Summer 2020 transfers

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

So here's what I can recall of the notes I made before on other rumoured targets/trainees...

RICARDO SANTOS
Barnet defender built like our stairs: some say 6ft6, some say 6ft5, some say he’ll never be climbed to make sure. Born 25 years ago (18 Jun 1995) in Portugal but evidently settled in London: youth-team player at Dagenham & Redbridge then on the books at Billericay, Dover and Thurrock before his big move – in Feb 2018 Fergie Jr took the 18-year-old to Peterborough.

Made 63 third-tier appearances before dropping a rung to Barnet on a 3.5yr deal in January 2017. Due to time’s ruthless linearity that deal elapses this summer, but the big man’s still busy – Bees are in the fifth-tier play-off semis this Saturday. Video below shows that while he’s not quite as comfortable on the ball as Taft, he can still pick a pass.
.

.
JAKE EASTWOOD
Born in Rotherham on 3 Oct 1996, this lad has spent more than half the time since on Blades’ books, having joined them as a wee 10-year-old. The goalkeeper made his first-team debut at 20 but has only played twice since for SUFC, and barely much more elsewhere despite being loaned out to Sheffield FC, Mickleover Sports, Chesterfield and Scunthorpe.

He made his league debut after being parachuted into Chesterfield on emergency loan just before Christmas 2017, but rather spoiled the festive feeling by shipping five on his debut at Stevenage. (That said, he could justifiably blame the second on a boob from his skipper, one I. Evatt, who was subsequently withdrawn injured and ruled out for four months.) In his three further games Eastwood managed one clean sheet (D1 L2) before being dropped.

Perhaps chastened, he didn’t go out on loan again until the start of last season, to Scunny. Having established himself first-choice in pre-season, he promptly conceded six in his first two and was dropped, but later regained his place to keep seven clean sheets in his last 11 games. Then two Blades keepers got injured and Wilder recalled him. His contract elapsed in summer; he wasn’t on the official released list, but nor has the club announced new terms. Marc Iles suggests the uncertainty may be to do with whether Man U allow Dean Henderson to stay out on loan again (doubtful while David De Gea keep studiously diving over saveable shots) but Alan Nixon suggests a loan is possible even if Eastwood renews.

ALEX BAPTISTE
Clinton needs no introduction. Maybe Evatt’s old Blackpool teammate could be an experienced head on the right of the back three, or maybe he’s just training with us to keep up his fitness and our numbers. As usual, we’ll see. DOB 31 Jan 86, for the record.

JAK HICKMAN
Defender, born 11 Sep 1998 (which must have made his third birthday party fun). Coventry schoolboy who was loaned to non-league Mickleover Sports (them again!), Ashton United and Hereford either side of a couple of EFL Trophy appearances in 2018/19. Then came last summer’s inadvisable broadcast, for which he was fined and listed.

Realising you can’t send someone to Coventry when you’re in Coventry and you ARE Coventry, the club punted him out to seventh-tier Redditch United and Bromsgrove Sporting while waiting for his contract to elapse. He has a lot to prove; does he have the desire and the talent?

------------------
For what it's worth: Santos is an absolute unit who also looks happy on the ball, and if Evatt thinks he can step back up then I'll back the boss. Eastwood worries me slightly, but I guess again we have to trust the process and trust that either Evatt saw enough at Chesterfield or Phoenix heard enough from the Scunny loan to trust he can be first-choice (otherwise we're trusting a 38-year-old or an 18-year-old). I can see the logic in Baptiste as an older head but I wouldn't want to overspend on him – as much as anything, he's barely played in two seasons. Hickman, again we'll have to trust the gaffer.

[Bruce Rioja]

Obligatory YouTube clip (I can't seem to embed it):

https://youtu.be/TFcW5npmdyo

It might well only be me, but as soon as someone posts a YouTube piece which specifically highlights the merits of a player who we've either just signed or are reported to be interested in, I immediately think of Daniel Braaten.

[Worthy4England]

Obligatory YouTube clip (I can't seem to embed it):

https://youtu.be/TFcW5npmdyo

It might well only be me, but as soon as someone posts a YouTube piece which specifically highlights the merits of a player who we've either just signed or are reported to be interested in, I immediately think of Daniel Braaten.

