Snog, Marry, Avoid: Summer 2023 Transfer Window

[BWFC_Insane]

Interesting debate on keepers. Is there a big upside to 'owning one'. I mean if Trafford was free and we could own him the upside is huge.

But taking a 'might be great might fade' younger keeper on a permanent deal means you are stuck with them and but for the outlier of one as good as James Trafford even a very good keeper isn't going to fetch huge transfer fees necessarily. Especially down here. The downside being if they aren't good you are saddled with them....

Takes judgement I guess. I get the risk with loans then every year you might need a replacement but keeper is one area where I think the trade off is less clear cut. A striker on loan who does well - and they are gone - probably. Same with many outfield players and often irreplaceable.

But I think keepers is more a risky signing and therefore apart from the retention issue there are less upsides to making one permanent. Especially for us where we don't have a solid existing option.

Yeah, if we go and get a keeper and say "You're our guy to get to the Premier League" we'd better get the call right.

What I'd probably argue is that now is the time to get that part of the team nailed down.

Financially I think this is the summer with the most talent available and once we're in the Championship that "get a loan in" model would be tough to stick to. I'm not sure when we'll have another chance to sort that compartment out in this friendly a market.

From a footballing position we've got to the point where we understand what we need to do to keep clean sheets. We're not perfect, but we're now a good defensive side and can protect a goalkeeper. This is the best chance we've had to slot a goalkeeper in without murdering their confidence early doors (I'm fairly sure Traf's confidence is invulnerable). It's also the time when we understand what we need a recruit to look like, in terms of attributes. We've seen what Traf offered, but also where he was wanting. We won't get all of his positives, but we clearly need a goalkeeper who can use the ball better in possession (Traf is young and will improve there).

We are at a point where it's possible to slot a keeper in and complete that part of the picture. We can have a defensive unit that can fully execute Evatt's current style of play, with the full sweeper keeper in effect. If we can match Santos for suitability at role then it'll take us a huge stride forward.

I'd sacrifice kicking (Traffords biggest weakness) for shot stopping and command of the box.

The way we play a keeper who comes and catches (and doesn't fumble) crosses and corners is big for us. Really big. We're going to have teams who put pressure on late on in games and win set pieces and what not. Santos heading it is one pressure reliever but the keeper coming to take it is another big one. We've seen with Peterborough recently the downside of a keeper who isn't great dealing with balls into their box.

A keeper can throw the thing out and as long as they can kick it somewhere I'm less bothered by that than keeping it out of the net.

[GhostoftheBok]

There's a balance. As Evatt said when asked about Traf, the new guy won't be as good at all the stuff Traf is good at; but he may come with other benefits.

If the keeper is good with his feet the ball will come back at us less and we'll create more.

I do agree about command of area. Trafs willingness to come and claim things has been invaluable and it's one aspect you'd want to retain.

One thing people have asked for is more speed with the ball out from the back and a keeper who can split lines with passes is one solution to that. Traf didn't help us there. The backs would be pressed, play the ball to Traf and he'd either play very short again or hoof it. A better sweeper keeper would use the opponent's press to find the gaps they have left by hitting the midfielders.

The lad still has to be able to keep. I'm not suggesting we play Sheehan in goal, but if we're looking for an upside to moving on from Traf it's one we could realistically find.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Defender Jay Dasilva is among four players released by BRISTOL CITY. The 25-year-old had been offered a new contract with the Championship club, which he joined in 2019 from Chelsea. Dasilva made 144 appearances for the Robins in all competitions, including 38 this season.

Nathan Baker - who retired on medical grounds in August - along with Taylor Moore and James Morton, who have been out on loan, are also leaving.

Discussions remain ongoing with midfielder Andy King and defender Tomas Kalas, while midfielder Han-Noah Massengo has been offered a new deal. Massengo has been on loan at French side Auxerre since January and had been expected to leave the club on a free transfer this summer when his contract expires.

[brommers95]

This is incredibly lazy of me, but is anyone aware of other teams in our division and the Championship who will be on the hunt for a starting keeper this summer?

I'm pretty sure the following L1 teams will be after a new starting GK this summer:
- Exeter
- Lincoln
- Cheltenham
- Port Vale
- Peterborough
- Cambridge
- Bristol Rovers
- Reading
- Wigan
- Portsmouth
- Stevenage

...and the above list will obviously grow with players being sold/turning down existing contract offers/new managers wanting to move players on etc. There're probably fewer teams in the Championship looking for a starting GK but competition will still be tough for the good free agent keepers this summer.

