“ CCFC Squad to date “

Just been thinking how well we are prepared for the season and who will make the squad and as there are so many threads in the topic I thought id add another

For me:

Goalkeeper – 7/10
1 Etheridge
2 Smithies
3 Murphy

Im happy with the keepers we have, I think we have good competition. I suppose the only concern would be that to my knowledge none have been tested in the premiership but everyone needs to start somewhere and it seems the natutal step up. natural step up for Etheridge and Smithies.

Right Back – 5/10
4 Richards
5 Peltier
(Cover with Manga, Connolly – god help us)
Very surprised we haven’t (yet) brought in a right back, I still think we will as its clear we are lacking quality at right back. For me you can’t rely on Richards with injuries and although Peltier can be effective in certain games he lacks going forward. Manga at rightback in the premiership would be a concern.

Left Back 7/10
6 Cunningham
7 Bennett
Im happy at left back, I think either will do a job, like most the squad will have something to prove that they are up to this level

Centre Back 7/10
8 Morrison
9 Bamba
10 Manga
11 Connolly
(cover with Cunningham)
I think at championship level having those 3 is about as good as it gets, but will they be able to do it in the prem? im not 100% sure, they all have a mistake in them that you can recover from in the championship that you probably won’t get the chance to in the prem. I thought Warnock may have brought in another centre back and still think he might.

Central Midfield 4 /10
12 Ralls
13 Demour
14 Gunnersson
(Cover with Paterson)
Wither Paterson more likely to play in the 10 role than a central midfield position I think its clear we are well short on numbers and quality. As it stands we are Halford, Grujic and Bryson short of being up to last season standard and for me before losing anyone this was the key position we needed to strengthen. No Concerns at all over Ralls who I think will now be a premiership player for a long time. Warnock is a big fan of Gunnersson so he must be happy he signed. Demour will have his uses as a squad player over the season so for me we are short two quality centre midfielders, one to partner Ralls and another as competition to Ralls and a new signing.

“10” the striker 6/10
15 Paterson
16 Reid
(cover Murphy)
Im sure we have other players who could fill the role as well but the obvious two are these, Paterson filled in and done a job and clearly has an eye for goal and im really looking forward to seeing him play. 6/10 seems low but im not to concerned by it as a number of players could fill this role.

Wingers 8/10
17 Murphy
18 NML
19 Hoilett
20 Harris
(Cover with Paterson, Reid, Ward)
Our strength has to be in the wide areas, the one thing no one likes playing against is pace and we have plenty. I know a lot of written off Harris and im not sure how much Warnock trusts him (potentially to do with the reported fight in two in the early hours) but I get the impression he is being given a chance preseason and Warnock likes pace in those areas, could be an impact sub.

Striker 6/10
21 Zohore
22 Medine
23 Ward
(Cover Reid, Murphy)
Still a striker short but I think Warnock has made it clear he plans on getting one in. I think all 3 we currently on the books have a role to play next season, all different types of strikers who will do different jobs. Really think Zohore is going to have a big season for us with us probably having to play a lot deeper next season.


I know it won’t happen as Connolly has signed a new deal but for me the final changes would be
OUT
Connolly, Richards

(Takes us to 21 players)
IN
RB, CM CM, FW

Players I can’t see making the cut
Tomlin
Pilks
Bogle

Agree with some of it.....Peltier Connolly, Richards..Madine.. Ward Darmour ..not up to it in my opinion...Zohore has to improve his workrate....Gunnarrson will be found out...too slow

I would like more pace at the back and in midfield... but it looks like city will try and stay up on the cheap...Good Luck boys

Agree with some of it.....Peltier Connolly, Richards..Madine.. Ward Darmour ..not up to it in my opinion...Zohore has to improve his workrate....Gunnarrson will be found out...too slow

I would like more pace at the back and in midfield... but it looks like city will try and stay up on the cheap...Good Luck boys

Agree with some of that as well, I would have been a lot more ruthless and certainly wouldn't have given Gunnersson a new deal. I think as squad players Medine and Demour will have there uses over the season.

Agree with some of it.....Peltier Connolly, Richards..Madine.. Ward Darmour ..not up to it in my opinion...Zohore has to improve his workrate....Gunnarrson will be found out...too slow

I would like more pace at the back and in midfield... but it looks like city will try and stay up on the cheap...Good Luck boys

Agree with some of that as well, I would have been a lot more ruthless and certainly wouldn't have given Gunnersson a new deal. I think as squad players Medine and Demour will have there uses over the season.

I would have preferred not to have gone down the Gunnersson route but if we are trying to stay up on the cheap then maybe there is method in NW's madness.

As for the OP I was feeling quite positive about this season until I read that.

Thing that gets me is Connolly, Harris, and Richards. I like that last two, but they both have been plagued with injuries so how can you grant them Prem football when they barely contributed to getting us out of the Championship. As for Connolly I’m deciding to just leave it with “no comment”...

I think that’s decent and well thought out OP.
Can’t find a lot to argue about and would have preferred if Gunnarsson hadn’t have signed. I’m also not too keen on Grujic if he comes back as I think there are better and more experienced out there but I won’t be too disappointed if he does.
I like most am happy with the defence but it’ll be a different test for them this season as there will be less high balls to deal with (which we excell) and more quick, rapid movement in and around our box!

Nice topic.

I would give left back 8/10, I think we are really solid there, cunningham and bennett are very good players.

Wingers also 8/10, we have very decent players if we also include Reid there, plus we often play with high wingers in a 4 2 3 1 or 4 3 3 system meaning Hoilett, Reid and Murphy and NML will really excel. Kadeem has also, apparently looked good in pre-season. We have lots of options there

At this point left back and wingers look to be our strongest areas.

Concerned about right back and a big season for Peltier and Jazz, I don't feel they are good enough but lets see.

Connelly is the ultimate squad player and happy to keep him.

Centre midfield is a weak area as far as I am concerned and as you quite rightly pointed out as 4/10.. and while Grujic will strengthen it somewhat I still feel we lack some real pace and bite in there. Sadly I am not expecting Gunnarson to thrive in there. I would say its a huge year for Ralls. Whenever people have written him off or question his ability he has come through and pushed on.

Up front... we have some options and by the looks of things currently Zohore with Reid dropping in looks like the best, however don't wrote off Madine, I suspect he will have a bigger impact that anyone thinks. Saying that, I feel we need someone with a bit of pace and experience at premier league level in there.

But football has a habit of making fools of us all.

Agree with some of it.....Peltier Connolly, Richards..Madine.. Ward Darmour ..not up to it in my opinion...Zohore has to improve his workrate....Gunnarrson will be found out...too slow

I would like more pace at the back and in midfield... but it looks like city will try and stay up on the cheap...Good Luck boys

Agree with some of that as well, I would have been a lot more ruthless and certainly wouldn't have given Gunnersson a new deal. I think as squad players Medine and Demour will have there uses over the season.

I would have preferred not to have gone down the Gunnersson route but if we are trying to stay up on the cheap then maybe there is method in NW's madness.

As for the OP I was feeling quite positive about this season until I read that.

Don’t let this post make you lose any optimism, as per last season I think our strength will be the way we set up and im hoping we will be even more effective with Murphy and especially Reid in key positions. I probably did a post like this last season saying the midfield wasn’t up to it and we still ended up in second place. Im still positive for the season and still plenty of time to tweak the squad.

I think ive done talking about Gunnersson to death on other threads and personally wouldn’t have kept in no matter what league we are in and this was mainly down to the fact that I think if Gunnersson is available that Warnock will play him every time. As a sub I would say great but as a starter in the prem I would have massive doubts. Even with Grujic who I liked in parts I think we are still weak. I really do think though if we got someone of real quality to play alongside Ralls, who is more defensive minded it would really give us that more solid base to allow the forward line that extra but of freedom. Bring back Ricky Scimeca

Warnock said in an interview the other day he was told about a player being available he didn’t think would be available and I think that will be the case more and more as the transfer window gets closer to closing. We could be in for a few surprises yet.

