few if any as far as I am concerned .. players who had little prospect of game time have gone, the squad has been reduced to a more manageable number, Holden has got who he wants (within reason of course). some younger and hungrier blood has been brought in, the wages bill has been seriously reduced, we are left with all the regular 1st team choices .. it has been a BIG reshuffle for the better
One doubt, Hector ? .. not played for ages, will he be another Thomas ? .. his situation and that of O'Connell I have opined on the relevant posts .. all in all I am happier with the way the squad is shaping and looking forward to my next game, a tricky one @ Derby
3 or 4 months of watching us tread water, yet again. Holden looks like potentially a very good manager, but both fans and Sandgaard will be fed up with him by the end of the season due to his inability to get a mid-table League 2 squad to challenge for the play-offs, so he'll follow in the footsteps of Jackson and Garner by being removed from his position despite him not being the problem.
Got what we expected. Definitely think we are too light in certain positions. Do hope we are able to rest and rotate the younger players in the final part of the season, without risk running them into the ground. Overall, predictable and boring for a club who are happy to make the numbers up in league 1.
Flogging our far and away best CH to non league and not replacing him with anything comparable Depleting the already threadbare striking options
Leaving it til the last day to sign a free agent tells us everything This was all about dreams of cost savings without the first clue what to do or how to achieve it An underpowered and incomplete squad has been dismantled when we're already drifting into the bottom third of this league The lowest ranking in the club's professional history That is so obviously counter productive to anything skintgaard imagines he's trying to achieve Tommy's a bad bad joke and he's royally fucked this up on a par and even beyond what douchebag achieved - that buffoon still has all the stuff that's actually worth anything (just a fraction of what he dreams it's worth obviously) The rest of this season is gonna be ugly
Tommy paid over the odds for a lemon, now he's cut the brake pipes and stuck bald tyres on it but will be surprised when it trundles off the road out of control, down a bank and sinks slowly in a muddy field Berk
Up until about 4pm local time yesterday I thought it had been a very good window. We'd brought in reinforcements and gotten rid of players who didn't fit with the first team (JFC, Macca, Stockley, plus McGrandles which is still kind of a weird one). Had we let Kirk, DJ, and Lavelle go and brought in another winger, I think it would have been a really good window.
And then the Eughn O'Connell shaped floodgates opened.
He was our best CB, one who was improving before injury, and someone who I thought should have been straight back in the side when he came back. Holden stuck with a CB pairing that had a run of very, very rocky clean sheets, and he paid for it Saturday. Inniss was awful. Ness is mobile but gets caught out of position, and Penney will need some time to bed in. Plus, Sean Clare is an absolute wildcard at RB, sometimes brilliant, sometimes not. And as such, I would have had O'Connell back in on Saturday.
And now he's gone. And we have a CB in Thomas who I believe has started one league match this year and is just back from injury, and Michael Hector who has played in none. Plus Inniss (see above), who must be approaching the highest number of games he's played in a season. I don't know what has happened with Deji. Mitchell looks promising, but again is very young, and I thought surely the best thing for both of their developments would be to spend some time on loan (they may still get a National League loan but it will be harder because we might need them).
After O'Connell, we cleared out more deadwood. DJ needs a change of scenery. Lavelle isn't good enough at this stage, and I'm surprised he got a League One move. And it's clear that something isn't right with Kirk. We finally signed a left footed leftback to play with him and he fucks off two days later.
The problem is, we went from having five natural wingers to three, depending on how you count Payne. We have, what, six games in three and a half weeks coming up? That should be fun.
I was not expecting a big signing this window. They are always difficult in January, plus I felt like we needed quality in depth more than anything, and the places we need depth--fullback, central midfield, are areas that you can strengthen without splashing big money. I think the players we brought in all make sense. I just think we sold one too many and brought in one too few.
I get that a fee for a 27 year old CB signed for a free from League Two is hard to turn down. I get the money for him is probably life changing. But have someone else lined up. And certainly don't have Holden come out and talk about how he wasn't going to get minutes. That shit is embarrassing.
It's the same with Kirk and DJ. You knew that both probably needed to move on. How do you wait until the last day and not have a replacement lined up? This one is far worse for me.