Thanks, Brommers.

Is there a reason you didn’t include Conor Hazard in your blog?

Yeah, it's because my knowledge of Scottish football isn't the best

[GhostoftheBok]

Yeah, it's because my knowledge of Scottish football isn't the best

Playing it fast and loose with the word "football" there, Brommers.

[GhostoftheBok]

Defender Jay Dasilva is among four players released by Bristol City.

Even if we'd gone up I fear his demands would have been beyond us.

I've had the odd moment of happily pretending to myself with might get Ogbeta, but it passes.

[GhostoftheBok]

Interestingly, we made our first signing on the 9th of May last season (due to the weird World Cup issues). Even for that odd period I seem to recall that was an early one. What would the equivalent be this window? First week of June?

[The_Gun]

A situation to keep an eye on is that of Rob Holding at Arsenal. The word is that the club are willing to listen to offers for him this summer, and the last time these rumours surfaced it was confirmed (by Marc Iles) that Bolton retain a sizeable sell on clause.

I don't think you're going to find anyone willing to pay a huge fee for a 27 year old who's essentially shown himself to not be good enough for a top PL side, but maybe he could fetch £10-£12m.

Could be a nice little boost for our transfer kitty if a transfer were to materialise.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Interestingly, we made our first signing on the 9th of May last season (due to the weird World Cup issues). Even for that odd period I seem to recall that was an early one. What would the equivalent be this window? First week of June?

Was thinking this morning that I should work this out...

04/30 - final league game
05/03 - released/retained list announced
05/09 - Iredale announced
06/15 - Trafford loan announced
06/21 - Bradley loan announced
07/20 - Toal announced
08/31 - Beck loan announced

So it was nine days after the last game.

[Worthy4England]

Tell me you haven't done that in American....

[GhostoftheBok]

So it was nine days after the last game.

Can we do that again, please? I really enjoyed that part, before I became mildly irritated.

I was also having a think today with a former colleague who is still working on that side of the game. He wanted to bounce some ideas around before finalising decisions and we got to chatting about "depth of impact" (oo, er, matron). I was pointing out that the money they'd spent recently had had relatively shallow returns ("big" signings averaged about an 8 month positive impact) and it got me thinking about how we're doing at the moment. This is about the duration of a signing's impact, rather than how good they've been vs others at their peaks.

Last (this, however we view the one just finished) season's transfers, if we don't get any of the loanees back in, are looking pretty shallow. We will only carry 5 players over into next season, as things stand - Iredale, Toal, Vik, Jerome and Williams. Iredale did well, but got injured. Toal is clearly the stand out permanent signing thus by that measure. Vik and Randy have had slowish starts. Jerome...yeah. Our biggest impact signings have been loans, with no carry-over into next season.

In our first season we carried over Dixon, Aimson, Johnston, John, Dempsey, Morley, Sheehan, Dapo, Sads, Baka, Bod, Charles and Kacha. Plus Traf came back on loan. Traf, Morley, Aimson Dempsey, Johnson and Charles are all on 18 months+ of positive impact vs cost. If you factor in Dapo's loan you could throw him in there too. Sheehan and Bod were impacted by injury, but say 8 each there. I'd give Baka 12 months, along with John (John goes up like Dapo if we include the loan). I'd probably give Kacha a 12 too. You're somewhere around 180 months of positive impact thus far from that season's work. It looks like we'll get more out of at least Charles, Dempsey and Morley. I've not even included Fossey there.

Now, season one was a complete rebuild as we got set for a new league; but that's probably going to come out as a fairly huge difference. As is the impact of the players themselves.

I've not sat down and done a proper review, but just mulling it over whilst weeding the strawberry patch it struck me as an issue. If some of the loanees return and do well for us next season that'll change the picture. Otherwise it's been a season's work that gave us a boost, but hasn't carried us forward in the mid/long term as much as I'd have liked (a hangover from an insipid summer). Season One's transfers are likely to yield 4 first teamers going into next season (Johnston, Dempsey, Morley and Charles) vs 3 from the season just gone, despite the time lapse.

Continuity can be a positive thing, but I think Evatt and Markham would have hoped to have progressed more. This isn't as much as an issue for little ol' Bolton as for an elite team; because we're not throwing tens of millions at players so the "impact per £" isn't as huge a deal. It's not optimal, though.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Tell me you haven't done that in American....

Ha! My file-date protocol is YYMMDD and I didn't think you needed the 22...

