Are you happy with the Albion's January business?

[Bozza]

[FONT=HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif]Out for good: Colunga, Nzuzi[/FONT]
[FONT=HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif]Loans expired, not renewed: Gardner, E. Bennett, Bent[/FONT]

[FONT=HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif]In: Kayal[/FONT]
[FONT=HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif]Loan: Best[/FONT]
[FONT=HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif]Loan renewed: Halford[/FONT]

[FONT=HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif]Surprise retainee: O'Grady[/FONT]

 

[deletebeepbeepbeep]

I don't feel happy or unhappy, not a lot to get excited about there but I think we will stay up.

 

[JBizzle]

I voted yes, but I guess I'm 75% in that camp. I like what we've done, but would have prefered to have shipped out a couple (Kemy / Paddy) and signed a winger and a right back. That said, the business we have done is good.

 

[GT49er]

Feels OK to me. Nothing exciting, but far wiser to keep hold of the money for now, stay up under CH's management, then use some money in the summer when there is better value to be had.

 

[StonehamPark]

Not really,

I'm sure someone at the club told us that there would be big-business in January.

I'm not too fussed though, as long as we stay up and reset in August, who really cares.

 

[Hotchilidog]

Yes. We haven't wasted a load of money on people who will not add to the squad, and streamlined what's left.

Pretty underwhelming business, but sensible and measured business all the same.

 

[rippleman]

Sadly not.

Whether it is a lack of ambition or (more likely) a lack of cash, this window, like the several preceding, has been most disappointing. We need the quality of player to entertain and help the club to attract fans and maintain support to fill the ground.

If we can't balance the books now, it isn't going to get easier when fans start dropping away. Expectations were raised when we moved to the Amex but we just seem to be "on the slide".

"Premier League Ready"??!!! Not even close; and if the past few windows are anything to go by then survival appears to be the clubs "One Ambition" rather than advancement and eventual promotion.

 

[seagully]

With Stephens and LuaLua coming back from injury we should have more than enough to stay up this season- the squad looks good to me. Would much rather stick with what we have rather than panic buying for the sake of it and ending up with duffers.

 

[seagulls4ever]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/30645197

"I have only spoken briefly with Chris, but in terms of the recruitment we are ahead of the game."

Tony Bloom, 1st Jan.

 

[Grombleton]

We've lost some of the deadwood (Gardner, Toko) and bought in some (hopefully) quality in Best and Kayal.

We could have done better, but we could have done much worse.

 

[northernseagull]

Watching Derby snap up players I would liked Albion to have signed (ince, bent and jesse) I'm a little downbeat and envious! But unlike Derby... we've not a chance of play offs so I would rather the squad retains its position in the league and look to build in the summer. We're not far from having the squad for a play off push again - consolidation and then a continued development.

 

[The Brighton Buzz]

I am happy with the signings we have made and think it will be enough to keep us in the championship. We can then adjust the squad accordingly with CH's input in the summer. Would have preferred to have seen a few leave though. Kemy and Paddy will get nowhere near the bench and I think we will see CMS go when the loans reopen. I also think we will see another loan come in but who and what position is anybodys guess .

 

[TWOCHOICEStom]

No.

After all of the "we'll strengthen come January" and "we're ready for the window" talk I can't help but feel short changed.

Keeping O'Grady can't be really classed as an achievement. He was on our books and hasn't exactly been on fire even since he started coming good. Kayal and Best could well turn out to be decent, Halford is a bit meh.

It looks like CH reckons we can at least stay up with this squad. To hell with this season, lets save our money until the summer when we can build a squad to push for promotion. More decent talent will be available and it will likely be a more attractive proposition to come here for players then than it is now. That's a bit risky. The vast majority of this squad have shown little bite or determination when it matters. Much of that was Hyypia's fault, but we've just gone out and lost to the worst team in the league without scoring a goal. We aren't good.

I'd liked to have seen a real shake up. Maybe we'll see that in the summer. I just hope we're in still in the Championship when it happens!

 

[nwgull]

Yes. We haven't wasted a load of money on people who will not add to the squad, and streamlined what's left.

Pretty underwhelming business, but sensible and measured business all the same.

This. Having a squad that's too big can't be good for morale or confidence if there are players that never get a look in, or, alternatively, if the starting 11 is being constantly rotated to give everyone a go.

 

[Hamilton]

Neither.

We are good enough to stay up. In fact, I think we are good enough to pull away from the relegation zone. Should the unthinkable happen, then the players would need to take a very long hard look at themselves. It won't.

We need to keep Chris Hughton here though. Number one aim must be to retain a manager for next season so that he can do some proper building work.

 

[DarrenFreemansPerm]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/30645197



Tony Bloom, 1st Jan.

One can only assume they feel the summer window offers better value and that Hughton is confident of keeping us up. There's nothing to say we haven't spokem to potential targets and have them lined up for the summer. Having said that, from a fans point of view, the window has been very uninspiring, especially as a lot of us had interpreted Bloom's words to mean we might be a bit more active. I probably wouldn't be quite as twitchy had we not lost to a pathetic Blackpool team, but that result has hooked us right back into the thick of it. I'm hopeful we won't plunder the loan market too much as I personally feel it can be a little disruptive.

 

[Mackenzie]

This season is blown, and I believe that we've now got enough to stay up with the return of Lualua and Stephens. I hope that the lack of transfer activity signals a keeping the powder dry for next season where we will need to freshen up the squad.

Our aging defence needs looking at as does our lack of firepower if we are to be competitive. Keeping hold of Ince, Walton and Dunk would be a positive. They could be the spine of the team for years.

So answering the question, yes I'm content that we've done enough in January to survive BUT we'll need a lot more next year if we want to be competitive again.

 

[KZNSeagull]

No.

After all of the "we'll strengthen come January" and "we're ready for the window" talk I can't help but feel short changed.

But does Chris Hughton?

 

[thisistips]

[FONT=HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif]Out for good: Colunga, Nzuzi[/FONT]
[FONT=HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif]Loans expired, not renewed: Gardner, E. Bennett, Bent[/FONT]

[FONT=HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif]In: Kayal[/FONT]
[FONT=HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif]Loan: Best[/FONT]
[FONT=HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif]Loan renewed: Halford[/FONT]

[FONT=HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif]Surprise retainee: O'Grady[/FONT]

Also Houghton in and working well!

 

[Rugrat]

Sadly not.

Whether it is a lack of ambition or (more likely) a lack of cash, this window, like the several preceding, has been most disappointing. We need the quality of player to entertain and help the club to attract fans and maintain support to fill the ground.

If we can't balance the books now, it isn't going to get easier when fans start dropping away. Expectations were raised when we moved to the Amex but we just seem to be "on the slide".

"Premier League Ready"??!!! Not even close; and if the past few windows are anything to go by then survival appears to be the clubs "One Ambition" rather than advancement and eventual promotion.

I don't believe we need any more to keep us up and I'd prefer to see CH get a much better view of what's needed, and TB to keep his cash back until end of season. Then, like everyone, I'd hope to see the a real statement of ambition again.

As for this window mostly happy but thought we might be successful in shipping out a few of the 'less needed' higher earners (Agustien, Paddy, CMS)