Summer Window 2026 - Rumours and Discussion

DOUCHER said:

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. 

TheHerminator said:

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

NabySarr said:

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.

Would a season starting every week in league 1 and hopefully scoring a good amount of goals be better for Leaburn than another season in the championship? I’m not sure tbh I think it’s a tough question but if we’re signing Dykes I think that tells us Jones answer 

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.

DOUCHER said:

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. 

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. 

SteveACS said:

Covered_End_Lad said:

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.

My post was never a criticism of Dykes. I'm a fan. It was more that some on here think he's only good with his head. When he's actually very good with his feet, too.

As in the 1-2 with Kelman, and finish, v Bristol City.

WoolwichAddick said:

Who is the next Makama? 1.5m for what is now a £15-20m striker a season later 

TheHerminator said:

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

Forester said:

Leaburn and Dykes together from the start doesn't work,  tried it twice last year, definitely Portsmouth,  maybe West Brom? Anyway,  disaster both times. If Dykes comes in i can't see that that would be a plan. Hope not for sure