I wonder if TS is going to do the RD season review plan in January i.e if there's a chance of promotion in January, boost the squad, if it's not likely keep your money in your pocket for the summer.
RD was an arse (we all agree), but one who tended to think as a businessman and not a fan. What kind of an owner is TS on financial risk and the acceptance of financial loss?
He’s more likely to be doing a “season review plan” in January to see what he needs to invest to avoid relegation at this rate!
Is there an award for most disappointing (not worst) transfer window ever? Does this one win it?
The summer Dowie (I think) brought in Traore, Faye and an old lazy Hasselbaink was disappointing. Although I think we did bring in Carson too, so there was a positive.
Also Andy Reid. On the down side we also signed Simon Walton that summer as well.
It looks like we will be relying on loans after stating we won't be relying on loans this season.
The LB situation is just odd. At least Roddy will get a runout against Gillingham.
Why it odd ? Purrington and Gunter are more then capable in that position why waste budget plus Matthews can play there as well so can Barker . At most it was always and only going to be a loan coming never a perm left back
Got to be on a wind up. Gunter isn't even a good right back let alone left back, i'm sure he was a few years ago but not now. One of the most limited footballers i've seen at Charlton for a long time.
It looks like we will be relying on loans after stating we won't be relying on loans this season.
The LB situation is just odd. At least Roddy will get a runout against Gillingham.
Why it odd ? Purrington and Gunter are more then capable in that position why waste budget plus Matthews can play there as well so can Barker . At most it was always and only going to be a loan coming never a perm left back
Gunter is dreadful at Left Back. It says a lot about him that we can’t wait for Purrington to get back in the team. As for Matthews and Barker - why would you want to play another 2 right footed players out of position? Have you not learned anything over the years? Playing people on their weaker side is an accident waiting to happen.
Should Gunter play LB again on Saturday, watch him. He just slows things down whilst he gets the ball on to his right foot. When he does use his left it tends to go to nobody or out of play. We need a left back and we have done since pre season - not signing one is laughable.
We’re gambling on loans at the end of the window. And maybe players like Sims accepting a squad player wage.
There will be a lot of players willing to accept a squad player wage - the alternative will be unemployment. The current state of lower league football is parlous.
There are and I don't think I would describe it as gambling on loans and cheap frees.
I believe they have a value they are prepared to pay in both wages and fee. If they don't get it at that value they don't do it. It took us 8 months to get Kirk at the value we wanted.
On its own that approach is to be applauded and almost everyone has said they don't want to see us paying outrageous wages, like it is alleged Ipswich and others are doing.
You don't also spend your last 100k on Clare if your skint.
However the lack of urgency and agility shown is worrying. Even it if it is compounded by the absence of Gilbey, Purrington and Schwartz.
In the round it isn't good enough, yet. There is still time to fix it, but it is fast running out. Will it be enough? None of us really know we are only guessing.
This is starting to feel like a previous window when we were all set up to believe our twat of a Chairman was trying to sign many players, and we couldn’t sign any because we had an embargo on. Whilst it’s understandable that some want to defend TS at all costs, it does feel as though we have been played and something is seriously wrong. For the first time in this division we have a relegation team. A couple of additions won’t change things, the planning has gone.
I don't think too many people are defending the owner at all costs. It's a matter of trying to be balanced. The guy has a company worth (I believe) around 500m USD. This isn't unending wealth, in fact it's pretty similar to RD. I think around 99.9% of the fanbase are between very angry and unimpressed with the way the transfer window has spun out - we all expected much much better. But bear in mind we can't compete with the wages Ipswich and Wigan are splashing - and I don't see anyone volunteering to make that happen. I don't know the exact procedure behind the transfer commitee, but it looks unwieldy and incompetent as it stands. gallen has bought both good and bad players in but the addition of ged Roddy has added nothing good to the mix. Too late now but TS badly needs to revamp our scouting. But bear in mind we had a very good scouting system which RD unravelled to cut costs. People want instant success but we lost a lot of personell at the club as RD sought to make it cheaper for potential buyers, and that infrastructure needs to be put back into place. So yeah, we have built a squad nobody wanted, and unless we have a major turnaround, this season is pretty much wasted. But nobody knows what is going on behind the scenes.
It looks like we will be relying on loans after stating we won't be relying on loans this season.
The LB situation is just odd. At least Roddy will get a runout against Gillingham.