I think one of our top You Tubes of all time. Was trying to recall the buggers name when one of the previous vids was posted...

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Aye, YouTube and a decent editor can make most players look good, so the usual caveats apply. But it’s still useful to get an idea.

Latest name linked is JORDAN GREENIDGE, apparently in on trial yesterday.

Very out of the blue, 20 year old who got the wonder kid tag at Stoke. 6ft4 left-footed forward, born 5 Jan 2000, Stoke academy to age 18 and has since had Not Much Football Really, appearing once each for Cypriot side Omonia and Spanish lower-leaguers Badajoz. There’s an interesting story there but here’s what he’s capable of with a good editor...
.

.


EDIT doing a wee bit more digging there’s a curious story here. It seems Stoke offered him a contract in summer 2018 - he had, after all, scored 25 in 43 U23 games and been named in FourFourTwo by the excellent site YouthHawk as Stoke’s greatest hope - but he turned it down amid rumoured interest from West Ham, Birmingham, Fulham and Watford. Instead, he went to Cyprus on a three-year deal (agent?) and only played one game before being released six months in. Bounced to Badajoz but only played once there too and doesn’t seem to have played since Jan 2019. Odd. “Can you tell me about this gap on your CV?”

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Jason Lowe signs three-year deal at Salford. Throwing money around on old geezers, that lot...

https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/1 ... ford-city/

[Prufrock]

With the single worst one of those wanky announcement videos I've ever seen.

A gag I'd be ashamed to have in my Twitter drafts.

Wish him well, seems like a sound bloke and always carried himself well, but I never really liked him as a footballer. New broom and all that.

[nicholaldo]

Re Greenidge: I can only think his strange career history was an effort to try and avoid the tribunal fee due for players under the age of 24?

[DJBlu]

Wish him well, seems like a sound bloke and always carried himself well, but I never really liked him as a footballer. New broom and all that.

Couldn't have put it better.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Re Greenidge: I can only think his strange career history was an effort to try and avoid the tribunal fee due for players under the age of 24?

Intriguing idea - basically the equivalent of 70s rock stars living abroad for a year for tax reasons... but surely utterly counterproductive in hindsight as he's now lost two important years of his career. I'm sure the plotted career path wasn't "trialling for Division Four at age 20"... Also, if clubs were queuing to employ him, paying the development fee would be their problem and one they were presumably happy to face.

It does however feel like money *must* have been involved. Maybe it was the three-year contract that nobody else would offer. Not to cast aspersions on the lad now; clean slates etc.

[officer_dibble]

Wish him well, seems like a sound bloke and always carried himself well, but I never really liked him as a footballer. New broom and all that.

Agreed. I’m sure he’ll be fine at this level for them. Hopefully we’ve got someone better for the system sorted.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Official Comley interview.
https://www.bwfc.co.uk/news/2020/july/- ... wanderers/

I’m excited to have it all done. I can’t wait to get back into training, get it all underway and meet the lads. There are exciting time ahead. The last few months have been strange. I can’t wait to get back to a bit of normality and back to doing what I love to do; to get underway with what the gaffer wants us to do.

For me the move came about quite quickly. The interest was there, so I came up and met the gaffer, and from there I knew that I wanted to come here from the things he was saying and the way he wants to go about things. As a player you want to be ambitious, so hearing that the manager has got the same ideas means that it’s a perfect fit for me really.

Of course I’ll be able to thrive off the expectations from the staff and the supporters, but I don’t really think about those things, I just try to play well every single game. That should be a given. This club deserves to be going upwards rather than the course it has taken recently, so hopefully that’s what we’ll be doing this season.

I’m quite a versatile midfielder. I’m a grafter but I’d like to say I can play as well. I do fit into most structures and I’ll try to do the best that I can for the club.I wouldn’t say I’m the most prolific goal scorer but every now and then I do like to try get on the scoresheet and they do tend to be decent ones when I do score. I’ll try my luck a few more times this season!

I had a few ups and downs at Colchester. The first season was really good and the second season wasn’t my best personally, but last season I hit the ground running and took my opportunity. I really developed there and hopefully I can bring everything I learned into this season.

I want to get back into the swing of things but hopefully the fans can get in and watch us as soon as possible as well. I feel like that’s going to be very important for us this year. I can’t wait to get back to it; as a footballer it’s what I want to be doing – training and working hard, and hopefully I can do well for this club.

