I blame the transfer window

[mullers]

Teams getting promoted really don't have much idea how the squad will perform in a tougher league, and the same goes for most new signings, along with how they will settle in at a new club.

Years ago managers could make adjustments as everyone had until March to decide what positions needed strengthening as the season progressed. Now it has to be done in a rush [particularly if you come up via the playoffs] and most decisions over signings owe as much to to luck and guesswork as they do to scouting and academies.

I do think Joka put too many new faces in at the start - it would have been better to let players already at the club have the chance to try and prove themselves - but the speed at which teams and squads have to be built now probably influenced the way he changed things so quickly.

[Tempest]

If it's done in a rush it's the club's fault. No reason to rush, contracts in principle based on promotion. It was clear we were going to be in the play offs, therefore a good chance of promotion.  Slav may well have asked for God knows how many new players, I doubt it, the hierarchy and manager need to work as one. I doubt very much based on slav/Claudio comments this was the case pre season. Would love to know the truth though. Personally would like to see the Khan's sell up and see if we can find a new owner who makes less catastrophic decisions.

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[Nero]

the problem was, we had a crap defence we didnt spend the money getting that sorted with some experience PL players instead we spent it all on the midfield 

[aaronmcguigan]

Re Joka put too many new faces in at the start...
Debutants: FABRI had been at the club nearly 3 weeks and had come with a good pedigree as well as playing the full 90 of all the pre season games which followed. Rico had signed but was allowed time to bed in.

CHAMBERS AND LEMARCHAND took central defensive positions. Our team last year had Kalas (loan) Ream (injury) and Odoi (suspended)

BRYAN played as we had no other left back

SERI replacing Johansen , I doubt anyone pre season would have seriously thought StefJo would be picked ahead of Seri.

SCHURRLE basically took the place of Ayite/Kebano/ Piazon/ Kamara which no one could argue with

The OP hints as an error of Slav but there wasn't much he could have done. Nero is right in that the money was spent on midfield when it should have been in defence. Targett although not world class could have done a lot for continuity and team morale, same for replacing Fredericiks with a big name.
Although promotion was sealed late, everyone could see our charge for the playoffs gather and gather therefore a contingency plan of names and budgets surely should have been set up in the spring instead of clamouring around for bargains on deadline day. I think deadline day should be used for extras or deals in addition to what you need instead of signing the core of the team on the final day. This has surely had a knock on effect as any pre season planning went out the window when the coaches had no idea who was coming and when

[Statto]

I think deadline day should be used for extras or deals in addition to what you need instead of signing the core of the team on the final day. This has surely had a knock on effect as any pre season planning went out the window when the coaches had no idea who was coming and when

+1

[Lighthouse]

The real problem started last season by trying to have a squad full of loan players. The somewhat last minute promotion meant we had a bare squad and little time to fill it with players that could play in the Prem. The fact that the money was there meant we over spent on a few players who have turned out a disappointment instead of on players who had Prem experience.

As it happens there is such a gap in our squad between the form we need to survive in the Prem and the players we actually have. That there really isn't one player that looks capable of surviving in the Prem. But then the team looked to be ok in the first few games. Not great but not the rabble we saw after that. When CR took over, we again looked ok for a few games. Organised and capable if not that good. But then it seems to have evaporated again.

But our problems really started trying to get promotion on the cheap and then throwing money at it once we got there. 

[S.F.Sorrow]

I think deadline day should be used for extras or deals in addition to what you need instead of signing the core of the team on the final day. This has surely had a knock on effect as any pre season planning went out the window when the coaches had no idea who was coming and when

+1

I suspect our recruitment department failed to sign the players they really wanted and had to settle for last minute panic deals. I've been very critical of our transfer team but I don't think they are clueless enough to actually PLAN a transfer window like this. Just a theory but I can't see any other explanation.

[Statto]

I think deadline day should be used for extras or deals in addition to what you need instead of signing the core of the team on the final day. This has surely had a knock on effect as any pre season planning went out the window when the coaches had no idea who was coming and when

+1

I suspect our recruitment department failed to sign the players they really wanted and had to settle for last minute panic deals. I've been very critical of our transfer team but I don't think they are clueless enough to actually PLAN a transfer window like this. Just a theory but I can't see any other explanation.

My theory, and it is just a theory like yours, is they just don't attach enough value to signing players early. For me, that is just as important as how good the player is. So signing a good player late is like signing a crap player early. Particularly in your first season after promotion when you need a massive, immediate improvement or all your effort is wasted.

So if you take the Anguissa signing for example, I don't care how good TK thought he was, we should never have been paying that sort of money for a player in August. Just walk away because paying £30m for a player in August is like paying £30m for a player who is crap.