We messed up in the January window

[1964white]

Poor window cost us.

Typical Leeds trying to do it on the cheap.

I hope we see big changes in the summer.

[Ratscoot]

Poor window cost us.

Typical Leeds trying to do it on the cheap.

I hope we see big changes in the summer.

Agree none of them improved the squad, I feel Pedraza is worth keeping as I feel he'll be much better next season when we win the league

[weasel]

Pedrazza definitely looks like a quality player, heck of a shot of him, pace and not afraid to get stuck in defensively - would like to see us keep him but doubt we will pay the agreed fee as we won't be getting the prem money. Barrow a strange one, like Grimes, a player that Monk knew from before but seemingly not good enough. I deffo think Fletcher was the one we wanted but West Ham d*cked about and then on the last day decided to keep him.

[1964white]

Pedrazza definitely looks like a quality player, heck of a shot of him, pace and not afraid to get stuck in defensively - would like to see us keep him but doubt we will pay the agreed fee as we won't be getting the prem money. Barrow a strange one, like Grimes, a player that Monk knew from before but seemingly not good enough. I deffo think Fletcher was the one we wanted but West Ham d*cked about and then on the last day decided to keep him.

Had Pedrazza buried his shot that hit the post at Fulham & the one which hit the bar at Newcastle he would have made a significant contribution to our season.....fine margins
Sadly he didn't ! I personally don't think he is worth the fee being touted.

As for Grimes & the wheelie bin Swansea are welcomed to them, simply not good enough !

[weasel]

Don't forget either his great shot shortly after coming on v Huddersfield which if I remember rightly would have put us 2-1 up - fine margins indeed. The agree fee is somewhere in the region of €10m so around £8m - £8.5m dependant on the exchange rate. Considering he came from a completely different style of play and possibly also a much less competitive division (despite living in Spain I don't know how strong La Liga B is although when I saw Valencia play Celta Vigo recently I was not impressed with two mid to lower league La Liga sides). Having the ability to smash a shot from distance (rather than trying to curl it to the top corner) is a priceless skill as it is harder to defend against someone who is a threat from any distance. He also has pace and skill as well as working hard and looking like a team player. I would be delighted if we signed him but sadly the fee may be too much for us.

[Gandalf]

The Pedraza fee was based on the premise that we would be in the Premiership. With that looking increasingly unlikely, there may be the possibility of another loan deal. I think he definitely showed some promise. It all depends on what Villareal have planned for him, I suppose.

[lufc1304]

Agree with what has been said re the January window generally, and Pedrazza in particular. I'm not a fan of the January window, but it was patently obvious we needed to add to a squad whose core was solid but the fringes ropey. That lack of depth is what has ultimately cost us, as we have been reliant on the same group of players throughout the campaign with very few on the bench giving Monk any decisions to make.

Pedrazza looks a player we should be thinking about buying, even at £8m. Clubs in this division are paying upward of £10m for players (Wendies, Brighton etc); if we don't keep up, we'll be left behind. I'll temper that by saying we shouldn't be profligate and mortgage the club's future, but this is where the much-heralded Radzrianni (sic?) has to earn his corn.

[weasel]

I am hopeful that we will do well this transfer window. Taylor will go, no doubt about that, and whilst we won't get his worth we should at least get around £4m which gives us a bit more to spend. As we already have a player, Berardi, who can replace him we don't need to spend the money there especially with Coyle and Denton as back-ups. Centreback area is key and I can see Pontus going, regardless of whether he is our player or Torino's. Hopefully he will stay, seems to like the club and is playing regularly which he might not at a premiership club. However I would think it is more likely he will go as clubs rarely win when keeping hold of unhappy players (who want to move to the prem). As such we need to replace him and hopefully he is ours and we will get a decent fee and make profit on him (gone are the days, I hope, of the Bates transfers where we never seemed to get full value). Bartley may get a better offer elsewhere, lower end Prem or Swansea wanting to keep him. If they want to sell and he wants to come to us then the fee may be a stumbling block. I would imagine we could have signed him for £2m to £3m last year but his value will have gone up and Swansea could be asking silly money (i.e. £8m) which I doubt we would pay. As such the crux of our transfer window is replacing them. Chris Wood may also leave but we'd get a decent fee for him so it would then be up to Monk to use the money well to get a replacement.

After that is all done the only place we are desperately needing to improve is a box to box style midfield who offers a goal threat. We need a Lee Bowyer type who will graft and also score.

