Ashley
Steve Chettle
If we get those three and Malinovskyi then I'd be more than happy if we called it a day on the transfer front.
That's what makes me laugh about the "doing a Fulham" accusations as if it'd be some kind of disaster; so what if we do end up like Fulham? They went down with a squad far better than anyone else in the Championship and came straight back up. Obviously I'd rather Forest stay up this season, but "doing a Fulham" is hardly a disaster.Well if we do go down, we'll be in a good position to return a bit quicker than last time.
Yeah away from home it would make sense to drop a striker and have the extra midfielder.I imagine Yates will play the majority of away games at the very least. Johnson will probably start most games also.
If this came to fruition too (but Freuler is still finding a pen or something and will sign shortly also)Squad overall is looking much stronger now, with the additions of Freuler and Maupay to come.
What's the team going go look like then when everyone is here and fully fit? There are some real dilemmas now probably for the first time in Cooper's reign. It's difficult as we have no idea how good some of these are but basing it on data, snippets of info and backgrounds it could be something like this.
----------------------Henderson‐-------------------
------Worrall-------Niakhate-----McKenna------
Williams-----Freuler----Mangala-----Richards
-----‐-------------------Lingard----------------------------
--------------Maupay--------------Dennis-------------
Subs: Johnson, Cook, Kouyate, Awoniyi, O'Brien, Toffolo, Hennessey, Yates, Biancone
Given that most (if not all) of our attacking players are likely to be routinely substituted after an hour or so once we've got replacements on the bench, I'm not sure backup is quite the right word. With 5 subs it becomes about roles - the starting striker may not have the same instructions as the player coming on to replace him, and the game plan will likely call for different attributes.it's how long it takes for everyone to gel that's the worry!
Seems a shame that Yates and Johnson wouldn't be in a first-choice team, and bizarre that we signed Awoniyi for him to be a backup striker.
The interesting thing is with none of those 3 (Sow, Aouar, Maupay) yet having come to fruition, we were on the verge of shelling out getting close to around 60 million (in pounds, or at least in Euros).If this came to fruition too (but Freuler is still finding a pen or something and will sign shortly also)
Maybe a 4-2-3-1?
Henderson; Williams, Worrall, Niakhate, Richards (eventuallly);
Yates, Sow (could change to Sow, Mangala if really going for it at some points?)
Johnson, Aouar, Lingard;
Dennis
Subs: Hennessey, McKenna, Biancone, Freuler, Mangala, O'Brien, Aguilera or Scarpa but until then Julian Larsson or someone?, Maupay, Awoniyi
Something like that?
Wouldn't rule out a winger or flexible attacking midfield/supporting forward being added too, plus a right and/or left full back/wing back though still, but we can still use loans obviously.
With 3 CBs I guess McKenna would be in, but difficult for Lingard and Aouar to be on the pitch at the same time?
Slap me for saying this...such is the weird world of being a Forest fan... but are we now a tad light in central defence?
Edit : One can only presume (which I have all along) that Mbe Soh is absolute mustard)
I’m good with that, plus ideally you wouldn’t want to swap out/freshen the back three too much…like you might consider further forward.Think we're alright even if Mbe Soh heads out on loan, Kouyate can play there. Would give us Worrall, McKenna, Niakhate, Cook, Biancone and Kouyate.
If he was he'd have featured more in the Championship, only 2 appearances last season and both were under Hughton. I don't recall too many bench appearances either, especially once we signed Cook.Slap me for saying this...such is the weird world of being a Forest fan... but are we now a tad light in central defence?
Edit : One can only presume (which I have all along) that Mbe Soh is absolute mustard)
I had thought that but suspect that Kouyate will be cover there. That’s 7 centre halves which is more than enough (even allowing for Biancone to be RWB and Kouyate to be DM. Until January anyway.Slap me for saying this...such is the weird world of being a Forest fan... but are we now a tad light in central defence?
Edit : One can only presume (which I have all along) that Mbe Soh is absolute mustard)
If he was he'd have featured more in the Championship, only 2 appearances last season and both were under Hughton. I don't recall too many bench appearances either, especially once we signed Cook.
He may turn out to be decent but at the moment he's arguably not at Championship level nevermind PL level. He desperately needs a loan as he's in danger of Panzo overtaking him in the pecking order once he's back if he's not already.
As for the defence, I agree. If McKenna had been sent off on Sunday we'd have really been struggling with the potential injury to Niakhate. Cook is an able deputy but do we really want to be relying on him week in week out in the top flight? I'm not so sure.
The jury is very much out on Biancone from what I've seen and I'm going to say it even though some won't like it, Worrall has struggled massively with the step up so far. Hopefully this is just an adjustment period.
There is no point buying MGW, Lingard, Awoniyi, Dennis etc etc if the defence is leaking like a sieve, they (and us) are really lucky to have Henderson who is absolutely class. One of the best keepers in the league for me.
Think we're alright even if Mbe Soh heads out on loan, Kouyate can play there. Would give us Worrall, McKenna, Niakhate, Cook, Biancone and Kouyate.