Summer Window 2026 - Rumours and Discussion

AberystwythAddick · July 28

charltonbob said:

sam3110 said:

charltonbob said:

Crispywood said:

AndyG said:

I wish we could have an update on Edwards & Collins if they are anywhere near fitness then we start to look a better team already it seems very weird that nobody at the club seems to be mentioning them

Get urself a Cawley Substack subscription

We shouldn't need to get a subscription to get fitness updates on our injured players

You don't need an update though, why should the club be telling all and sundry about our squad? Some clubs don't even tell you the length of contract a player signs when they join them (Luton i think in particular are famous for this)

Actually I do, I want to know as much as possible about our players, about our club. Whether the club wants to hand me that info is up to them but if Richard Cawley is releasing that info, all & sundry could subscribe & they would know all of our inside info. So why doesn't the club release info on Edwards one year almost, injury ?

Do you get angry when you have to buy a newspaper?

letthegoodtimesroll · July 28

Redrobo said:

golfaddick said:

Garrymanilow said:

We've signed two wingers, look like we're trying to integrate another back into the squad and are apparently trying to sign another one from Hull. Half the people moaning are also the ones who complain that we don't get the ball wide or put in enough crosses. Bringing Dykes in to make the most of the wingers both in terms of bringing them into the game more and giving them a target to aim for makes a lot of sense. It's funny how quickly the positive contributions he made are forgotten by the kinds of fans who weirdly think a recently promoted Championship side are too good for a player like that. I think you might be looking for a different club.

I'll eat my hat if Dykes (or Leaburn for that matter) score more than a handful of goals with their head.

Edit.

A handful = less than 6.
I will take that bet.
Less than 6 could be 1
Have you a particular hat in mind?

That just about sums up our last season when a Charlton fan could consider 1 goal as a handful 😡😡😡

elbiglad · July 28

No great lover of Dykes, but it is decent business to get him on a free - especially if he has the hunger he showed when he first came. He’s an experienced player who works very hard and someone we know can perform to a decent standard at the level.

Cawley’s latest piece suggested further attacking improvements, I wonder if this is it or if there are more to come. As with other deals, this is not a particularly inspiring signing but our squad needed massive improvements. It may be boring, but this does improve us. I am just hopeful that we are saving some funds for some ceiling raisers. Time will tell.

J BLOCK · July 28

So disappointing if we sign Dykes. I thought this summer was about ruthlessness and adding real quality. Where are our goals going to come from?

Kinsella87 · July 28

Redrobo said:

golfaddick said:

Garrymanilow said:

We've signed two wingers, look like we're trying to integrate another back into the squad and are apparently trying to sign another one from Hull. Half the people moaning are also the ones who complain that we don't get the ball wide or put in enough crosses. Bringing Dykes in to make the most of the wingers both in terms of bringing them into the game more and giving them a target to aim for makes a lot of sense. It's funny how quickly the positive contributions he made are forgotten by the kinds of fans who weirdly think a recently promoted Championship side are too good for a player like that. I think you might be looking for a different club.

I'll eat my hat if Dykes (or Leaburn for that matter) score more than a handful of goals with their head.

Edit.

A handful = less than 6.
I will take that bet.
Less than 6 could be 1
Have you a particular hat in mind?

SteveACS · July 28

J BLOCK said:

So disappointing if we sign Dykes. I thought this summer was about ruthlessness and adding real quality. Where are our goals going to come from?

A suggestion that you think we can afford without risking a points deduction?

Sword65pf · July 28

bertpalmer said:

Sword65pf said:

So we have two friendlies and our customary exit to lower league opposition to come before the real stuff starts, 3 games to bed in any new players and look like a team, our midfield is going to be a combination of what we had last season without Coady. Probably end up using mwamba like a lamb to the slaughter. We looked disjointed with these players last weekend and they were our regulars. I don’t believe for a second this is what NJ is happy with no matter what he says publicly, 5 players in so far, none of them an obvious proven upgrade. And don’t give me the amount of games in the championship thing because JRC was that and look what’s happening there. We’ve not bought experienced champ players from other clubs,we’ve picked them up because they were free.

well thats cheered me right up

Yes, you must have read it before I scratched it, was a bit ranty and dramatic and not completely true.Although some of it I stick by. I don’t think things are going great though.

elbiglad · July 28

I am getting a bit bored of some of the negative and short sighted comments being posted on here. I don’t know what people were expecting.

