Peterborough United's squad has gone backwards after this summer's recruitment and simply getting out the cheque book is no longer the answer
After slumping to four defeats in a row under Luke Williams, Peterborough United are facing into one of their biggest ever January transfer windows and perhaps the toughest as well.
Posh once again head into January needing to recruit several experienced players ready to hit the ground running.
Last season, without the January signings of Tayo Edun and Sam Hughes, Posh would have, in all likelihood been relegated and let’s not forget they were reinforcing a squad that already contained the likes of Kwame Poku, Malik Mothersille and Hector Kyprianou. There is certainly no such options this time around.
This a problem the club had the opportunity to fix in the summer, yet five months on from that, the situation has only worsened. The previous players have inevitably departed with nobody even close to their level, at this moment in time, arriving.
The recent recruitment has done little to solve the problems of the past 18 months and has left Posh with a remarkably bloated and yet threadbare squad at the same time.
A threadbare squad is a remarkable comment to make considering over 30 senior players were on the books when the summer slammed shut but this is an issue of quality not quantity. Posh have assembled a squad which both has bodies everywhere, yet still needs bodies everywhere.
Therefore, the equation is not as simple as last season; which was about just finding the right faces. The club simply can not end January with a 35+ man squad for both financial and practical reasons.
On paper, Posh have four wingers at the club, yet they are the seriously misfiring Abraham Odoh- who has put in performances warranting his sale to any bidder, let along the highest, Cian Hayes- who is still a way off returning, Declan Frith- who is getting back up to speed after injury and is playing his first season in English senior football and Kyrell Lisbie.
Lisbie is a great example of the issue with the squad assembled. He has been plucked from National League side Braintree and clearly has potential but he is raw. He needs the freedom to come in and out of the side, start some games, come of the bench when required and even sit out when he needs a breather. Yet, he has been thrust into a starring role week-in week-out he is not ready for at this stage of his career. Saturday’s performance highlights how far he still has to develop and right now, how do you given him fully a break? Even if you put him take him out of the XI, he has to be on the bench as the only other winger in the squad. Notice I have not mention Brandon Khela in this discussion of wingers….
Does the club look for a fifth and sixth option with Hayes’ return around the corner? It would be hard to justify without moving on at least a couple.
A player in a similar but more extreme predicament to Lisbie is Harley Mills. No matter how much potential the young full-back clearly has, you’d be hard pushed to find a Posh fan who would argue he does not need a breather. Yet, how does he get this? There is no natural replacement. No one will give even a vague idea of when Rio Adebisi is back; while Jacob Mendy is back at Wrexham getting treatment and even he was not a planned addition to the squad from the outset.
Mendy will play a key role in the January window Posh will have. He is still on loan at the club and therefore will be having a percentage of his wages being paid for by Posh. When will he be back? Again, we do not have a clear answer and if it’s not soon, can the loan be cancelled? because, if not, I can’t forsee a scenario in which Posh are happy to pay the wages of four senior left-backs.
Can anyone else even come in if the likes of the banished Nicholas Bilokapic, Will Blackmore and Ryan De Havilland hang around picking up their wages in return for very little?
Elsewhere, Posh have three right backs but no clear answer on who is the preferred back-up. Sometimes Johnston plays and sometimes its Dornelly to get the nod in place of Kioso. Surely so little game time is hindering the development of both? The pair appear to be getting in each other’s way and surely a loan move for one would be more wise, with the more raw Dornelly seemingly being the most suitable candidate. Both though offer a remarkable drop-off in quality in the attacking side of the game from Kioso too.
In goal, Vicente Reyes is due back at Norwich in January unless Posh look to extend the agreement but where is the incentive for player or parent club to agree? Will Bastian Smith be given the nod as number two or will Posh be trying to convince a youngster from a higher level to step away from the comfort of his parent club to warm their bench. Both options are risky but the freezing out of Bilokapic and Blackmore has gone too far to offer them reprieves now.
Posh have been genuinely unlucky at centre-back with injuries to Sam Hughes and George Nevett. We all need to hope that Tom O’Connor returns quickly but the return of Nevett and Hughes, again, remains shrouded in mystery. Posh could go out and sign another option but David Okagbue has impressed in the last two games and in a month or two, there could then be six fit senior centre-halves on the book, all ahead of a talent the club rate highly in Lucca Mendonca.
The inevitable Macaulay Langstaff rumours will surface again but Posh will not sign a striker to compete with main man Harry Leonard. It is then notoriously difficult to go shopping in January, let alone for a striker who would be coming in as second choice. Posh have chosen to back Gustav Lindgren, a decision that still shows no sign of being an inspired one and also have Jimmy-Jay Morgan on loan from Chelsea. Perhaps a Swedish suitor could be found for Lindgren but then where would Posh fit in Morgan if another body came in? He is already at risk of becoming Posh’s jack of all trades, master of none; playing as a back up rotating between the wing, number ten and centre-forward; a situation far from ideal for developing a young player who craves consistency.
Thanks goodness for the midfield, Ben Woods, Archie Collins and Matt Garbett should all easily be good enough for League One level and now need to show it. Posh would be hard pressed and should not waste their cash chasing upgrades on them.
The only conclusion appears to be that if Posh are going to bring in the level of player needed to drag them out of this miss then Barry Fry, Darragh MacAnthony and frankly, anyone in the employ of the club needs to be on the phones like never before trying to find new clubs for a whole raft of players who have proved themselves of little value in what is set to be an almighty battle to stay up.