Excellent write-up again mate.
Overall, it seems entitled to say I'm disappointed, but I am. We made a lot of signings, but still have glaring gaps in the squad. I really thought we would at least get another two in on TDD, with Koeman very public in saying how badly we needed them. I would like to hear an explanation of how we could spend what we did, and still fail to sign another striker. It's difficult to see how we can break the Top 6, and that should have been the objective, perhaps it is. I just feel that RK can now shrug his shoulders at the end of the season and say to the board that he didn't get what he asked for. He did get a lot, but not enough.
If you look at it as another phase in a rebuilding process and take a more medium-term view, then we have laid some very good foundations for the next 5 years with the players signed, and for longer than that with some of them. Pickford in particular seems to be the keeper we have been waiting for since Nigel Martyn. It is a position so difficult to fill well, and he will stand us in fine stead for a decade and more hopefully.
The level of damage and decay inflicted on the squad that was allowed to take hold and develop under Martinez' tenure should not be overlooked either. It is a huge indictment on him and the board that, with the exclusion of a few players and particularly our wantaway so-called stars, that Koeman inherited a squad in need of virtually a complete overhaul.That was never going to be completed in 14 months.
We could badly do with filling the striker position in January, but how knows who will be available and what money there will be to spend. Other than that I still feel, now, that we are too short to be able to contemplate a really strong challenge to some of the sides above us.
Next summer's window will be the final year of Koeman's contract. I always felt that it would only be in that final season that, if all went to plan, we would be in a position to have a better crack at breaking through the glass ceiling. So in that sense, we are have not fallen behind. I do think though that this summer represented a unique opportunity to bring in both quality and quantity, and we have not done near enough of the former for attacking positions. I do not expect us to make any significant sales next summer, and we will not sign anything like the same volume of players either, nor do we need to. If we could only have just pushed the boat out a little further for a striker now, with a long season ahead.
Ultimately, I fear we have done a lot of business, and will just stand still. The team and squad will need months to gel and be able to work together effectively, that's fine. My gut tells me though we will finish around 7th again. And then it all comes back to next summer. In that sense, the next 2-3 signings, potentially in January and next summer, will be the defining ones of Koeman's reign and prospects for success. It would have been reasonable to compromise a little and get a lower-priority target signing, like Slimani, for example, signed last week to provide an outlet and beef up our options.
Now that the window is closed, we need to pick off targets very carefully next time around. I'm also not clear of the role Walsh takes with regard to signings that are brought in ready for the first-team, right now. It is his role which will be crucial as none of us know what Koeman's long-term thinking is. He does seem to like a get out of jail free card, and if we have not made tangible progress at the end of the season, my guess is that he will stall on the signing of a contract extension, much like he did at Soton. Whilst we all want success now, the important thing is progress and sustainability. We have done very well in bringing the average age down, in bringing through the likes of Davies and DCL, and we need more of this. Perhaps Koeman will ultimately be seen as Phase 1 of the rebuild in his own right, and pass the baton on in 2 years.