I hate that we have so much squad turnover every year but we desperately needed reinforcements. The transition the club has gone through necessitates this overhaul. The depth wasn’t there and the loans ending meant we lost four or five starters. So it was clear a massive influx of players was needed.

Let’s say we needed to bring in a minimum of seven players. When you need this many and only have a budget of around £10m, then you have to be clever in how you spend your money. Really basic stuff. So, it makes sense to spend no money on a back up right back who has good champ experience. It makes sense to bring in a decent striking option for no money when you have decent depth there already and have assessed that other options are likely too expensive. It makes sense to concentrate your spending on positions of most serious need to to bring in extra quality where it matters when decent, cheaper options are available in other positions. This is just common-sense squad building.

It seems to me that some people didn’t understand what slow, sustainable and sensible growth meant. It never meant that if we stay in the Championship for one year we will then blow the league out the water. It won’t happen next summer either, by the way. As a side note, it’s also not how football finances work so it’s no good talking about how rich our owners are. At this moment in time, unless we sell someone for big money or agree a huge sponsorship deal with an American airline or streaming service, this is the only feasible way for us to improve.

Jones has made a rod for his own back (for some) with the ‘ruthless’ comments. When, in reality, he was most likely just talking about some of the business that needed to be done, not all. Letting a midfield prospect who is a hard worker and, by all accounts, amazing character that has been with the club since the age of 8 leave is quite ruthless. Letting a reliable squad option who scored the goal to promote the club leave is quite ruthless. The likely exit of a young academy striker who won League 2 player of the year is quite ruthless. Any additions in centre mid that move Coventry or Docherty down the pecking order should be considered ruthless. Why does signing a back up right back have to be judged by this metric? Who can name all of the Luke Young backups from the Curbishley years? It’s not an overly important position.

I am not an ITK. But the signing of Alli for £1m shows, to me, that there is money to be spent. This was not necessarily a position of need and there are plenty of free agent wingers available. So to spend money on this player shows that firstly, they rate him, and secondly, it suggests there is money available for the right targets. It signals there is more to come.

Jones is an outspoken man who finds it borderline impossible to bite his tongue. If there was no money or the board had let him down I think we’d have heard something, or picked up on a sly comment. It’s been quite the opposite. He has told fans to be patient. The season starts in just under three weeks and the window shuts in five. He has repeatedly said there is more to come and quality takes time.

We all want more in. We all want improved quality. I definitely don’t enjoy watching us hoof it up to Dykes. But the window isn’t done. They are implementing a formation change. Let’s just give things some time.

fenaddick · July 28

Don't come in here with long posts talking sense @elbiglad, this thread is for short, reactionary, ill thought out opinions

Danny Addick · July 28

Nathan said he wanted better one v one threats up top. He (at least believes) has done so in Grant and Alli. If we sign dykes it would suggest to me we want to pepper the penalty spot with crosses. I guess I can see the thinking.

Don’t confuse his desire to improve the one v one threat with signing dykes.

BetterCallSaul · July 28

elbiglad said:

I am getting a bit bored of some of the negative and short sighted comments being posted on here. I don’t know what people were expecting.

I hate that we have so much squad turnover every year but we desperately needed reinforcements. The transition the club has gone through necessitates this overhaul. The depth wasn’t there and the loans ending meant we lost four or five starters. So it was clear a massive influx of players was needed.

Let’s say we needed to bring in a minimum of seven players. When you need this many and only have a budget of around £10m, then you have to be clever in how you spend your money. Really basic stuff. So, it makes sense to spend no money on a back up right back who has good champ experience. It makes sense to bring in a decent striking option for no money when you have decent depth there already and have assessed that other options are likely too expensive. It makes sense to concentrate your spending on positions of most serious need to to bring in extra quality where t matters when decent, cheaper options are available in other positions. This is just common-sense squad building.

It seems to me that some people didn’t understand what slow, sustainable and sensible growth meant. It never meant that if we stay in the Championship for one year we will then blow the league out the water. It won’t happen next summer either, by the way. As a side note, it’s also not how football finances work so it’s no good talking about how rich our owners are. At this moment in time, unless we sell someone for big money or agree a huge sponsorship deal with an American airline or streaming service, this is the only feasible way for us to improve.

