January Transfer Window: Are We Happy?

January Transfer Window:

  • Happy

    Votes: 47 26.0%

  • Unhappy

    Votes: 24 13.3%

  • Indifferent

    Votes: 110 60.8%
  • Total voters
    181

KiD MoYeS

Good Craig got his c'nuppins
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So, it's all said and done.

Many felt we needed to add to our defence, and I'd find it hard to argue otherwise... But January is a difficult month to do serious business.

Players in
Victor Valdes
Sadiq El Fitouri
Andy Kellett (loan)

Players out
Marnick Vermijl
Wilfried Zaha
Anderson (:))
Darren Fletcher (:()
Will Keane (loan)
Saidy Janko (loan)
Jesse Lingard (loan)

Think that's all our business, but I may have missed something.

Happy with our business? We've shifted out a couple of wasters in Anderson and Zaha, and lost a true pro in Fletcher. We've brought in a great understudy to de Gea too. But I can't help but feel a centre-back would've been nice but we'll see how our current crop hold out for the rest of the season.
 
Positives are that we got rid of some deadwood (not all). Negative is that we didn't bring in a CB.

So I'm indifferent. New CB would have been nice but this team should really be getting top 4 regardless.
 
Suppose it was a bit of let down, the window. But I wouldn't say I'm unhappy, think we did well to rid ourselves of Anderson and Zaha, and we've got some nice loan moves for Kean, Janko and Lingard, be interesting to follow them for the remainder of the season.
 
I voted unhappy simply because I feel we needed a CB that wasn't Jones or Smalling to partner Rojo, however I accept that neither Hummels or Godfin were possible so maybe there should be a frustrated option?

I still think we are lacking quite a bit but none of it was possible to fix in this window. As for the deadwood shifting, we got practically nothing for them and they didn't affect our team one way or another. Pleased for Fletcher though as he wants to play and we can't accommodate him.
 
Glad we didn't panic buy a second or third choice defender just to bring one in and all the signs are saying we're waiting for our main targets (Hummels, Laporte, Varane, Marquinhos) to be available in the summer. We should have more then enough to get top 4 as it is. Van Gaal's done well in identifying what players are deadwood though and has shifted the vast majority of them off relatively quickly.

The players we have left are all relatively young with our u21 players that came through or have a certain type of quality which makes them useful to the squad like Fellaini, or just top class players like Mata, Herrera, Di Maria, the forwards... It's only in defence where we still need to have a bit of a makeover but I'm sure that'll happen in the summer when we can actually bring in our targets. Wouldn't be surprised to see 3 of the 4 mentioned above come in and see Evans and Jones sold or something like that.
 
Raw said:
Positives are that we got rid of some deadwood (not all). Negative is that we didn't bring in a CB.

So I'm indifferent. New CB would have been nice but this team should really be getting top 4 regardless.
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Not sure we really have much dead wood left? Apart from in defence, but we can't change that around until we bring in players to replace the likes of Evans and Jones. Would say our midfield and attack is pretty void of deadwood at this point, all can be very useful players at least.
 
bosnian_red said:
Not sure we really have much dead wood left? Apart from in defence, but we can't change that around until we bring in players to replace the likes of Evans and Jones. Would say our midfield and attack is pretty void of deadwood at this point, all can be very useful players at least.
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Well there's still some on loan and there's also Lindegaard if he counts, but I probably overestimated the amount of deadwood to be fair.
 
bosnian_red said:
Not sure we really have much dead wood left? Apart from in defence, but we can't change that around until we bring in players to replace the likes of Evans and Jones. Would say our midfield and attack is pretty void of deadwood at this point, all can be very useful players at least.
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Looking at the squad list, it's just youngsters and the players we've loaned out left (ignoring the defenders since like you say we need replacements there). Pretty good going considering the squad was full of crap not too long ago.
 
Im happy.

We got rid of some of the wasters and deadwood we've been accumulating in recent years. It was important to address that issue and start doing something about it. Fergie was blind to it towards the end and Moyes was incapable.

It would have been nice to bring in a couple of key positions but its even nicer not to go panic buying like we did last January. If the right players are not available, its better to wait for the summer.

I also think it was a smart move bringing Valdes in, either to weaken DDG's negotiating position or if LVG knows he's going.
 
