Looking at how we’ve decimated the U23s, and moved promising kids up to the first team I wonder if we’re not compressing what we’ve got a little bit first. Use U23s mostly as U18s, loan out anyone near the fringes of the first team. I think we’ll see fewer Cashman and Costello type signings and more 16/17 year olds, plus now we look like an established Championship side hopefully we’re filling out the younger age brackets with better quality than we’ve had the last 10-15 years.
I think now that the Gus / Vik issues are sorted the Mark and the staff should have a clear idea of budget / strategy.
We’ve a first team squad (Wiki) of 23 including Moore, Allen and Cal.
The U21’s have only a small number that are anywhere near.
With 9 man bench we need a main squad of 25 plus and maybe 8 U21’s to have in and around.
We need another 3-5 first team squad decent signings and then look at picking a few u21/23 “gambles”.
It’s good that we aren’t relying on so many loans now.
We need a few “Alabi” type signings to and to let the Rus types have a run out in the lower leagues.
What we don’t need is chucking a load of budget and squad space on Waghorn types. No offence to Waghorn as a person and I can only assume that the club strategy was to have a player that “knew the division” but financially it was madness at a time we had no money. We could have signed 3/4 semi-gambles of which 1 might have gone on.