There’s not been a Town game for months now and it still feels like there’s a long time to go until the season kicks off, so there’s not a lot going on apart from endless transfer speculation. To help my organise broadly where Town’s squad stands at the moment I’ve put all our players into six categories. Doing this helps to show that there is likely to be significant comings and goings before the end of the transfer window.
Every summer transfer window is vital to the success of the forthcoming season, but this year it’s bigger than ever. We need to try to keep our best players, get rid of the players that no longer want to be here and bring in enough fresh faces to make us genuinely competitive. There also needs to be more focus on getting the right characters into the team and changing the atmosphere among the players.
Want-away players that are still under contract
Most of these players that have publicly made it clear they don’t want to stay in West Yorkshire next season, with the others there are rumours that they’re desperate to move away. I think it’s important to move these players on as quickly as possible to avoid their attitude spreading around the camp. Until this week I wouldn’t have put Steve Mounié in this category but his recent comments to the foreign press about Town’s transfer business last summer suggest he’s not expecting to play for Town again. He didn’t say anything wrong really, but it wasn’t a great idea to insult the people who pay his wages.
- Billing
- Zanka
- Hadergjonaj
- Sohbi
- Hamer
- Mounié
Players that are too good for the Championship
Our most saleable assets are also the players that could most help Town mount a promotion challenge next season. While there has been speculation linking all three of these players with moves away, I wouldn’t be stunned if at least one of these players stays at Town to see if they can bounce back to the Premier League. The stories in the press suggest that Town won’t let any player leave unless they get a decent price, so it could be that our tough negotiating stance leads to our top players staying with us.
- Schindler
- Mooy
- Kongolo
Dependable Championship players
Both Hogg and Smith have been linked with moves to Premier League clubs in the last week but I’d hope that they are not allowed to leave. The group below are the players that can form the spine of our team next season. Bacuna, Grant and Stankovic all showed some signs of promise in the later stages of last season that make me think they can stand out at a lower level.
- Hogg
- Smith
- Stankovic
- Bacuna
- Grant
Underperformers with something to prove
There are a fairly large group of attacking players under contract at Town that didn’t succeed last season. While it’s clear that Julian Winter blames David Wagner’s winger-less tactics for the lack of opportunities for our wide players, you could argue that Wagner stopped playing with wingers because the players available in those positions weren’t good enough. Kachunga, Pritchard, VLP and (to a lesser extent) Quaner have all done a decent job in the Championship before but didn’t consistently produce goals or assists for Town in the Premier League, so will have something to prove this coming season.
- Mbenza
- Diakhaby
- Pritchard
- Van La Parra
- Kachunga
- Quaner
- Coleman
Youngsters that could breakthrough
One of the things I’ve really liked about Siewert’s time at Town so far has been his faith in the young players in Town’s squad. It’s possible he had little choice but to pick the youngsters after alienating a chunk of the established first team but it’s good to see academy lads getting a chance. I’d be surprised if any of the players below becoming regular starters but it’s possible that Matty Daley could feature in matchday squads regularly and the others may get a chance once injuries and suspensions start to mount up.
- O’Brien
- Duhaney
- Brown
- Daley
- Rowe
- Schofield
New signings
Town have added three new faces to the squad so far and there is the promise of more to come very soon. All three players look like smart investments for Town. Elphick brings experience and leadership to the squad that was sorely lacking last season. Koroma and Brown have both looked good in lower leagues and deserve a chance to see if they can make the step up to the Championship. Given the crazy money Town have spent on transfers in our Premier League era, it now seems like we’re back to hunting for bargains. Given how our big-money signings have turned out, I think that might be a better strategy.
- Koroma
- Reece Brown
- Tommy Elphick
Is it absolute certain that Siewert alienated players? From Q&As / reports etc, I have a sense that some if not all the alienation may have happened prior to, and indeed may have hastened, David Wagner’s planned summer departure. I do not know and have no ‘insider’ knowledge – but do not understand from what I have heard how the alienation is definitively laid at Siewert’s door rather than something he had to deal with on arrival. Can anyone clarify?
Hi Teej,
The only concrete things I can think of is the Philip Billing interview where he said that Siewert swaggered in like he’d won the Premier League three times. I’m not sure Philip Billing is in a position to talk about people having a overly high opinion of themselves though.
Having observed Siewert’s manner on the sidelines and watched his post-match interviews, I get the feeling he’s more willing to lay into the players than Wagner was and it’s natural some players don’t like it. Few will care if it leads to Town getting good results but when things aren’t going our way then players are likely to grumble.