We're up to seven signings now, with more to come. All permanent, no loans yet. Will Vaulks from Sheffield Wednesday. Was out of contract, offered a new one, but chose us. Jacob Knightbridge from West Ham. Young goalkeeper, as a development signing, who will probably be loaned out. Peter Kioso from Rotherham. Quick right back who was on loan at Peterborough last season. About £400,000. Jamie Cumming from Chelsea. 25 year old goalkeeper who was on loan with us last season, now signed on a permanent. Louie Sibley from Derby. Similar to Vaulks, he was offered a new contract by Derby but chose us. Jack Currie from Wimbledon. 22 year old left back. Another one about £400,000. Idris El Mizouni from Ipswich. 23 year old midfielder from Ipswich and another one at about £400,000. Apart from Vaulks, all are what I'd call asset based signings, being between the ages of 22 to 25 (apart from Knightbridge who's 20). Two were captains at their clubs and three were Player of the Season. We will probably be signing another six, with some experienced Championship players, like Vaulks among them, a couple more asset based signings, and two or three Premier League 20/21 year olds. We're currently expected to sign Ali Al Hamadi from Ipswich and are linked with some really exciting players. The only player we've lost, that we wanted to keep, was Josh Murphy, to Portsmouth, but on reflection even that may not be the blow it first seemed. He was absolutely fantastic for the last four months of the season, but had been a fringe player for the previous year and a half, so it very much depends which Josh Murphy Portsmouth are getting? Overall, I'm cautiously optimistic, and it's clear we're not here to make the numbers up.
QPR fans on Twitter saying he would likely be a squad/rotation player this season. At 26 maybe he thought it was the right time for a move.
Several former Cardiff players seem to have ended up at Oxford. Vaulks provided us with a few great moments. Josh Murphy a frustrating player who lost his way. Good luck.
I’ll be a bit disappointed if Ali leaves. Probably not a Premier League striker, yet, but I really like him. Very direct, strong, works hard, I think he can still improve. Would be third choice for us but still, a useful player. We’ll have to replace him if so. El Miz is hopefully a decent signing, technically good and mentally strong. Think he’ll do well in the Championship after a couple of seasons experience at a lower level. Question mark over him was always his physical presence but he’s grown up since he was with us.
He was sensational for Oxford in the latter half of last season. Looked the best player in the league. Think the talent has always been there, but has had issues with his mentality.
Any hint of pace causes problem in L1 though. Seems like he was average-to-poor for Oxford prior to that 4/5 month purple patch.
Eom Ji-Sung confirmed from Gwangju on a four year deal. 22 year old, left winger. Looks good and an exciting player from highlights, but will need to see how these translates from the K League.
It's not as straightforward as that. When he joined us he had a slight injury, but our manager at the time, Karl Robinson, put him on a pedestal and claimed he was the best player in League One. KR lost the plot at that time and we made a poor start to the season, which resulted in KR pressuring Murphy to play when not fit. Long story short, he became a bit of a scapegoat for KR and wasn't really given a chance. When KR was sacked and Liam Manning appointed he didn't really fit the Manning style of play. It was only when Des Buckingham came in that Murphy was given a real run, in a system and position that suited him, and he was sensational for the second half of last season. But there are issues with him, as his career illustrates, and although we were prepared to make him our highest paid player, it's telling that he's gone to Portsmouth for similar money on a three year + one contract, rather than the two years we were offering. He loved playing under Buckingham and had become a real fans' favourite, so to me the fact he's chosen the security of the longer contract tells me that maybe he's now in the comfort zone (as he was at Cardiff) with nothing to prove, which could be a big risk for Portsmouth. His game is mostly about pace and he'll be 33 when his contract ends, so if that pace has gone he'll be an expensive passenger. I'd have liked him to stay with us, but it had to be on the right terms, and I don't think what Portsmouth have agreed to are that.
Signing number eight for us is Przemyslaw Placheta, a 26 year old speedy winger and Polish international. Latterly of Swansea and Norwich. He seems to have had a few injury issues, so interested in what Swansea and Norwich fans think of the signing. Looks very decent, but a slight element of risk maybe? Also, how the hell do you pronounce his name???
Shemislav Pwaheta, or something like that. He never really had a real run in our side. He can do 2 things, run fast and put in a decent cross. His problem here was that under Farke we would play in the opposition half so there wasn't a lot of room for him to use his pace. Farke also preferred his wingers to come into the middle and play, Placheta was not built for that. If you're playing on the counter and his job is to run fast and cross then I would imagine he'll do okay. During one of his later press appearances our ex sporting director spoke about signing a player with amazing physical attributes but with the complete lack of ability to take on new information. 99% sure he was talking about poor Placheta.
Cheers. Yeah, we play with fast wingers on the outside, and full backs who are full backs, so the wingers have licence to do their thing. Having said that, we do mix it up a bit and sometimes would dominate possession and other times set up to let certain sides have the ball, and hit them on the counter. Sometimes our formation was almost like five upfront, two fast wingers, two tens, and a nine, but I expect next season will be one of adjustment and consolidation for us, certainly for the first half of the season. The good thing is that our manager is very innovative and it seems as though we're building a big enough squad to be able to change things if Plan A, or Plan B for that matter, are not working.
I liked him here, he did decent. Started regularly for us until his injury and was good at being direct, and very much doing a traditional wingers job of getting to the line and getting crosses into the box. Didn't really return in terms of goals or assists, but played well enough to show he's a decent player at this level and I thought we'd have extended his contract to be honest.
It's soooo boring, doesn't seem like there is any movement for us. Talk of a GK but that's been going on forever. We could really do with 3 more players in, if we want to be competitive. I'm glad O'Hare didn't go to Leicester (not sure if they were even interested). He's been a big part of our rebuild into a respectable football club and one of my favourite players in recent years. I think he'll be a very successful with you He will have at least doubled his wages so I can't fault him. I would find it funny though if we were to get to the PL before Sheffield United.
Is Ben Wilson still an option for you as first choice? Didn’t seem to play much last season despite being in the Team of the Year the season before.
I think MR is looking at a change, I'd imagine he will be moved on. In our kit reveals, the club didn't use Collins or Wilson, instead used a youth keeper.
