The Official Silly Season January Transfer Thread 2021/22

[Motspur Park]

I like Rodak but he is no Ariola. hew has conceded cheap goals of late which he should have been getter closer to: Sheffield utd , Bristol city and Birmingham games all raise abit of a question mark for me if he is top class.

I agree to an extent but he has been exposed by a combination of exposure at the back through our attacking intent and poor defending. It is the defence which will need an upgrade.

[Neutral Zone Ultra]

Agree, Marek has proven to be a good keeper so don't know why we seem so averse to giving him a chance in the Prem. He will 100% leave if otherwise.

Rodak is decent but there are better out there. Assuming we get promoted we will 100% need an upgrade, just like last time. I hope the recruitment team are still in regular contact with Areola.

[/quote]
True but there are also better than Mitrovic out there, and Seri, Tete, Tosin etc. The last two prem seasons we made the mistake of not prioritising the defence as an area to improve on, and we failed in the league because of that. Areola and Rico may have been good players for us but they didn't stop us going down, so it begs the question what good were they ultimately. Rodak is a good keeper and certainly not a weak link in the team, he's a full international for Slovakia and he's at the age where he'll want to improve and prove that he can do it at a higher level. Brentford and Leeds have both kept their keepers since going up (Meslier and Raya) and they've both done well for them since, so I don't see why Rodak couldn't do the same.

[Nero]

Re. Tom Lawrence, I'd definitely take him for the Championship but for the Premier League I'm not convinced he'd really be able to make the step up, especially since he's 28 and hasn't got much room for potential, whereas Harry Wilson I can see being able to push on. I'm not overly fussed about us signing anyone this window as long as Fabio signs, I think we need to be drawing up a list of targets for the summer for if and when we go up, so we aren't slow off the mark as we often are. Priority then will have to be the defence, we'll need at least two defenders who are Premier League quality, and perhaps one more with room for growth, then I'd start looking at the midfield with a view to strengthening in the middle. What I don't want us to do is do what we did in the last two prem seasons and prioritise a goalkeeper, as I believe Marek is more than good enough for the Prem, and I don't like our habit of loaning in various keepers and then rotating around until we find one that works. Our Prem team next season (should we be there) should be evolutionary not revolutionary, and to that extent I wouldn't replace current first-team players just for the sake of it.

I wouldn't take him at all wasn't he one of the players that were involved in the drink driving incident

[ianthailand]

I'm happy with Rodak next season if we go up... if Rodak wins his second promotion to the premier league with us and once again is not given a chance then quite frankly every youth prospect we have shouldn't stick around and we would fully deserve it.

+1. The only caveat would be if we could get Areola on a long term contract. He's class.

[ianthailand]

I like Rodak but he is no Ariola. hew has conceded cheap goals of late which he should have been getter closer to: Sheffield utd , Bristol city and Birmingham games all raise abit of a question mark for me if he is top class.

Very harsh Colin.

[Neutral Zone Ultra]

Worth mentioning that if we got Areola back (which we most likely won't), he'll be our highest paid player by a fair amount

[JimOG]

I'm happy with Rodak next season if we go up... if Rodak wins his second promotion to the premier league with us and once again is not given a chance then quite frankly every youth prospect we have shouldn't stick around and we would fully deserve it.

+1. The only caveat would be if we could get Areola on a long term contract. He's class.

Agreed - we talked about the need to try to keep as many of the current squad in our Prem set up IF we go up. Replacing Rodak would be way down my list. We'll need 2 centre backs and cover at full backs first

[Tabby]

I'm happy with Rodak next season if we go up... if Rodak wins his second promotion to the premier league with us and once again is not given a chance then quite frankly every youth prospect we have shouldn't stick around and we would fully deserve it.

Yeah, it is interesting how people keep banging on about how our youth prospects should be loyal when we are ready to discard them as soon as we get a chance. Rodak was on the same level as Raya the season we went up last and he did well for Brentford after going up (before his injury).

Areola is a great keeper, but he is also very expensive and there are other areas where I think we'd be better off investing first.

[We Are Premier League]

John Lundstram could be a good signing, was great in the PL with She U and is apparently about to leave rangers.

[Neutral Zone Ultra]

John Lundstram could be a good signing, was great in the PL with She U and is apparently about to leave rangers.

Form fell off a cliff in their relegation season and upset a lot of their supporters with a perceived lack of effort and downing tools once the Rangers interest came. Damaged goods for me but in theory if he was as good as he was before all that for Sheff U then he could be a good signing, but personally think better is out there.

