(That long since we've had any, couldn't find the thread)

Alan Nixon: "Top Liverpool starlet Cameron Branagan will Ben allowed out on loan in Jan.

Bolton lead the race for the 20 year old midfielder"

Edited December 11, 20169 yr by Ratwhite

14 minutes ago, Johnnyrotten said:

Then again Vic looked good in the 1st half of that replay too 😁

It's not too late to have a second look at him! 😁

20 minutes ago, Johnnyrotten said:

Fair comments.  To be clear it looks like a good signing, at a good price.  I'm just thinking he's coming down to England and stepping up from a relatively poor level (bottom half of Scots Prem which is more like L1 standard) to the championship playing against the likes of Southampton, Wolves and Middlesboro.  IMO he's far from being a nailed on starter, we'd want to be signing a midfielder or 2 that are proven at that level.  The same goes for Sheehan etc, he will want to prove himself but he's not got a right to expect to start as many games at this level.

I thought Taylor was a good signing last summer so as you say the Jury is out until we get to see him play.

These are the players we need to be aiming for, same as the lad we got from Ireland and the keeper from Fleetwood.

If one or two out of five or six stand out in the Championship next season we can move them on at a decent profit while still progressing year on year.

We will also need to bring in Experience but again i do not want us to be bringing in players for one last pay day

Huddersfield do that and it does not work

1 hour ago, TrickyTrotter said:

Fergal Harkin is highly rated and was a coup when he signed for us and seems to focus on the finances and the squad unlike his predecessor.  Contracts for L1 and Champ would have been decided some time ago not in Fannies on Monday afternoon.

The squad needs a huge strengthening and we need to be ruthless whilst celebrating those who got us promoted.

I would guess a minimum of 6 loans coming in from Prem.

Your post got me thinking, if Harkin was so highly rated then why did he end up at a third division club?

So I had a little look at his background.

He left Standard Liege following the takeover by new owners in June 2025 after only being their from May 2022.  He was appointed by Standard de Liège as their new manager in charge of deploying the sport strategy of the club in the long term.

Before that he was at City as first as a scout and later as "Football Partnerships and Pathways Manager"

A "Football Partnerships and Pathways Manager" is an executive role within a professional football club responsible for managing the player loan system and developing relationships with partner clubs. They bridge the gap between a club's youth academy and its first team by tracking and supporting loaned-out players to ensure they reach their full potential.

These managers primarily oversee the following areas:

Player Loan Management: They monitor a large pool of younger squad members sent out to other teams to gain competitive playing time, tracking their development, match minutes, and overall performance.

Partner Club Relationships: They coordinate with affiliated teams, feeder clubs, or satellite academies to align player development strategies, facilitate talent scouting, and arrange player transfers or loans.

Support Network Coordination: They often supervise a multidisciplinary support team—which can include video analysts, sports psychologists, and nutritionists—to ensure loaned players have the necessary resources to thrive away from their parent club.

Pathway Strategy: They identify the ideal competitive environment (e.g., lower divisions or foreign leagues) for each specific prospect to maximize their value and prepare them for a higher level of professional football

 

Seems to me that Harkin was basically out of a job at Liege and FV decided they needed a buffer between the manager and the transfer spending as Evatt had wasted a couple of millions of FV's money on numerous players who turned out to be duds.

I'm not having a pop at Harkin but his CV is clearly of someone who had specialised looking after players loaned out to other clubs, had one spell of three years at  Standard de Liège as their new manager in charge of deploying the sport strategy of the club in the long term, and thought so good at his role that he was let go by the new owners immediately they took over (or perhaps he didn't whish to work with them?)

Anyway he is here now, so has he done a good job so far?

Well he fulfilled the top priority of the club by getting promoted albeit not automatically.

As for player recruitment, judging by the many opinions on here of the players brought in this season under the auspices of Harkin the general consensus to me seems to be that Dalby, Kenny, Duberry and perhaps Erhahon and Taylor-Blackett were hits, Simon, Christie, Burstow, Cissoko, Burstow and Gale were ok-ish and Taylor, Apter, Sharman-Lowe, Miller and Forss being failures (Broome and Harrington having made no impact on the pitch as back up keepers)

I don't know how people would judge this performance in the transfer and loan market under Harkin's leadership but for me it would need to be significantly better for the coming season if we aren't to struggle to survive on our return to the Championship.

It is worth noting that our reliance on loan signings this season was poor if you consider that most people view only Kenny having proven himself and Blackett-Taylor given a pass because he was good in the couple of games we saw him in. 

I'm counting Cissoko's loan a failure on the basis that the club did not take up the purchase option on him.

