(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

We do not have the basis of a solid Championship team we have lost 6 players from the Stockport final squad plus a further 6 so 12 in total.

We ended 5th in the league and without doubt as it stands have the worst squad in the Championship.

Three of our better players last season Rodrigues, ACD, and Blackett Taylor have all struggled in the Championship. SS/Harkin will rebuild this summer but they have a tough ask and we will need major investment just to consolidate

1 hour ago, Ratwhite said:

I watched the Millwall v Hull City game and TBH, I thought we could beat them both with the team we had last season

It will be good news for Millwall that the team we had last season has lost 5 of its better players (Tutu, ACD, GJ, Dempsey, Burstow) so they'll be glad we're weaker and they might be able to give us a game 😄

4 hours ago, ZiggyStardust said:

Still the most mind boggling transfer of recent years.

Its not as if we didnt know anything about him when he signed.

I was generally supportive of Evatt - at least until Huddersfield walloped us early in the season after the Oxford debacle. But Dan being like Ivan Toney, Etete being like ‘prime Drogba’ and Randall a ‘top player’ is bordering on delusional

26 minutes ago, masi 51 said:

We do not have the basis of a solid Championship team we have lost 6 players from the Stockport final squad plus a further 6 so 12 in total.

We ended 5th in the league and without doubt as it stands have the worst squad in the Championship.

Three of our better players last season Rodrigues, ACD, and Blackett Taylor have all struggled in the Championship. SS/Harkin will rebuild this summer but they have a tough ask and we will need major investment just to consolidate

I really did not make it clear in my post that when I was talking about a ‘decent basis’ I was meaning ‘good enough to stay up’. Which I am sure changes my logic significantly.

I base that on us having a number of players from last year who played very active roles in getting us up. Obviously we need to recruit but given squad size that is pretty obvious. We need to be recruiting ‘starters’ to improve.

We have a recruitment team that in a lower division that was able to bring in Kenny and ACD so presumably now at a higher level can be looking at at least similar if not better players next season.

In the Championship I have mentioned the overall quality will be higher but there is also usually at least one basket case and I think Lincoln losing their manager will impact them massively and they are unlikely to have so many players go injury and/or suspension free as they did last year IMO.

With a summer of recruitment already underway, I will be disappointed if we can not put together a full squad that is capable of staying up. ACD would be top of that list, appreciate he did not shine at Blackburn but at 19 maybe too much of a leap, but he is now easily imo good enough to play in a regular basis for most teams in the Championship. CBT massive risk with his injury record, Kenny depends on the Celtic situation but do not think we can afford to wait till Jan this time. Of the players who have left, Tutu I would have like to stay, George J as a squad player but think we can hopefully recruit better.

4 hours ago, Johnnyrotten said:

I agree on the mythical status thing. But just because we didn't and won't sign any of them, doesn't mean they aren't any good. At the time we were linked with Stockton we signed Vic for half a mil. And followed it up with signing Dan for £300k. If we'd signed Nombe and Stockton instead of those 2 we might have been in the championship earlier, they might not be world beaters but we paid money for worse.

Neither or both of those two would have fired us out of L1 any more than those that have tried since, including Vic, Charles, Collins, McAtee etc. Stockton had one purple patch season in L1 back in 2021-22 and regressed since, Nombe's been solid enough at the level, might well have got more for us than the clubs he's been at, but shown it to be his ceiling.

We overpaid for Vic though at the time he didn't look such a bad signing, no argument at all about Dan, a mind boggling disaster

3 hours ago, masi 51 said:

We do not have the basis of a solid Championship team we have lost 6 players from the Stockport final squad plus a further 6 so 12 in total.

We ended 5th in the league and without doubt as it stands have the worst squad in the Championship.

Three of our better players last season Rodrigues, ACD, and Blackett Taylor have all struggled in the Championship. SS/Harkin will rebuild this summer but they have a tough ask and we will need major investment just to consolidate

ACD you would fancy to cope- a young player learning his trade, but yes, so far, not stood out.

Don't know how Rodrigues performed, but his team didn't find the league easy, so maybe a bit soon to judge.

CBT had injuries, and maybe is a concern for any team.