Why it odd ? Purrington and Gunter are more then capable in that position why waste budget plus Matthews can play there as well so can Barker . At most it was always and only going to be a loan coming never a perm left back
My expectation (based upon some guesstimates and looking at the probably-Mickey-Mouse-but-might-have-something SalarySport numbers) is that we are going to get a couple of loans in and maybe one more permanent squad player. Maybe a couple of permanents if you count a second keeper picked up on a free. The very clear objective of this transfer window was to keep within the salary budget and fill some of the gaps in the squad.
Not all of those gaps will be filled. I suspect that decisions are currently being made as to which loans are being made and in which positions. I would hope that we move heaven and earth to ensure that one of them is a quality midfielder, preferably with the capacity to play week in, week out until JFC/Gilbey are back. After what happened with Gallagher, I suspect most PL sides probably don't want us doing that with anyone super young. So another around the age of Morgan might be better.
As for the others, a two-footed, truly versatile full back with pace would also be perfect, but at a push, it needs to be a left back to support Kirk. Not a journeyman like Gunter, someone with something to prove. I'd love to see a pacey centre forward come in like Leko, but that'll be over the limit of our wage bill.
NA has said he's looking to get a handful of players - honestly, that says to me 2-3, plus a freebie, cheap keeper. It won't be the 5-7 people have spoken about previously. If they don't come in before Crewe on Saturday, I'll be disappointed, but I suspect that it'll be brinksmanship until deadline day.
Anyone else feeling very worried by the complete lack of any rumours so far this week ? Surely after our start we have to make a few signings this week ?
Said it for weeks, the silence is deafening, especially considering how short we are.
J block, please be more considerate to AFKA and Elfs when posting.
In hindsight there's been a few red flags for me -
- Not signing CB cover last January and continuing to play Gunter as cover. - Taking too long to sign Stockley last January. - Again taking too long to sign Stockley this summer and almost losing him to Portsmouth. - Not signing LB cover and playing Gunter out of position. - Giving Albie Morgan the number 10 shirt.
We're trying to do things on the cheap.
But how does that tie in with signing DJ, Stockley (eventually) and Kirk?
I wonder if TS is going to do the RD season review plan in January i.e if there's a chance of promotion in January, boost the squad, if it's not likely keep your money in your pocket for the summer.
RD was an arse (we all agree), but one who tended to think as a businessman and not a fan. What kind of an owner is TS on financial risk and the acceptance of financial loss?
He'll be needing a lot of it next summer given the amount of players that we have out of contract (as it stands) an even bigger rebuild than this window.
Was hoping for 4 Kirk level signings throughout the spine to cut out the summer overhauls but doesn't look likely now.
If we go into Saturday with no senior left back again then I will begin to question how good people actually are at their job. Would be criminal.
For a loan: We would need Stoke to pay half his wages but if you want a LB who would be so much better than Gunter or young Roddy and at least on a par with Purrington if not better I suggest Morgan Fox.
I doubt Morgan or his dad who had some heated arguments while watching his son play because of the abuse he received would want to revisit a club that has many poor memories. Morgan is a reserve for Stoke, why would he want to come to a team 21st in League 1 ?
I loved a challenge as a salesman but that is a tough sell.
Anyone else feeling very worried by the complete lack of any rumours so far this week ? Surely after our start we have to make a few signings this week ?
Said it for weeks, the silence is deafening, especially considering how short we are.
J, block, please be more considerate to AFKA and Elfs when posting.
In hindsight there's been a few red flags for me -
- Not signing CB cover last January and continuing to play Gunter as cover. - Taking too long to sign Stockley last January. - Again taking too long to sign Stockley this summer and almost losing him to Portsmouth. - Not signing LB cover and playing Gunter out of position. - Giving Albie Morgan the number 10 shirt.
We're trying to do things on the cheap.
But how does that tie in with signing DJ, Stockley (eventually) and Kirk?
Perhaps we've taken a hit on other parts of the squad in order to sign those three. Maybe Thomas has a thing for attacking players? The transfer strategy up to this point is concerning though.
The key is to get the spine of the team sorted first and build around it. A good CB, a good CM & a good striker.
We have a good centre half pairing and striker, but we've not got the quality in the middle of the park yet, this has to be the priority. I hope we're not just going to wait on Gilbey and JFC returning.
