Winter-January 2026 Transfer Window Rumours ...

He's not far off that now. 

sam3110 said:

Smith was close to joining before Reading had the embargo temporarily lifted and he jumped at the chance to go there, so we know there's interest and Jones liked his profile. 

I can't see Wrexham moving on so soon though 

I wouldn’t be surprised. A new striker or two in most recent transfer windows suggests this is what they do if they can upgrade I’m sure they will do, there strike force seems to come and go quickly through a revolving door.

NabySarr said:

RonnieMoore said:

NabySarr said:

A lot of talk about recalling Kanu and Mbick, but given our shortage of wing back options, and Bree’s time with us potentially ending soon, surely we need to recall Asiimwe? At least until we’ve got some players back or signings in the door 

Kanu Mbick and Asiimwe … none are championship level leave them where they are 

I agree. But we play Blackburn on the 4th of January. I’d rather have Asiimwe playing for us than no wing backs available. If Burke and Bell are both back, or if we sign Bree permanently before that date then we might be ok. But if not Asiimwe would be in our strongest eleven 

Exactly. If we pick up a couple of knocks over Christmas, it would be crazy to not recall "our" players, just because they might not be good enough to be Championship regulars at this stage. Especially if Bree if recalled by Soton because their new manager wants to have a look at him.

Signing new players might take most of January.

ForeverAddickted said:

SouthLincsAddick said:

RonnieMoore said:

raytreacy said:

I have been disappointed with Bree recently. He doesn’t look the same player that started with us.

Agree .. think we can do better . 

Probably playing with an injury, we know he was before.

This... 

On the subject of Bree, Jones mentioned that he could barely cross the ball against Wrexham because of problems with his groin - He had one week off because of the International Break and has continued playing since.

He's not come out of the team since, and Jones has said that he cant risk Apter at RWB because we dont have a LWB and will leave us weak down both flanks - We're paying the price of not having a defensive minded backup in that area of the pitch, but doesnt help that Burke is injured as well, because suspect if he was fit; Ramsay would be the one who could give Bree a rest.

Its easy claiming we can do better, when we don't know whats going on behind the scenes

I suspect that a lot of the things that fans are not happy about are also actually things that Jones is not particularly happy about either. Unfortunately we're in the position where we don't necessarily have the luxury of the "perfect" solution or even a particularly good one, so it's a case of trying to find the least bad option.

Not to say that Jones hasn't/doesn't/won't make mistakes sometimes but I do think he is at least trying to manage less than perfect situations.

golfaddick said:

wolfgang said:

CB1 said:

Joe Aribo anyone for 1.5 million? Could be a good option. Would love to see him return. 

Why? Have you found 1.5 million down the back of your sofa?  What makes you think our owners are willing to splash out 1.5 million? Or anything at all, really. I wouldn't, having seen the money wasted already on Ahadme, Knibbs, Apter, Kelman and Olaofe. Some of our bargain buys and freebies have turned out well, but we haven't got a clue when we have real money to spend.

Imo if we don't spend in excess of £3m then we are down. In fact I'd say we need to spend £5m plus. 

A decent striker will cost money, unless you go abroad (scandi or asia). If you decide to go Prem loan kid (usually under 20 with no league experience) then you might as well recall Kanu. Survival will not come cheap. We tried doing it on the cheap on the summer & look where that has got us. Strikers in - Tanto & Kelman - 2 goals between them. Spent money on Knibbs......average at best. Defenders signed were Jones' mates and injury prone - Burke & Bell injured & missed 6 / 7 games already with no return date imminent. 

Should never have fine into the season relying on Leaburn as being one of the first choice strikers. Was out injured for 6 months & wasn't really up to speed by the start of the season. And Kelman.......never played at this level & only 1 good season in League 1. Going by those figures Alfie May would have been a better bet.  Godden we knew was going to miss the first 3 months of the season.....now likely to be 6 months.

For me a striker is the main priority. We have seen that once fit our defence is pretty good & can compete with most teams. But (sounding like a stuck record) up front is our Achilles heel. The games we've won this season have mainly been down to us scoring a
late winner(and not generally by a striker) ....not being ahead after 20 or 30 minutes & then adding to the score. Exceptions being Ipswich & Blackburn. 

Yes, we need a LWB & a tough tackling midfielder. But you can be as defensively tight as you like but if your strikers are no good you will be looking down not up. 
 
And PS.

