A year of tranfers under Gus

[tonymgc]

In
Ashley Barnes- Good, Potentially brilliant
Inigo Calderon- Best Gus signing?
Marcos Painter- Superb
Chris Holroyd- Pass
Peter Brezovan- Good League One G/K
Kazenga LuaLua (loan)- Amazing
Diego Arismendi (loan)- A calculated gamble that didn't work out
Danny Naisbitt- Cover at the time we needed him
Lee Hendrie- Did a job when we needed him
Gordon Greer- Best Centre back in League one
Cristian Baz- Raw potential
Augustin Battipiedi- Struggling so far
Michael Poke- Ha!ha!ha! f***ing terrible
Matt Sparrow- Quality player
Radostin Kishishev- See above
Fran Sandaza- Will judge him when & if he ever gets fit & healthy
Liam Bridcutt- Like him a lot
Thorbjorn Agdestein- Haven't seen him yet so can't judge
Casper Ankergren- Good League One G/K
Chris Wood (loan)- Good signing look forward to seeing him progress

Out
Graeme Smith- Calamity
Mevin mcLeod- Fat, slow, sack of crap
Andrew Crofts- Quality but happier with Spaz
Dean Cox- Missed his chance with us
Nicky Forster- Was end of the road for him
Liam Dickinson- Should've been quality but wasn't
Jake Wright- Never saw him play i don't think
Michel Kuipers- Legend but best days well past him
Craig Davies- Shame never worked out
James Tunnicliffe (loan)- Terrible whenever i saw him
Jim McNulty (loan)- Victim of circumstance Painter's better
Andrew Whing (loan)- Lost his mojo
Steve Cook (loan)- Potentially good
Chris Holroyd (loan)

 

[Flavor Flav]

10 out of 10 for being a f***ing brilliant manager. 6/10 on signings.

 

[Biscuit]

faultless, we are top...no manager ever makes 100% perfect signings...

So you're saying Gus has reached perfection, but only inside a framework of imperfection?

Plus Wenger has signed loads of duds.

 

[chez]

In
Ashley Barnes (Hmm, I'm not that impressed at the moment, he is only young though so hopefully will improve)
Inigo Calderon (One of the best players to play at Withdean for us, quality signing)
Marcos Painter (Good signing)
Chris Holroyd (Same as Barnes for me)
Peter Brezovan (Brilliant at first, I think I was just happy to get rid of Kuipers really)
Kazenga LuaLua (loan) (Super signing, gutted about the injury)
Diego Arismendi (loan) (Flop)
Danny Naisbitt (Who?)
Lee Hendrie (I thought he did OK but Gus was right not to sign him permenantly)
Gordon Greer (Looking like a very good signing)
Cristian Baz (Not shown us much so far, flop)
Augustin Battipiedi (As above)
Michael Poke (Probably one of the strangest signings we've made - panic buy perhaps?)
Matt Sparrow (Brought in as a replacement for Crofts, hasn't got anywhere near as yet but done OK)
Radostin Kishishev (Excellent signing, shows that class is permanant)
Fran Sandaza (Too unfot to cast a judgement)
Liam Bridcutt (Very good signing, glad he's extended his stay)
Thorbjorn Agdestein (Who knows!!)
Casper Ankergren (Despite the grief he's got for not being black & dutch I think he's done very well)
Chris Wood (loan) (We'll see)

Out
Graeme Smith (Wasn't up to the job and still isn't from watching him in the SPL)
Mevin mcLeod (Had to go)
Andrew Crofts (Well, he was always going to go up a league, brilliant player that Gus had no chance of keeping)
Dean Cox (Excellent on his day but very inconsistant - right to let go)
Nicky Forster (shame but I think his time was up due to his relationship with Gus, had to go)
Liam Dickinson (Waste of space for us and hasn't improved since, had to go)
Jake Wright (Seems like he is doing brillaintly for Oxford, would have liked to see him stay and play in his correct position)
Michel Kuipers (Finally he has gone about 3 years too late for me, in my opinion he was the cause of the vast majority of unrest amongst the Brighton fans. Good riddance)
Craig Davies (Never really got going, doing well now albeit in a lower division. Think he needed the move)
James Tunnicliffe (loan) (unsure of Gus's intentions, I would like to see him come back and be given a chance)
Jim McNulty (loan) (Strange one, I haven't seen a lot of him but people say he's class. Hopefully he'll come back to us and give Painter some competition. Gus was right to let him go and get some match practice though)
Andrew Whing (loan) (Wasn't getting near the 1st team so right to let him go)
Steve Cook (loan) (As above)
Chris Holroyd (loan) (As above)

 

[KneeOn]

The main thing i've noticed is thats a lot of players...
The other thing i've seen is people have started to shift their opinion of Holroyd.

