The other story on us is that Utd want to sign Igor Tyjon who is a highly rated player coming up through the academy From the hype around him if we keep hold of him and he can actually make the adjustment and step up to the physicality of the championship he'll be an option up front in a few years

1 thing with us as a club is yes we might sign a player or 2 that we're linked with, but with venkys and the people running the club we'll sign someone that no one is expecting who is terrible and not the standard we need and hope they come good

So we all know he favoured 5-2-3 to get us points on the table And if I'm being honest I don't know much about JE but apparently his favoured formation is 4-2-3-1 Which would sit Travis or JRC alongside Tronstad The 4 attacking positions are there for the taking for new signings or we could push JRC further forward and have Travis alongside Tronstad like previously stated then we still need a Gk, cb and fb cover I think 1 pacey winger then strengthening us through the middle and making us 1 of the most frustrating teams in the league could be what he ends up doing

Right so after JDT first season we were hoping for a play off spot and well we almost got relegated Next season is now about survival So I don't care who we sign as long as they're good enough and actually improve the team I think the majority agree depending on who makes an impression during pre season we need to strengthen these positions Gk-starter Fb-cover Cb-cover/starter quality Cm-cover/potential starter Cam-starter as Szmodics replacement Wingers-starters St-obviously a starter Cm cam and fb all depends on if Szmodics and Travis leave and if Gent, Batty or Duru impress enough during pre season So given that as long as they're good enough to improve the overall squad and actually improve us so we aren't fearing for another relegation battle again I know some won't agree with me saying that but currently that's our reality and I think improving the squad through out with some depth is just as important not every player we need to sign has to be a starter if they can improve the bench and make an impact or if we get an injury they can step in and we don't get weaker This won't happen but I'm hoping that it does as it'll make us more competitive in time

Unless the younger players on the fringes step up and impress during pre season he's wrong We have 2 players potentially leaving we don't know yet those 2 being Szmodics and Travis I feel Szmodics will go for the right price and Travis has the potential to stay as I feel he suits how we play under Eustace If the players on the fringes like Guru, Gent, Batty, Garret, Gilsenan can't step up and improve our 1st team squad then we need major surgery if we're being honest Let's say Guru, Gent and Gilsenan can step up and impress that saves 1 attacking signing as then we don't need to sign a back up player just Szmodics replacement if he does leave if the other 2 can step up then all we need is a cb regardless of O`Riordan stepping up But we need 2 in midfield a striker, 2 wingers and a gk So the squad does need surgery just to improve the match day squad

He seems to me like a Sorba Thomas but without the delivery

Tbf he has a decent slide tackle in him on his day

Both Wahlstedt and Pears look to be good shot stoppers however both aren't confident in claiming crosses and area that can be worked on in both I think anyone can agree on that The thing with pears is there's a mistake in him when his confidence dips aswell as not being strong enough in making a save so it goes passed him We either need a new gk and to ship 1 out or we need to sign a Fadz in the Gk department who could help improve both it all could depend on our budget for the season

Injuries are what ruined him as I player I agree I still believe to this day that he should've been loaned back to us for another season just to get more 1st team experience under his belt

He's the only player I'm confident at beating his man when he runs at them I know other players can, but most of the time they just run at them and do nothing especially dolan

Looking at what you're saying here and reading through some old posts we all agree it looks like we're going to go with the same formation with wing backs so if we do bring in another lwb I hope he can deliver a ball into the box and that at least 1 of the attackers can score headers or get on the end of it

I doubt this will happen but if we do spend on transfers at best it will be around 10mil so saying that if you were in charge of the signings with 10mil to spend, who would you bring in? Going for the realistic approach of frees, loans and players for a fee, who would be your priorities to improve our match day squad

Tbf there's some good players in the championship who's contracts are expiring this summer who could improve our squad I'd take 2/3 if they're good enough with 3 signings for fees and 2 loans maximum I want 8 signings minimum this summer or I believe we're getting relegated And I don't understand why we rely on loans so much when we could potentially use our own academy players and see if they can step up first and if they can that does what the club wants and generates an increase in their value for potential sales

Signing someone from Liverpool or Brighton on loan and pushing Gilsenan to the side when he deserves his chance

That's what I'm seeing us doing including 3 or 4 frees if their on cheap wages

That's it he offerss a good worker But for what he's supposed to other he just doesn't He barely scores or chips in with assist But I'd prefer us to sign someone who can create their own chances and a big bully type players who defenders just hate

If we could get him and 1 more striker in I'd be content Sam Gallagher just isn't what he was when we had him on loan and got the ball into the box for him Plus he's 6ft4 he should be a bully against opposition cbs but he's been absolutely useless since he's returned His best attribute is his work rate but he just doesn't score enough unfortunately

Unfortunately I'm trying to be realistic given the standard of the last 3 windows These are signings I see as realistic for us currently I'm like you and think venkys and Waggott need to sign off on us spending 10/15 million this summer and overhaul the squad with 10 signings as we need options from them bench or if we're honest we will be relegated

Johansson Britain Carter J Cooper Hyam Pickering JRC Tronstad Hedges S Dembele McGuire Would be my line up if we could get them all 1 is free the others would need a fee Johansson is 900k J Cooper would be free if we could convince him to join S Dembele has the pace we're lacking and we could get him fairly cheap McGuire wanted the move and hopefully still does That wouldn't be my line up by the end of the window though But it's realistic for the start of the season imo

I've said from the start I think we need 8 I'd take 2 loans max 2 frees Then 4 signings for fees even if they aren't large But we need a goalscorer and a creater along side who ever we bring in and that's what we need to spend any money we have on And if we can get that keeper from Rotherham as well I'd be happy

Because it looks like we're going to lose him unfortunately so of course I'd be happy with a large fee I don't think most fans would expect us to replace him for free or 200k the board and owners definitely would But once he leaves we will have no one currently in the squad who would generate such a fee and that's when venkys normally spend 1 or 2 mil on a couple of players Like they did with Hyam who went from being incredible in his first season to terrible last season then there's Szmodics who was finding himself in the team in his 1st season then became the go to man to rely on I'm praying like the rest of the fans we spend close to 10 mil this summer But if we're honest that's a dream at the moment in time especially over the last 3 windows

We won't get that for Szmodics he's almost 29 with no top league experience You don't spend all the money you make as a club from sales especially when you're in as much debt as we are I'd be buzzing with 20mil for Szmodics if we do sell him but could see it being more 15mil Saying that then adding in other sales on top with the money we'll get from Raya we'll be at around 45mil made from transfer fees We're a club in major financial trouble we aren't seeing all of that in fees to sign players if anything we'll spend at most 5/8 hopefully then you have to factor in loan fees and wages This is a summer were venkys either make a statement and back us with fees for better signings or we continue with frees and loans with maybe 1 or 2 small fees No matter what though we need to spend money to climb this table or this time next season we're league 1 unfortunately

Hopefully everything goes well in his recovery His movement around the box is above everyone bar Szmodics I agree I believe the standard of the championship for fitness without him having a pre season cost him massively and with a press season to find out his best position to unlock his ability for the team could be vital for us And I'd take 5/10 goals from him again if he matches it with assists and we get a 15/20 goal striker

I don't think he will but I'm hoping we find a way to utilise Sigurdsson But he's been dreadful and seems to have no confidence when he's playing. He doesn't commit or run at his fb and he barely crosses it into the box Maybe we should try him through the middle but would that even work

When Graham left and Dack got his injury Armstrong stepped up, then Brereton Diaz when he left and Szmodics did last season when Brereton Diaz left, so maybe we could guess who steps up if Szmodics leaves