It's still far too early to judge this wondow, surely? I am firmly of the belief that this is the most optimistic I've ever felt the day after the transfer deadline, but that optimism will be justified or proved misplaced by the results over the next 38 weeks.
I do worry that we don't have a sutiable backup for Coleman. Sure we have some players who provide depth at RB, but none of them are equipped to play the position the way Seamus does. On the left we have a better scenario - if Baines is unavailable, Oviedo steps in and there is almost no drop-off in terms of performance. On the right however.... time will tell.
I voted B+ in the poll. The sum spent does not matter to me, provided we don't overspend and put ourselves in financial jeopardy; I'm more concerned that our needs be addressed. On that basis, I'm pretty happy.
1) Eto'o and Lukaku in means we now aren't short of quality strikers AND we are ok if Kone stays injured
2) Atsu in means we have a bit of depth on RW that we didn't have after Del left.
3) Barry and Besic in means we are less vulnerable if Gibson gets injured again
Going forward we need to be mindful of:
Howard, Hibbert, Osman, Jags, Pienaar, Distin, Barry and Eto'o all at an age where we must at least identify suitable replacements ready for promotion from the youth ranks. We have taken some small steps in making our first eleven less reliant on these players, and in doing so we've built a stronger squad. Stones, Besic, Barkley, and Lukaku are all under 22 and I expect Stones and Besic to be first XI regulars within 18 months: that's a GREAT young spine for the next six or seven years, and this window has been part of that process.