(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

3 hours ago, Dr. Feelgood said:

Anyway. Transfer news anyone ?

No images with people holding scarves yet

I’d personally be looking to move out Eoin Toal before Temple. Toal hasn’t really come on to the level expected, struggling even in L1 and with his injury record is unreliable at best while Temple looks big, strong and solid and has everything in front of him and should benefit from playing alongside the likes of Christie, Davies and Forino. Any additions can be made in January but for now I’d be concentrating on using what money we have and improving our attack which is nowhere close to Championship standard.

I certainly would be averse to Toal departing. The thought of Bowen or Lanakshere turning him inside out gives me the Willies.

On 21/07/2026 at 16:00, DLH said:

Tutu? Who's he signed for?

As far as I am aware he's not signed for anyone.... so we binned him, or wouldn't pay him more than we thought him worth

Heard he’s off to Stoke.

With the world cup out of the way I'd imagine transfer wheels will now start turning in the upper echelons of the football world allowing the flow downwards of players as their replacement arrives.

There will be another wave as players given a post world cup break join up with their squads though can see that being very close to the start of the season.

5 hours ago, Whitesince63 said:

I’d personally be looking to move out Eoin Toal before Temple. Toal hasn’t really come on to the level expected, struggling even in L1 and with his injury record is unreliable at best while Temple looks big, strong and solid and has everything in front of him and should benefit from playing alongside the likes of Christie, Davies and Forino. Any additions can be made in January but for now I’d be concentrating on using what money we have and improving our attack which is nowhere close to Championship standard.

Really?

Toal has his faults but how do you manage to rate Temple, who wasn't ready enough/ good enough to risk playing in L1 a better player than Toal would be in the Championship, AND whilst never seen him play outside Ireland which and no insult intended to them, is probably National league standard or even lower?

Temple has been signed as one to be developed for the future and will playing in our reserves or loaned out to a club in a lower division to us.

If you are saying move Toal out a bring in a better player to replace him, yes I could agree with you but from how I read your post you seem to be suggesting move Toal out in order that Temple can step up, which is not going to happen until he proves himself capable first, such as Conway did at Crewe

15 minutes ago, Sluffy said:

Really?

Toal has his faults but how do you manage to rate Temple, who wasn't ready enough/ good enough to risk playing in L1 a better player than Toal would be in the Championship, AND whilst never seen him play outside Ireland which and no insult intended to them, is probably National league standard or even lower?

Temple has been signed as one to be developed for the future and will playing in our reserves or loaned out to a club in a lower division to us.

If you are saying move Toal out a bring in a better player to replace him, yes I could agree with you but from how I read your post you seem to be suggesting move Toal out in order that Temple can step up, which is not going to happen until he proves himself capable first, such as Conway did at Crewe

yeah but he's big n strong....

FWIW I think toal struggled last year, step up might do him well.

Seems to be a fixed mindset from fans that league one can only play league one etc.

8 minutes ago, only1swanny said:

yeah but he's big n strong....

FWIW I think toal struggled last year, step up might do him well.

Seems to be a fixed mindset from fans that league one can only play league one etc.

Not sure if you are addressing me or if you are making a general remark?

If it is me I didn't claim Toal could not be capable to be a reliable Championship player.

I merely said Toal has his faults (and he does or he would be playing for PL team by now) and that if W63 was suggesting we moved him out and replaced him with a better player, then I could see sense in that.

However to move him out and replace him with Temple who just 4 or 5 months ago couldn't even get a place on the bench in L1, and who hasn't played outside of Irish clubs, made no sense at all to me.

There are plenty folk who are big and strong, Richard Taylor for instance, look at how poor he has been in a division lower that what we now are.

You just don't bung someone in to the team based solely on being big and strong?

Are you really claiming that's what we should be doing?

22 minutes ago, only1swanny said:

yeah but he's big n strong....

FWIW I think toal struggled last year, step up might do him well.

Seems to be a fixed mindset from fans that league one can only play league one etc.

That's generally how league systems works isn't it?

Players find their levels and standards.

There are anomalies but players, specifically CB's aren't going to find things easier by moving up a division unless they're 100% good enough.

Eoin Toal is nowhere near Championship standard. He was barely league 1.

7 minutes ago, Sluffy said:

Not sure if you are addressing me or if you are making a general remark?

If it is me I didn't claim Toal could not be capable to be a reliable Championship player.

I merely said Toal has his faults (and he does or he would be playing for PL team by now) and that if W63 was suggesting we moved him out and replaced him with a better player, then I could see sense in that.

However to move him out and replace him with Temple who just 4 or 5 months ago couldn't even get a place on the bench in L1, and who hasn't played outside of Irish clubs, made no sense at all to me.

There are plenty folk who are big and strong, Richard Taylor for instance, look at how poor he has been in a division lower that what we now are.

You just don't bung someone in to the team based solely on being big and strong?

Are you really claiming that's what we should be doing?

I was agreeing with you ffs

6 minutes ago, gonzo said:

That's generally how league systems works isn't it?

Players find their levels and standards.

