goozburger.
Senior Member
My thoughts on the incomings:
Connor O'Riordan
Very highly rated and, at 19, is already involved with the Republic of Ireland international scene with their U21s. Definitely a project-type signing that will no doubt need to go through a bit of a learning curve in the tough environment of the Championship. Patience required, but for £500k, a low-risk bit of business.
Ben Chrisene
Adds much-needed cover at left-back for the rest of the season, and will no doubt be thrust into the first team given Pickering's latest injury. Looked quite nervous and played in his shell a bit in his first-team appearance. Will probably only play a handful of games for us. Looks a reasonably big unit but whether he can apply his physicality in the Championship remains to be seen.
Yasin Ayari
Seems like a strange loan signing to me. Didn't pull up any trees at Coventry City, so Brighton have the luxury of trying him at another club, which happens to be us. Looks very lightweight, and I'm not convinced he'll feature much.
Kyle McFadzean
Turns 37 month, and doesn't appear to have kept his place in the Coventry City side for the last couple of months, but his physicality and experience is, again, what Tomasson has been crying out for. A short term deal until the end of the season is sensible, and he can hit the ground running. An astute signing that solves one or two of our glaring problems.
Billy Koumetio
A quick read doesn't bode well, but he's clearly here as cover. I can't imagine there will be any stipulation to his playing time, particularly given the other defenders now at our disposal. I suspect this will be a very quickly-forgotten loan spell, but you never know.
Duncan McGuire
Young, at 22, but clearly highly rated, and knows where the back of the net is. We've got the inside track on making the loan deal permanent if he performs well and proves himself to be able to hack it in this league. That should be a blatantly good incentive for him to shine. While the reported £500k loan fee seems steep, it gives us another body up front for the rest of the season. We're definitely stronger up front than we were this time yesterday.
John Fleck
At 32, and for the type of midfielder he is, he's far from over the hill, and has been a great operator at Championship level. A free transfer and a short term deal until the end of the season gives Tomasson what he has been crying out for in midfield - experience. This looks like an astute signing that could hit the ground running for us and help add some steel to our midfield.
My thoughts on the outgoings:
Adam Wharton
Never want to lose our most talented player, but the reality of the situation is that £18m plus add-ons and presumably a good sell on percentage was difficult to refuse. My only criticism is that we didn't seem to put that back into the squad on permanent transfers in this window, so we perhaps could have held on until summer and eked a bit more of a fee out of him. But you never know with these things. Dack did his ligaments after strong interest in him for a similar amount, and we ended up with a shadow of a player who ended up leaving for nothing. Wharton's sale fits in with the player trading model that Broughton often talks about, but I'm sceptical about how much of the £18m will be invested into the squad in summer. I think it's too soon to jump onto the club for trousering the money when the deal was only completed on deadline day.
Niall Ennis
Nowhere near the level we require for the intense game that we play. I get the distinct impression it never suited him in the first place. His injury record, including at Rovers, indicated that this lad would never get going and, if he ever did, would likely be back in the treatment room. The noises coming from Tomasson about Ennis' condition shortly after his arrival were worrying to say the least. If Ennis really was working hard to get up to speed, it never showed in the short six months or so that he was here. On that basis, whoever recruited him and approved his signature should be hung out to dry. In spite of that, this has to player trading at it's "Football Manager" best! Pick up a player for free, and make half a million profit out of it six months later! Glad to see the back of him because it smelled of a waste of a wage for the next three and a half years.
Jack Vale
I suspect his days are numbered at Rovers. It's a shame because his preseason in 2022 felt like it would be a breakthrough season for him, but his workrate on the pitch left a lot to be desired. Not the type of striker Tomasson wants.
Travis
Like him when he's on the pitch. Think he's a bit of a billy big-bollocks off it. Didn't want to stay here and compete for the position with the excellent Tronstad. If we remember Sorba Thomas being loaned to us due to a fallout at Huddersfield Town, then loaning Travis out to a Championship club has that same smell to it - a sort of fallout bouqet, if you will.
Some other notables.
I didn't realise Arnor Sigurdsson was a loan until the end of December and is technically a permanent signing in this window. Irrelevant but interesting.
James Hill showed some good stuff while he was here, but didn't blow my socks off. Seemed like he really wanted to stay, however, but the club has covered the defensive positions well in this window.
Overall, I think the transfer window has seen us rectify the issues starting us in the face for the rest of the season. There is quite a rebuild job to go on in summer, and hopefully the club can use some of the Wharton money wisely. I would say it's a window that feels like a relief more than anything. Looking forward to seeing the new lads in action, starting with QPR tomorrow!
