Making HMS YouKnowWhat ship-shape: Winter 20/21 transfer thread

[BWFC_Insane]

Not buying this argument. We are saying that Tom White who played for Evatt at Barrow was foisted on him and Evatt didn’t want him and knew he was no good?

Sorry but the players we have are more than good enough to be doing better. Yes there are some imbalances in the squad but that’s down to Evatt and his bonkers obsession with playing a system we can’t play.

Post match he’s gone full on Souness (vs Allardyce) and frankly that says everything we need to know.

I've missed point 1 being suggested anywhere...but given you raise it, Phoenix hasn't departed for no reason.

I think we should be doing better and like you, think he needs a plan B that recognises the players we have, rather than those he might want. I'm concerned about physical teams which means we're dangerously close to sounding like Arsenal fans on that front.

Don't generally care what managers say post match unless they're in denial, which he's never been.

Phoenix went because paying a DoF in league two during a pandemic doesn’t make a whole lot of sense...is what I suspect. Given he had some words on the official site post departure I suspect he was not sacked because of his performance as perceived by the owner but purely to save some money in these times.

But regardless the issues I have are not with recruitment, though there are obvious failings there, but in how we are utilising what we have available. That’s what we can change right now.

[Worthy4England]

I'm fairly sure if my squad was being bought for me and it wasn't working, I'd be mentioning in dispatches, behind the scenes, that maybe the model doesn't work very well.

I think we've spotted our MF works ok when teams let it, less well when they don't. That's been the case since FGR in game 1? When we dominated 15/20 mins, then they realized there wasn't much there.

Our defence also doesn't like it up 'em as they demonstrated second half yesterday and against Port Vale. It felt to me like Walsall had twigged onto that, so that cat's out of the bag too.

I think we need a change of plan, but that won't solve individuals not winning their 1 v 1s

[The_Gun]

We clearly need to bring in at least four players in January, but I struggle to believe that there can be much talent remaining in the free agent pool now. My line of thinking is that we should be able to bring in good options on loan for LWB and and back-up striker, but I think it will likely be harder to find suitable players at GK and DM (where what we're primarily missing is physicality and experience).

With TP gone, who is in charge of recruitment? Do we have a scouting network in place? How are our relationships with the PL clubs in the region?

Unfortunately it feels like we're in a period of transition again, so I wouldn't be confident we're positioned well to be nailing our transfer decisions next month.

[Worthy4England]

We clearly need to bring in at least four players in January, but I struggle to believe that there can be much talent remaining in the free agent pool now. My line of thinking is that we should be able to bring in good options on loan for LWB and and back-up striker, but I think it will likely be harder to find suitable players at GK and DM (where what we're primarily missing is physicality and experience).

With TP gone, who is in charge of recruitment? Do we have a scouting network in place? How are our relationships with the PL clubs in the region?

Unfortunately it feels like we're in a period of transition again, so I wouldn't be confident we're positioned well to be nailing our transfer decisions next month.

I'm not sure we're in a period of transition again, but rather that we're still in the same transition we started in August? Surely no one expected we'd get the perfect - or even near perfect - set of selections first go, starting from pretty much no-one? Even with a Champ Man spreadsheet...

I agree with the positions to reinforce that you've called out, other than we seem to be optionless on Crawford. It seems to me, Evatt doesn't think any of the usually mentioned roll-call is the answer, otherwise I suspect he might have tried one of them for a start by now.

[BWFC_Insane]

We clearly need to bring in at least four players in January, but I struggle to believe that there can be much talent remaining in the free agent pool now. My line of thinking is that we should be able to bring in good options on loan for LWB and and back-up striker, but I think it will likely be harder to find suitable players at GK and DM (where what we're primarily missing is physicality and experience).

With TP gone, who is in charge of recruitment? Do we have a scouting network in place? How are our relationships with the PL clubs in the region?

Unfortunately it feels like we're in a period of transition again, so I wouldn't be confident we're positioned well to be nailing our transfer decisions next month.

We need a midfield player, arguably two. I think beyond that anything else is a nice to have. We have a decent squad that is underperforming right now. You need to get the best out of what's available IMO before you start adding more and more to it. We've two LWBs on the books and are playing Jones there. Mascoll was good for Wycombe so no reason why he can't perform here - Jones is also solid enough but probably more a full back. Honestly the two strikers we've got with a solid and organised 9 behind them would take us a long way - and I think we've more than enough in the ranks to achieve that. It means Evatt abandoning his plan A for a while. But I could see us do fine if we stopped trying to be so expansive and leaving ourselves wide open in the middle.

[The_Gun]

https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/1 ... -december/

Apparently this is Kieran Lee, who looks like he would tick all the boxes for the DM position.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

"Kieran Lee: Who he?"
https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/sport/fo ... e-18692933

[Worthy4England]

"Kieran Lee: Who he?"
https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/sport/fo ... e-18692933

Reads a bit Mark Davies in that overview...I guess with great risk lies the possibility of great reward...

