To attempt to gauge the success or otherwise of a January transfer window on February 1st is a pointless exercise, so I won’t.
Only when Messrs Dijk and Wildschut have been given a fair crack at filing the Olsson and Brady shaped voids will it be possible to properly compare the merits of the respective outs and ins.
What we can say say with some confidence however is that from the perspective of the club’s coffers it’s been a fruitful January. Jez Moxey and Steve Stone will I suspect consider it a job well done.
In terms of transfer fees, some back of the fag packet maths show the club’s spend to be in the in the region of £8 million (a reported £7 million for Yanic Wildschut plus, say, a £1 million loan fee for Mitchell Dikjs), while the sales of Brady, Olsson and Canós have recouped something akin to £17 million, possibly rising to £20m.
Of course transfer fees are only part of the equation. In order to cost out the impact of any deal wages too have to be built into the sum and on that score it’s fair to assume that the club have again come out the right side.
Even allowing for the contractual impact of relegation on the pay-packets of Brady and Olsson, both will have been at the top end in Championship terms and the fag packet tells me the Dutchmen will be less of a burden on the wage bill.
So if success is breathing new life into an ailing bank account then it’s certainly a big fat tick for those involved. If on the other hand it’s refreshing a squad that has for much of the season looked jaded and in need of an adrenaline shot then only time will tell.
On the face it Alex Neil and Team (Ricky) Martin appear to have done little but plug gaps vacated by Waitrose standard players with two from Morrisons but only on the face of it.
While no longer a starter for Ajax, Dijks arrives armed with a more than decent CV, and Wildschut, while with a less impressive portfolio behind him, has proven himself to be an accomplished Championship performer.
That both are ‘big units’ and quick has to be an advantage in the hurly-burly world of the Championship, and no doubt formed part of Ricky Martin’s brief as Neil looked to add a more physical edge to a group who for large chunks of the season have been far too fragile.
The big ‘if’ comes when said units have played enough games to no longer be considered newbies. Then it’s crunch time and then we can decide if the squad on February 1 was weaker than it was on January 1.
What we can probably agree on is that it’s unlikely to be considered stronger.
Even if the left sided like-for-like trades have been successful, still there are defensive frailties that have been left unaddressed.
Still we are only an injury to Timm Klose away from turning again to a central defensive pairing, whichever pair Alex chooses, that has proven itself unfit for purpose.
One can only assume that deals for centre-backs were again hindered through lack of funds, which given the transfer surplus appears unlikely, or Ricky and his boys were again unable to identify a suitable, realistic target and get the deal over the line.
For a shiny, new centre-back not to have been on the wish list would appear, at the very least, a bit odd.
The departure of Sergi Canós just six short months after his arrival was another that came in the ‘odd’ category but perhaps needs to be regarded as one of those that simply didn’t come off.
It appears once Alex had had a really good, close-up look at the lad, his attitude, his ability and his demeanour, he simply saw Jacob Murphy as a better option.
The player himself was naturally frustrated, was offered the chance to go somewhere he considered ‘home’ and City chose to cut their losses.
Some are smelling a rat – I prefer on this occasion to see it as one the club simply got wrong. Only time will tell if letting him depart so soon was an error of judgement.
And so ends the January transfer window of 2017, one that promised a major clear-out of much dead wood and a squad overhaul but which in fact delivered nothing of the sort.
Olsson and Brady will be missed a little bit – both on their day were fine performers – but the latter in particular offered us more glimpses of his bottom lip than his talent.
Much now depends on how quickly the new Fernando Derveld and Raymond de Waard can adapt to their new surroundings.
Good luck fellas. Here’s hoping.
__________________________________________________________________________
PS. Did I mention that you heard the Wildschut news here first? 🙂
I enjoyed reading that Gary – until the penultimate paragraph!
I well recall those gentlemen from the underwhelming Hamilton years. Not with any affection, but I recall them nonetheless.
As predicted, I guess we got no offers whatsoever for the “dead wood”, but contracts run out at the end of the season for a few of them, so we’ll have to be patient.
Selection and set-up for Saturday should be interesting.
0
My only issue is that we have been left light in certain departments. We can all agree letting Morris leave for first team football is a good thing, but surely that leaves us even shorter in the centre forward department. A loan move for a player who will compete with Jerome & nelson for a starting place seemed obvious, apparently not. The transfer window saw moves for McCormack, Grabban, Nugent, Quaner Sinclair, Joao, Rhodes, Hogan, Smith, Bogle. Ok maybe some of these names we would stay away from but can’t help thinking overall, others have strengthened here whilst we stood still.