[Prufrock]

Tell me you haven't done that in American....

Ha! My file-date protocol is YYMMDD and I didn't think you needed the 22...

Lawful good

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Luke McGee, Baily Cargill and Regan Hendry are among 10 players who have been released by FOREST GREEN ROVERS following relegation from League One. The trio were members of the League Two title-winning squad in 2021-22.

Goalkeeper McGee, 27, played 110 games for the club while defender Cargill, also 27, featured 95 times in total.

Alfie Burnett, Jacob Jones, Sean O'Brien, Jordan Moore-Taylor, Dylan McGeouch, Ben Stevenson and Lewis Thomas will also depart the club.

Meanwhile, Udoka Godwin-Malife has been offered a new contract. The 23-year-old defender made 25 appearances as Duncan Ferguson's Rovers finished the campaign bottom of the third tier.

ISTR Brommers eyeing up Godwin-Malife before; we may have moved on since, but being in a relegated side doesn't mean you're a fourth-tier player <glances at our midfield trio>

[Worthy4England]

Tell me you haven't done that in American....

Ha! My file-date protocol is YYMMDD and I didn't think you needed the 22...

Lawful good

Just no. Chaotic Evil.

[Prufrock]

Lawful good with the "22", chaotic evil without.

[brommers95]

Luke McGee, Baily Cargill and Regan Hendry are among 10 players who have been released by FOREST GREEN ROVERS following relegation from League One. The trio were members of the League Two title-winning squad in 2021-22.

Goalkeeper McGee, 27, played 110 games for the club while defender Cargill, also 27, featured 95 times in total.

Alfie Burnett, Jacob Jones, Sean O'Brien, Jordan Moore-Taylor, Dylan McGeouch, Ben Stevenson and Lewis Thomas will also depart the club.

Meanwhile, Udoka Godwin-Malife has been offered a new contract. The 23-year-old defender made 25 appearances as Duncan Ferguson's Rovers finished the campaign bottom of the third tier.

ISTR Brommers eyeing up Godwin-Malife before; we may have moved on since, but being in a relegated side doesn't mean you're a fourth-tier player <glances at our midfield trio>

Aye, he's a prototype Evatt outside CB really. Has more than enough pace to play the high line and technical ability on the ball to help out in attack. Not very physical and a little on the short side but I'd be very happy to get him on a free. Still only 23 so still some development room and this coaching team have shown themselves adept at coaching up CBs. He can also play RWB if needs be. Should have plenty of L1 interest I'd imagine.

[GhostoftheBok]

ISTR Brommers eyeing up Godwin-Malife before; we may have moved on since, but being in a relegated side doesn't mean you're a fourth-tier player <glances at our midfield trio>

We need more defenders in the building and if we're not putting money there we do need to look at what the cheaper options are.

I want Oshilaja, personally. If we're going cheap. I'd like to have an experienced player who can cover the entire back line and play in midfield.

I think Insane is still holding out hope we sign Jack Tucker.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

We need more defenders in the building and if we're not putting money there we do need to look at what the cheaper options are.

I want Oshilaja, personally. If we're going cheap. I'd like to have an experienced player who can cover the entire back line and play in midfield.

I think Insane is still holding out hope we sign Jack Tucker.

I doubt Tucker was savvy enough to insert a relegation clause when signing for the team who’d just finished an 89-point campaign. Now he’s in a division below Stevenage and there’s nothing he can do about it.

Oshilaja I wouldn’t know if I was set next to him on the train, and he’s 30 in summer. But I trust your judgement…

[GhostoftheBok]

I doubt Tucker was savvy enough to insert a relegation clause when signing for the team who’d just finished an 89-point campaign. Now he’s in a division below Stevenage and there’s nothing he can do about it.

Oshilaja I wouldn’t know if I was set next to him on the train, and he’s 30 in summer. But I trust your judgement…

These are the things that can happen when a young player makes the wrong decision. MK's coaching staff have radically underperformed with a lot of talent.

Deji is one of the most underrated players in the division - as he showed against us this season. Total pro, will play any outfield position and do a job for you. Runs through brick walls for the team and has solid technical ability. He's that "more athletic MJ" people have asked for. I don't think he'd walk into the 11, but I think he's one of those who would get games and always give you a 7/10 - ala Mr. Jones.

As I said before, on a free he's such an easy decision; but it's not up to me. Were it, he'd be here on a two year deal as soon as possible. He's probably not even one we've considered, though.