There are anomalies but players, specifically CB's aren't going to find things easier by moving up a division unless they're 100% good enough.

Eoin Toal is nowhere near Championship standard. He was barely league 1.

I'll fully agree there. Toal just hasn't developed as we hoped and was often found out last season.

Said something had to be done with the defence many times. Johnston, Toal and Forino were decent enough League One, but it just didn't work together,.

4 minutes ago, only1swanny said:

I was agreeing with you ffs

any excuse to type it out again

5 minutes ago, only1swanny said:

I was agreeing with you ffs

You didn't make that clear

Otherwise I would not have posted what I did.

And I even queried if you actually mean it, ffs

SS seems well aware of this, but the big step up for defenders is the pace and cleverness of movement of Champ level forwards, at least at the higher end. Can get away with not being so quick in L1 if you read the game well and hold a position.

Toal's lost half a yard with all the injuries and became more and more panicky on the ball as last season progressed. L1 his ceiling unless he has an Epiphany over this Summer

Basque journalist saying the Larrazabal deal is done

Temple was the Forrester replacement.

Toal, hmm, need to figure out what to do. Both him and Forino are out of contract next summer.

2 minutes ago, jmjhb said:

Temple was the Forrester replacement.

Toal, hmm, need to figure out what to do. Both him and Forino are out of contract next summer.

Toal will be ok if we are to be direct or a place every week on the bench. If we are to carry on playing from the back he will be a liability. Tell him where he stands in the pecking order and it is up to him to move on for a small fee or sit on the bench.......Forino needs his contract extending

The biggest signing we still need is a captain.

There seems to be a lot of focus on Toal's shortcomings.

If the rest of the squad are reading this they'll probably be grateful that someone else is having their credentials questioned 😄

I'm unsure how Toal is being singled out. I think Sheehan will step up OK, and RR.

Hard to name anyone else in that bracket unless we make the assumption Famewo and Davies are champ standard.

Any one of our squad may thrive, we don't know, but Toal is just in the same boat as everyone else from where I'm looking.

1 hour ago, Sluffy said:

Really?

Toal has his faults but how do you manage to rate Temple, who wasn't ready enough/ good enough to risk playing in L1 a better player than Toal would be in the Championship, AND whilst never seen him play outside Ireland which and no insult intended to them, is probably National league standard or even lower?

Temple has been signed as one to be developed for the future and will playing in our reserves or loaned out to a club in a lower division to us.

If you are saying move Toal out a bring in a better player to replace him, yes I could agree with you but from how I read your post you seem to be suggesting move Toal out in order that Temple can step up, which is not going to happen until he proves himself capable first, such as Conway did at Crewe

Moving out Eoin Toal for a better player is where I’m at because I think he’ll struggle in the Championship but I’d keep Temple in the squad rather than loan him out as an option if he proves up to it. If Schuey thinks a loan would be better for him then that’s fine but he looks like he could be a real handful and may develop quickly because at 22 he’s not exactly still a kid.

5 minutes ago, Whitesince63 said:

Moving out Eoin Toal for a better player is where I’m at because I think he’ll struggle in the Championship but I’d keep Temple in the squad rather than loan him out as an option if he proves up to it. If Schuey thinks a loan would be better for him then that’s fine but he looks like he could be a real handful and may develop quickly because at 22 he’s not exactly still a kid.

He won't develop much at all without playing competitive football regularly.

Maybe this Cat 2 thing we are doing will help but I suggest getting actual game time in some first team in a lower league club is the best way of achieving that.

1 hour ago, only1swanny said:

yeah but he's big n strong....

FWIW I think toal struggled last year, step up might do him well.

Seems to be a fixed mindset from fans that league one can only play league one etc.

It's definitely fair to question whether a 27-year-old who's never played at this level before and struggled a bit last year in L1 is going to flourish against Jimenez, Bowen and the like.

Having said that, my glass half full pitch is that he's never had the chance and what we're asking of him will be different and a fair bit simpler I'd imagine. He's not going to be bringing it out much against teams sitting every man behind the ball.

For what it's worth, his handful of international appearances against decent opposition include clean sheets against Denmark & Scotland, a 1-1 draw with Wales and twattings off Germany and Spain.

Edited Wednesday at 21:572 days by Tombwfc

Suspect there will be plenty of players who we look back on and think, yeah they were good in League 1, but nowhere near Championship standard, and that might be hard to swallow for some, could be Toal, it could be Forino, could be Sheehan, it could be all 3 and more. We won't know for some time yet.

38 minutes ago, Zog1 said:

Suspect there will be plenty of players who we look back on and think, yeah they were good in League 1, but nowhere near Championship standard, and that might be hard to swallow for some, could be Toal, it could be Forino, could be Sheehan, it could be all 3 and more. We won't know for some time yet.

Also worth remembering that we're hoping to stay up.. that's the one goal.

Might be able to hold our own against some of the higher league teams but we can't complete with teams playing 20m for a player..

Lots of chat over in Rotherham that Sam Nombe is going to sign. Word is that MK Dons were messing about with a low bid & we’ve swooped in. If true, there’s a decent player there if he stays clear of injury….