are interesting. He claims he insisted the club kept Alves around rather than loaning them out. Given he's said that Riis was our top transfer target and we've not signed him until deadline day, I will take what he says with a bit of a pinch of salt. But if this, and the rumour that he was going to walk if we sold Page are true, then fair play, as concerned as I am about his football, he's got something about him and appears willing to make changes that plenty other managers we've had just accepted, and got on with, much to our long term detriment.

 

Maybe he realises he's toast if this job doesn't work for him.

 

But...

 

It's not 'all' positive. A lot of it is relative.

 

I still think we have made some pretty bad signings. I am concerned by how off it the more experienced heads continue to look. We still seem to be falling down the trap of giving out far too generous contracts to ageing players. For all we are making more efforts to get players out of the door, I think there is a possibility that we have added to the mess somewhat with some of them. Burns, Cullen, Chaplin, McCarthy so far all look poor signings to me. It's early days, but the red flags are there.

 

And also I think we really need to learn to cut our losses a lot more. Being in this league gives us a rare opportunity to not worry about book value. The value of getting the high earners, contributing sod all is great to us, as I said above. We should've cut our losses on more players and it is disappointing that the likes of Skipp, Mavididi etc... while they are out, are quite likely back here in 12 months at square one. We've seen this play out with Faes, Kristiansen, Soumare in the past.

 

So overall, it is better, you have got to give them credit that this does look a different team. But it isn't without its red flags either for me.

[Merchant_Banker]

13 minutes ago, AKCJ said:

Looking like the absolute bare minimum to me.

 

 

Isn’t that what we have had in the previous 3 or 4 windows. Seems a lot better than Skipp, Ayew, Edouard, etc.

[Xen]

3 hours ago, Les-TA-Jon said:

 

On paper, it's a very good window. 

• Released or terminated all the dross
• Loaned out some of the unsellable players like Mavididi and Skipp
• Good developmental loans for some youngsters
• Decent fees for Fatawu, BEK, Monga
• Avoided losses on Choudhury and Winks
• Sold some of the youth that were unlikely to ever break through
• Incomings - a bit harder to judge since most of them need more time - but no obviously bad ones (other than maybe Cullen, given the fee paid?)
• But we've ultimately signed in the positions we needed too

 

Hopefully some loans for Okoli and Coulibaly and maybe Faes (or termination)

 

I think the only Outs that are disappointing are James (was never going to come with us to L1) and maybe a couple of the youngsters - although I think those moves are largely sensible ones. Fatawu at a push but I'm not particularly sad to see him go, and he's brought in a decent bit of £££.

 

As you say, bit early to judge but the Ins look to be fairly reasonable, both in quality for this level, and the fees/contract terms agreed. 

 

Solid 7/10 on paper. Scope for that to creep up a bit if the new lot live up to expectations.

[Les-TA-Jon]

Note as well that the Nelson injury in particular screwed us over, because he was the 'easiest' CB to sell, and those funds would have seen us get the CB position settled earlier and/or see players like Souttar/Okoli leave more easily. Think we did OK in the end all things considered. 

 

7/10 on paper. 5 or 6/10 if we don't go up and/or if Cullen, Burns, Chaplin end up being Ayew 2.0 

[kingfox]

It’s not been perfect, but after what we’ve endured in recent years, it’s just a massive relief to get a number of players out the door, who have constantly let us down. Some were thankfully out of contract, but a massive weight has been lifted knowing we don’t have to watch Ayew, Daka, Choudhury, Winks and Vestergaard in a Leicester shirt ever again. Loaning out Skipp and Mavididi of course isn’t ideal, but at least we won’t have to watch them either this season.

 

The only stains remaining are Faes, Okoli and BDCR, all we can do is cross our fingers that Faes and Okoli both depart to a country that still has their transfer window open.

 

In terms of incomings, on paper I feel we’ve got the right blend of youth and experience, a handful of experienced players were always going to come through the door whether we liked it or not. We’ve not seen enough of Chaplin yet to properly judge him imo, Burns has had a mixed start, while Cullen so far has done bugger all.

 

As for the younger signings, Howell has impressed me the most so far. I really rate the signing of Kamari Doyle, but the question mark I have is how much game time he will get. 
 

Finally in terms of strikers, I think we’ve made the right call on the types of profiles we’ve brought in. A younger gamble in Bristric, and a striker in Riis who has proven he can score in England, was the right way to go. 
 

With all those incomings, it’s highly unlikely it will be a 10/10 success, but it’s a much needed refresh and with the youngsters already here like Joseph, Page, Braybrooke and Alves, I’m far more motivated to watch Leicester City this season.

[Muzzy_no7]

Some are saying Cullen 3m and Riis 8m?

 

Surely not?!