[Slick_Footwork]

I'm not feeling so positive as many fans, unfortunately. Like Blue Baggie, I think the current squad is much weaker than what we had last year. I think we need 3 or 4 players without any additional outgoings to be challenging for the playoffs. With what we have I genuinely think we might struggle to make top half. We lack quality and strength in depth.

What we have lost from last season vs replacement. Not including Nyom and Rondon as they didn't feature last year.

Holgate, almost 40 Premier League appearances - Furlong, bit part for QPR last season and never made the place his own.
Adaraboiyo, bit part for us last season, looked okay - N/A
Dawson, regular in Premier League for several years - Ajayi, 1 full season in the Championship.
Mozza, regular in Premier Leageue for several years - N/A
Barry, regular in the Premier League for several years - N/A
Murphy, £12m signing for Newcaslte, proven in Championship - Krovinovic, bit part for last 2 years since signing for Benfica.
Montero, over 60 international caps - N/A
Rodriguez, regular in Premier League for several years - Zohore, had 1 reasonable season in the Championship. 1 goal in Prem last season.
Gayle, probably the best striker in the Championship, good for 20+ goals - N/A

In addition, Burke returns and might feature, so could be seen as a replacement for Montero or Gayle but let's remember he was here last season and not deemed good enough to make even a match day squad. O'Shea could be promoted to replace Adaraboiyo, but he would jump 2 levels after featuring in League 2 last year.

Ajayi, Krovinovic and Zohore could well prove to be or become better than those they have replaced, but clearly they are more inexperienced as of right now. These guys will need to develop at this level to be the standard of those who they have replaced.

IMO we need 4/5:

1 Right Back - Ideally Holgate.
1 Centre Back / Midfielder - Dependent on what position we will use Ajayi. To be honest I don't remember seeing him play, but from the clips I've seen on Youtube he looked more of a midfielder to me. If O'Shea is not deemed worth of the step up, then we might need to cover both positions even if Ajayi will be used at centre half.
1 Winger - Someone to chip in with goals from midfield. Between them, Barnes and Murphy chipped in with a lot last year.
1 Striker - Someone who knows where the net is and has a proven record.