One more thing, I see Wildschut as a significant upgrade to canos, not Brady. As Brady played half his games as a left back, we have also been left horribly short should Dijks not work out or suffers injury. Plus with the emergence of Naismith & Pritchard hopefully pushing, Wildschut isn’t even a guaranteed starter on the left (as Brady was). Yet.
0
The critics have been all over social media of course and it’s generally acquiescent or worse. We have lost two good players but both have been replaced and we must see what the replacements are made of. I am fairly optimistic on that front. Both departees were often and fiercly criticised so more modest but more consistent and reliable replacements may be an improvement.
There is justified concern about centre backs but I am more concerned about the failure to strengthen central midfield. Stopping teams reaching our centre backs is a major failing. Perhaps Godfrey is seen as an answer and Mulumbu has more to offer but a younger Tettey would be welcome.
I really don’t get the calls for another striker. We have enough firepower to win games.
There seems to be a lot of criticism that we made a profit this window but it has been forgotten it seems that last January we gambled and went into debt. Making some of that loss back is good housekeeping even at a club with ambition.
Two positive points about the window that the doomsayers ignore.
Firstly, we have shown ambition. We have chased played who turned us down. Even Rob Butler was calling for City to chase more modest targets and avoid the refusals from Zeegelar and others. We are not little Norwich in the players we are seeking.
Secondly and best of all, a point that even you Gary have disregarded. we have kept all our key players. Look at the collective incontinence last week after a rumour that Pritchard was going. Well he hasn’t. Nor have Klose, Naismith, Howson, Pino, Oliveira and others. Sometimes, celebrate what you have rather than regret what you have not.
0
Regarding the departure of Canos. I watched him a few times in the U23’s and on each occasion he appeared disinterested and unwilling to put in the sort of effort that might convince the manager that he was willing to fight to dislodge Jacob Murphy from the wide right berth. From my viewpoint getting his undoubtedly good salary off the books makes both sound football and business sense.
0
I hope the new Dutch pair do well of course. My concern remains squad balance.
No natural back up left back if Dijks is injured. Many options down the left side attacking wise with Josh, Jarvis and also Wed and Pritchard as well as the new signing. No cover for the over used Jacob down the right.
At least no more number 10’s yet.
As I said I hope it works out but it does make me wonder the logic.
0
And yet another transfer window goes by where we fail to address our key issue. Central defense. The manager has run out of excuses in this dept. as far as I’m concerned.
In regards to the new recruits, it’s too early to tell. I agree with Gary that it’s probably a win for the bank balance, I expect not on the pitch. We’ll see.
0
With the Olsson/Brady situation, left side was always going to be the main focus of this window and I’m happy enough with what they’ve done.
I wonder if we’ll see 3 at the back more often (i.e. Martin, Klose and Dijks) with Pinto and Wildschutt as wingbacks.
Personally I thought we should be trying to find a younger, fresher version of Tettey, preferably one less likely to pick up pointless bookings for dissent.
Fans pay a lot of attention to centre backs, they tend to be the last people you remember failing to prevent goals. But to me the weakness all season has been in breaking up the opposition play before the back four are called upon.
Remember the days when Darrel Russell would be poised with everybody in front of him, give the ball away and leave Shackell and Doherty to take the blame? It’s felt like that to me.
With Dorrans and Thompson injured, Howson also susceptible to knocks and Mulumbu inconsistent we really need a new version of Gary Holt – that would be perfect for the Championship. Godfrey may get more time there but we’re told he’s a centre back in the making and to be fair he also seems to have a liking for red cards.
But we have a strong squad – they just need to keep fighting for the right to play their own game. If Pritchard could knuckle down and show us his ability for 90 minutes rather than 15 it would help too.
I think we’ll make the playoffs; not sure we have quite enough flair to win them.
0
Ruddy, Pinto, Klosse, Bennett, Diyk, Howson, Tetty, Wildschut, Naismith, Hoolahan, Olivera. subs Mcgovern, Martin,Godfrey, Murphy,
Pritchard, Maddison, Jerome
0
We all wish Dijks and Wildschut welcome and good luck. Seemingly an attempt to beef up the physicality which has been lacking somewhat.
The sale of international quality players is never something to be celebrated and a fat profit from player trading isn’t a basis for future success.
The lack of left back cover, the versatile Toffolo would have been useful in this respect. Is a major concern, particularly if injury/suspension/loss of form occur in that position prior to a big match.
Fingers crossed, we shall see what happens.
0
Olsson let too many average players get in too many crosses for an experienced international let alone a championship left back. Brady never lived up to expectations. Good luck to them both but was time to move on
0
Chris (9) it depends for which country they are Internationals. Whittaker and Martin are Internationals. Howson isn’t – but if he had a Scottish, Irish or Welsh grandparent he probably would be.
Neither or Olsson or Brady would get near the England side, let alone a top country.
