So the Roeder revolution is finally gathering some serious pace…
Seven in now meaning the bare cupboard feel to the squad which has haunted Stanley for the past couple of months has finally been blown away by the new arrivals.
OK, so it never was going to be the case that Roeder wouldn't sign a load of new players, but it just takes a weight off Stanley's mind to physically see some new bodies donning the sacred yellow jersey.
In terms of quality, well, you would have to say that on paper at least, bearing in mind the type of player we needed, availability of players and the financially constraints Roeder has to operate under the seven are as good as you could expect. There are two major provisos to this, however, which Stanley needs to get off his chest before singing the new arrivals praises more fully.
Firstly, any concrete conclusions about the players have to wait until you see them play, not just as individuals but as a unit, in the heat of Championship battle.
Building a team from scratch is never an exact science, you can't guarantee every signing to be a success; always an injury here; a night out with the lads which gets out of hand there; away from residing in the 'Never lived up to expectations…' file.
But building a team from scratch is exactly what Roeder is doing. The team Roeder sends out at Coventry in just over a fortnight could easily contain, bearing in mind the anticipated arrival of another two or three signings by then, nine brand new players and only two left over from last season, Marshall and Bertrand.
No matter how much you like the sound of the individuals being signed there is still a degree of fingers crossed come the big day about this type of 'Crash, bang, wallop…' exercise.
Secondly, what these seven signings have done is simply gotten City back to square one. The new arrivals mean we are looking in a lot better shape but we are still three important signings away from being the finished article in terms of be able to make a concerted challenge for promotion this season.
We still need three big players, metaphorically and literally, down the spine of the team. A big striker, a big Damien Francis-like midfielder and another Stefanovic like centre-half. The classic situation any team wishing to improve upon their previous season finds themselves in, three big players down the spine of the team.
Hence back to square one and hence the fact that the season defining transfers are still to come in Stanley's eyes. An Ameobi, a Taylor and a Quashie walk through the door and those promotion odds will really get slashed, a Mr 'Free Transfer' from Falkirk, however, and it's all about a tidy, consolidating, top half of the table finish, of a season, laying the foundations for the big push in 2009/2010…
So the new players are important signings in that they are laying the foundations for the team's resurrection. Quality full-backs, finally a quality, genuine, centre-half, incisive wingers, consistent midfielder, and a reliable goal-scorer…
All these signings are helping to address persistent failings from not just last season but the past few seasons. So, so far so good, but it's the next three signings which are the really crucial ones.
If you can raise the bar to a point where Doherty, Schackell, Drury, Otsemobor, Fozzy, Russell, Patterson, Croft, Chadwick and Cureton are all fighting amongst themselves for, at best, a place on the bench then the revolution will be complete and it will just be a case of allowing the new individuals to evolve into that promotion winning team we all crave to see.
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