Jones has made a rod for his own back (for some) with the ‘ruthless’ comments. When, in reality, he was most likely just talking about some of the business that needed to be done, not all. Letting a midfield prospect who is a hard worker and, by all accounts, amazing character that has been with the club since the age of 8 leave is quite ruthless. Letting a reliable squad option who scored the goal to promote the club leave is quite ruthless. The likely exit of a young academy striker who won League 2 player of the year is quite ruthless. Any additions in centre mid that move Coventry or Docherty down the pecking order should be considered ruthless. Why does signing a back up right back have to be judged by this metric? Who can name all of the Luke Young backups from the Curbishley years? It’s not an overly important position.

I am not an ITK. But the signing of Alli for £1m shows, to me, that there is money to be spent. This was not necessarily a position of need and there are plenty of free agent wingers available. So to spend money on this player shows that firstly, they rate him, and secondly, it suggests there is money available for the right targets. It signals there is more to come.

Jones is an outspoken man who finds it borderline impossible to bite his tongue. If there was no money or the board had let him down I think we’d have heard something, or picked up on a sly comment. It’s been quite the opposite. He has told fans to be patient. The season starts in just under three weeks and the window shuts in five. He has repeatedly said there is more to come and quality takes time.

We all want more in. We all want improved quality. I definitely don’t enjoy watching us hoof it up to Dykes. But the window isn’t done. They are implementing a formation change. Let’s just give things some time.

A post so sensible it seems to have temporarily broken the site

SouthLincsAddick · July 28

elbiglad said:

I am getting a bit bored of some of the negative and short sighted comments being posted on here. I don’t know what people were expecting.

I hate that we have so much squad turnover every year but we desperately needed reinforcements. The transition the club has gone through necessitates this overhaul. The depth wasn’t there and the loans ending meant we lost four or five starters. So it was clear a massive influx of players was needed.

Let’s say we needed to bring in a minimum of seven players. When you need this many and only have a budget of around £10m, then you have to be clever in how you spend your money. Really basic stuff. So, it makes sense to spend no money on a back up right back who has good champ experience. It makes sense to bring in a decent striking option for no money when you have decent depth there already and have assessed that other options are likely too expensive. It makes sense to concentrate your spending on positions of most serious need to to bring in extra quality where t matters when decent, cheaper options are available in other positions. This is just common-sense squad building.

It seems to me that some people didn’t understand what slow, sustainable and sensible growth meant. It never meant that if we stay in the Championship for one year we will then blow the league out the water. It won’t happen next summer either, by the way. As a side note, it’s also not how football finances work so it’s no good talking about how rich our owners are. At this moment in time, unless we sell someone for big money or agree a huge sponsorship deal with an American airline or streaming service, this is the only feasible way for us to improve.

Jones has made a rod for his own back (for some) with the ‘ruthless’ comments. When, in reality, he was most likely just talking about some of the business that needed to be done, not all. Letting a midfield prospect who is a hard worker and, by all accounts, amazing character that has been with the club since the age of 8 leave is quite ruthless. Letting a reliable squad option who scored the goal to promote the club leave is quite ruthless. The likely exit of a young academy striker who won League 2 player of the year is quite ruthless. Any additions in centre mid that move Coventry or Docherty down the pecking order should be considered ruthless. Why does signing a back up right back have to be judged by this metric? Who can name all of the Luke Young backups from the Curbishley years? It’s not an overly important position.

I am not an ITK. But the signing of Alli for £1m shows, to me, that there is money to be spent. This was not necessarily a position of need and there are plenty of free agent wingers available. So to spend money on this player shows that firstly, they rate him, and secondly, it suggests there is money available for the right targets. It signals there is more to come.

Jones is an outspoken man who finds it borderline impossible to bite his tongue. If there was no money or the board had let him down I think we’d have heard something, or picked up on a sly comment. It’s been quite the opposite. He has told fans to be patient. The season starts in just under three weeks and the window shuts in five. He has repeatedly said there is more to come and quality takes time.

We all want more in. We all want improved quality. I definitely don’t enjoy watching us hoof it up to Dykes. But the window isn’t done. They are implementing a formation change. Let’s just give things some time.

Well said!

I think the negative posters don’t want to understand the financial situation we’re in. A small but vocal minority have always created a lot of noise mostly through wilful ignorance. Professional football people would wet themselves at some of the comments on here, it’s so far from reality. Remember, this is only a fans forum, none of us have any pro experience at coaching a football team or even understand the basics of football finance.