There also seems no sign of any of the youngsters bridging the gap to the playing squad in the immediate future.

I imagine FV are pleased with Harkins leadership to date, which at the end of the day are the only people that matter but for me we need to perform significantly better in the transfer and loan markets in order to establish ourselves at the level we've waited so long to get back to.

 

 

 

Interested to see what loans we get in next season. We have a pretty good reputation, Trafford and Bradley have certainly developed because of us.  So would hope being in the championship we can attract a decent level of youth to help us next year. 30 goal striker woild be ideal. 

1 hour ago, Johnnyrotten said:

I love Dalby and he's got a role to play, but we have to be realistic about his limitations too.  As with the released players, would a championship club come in for Dalby and have him as 1st choice striker?  Course not.  Squad player.

The third highest spending club in last season’s Championship (Wrexham) offered him a new contract, but he chose to sign for us. Sort his injuries out and I think he’ll be a massive player for us, next season.

1 hour ago, Johnnyrotten said:

 EE is a bit of a one trick pony - breaking up play and the least attacking intent of anyone I can recall.  We need more IMO.

He does have an eye for a worldie defence splitting pass every now & again though.

50 minutes ago, masi 51 said:

I thought Taylor was a good signing last summer so as you say the Jury is out until we get to see him play.

These are the players we need to be aiming for, same as the lad we got from Ireland and the keeper from Fleetwood.

If one or two out of five or six stand out in the Championship next season we can move them on at a decent profit while still progressing year on year.

We will also need to bring in Experience but again i do not want us to be bringing in players for one last pay day

Huddersfield do that and it does not work

Not sure I agree.  Christie is in that bracket, did a job and clearly his experience was a positive factor.  McBurnie at Hull, Windass Wrexham, even Bamford at Sheff U, I don't class them as going for one last payday, they've all got fire in their bellies more so than let's say Gale.  Its about personality not age for me.

I'd take Branagan from Oxford at the right price (won't happen, not the type of signing we pay money for), he's 30 and is exactly what we've needed for years, a bit of everything.  But that's just an example, SS will have his own targets.

Huddersfield are poor because they keep appointing poor managers, for me its as simple as that.  They've got some good players who I'd be happy to see in our team (in L1), but the manager is more important than the players at that level.

38 minutes ago, Rival Son said:

The third highest spending club in last season’s Championship (Wrexham) offered him a new contract, but he chose to sign for us. Sort his injuries out and I think he’ll be a massive player for us, next season.

I hope so.

Why do you think Dalby didn't sign the contract for Wrexham though?  Its not like we'd be paying more. 

Clubs often give contracts to players when there is interest in them, it was a no-brainer for Wrexham to get him under contract, but because he didn't sign, we got him on a free which was fantastic.

Edited May 27May 27 by Johnnyrotten

Opportunity, potential (organically, we are a much bigger club than Wrexham, and our own billionaire fan/investor would quickly demonstrate that) and the security of a 4-year contract.

1 hour ago, Rival Son said:

The third highest spending club in last season’s Championship (Wrexham) offered him a new contract, but he chose to sign for us. Sort his injuries out and I think he’ll be a massive player for us, next season.

 

Dalby has just had the best season of his career at 26 and it added up to 11 goals in 41 League One appearances.

He'll never buy a drink again in Bolton for as long as he lives, but we need to be realistic. If he's a nailed on starter up front either we've got to have a shit hot defence or someone banging in goals from midfield.

1 hour ago, Sluffy said:

Your post got me thinking, if Harkin was so highly rated then why did he end up at a third division club?

So I had a little look at his background.

He left Standard Liege following the takeover by new owners in June 2025 after only being their from May 2022.  He was appointed by Standard de Liège as their new manager in charge of deploying the sport strategy of the club in the long term.

Before that he was at City as first as a scout and later as "Football Partnerships and Pathways Manager"

A "Football Partnerships and Pathways Manager" is an executive role within a professional football club responsible for managing the player loan system and developing relationships with partner clubs. They bridge the gap between a club's youth academy and its first team by tracking and supporting loaned-out players to ensure they reach their full potential.

These managers primarily oversee the following areas:

Player Loan Management: They monitor a large pool of younger squad members sent out to other teams to gain competitive playing time, tracking their development, match minutes, and overall performance.

Partner Club Relationships: They coordinate with affiliated teams, feeder clubs, or satellite academies to align player development strategies, facilitate talent scouting, and arrange player transfers or loans.

Support Network Coordination: They often supervise a multidisciplinary support team—which can include video analysts, sports psychologists, and nutritionists—to ensure loaned players have the necessary resources to thrive away from their parent club.