[BWFC_Insane]

Re Greenidge: I can only think his strange career history was an effort to try and avoid the tribunal fee due for players under the age of 24?

Intriguing idea - basically the equivalent of 70s rock stars living abroad for a year for tax reasons... but surely utterly counterproductive in hindsight as he's now lost two important years of his career. I'm sure the plotted career path wasn't "trialling for Division Four at age 20"... Also, if clubs were queuing to employ him, paying the development fee would be their problem and one they were presumably happy to face.

It does however feel like money *must* have been involved. Maybe it was the three-year contract that nobody else would offer. Not to cast aspersions on the lad now; clean slates etc.

Iles claims we didn't offer Lowe any new deal whatsoever. I quite liked Lowe but he isn't necessarily the right type to fit into what we're doing now in terms of age, profile and what he's done. I suspect there is a reluctance to take many who've played at the top two levels and are getting on - we've thus far taken lads experienced in where we will be playing OR who perhaps have some growth to grow with the club as it hopefully gets back on its feet in an upwards direction. I always feel with lads like Lowe, and arguably Spearing or Wheater - you get what you get - doesn't really matter who the manager is, the will do the same, perform the same and have the same game now. Doesn't mean you can't fit them into your methods - but I guess probably less malleable than someone like Sarvecic or Comley who are still proving themselves to an extent and probably more prepared to run through brick walls for Bolton Wanderers as it is their big shot. Just a theory really.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

All fair enough but I wasn’t talking about J-Lowe. Now I am, I wish him all the best.

[BWFC_Insane]

All fair enough but I wasn’t talking about J-Lowe. Now I am, I wish him all the best.

Ah sorry - my misread. I liked Jason a lot - but can see the logic in not offering him anything further. For me he's one of the few I will look back on with fondness for. He stood with us in a difficult time and didn't ask to leave one of the few (perhaps only).

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

All fair enough but I wasn’t talking about J-Lowe. Now I am, I wish him all the best.

Ah sorry - my misread. I liked Jason a lot - but can see the logic in not offering him anything further. For me he's one of the few I will look back on with fondness for. He stood with us in a difficult time and didn't ask to leave one of the few (perhaps only).

+1

There was a time last summer when he seemed the last man standing. As it turned out, others stayed too. I thank them all for their loyalty and belief, Lowey being the first among them.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Right (and left), here's some total guesswork on the potential wingbacks. Barring Bunney, who's said to have trained with us on Tuesday, apparently the wide-boy trialists are a relatively unknown bunch; however, we can presume they're free agents, so with a little sleuth work and a dip through WhoScored – because we know Evatt and Phoenix are crunching the numbers – we can turn up some possibles. Here are some of the League Two wide players last season, now on frees, who made the most passes per game:

JOE MILLS - left-sided midfielder or defender, 30-year-old brother of our old friend Matt, who joined him at Forest Green. Unlike big bro he was offered a new deal by FGR in summer but doesn’t seem to have signed it. Averaged 39.4 passes per game last season, one of the division’s highest for a pure wide player (excepting the full-backs at promoted Crewe), with a success rate of 73.7% and racked up six assists. Only 5ft 9in, he turns 31 in October and hasn’t been afraid to move in the past: he joined FGR from Perth Glory, but before them he'd made 150ish appearances in the second and third divisions.

CALLUM MCFADZEAN - left wingback for Plymouth last season but has also played centre-back. Out of contract, offered an extension but hasn’t signed it: he has family up north and became a dad last year. Sheffield-born former Bury player, he’s 26, and averaged 38.6 passes per game last season (69.9% accurate) plus three assists in a similar formation. Played for England U16 and Scotland U21, so he’s used to switching channels…

RYAN JACKSON - like Mills, 5ft 9; like Comley, released by Colchester this summer. Pacy right-back with a long throw. The Londoner turns 30 next Friday and has 250+ Fourth Division games under his belt for Newport, Gillingham and Colchester. 38.9 passes per game, 68.8% accuracy.

LIAM SHEPHARD - another FGR freebie, this time a right-sider (he’s nominally a right-back but has also played right midfield). 25, former Wales U21, 143 games in the lower two divisions with Yeovil, Peterborough & FGR. 32.8 passes per game, with a pleasingly high 76.2% accuracy (and he can’t have been playing too safe as he averaged 1.8 key passes, ie ones creating a chance, per game).