Connor O'Riordan
Very highly rated and, at 19, is already involved with the Republic of Ireland international scene with their U21s. Definitely a project-type signing that will no doubt need to go through a bit of a learning curve in the tough environment of the Championship. Patience required, but for £500k, a low-risk bit of business.
Ben Chrisene
Adds much-needed cover at left-back for the rest of the season, and will no doubt be thrust into the first team given Pickering's latest injury. Looked quite nervous and played in his shell a bit in his first-team appearance. Will probably only play a handful of games for us. Looks a reasonably big unit but whether he can apply his physicality in the Championship remains to be seen.
Yasin Ayari
Seems like a strange loan signing to me. Didn't pull up any trees at Coventry City, so Brighton have the luxury of trying him at another club, which happens to be us. Looks very lightweight, and I'm not convinced he'll feature much.
Kyle McFadzean
Turns 37 month, and doesn't appear to have kept his place in the Coventry City side for the last couple of months, but his physicality and experience is, again, what Tomasson has been crying out for. A short term deal until the end of the season is sensible, and he can hit the ground running. An astute signing that solves one or two of our glaring problems.
Billy Koumetio
A quick read doesn't bode well, but he's clearly here as cover. I can't imagine there will be any stipulation to his playing time, particularly given the other defenders now at our disposal. I suspect this will be a very quickly-forgotten loan spell, but you never know.
Duncan McGuire
Young, at 22, but clearly highly rated, and knows where the back of the net is. We've got the inside track on making the loan deal permanent if he performs well and proves himself to be able to hack it in this league. That should be a blatantly good incentive for him to shine. While the reported £500k loan fee seems steep, it gives us another body up front for the rest of the season. We're definitely stronger up front than we were this time yesterday.
John Fleck
At 32, and for the type of midfielder he is, he's far from over the hill, and has been a great operator at Championship level. A free transfer and a short term deal until the end of the season gives Tomasson what he has been crying out for in midfield - experience. This looks like an astute signing that could hit the ground running for us and help add some steel to our midfield.
My thoughts on the outgoings:
Adam Wharton
Never want to lose our most talented player, but the reality of the situation is that £18m plus add-ons and presumably a good sell on percentage was difficult to refuse. My only criticism is that we didn't seem to put that back into the squad on permanent transfers in this window, so we perhaps could have held on until summer and eked a bit more of a fee out of him. But you never know with these things. Dack did his ligaments after strong interest in him for a similar amount, and we ended up with a shadow of a player who ended up leaving for nothing. Wharton's sale fits in with the player trading model that Broughton often talks about, but I'm sceptical about how much of the £18m will be invested into the squad in summer. I think it's too soon to jump onto the club for trousering the money when the deal was only completed on deadline day.
Niall Ennis
Nowhere near the level we require for the intense game that we play. I get the distinct impression it never suited him in the first place. His injury record, including at Rovers, indicated that this lad would never get going and, if he ever did, would likely be back in the treatment room. The noises coming from Tomasson about Ennis' condition shortly after his arrival were worrying to say the least. If Ennis really was working hard to get up to speed, it never showed in the short six months or so that he was here. On that basis, whoever recruited him and approved his signature should be hung out to dry. In spite of that, this has to player trading at it's "Football Manager" best! Pick up a player for free, and make half a million profit out of it six months later! Glad to see the back of him because it smelled of a waste of a wage for the next three and a half years.
Jack Vale
I suspect his days are numbered at Rovers. It's a shame because his preseason in 2022 felt like it would be a breakthrough season for him, but his workrate on the pitch left a lot to be desired. Not the type of striker Tomasson wants.
Travis
Like him when he's on the pitch. Think he's a bit of a billy big-bollocks off it. Didn't want to stay here and compete for the position with the excellent Tronstad. If we remember Sorba Thomas being loaned to us due to a fallout at Huddersfield Town, then loaning Travis out to a Championship club has that same smell to it - a sort of fallout bouqet, if you will.
Some other notables.
I didn't realise Arnor Sigurdsson was a loan until the end of December and is technically a permanent signing in this window. Irrelevant but interesting.
James Hill showed some good stuff while he was here, but didn't blow my socks off. Seemed like he really wanted to stay, however, but the club has covered the defensive positions well in this window.
Overall, I think the transfer window has seen us rectify the issues starting us in the face for the rest of the season. There is quite a rebuild job to go on in summer, and hopefully the club can use some of the Wharton money wisely. I would say it's a window that feels like a relief more than anything. Looking forward to seeing the new lads in action, starting with QPR tomorrow!