3 hours ago, masi 51 said:

We do not have the basis of a solid Championship team we have lost 6 players from the Stockport final squad plus a further 6 so 12 in total.

We ended 5th in the league and without doubt as it stands have the worst squad in the Championship.

Three of our better players last season Rodrigues, ACD, and Blackett Taylor have all struggled in the Championship. SS/Harkin will rebuild this summer but they have a tough ask and we will need major investment just to consolidate

We really have got a lot of work to do

7 minutes ago, Lt. Aldo Raine said:

We really have got a lot of work to do

We have the flexibility and time to do so. Be reet.

8 minutes ago, Lt. Aldo Raine said:

We really have got a lot of work to do

We are lead to believe everything is in place and ready to go.

4 hours ago, Ani said:

In the Championship I have mentioned the overall quality will be higher but there is also usually at least one basket case and I think Lincoln losing their manager will impact them massively and they are unlikely to have so many players go injury and/or suspension free as they did last year IMO.

I agree with your post, and its reasonable to expect Lincoln to suffer not only by losing their manager, but replacing him with joint managers/coaches (a mystery why everyone doesn't do that!).

But re last season having "so many players go injury free", I wouldn't claim to know how their squad availability compared with everyone else, but I do remember around Christmas when they were around 3rd with Bradford, they got two significant injuries to what I thought was their main strikers and I thought that would be them done. James Collins, a big player for them, and Ben House, who seemed to be having a good season also got a medium term injury and missed a big chunk. Then they signed Ryan One from Sheff U and Jack Moylan came to the fore (only started 27 league games so presumably wasn't always first choice and/or was injured). Lincoln did superb and came up with answers throughout the season whenever they were put under pressure or doubted by the rest of us.

4 hours ago, ianofcleveleys said:

Neither or both of those two would have fired us out of L1 any more than those that have tried since, including Vic, Charles, Collins, McAtee etc. Stockton had one purple patch season in L1 back in 2021-22 and regressed since, Nombe's been solid enough at the level, might well have got more for us than the clubs he's been at, but shown it to be his ceiling.

We overpaid for Vic though at the time he didn't look such a bad signing, no argument at all about Dan, a mind boggling disaster

You're probably right we would have still fallen short with IE, but its just my opinion that Stockton and especially Nombe would have been a step up on Jerome, Vic, Etete, Dan - I'm not disputing Collins and Charles were good value.

Stockton may have had one purple patch, but what a patch it was, 23 L1 goals for a struggling team. Backed up by being a consistent scorer since 2020 (over 70 league goals - agreed he's now past his best clearly, at 32). Vic had half a good season at Burton and has scored around 30 in that period. Stockton also a better all round footballer, he leads the line with physicality rather than regularly coughing up possession and failing to control a pass.

I've genuinely never heard Stocktons name after he was linked with us.

Another player folk pretended to know about for ages then disappeared in to the abyss

30 minutes ago, Johnnyrotten said:

I agree with your post, and its reasonable to expect Lincoln to suffer not only by losing their manager, but replacing him with joint managers/coaches (a mystery why everyone doesn't do that!).

But re last season having "so many players go injury free", I wouldn't claim to know how their squad availability compared with everyone else, but I do remember around Christmas when they were around 3rd with Bradford, they got two significant injuries to what I thought was their main strikers and I thought that would be them done. James Collins, a big player for them, and Ben House, who seemed to be having a good season also got a medium term injury and missed a big chunk. Then they signed Ryan One from Sheff U and Jack Moylan came to the fore (only started 27 league games so presumably wasn't always first choice and/or was injured). Lincoln did superb and came up with answers throughout the season whenever they were put under pressure or doubted by the rest of us.

They had 9 players with over 40 appearances last season (including cup), that includes keeper and 4 defenders. But not Moylan.

I am not knocking what they deservedly achieved last year. But the run they went on second half was freakish. Losing their manager will be massive. Do not see them reaching those levels next year. All about opinions at this point only time will tell.

I believe Luca Stephenson might be done, I'd heard initially that Schumacher wasn't too keen but sounds like he must have changed his mind or been convinced by Fergal that its a smart move.