[colinwhite]

I like Rodak but he is no Ariola. hew has conceded cheap goals of late which he should have been getter closer to: Sheffield utd , Bristol city and Birmingham games all raise abit of a question mark for me if he is top class.

Very harsh Colin.

Agree its harsh ,but we are talking about a tough league and letting goals in at your near post ,or side foot shots from 25b yards raises questions. Im not saying he is nt good enough, just that he needs to keep improving.
There is not a lot of room for sentiment if we want to stay up when we get there. Rodak is number 1 now ,no question and he he will know he has to cut out some of the goals the he has conceded of late.

[Whitestone]

I like Rodak but he is no Ariola. hew has conceded cheap goals of late which he should have been getter closer to: Sheffield utd , Bristol city and Birmingham games all raise abit of a question mark for me if he is top class.

Very harsh Colin.

It might sound harsh but it's true.

Areola and Andersen where our best players last season by a country mile. If we go up we will need to fill those shoes to have any chance of survival. I think too many posters are blinded by sentiment. Supporters will always support, players come and go. If the owners are as ambitious as I believe they are they should bring in the best players to achieve the target of Premier League survival in the first instance.

[Neutral Zone Ultra]

Re. Tom Lawrence, I'd definitely take him for the Championship but for the Premier League I'm not convinced he'd really be able to make the step up, especially since he's 28 and hasn't got much room for potential, whereas Harry Wilson I can see being able to push on. I'm not overly fussed about us signing anyone this window as long as Fabio signs, I think we need to be drawing up a list of targets for the summer for if and when we go up, so we aren't slow off the mark as we often are. Priority then will have to be the defence, we'll need at least two defenders who are Premier League quality, and perhaps one more with room for growth, then I'd start looking at the midfield with a view to strengthening in the middle. What I don't want us to do is do what we did in the last two prem seasons and prioritise a goalkeeper, as I believe Marek is more than good enough for the Prem, and I don't like our habit of loaning in various keepers and then rotating around until we find one that works. Our Prem team next season (should we be there) should be evolutionary not revolutionary, and to that extent I wouldn't replace current first-team players just for the sake of it.

I wouldn't take him at all wasn't he one of the players that were involved in the drink driving incident

He was yes, and he rightfully got a lot of stick for it from the Derby fans. However I believe he was very repentant and has matured since then, working for a cancer charity in the meantime and stepped up to take the captain's armband. I hate drink-driving as much as anyone but I think he deserves some credit for seemingly coming out of it a better person (and player)

[Mr K.Dilkington]

John Lundstram could be a good signing, was great in the PL with She U and is apparently about to leave rangers.

Form fell off a cliff in their relegation season and upset a lot of their supporters with a perceived lack of effort and downing tools once the Rangers interest came. Damaged goods for me but in theory if he was as good as he was before all that for Sheff U then he could be a good signing, but personally think better is out there.

We do need a lot of players who will run,work hard/put a shift in and run channels etc if we're going to have a chance to stay up. Function>style to beat the drop. At least until you've stabilised

[Jeroen]

I like Rodak but he is no Ariola. hew has conceded cheap goals of late which he should have been getter closer to: Sheffield utd , Bristol city and Birmingham games all raise abit of a question mark for me if he is top class.

Very harsh Colin.

Is Ariola better than Rodak - yes no doubt
Is hey worth the big money he is on be our budget - I'm not sure!!

If we would have spend his PSG salary on a decent midfield loan player (rather than RLC) would we have more points last season? Ariola made some amazing saves, but I think his loan fee and heavy salary would have been better spend in other areas last season (beating in min FFP)

So in short:
Ariola to replace Fabri with the same wages - YES PLEASE
Ariola on PSG wages - no thanks, let's revisit that on deadline day once we know the rest of our players/budget

[LC]

My list next season:

Goalkeeper (not necessarily to replace Rodak)
Centre back
Left back
Midfielder
Left forward
Striker (challenge to Mitro and Fabio Carv)

[St Eve]

Ariola playing for the Hammers today

[Mr K.Dilkington]

Another huge summer for Tony"the phoney"Khan and mackintosh to f_uck up lol

[Mr K.Dilkington]

Ariola playing for the Hammers today

Until I saw this today I thought he was their starting GK all season

[WestSussexWhite]

With Tete potentially out for a while, I wonder if a new RB might now be on the agenda? I will try and find out