Pathway Strategy: They identify the ideal competitive environment (e.g., lower divisions or foreign leagues) for each specific prospect to maximize their value and prepare them for a higher level of professional football

 

Seems to me that Harkin was basically out of a job at Liege and FV decided they needed a buffer between the manager and the transfer spending as Evatt had wasted a couple of millions of FV's money on numerous players who turned out to be duds.

I'm not having a pop at Harkin but his CV is clearly of someone who had specialised looking after players loaned out to other clubs, had one spell of three years at  Standard de Liège as their new manager in charge of deploying the sport strategy of the club in the long term, and thought so good at his role that he was let go by the new owners immediately they took over (or perhaps he didn't whish to work with them?)

Anyway he is here now, so has he done a good job so far?

Well he fulfilled the top priority of the club by getting promoted albeit not automatically.

As for player recruitment, judging by the many opinions on here of the players brought in this season under the auspices of Harkin the general consensus to me seems to be that Dalby, Kenny, Duberry and perhaps Erhahon and Taylor-Blackett were hits, Simon, Christie, Burstow, Cissoko, Burstow and Gale were ok-ish and Taylor, Apter, Sharman-Lowe, Miller and Forss being failures (Broome and Harrington having made no impact on the pitch as back up keepers)

I don't know how people would judge this performance in the transfer and loan market under Harkin's leadership but for me it would need to be significantly better for the coming season if we aren't to struggle to survive on our return to the Championship.

It is worth noting that our reliance on loan signings this season was poor if you consider that most people view only Kenny having proven himself and Blackett-Taylor given a pass because he was good in the couple of games we saw him in. 

I'm counting Cissoko's loan a failure on the basis that the club did not take up the purchase option on him.

There also seems no sign of any of the youngsters bridging the gap to the playing squad in the immediate future.

I imagine FV are pleased with Harkins leadership to date, which at the end of the day are the only people that matter but for me we need to perform significantly better in the transfer and loan markets in order to establish ourselves at the level we've waited so long to get back to.

 

 

 

"A "Football Partnerships and Pathways Manager" is an executive role within a professional football club responsible for managing the player loan system and developing relationships with partner clubs."

The above, his knowledge and contacts, may get us in some places before others.

1 hour ago, Sluffy said:

Your post got me thinking, if Harkin was so highly rated then why did he end up at a third division club?

So I had a little look at his background.

He left Standard Liege following the takeover by new owners in June 2025 after only being their from May 2022.  He was appointed by Standard de Liège as their new manager in charge of deploying the sport strategy of the club in the long term.

Before that he was at City as first as a scout and later as "Football Partnerships and Pathways Manager"

A "Football Partnerships and Pathways Manager" is an executive role within a professional football club responsible for managing the player loan system and developing relationships with partner clubs. They bridge the gap between a club's youth academy and its first team by tracking and supporting loaned-out players to ensure they reach their full potential.

These managers primarily oversee the following areas:

Player Loan Management: They monitor a large pool of younger squad members sent out to other teams to gain competitive playing time, tracking their development, match minutes, and overall performance.

Partner Club Relationships: They coordinate with affiliated teams, feeder clubs, or satellite academies to align player development strategies, facilitate talent scouting, and arrange player transfers or loans.

Support Network Coordination: They often supervise a multidisciplinary support team—which can include video analysts, sports psychologists, and nutritionists—to ensure loaned players have the necessary resources to thrive away from their parent club.

Pathway Strategy: They identify the ideal competitive environment (e.g., lower divisions or foreign leagues) for each specific prospect to maximize their value and prepare them for a higher level of professional football

 

Seems to me that Harkin was basically out of a job at Liege and FV decided they needed a buffer between the manager and the transfer spending as Evatt had wasted a couple of millions of FV's money on numerous players who turned out to be duds.

I'm not having a pop at Harkin but his CV is clearly of someone who had specialised looking after players loaned out to other clubs, had one spell of three years at  Standard de Liège as their new manager in charge of deploying the sport strategy of the club in the long term, and thought so good at his role that he was let go by the new owners immediately they took over (or perhaps he didn't whish to work with them?)

Anyway he is here now, so has he done a good job so far?

Well he fulfilled the top priority of the club by getting promoted albeit not automatically.

As for player recruitment, judging by the many opinions on here of the players brought in this season under the auspices of Harkin the general consensus to me seems to be that Dalby, Kenny, Duberry and perhaps Erhahon and Taylor-Blackett were hits, Simon, Christie, Burstow, Cissoko, Burstow and Gale were ok-ish and Taylor, Apter, Sharman-Lowe, Miller and Forss being failures (Broome and Harrington having made no impact on the pitch as back up keepers)

I don't know how people would judge this performance in the transfer and loan market under Harkin's leadership but for me it would need to be significantly better for the coming season if we aren't to struggle to survive on our return to the Championship.