GETHIN JONES - Australian-born of Welsh descent, Wales U21 caps, converted from central midfielder to right-back (but can also play on the wing) while at Everton’s academy to take advantage of his pace. Now 24, he’s played about 100 lower-league games at Plymouth, Barnsley, Fleetwood, Mansfield and Carlisle, signing two short-term deals last season at the latter, where he finally got a run of games (averaging 31.3 passes and 66% accuracy) and said: “I’m a right back, although when I went on loan at Barnsley I was playing left-back then, and when I first came here I was playing on the right of a back three, which is something the old manager wanted me to do. It is easy [to adapt] because I’ve done it for three or four years now – I just have to get ready for it a few days before the game, because the body angles and stuff, in defending, are lot different, and if I’m going forward on the left, I’m right-footed and like to come in more and cross like that. But I’m adaptable, I’ll just do a job.”

KELVIN MELLOR - 29-year-old right-sider released by Bradford, still lives in his native Cheshire after 250+ lower-league games for a variety of clubs. 30 passes per game, 66.4% accurate.

ALEX MACDONALD - Wee (5ft7) right-midfielder released by Mansfield, where he’d picked up the final third of 300+ lower-league appearances. 29.9 passes per game, a pleasing 73% accurate.

[BWFC_Insane]

Right (and left), here's some total guesswork on the potential wingbacks. Barring Bunney, who's said to have trained with us on Tuesday, apparently the wide-boy trialists are a relatively unknown bunch; however, we can presume they're free agents, so with a little sleuth work and a dip through WhoScored – because we know Evatt and Phoenix are crunching the numbers – we can turn up some possibles. Here are some of the League Two wide players last season, now on frees, who made the most passes per game:

JOE MILLS - left-sided midfielder or defender, 30-year-old brother of our old friend Matt, who joined him at Forest Green. Unlike big bro he was offered a new deal by FGR in summer but doesn’t seem to have signed it. Averaged 39.4 passes per game last season, one of the division’s highest for a pure wide player (excepting the full-backs at promoted Crewe), with a success rate of 73.7% and racked up six assists. Only 5ft 9in, he turns 31 in October and hasn’t been afraid to move in the past: he joined FGR from Perth Glory, but before them he'd made 150ish appearances in the second and third divisions.

CALLUM MCFADZEAN - left wingback for Plymouth last season but has also played centre-back. Out of contract, offered an extension but hasn’t signed it: he has family up north and became a dad last year. Sheffield-born former Bury player, he’s 26, and averaged 38.6 passes per game last season (69.9% accurate) plus three assists in a similar formation. Played for England U16 and Scotland U21, so he’s used to switching channels…

RYAN JACKSON - like Mills, 5ft 9; like Comley, released by Colchester this summer. Pacy right-back with a long throw. The Londoner turns 30 next Friday and has 250+ Fourth Division games under his belt for Newport, Gillingham and Colchester. 38.9 passes per game, 68.8% accuracy.

LIAM SHEPHARD - another FGR freebie, this time a right-sider (he’s nominally a right-back but has also played right midfield). 25, former Wales U21, 143 games in the lower two divisions with Yeovil, Peterborough & FGR. 32.8 passes per game, with a pleasingly high 76.2% accuracy (and he can’t have been playing too safe as he averaged 1.8 key passes, ie ones creating a chance, per game).

GETHIN JONES - Australian-born of Welsh descent, Wales U21 caps, converted from central midfielder to right-back (but can also play on the wing) while at Everton’s academy to take advantage of his pace. Now 24, he’s played about 100 lower-league games at Plymouth, Barnsley, Fleetwood, Mansfield and Carlisle, signing two short-term deals last season at the latter, where he finally got a run of games (averaging 31.3 passes and 66% accuracy) and said: “I’m a right back, although when I went on loan at Barnsley I was playing left-back then, and when I first came here I was playing on the right of a back three, which is something the old manager wanted me to do. It is easy [to adapt] because I’ve done it for three or four years now – I just have to get ready for it a few days before the game, because the body angles and stuff, in defending, are lot different, and if I’m going forward on the left, I’m right-footed and like to come in more and cross like that. But I’m adaptable, I’ll just do a job.”

