City Squad a bit Thin on the ground?

So Warnock says he's a bit thin on the ground when it comes to the squad.. down to injuries and so fourth so I would have thought that we may see one or 2 more additions by end of august.. if not before

I think he's already said that he's not looking for any more :/

A latest article says he may have to look into the market once one or two leave

Neil Warnock:"We are a little thin in some areas"


Neil Warnock: "I thought we were a little bit thin again on the bench against Livingston."

"When Gunnarsson went down, we didn't have options on the bench really other than Greg Halford who was playing right-back at the time."

"We're just a little bit short on cover in that area so we'll have to look into that."





The Bluebirds struggled with injuries at times last season, forcing Warnock into naming fewer than the usual contingent of seven substitutes on the bench on more than one occasion.

It was something he was eager to address, and the Yorkshireman wasted no time in bolstering his squad, adding no fewer than seven players to his ranks ahead of the 2017-18 campaign, but still Warnock feels he is a bit thin.

Well, it is and it isn't!  Minor knocks make it seem so.

We have plenty of goal keepers, full backs, centre backs, wingers and forwards.  The flexibility of players like Connolly, Halford, Peltier is a bonus.

Our midfield is supplemented by four decent wingers, with Gunnarsson, Ralls and Damour to cover the centre.  Nevertheless, there may be wisdom in hanging onto O'Keefe.

More additions and we are in danger of assembling an Ole-type squad, where some players will not see much game time.

TDA wrote:Well, it is and it isn't!  Minor knocks make it seem so.

We have plenty of goal keepers, full backs, centre backs, wingers and forwards.  The flexibility of players like Connolly, Halford, Peltier is a bonus.

Our midfield is supplemented by four decent wingers, with Gunnarsson, Ralls and Damour to cover the centre.  Nevertheless, there may be wisdom in hanging onto O'Keefe.

More additions and we are in danger of assembling an Ole-type squad, where some players will not see much game time.

Yes, this. If there really is a concern perhaps a few short term dips into the loan market might provide some cover or - god forbid - we start using some of the youth team players.

It's often said that strong squads win titles and what not, but I can think of more examples where sticking with the same XI worked more so than tinkering. The last two Prem title winners both stuck almost exclusively with the same group all season long - admittedly over fewer games than the Champ - and I'm pretty sure our own squad from 2012-13 was very small.

Guess the point here is that bigger is not always better

*** G L O V E S *** wrote:It's often said that strong squads win titles and what not, but I can think of more examples where sticking with the same XI worked more so than tinkering. The last two Prem title winners both stuck almost exclusively with the same group all season long - admittedly over fewer games than the Champ - and I'm pretty sure our own squad from 2012-13 was very small.

Guess the point here is that bigger is not always better

I suppose it's how long it lasts is the most impo(r)tant :

Warnock obviously doesn't rate O'Keefe for some reason despite the fact that he looked a decent player when he had a run in the side a year or so ago. Of the players rumoured to be on their way out, he's the only centre midfield and could be useful.
He was with Warnock at Palace so it's not as if he doesn't know what he can do - perhaps he's too big an earner to have as a back up.

Update - just seen on Twitter that O'Keefe has joined Portsmouth on loan!

It could well be that the apparent decision to hold onto Pilkington, who must be on decent wages, is going to influence other departures. I'm guessing that we will still be paying some of O'Keefe's wages, so, again, hardly an ideal solution. I can see Noone & John having their contracts paid up at the end of the month.

Does seem strange to be loaning him out, especially to a club in League One. Again, though, Warnock surely knows what he is doing so I'll let him get on with it.

With just one injury to either Gunnarson or Ralls and the situation is not that great - what options would we have from the bench in that scenario?

I guess one of the youngsters as Arkay says, but not ideal when he had a more experienced backup in OKeefe

Rhys wrote:With just one injury to either Gunnarson or Ralls and the situation is not that great - what options would we have from the bench in that scenario?

I guess one of the youngsters as Arkay says, but not ideal when he had a more experienced backup in OKeefe

Chanson and Halford plus Bamba can play in midfield.

We are well set up for a mid table finish, nothing else. FAct.

As much as I am enjoying the new flavour of optimism around the club I do tend to agree with Cleve that people might be getting a little carried away with preseason. I think we will be looking at a top half finish and a push for playoffs at best but, in truth, I'm more than happy with that and that the club appears to be building solid foundations in what is a notoriously difficult league to get out of (how many attempts did it take us last time?). Anything but a relegation dog fight is good for me.