Pretty sure Yates doesn't count in the 25 in @wwfcblue list above - born after 1 January 1999.
As I understand the rules, you can have players on payroll but not in designated 25 man squad list who can play - so for example Phillips could be not included in the 25 man list but not be on loan either. If so he can only play in friendlies or cups (but there aren't any more of those!)
@DevC said:
Pretty sure Yates doesn't count in the 25 in @wwfcblue list above - born after 1 January 1999.
As I understand the rules, you can have players on payroll but not in designated 25 man squad list who can play - so for example Phillips could be not included in the 25 man list but not be on loan either. If so he can only play in friendlies or cups (but there aren't any more of those!)
And Andronicos Georgiou too. Yates has been in the matchday squad once though this season.
This squad size limit is a right faff isn't it? In the current world of two games a week and 9 subs on the bench a 25 man senior squad is tight.
I follow the financial logic but with Covid still with us and squads already carrying injuries from back to back games another couple of players could go a long way.
Or are we just struggling due to a lack of a youth structure?
Excluding Premiership and some Championship teams (and Peterborough) every FL Club have a limited wage budget. If for example, a club has a fixed £10M budget spread amongst 25 players, surely spreading that money on a 30 man squad would overall reduce the amount payable to the key players.
Generally quality is better than quantity. Some of our squad rarely get a game now, so increasing the number will mean even less outings. I feel the problem we now have is a slight imbalance in offensive players against midfield/defensive ones.
Thought it was 25. And 20 would be just crazy. What about the 11 starters plus 9 subs rule? Is that just for this season? Where is @chairboyscentral when we need him. Is he putting himself about on Twitter?
22 is a bit worrying for us in the unlikely event we get relegated @micra. We would have to jettison 3 players straight away, before even considering any new signings. Also to complicate matters further some of our B team players may "come of age" in terms of the EFL's regulations.
It goes to 20 next season for Lg1 but we get a one year extension to 22 as a relegated club (if we go down.)
According to COTN we have 14 contracted - Grimmer, JJ, Gape, Stewart, Tafaz, McCarthy, Wheeler,Bloomfield, Horgan, Freeman, Fred, Samuel, Ikpeazu, Kashket. Wouldn't be surprised if one or two of them had left by start of next season anyway.
Plenty of room to manage if we find ourselves in Lg1, I would have thought.
@HolmerBlue said:
A maximum squad of 20 is just ridiculous !
I think 20 is fine if you have a full youth/U21 set up. Many clubs in Lge 1 and 2 will have 3/4 youngsters who are capable of filling in due to injuries.
Clubs like ours who have no youth or U21 set up will be forced to set up “B” Teams made up of 5-8 U21’s and first Teamers who are not getting games or coming back from injury.
I think we could easily survive with 20 players plus 2 or more good U21’s.
@micra said:
As we don’t have a youth set-up @wwfcblue the contention in your last paragraph doesn’t exactly carry conviction.
We do have a B Team though that is made up of six U21’s and other senior pros from the 20. These six don’t count towards the 20 in League 1 and I have every hope that the management can find 2 or 3 players from these U21’s that could step up to the First Team in League 1, should we find ourselves back in League 1 for two seasons.
I could easily trim down to 21 now, though that last one would prove problematic with our recent injury concerns.
I have every faith in Gareth, Dobbo and Sam being able to give us a strong squad of 20 and some strong back up from the B Team/U21’s.
My greatest hope is we never need to think about a squad of 20 because we won’t play in League 1 for two seasons in the future.
I realise this is absolutely crazy and will send posters who 'Ainsworth' a lot into a frenzy but except for the need for a decent cover at left-back I'm pretty happy with the squad we have at the moment. Of course, who plays and why, tactics and use of subs may be a different matter...
Cover at LB seems to be a priority, but that was true before JJ got hurt. If the right player isn't available we'll do well to muddle through with what we've got. An extra body at CB and CM would be nice, but again, we could manage without.
@Wendoverman said:
I realise this is absolutely crazy and will send posters who 'Ainsworth' a lot into a frenzy but except for the need for a decent left-back I'm pretty happy with the squad we have at the moment.
Totally agree. I think if JJ’s out for a while then I’d like to see us make a move for Vokins at Southampton
With Adeniran going off inured on Tuesday, Gape still not fit and Thompson frequently on the treatment table we need to bring a CM in.
We could muddle through the rest of the season with what we have got but it would have only take an injury to Ikpaezu and once again we are in trouble.
IMO we need a couple of quality additions to give us a good chance of putting enough points on the board to give us a shout at staying up.
I am with you @Vincey but reading Rob Couhig’s notes in the Spurs programme, he made a point of referencing the depth of the squad. Might be wrong and really hope so but we may be expecting to go with what we have.
Ainsworth said that he wanted two more after Muskwe, he mentioned that he was hopeful of getting an u23 striker from the PL but said the other day that the player has turned us down.
We will see but you look at the gap to safety now and it’s looking really tough, I think we are really struggling if we don’t bring a couple in.
@micra said:
Did GA say he was hopeful of getting a U23 PL striker in after Admiral Muskwe signed ? Surely he fits the bill.
He did. If Muskwe can add goals then great, you need a goal scorer (Sean Devine 98/99) to have a real shot at staying up. Muskwe looks a useful player but the jury’s out for me in terms of whether he will score many goals.
Comments
Hasn't he been generally dreadful for Sunderland ever since signing for them? I wouldn't really see any value in this at all.
Sunderland seems to have that effect on everyone who joins.