Todds_right_hook · July 28

I’m in the disappointed with the Dykes signing camp, I was hoping for better but if we are improving our wide options and get more crosses into the box, we need a big strong nutter to get on the end of them and dykes fits that bill

ive always been a leaburn fan but the injuries appear to have taken away his pace and confidence. Mbick and leaburn as the two big outlets would be a risk. Signing dykes reduces that risk

Covered_End_Lad · July 28

SteveACS said:

There's a lot of punters on here going on about Dykes aerial ability. Do you know how many headed goals he scored last season? Zero. All his goals were scored with his feet.

But at least 2 of his assists came from cushioned headers on ..

Last season we play with absolutely no attacking width for most games and very few crosses put into the box so difficult to criticise him for not scoring headers. The change in formation should mean we are getting balls into the box far more often from wide areas this season invariably giving him more chances to score with his head.

eastterrace6168 · July 28

fenaddick said:

Don't come in here with long posts talking sense @elbiglad, this thread is for short, reactionary, ill thought out opinions

Rubbish...😉

charente addick · July 28

Maybe a League One loan is the answer for Leaburn. I think there would be plenty of takers and it would give him a good chance to regularly start, build confidence and score goals.

I don’t want to see him sold just yet as I still think he has potential to offer something given a good run at it. His career to date has been very stop/start.

jose · July 28

With regard to Connor Coventry.
My two penn’orth.
We frequently get possession at the back, say with Lloyd Jones.
There might be a few passes back and forth and sideways.
When the opposition retreats enough Connor Coventry drops back and gets clean possession.
His role then is to decide what kind of progression we make, to play it long, or be part of building ‘through the thirds’, or even to continue with defensive possession.
I believe (as suggested before) that he is instructed to play that role.
Coventry will tackle, sometimes popping up tackling back in dodgy situations, and he will often get booked for fouls that break up the opposition progress.
Coventry very rarely to never passes backwards.
Essentially Nathan Jones dictates his role.
Would it be great if he was a better player? Of course.
Does he have diddly dribbling tricks and feints? No.
Blistering pace? No.
Intimidating power? No
Ariel dominance? No.
Scores goals? No.
Take a good corner? No.
Footballing ‘intelligence’, unselfish team play, industry and reliability? Yes.
It would be great if Coventry could do everything brilliantly naturally, but I believe right now Nathan Jones sees Connor as deployable and dependable for the player he is.
I think the criticism of Coventry on here has been harsh. Would we like an upgrade? Yes of course. But an upgrade to a player that can offer what Coventry offers, and then adds even more, is going to take some doing, and a lot of moolah.

stoneroses19 · July 28

J BLOCK said:

So disappointing if we sign Dykes. I thought this summer was about ruthlessness and adding real quality. Where are our goals going to come from?

I’m not pleased if Dykes is our main summer signing, but it’s fairly obvious that if we improve on our midfield, then our current strikers will score a lot more goals.

FishCostaFortune · July 28

I feel like the people who moan about us "not scoring enough headers" are often the same ones who complain about the quality of our crosses, without seeing the irony.

Valley11 · July 28

Dykes a good signing for me. Gives his absolute all and is a proper operator. Knows the league and if we make the midfield signings we all hope to make, he’ll be great at linking play between CM and our wingers.

He can also finish when given the opportunity. That goal at Leicester from Chambers’ ball in was evidence of what he can do with a bit more service.

Garrymanilow · July 28

SteveACS said:

There's a lot of punters on here going on about Dykes aerial ability. Do you know how many headed goals he scored last season? Zero. All his goals were scored with his feet.

But at least 2 of his assists came from cushioned headers on ..

I don't think many people are talking about Dykes in terms of him scoring loads of headers. His ability to win the high ball is very good to start moves off but also his movement in the box when crosses come in is excellent. His goal against Leicester wasn't headed but it was off a cross where he ran off his markers into space and put the cross away. For Coady's goal against Boro he had just come on but he moved away from the space in front of the keeper and dragged his marker with him which is what gave Coady the space to get across his marker and finish. Goals have never been a huge part of his game but he was involved in more than a quarter of the goals we scored in his half season with us. Three headed assists as well; for Carey against Sheff Utd, Fevrier against Porstmouth and TC against Stoke. Hopefully having more pace in behind means we'll get more goals like TC's off having a target man

Unknown · July 28

This content has been removed.

mcgrandall · July 28

SouthLincsAddick said:

elbiglad said:

I am getting a bit bored of some of the negative and short sighted comments being posted on here. I don’t know what people were expecting.

