Signings are not good enough

[Ollie Kearns is in Buxton]

I wonder how many of our "rivals" will sign a player with over ten hours of World Cup experience including a quarter final and a semi-final and scoring an 88th minute goal to take Italy into extra time. In fact, I wonder how many Premiership players have appeared in a WC semi.

Hey, I was there that nt - sum gig!!

[royalsteve]

I bet you were moaning last season about signing a couple of unknown Irish kids, a Watford reject and an over rated bloke from Bristol

hear hear...i know how about we spend £30 million and ridiculous wages on some premadonna who may destroy the close knit team spirit - and probably end up in the reserves anyway.

we need a couple of top level players....certainly a central defender with international or top league experience.

[royalsteve]

Lets face it,our signings so far are hardly going to strike the fear of God in to any premiership team. Some Korean guy who is 27 and another low division 27yr old defender.

The fact we could lose Sidwell is a joke. Lets hope we are not another Sunderland

i think hes got a point i mean what is sodje going to do in the premiership we signed him from brentford harldy a premiership defender. not saying we are going to do a sunderland just think we need to get a couple of other defenders in.

where do you think a lot of players start......i guess david beckham is crap too he played for Preston on loan when i think they were in Division 1 or 2 (Championship or League 1 now)

[BarryWhiteRFC]

Lets face it,our signings so far are hardly going to strike the fear of God in to any premiership team. Some Korean guy who is 27 and another low division 27yr old defender.

The fact we could lose Sidwell is a joke. Lets hope we are not another Sunderland

i think hes got a point i mean what is sodje going to do in the premiership we signed him from brentford harldy a premiership defender. not saying we are going to do a sunderland just think we need to get a couple of other defenders in.

where do you think a lot of players start......i guess david beckham is crap too he played for Preston on loan when i think they were in Division 1 or 2 (Championship or League 1 now)

It was actually when they were in the 3rd Division (Now league 2)!!!

[Bucks Dave]

Yes, of course Coppell could do better.
However, he would need to be in a club who could:
1) Pay £3M or more for a player.
2) Promise that player we would be in the Premiership for quite a time to come with a chance for Europe.
3) Afford Premiership wages for that player for the next two to three years.

Unfortunately he is at Reading. So, he has to look for players he believes can make a step up, who are personally hungry for success and can fit into the squad mentality we have.

Last season he did better than any other manager in the British game using that philosophy so why do you think Coppell is wrong this time? Give us some players' names he should have signed instead.

[M4 Junction 11]

Yes, of course Coppell could do better.
However, he would need to be in a club who could:
1) Pay £3M or more for a player.
2) Promise that player we would be in the Premiership for quite a time to come with a chance for Europe.
3) Afford Premiership wages for that player for the next two to three years.

Unfortunately he is at Reading. So, he has to look for players he believes can make a step up, who are personally hungry for success and can fit into the squad mentality we have.

Last season he did better than any other manager in the British game using that philosophy so why do you think Coppell is wrong this time? Give us some players' names he should have signed instead.

The signings are not good enough but I can't see there is any blame.
For the reasons you mention that's the position we find ourselves in at the moment.

[weybridgewanderer]

i'd rather sign coppell's brand of hungry players than some mercenary who doesn't give a damn but wants £20K a week and buts in half hearted performances coz they feel they have nothing to prove, knowing if we go down they'll move onto another promoted team that will pay them £20K a week

[BLUES & ROYAL]

Did anyone notice that there is a Fulham player (Malbranque) who is said to be asking for £60k a week. Fulham have offered him £50k. He rejected it and is looking to move away.

Could not give stuff about the player but the fact of the matter is we are talking FULHAM for crying out loud, a team we would hope to better!

Now when the club are quibbling over Sidwells Contract/wages, it brings it all in to perspective.

Getting to my point:-
I would love to think we could stay up, but unless we "Splash the Cash" and buy a few experienced Premiership players, I think we will struggle.

I hope and pray that because we have good team spirit combined with hungry players with no Prima Donnas, that they may be able to hang on in there, However I fear the worst whilst we buy players with no expirience under their belts!

[Forbury Lion]

Lets face it,our signings so far are hardly going to strike the fear of God in to any premiership team. Some Korean guy who is 27 and another low division 27yr old defender.

The fact we could lose Sidwell is a joke. Lets hope we are not another Sunderland

I think you'll find the joke is a little closer to home.

Another Sw*ndon

[Royal Rother]

If we get it wrong now by risking too much on players who may not deliver much because they are past their best, or on players for whom we would have to break the wage structure we will be in a much weaker position to bounce back if we do get relegated.

Of course we all want to see the club in the best possible position to make a go of it and stay in the Premiership but it is a balancing act and JM is, as ever, planning more than 1 year ahead and FWIW I support this strategy wholeheartedly.

The stability of the club is not all based around the next 1 season, it is reliant upon sound business and financial management on what is probably a 5 year plan with alternative scenarios. Most of those secnarios would not be best served by investment on a Wigan-scale at this moment. That would only change if JM's philosophy changed so that he committed a vast percentage of his personal fortune into the club, which is not going to happen.