24 minutes ago, meanderson93 said:

I believe Luca Stephenson might be done, I'd heard initially that Schumacher wasn't too keen but sounds like he must have changed his mind or been convinced by Fergal that its a smart move.

Is this from the Davies source?

15 minutes ago, meanderson93 said:

I believe Luca Stephenson might be done, I'd heard initially that Schumacher wasn't too keen but sounds like he must have changed his mind or been convinced by Fergal that its a smart move.

I can see why SS would have reservations as up to now he has not found his position. We Just got rid of TuTu because he was not a true right back and it looks like we are replacing with the same. Stephenson will have improvement in him and is the kind of player we have to be buying. I am not sure Christie and Stephenson will be the answer to the right back position next season

1 hour ago, gonzo said:

I've genuinely never heard Stocktons name after he was linked with us.

Another player folk pretended to know about for ages then disappeared in to the abyss

Its just us saddos that watch the EFL goals round up that saw him creating and scoring on a fairly regular basis! And some of his goals were outstanding. Of course it was more L2 stuff than L1 in the last 3 years and he's well past his best.

I certainly didn't see Vic and Dan on the goals round ups much, I know who I'd rather have had - all irrelevant now as we're shopping in a very different market.

1 hour ago, Ani said:

They had 9 players with over 40 appearances last season (including cup), that includes keeper and 4 defenders. But not Moylan.

I am not knocking what they deservedly achieved last year. But the run they went on second half was freakish. Losing their manager will be massive. Do not see them reaching those levels next year. All about opinions at this point only time will tell.

That's a coincidence, we also had 9 with over 40 appearances: GJ, Sheehan, Dalby, Gale, Tutu, ACD, Toal, Conway, Burstow. And EE, Dempsey, Forino, Cissoko and Simons averaged 36. Cup games and sub appearances do exaggerate the figures though, for both teams.

Agreed they'll struggle to reach those heights again, without the manager that orchestrated it.

33 minutes ago, Lt. Aldo Raine said:

Is this from the Davies source?

It is, not as nailed on as the Davies deal was though, few more moving parts with a transfer with a fee I suppose 🤷🏻‍♂️

33 minutes ago, masi 51 said:

I can see why SS would have reservations as up to now he has not found his position. We Just got rid of TuTu because he was not a true right back and it looks like we are replacing with the same. Stephenson will have improvement in him and is the kind of player we have to be buying. I am not sure Christie and Stephenson will be the answer to the right back position next season

I agree, think its a smart signing in a business sense but a risky one in a footballing sense, I'd like to see us add another right back, someone like Christie but without the lead weights for legs ideally.

Shouldn’t we just be signing players for specific positions instead of Jacks of all trades? We need two proper full backs what’s so difficult about that? I’m sure players themselves would prefer to play a settled position rather than being swopped and changed all the time. Let’s just keep it simple.

15 minutes ago, meanderson93 said:

I agree, think its a smart signing in a business sense but a risky one in a footballing sense, I'd like to see us add another right back, someone like Christie but without the lead weights for legs ideally.

This!!!

37 minutes ago, meanderson93 said:

I agree, think its a smart signing in a business sense but a risky one in a footballing sense, I'd like to see us add another right back, someone like Christie but without the lead weights for legs ideally.

And we might.
It's June 15th, transfer window is still open for a while.

28 minutes ago, Whitesince63 said:

Shouldn’t we just be signing players for specific positions instead of Jacks of all trades? We need two proper full backs what’s so difficult about that? I’m sure players themselves would prefer to play a settled position rather than being swopped and changed all the time. Let’s just keep it simple.

Think in his The Athletic interview a few days ago, Stephenson said he saw himself as right back long term. If that's the case let's hope he's good one.

Hard to believe at this stage of the window (day 1) we would be signing players the manager wasn't 100% sure about.

I think Stephenson sees his future as a right back.

Stephenson grew up playing in midfield but has since found success at right-back or in a more advanced wing-back role.

When asked where he sees his future in terms of positions, the youngster replied: “It is right-back, or right wing-back. I’ve played under a few different managers now and they’ve always seemed to like me there.”