It is worth noting that our reliance on loan signings this season was poor if you consider that most people view only Kenny having proven himself and Blackett-Taylor given a pass because he was good in the couple of games we saw him in. 

I'm counting Cissoko's loan a failure on the basis that the club did not take up the purchase option on him.

There also seems no sign of any of the youngsters bridging the gap to the playing squad in the immediate future.

I imagine FV are pleased with Harkins leadership to date, which at the end of the day are the only people that matter but for me we need to perform significantly better in the transfer and loan markets in order to establish ourselves at the level we've waited so long to get back to.

 

 

 

One thing I do know for a fact is that Harkin is really valued from the top within our club. 

Well respected at City too. 

They consider him to be a pivotal cog (by some, the most) in this summers recruitment. 

 

1 hour ago, Rival Son said:

The third highest spending club in last season’s Championship (Wrexham) offered him a new contract, but he chose to sign for us. 

I think it's unlikely they considered him their first choice though

I don't agree a signing is a failure because we've decided we might have better options in the Championship

1 hour ago, Rival Son said:

Opportunity, potential (organically, we are a much bigger club than Wrexham, and our own billionaire fan/investor would quickly demonstrate that) and the security of a 4-year contract.

That, and SS building his attack around him.  Wrexham have Kiefer Moore, Sam Smith, Broadhead and Windass and sent Andy Cannon and Hardie out on loan.

If Bolton in L1 was more attractive than Wrexham in the championship, Tomo would still be here.

 

5 hours ago, Zico said:

thinking about it, maybe it works the other way

as in

we were working towards two budgets / outcomes - so maybe we keep Tutu if we stay down, but not if we go up

not that we tell Tutu that

he's probably thinking if I work hard we can go up and I can get a new contract at Bolton, as opposed to elsewhere

doubt any player were told to wait and see what league we were in before making a decision 

dunno

thinking out loud here

In which case he should look at himself and ask why he didn't work harder, and be better beforehand. 

I take your point, and I've no doubt that that would have been part of the equation, i.e. wanting a new contract, somewhere. 

I do think we have targets lined up though, either through the ranks, or elsewhere.

The offer to "old man" Christie raised an eye brow, but I wonder if a coaching role may be in the offing too.

4 hours ago, Johnnyrotten said:

Simons, Taylor, Gale, EE, Cissoko, Forss, Apter, were signed last season and between them there was a lot of seat warming, I bet they expected to start more games.

Nobody is coming from a small club in Scotland and expecting to start games in the championship.  The timing of the signing suggests it was a done deal before the weekend and he would have been signed for L1 if we'd lost.

Surely if he was a nailed on championship starter one of the big clubs in Scotland would have signed him?

Your last three are all loans.

Gale played many games, and although week defensively, scored and created a decent number of goals. A young player in his first season who perhaps wouldn't have been expecting to play every game.

Taylor I think was expecting to start- SS comments previously hint that he was going to be the first choice left back. The manager went on to admit that Conway got the gig initially, and that it was Taylor's job to work and get himself picked. Seems he didn't.

Simons played a lot initially, then lost some form- again though a first proper full season for a young player.

EE may have expected more starts, but he kept at it, did have an injury or two, and has still contributed.

That's all your examples covered.

The new lad won't be coming just to warm the bench, as none of your list have (except Taylor, who didn't get that far).

He may well have been catching the eye of other clubs in Scotland and here too, which suggests we have done well and made a move early.

3 hours ago, kent_white said:

Forino is good enough 

Jury is out on Conway who I think has the potential but might need another season in League 1

Taol can do a job

Simons can do a job

Sheehan the jury is out. Best game I've ever seen him have for us was vs Luton in the cup at home. So not sure I agree with TMGJ - the change of style might work for him

Gale can do a job

McAtee - still big question marks. I don't think his career has really taken off here. 

The only person I'd be genuinely gutted to see go (from a footballing perspective) is Forino. 

 

You do agree really! 😀

You're just still in the heady glow of Wembley success.

4 minutes ago, desperado said:

One thing I do know for a fact is that Harkin is really valued from the top within our club. 

Well respected at City too. 

They consider him to be a pivotal cog (by some, the most) in this summers recruitment. 

 

I'm not judging him as such, I just wondered if he was thought of so highly as to be such a coup to sign, then why did he end up at a third division club?

As long as FV are happy with him, that's all that matters.