I hate that we have so much squad turnover every year but we desperately needed reinforcements. The transition the club has gone through necessitates this overhaul. The depth wasn’t there and the loans ending meant we lost four or five starters. So it was clear a massive influx of players was needed.

Let’s say we needed to bring in a minimum of seven players. When you need this many and only have a budget of around £10m, then you have to be clever in how you spend your money. Really basic stuff. So, it makes sense to spend no money on a back up right back who has good champ experience. It makes sense to bring in a decent striking option for no money when you have decent depth there already and have assessed that other options are likely too expensive. It makes sense to concentrate your spending on positions of most serious need to to bring in extra quality where t matters when decent, cheaper options are available in other positions. This is just common-sense squad building.

It seems to me that some people didn’t understand what slow, sustainable and sensible growth meant. It never meant that if we stay in the Championship for one year we will then blow the league out the water. It won’t happen next summer either, by the way. As a side note, it’s also not how football finances work so it’s no good talking about how rich our owners are. At this moment in time, unless we sell someone for big money or agree a huge sponsorship deal with an American airline or streaming service, this is the only feasible way for us to improve.

Jones has made a rod for his own back (for some) with the ‘ruthless’ comments. When, in reality, he was most likely just talking about some of the business that needed to be done, not all. Letting a midfield prospect who is a hard worker and, by all accounts, amazing character that has been with the club since the age of 8 leave is quite ruthless. Letting a reliable squad option who scored the goal to promote the club leave is quite ruthless. The likely exit of a young academy striker who won League 2 player of the year is quite ruthless. Any additions in centre mid that move Coventry or Docherty down the pecking order should be considered ruthless. Why does signing a back up right back have to be judged by this metric? Who can name all of the Luke Young backups from the Curbishley years? It’s not an overly important position.

I am not an ITK. But the signing of Alli for £1m shows, to me, that there is money to be spent. This was not necessarily a position of need and there are plenty of free agent wingers available. So to spend money on this player shows that firstly, they rate him, and secondly, it suggests there is money available for the right targets. It signals there is more to come.

Jones is an outspoken man who finds it borderline impossible to bite his tongue. If there was no money or the board had let him down I think we’d have heard something, or picked up on a sly comment. It’s been quite the opposite. He has told fans to be patient. The season starts in just under three weeks and the window shuts in five. He has repeatedly said there is more to come and quality takes time.

We all want more in. We all want improved quality. I definitely don’t enjoy watching us hoof it up to Dykes. But the window isn’t done. They are implementing a formation change. Let’s just give things some time.

Well said!

I think the negative posters don’t want to understand the financial situation we’re in. A small but vocal minority have always created a lot of noise mostly through wilful ignorance. Professional football people would wet themselves at some of the comments on here, it’s so far from reality. Remember, this is only a fans forum, none of us have any pro experience at coaching a football team or even understand the basics of football finance.

I'm not advocating our owners spend more, but how come Stoke have spent so much this year? Not sold any players for large transfer fees in years and have a similar turnover to ours. Could be their owner selling the club to themselves and wiping £80m of debt, so they ended the year in "profit". There is always a way around the rules.

If the owners wanted to put more money in, they could find a way. I've seen it suggested that the recent change in the rules is a way to drive down players wages in the Championship. Which, considering the state of finances in the Championship, seems quite sensible.

TheHerminator · July 28

elbiglad said:

I am getting a bit bored of some of the negative and short sighted comments being posted on here. I don’t know what people were expecting.

I hate that we have so much squad turnover every year but we desperately needed reinforcements. The transition the club has gone through necessitates this overhaul. The depth wasn’t there and the loans ending meant we lost four or five starters. So it was clear a massive influx of players was needed.

Let’s say we needed to bring in a minimum of seven players. When you need this many and only have a budget of around £10m, then you have to be clever in how you spend your money. Really basic stuff. So, it makes sense to spend no money on a back up right back who has good champ experience. It makes sense to bring in a decent striking option for no money when you have decent depth there already and have assessed that other options are likely too expensive. It makes sense to concentrate your spending on positions of most serious need to to bring in extra quality where it matters when decent, cheaper options are available in other positions. This is just common-sense squad building.