The rest of the team fairly much is okay with likely

GK Green
LB Berardi
RB Ayling
CB ?
CB ?
DM Bridcutt/Vieira/Phillips/O'Kane
Other CM ?
LW Roofe/Dallas/Doukara
RW Roofe/Dallas/Doukara
AM Hernandez (Roofe if Hernandez unavailable)
CF Wood (or striker bought with the money we get from selling him)

[1964white]

I am hopeful that we will do well this transfer window. Taylor will go, no doubt about that, and whilst we won't get his worth we should at least get around £4m which gives us a bit more to spend. As we already have a player, Berardi, who can replace him we don't need to spend the money there especially with Coyle and Denton as back-ups. Centreback area is key and I can see Pontus going, regardless of whether he is our player or Torino's. Hopefully he will stay, seems to like the club and is playing regularly which he might not at a premiership club. However I would think it is more likely he will go as clubs rarely win when keeping hold of unhappy players (who want to move to the prem). As such we need to replace him and hopefully he is ours and we will get a decent fee and make profit on him (gone are the days, I hope, of the Bates transfers where we never seemed to get full value). Bartley may get a better offer elsewhere, lower end Prem or Swansea wanting to keep him. If they want to sell and he wants to come to us then the fee may be a stumbling block. I would imagine we could have signed him for £2m to £3m last year but his value will have gone up and Swansea could be asking silly money (i.e. £8m) which I doubt we would pay. As such the crux of our transfer window is replacing them. Chris Wood may also leave but we'd get a decent fee for him so it would then be up to Monk to use the money well to get a replacement.

After that is all done the only place we are desperately needing to improve is a box to box style midfield who offers a goal threat. We need a Lee Bowyer type who will graft and also score.

The rest of the team fairly much is okay with likely

GK Green
LB Berardi
RB Ayling
CB ?
CB ?
DM Bridcutt/Vieira/Phillips/O'Kane
Other CM ?
LW Roofe/Dallas/Doukara
RW Roofe/Dallas/Doukara
AM Hernandez (Roofe if Hernandez unavailable)
CF Wood (or striker bought with the money we get from selling him)

Monk, Pontus, Bartley & Wood are major concerns this summer

Keep those four & we have a base to build on

[Gandalf]

The rest of the team fairly much is okay with likely

GK Green
LB Berardi
RB Ayling
CB ?
CB ?
DM Bridcutt/Vieira/Phillips/O'Kane
Other CM ?
LW Roofe/Dallas/Doukara
RW Roofe/Dallas/Doukara
AM Hernandez (Roofe if Hernandez unavailable)
CF Wood (or striker bought with the money we get from selling him)

Losing both central defenders would be catastrophic, and very difficult to replace. Looking at the eight midfielders you have down there, Vieira is the only one that I rate highly, and he could be the box to box player you want. The rest are Ok on their day, but their day doesn't come around often enough. What we really need in the engine room is a leader, and there are not that many of them around. Major surgery is needed in the midfield this summer.

[Durly]

100% agree with Leon. Number 1 priority = get Monk signed up and then the three players he mentions. It is imperative that we keep them (Jansson, Bartley and Wood.......I'd also add Ayling). That would give us a solid base to start with. Keeping our good, young players (Vieira especially) is also very important. Taylor will go, we know that. Berardi can play there and is an excellent option to cover each FB position but we'll need another, quality LB to replace the departing CT.
We need to be adding players that will help Wood (pleeeeease don't leave) with the goalscoring duties and players who will bring that creative spark that has been lacking sometimes, which Hernandez has shown at times, when he's "at it".
The players have done better than most of us imagined this season but the big test in the Summer will now be to add better quality players in key positions to take us to the next level and be considered a serious promotion contender. That means investment.......pure and simple. I don't have a problem with bringing in 2-3 Premier League quality loan players as part of this if the right ones are available and will really add something that we need and don't have but let's not flood the squad with players we don't own.

[1964white]

100% agree with Leon. Number 1 priority = get Monk signed up and then the three players he mentions. It is imperative that we keep them (Jansson, Bartley and Wood.......I'd also add Ayling). That would give us a solid base to start with. Keeping our good, young players (Vieira especially) is also very important. Taylor will go, we know that. Berardi can play there and is an excellent option to cover each FB position but we'll need another, quality LB to replace the departing CT.
We need to be adding players that will help Wood (pleeeeease don't leave) with the goalscoring duties and players who will bring that creative spark that has been lacking sometimes, which Hernandez has shown at times, when he's "at it".
The players have done better than most of us imagined this season but the big test in the Summer will now be to add better quality players in key positions to take us to the next level and be considered a serious promotion contender. That means investment.......pure and simple. I don't have a problem with bringing in 2-3 Premier League quality loan players as part of this if the right ones are available and will really add something that we need and don't have but let's not flood the squad with players we don't own

Or players on the cheap who are clearly not good enough !

