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
3 down (Fletcher, Anderson, Zaha), 4 to go (Young, Valencia, Evans, Fellaini).
 
If our current squad can sustain a top 4 finish then this window really won't matter, but if fail to finish in the top 4 because of our defensive problems, then a whole January without signing any 1st team player would look like a stupid idea.

The fact that our "targets" weren't available didn't help either.
 
I'm happy. Of course we all would have liked a great CB signing or a marquee name to push us to the finish line, but we've got rid of a lot of deadwood.

Our squad is a lot more streamlined now, so LvG is working from a better position. Now when the summer comes round there's less of an impetus on flogging deadwood and instead just seeking improvements on what's left. If we want to get rid of Evans in the summer, we get someone better. If we get rid of Fellaini, we bring in someone better. It's more straight forward and we don't have to worry about the deadweight.
 
Hard to be happy when we haven't bought in anyone of note other than a free agent keeper.

I wasn't expecting any signings so im indifferent.
 
Didnt expect much in this window so not really disappointing.

Summer will be fun. I expect us to sign 3-4 players early on in the window. Like summer 2007 our main work will be done early on. We might have to wait till July for a South American player if we are in for one due to the Copa America. Then one really big signing in August. Probably Bale after Real finally sign Reus or some other shiny new toy.
 
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I'm happy. Realistically we've made huge inroads to getting the full squad up to scratch; adding players is obviously the more exciting action but getting rid of players who are surplus to requirement is a big thing for the overall balance of the squad.
 
Happy that a few players are gone, but can't say I didn't want to get someone in. Hopefully that will give a bit of confidence to the lads here, who; on paper, should be more than good enough to get that 4th spot.
 
I'm exuberant. An intelligent move to refrain from buying in the january window. Save the money for when the big guns are available.
 
I dont understand why we didn't bring in a solid CB. Arsenal have come into some excellent form and most of their injured players have returned and they bought in a CB so they have addressed their weak spots. Liverpool are starting to get a little run together and will be boosted by the return of Sturridge, which will sort out one of their two main problems (scoring goals) and Spurs have finally found their best team. Southampton are staggering a little but still have a decent team and reinforced a little bit. We didn't move at all. Surely the cost of buying a decent CB would be a risk worth taking as the UCL money would be well worth it?

I don't understand why we are risking it, especially considering how Smalling and Jones are made out of sugar glass and Evans has the concentration of an ADD kid on Red Bull.
 
I'm happy. Never expected anything in this window anyway.
 
Don't really care. Didn't want us to get anyone really, getting Valdes as back up is nice, but makes me worry further about De Gea. Glad we got rid of some of the deadwood!
 
I don't know how anyone could be happy, but realistically it was never going to be better than this. Completely agree with the attitude of only signing top targets, rather than panicking and bringing in temporary fixes to long term problems.
 
I always find it odd on here that when we fail to do business in January the assumption is always that top players weren't available and then pat ourselves on the back for not panic buying.

Its going to be a tight race for fourth and I'm disappointed we've once again failed to utilize the January window effectively. The premium cost in this scenario is surely worth it?
 
Smores said:
I always find it odd on here that when we fail to do business in January the assumption is always that top players weren't available and then pat ourselves on the back for not panic buying.

Its going to be a tight race for fourth and I'm disappointed we've once again failed to utilize the January window effectively. The premium cost in this scenario is surely worth it?
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Who do you reckon we could and should have bought?
 
Didn't panic buy and shifted a lot of deadwood, freeing up wages for another big summer. Happy.
 
Glad to see Anderson and Fletcher moved on for footballing reasons. I must admit I was surprised with the Kellett signing, I did not see that coming, hopefully he gets a squad number so I can get his kit. Rojo's form has made me ok with waiting until the summer for a defensive partner for him, hopefully Hummels allthough he's had a rough season. Rafael has a few months to convince but we really need a dependable right back. So all is now set up for a big summer for us.
 
Happy with it. We have foundations to built a good squad. We sold the players we didn't need and knock down our wage bill now is time when we can keep this number of players with selling not good enough players and buying better players.

And i think we will this in the summer, for example sell Evans buy Hummels, sell Young buy WC winger, itd.
 
Smores said:
I always find it odd on here that when we fail to do business in January the assumption is always that top players weren't available and then pat ourselves on the back for not panic buying.

Its going to be a tight race for fourth and I'm disappointed we've once again failed to utilize the January window effectively. The premium cost in this scenario is surely worth it?
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I have absolutely no doubt that if a first choice player was in any way available this window, Woodward would have had no issue coughing up whatever premium was required.
 
Damien said:
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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He has been improving in the last month fortunately. We have 6 wins in a row now with important away wins at Braga and Nacional and he has played his part in those results. He has been good in the big games and a bit of a letdown in regular fixtures. But he hasn't reached the level of last season and i suspect that it has to do with the manager change. I'd be curious to see how Rojo would fare under Marco Silva, who is a more attacking minded manager. It's all speculation though. I still think he will move in the end of the season, specially since he has Jorge Mendes as agent.
 
A pretty good window getting rid of some deadwood and not panic buying. There wasn't much chance of us signing our top targets anyway.

