SAFC Into The Light – Was it a Successful Transfer Window?

Incomings

Jermain Defoe – Free agent.

Jack Clarke – Spurs (loan).

Patrick Roberts – Manchester City.

Trai Hume – Linfield.

Danny Batth – Stoke City.

Jay Matete – Fleetwood Town.

Outgoing

Denver Hume – Portsmouth.

Aiden O’Brien – Portsmouth.

Tom Flanagan – Shrewsbury Town.

Josh Hawkers – Tranmere Rovers.

Fredrik Alves – West Ham (end of loan).

My Verdict

In my opinion, I think the transfer window has been decent.

However, there are still 1 or 2 spots I would have preferred to have been filled.

I would have liked an experienced, hard – working and experienced centre midfielder e.g. a Cattermole/Leadbitter type of player.

I would have also tried to bring in another left back, as cover for Dennis Cirkin who has had his injury problems so far in this campaign and especially since Denver Hume has moved to Portsmouth.

Finally, there were rumours that another centre half was coming in on deadline day and when Tom Flanagan left I thought we were for sure going to replace him as he has been a regular starter this season.

On the other hand, there has been some brilliant signings.

I like the look of Roberts from Manchester City, when he came on against Bolton, he showed that he has some pace and nice touches in his locker, I can’t wait to see more!

Jack Clarke looks like he could be a decent player. His move from Leeds to Spurs was for 10 million pounds, so hopefully we see why he was valued so highly.

Danny Batth seems to be a solid signing. I just hope his performance against Bolton was a one off and we see more of what he showed against Pompey last week!

Im not too sure on Trai Hume. I was quite excited when he came in as he looks a great player! However, under Johnson, he was never given a chance to show us what he has got, hopefully under the new manager we can see what he is made of.

To be honest, I haven’t really heard of Jay Matete but it’s another young and hungry player, given a great opportunity. I like how a lot of our signings over the last year has been younger players as it shows we are building for the future.

Speaking of young players, we move on to Jermain Defoe!

I was one of the fans sat up waiting for it to be announced last night, when it finally happened, I was overwhelmed.

Having watched his interview, I believe he has still got plenty to give despite his age, whether it’s helping the young players we have, or scoring a few important goals as we push for promotion.

JD is a legend of the club, and he is loved here by the fans and respected by everyone in the North East, even if he did score a few against the mags!

I for one can’t wait to see him back at the SOL and I hope the place is bouncing to give the players the lift they need after last week and turn our form around.

‘Na na na na na na Jermain Defoe!’

Overall, I would rate our business 8-10. I think the signings we have made are promising as we have brought in some great attacking options. However, I would have liked another defender and a midfielder as stated above.