We literally hired someone to do this shit, on top of the three (Gallen, TS, MS) who already do it. Getting caught out on O'Connell is one thing, but if you don't have a replacement lined up, make DJ stay as cover. Or Kirk (though it seems there are issues there). It's not like CBT is the most reliable. Campbell has like five league starts and has blown massively hot and cold. Maybe Leaburn is back to being a winger, but...why?
As with so much of what TS has done, he was so close, and yet he totally biffed it.
Whatever dross was loaned out and who’s contract doesn’t end at the end of the season will return and if we’ve signed anyone on loan who’s decent , they’ll more than likely not be with us next year but at least they will have helped secure us league one for next season whoop whoop
Squad reduced by 3 ....... but it's been said that last summer's window slammed shut just as JFC was supposed to be signing for Wimbledon, DJ going to Mansfield, and McKeeper somewhere else.
Taking those 3 out of the equation, who shouldn't even have still been here this January causing the squad to be top heavy in numbers, it's really 5 in and 5 out.
Holden/Scott have merely completed the unfinished business from last summer.
Squad reduced by 3 ....... but it's been said that last summer's window slammed shut just as JFC was supposed to be signing for Wimbledon, DJ going to Mansfield, and McKeeper somewhere else.
Taking those 3 out of the equation, who shouldn't even have still been here this January causing the squad to be top heavy in numbers, it's really 5 in and 5 out.
Holden/Scott have merely completed the unfinished business from last summer.
The same can be said of Bonne
We'll know a bit more, tomorrow, when / if we see anything of Hector and Kilkenny
Up until about 4pm local time yesterday I thought it had been a very good window. We'd brought in reinforcements and gotten rid of players who didn't fit with the first team (JFC, Macca, Stockley, plus McGrandles which is still kind of a weird one). Had we let Kirk, DJ, and Lavelle go and brought in another winger, I think it would have been a really good window.
And then the Eughn O'Connell shaped floodgates opened.
He was our best CB, one who was improving before injury, and someone who I thought should have been straight back in the side when he came back. Holden stuck with a CB pairing that had a run of very, very rocky clean sheets, and he paid for it Saturday. Inniss was awful. Ness is mobile but gets caught out of position, and Penney will need some time to bed in. Plus, Sean Clare is an absolute wildcard at RB, sometimes brilliant, sometimes not. And as such, I would have had O'Connell back in on Saturday.
And now he's gone. And we have a CB in Thomas who I believe has started one league match this year and is just back from injury, and Michael Hector who has played in none. Plus Inniss (see above), who must be approaching the highest number of games he's played in a season. I don't know what has happened with Deji. Mitchell looks promising, but again is very young, and I thought surely the best thing for both of their developments would be to spend some time on loan (they may still get a National League loan but it will be harder because we might need them).
After O'Connell, we cleared out more deadwood. DJ needs a change of scenery. Lavelle isn't good enough at this stage, and I'm surprised he got a League One move. And it's clear that something isn't right with Kirk. We finally signed a left footed leftback to play with him and he fucks off two days later.
The problem is, we went from having five natural wingers to three, depending on how you count Payne. We have, what, six games in three and a half weeks coming up? That should be fun.
I was not expecting a big signing this window. They are always difficult in January, plus I felt like we needed quality in depth more than anything, and the places we need depth--fullback, central midfield, are areas that you can strengthen without splashing big money. I think the players we brought in all make sense. I just think we sold one too many and brought in one too few.
I get that a fee for a 27 year old CB signed for a free from League Two is hard to turn down. I get the money for him is probably life changing. But have someone else lined up. And certainly don't have Holden come out and talk about how he wasn't going to get minutes. That shit is embarrassing.
It's the same with Kirk and DJ. You knew that both probably needed to move on. How do you wait until the last day and not have a replacement lined up? This one is far worse for me.
We literally hired someone to do this shit, on top of the three (Gallen, TS, MS) who already do it. Getting caught out on O'Connell is one thing, but if you don't have a replacement lined up, make DJ stay as cover. Or Kirk (though it seems there are issues there). It's not like CBT is the most reliable. Campbell has like five league starts and has blown massively hot and cold. Maybe Leaburn is back to being a winger, but...why?
As with so much of what TS has done, he was so close, and yet he totally biffed it.