I'm sure he will be the pivotal cog in this summers recruitment and that's why I listed out BWFC's signing of last season,  of which he may not have been pivotal on as he was still doing a job at another club in Belgium (he was appointed in March but only joined us at the end of his contract which I assume to be the end of June, so may not have seen or been fully involved with some of our early summer signings).

And why I asked myself the rhetorical question as to whether our signings of last season have been a marked improvement since he arrived.

Obviously not all signings work out but seeing one of his major strength seemed to be his knowledge and involvement of longstanding in the loan market, I felt it fell short of even of Evatt on this, who to give him his due managed to secure the loans of Trafford, Maghoma and Bradley.

(Maybe however that may be due to Markham perhaps?)

I would hope our summer recruitment is more successful than just Dalby, Kenny and Duberry being our only unanimously agreed hits and everyone else being considered to be so-so or Richard Taylor-esq as in famously being described as worse than a Sunday park player by Schumacher!

Just me thinking aloud.

18 minutes ago, Tonge moor green jacket said:

Your last three are all loans.

Gale played many games, and although week defensively, scored and created a decent number of goals. A young player in his first season who perhaps wouldn't have been expecting to play every game.

Taylor I think was expecting to start- SS comments previously hint that he was going to be the first choice left back. The manager went on to admit that Conway got the gig initially, and that it was Taylor's job to work and get himself picked. Seems he didn't.

Simons played a lot initially, then lost some form- again though a first proper full season for a young player.

EE may have expected more starts, but he kept at it, did have an injury or two, and has still contributed.

That's all your examples covered.

The new lad won't be coming just to warm the bench, as none of your list have (except Taylor, who didn't get that far).

He may well have been catching the eye of other clubs in Scotland and here too, which suggests we have done well and made a move early.

I wasn't treating loans or perms any different - they all come to play game surely?

Gale played many games, they all did, and they all got dropped.  Gale for a good period, same as Burstow.  And they gradually worked their way back in when others got injured, not before.  As I said, not guaranteed a start.

Simons a great example - came here expecting to start, he did initially, but was in the end not quite good enough to be a regular starter.  EE the same.  It doesn't mean they'd never start, but had to take turns with others.

In contrast to Johnston, Sheehan, Toal, ACD and Dalby who were virtually undroppable when upto speed and fit.

I'd expect Watson to be in the Simons/EE/Burstow/Gale category not the other one.

But what do I know, I've never heard of him 😀

22 minutes ago, Tonge moor green jacket said:

You do agree really! 😀

You're just still in the heady glow of Wembley success.

🤣🤣

After my track record of criticism this year too! 😁

Am I right we have 16 over 21s in the first team squad now with Taylor and Randel unlikely to be involved. 
 

So including loans we have between 9 and 11 players to potentially bring in.  One is presumably this jock midfielder.

Season starts in 79 days ! 

5 minutes ago, kent_white said:

🤣🤣

After my track record of criticism this year too! 😁

In reality, none of us know exactly how our current players will respond to playing at the next level.

Perhaps telling though that the area we already have a few in has been strengthened immediately. 

Full backs and a centre back definitely required.

24 minutes ago, Lt. Aldo Raine said:

I don't agree a signing is a failure because we've decided we might have better options in the Championship

Well it isn't me that is judging him, I simply went off BWFC not taking up the agree purchase price of him following his loan period.

I assume from that they 'thought' he had the potential to be a Championship player with us (remember FV's stated objective was to achieve automatic promotion), and we did mange promotion through the play offs but still we didn't sign him.

I take from that he was in the same class as Johnston, Dempsey and Tutu who were at the end of their contracts too and deemed not likely to make the step up to the Championship.

If in the eyes of BWFC he had been a success by their criteria then I would have imagined they would have signed him for the fee agreed for him.

 

 

28 minutes ago, Sluffy said:

Obviously not all signings work out but seeing one of his major strength seemed to be his knowledge and involvement of longstanding in the loan market, I felt it fell short of even of Evatt on this

Duberry, Forss, Apter, Kenny and CBT were, on paper, a fantastic coup for a L1 club.

As you say, some work out and some don’t.

There’s no guarantee from even the best scout/recruiter in the world for a player not performing to their potential or getting injured.

We all know about ACD’s contribution. Kenny and CBT great up until injuries. Forss and Apter are real head-scratchers, they didn’t show any of the potential they were identified for.

Debatable whether Burstow, Bonham and Cissoko were a success, I’d argue they were - all contributed towards promotion. 

Throw Rodrigues into the mix, (and assuming FH influenced most signings last year) I think Harkins identification and recruitment was pretty good in his first year (as you say also taking into account he came to the party a little late from the continent)

Edited May 27May 27 by desperado