For what its worth I think he's worth an 8.

 

[jharris]

Rate it out of 10

In
Ashley Barnes
Inigo Calderon
Marcos Painter
Chris Holroyd
Peter Brezovan
Kazenga LuaLua (loan)
Diego Arismendi (loan)
Danny Naisbitt
Lee Hendrie
Gordon Greer
Cristian Baz
Augustin Battipiedi
Michael Poke
Matt Sparrow
Radostin Kishishev
Fran Sandaza
Liam Bridcutt
Thorbjorn Agdestein
Casper Ankergren
Chris Wood (loan)

Out
Graeme Smith
Mevin mcLeod
Andrew Crofts
Dean Cox
Nicky Forster
Liam Dickinson
Jake Wright
Michel Kuipers
Craig Davies
James Tunnicliffe (loan)
Jim McNulty (loan)
Andrew Whing (loan)
Steve Cook (loan)
Chris Holroyd (loan)


add any that have been missed out.

Nasir Kasim
Ryan Simmonds
Luc Matutu

 

[Jimmy Grimble]

The first manager in years to do a thorough job of getting rid of the deadwood. That task can't be underestimated.

8/10

 

[severnside gull]

In
Kazenga LuaLua (loan) - great spot finding this lad and we have helped his development so works both ways - hope he will be back for the run-in
Ashley Barnes - gets into great positions - they say you can't teach that. Needs to develop a killer instinct in front of goal but if it's true he cost 200K or thereabouts he has already shown that is money well spent
Inigo Calderon - great signing - best attacking fullback in this league and no slouch in defence either. Leads by example
Marcos Painter - great signing. Mr consistent and one of the best 2 fullbacks in this league with Calde
Chris Holroyd - Could have/should have(?) been as effective as Barnes in the same role and worth a punt. Don't think he will come back but don't think trying him out has cost us.
Peter Brezovan - nice to see a keeper coming for crosses with confidence even if his ground play isn't the best. Hasn't let us down and won't when called on
Diego Arismendi (loan) - didn't work out but cost us nothing
Danny Naisbitt - wasn't signed to play except in an absolute emergency so fine as a short term deal
Lee Hendrie (loan)- did what was needed to help steer us clear at the end of last season but lacks necessary pace so right not to sign him when Derby released him
Gordon Greer - one of the best centre backs in this league - great signing and at 250K an absolute steal
Cristian Baz - very naive - if the first team pool was stronger would be in the development squad
Augustin Battipiedi - needs 2 years to find his feet. Not sure if he will get it but shows some promise and could be better playing higher up the league hierarchy where skill is more important than muscle and you get more time to play
Michael Poke - I thought he would be adequate as back-up until Walker comes through but I was wrong. Poor in pre-season and worse when called on at Northampton. Gus' worst signing
Matt Sparrow - don't think people realise how much we miss him when he isn't playing. When he gets over his run of bad luck with injury he will become indispensible
Radostin Kishishev - what a signing. Getting him out of semi-retirement says it all about Gus' ability to identify what he needs and to go get it
Fran Sandaza - way too soon to write him off - clearly a sick note but when he is fit he could be a real asset - on second thoughts make that IF.
Liam Bridcutt - really pleased for the lad - great attitude and ability - hope he stays long term as he can make the step up - and he came for free
Torbjorn Agdestein (development squad )
Nasir Kasim (development squad )
Ryan Simmonds (development squad )
Luc Matutu (development squad )
Casper Ankergren - free transfer and one of the top half dozen keepers in this league. what's not to like? His ground play is important to our style of football and a good shot stopper even if he does sometimes flap a bit at crosses
Chris Wood (loan) - we can't go wrong really - at first look seems a little leaden but with more confidence should show us what makes the Baggies think he is a potential premiership striker

