The 2015/2016 Summer Improvement Thread

[Alan]

This may be jumping the gun a bit, but given the current mood on this part of the forum I thought it might be a good idea to look ahead instead of back.

It looks at this point that we'll not go up this year (and even if we do make the playoffs somehow that's no guarantee), so where do we need to improve most? Who should we be looking at buying? Consider this the summer transfer thread for this year if you like.

For reference, here's what our best XI (and bench [in my opinion]) will probably look like after (obvious) departures but before additions. Naturally this is guess work as we do have prospects that could tempt buyers:

Ikeme

Iorfa
Batth/Hause
Stearman
Golbourne

Jacobs
McDonald
Price
Henry

Dicko
Afobe

Bench: McCarey, Ebanks-Landell, Hause/Batth, Van la Parra, Evans, Edwards, McAlinden

Notables: Rowe, Bancessi, Ismail, J. Graham, Ricketts, Cassidy, Saville, Boukari, Margreitter

For now I'll leave my opinions off. Discuss at your leisure.

 

[Quirkafleeg]

Going on 4-4-2 Id say.

Ikeme

Iorfa - ???? - Stearman - Golbourne

Henry - McDonald - ??? - ???

Dicko - Afobe​

 

[Lycan]

Jacobs over van La Parra?????

I'd go in for Butterfield at Hudds and Massimo Luongo from Swindon for a start. Think we may need a centre half and a striker as well but I'm struggling to think of who we could go for.

 

[Alan]

I think if Hause is going to have a future here, this will be the time he announces it by dethroning Batth.

 

[Alan]

Jacobs over van La Parra?????

I'd go in for Butterfield at Hudds and Massimo Luongo from Swindon for a start. Think we may need a centre half and a striker as well but I'm struggling to think of who we could go for.

I like Rajiv a lot (as many of you know) but wanted to stick strictly to each position. Rajiv can play wide left but is really a right winger. Jacobs is the closest thing we have to a left winger after Sako goes. That's all.

 

[Lycan]

James Henry can play perfectly well on the left, had one of his best games of the season there away at Blackburn while Sako was away at the ACON. I'd have Henry left and Rajiv right.

 

[YoungWolf]

I'm not entering this discussion until we definitely know what division we will be in next season

 

[Alan]

James Henry can play perfectly well on the left, had one of his best games of the season there away at Blackburn while Sako was away at the ACON. I'd have Henry left and Rajiv right.

Fair enough, I had thought Henry's foray on the left had been, well, not so good.

As I say I like Rajiv so I have no issue including him in the team when all is said and done.

 

[PuntsWolf]

Is Jacobs going to want to stay?

 

[slink]

Whatever happens we shouldn't be looking at playing a straight out 4-4-2.

 

[Alan]

Is Jacobs going to want to stay?

I'm currently operating under the assumption that he won't fetch a fee like we want to collect if he does. Again, I only tried to include departures that I really think are sure things (being Sako and Kuszscak).

 

[Deleted Cyber]

Ikeme
Iofa Batth Hause Golbourne

RVLP KM ?????? HENRY

AFOBE DICKO

NEW PLAYERS=1 X NEW CENTRE HALF 1 X DEFENSIVE MIDFIELD 1 X ATTACKING MIDFIELD 1 X BACK UP STRIKER

 

[Alan]

Whatever happens we shouldn't be looking at playing a straight out 4-4-2.

Why not?

 

[YoungWolf]

Whatever happens we shouldn't be looking at playing a straight out 4-4-2.

I think in order to do so you either have to be like Ipswich and very scrappy, looking to win off set pieces OR man for man have pretty much the best player in each position in the division, like Bournemouth almost.

 

[Deleted Cyber]

Whatever happens we shouldn't be looking at playing a straight out 4-4-2.

Be brave at home with 4-1-3-2 and away go 4-2-3-1

 

[YoungWolf]

I don't think it's a case of '4-4-2 should never be used', we've had some success with it having so much quality going forward. The trade off being we are more open and our defenders have less protection. But it's been worth it. We have to work out whether that will be the case or whether we are better off playing to other strengths.

 

[slink]

Why not?

It just takes a set of players with specific skill sets and i don't think we have them nor do i think we should be going into the transfer market looking to buy such players. I don't think we play 4-4-2 that well but because we have Sako, Dicko and Afobe we get away with it. Obviously it could still be an option but i just don't think we should be looking to play 4-4-2 as our base formation.

 

[Tony Towner]

The defence is the interesting one for me. Ipswich are in all probability going to make the play offs yet individually with the exception of Mings they are nothing more than solid, the same could be said of Burnley last year. For me we have the personnel who can take us up, but we have to cut out the individual errors. It is clear that Danny's distribution isn't going to improve so if we were to upgrade in this area then that's where I'd do it, but I'd be prioritising 2 midfield signings a Sako replacement and a young forward on loan ahead of this.

 

[Norman Deeley]

Have to say that I always think the system should suit the players you have. Clearly Dicko and Afobe are two serious strikers, so we need to find a way to play them both. As for wingers, I don't think any of ours are really top class for this division: somewhere we need to find a Matt Ritchie or Tom Ince - or Kightley or Jarvis from the championship winning side. It's a bit like Danny Batth, our wingers are good, but not quite good enough. And we need central midfield players that will score goals.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Kightly-Henry-Jones-Jarvis is the best four man midfield I've ever seen at Wolves, followed by Newton-Cameron-Rae-Kennedy. Both of them have plenty of goals in there, loads of avenues to create goals, a bit of steel and a really good balance. Easier said than done but if we want to play this system we need to be trying to get near those standards, preferably the former as DJ's approach had no eye at all on the long term. I don't want to be dicking about with shitty diamond formations that have no width or ending up with crappy compromises like yesterday where at least one player is badly miscast or there's an obvious deficiency in the intrinsic set up (as mentioned in my verdict, in a central two of McDonald and Edwards who exactly is supposed to be doing the defending?).

As for business in the summer, I don't want to get into specific targets before we know the outcome of any promotion/relegation issues which clearly has a major impact on who is and isn't available. In terms of outgoings all of Doherty, Edwards, Saville, Rowe, Doyle, Ricketts, Cassidy and Clarke should either be dispensed with or pushed very much to the fringes (we already know Doyle is going and Ricketts obviously will as well). The exceptions would be Saville if someone can put a rocket up him and tell him that he's in danger of following Tony Dinning's career path if he doesn't buck his ideas up, as the lad obviously has *something* about him somewhere and we did pay a decent fee for him, and Edwards can stay if he's happy enough to start a dozen or so games and fill in as sub where necessary, not a terrible player to have about the place but no way should genuine challengers ever be starting him as much as we have this season, in any role.