Comments
One doubt, Hector ? .. not played for ages, will he be another Thomas ? .. his situation and that of O'Connell I have opined on the relevant posts .. all in all I am happier with the way the squad is shaping and looking forward to my next game, a tricky one @ Derby
- Shame about O'Connell going
- The summer window will come round far too quickly, meaning once again we'll have to deal with the dramatics on here!!
EOC - was he that good?
Two points though
1) Risky getting players in who have not been playing
2) maybe a CB and striker short?
Otherwise, I think the window was what I would have expected.
If it keeps us mid table, that is all you can expect.
Summer is when things need to change - especially the ownership
Depleting the already threadbare striking options
Leaving it til the last day to sign a free agent tells us everything
This was all about dreams of cost savings without the first clue what to do or how to achieve it
An underpowered and incomplete squad has been dismantled when we're already drifting into the bottom third of this league
The lowest ranking in the club's professional history
That is so obviously counter productive to anything skintgaard imagines he's trying to achieve
Tommy's a bad bad joke and he's royally fucked this up on a par and even beyond what douchebag achieved - that buffoon still has all the stuff that's actually worth anything (just a fraction of what he dreams it's worth obviously)
The rest of this season is gonna be ugly
Tommy paid over the odds for a lemon, now he's cut the brake pipes and stuck bald tyres on it but will be surprised when it trundles off the road out of control, down a bank and sinks slowly in a muddy field
Berk
And then the Eughn O'Connell shaped floodgates opened.
He was our best CB, one who was improving before injury, and someone who I thought should have been straight back in the side when he came back. Holden stuck with a CB pairing that had a run of very, very rocky clean sheets, and he paid for it Saturday. Inniss was awful. Ness is mobile but gets caught out of position, and Penney will need some time to bed in. Plus, Sean Clare is an absolute wildcard at RB, sometimes brilliant, sometimes not. And as such, I would have had O'Connell back in on Saturday.
And now he's gone. And we have a CB in Thomas who I believe has started one league match this year and is just back from injury, and Michael Hector who has played in none. Plus Inniss (see above), who must be approaching the highest number of games he's played in a season. I don't know what has happened with Deji. Mitchell looks promising, but again is very young, and I thought surely the best thing for both of their developments would be to spend some time on loan (they may still get a National League loan but it will be harder because we might need them).
After O'Connell, we cleared out more deadwood. DJ needs a change of scenery. Lavelle isn't good enough at this stage, and I'm surprised he got a League One move. And it's clear that something isn't right with Kirk. We finally signed a left footed leftback to play with him and he fucks off two days later.
The problem is, we went from having five natural wingers to three, depending on how you count Payne. We have, what, six games in three and a half weeks coming up? That should be fun.
I was not expecting a big signing this window. They are always difficult in January, plus I felt like we needed quality in depth more than anything, and the places we need depth--fullback, central midfield, are areas that you can strengthen without splashing big money. I think the players we brought in all make sense. I just think we sold one too many and brought in one too few.
I get that a fee for a 27 year old CB signed for a free from League Two is hard to turn down. I get the money for him is probably life changing. But have someone else lined up. And certainly don't have Holden come out and talk about how he wasn't going to get minutes. That shit is embarrassing.
It's the same with Kirk and DJ. You knew that both probably needed to move on. How do you wait until the last day and not have a replacement lined up? This one is far worse for me.
We literally hired someone to do this shit, on top of the three (Gallen, TS, MS) who already do it. Getting caught out on O'Connell is one thing, but if you don't have a replacement lined up, make DJ stay as cover. Or Kirk (though it seems there are issues there). It's not like CBT is the most reliable. Campbell has like five league starts and has blown massively hot and cold. Maybe Leaburn is back to being a winger, but...why?
As with so much of what TS has done, he was so close, and yet he totally biffed it.
and if we’ve signed anyone on loan who’s decent , they’ll more than likely not be with us next year but at least they will have helped secure us league one for next season whoop whoop
Squad reduced by 3 ....... but it's been said that last summer's window slammed shut just as JFC was supposed to be signing for Wimbledon, DJ going to Mansfield, and McKeeper somewhere else.
Taking those 3 out of the equation, who shouldn't even have still been here this January causing the squad to be top heavy in numbers,
it's really 5 in and 5 out.
Holden/Scott have merely completed the unfinished business from last summer.
We'll know a bit more, tomorrow, when / if we see anything of Hector and Kilkenny