Who's good enough to start next season?

I'm in two minds about this squad in the premier league. On the one hand, it's a very similar squad to that which was relegated, with a couple of additions that are in a similar old (Dorrans, Jerome) and that makes me think we'll need to strengthen heavily. On the other hand, we weren't far off staying up and Hughton was awful.

Goalkeepers: I think we're all good here - Ruddy is a mid-lower table Premier League goalkeeper comfortably. I don't buy the argument it's important to have experienced backup, Rudd is a very talented keeper.

Defence: Bassong had a terrible year last season but we know he's a Premier League standard defender and seems back to near his best. No reason to think he can't be a starting centre back. Olson was patchy in the Prem but I think a lot of that was to do with Hughton's very negative tactics. If he's got good CBs covering and is allowed to get up the pitch he's a decent starter for me.

After those 2, I don't think we're good enough in defence. I don't like Russell Martin as a PL centre back, just never convinced me enough - fine as 2nd choice to someone. Whittaker is just a really dumb footballer and that will be exposed more at Premier League level. Martin is a better PL RB than him for me so if we got an excellent CB alongside Bassong I'd be happy enough, but would prefer us to sign a starting RB too.

Midfield: This is the toughest for me. Seems to be full of very good Championship players. BJ has been incredible this season but he's been found wanting at PL level for me. Maybe he's genuinely improved as a player but I think in all likelihood we'll be seeing the same player we did for 3 years at PL level, I know he divided opinion then but he's a rotation option for me. Hope he proves me wrong though.

Wes I don't see being able to play every match, he's an immensely talented player and he'll have a big role to play but we are going to need someone else capable of a bit of craft and magic. Redmond has improved massively in the last 6 months, hopefully that'll carry through to next year and he'll be a strong contributor rather than the too-often frustration he was last season. Howson I think will be a good CM option but I'd like someone else to compete for a spot with him and BJ that's got plenty of experience.

I'm really not sure about Tettey, again like BJ he's had a fantastic season but he never convinced me at PL level and he'll perhaps be the same again. Would love a Cambiasso type signing for us here. We could also do with another winger - I'd be looking at what Bolasie, Zaha and Puncheon have been doing for Palace and hoping we can do the same with Redmond and another one or two.

Strikers: Jerome is just a work-horse at this level. Not going to get double digits out of him and I don't think Grabban and Hooper are quite good enough to be PL starters either. We'll need another RVW signing, this time one who can actually score, to be competitive up top I think.

That sounds a bit negative, I think we have a great base of a squad to go up with but we will need to strengthen in every area. What we don't need, thankfully, is numbers and squad players. We can go out and sign 3 or 4 players to come straight into the XI and significantly improve it.

Posted By: bjg123, May 26, 13:09:31