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

"Kieran Lee: Who he?"
https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/sport/fo ... e-18692933

Reads a bit Mark Davies in that overview...I guess with great risk lies the possibility of great reward...

I know what you mean re injuries but we're at the beggar/chooser interface.

Playing-wise he sounds a bit more Sarcevic to me, but as a former right-back he's hopefully diligent enough for DM. When Tutte comes back, maybe one of them could play further forward - and "forward" is the key: keep punching those 10- or 15-yard diagonals that stop possession football being easy to defend against. I suspect that's why Evatt kept faith with Thomason over White and especially Comley - while Crawford is currently struggling with the opposite problem: over-complicating and seeking the low-percentage Hollywood ball.

[The_Gun]

I read the above article this morning when I heard he was training with us. A few very positive descriptions in there:

"a combative and tenacious all-action central midfielder"

"that he made 28 Championship appearances this season is a testament to his character "

"was moved into central midfield, and soon he settled into the role wonderfully"

"a lung-bursting central midfielder who was the heartbeat of the team’s best period since the 1990s"

And yeah obviously the injury stuff is the big downside. However, in terms of style and experience he sounds exactly what he need, and he's also local and only 32, so hopefully not over the hill yet. If he can co-ordinate his injuries with Tutte then it would be hunky dory.

[Worthy4England]

71 appearances in his last 4 seasons (18 per year) - 25 appearances per season in his last 8. That's about Mavies level (if you ignore the season where he went out on loan)....JSL.

[officer_dibble]

Didn’t Tutte have similar numbers? I had him as injury prone in my head?

I was thinking of that Kirchhoff bloke when I read that article. Sounds like he was shafted by the bloke who rushed him back for the play offs.

[LeverEnd]

I read the above article this morning when I heard he was training with us. A few very positive descriptions in there:

"a combative and tenacious all-action central midfielder"

"that he made 28 Championship appearances this season is a testament to his character "

"was moved into central midfield, and soon he settled into the role wonderfully"

"a lung-bursting central midfielder who was the heartbeat of the team’s best period since the 1990s"

And yeah obviously the injury stuff is the big downside. However, in terms of style and experience he sounds exactly what he need, and he's also local and only 32, so hopefully not over the hill yet. If he can co-ordinate his injuries with Tutte then it would be hunky dory.

Can car share with Arthur.

[nicholaldo]

We clearly need to bring in at least four players in January, but I struggle to believe that there can be much talent remaining in the free agent pool now. My line of thinking is that we should be able to bring in good options on loan for LWB and and back-up striker, but I think it will likely be harder to find suitable players at GK and DM (where what we're primarily missing is physicality and experience).

With TP gone, who is in charge of recruitment? Do we have a scouting network in place? How are our relationships with the PL clubs in the region?

Unfortunately it feels like we're in a period of transition again, so I wouldn't be confident we're positioned well to be nailing our transfer decisions next month.

We need a midfield player, arguably two. I think beyond that anything else is a nice to have. We have a decent squad that is underperforming right now. You need to get the best out of what's available IMO before you start adding more and more to it. We've two LWBs on the books and are playing Jones there. Mascoll was good for Wycombe so no reason why he can't perform here - Jones is also solid enough but probably more a full back. Honestly the two strikers we've got with a solid and organised 9 behind them would take us a long way - and I think we've more than enough in the ranks to achieve that. It means Evatt abandoning his plan A for a while. But I could see us do fine if we stopped trying to be so expansive and leaving ourselves wide open in the middle.

Mascoll played eight times for them. Four in the league, and only one of those four for ninety minutes. Then they released him. Personally, I think there's a chasm between our best starting eleven and the rest of our squad, a couple of notable exceptions aside.

I think I agree we should try something more pragmatic though, at the very least until Tutte returns, but I don't know what that would look like.

[BWFC_Insane]

We clearly need to bring in at least four players in January, but I struggle to believe that there can be much talent remaining in the free agent pool now. My line of thinking is that we should be able to bring in good options on loan for LWB and and back-up striker, but I think it will likely be harder to find suitable players at GK and DM (where what we're primarily missing is physicality and experience).

With TP gone, who is in charge of recruitment? Do we have a scouting network in place? How are our relationships with the PL clubs in the region?

Unfortunately it feels like we're in a period of transition again, so I wouldn't be confident we're positioned well to be nailing our transfer decisions next month.

We need a midfield player, arguably two. I think beyond that anything else is a nice to have. We have a decent squad that is underperforming right now. You need to get the best out of what's available IMO before you start adding more and more to it. We've two LWBs on the books and are playing Jones there. Mascoll was good for Wycombe so no reason why he can't perform here - Jones is also solid enough but probably more a full back. Honestly the two strikers we've got with a solid and organised 9 behind them would take us a long way - and I think we've more than enough in the ranks to achieve that. It means Evatt abandoning his plan A for a while. But I could see us do fine if we stopped trying to be so expansive and leaving ourselves wide open in the middle.

Mascoll played eight times for them. Four in the league, and only one of those four for ninety minutes. Then they released him. