(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

1 minute ago, Tombwfc said:

People get too annoyed at posts talking about transfers in a transfer thread. Of course it's all meaningless and uninformed, of course we won't know for months who's good and who's shit, but so what? It's spouting off on the internet. I doubt anyone is having sleepless nights because we haven't signed enough players yet.

But I think it's fair enough to say, at this stage, that I'd rather have Blackpool's forwards (should they sign Yates) than ours who have never done anything at this level.

Yes i can see where you are coming from but i would rather have our Owners, Management team, Keeper, Defence, Midfield over Blackpools,,,,,,,,,,And come Aug 3rd no doubt our Forward line will be decent

I agree 

There's still time but it feels to me that we're quite a bit behind the curve, and I've not been hugely impressed by our signings at face value

I'd be very happy to be wrong

Can’t wait for this thomo bid to come in 

48 minutes ago, Lt. Aldo Raine said:

I agree 

There's still time but it feels to me that we're quite a bit behind the curve, and I've not been hugely impressed by our signings at face value

I'd be very happy to be wrong

They are in keeping with SS philosophy though.

Some of Evatt's signings weren't exactly household names neither.

I know where you're coming from, but I quite like the idea of building a sense of camaraderie and team ethic. 

Youth and others with a desire to improve, with some balls and character.

Get that right and their quality will show through, even if it takes a bit of time to completely gel.

 

Just now, Tonge moor green jacket said:

They are in keeping with SS philosophy though.

Some of Evatt's signings weren't exactly household names neither.

I know where you're coming from, but I quite like the idea of building a sense of camaraderie and team ethic. 

Youth and others with a desire to improve, with some balls and character.

Get that right and their quality will show through, even if it takes a bit of time to completely gel.

 

I'm not bothered whether any of the signings are household names, I'm just doubtful at first glance that they're of the quality we need

And have we really signed anyone with balls and character?

I'm not claiming we haven't, I'm just not sure what evidence there is to believe we have

It seems to me that people are making huge assumptions and I'm not seeing what it's based on 

Although, I think TSL will be an important player for us

5 hours ago, masi 51 said:

Michael Smith looks like he is leaving Sheff Wed.......Just what we need

Would be absolutely perfect for us and with no fee just decent wages i’m sure he’d come.

57 minutes ago, Lt. Aldo Raine said:

I'm not bothered whether any of the signings are household names, I'm just doubtful at first glance that they're of the quality we need

And have we really signed anyone with balls and character?

I'm not claiming we haven't, I'm just not sure what evidence there is to believe we have

It seems to me that people are making huge assumptions and I'm not seeing what it's based on 

Crikey, have you watched or heard the comments from SS?

The whole video explained everything.

The identification of what is wanted- granular detail down to certain areas of the pitch.

The scouting process that follows, not just videos, data etc but chatting to poeple about their character.

There are no assumptions whatsoever- the process was fully explained.

They simply wouldn't be here if they didn't meet those requirements.

That's what forms the basis of player acquisition and for me, confidence in the whole as much as an individual. Synergistic approach.

Unless we're buying players for big money, with completely proven backgrounds, then there is never loads of evidence of their suitability, and even then, no guarantees.

It's simply a case of trusting the manager to do his job, and he has proven before that he can do it at this level, using this approach.

You won't hear him trumpeting himself and his team as the best in the league, but he is clear about his methods and requirements, and seemingly confident in himself, albeit with the humility to acknowledge his own failings and nervousness. 

Comparison is the thief of joy.

5 hours ago, gonzo said:

They've signed that Argie Wycombe keeper haven't they?

I think he had lost his place

Nowt special

6 minutes ago, Casino said:

I think he had lost his place

Nowt special

Poor at crosses whenever I have watched him get the ball in the box when we play pool hopefully Dalby will we fit 

5 hours ago, Rizlar said:

Matete told he can leave by Sunderland . 

 

I bet he didn't see that coming 😀

6 hours ago, Whitesince63 said:

It will certainly be interesting to see. Zero managerial experience into a potentially big club with very expectant fans means he’ll really have to hit the ground running. Very risky strategy by the Terriers but they clearly think he’s worth it.

It worked for Ipswich when they got McKenna from Utd and spent loads 

It worked for Brum when they got Davies from Spurs and spent loads

Just looks like Huddersfield are trying to do the same but got a guy from under McKenna at Ipswich 

Definitely feels like he's following some sort of blueprint 

But don't think their squad will quite match up the the others 

2 hours ago, Tonge moor green jacket said:

Crikey, have you watched or heard the comments from SS?

The whole video explained everything.

The identification of what is wanted- granular detail down to certain areas of the pitch.

The scouting process that follows, not just videos, data etc but chatting to poeple about their character.

There are no assumptions whatsoever- the process was fully explained.

They simply wouldn't be here if they didn't meet those requirements.

That's what forms the basis of player acquisition and for me, confidence in the whole as much as an individual. Synergistic approach.

Unless we're buying players for big money, with completely proven backgrounds, then there is never loads of evidence of their suitability, and even then, no guarantees.

It's simply a case of trusting the manager to do his job, and he has proven before that he can do it at this level, using this approach.

You won't hear him trumpeting himself and his team as the best in the league, but he is clear about his methods and requirements, and seemingly confident in himself, albeit with the humility to acknowledge his own failings and nervousness. 

I broadly agree and like everyone else I’m speculating but whilst I think he’s done a decent job in the window in regard to making us harder to score against (hopefully that proves to be the case when the season starts) I felt that last season our bigger problem was not scoring ourselves - especially as the team was set up to play high. Collins got plenty, just as Charles did previously but not enough from the rest as it turned out.

Schueys 22/23 Argyle team had goal scorers from all over the pitch with 10 different players netting 3 or more and nearly everyone else chipping in - where will our goals come from especially if we’re more defensively aware. Maybe the pace and finishing of Kenny if we get him on loan? Or someone else with similar attributes?

I do have confidence in the manager to find the answers, but I’m wondering how much of our squad at the current time will chip in with goals as his squad at Argyle did in their promotion season. It’s a conundrum to me at the moment.

We scored 67 last season, the same as Wrexham. We conceded 70!! 

Scoring wasn't the issue. 

Also Collins scored 12, and that shit stump McAtee 11, so together just over 1/3 of our goals, with quite a number of others chipping in. 

We do need another striker, but we haven't seen Dalby and hopefully he can bring others into play to maybe help the  midfield score more. 

Also so far this pre-season, in two games we have scored 3, conceded none, had 3 different scorers including two from defenders.

 

 

Edited July 16, 2025Jul 16 by CambridgeBWFC

Been the most confident I’ve been for a good few years. Looking forward to getting this season going.

SS didnt need to be any sort of football sage to work out that we were a woefully soft touch defensively and that was his first foundation to fix.

He looks to be making good early progress with that, confidence will grow from conceding far less often and not chucking games away. He evidently knows how he wants to set up going forward, though he could really have done without the Dalby issue. 

No doubt at all that more need to chip in with goals (some of those may well come from us being more productive from set pieces), hopefully the pacier, more direct set up, more and earlier balls in behind defences will cause more mistakes from them and different types of chances than we've typically fashioned.

Clearly a few more ins required to fully complete his jigsaw, one or two of whom might not arrive till into August, but so far so good for me

As it stands assuming Big Dan and Lolos are left out how many squad places do we have left ? 

2 hours ago, Ani said:

As it stands assuming Big Dan and Lolos are left out how many squad places do we have left ? 

I think leaving those two out gives us 23 although I’m not sure if our two new wingers are under 21? Either way we don’t have much room left so it means we have to depend on outs to bring others in which may account for the seemingly slow signings situation. You’d have to think that there would be movement out soon, especially with the Forrester and Thomason rumours, though even they seem to have gone quiet. With only a couple of weeks left something has to start happening shortly.

14 minutes ago, Whitesince63 said:

I think leaving those two out gives us 23 although I’m not sure if our two new wingers are under 21? Either way we don’t have much room left so it means we have to depend on outs to bring others in which may account for the seemingly slow signings situation. You’d have to think that there would be movement out soon, especially with the Forrester and Thomason rumours, though even they seem to have gone quiet. With only a couple of weeks left something has to start happening shortly.

Gale is 23, Cozier-Duberry is 20.

Warren 18. Inwood 19. Max Conway 21.

https://www.espn.co.uk/football/team/squad/_/id/358/eng.bolton

 

 

14 hours ago, Whitesince63 said:

Would be absolutely perfect for us and with no fee just decent wages i’m sure he’d come.

He destroyed us one game,  think it was when he was at rotherham.

3 hours ago, Ani said:

As it stands assuming Big Dan and Lolos are left out how many squad places do we have left ? 

has dan featured against the pirates or barrow?

We should have 4 squad places left if we don’t register the two out of favour and victor 

9 minutes ago, L/H White said:

has dan featured against the pirates or barrow?

No 

11 minutes ago, L/H White said:

has dan featured against the pirates or barrow?

Dan was one of those left behind for the trip to Marbella