It looks like things aren't going too well between Walsh and Koeman. Usually you appoint the sporting director first and then the sporting director has a say in appointing the manager so that there is some consistency in the philosophy of the two - it looks like we are paying for doing it the other way around.
The reality is that Leicester's season was an absolute one-off rarity that will probably never be repeated. Sure, Walsh did a great job with some of his finds but we were of the stance we were recruiting an elite talent finder & master recruiter.
Maybe though, and this was my first thought as soon as I heard we were interested, he also just got very lucky & maybe he's not much better than most people in the same position? Vardy & Mahrez in particular won them the title, this season they have both done next to **** all.
We are now a week & a half into the transfer window and have signed just one youth player. There have been clear gaps in our team all season, well for a few years now but with the management change over I can accept they want to make their own assessments & turn a blind eye to what happened in the previous era.
Koeman wanted Walsh so he could fully concentrate on the team (fair enough) & explain what he needed from a player, then let Walsh worry about getting them there. Based on his comments, Walsh clearly isn't doing enough to make things happen all while getting a very good paycheck from us. I'm sure we all understand January is a bit harder to sign players & red tape can hold up transfers, but I was expecting transfers to be announced almost as soon as the window opened.
Schneiderlin "may" be announced tonight, the way I see it is that he should be straight in the team to play Man City & the less time he has for training to prepare is no good for anyone.
Anyway, to finally finish this rant, I expected 4 signings regardless of the month (make that 5 as it didn't include Lookman) & I'd be very surprised if it happens now!
CM/holding CM - the frenchy
Winger - Bolasie replacement, Depay obvious target but unlikely
AM/#10 - Because Barkley is weighed down with expectation & unfairly criticized
Striker - Cos we are screwed if Lukaku is injured