It seems to me that some people didn’t understand what slow, sustainable and sensible growth meant. It never meant that if we stay in the Championship for one year we will then blow the league out the water. It won’t happen next summer either, by the way. As a side note, it’s also not how football finances work so it’s no good talking about how rich our owners are. At this moment in time, unless we sell someone for big money or agree a huge sponsorship deal with an American airline or streaming service, this is the only feasible way for us to improve.

Jones has made a rod for his own back (for some) with the ‘ruthless’ comments. When, in reality, he was most likely just talking about some of the business that needed to be done, not all. Letting a midfield prospect who is a hard worker and, by all accounts, amazing character that has been with the club since the age of 8 leave is quite ruthless. Letting a reliable squad option who scored the goal to promote the club leave is quite ruthless. The likely exit of a young academy striker who won League 2 player of the year is quite ruthless. Any additions in centre mid that move Coventry or Docherty down the pecking order should be considered ruthless. Why does signing a back up right back have to be judged by this metric? Who can name all of the Luke Young backups from the Curbishley years? It’s not an overly important position.

I am not an ITK. But the signing of Alli for £1m shows, to me, that there is money to be spent. This was not necessarily a position of need and there are plenty of free agent wingers available. So to spend money on this player shows that firstly, they rate him, and secondly, it suggests there is money available for the right targets. It signals there is more to come.

Jones is an outspoken man who finds it borderline impossible to bite his tongue. If there was no money or the board had let him down I think we’d have heard something, or picked up on a sly comment. It’s been quite the opposite. He has told fans to be patient. The season starts in just under three weeks and the window shuts in five. He has repeatedly said there is more to come and quality takes time.

We all want more in. We all want improved quality. I definitely don’t enjoy watching us hoof it up to Dykes. But the window isn’t done. They are implementing a formation change. Let’s just give things some time.

Thank you for the articulate and well thought through post.

Refreshing

TheHerminator · July 28

mcgrandall said:

SouthLincsAddick said:

elbiglad said:

I am getting a bit bored of some of the negative and short sighted comments being posted on here. I don’t know what people were expecting.

I hate that we have so much squad turnover every year but we desperately needed reinforcements. The transition the club has gone through necessitates this overhaul. The depth wasn’t there and the loans ending meant we lost four or five starters. So it was clear a massive influx of players was needed.

Let’s say we needed to bring in a minimum of seven players. When you need this many and only have a budget of around £10m, then you have to be clever in how you spend your money. Really basic stuff. So, it makes sense to spend no money on a back up right back who has good champ experience. It makes sense to bring in a decent striking option for no money when you have decent depth there already and have assessed that other options are likely too expensive. It makes sense to concentrate your spending on positions of most serious need to to bring in extra quality where t matters when decent, cheaper options are available in other positions. This is just common-sense squad building.

It seems to me that some people didn’t understand what slow, sustainable and sensible growth meant. It never meant that if we stay in the Championship for one year we will then blow the league out the water. It won’t happen next summer either, by the way. As a side note, it’s also not how football finances work so it’s no good talking about how rich our owners are. At this moment in time, unless we sell someone for big money or agree a huge sponsorship deal with an American airline or streaming service, this is the only feasible way for us to improve.

Jones has made a rod for his own back (for some) with the ‘ruthless’ comments. When, in reality, he was most likely just talking about some of the business that needed to be done, not all. Letting a midfield prospect who is a hard worker and, by all accounts, amazing character that has been with the club since the age of 8 leave is quite ruthless. Letting a reliable squad option who scored the goal to promote the club leave is quite ruthless. The likely exit of a young academy striker who won League 2 player of the year is quite ruthless. Any additions in centre mid that move Coventry or Docherty down the pecking order should be considered ruthless. Why does signing a back up right back have to be judged by this metric? Who can name all of the Luke Young backups from the Curbishley years? It’s not an overly important position.

I am not an ITK. But the signing of Alli for £1m shows, to me, that there is money to be spent. This was not necessarily a position of need and there are plenty of free agent wingers available. So to spend money on this player shows that firstly, they rate him, and secondly, it suggests there is money available for the right targets. It signals there is more to come.

Jones is an outspoken man who finds it borderline impossible to bite his tongue. If there was no money or the board had let him down I think we’d have heard something, or picked up on a sly comment. It’s been quite the opposite. He has told fans to be patient. The season starts in just under three weeks and the window shuts in five. He has repeatedly said there is more to come and quality takes time.