KELVIN MELLOR - 29-year-old right-sider released by Bradford, still lives in his native Cheshire after 250+ lower-league games for a variety of clubs. 30 passes per game, 66.4% accurate.

ALEX MACDONALD - Wee (5ft7) right-midfielder released by Mansfield, where he’d picked up the final third of 300+ lower-league appearances. 29.9 passes per game, a pleasing 73% accurate.

The level of research is just...you ought to be employed by the club. I'd say that wingback the pass accuracy is less relevant that (IMHO) stamina (which might translate as miles covered per game) and crossing ability and some measure of speed. I honestly think wingbacks that can supply are critical (because it makes the opposition worry about your wing backs) and of course pace helps massively as does the ability to run up and down all day. We've not played 3 across the back too often, at least not in our best spells, but I'm not convinced we've had an out and out wing back who ticks all the boxes (relative to our levels) - Ricardo probably comes closest but not sure his delivery was up to much, Morais did the job but it knackered the poor fella out. For me its a unique and specialist role. The player that comes to mind most suited to it (though IIRC never played there for us) was Jason McAteer who did the role for Liverpool IIRC.

[The_Gun]

No news/rumours regarding Emmanuel? I would be surprised if he wasn't courting attention from other clubs, so have been expecting some links to pop up. The lack of noise about him coming from the usual Bolton sources suggests to me he's likely not going to be re-signing with us, which is a shame.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

The level of research is just...you ought to be employed by the club.

Nice of you to say so. I have an enquiring mind and increasing insomnia; I also sit at a computer most days, and I'm genuinely intrigued/excited about who we might get.

I'd say that wingback the pass accuracy is less relevant that (IMHO) stamina (which might translate as miles covered per game) and crossing ability and some measure of speed. I honestly think wingbacks that can supply are critical (because it makes the opposition worry about your wing backs) and of course pace helps massively as does the ability to run up and down all day.

I'd argue that the wingback needs the most complete skillset in the modern game: stamina, pace, recovery speed, positional awareness, passing, tackling, crossing. Not all of those concepts are measurable, let alone recorded in the public domain, but passing totals (and accuracy) are, and with Evatt preaching a passing game I thought it a relevant metric to start with. I guess we could cross-reference with tackles, which are also counted by sites like WhoScored. And here seems a good place to mention that while their methods may not be 100% reliable, it seems a fair guide for possibles. I wouldn't recommend or expect us to sign a bloke off WhoScored any more than YouTube, but it's a starting point for consideration – note the public discussion about Comley's pass completion rates.

As for past BWFC players – like all players they might seem more natural going forward or sitting back, that's entirely to be expected. For instance, Antonee Robinson was a menace to opponents but couldn't tackle a fish supper, yet he seems to be courting eight-figure fees. Whereas Andy Taylor was definitely your old-school "doughty full-back" forced into a system that didn't really suit him, but we were making do and mend (as with Morais on the right) to fit two forwards up front. It's the same at the top level - Marcos Alonso, another you might not have tipped for the top, did better in (or rather in the same team as) Conte's back three than in a back four.

No news/rumours regarding Emmanuel? I would be surprised if he wasn't courting attention from other clubs, so have been expecting some links to pop up. The lack of noise about him coming from the usual Bolton sources suggests to me he's likely not going to be re-signing with us, which is a shame.

Apparetly, unlike Bunney, he hasn't been training with us. Like you I think he could do a job at right wingback - a better one than at right-back, because he has more pace and stamina than defensive doughtiness IMO - but I'm going to trust that Evatt and Phoenix are confident they have better options, otherwise he would surely be training (if willing). They will know that the wide areas are vital to get right, so I imagine they're being very careful.

Note also the lack of pictures and video from club training. Normally we get "Back to work lads!" stuff aplenty, but the suspicion is we're keeping a face or two under wraps while we assess them and consider an offer. That might even imply that the players we're tailing have come from a higher division - the names above were all in Division Four last season...

[The_Gun]

I certainly trust our team and wouldn't want to guess at how they might assess a player like Emmanuel, but it would be mildly surprising to me if he had been overlooked for the RWB role. My suspicion would be that he doesn't want to drop down to L2 and has interest from higher divisions, but perhaps it was our choice not to bring him back.