Potential surprises not to make the squad if Warnock finds someone he wants more than what he has would be to loan out Richards, Demour, Harris and to a lesser extend Ward.

I think we badly need to bring in one or two strikers who are proven at Premier League level. You have to score goals in the Premier League to survive and we didn't score enough goals against much weaker opposition in the Championship, let alone the Premiership.

It's all well and good saying that we need to be conservative and not spend too much, but what is the point in paying £20 million for players like Reid and Murphy if there's no one to stick it in the back of the net. You have to speculate to accumulate.

Zohore will not cut it in the Premiership. He wants everything given to him on a plate. He doesn't work hard enough. Gary Madine is very, very far away from being a Premiership level player.

I would like to see the City make a bold move and bring in a player who can score goals.

I think we badly need to bring in one or two strikers who are proven at Premier League level. You have to score goals in the Premier League to survive and we didn't score enough goals against much weaker opposition in the Championship, let alone the Premiership.

It's all well and good saying that we need to be conservative and not spend too much, but what is the point in paying £20 million for players like Reid and Murphy if there's no one to stick it in the back of the net. You have to speculate to accumulate.

Zohore will not cut it in the Premiership. He wants everything given to him on a plate. He doesn't work hard enough. Gary Madine is very, very far away from being a Premiership level player.

I would like to see the City make a bold move and bring in a player who can score goals.

Who though? Not many proven players about.

Thing that gets me is Connolly, Harris, and Richards. I like that last two, but they both have been plagued with injuries so how can you grant them Prem football when they barely contributed to getting us out of the Championship. As for Connolly I’m deciding to just leave it with “no comment”...

100% agree with you but unfortunately l would be shipping them all out.
NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

I think we badly need to bring in one or two strikers who are proven at Premier League level. You have to score goals in the Premier League to survive and we didn't score enough goals against much weaker opposition in the Championship, let alone the Premiership.

It's all well and good saying that we need to be conservative and not spend too much, but what is the point in paying £20 million for players like Reid and Murphy if there's no one to stick it in the back of the net. You have to speculate to accumulate.

Zohore will not cut it in the Premiership. He wants everything given to him on a plate. He doesn't work hard enough. Gary Madine is very, very far away from being a Premiership level player.

I would like to see the City make a bold move and bring in a player who can score goals.

Who though? Not many proven players about.

You are right mate. It's bloody brutal. Not an easy problem to solve with players going for stupid money these days. I just don't see where the goals are going to come from in our current squad. If Hoilett were to get injured we'd be completely screwed.

I think we badly need to bring in one or two strikers who are proven at Premier League level. You have to score goals in the Premier League to survive and we didn't score enough goals against much weaker opposition in the Championship, let alone the Premiership.

It's all well and good saying that we need to be conservative and not spend too much, but what is the point in paying £20 million for players like Reid and Murphy if there's no one to stick it in the back of the net. You have to speculate to accumulate.

Zohore will not cut it in the Premiership. He wants everything given to him on a plate. He doesn't work hard enough. Gary Madine is very, very far away from being a Premiership level player.

I would like to see the City make a bold move and bring in a player who can score goals.

Who though? Not many proven players about.

You are right mate. It's bloody brutal. Not an easy problem to solve with players going for stupid money these days. I just don't see where the goals are going to come from in our current squad. If Hoilett were to get injured we'd be completely screwed.

Mate I’m really optimistic about the season and that we might just be a surprise package. Kenny, Bobby and Jnr will score, I’m confident. We’ve got pace to burn and the direct aggressive style is going to catch some of these fancy dan teams cold. The midfield does need bodies, Ryan Woods and George Saville my choice, but I really feel the way we play doesn’t require us to dominate in the centre of the park and if we even try and compete by tapping it around we’re going to get slapped. I trust Warnock and hoping we do make some midfield signings, but I like the look of the squad. Whatever happens we’re in a great place right now, the future is bright.