We all want more in. We all want improved quality. I definitely don’t enjoy watching us hoof it up to Dykes. But the window isn’t done. They are implementing a formation change. Let’s just give things some time.

Well said!

I think the negative posters don’t want to understand the financial situation we’re in. A small but vocal minority have always created a lot of noise mostly through wilful ignorance. Professional football people would wet themselves at some of the comments on here, it’s so far from reality. Remember, this is only a fans forum, none of us have any pro experience at coaching a football team or even understand the basics of football finance.

I'm not advocating our owners spend more, but how come Stoke have spent so much this year? Not sold any players for large transfer fees in years and have a similar turnover to ours. Could be their owner selling the club to themselves and wiping £80m of debt, so they ended the year in "profit". There is always a way around the rules.

If the owners wanted to put more money in, they could find a way. I've seen it suggested that the recent change in the rules is a way to drive down players wages in the Championship. Which, considering the state of finances in the Championship, seems quite sensible.

They are owned by Bet365 essentially who keep investing in equity stakes in the football club. It isn’t a sustainable model but it means short term they can spend big on players

Pavoren007 · July 28

Unless we and one from abroad that comes out of nowhere I just don’t think we will see a 20 goal a season striker any time soon playing for us in the Championship.

I expect goals to be spread across Dykes (if he comes), Kelman, Godden, Leaburn, Alli, Grant, TC, Apter, Carey, Knibbs and some defender contributions. 3s, 4s, 5s to max 10. That will do us sufficient if it plays out that way.

Concern I have is that we are not yet firing in that department this pre-season and feel we need a game or two where we hit a team for 3 or 4 to build a bit of confidence and shift the mindset. COYRs!

RonnieMoore · July 28

Pavoren007 said:

Unless we and one from abroad that comes out of nowhere I just don’t think we will see a 20 goal a season striker any time soon playing for us in the Championship.

I expect goals to be spread across Dykes (if he comes), Kelman, Godden, Leaburn, Alli, Grant, TC, Apter, Carey, Knibbs and some defender contributions. 3s, 4s, 5s to max 10. That will do us sufficient if it plays out that way.

Concern I have is that we are not yet firing in that department this pre-season and feel we need a game or two where we hit a team for 3 or 4 to build a bit of confidence and shift the mindset. COYRs!

And it’s better to have goals spread like last season cause then your not relying on one person who could get injured or sold ..

matt88 · July 28

charente addick said:

Maybe a League One loan is the answer for Leaburn. I think there would be plenty of takers and it would give him a good chance to regularly start, build confidence and score goals.

I don’t want to see him sold just yet as I still think he has potential to offer something given a good run at it. His career to date has been very stop/start.

I was told a couple of weeks back that Leaburn would be made available for loan. It’s another reason I don’t like the Dykes signing as it just sets Miles’ development back even more.

Leaburn was excellent around Christmas last year and I thought the Dykes signing prevented him having a decent run in the side in the second half of the season.

I know Leaburn divides opinion on here, but his profile is so unique for a striker of his size and technical ability that we really should be giving him every opportunity to thrive at this level IMO.

TheHerminator · July 28

matt88 said:

charente addick said:

Maybe a League One loan is the answer for Leaburn. I think there would be plenty of takers and it would give him a good chance to regularly start, build confidence and score goals.

I don’t want to see him sold just yet as I still think he has potential to offer something given a good run at it. His career to date has been very stop/start.

I was told a couple of weeks back that Leaburn would be made available for loan. It’s another reason I don’t like the Dykes signing as it just sets Miles’ development back even more.

Leaburn was excellent around Christmas last year and I thought the Dykes signing prevented him having a decent run in the side in the second half of the season.

I know Leaburn divides opinion on here, but his profile is so unique for a striker of his size and technical ability that we really should be giving him every opportunity to thrive at this level IMO.

I don’t disagree with your main point here, but where sometimes he can be very effective, others he is totally anonymous and worse frequently gives the ball away.

Dykes offers a much more consistent performance each week for me.

How long do we give Miles to develop? He’s not a teenager anymore? Do we risk him week in week out to see if he improves to the detriment of the overall team performance?

DOUCHER · July 28

So, my take is that unless we hit the jackpot by either obtaining a huge sponsorship deal or selling an academy product for a huge fee, we are stuck in a championship relegation battle for years - depressing really considering we had owners with zero interest in the early / mid eighties but seemed comfortable in the 2nd division. As others have said, there are ways round this if our rich owners want to take them.

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