I am definitely of the opinion that mistakes have been made this time around but I'm still (currently) hoping/thinking this is down to an inexperienced owner underestimating the costs/finances rather than deliberately being miserly. I think that TS will have set a budget that he did genuinely think would be competitive but (as we've seen) he was just plain wrong.
The hope we've got to have now is that he's prompted to speculate to accumulate and will accept having to spend more in order to reach the bigger heights and attendant increase in financial reward.
The complete failure to sign a left back is a genuine puzzler and no matter what he says in the press I don't think for a minute Adkins is happy that his options are either Gunter or Roddy Jr. I don't buy Roddy Sr having enough influence over the process to be deliberately sabotaging the position but it's definitely an absolute shocker that nothings been done yet.
It looks like we will be relying on loans after stating we won't be relying on loans this season.
The LB situation is just odd. At least Roddy will get a runout against Gillingham.
Why it odd ? Purrington and Gunter are more then capable in that position why waste budget plus Matthews can play there as well so can Barker . At most it was always and only going to be a loan coming never a perm left back
Comments
Should Gunter play LB again on Saturday, watch him. He just slows things down whilst he gets the ball on to his right foot. When he does use his left it tends to go to nobody or out of play. We need a left back and we have done since pre season - not signing one is laughable.
I believe they have a value they are prepared to pay in both wages and fee. If they don't get it at that value they don't do it. It took us 8 months to get Kirk at the value we wanted.
On its own that approach is to be applauded and almost everyone has said they don't want to see us paying outrageous wages, like it is alleged Ipswich and others are doing.
You don't also spend your last 100k on Clare if your skint.
However the lack of urgency and agility shown is worrying. Even it if it is compounded by the absence of Gilbey, Purrington and Schwartz.
In the round it isn't good enough, yet. There is still time to fix it, but it is fast running out. Will it be enough? None of us really know we are only guessing.
On a serious note, the younger one looks a real prospect, but only 18 in a couple of months so a big gamble.
Not all of those gaps will be filled. I suspect that decisions are currently being made as to which loans are being made and in which positions. I would hope that we move heaven and earth to ensure that one of them is a quality midfielder, preferably with the capacity to play week in, week out until JFC/Gilbey are back. After what happened with Gallagher, I suspect most PL sides probably don't want us doing that with anyone super young. So another around the age of Morgan might be better.
As for the others, a two-footed, truly versatile full back with pace would also be perfect, but at a push, it needs to be a left back to support Kirk. Not a journeyman like Gunter, someone with something to prove. I'd love to see a pacey centre forward come in like Leko, but that'll be over the limit of our wage bill.
NA has said he's looking to get a handful of players - honestly, that says to me 2-3, plus a freebie, cheap keeper. It won't be the 5-7 people have spoken about previously. If they don't come in before Crewe on Saturday, I'll be disappointed, but I suspect that it'll be brinksmanship until deadline day.
J block, please be more considerate to AFKA and Elfs when posting.
Cheers.
He'll be needing a lot of it next summer given the amount of players that we have out of contract (as it stands) an even bigger rebuild than this window.
Was hoping for 4 Kirk level signings throughout the spine to cut out the summer overhauls but doesn't look likely now.
For a loan:
We would need Stoke to pay half his wages but if you want a LB who would be so much better than Gunter or young Roddy and at least on a par with Purrington if not better I suggest Morgan Fox.
I doubt Morgan or his dad who had some heated arguments while watching his son play because of the abuse he received would want to revisit a club that has many poor memories. Morgan is a reserve for Stoke, why would he want to come to a team 21st in League 1 ?
I loved a challenge as a salesman but that is a tough sell.
Gunter
_______
If so, zero point in buying tickets for this game now.
The key is to get the spine of the team sorted first and build around it. A good CB, a good CM & a good striker.
We have a good centre half pairing and striker, but we've not got the quality in the middle of the park yet, this has to be the priority. I hope we're not just going to wait on Gilbey and JFC returning.
The hope we've got to have now is that he's prompted to speculate to accumulate and will accept having to spend more in order to reach the bigger heights and attendant increase in financial reward.
The complete failure to sign a left back is a genuine puzzler and no matter what he says in the press I don't think for a minute Adkins is happy that his options are either Gunter or Roddy Jr. I don't buy Roddy Sr having enough influence over the process to be deliberately sabotaging the position but it's definitely an absolute shocker that nothings been done yet.
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