I’d fancy GA to get him going again.
Pretty sure Yates doesn't count in the 25 in @wwfcblue list above - born after 1 January 1999.
As I understand the rules, you can have players on payroll but not in designated 25 man squad list who can play - so for example Phillips could be not included in the 25 man list but not be on loan either. If so he can only play in friendlies or cups (but there aren't any more of those!)
And Andronicos Georgiou too. Yates has been in the matchday squad once though this season.
This squad size limit is a right faff isn't it? In the current world of two games a week and 9 subs on the bench a 25 man senior squad is tight.
I follow the financial logic but with Covid still with us and squads already carrying injuries from back to back games another couple of players could go a long way.
Or are we just struggling due to a lack of a youth structure?
I think 25 man squads are more than adequate.
Excluding Premiership and some Championship teams (and Peterborough) every FL Club have a limited wage budget. If for example, a club has a fixed £10M budget spread amongst 25 players, surely spreading that money on a 30 man squad would overall reduce the amount payable to the key players.
Generally quality is better than quantity. Some of our squad rarely get a game now, so increasing the number will mean even less outings. I feel the problem we now have is a slight imbalance in offensive players against midfield/defensive ones.
The squad is limited to 22 players in League One with it being reduced further to 20 players in future seasons.
Thought it was 25. And 20 would be just crazy. What about the 11 starters plus 9 subs rule? Is that just for this season? Where is @chairboyscentral when we need him. Is he putting himself about on Twitter?
22 is a bit worrying for us in the unlikely event we get relegated @micra. We would have to jettison 3 players straight away, before even considering any new signings. Also to complicate matters further some of our B team players may "come of age" in terms of the EFL's regulations.
It goes to 20 next season for Lg1 but we get a one year extension to 22 as a relegated club (if we go down.)
According to COTN we have 14 contracted - Grimmer, JJ, Gape, Stewart, Tafaz, McCarthy, Wheeler,Bloomfield, Horgan, Freeman, Fred, Samuel, Ikpeazu, Kashket. Wouldn't be surprised if one or two of them had left by start of next season anyway.
Plenty of room to manage if we find ourselves in Lg1, I would have thought.
No Curtis Thompson?
Not yet - contract expires in the summer.
We'll need a GK or two too....
Luke O’Nien on Sunderland bench again tonight. Seems like Power is preferred in his position.
Luke has just come on with 3 minutes left. Had to wait his turn after returning from a dislocated shoulder.
A maximum squad of 20 is just ridiculous !
I would just have 33 cap limit which includes any "first team" player regardless of age, loans etc
Definitely shouldn't be lower than 25, like I said I cant believe they are saying 20, a few injuries and you wont even be able to fill the bench.
I think 20 is fine if you have a full youth/U21 set up. Many clubs in Lge 1 and 2 will have 3/4 youngsters who are capable of filling in due to injuries.
Clubs like ours who have no youth or U21 set up will be forced to set up “B” Teams made up of 5-8 U21’s and first Teamers who are not getting games or coming back from injury.
I think we could easily survive with 20 players plus 2 or more good U21’s.
As we don’t have a youth set-up @wwfcblue the contention in your last paragraph doesn’t exactly carry conviction.
Deadline day is coming
We do have a B Team though that is made up of six U21’s and other senior pros from the 20. These six don’t count towards the 20 in League 1 and I have every hope that the management can find 2 or 3 players from these U21’s that could step up to the First Team in League 1, should we find ourselves back in League 1 for two seasons.
I could easily trim down to 21 now, though that last one would prove problematic with our recent injury concerns.
I have every faith in Gareth, Dobbo and Sam being able to give us a strong squad of 20 and some strong back up from the B Team/U21’s.
My greatest hope is we never need to think about a squad of 20 because we won’t play in League 1 for two seasons in the future.
I realise this is absolutely crazy and will send posters who 'Ainsworth' a lot into a frenzy but except for the need for a decent cover at left-back I'm pretty happy with the squad we have at the moment. Of course, who plays and why, tactics and use of subs may be a different matter...
Cover at LB seems to be a priority, but that was true before JJ got hurt. If the right player isn't available we'll do well to muddle through with what we've got. An extra body at CB and CM would be nice, but again, we could manage without.
Totally agree. I think if JJ’s out for a while then I’d like to see us make a move for Vokins at Southampton
With Adeniran going off inured on Tuesday, Gape still not fit and Thompson frequently on the treatment table we need to bring a CM in.
We could muddle through the rest of the season with what we have got but it would have only take an injury to Ikpaezu and once again we are in trouble.
IMO we need a couple of quality additions to give us a good chance of putting enough points on the board to give us a shout at staying up.
I am with you @Vincey but reading Rob Couhig’s notes in the Spurs programme, he made a point of referencing the depth of the squad. Might be wrong and really hope so but we may be expecting to go with what we have.
Now 10 points from safety. Clearly we need reinforcements but I expect we will go with current squad.
Ainsworth said that he wanted two more after Muskwe, he mentioned that he was hopeful of getting an u23 striker from the PL but said the other day that the player has turned us down.
We will see but you look at the gap to safety now and it’s looking really tough, I think we are really struggling if we don’t bring a couple in.
Did GA say he was hopeful of getting a U23 PL striker in after Admiral Muskwe signed ? Surely he fits the bill.
He did. If Muskwe can add goals then great, you need a goal scorer (Sean Devine 98/99) to have a real shot at staying up. Muskwe looks a useful player but the jury’s out for me in terms of whether he will score many goals.