Toffolo played in the Championship last season for Rotherham, and hasn’t as far as I can see had any of our rivals falling over themselves to rescue him from League One.
Canos’s departure doesn’t surprise me. From day one he seemed to assume that as he’d stepped down from a top Premier League club he could just walk into a Championship team. Compare his attitude with Maddison who is willing to fight for his place. It’s a shame, because he obviously has talent, but until a player turns up at Colney nobody can be absolutely sure what we’re getting however much you watch them first.
0
I’m reasonably happy, I think cover at LB either from another signing or HT would have been sensible, but AN clearly rates SW higher than HT currently, he said at the AGM that he was kept as a spare LB.
As for the rest? I think it’s a question of not being able to move the likes of Mulumbu, Bassong, Bennett & Lafferty on. Hopefulyl that will come in the summer.
So far Moxey has not been anywhere near what people are making him out to be was involved in AP for £8m, now YW for £7m, yes we’ve made money, but that’s the reality of our financial position, not Moxey’s doing. Let’s see where were are next season, that will be the right time to judge.
0
The squad is weaker than before the transfer window ended, which is pretty much what I and many others expected.
Therefore it cannot be considered a success.
0
Had we brought 2x left backs in, you can guarantee the usual suspects would have been complaining that, as we’ll only play one or the other, that we’d wasted money on someone to sit on the bench.
Both Martin and Whittaker are more than adequate backups at left back at this level if necessary – the latter even plays there for his country.
It’s also worth noting that a number were advocating a clear out, and starting afresh. Villa started with a completely new midfield last night – how did that work out for them? Even if you manage to ship out a load of players, you can’t guarantee that multiple replacements will gel instantly. That’s fine with a pre-season, not so in January.
0
@14 Scott
“Both Martin and Whittaker are more than adequate backups at left back at this level if necessary – the latter even plays there for his country.”
I think I’d only describe Klose as “more than adequate” out of our whole defense.
0
I’m happy enough with the 2 signings, but as mentioned above, the lack of left back cover is a concern – I would rather have Toffolo than Whittaker. Ideally we would have moved on Bassong & Lafferty & brought in replacements but that was never going to happen. Ultimately it’s another non-inspiring window leaving us to hope the next one will bring us more joy.
0
Brady hasn’t torn up any trees this season and has obviously not wanted to be here. I think we got good money for him. He is not an accomplished full back, and he is no Darren Huckerby when it comes to wing play.Jack of all trades, master of none. Both the incoming players look strong and exciting. Both are hungry and neither look as though they will be brushed aside. Give them a chance. I agree with WindsorCity. And Keith B is right about Canos. What have we really seen from him in all honesty? I get the impression he thought he was a bit too good to have to earn his place. Much more time for young Madison, who I think is a real prospect and is my tip to take over from Wes. I think he has already shown more than Pritchard (who has shown glimpses). We have some great players who will hopefully now get stuck into winning us a play off place-if we get behind them.I still think Bennett can be a decent stand-in if we do get an injury at CB, although I think he looks more assured beside Klose than Martin.I can see that Toffolo needs to be playing in order to grow as a player, so have no problem with him going out on loan whilst we have Dijk – but I think a recall clause would have made more sense if we did suffer from loss of Dijk to injury. On the whole, a positive window because we have got in players who have a point to prove and haven’t lost Howson, who is the most important player on our books imo.
0
Much depends on the impact of Dijks and Wildschut, of course. Haven’t seen Dijks, but I’m a fan of Wildschut who should fit nicely with the way we set up.
Pretty sure they aren’t a repeat of Derveld and de Waard.
Three more general points worth making, perhaps:
1. If Olsson and Brady had been fully committed to Norwich, I’d worry that we may have weakened the squad. But they weren’t. Individually and collectively, a team will function better if everyone is committed to the cause; we may be closer to that position now.
2. We were shipping goals at an alarming rate in November. However, it’s changed: quietly, we’ve conceded just three goals in the last five league games. With improved form in central defence and just in front of it (Tettey/Mulumbu), there was perhaps less urgency to make new signings there.
3. Of course, it would be nice to strengthen in all areas. But anyone who expected this window to involve a net spend isn’t living in the real world. City still have a very large wage bill to manage, in combination with a 50% drop in income.
Our January business was never going to be ‘inspiring’. But if the new signings turn out to be decent, it may turn out to have been quite skilful.
0
Aim – ship out two expensive players who didn’t want to be here: done
Aim – sell so we could buy: done
Aim – acquire hungry, ambitious players: done
Realistic objectives for NCFC: achieved:
Congratulations AN/JM
See you in Cardiff …
0
Well, there goes Moxey….
0
Now heard Moxey has quit. What next in this disjointed club?
0