January was quite a month for us as, contrary to the summer (where we conducted next to no business), we spent a good amount of money and recuperated that through player sales, in an effort to decrease the squad average age a little and build for the future as well.
In the midst of a transfer window, we still had vital Premier League fixtures coming our way.
Although first we had a game against Stoke in the FA Cup, where we progressed nicely with a 2-0 win.
We then faced Arsenal, who, if you remember, we defeated 3-1 last time we faced them.
This time around we managed to draw with them which is a result I am still happy with. It was good to see McBurnie score a goal because it had been a long time since his last one, and on the basis of the play I think a draw was a fair result on the day.
Next, however, was Liverpool, who destroyed us in our last meeting.
But this time we held our own against them, fighting for a deserved 0-0 draw. I think these types of results show how much we have improved over the course of the season. Previously, we couldn't get near Liverpool but today we matched them in performance and I was delighted with that.
And the stats show all the difference. On the left hand side is our first game against them, which we lost 4-0 and we were away, registering just two shots in the entire match. The second match is on the right hand side, which was a 0-0 draw, and we were at home and had 12 shots to Liverpool's 8 with 6 of them on target.
Wolves presented another fixture where we could show our improvement, as we lost 1-0 in the 94th minute to them last time.
And we showed our improvement. After going behind, we turned it around nicely and Mousset continued his fine goalscoring run. It was also good to see Oliver McBurnie score who now has 2 goals in 3 Premier League games after scoring none in his previous 10+ matches. A great win and our season continues to get better.
Up against Bournemouth next and I wasn't too sure what to expect as they were overachieving this season.
And a late winner from Dan Gosling saw them take the points. I'm not too disappointed with the result, we are still a relegation battling side and we have had a good month this January, so I won't dwell on losing this match.
We then continued to progress in the FA Cup, defeating QPR.
Onto the transfers, and we'll start with the transfer departures.
As you can see, we sold a number of first team players and I'll explain each major one. Firstly, John Fleck was my back-up midfielder as he was injured to begin with in the save and that limited his opportunities when he got back, as our midfield was established by then. To get near 20 million for him is decent business. Next out was Chris Basham who was not getting in the team and was 4th choice CB so no issue selling him. Enda Stevens was absolutely terrible for me so I had no issue offering him out for sale. John Lundstram was also quite poor and he'll join Stevens at Jiangsu. Similar for John Egan who underperformed so I got rid of him. These depratures upset team leader Billy Sharp, so he followed Egan and Basham to Brighton.
We managed to replace most of those players with the following incomings.
Duje Caleta-Car
First in was a new CB, the 23-year-old Duje Caleta-Car who looks quite decent and was solid in his first couple of games for the club. We have 3 decent Premier League level CB's now as he joins Retsos and O'Connell as our main options in that position.
Dominic Solanke
Dominic Solanke is not the most prolific striker but is English and still has the potential to become good. He has some good stats too, with 15 for finishing and some decent pace and natural fitness. He'll rotate with McBurnie to find the right strike partner for Lys Mousset.
We also signed Max Lowe as a new LB, although he will rotate with Jack Robinson because Robinson has been great so far. Sylvester Jasper was a Fulham youngster, while Tom Lowery was one of the better League Two midfielders who can make a massive step up as a back-up for this level. Lastly, Max Kilman added depth to the CB position and is English as well.
That left the league table in the following form and we sit decently in 14th.