Out
Graeme Smith - no self belief for a keeper = no use
Kevin mcLeod - never seemed to make the effort to make use of his natural ability - were you watching dean cox?
Andrew Crofts 300k for a free transfer in. If you can't do anything to stop it enjoy the profit
Dean Cox - the longer he stayed the more he strayed - needed the reminder that football is a team game and is currently showing his best form in 5 years. our loss if it lasts but wouldn't have happened had he stayed
Nicky Forster - in other circumstances he might have been our player-coach or even player-manager but when the man who is in charge is trying to exert control over the changing room there is no room for a barrack room lawyer
Liam Dickinson - problems in his attitude off the pitch led to him underachieving on it - a pattern he seems intent on repeating. Best "get rid" of the lot
Jake Wright - to me he looked a better centre back than Tunni and might have been worth persevering with. IMO worth more than we sold him for as he is now showing
Michel Kuipers - I'm sorry but for me he was a few years past his sell-by date and we now have better. His cult status played its part in preventing others progressing as they might have done
Craig Davies - Think he needed the move as the boo boys had got to his confidence - showing now what he can do at the right level
James Tunnicliffe (loan) - looked to have potential but had a bad time on loan at MKDons and is repeating that at the Gas. Will struggle to make an impact in competition with our current crop of centre backs but may be worth anotherpre-season to see what he has learned
Jim McNulty (loan) - love the guy and a class act when at his best but lots of injuries mean he has barely played (for us or Scunny) this season. At his best still second choice to Painter but at his best might be a left sided midfield solution. I would love to see him back
Andrew Whing (loan) - right to let him go as he cannot play our style of football. won't be back
Steve Cook (loan) -- development squad player learning his trade
Chris Holroyd (loan) doubt he will be back in the squad but bet we will at least break even when we sell

All-in-all I think Gus has only made one or two provenly poor or "failed" signings with one or two who have had to be accelerated into squad contention because of lack of depth. Where he has got it wrong he has been pretty quick to act (Poke/Holroyd). He has got rid of many who needed to go (maybe a question mark over McNulty and Wright) and the turn round in our league position speaks for itself.

So far, less failures than most managers. More successes than most too. Bad PR on potential super-signings that fail to materialise relegated him to 8/10 for me but I think we may have found one of the best coach/managers of his generation. Agreeing to the "development squad" could be the best financial decision Tony ever makes. I hope Gus'll stay to finish what he has started

 

[Ecosse Exile]

Severnside, im not going to quote you, its too long but i agree with nearly all of what you say.

Interesting point you made about Holroyd, when Gus sent him out on loan he said our style of play didn't suit him, i wonder if it would now? Confidence is a big part of any strikers game, would he put away the chances that Barnes does and more importantly, that Barnes doesn't.

I noticed a few posters early on slating Sandaza, give the guy a chance ffs, hes hardly kicked a ball in anger so far! Yes he has been injured too much but if there was a problem then surely that should have been diagnosed at the medical and he shouldn't have been signed. If not then just bad luck either way its not the lads fault, and hardly a reason to say he's shit!

 

[Giraffe]

A confortable nine from me. He has ditched the dead wood effectively, and brought in players who are comfortable on the ball. Okay not all have worked out but what manager achieves that?

Just a quality striker away from a perfect ten.

 

[upthealbion1970]

Severnside, im not going to quote you, its too long but i agree with nearly all of what you say.

Interesting point you made about Holroyd, when Gus sent him out on loan he said our style of play didn't suit him, i wonder if it would now? Confidence is a big part of any strikers game, would he put away the chances that Barnes does and more importantly, that Barnes doesn't.

I noticed a few posters early on slating Sandaza, give the guy a chance ffs, hes hardly kicked a ball in anger so far! Yes he has been injured too much but if there was a problem then surely that should have been diagnosed at the medical and he shouldn't have been signed. If not then just bad luck either way its not the lads fault, and hardly a reason to say he's shit!

When we signed sandaza wasn't he recovering from double hernia op, similar to the op Glenn Murray seemed to take absolutely ages to get back to full fitness from?

Agree pretty much with rest of your post, we should all remember Gus is still learning and that is what is really exciting about where he will take us in the next 12 months