I am hoping / assuming that targets have already been lined up & agents/ clubs talked to. New players need to be in the building the first week of January. No point getting to the last week of the window & still scrabbling around in the bargain basement bins. 

I know this is a while back but I’m just catching up. This is just so unrealistic!

A prolific championship quality striker will cost more than £3m and their wages over two years will be more. Also an established championship striker will want to stay at an established championship club, why uproot the family for a 50% chance (at best) that the club will be relegated and they’ll have to move the family again. All decent foreign strikers at this level, who qualify to play in this country, are in the same position as above, why risk it on a newly promoted team. Getting surplus strikers from the Premiership on loan will also be out of reach. They will be on £40k a week minimum and their club will want most of the wages paying.

That leaves us risking it on academy products who may or may not make the step up, buying the best league 1 players and hoping they make the step up and signing injury prone players and hoping they play more than they are injured. That’s pretty much what we’ve done.

I believe NJs plan was always to have the goals spread around the squad. Why try and compete in getting prolific strikers when we can’t afford it. Better to be tight at the back and nick a win with a goal from midfield. It certainly worked for the first quarter of the season.

I bet we have one of the smallest player budgets in the league, also the difference between ours and teams with parachute payments is vast. You can moan about it, but moaning is not going to change it. Also we’re at a further disadvantage, as we’ve had to replace much more of our squad over the summer because of the step up in quality, other established sides are adding a few quality signings every window over many years.

As you say, we may be relegated, and that could happen, we were odds on favourites anyway. But if any manager can make this season work it’s NJ, and the strategy from the management for me is bang on. 

crookester said:

I wouldn't see Sam Smith as an improvement over Kelman and he's also a few years older, so limited resale value. Doubt this one will happen and I personally hope it doesn't.

Smith is far bigger and more physical than Kelman. Remember how he shook our defence up last season at Wrexham ?
We need someone up front who can put it about a bit. Leaburn for all his size doesn't do that enough.
Kelman AND Smith could be a good partnership.
I doubt very much if it'll happen though

RonnieMoore said:

raytreacy said:

I have been disappointed with Bree recently. He doesn’t look the same player that started with us.

Agree .. think we can do better . 

Agree think we need to do better!!

SouthLincsAddick said:

Berkshire1970 said:

Totally right Southlincs! Us fans can be so unrealistic including myself. We were promoted along side two mega rich clubs and are the bookies favourite for relegation. Anything other is Nathan Jones at his best yet again! These owners own nothing but debt and we should all feel lucky to be where we currently sit. Yes, we need more quality and that’s quite clear. A left wingback we’ll spend money on & hopefully loan Miles out & replace with a loan. 

Good point, as Roland owns the physical assets were even less attractive to ‘good’ owners as they just own a bunch of debt.

We got excellent owners … 

RonnieMoore said:

Think there a number of points that people need to remember .. we got promoted 12 months earlier then expected and this has had a major effect on our younger players like Leaburn and Campbell plus others who may have been regulars in league one .. another 12 months and these players would be better prepared, but also coming up is tough but made more difficult that we were 3 weeks behind everyone else .. if we had a full pre season players like Kelman and Knibbs may have joined earlier and more important had a pre season even joined the team on tour .. instead of trying to get fit in championship matches .. still say you offer the club 4th from bottom on GD they would have and will now snap your hand off 

Your most sensible post so far

Recalling loanees should be a last resort. Kanu has spent his whole career at a level he wasn’t ready for, and Asiimwe was also put in a very difficult spot when thrown in a couple of years ago. Let them develop. 

RonnieMoore said:

Think there a number of points that people need to remember .. we got promoted 12 months earlier then expected and this has had a major effect on our younger players like Leaburn and Campbell plus others who may have been regulars in league one .. another 12 months and these players would be better prepared, but also coming up is tough but made more difficult that we were 3 weeks behind everyone else .. if we had a full pre season players like Kelman and Knibbs may have joined earlier and more important had a pre season even joined the team on tour .. instead of trying to get fit in championship matches .. still say you offer the club 4th from bottom on GD they would have and will now snap your hand off 

Even for you this is amazingly hypocritical and nonsensical.

Who did you copy and paste it from?

king addick said:

Personally would call Asimwee back. The lad is a talent and if you can give Fullah a chance then may as well gove Asimwee the same chance!

If we can get a CB, maybe 2 ( move Gillesphey on) that would be good. Bree will sign you would assume. 

A striker maybe but it does depend on who is close to fitness. 

I like Assimwe, he's got a lot of potential but Fullah is in a different class entirely.