Raw said:
Well there's still some on loan and there's also Lindegaard if he counts, but I probably overestimated the amount of deadwood to be fair.
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Yeah, a few of those on loan are pretty much gone anyways. Pretty amazing looking at all the players we've sold this season:
  • Buttner
  • Ferdinand
  • Macheda
  • Vidic
  • Evra
  • Bebe
  • Kagawa
  • Welbeck
  • Fletcher
  • Zaha
  • Youngsters like Barmby, Ekangamene, Rowley, Lawrence, Petrucci, Michael Keane, Vermijl
And then on loan but most likely gone in the summer:
  • Nani (only one I have hope for still at United)
  • Henriquez
  • Hernandez
  • Cleverley
Pretty big list that. Only brought in Herrera, Shaw, Rojo, Di Maria, Blind, Valdes and Falcao on loan to replace them.
 
bosnian_red said:
Not sure we really have much dead wood left? Apart from in defence, but we can't change that around until we bring in players to replace the likes of Evans and Jones. Would say our midfield and attack is pretty void of deadwood at this point, all can be very useful players at least.
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Cleverley (loaned out)
Amos (loaned out)
Lindegaard (still at club)
Hernandez (loaned out)
Nani (loaned out)
Evans (still at club)

Are probably the only ones left, and four of them are loaned out which isn't too bad but would have been nice if we could have got the first three on the list out of the club for good.

Pretty happy overall. Yeah, we didn't make any signings of note but I didn't really expect us to. No point in making some short term buys at high cost if we plan on then signing someone else in the summer in that position. At least with what we've done by shifting some of the deadwood, we're improving the squad in a way as they won't be taking game time off other first teamers or even some youth.

Main worry right now is the number of injuries we keep accumulating. We need to sort that out.
 
Damien said:
Cleverley (loaned out)
Amos (loaned out)
Lindegaard (still at club)
Hernandez (loaned out)
Nani (loaned out)
Evans (still at club)

Are probably the only ones left, and four of them are loaned out which isn't too bad but would have been nice if we could have got the first three on the list out of the club for good.

Pretty happy overall. Yeah, we didn't make any signings of note but I didn't really expect us to. No point in making some short term buys at high cost if we plan on then signing someone else in the summer in that position. At least with what we've done by shifting some of the deadwood, we're improving the squad in a way as they won't be taking game time off other first teamers or even some youth.

Main worry right now is the number of injuries we keep accumulating. We need to sort that out.
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Is Evans really considered deadwood?
 
Valencia, Young and Smalling/Evans/Jones will hopefully be sold next summer.
 
Barney said:
Is Evans really considered deadwood?
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Honestly I wouldn't class him as it (and didn't have him in the list originally), but he gets a lot of disdain on here with a lot wanting him replaced. I'm happy with keeping him for rest of season and finding a replacement in summer. He's been pretty poor this season.
 
Damien said:
Cleverley (loaned out)
Amos (loaned out)
Lindegaard (still at club)
Hernandez (loaned out)
Nani (loaned out)
Evans (still at club)

Are probably the only ones left, and four of them are loaned out which isn't too bad but would have been nice if we could have got the first three on the list out of the club for good.

Pretty happy overall. Yeah, we didn't make any signings of note but I didn't really expect us to. No point in making some short term buys at high cost if we plan on then signing someone else in the summer in that position. At least with what we've done by shifting some of the deadwood, we're improving the squad in a way as they won't be taking game time off other first teamers or even some youth.

Main worry right now is the number of injuries we keep accumulating. We need to sort that out.
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Yep. I'm sure we'll still get around 10m for Hernandez pretty easily, or should be able to, and the other two are just keepers anyways who will most likely be released if nothing. With Evans, it would've been risky getting rid of him considering our injuries at the back. As you said, he's not really deadwood but his biggest problem is the constant injuries along with the poor performances. If he didn't have the injuries then he would be fine as cover IMO.

Ideally in the summer we bring in a right back who is starting quality (Coleman/Clyne), a left back, and 2 center backs to replace Evans and whoever else we choose to get rid of. That way we don't have to rely on the main injury culprits like Rafael, Smalling, Jones, Evans, Shaw and if they get over the injury problems then it's all the better for us, but if not then we don't feel it too much.
 
Damien said:
Honestly I wouldn't class him as it (and didn't have him in the list originally), but he gets a lot of disdain on here with a lot wanting him replaced. I'm happy with keeping him for rest of season and finding a replacement in summer. He's been pretty poor this season.
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I think he's good enough for the squad this season, but ideally we can sell him in the summer and bring in some quality. To me that's pretty much exactly what "deadwood" means - a player you want to get rid of because they're not considered good enough.
 
bosnian_red said:
Yeah, a few of those on loan are pretty much gone anyways. Pretty amazing looking at all the players we've sold this season:
  • Buttner
  • Ferdinand
  • Macheda
  • Vidic
  • Evra
  • Bebe
  • Kagawa
  • Welbeck
  • Fletcher
  • Zaha
  • Youngsters like Barmby, Ekangamene, Rowley, Lawrence, Petrucci, Michael Keane, Vermijl
And then on loan but most likely gone in the summer:
  • Nani (only one I have hope for still at United)
  • Henriquez
  • Hernandez
  • Cleverley
Pretty big list that. Only brought in Herrera, Shaw, Rojo, Di Maria, Blind, Valdes and Falcao on loan to replace them.
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Yeah, pretty much all of them were deadwood too apart from Welbeck who could have still added something, and possibly Evra. Good to see us cutting down on the deadwood that have been accumulated over recent years like 11101 said.

