We’ve spent 4 of the last 6 seasons in relegation battles and escaped extremely narrowly. In the past, the squad has underperformed its way into trouble. Last season, we definitely overperformed our way to safety. We were routinely putting out a First XI weaker than other clubs, often including Southampton. Make no mistake, we are a really long way off being a big club.
Sean Dyche, fortunately, is a very good manager for the circumstances. The issue is the squad, recruitment and player development. Although we’re going to get impatient when we see other clubs doing transfer business (and some of it the likes we can only dream of) I expect we will have a better squad (or at least a better-balanced squad) come the end of the transfer window.
According to ToffeeWebers, we need pretty much a new player for every position – with only Tarkowski, Garner, Patterson and McNeil being generally considered worthy by everyone. There are similar comments that we “need” an Arab takeover too.
Whether we really do “need” these things depends on what the objective is for next season (and maybe the next three seasons).
If the objective is to get into the Champions League and compete for titles, then we really do need pretty much a whole new squad and at least £2bn to buy it. Even then, there are up to 7 other clubs with similar aims and objectives – and only 4 Champions League spots. Even if a Sheikh turns up tomorrow, those 7 other clubs already have an enormous head start, and we’d be without the lure of Champions League football needed to tempt ready-made quality players to the club.
So let’s be honest about the real objectives of the club. Next season, I think these are:
- · Get out of the relegation cycle into mid-table;
- · Compete in the cup competitions;
- · Get through a season without sacking a manager;
- · Score more goals; and
- · Add a few more players to the existing group, who can begin to form a 3- to 5-year dynasty at the club.
On that basis, we need a stronger attack and better depth in a few positions. Some of the underwhelming players we’ve been linked with, like Danjuma, Piroe, Harrison etc, will help deliver that. In fact, I suspect whoever we bring in will be underwhelming – because they’ll look shit compared to the likes of Rice, Szobozlai, Maddison, Mac Allister etc. Whilst it’s obviously disappointing not to be competing for players like this, we’re not in that league just yet.
The point is to become better; not somehow brilliant overnight. Getting better will involve the recruitment of players like Moyes previously recruited; Carsley, Cahill, Arteta, Pienaar, Neville etc. Not unlike the modestly priced successes of last summer; being Garner, McNeil and Tarkowski.
Longer term, it will involve developing the talent of players like Tom Cannon, Stan Mills, Lewis Dobbin, Lewis Warrington, Jenson Metcalfe and Ishé Samuels-Smith to see if we can turn one or two of them into Premier League players (which is a huge leap from U21 football, as the likes of Steven Schumacher, Joel Baxter, Michael Branch, Danny Cadamarteri, Kieran Dowell, Jonjoe Kenny, Ryan Ledson, Liam Walsh, Antony Evans, Conor McAleny, Nick Chadwick, Phil Jevons, Joe Williams and many, many others will testify). These guys need games to improve; which almost certainly means games on loan at Championship level.
So we don’t need an awful lot for our initial building blocks. But these initial building blocks are absolutely vital in our journey to becoming a big club again. There are no shortcuts; we cannot simply wait our turn for a sugar daddy who will probably never arrive.
On this, we can take heart from successful clubs like Napoli and Seville this season that the right sort of building can deliver success over time (and not even that much time) without huge sums of money. Although that’s going to try the patience of many, in actual fact, if we can go big in the cups and score more goals, I think it could be an enjoyable season watching a side becoming good, if not great, again. From there, we will have the right sort of foundations in place for becoming a big club again.