A centre half and a winger should be our top priorities now.
We have Forrest and Elyounoussi as starters but the only back up is a promising but very injury prone Johnston and a promising but completely unproven Dembele.
I presume Ajeti will be signed and delivered next week so the priority must be those two positions in the aftermath.
I wonder if we’ll see Christie or even McGregor occupying one of the wide spots in the event of an injury. Ntcham and Rogic are obviously excellent players to have in reserve and we seem to have a surplus of central players. We already have Soro, Ntcham, Bitton and Robertson on the bench there (and Rogic to be added). And the likes of Connell is hopefully not too far away from the team either. But we certainly don’t have the same options in wide areas.
Christie played there a fair amount last season which allowed Rogic to play and McGregor has played on the left in plenty of big games (usually Glasgow derbies) to allow Ntcham to play.
Lennon confirmed the other day that we’re working on a striker and a centre back. A French centre back appeared to turn us down last week. I wonder if we’re hoping to get a left back who can play left wing to provide a bit more cover. A modern day Jonny Hayes maybe.
So rather than spend we should throw in a few square pegs in round holes, both have filled in emergencies there and have not impressed. McGregor in particular is a pivotal player (who should be managed in the case of burnout too) and should not be shunted around because the board are unwilling to loosen the purse strings for areas of priority.
Centre back and winger are priorities. If we have an overflow of central midfielders then maybe move one or two along and idenitfy and address the areas of concern.
I don’t know that it is square pegs in round holes. McGregor is probably our most important player with Edouard these days but has been very effective when played on the left if he has an overlapping full back. He used to play superbly with Tierney behind him. Hopefully the emergency deployments at left back are finished. And I’d be more reluctant to move McGregor out than Christie, but we need to be flexible in how we line up anyway. We will presumably play a fair bit of 3-5-2 this season and we won’t be playing conventional wingers.
If last week was any indication (and it was only one game), we’re trying to get the full backs further forward again. In that type of system, and looking at how Elyounoussi came in off his wing the whole time, then it’s a straightforward swap to play Christie there.
I don’t really have any in mind as I think we are well covered there. I’d also be reticent to sell when Lawell will look to swallow up the proceeds in his salary and bonus anyway.
What I do think is that we should go out and buy a winger. We have the funds, we had Forrest playing abysmally there towards the end of last season and still being an automatic pick so the need for a right winger is big.
Our wage bill should be vastly reduced since last season, out have gone Forster, Gordon, Simunovic, Bauer, Arzani - possibly one or two others I’m forgetting. Sinclair was our highest earner and left last January, Brown probably on reduced terms too.
Lawwell is probably the highest paid salaried employee at the club right now. His salary was over £1m in the last set of accounts. What other club in European football has their chief executive as their highest earner as they continue to divert their funds and profits way from the first team?
No I want to make this discussion into the reasons why our squad is not strong enough for the season ahead and the resources available. You are unable to debate the facts regarding Lawwell.