I really hope Charlie stays

Ayling, Berardi, Green & Vieira will stay at Leeds, outside of those & the players we all know need to remain at ER, I wouldn't give a monkey's chuff if we lost the rest

[lufc1304]

Whilst childish (if true), Monk's selection for the Sutton game proved that, despite what Cellino is supposed to have said, we have no strength in depth. We have quantity but, outside of a core of 15 or so, we haven't the quality. I've said it elsewhere, but what we do over the next few months will define our fortunes for the next few years. Ideal scenario is that the board see the steps we've taken forward, and support Monk in taking the next step. Doomsday is that we don't tie Monk down and accept offers for our better players. Fingers crossed it's the former

[Durly]

Whilst childish (if true), Monk's selection for the Sutton game proved that, despite what Cellino is supposed to have said, we have no strength in depth. We have quantity but, outside of a core of 15 or so, we haven't the quality. I've said it elsewhere, but what we do over the next few months will define our fortunes for the next few years. Ideal scenario is that the board see the steps we've taken forward, and support Monk in taking the next step. Doomsday is that we don't tie Monk down and accept offers for our better players. Fingers crossed it's the former

Definitely. We need to start planning and taking action as soon as our season is finished as well......whether that be after the Norwich game if POs is mathematically gone by then, after Wigan if that game is our last of the season or (in the best case scenario) after our play off campaign has finished. Pre-seasons have been woeful (seemingly) in terms of organisation, getting things done and getting them done in plenty of time to allow the squad to gel. Obviously, starting each pre-season on the look out for a new manager/head coach hasn't helped this. This could (if we secure Monk's future quickly) be our best pre-season in years if we plan and organise properly and effectively. He needs to be taken seriously, needs to name his targets early and make damn sure that the owner/owners/whoever is running the show after the season has finished is taking him seriously and moving heaven and earth to get him what he needs in plenty of time to get the squad sorted and ready.

[1964white]

Definitely. We need to start planning and taking action as soon as our season is finished as well......whether that be after the Norwich game if POs is mathematically gone by then, after Wigan if that game is our last of the season or (in the best case scenario) after our play off campaign has finished. Pre-seasons have been woeful (seemingly) in terms of organisation, getting things done and getting them done in plenty of time to allow the squad to gel. Obviously, starting each pre-season on the look out for a new manager/head coach hasn't helped this. This could (if we secure Monk's future quickly) be our best pre-season in years if we plan and organise properly and effectively. He needs to be taken seriously, needs to name his targets early and make damn sure that the owner/owners/whoever is running the show after the season has finished is taking him seriously and moving heaven and earth to get him what he needs in plenty of time to get the squad sorted and ready.

More likely second week in July mate although they are much quicker off the mark for seaon-ticket monies so for once we maybe organised & thinking big. We'll wait & see !

[Crude]

But who realistically, was available for a decent price in January, and would come to Leeds, and would've made significant contributions?

[weasel]

The hopeful thing with this summer is that we aren't wasting half of it before appointing a manager. Assuming that Monk stays then he should be making all the decisions relating to pre-season training and friendlies/tours etc and then the club can get everything sorted out quickly (rather than having tentative plans then lumping them on to a new manager appointed too late to change anything).

Likewise Monk can hopefully identify transfer targets and he will know which players might be queuing up to leave. If players are to leave then hopefully they will do so quickly giving us time to find replacements rather than us scurrying around till the last day of the window then not being able to get our first choice target and having to sign players that aren't good enough.

[weasel]

But who realistically, was available for a decent price in January, and would come to Leeds, and would've made significant contributions?

The point I keep making. Easy to say we needed quality back-up but harder to actually get a player of decent quality to come in and sit on the bench and get a couple of starts.

[1964white]

The hopeful thing with this summer is that we aren't wasting half of it before appointing a manager Assuming that Monk stays then he should be making all the decisions relating to pre-season training and friendlies/tours etc and then the club can get everything sorted out quickly (rather than having tentative plans then lumping them on to a new manager appointed too late to change anything).

Likewise Monk can hopefully identify transfer targets and he will know which players might be queuing up to leave. If players are to leave then hopefully they will do so quickly giving us time to find replacements rather than us scurrying around till the last day of the window then not being able to get our first choice target and having to sign players that aren't good enough.

Monk was appointed on the 2nd June 2016

I think the key to it all is GM has a much better idea of the players within his squad now as oppose to last year when his knowledge of the players he inherited was limited, he then was prepared to give certain players the benefit of the doubt to prove themselves which was all wasted time to a degree !

He handed the captain/vice-captains armbands to Bamba & Cooper & soon realised within two or three games that both were not good enough for a first team place in his squad.
Also with Berardi injured in our first match at QPR & Coyle still raw Monk reacted quickly by signing Luke Ayling to fill those boots.
Hopefully he doesn't have to start all over again this summer !

[liggy]

ok everyone happy ,still vote labour I know ,
The snow queens away to get the sproglins
So me and the son in law thick geordie are away to see I've been assured .
His toon not mine get promoted .
The things ones got to do to avoid sproglins

Ffs Mr Corbyn press the elfin button