Our squad is beginning to take shape now, we still need a few players gone and around 4-5 players in but we can do that in the summer.
 
Quite pleased we didn't settle for a lesser target out of desperation and somehow managed to streamline the playing squad. Feel the current team in good enough to churn out a Top 4 finish if not top 3. It's always prudent to wait a bit for the ideal signing instead of being short term-ist and stockpiling on players that might eventually wind up in the scrap pile. Plus we freed up a bit of wages, most prominently :

£60,000 for Anderson and £70,000 for Fletcher.

With more departures in the summer, we could realistically end up clearing £0.6 million per week in wages (close to £1 million if we don't exercise the option to male Falcao's move permanent) which could then easily be redirected to cover the salaries of 4-5 (presumably) top draw players we're going to target. The priority from now till the end of the season from a player personnel negotiation standpoint should be extending De Gea's contract, irrespective of whether he eventually stays or leaves.
 
Zaha is a pity but let's focus on getting the first 11 right and then build from there. I think we had too many that weren't automatic choices. It's been relatively positive. We did need to move some on and we have. It gives other kids a chance and means we can focus on signings in the summer
 
I like the fact we are just cutting away the dead wood with no second thoughts.

Just look at the players that we have shifted out since LVG came in, I dont think there are many on there who most people havent said they would have given the boot if they had the job.

Its like your first season on Football manager, you spend the first summer at United trying to shift Anderson, Fletcher, Evans, Welbeck, Cleverly, Zaha and LVG has come in and done it for real
 
dxadel said:
If our current squad can sustain a top 4 finish then this window really won't matter, but if fail to finish in the top 4 because of our defensive problems, then a whole January without signing any 1st team player would look like a stupid idea.

The fact that our "targets" weren't available didn't help either.
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What defensive problems? Since the game against Leicester we've probably conceded fewer goals than any other side in the league.

Such a red herring. If we finish outside the top four it's because the likes of Van Persie and Falcao are still playing nowhere near the level they should.
 
Didn't think for a second we'd get any of the WC CB's linked with us. Never happening in January. Didn't think we'd pay that much for Laporte's buyout either.

I'm not so comfortable about top four and think we should of got a stop gap CB. I don't think it would be that hard to get Schar for example and improve on the injury prone/mediocre lot we've got.

Good we've shifted on some players and got some good loans for Janko and Lingard.
 
Random question here. Was Fletcher your only player left who has won an FA cup with United?
 
Probably given that Rooney is the longest serving player now.
 
MDFC Manager said:
Who do you reckon we could and should have bought?
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I'm not a football scout and don't watch as many leagues as most on here so I don't know beyond the usual names thrown about.

It may be that we did exhaust all possibilities but given most think we're short in a number of positions im not so eager to believe that.

I still think not getting someone like Cabaye last January cost us greatly but most here had the same attitude as now, top talent or nothing.

We're now more than ever in a position to spend to ensure a good second half of the season. It'll only take a couple of key injuries and our season will be derailed and we'll lose a hell of a lot of money.
 
Didn't care. I want to see us make the most of our current squad right now.
 
wiz4231 said:
3 down (Fletcher, Anderson, Zaha), 4 to go (Young, Valencia, Evans, Fellaini).
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Why on earth would you want to get rid of Young and Fellaini based on this season so far?

In fact, with the fact that we've bought nobody in, why would you want tog et rid of any of them?
 
Finally got rid of Anderson, but that doesn't really make much difference to anything, he was sort of like a 2nd Fred the Red anyway. And we did get a CB, just not one we were expecting. So I guess I can't complain too much, and Super Dave is still here, so we're all good.
 
Pruning the deadwood in January gives us the chance to make an early start in the summer. What we have to avoid is the situation where we can't bring players in until we've first let some go (and let's face it, we had a pretty large squad that needed trimming) so now we should be able to go in for our primary targets when the next window opens.

While I'd like to have seen us improve our team, I'm happy that we haven't fallen into the trap of last year and panic-bought. Seems we might be starting to learn some lessons in that regard.
 
Wasn't expecting anything much from this window considering our spending in the summer and that many targets probably weren't available in the middle of the season. Clearing out some fringe players was good and Valdes will hopefully be a good backup. I think this obviously points to another significant revamp to the squad in the summer.
 
I'm happy with the window but we have to do quite a bit of business in the summer.

Out
Lindegaard
Evans
Valencia
Cleverley
Powell
Nani
Hernandez

Unsure
Jones - Needs to stay fit and become a more consistent player.
Smalling - Needs to stay fit.
Young - Has done well this year so probably keep.
Fellaini - Has done well this year so probably keep.
Mata - Love the guy but I'm not sure if he would be a starter if we signed a top winger.
Van Persie - Getting on and struggled this year but still can score a wonder goal so prob keep until contract runs out.
Falcao - Not showing enough to justify them rumored money and if we sign a striker I personally would rather someone with a lot of pace.

In
RB - Clyne/Coleman
CB - Hummels/Laporte/Marquinos/Godin - (At least 1 if not 2)
CM - Pogba/Schneiderlinn/Strootman (if fit) - (At least 1 if not 2)
LW - Depay
RW - Reus
 
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