Think I remember reading before season started that LVG wanted to have a squad of around 20 first teamers with other positions being filled by youth if needed. We've finally got there:

  1. De Gea
  2. Rafael
  3. Shaw
  4. Jones
  5. Rojo
  6. Evans
  7. Di Maria
  8. Mata
  9. Falcao (loan)
  10. Rooney
  11. Januzaj
  12. Smalling
  13. Carrick
  14. Blind
  15. Young
  16. van Persie
  17. Herrera
  18. Valencia
  19. Fellaini
  20. Valdes
  21. Wilson
With the likes of McNair and Blackett coming into the first team too from the youth side of things.
 
Happy. I'd rather we wait until Summer to get our primary targets (whoever they may be), than panic buy.

We've got a good enough team, not only to be top four, but to me challenging for the title, in my opinion. Unfortunately, we've had a lot of injuries this season and haven't been able to field the same team for more than two games.

This is not to say we don't need players in the Summer, but I feel our squad, for now, is good enough to secure top four.
 
Damien said:
Yeah, pretty much all of them were deadwood too apart from Welbeck who could have still added something, and possibly Evra. Good to see us cutting down on the deadwood that have been accumulated over recent years like 11101 said.

Think I remember reading before season started that LVG wanted to have a squad of around 20 first teamers with other positions being filled by youth if needed. We've finally got there:

  1. De Gea
  2. Rafael
  3. Shaw
  4. Jones
  5. Rojo
  6. Evans
  7. Di Maria
  8. Mata
  9. Falcao (loan)
  10. Rooney
  11. Januzaj
  12. Smalling
  13. Carrick
  14. Blind
  15. Young
  16. van Persie
  17. Herrera
  18. Valencia
  19. Fellaini
  20. Valdes
  21. Wilson
With the likes of McNair and Blackett coming into the first team too from the youth side of things.
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Yeah looking back Welbeck would have been far more useful as a squad player then Falcao who causes more issues to the balance of the team IMO despite having decent performances for the most part, but I think the issue was he didn't want to be a squad player anymore and Van Gaal wasn't forcing him to stay. A small issue maybe will be next season, if we don't strengthen properly in the summer or the youngsters don't progress properly, with the size of the squad. It used to be way too big and we've rightfully cut it down because we desperately needed that, but now we need to strengthen for sure next summer. We're having trouble keeping the squad fit with only premier league games to worry about, how will it be with added European football and more then likely more Capital one cup games?

Love how you just gave up on following the proper player numbers about half way through :lol:
 
bosnian_red said:
Yeah looking back Welbeck would have been far more useful as a squad player then Falcao who causes more issues to the balance of the team IMO despite having decent performances for the most part, but I think the issue was he didn't want to be a squad player anymore and Van Gaal wasn't forcing him to stay. A small issue maybe will be next season, if we don't strengthen properly in the summer or the youngsters don't progress properly, with the size of the squad. It used to be way too big and we've rightfully cut it down because we desperately needed that, but now we need to strengthen for sure next summer. We're having trouble keeping the squad fit with only premier league games to worry about, how will it be with added European football and more then likely more Capital one cup games?

Love how you just gave up on following the proper player numbers about half way through :lol:
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I just used the number bullet points to show the number of players :p just a coincidence that the the first 12 fit perfectly.
 
This thread is going to be jokes if we don't make top 4 now.

I'm indifferent tbh, we all know we need to strengthen, but we don't want to panic buy on players we don't need like last January. I would have liked us to sign someone like Schnielderlin or Carvalho due to Carrick's injury but oh well, I guess they can wait 5 months.
 
I agree about us needing to bulk up for next season. Hopefully we can qualify for the CL and bring in the quality needed in the summer - with CB, RB and LB cover, winger/forward a priority.

SonnyTheHaloPro said:
This thread is going to be jokes if we don't make top 4 now.

I'm indifferent tbh, we all know we need to strengthen, but we don't want to panic buy on players we don't need like last January. I would have liked us to sign someone like Schnielderlin or Carvalho due to Carrick's injury but oh well, I guess they can wait 5 months.
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According to @Sly, Carvalho's not been doing that great this season, and as for Schneiderlin no way would Southampton have sold to a competing team midseason.
 
Damien said:
I agree about us needing to bulk up for next season. Hopefully we can qualify for the CL and bring in the quality needed in the summer - with CB, RB and LB cover, winger/forward a priority.



According to @Sly, Carvalho's not been doing that great this season, and as for Schneiderlin no way would Southampton have sold to a competing team midseason.
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Yeah I've been reading Sly's posts about Carvalho, seems disappointing indeed this season, but I still think he will turn out to be the real deal, and I'd hate to see someone like Arsenal sign him. I'm not too sure on how much they value Schniederlin but he seems to be the factor for them this year, he should be no1 target for the summer then.

I still think we should have signed a midfielder, Carrick injured and Fletcher gone and LVG doesn't seem to rate Herrera at all. We seem very short in that department all of a sudden.
 
Gary Neville said we didn't buy because we want the right players not second options and have to wait for the summer, which is right. He also said we needed defenders and midfielder's, plural, which I also agree with. If the diamond is the way forward then we are not equipped for it in the RM and LM roles.
 
Damien said:
Yeah, pretty much all of them were deadwood too apart from Welbeck who could have still added something, and possibly Evra. Good to see us cutting down on the deadwood that have been accumulated over recent years like 11101 said.

Think I remember reading before season started that LVG wanted to have a squad of around 20 first teamers with other positions being filled by youth if needed. We've finally got there:

  1. De Gea
  2. Rafael
  3. Shaw
  4. Jones
  5. Rojo
  6. Evans
  7. Di Maria
  8. Mata
  9. Falcao (loan)
  10. Rooney
  11. Januzaj
  12. Smalling
  13. Carrick
  14. Blind
  15. Young
  16. van Persie
  17. Herrera
  18. Valencia
  19. Fellaini
  20. Valdes
  21. Wilson
With the likes of McNair and Blackett coming into the first team too from the youth side of things.
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With the way things are going seems he already counted McNair as part of the first team squad with Blackett,Pereira and (maybe) Powell and James as options from the Reserves.

Good squad shape IMO with only some doubt on defence (RB and Evans).
 
I'm fine with no first team signings. The targets that LVG wants will only be available in the summer and I'd rather wait than buy second-rate players that will just be deadwood in 1-2 seasons time.
 
Satisfactory. Got rid of more deadwood in Anderson, Zaha and Fletcher (:(). A top defender was never realistic, and even if we managed to bring one in, he probably would have taken a good amount of time to settle in.
 
The squad is good enough to make 3rd place comfortably. The trimming of the dead wood is great, it's looking a lot less bloated now and starting to take shape although there is still players to clear off the books completely and that will happen in the summer.

As for signings, it's better to hold back if the top bracket players are not availiable than to once again start bloating the squad with the likes of Vlaar and Schar. That would be, IMO, going back to the days of signing squad players when we should be bettering our squad and making the current players the squad players fighting for a spot in the first XI.
 
Didn't expect any incomings and we should wait till summer. Happy with departures.
 
I doubt a good RB and CB were available, otherwise we would have bought them, so I'm more than happy with the two transfer windows under LVG.
Pleased Fletch will be getting more football, delighted Anderson has finally been shown the door - clown, happy Cleverley won't be playing football for United again. Some good loans going out too.
The squad is taking shape, looking trim and more opportunities for younger players to make a stake for a place.
Given I expect European football next season, then this summer is going to be very busy. Squad will need to grow a bit and some youngsters (Lingaard, Pereira) will need to step up. I genuinely think we are 4 very good players away from something great.
 
Happy that we are trimming the fat, our squad of was far too big and leaves a little room for real quality in the summer.
 
I'm just indiffferent, woodward did say we probably wouldn't be buying anyone this window so I prepared for that, in summer though, oh boy we will be all guns blazing.
 
Reasonably happy, even with the CB situation, Smalling has been excellent and Rojo looks like a very good player. Jones and Evans needs to do more and perhaps deserve the chance to prove themselves now the comfort blankets of Rio/Vidic/Evra have all gone. The managers shown his faith, it's on them now.
Good to see a few players leave that just aren't upto it, even Fletch I suppose, we've been far to emotionally attached to players recently, Anderson, well he's living proof.
 
We didn't spunk money on shite like Vlaar and drafted in some competitive back up for De Gea, so yes.

Summer will be lots of fun.
 
Indifferent but I have to accept the quality players that we need were never going to come in this window. I just hope we have enough at the club to drag us over the line for CL next season.
 
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