[Don Finch]

In reply to the thread starter, I would be slightly worried if we signed no further players. But I think our man Steve has got at least two more players in mind, don't know who yet but probably another central defender and a midfielder. It's a fine balancing act, players will automatically be after higher wages in the top flight and that's the killer - if we sign someone on a three year contract on a high salary, what happens if they don't perform and RFC get relegated? We're stuck with some no-mark for two more years on high wages and someone other Prem clubs aren't going to want to buy - Carbone an extreme example of this at Bradford.

As most people have said on this board, I'd rather get relegated with stable finances rather than have one 'glory year' and have our clubs structure completely screwed for years to come. I want to see some commitment by the club though and two decent signings, at least until X-mas, should do the trick........34 days and counting......

[Platypuss]

Wigan were in exactly the same position as this last season - they ended up doing fine as I recall.

They did, however end up paying £2million for David Conolly probably at least partially in response to panicked fans demanding signings.

I'd rather we didn't give consideration to the squealing of know-nothing fans.

[Maguire]

If we get it wrong now by risking too much on players who may not deliver much because they are past their best, or on players for whom we would have to break the wage structure we will be in a much weaker position to bounce back if we do get relegated.

Of course we all want to see the club in the best possible position to make a go of it and stay in the Premiership but it is a balancing act and JM is, as ever, planning more than 1 year ahead and FWIW I support this strategy wholeheartedly.

The stability of the club is not all based around the next 1 season, it is reliant upon sound business and financial management on what is probably a 5 year plan with alternative scenarios. Most of those secnarios would not be best served by investment on a Wigan-scale at this moment. That would only change if JM's philosophy changed so that he committed a vast percentage of his personal fortune into the club, which is not going to happen.

A fine post.

I'll wait until I see the squad we have come the start of the season before passing judgement, but i'm all for us strengthening sensibly and acquiring players who aren't going to hammer the club financially, and who are likely to stick around should we go down.

I'm really torn regarding my expectations for next year - on the one hand I think we'll be too weak and will go down, but on the other I'm sure you're all going to be surprised at how bad some of the teams in the Premiership actually are.

[SpaceCruiser]

Lets face it,our signings so far are hardly going to strike the fear of God in to any premiership team. Some Korean guy who is 27 and another low division 27yr old defender.

The fact we could lose Sidwell is a joke. Lets hope we are not another Sunderland

F*CK OFF NEWBIE!

[BrumbasedROYAL]

I'm not sure why some of our fans are getting all wound up about our lack of "big name" signings. Have they already forgotten how well we did last year in the league, how well we competed against so called bigger names in the cup. In my opinion, the premiership is a fairly weak league, if you take out the top 6-7 teams, who generally have huge amounts to spend on transfers and wages, I think we can compete against the remaining teams this coming season and beyond.

As far as Sir Steve's signings so far, I am happy we already have a good young team that I believe is capable of playing in the prem and doing well (time will tell). What we lacked last year as cover for a few areas i.e. CB which he is addressing, and Midfield which again he has made a move on.

Give the lads a chance, if by January the team needs more quality in the starting XI I'm sure we will make moves in the transfer window. But in the mean time, I'm sure the current squad will do us proud.

[Royalee]

Lets face it,our signings so far are hardly going to strike the fear of God in to any premiership team. Some Korean guy who is 27 and another low division 27yr old defender.

The fact we could lose Sidwell is a joke. Lets hope we are not another Sunderland

F*CK OFF NEWBIE!

Nice one Spacey

[papereyes]

I'm really torn regarding my expectations for next year - on the one hand I think we'll be too weak and will go down, but on the other I'm sure you're all going to be surprised at how bad some of the teams in the Premiership actually are.

I think we'll see that within the first three games, to be honest.

[torbayroyal]

In reply to the thread starter, I would be slightly worried if we signed no further players. But I think our man Steve has got at least two more players in mind, don't know who yet but probably another central defender and a midfielder. It's a fine balancing act, players will automatically be after higher wages in the top flight and that's the killer - if we sign someone on a three year contract on a high salary, what happens if they don't perform and RFC get relegated? We're stuck with some no-mark for two more years on high wages and someone other Prem clubs aren't going to want to buy - Carbone an extreme example of this at Bradford.

As most people have said on this board, I'd rather get relegated with stable finances rather than have one 'glory year' and have our clubs structure completely screwed for years to come. I want to see some commitment by the club though and two decent signings, at least until X-mas, should do the trick........34 days and counting......

Well said, we cant risk it all. Jm has said he will step down if a new backer comes along. And arent we forgetting Coppells previous signings, lets give them a chance.
WE ARE IN THE PREMIERSHIP ! lets enjoy it. come down to Torquay utd for a reality check.
How many people have moved on to bigger clubs only to dissapear? I am reminded of the fable about the dog with a bone seeing his reflection and letting go of his bone to grab the other.

URZZZZ

[Drive On]

what a great analogy, Torbay Royal. I like it and will use it whenever I can.

[floyd__streete]

WE ARE IN THE PREMIERSHIP ! lets enjoy it.

I have my season ticket because I want to watch Reading play, not collect autographs. If we have a season of struggle and an unsuccessful fight against relegation I shan't enjoy myself.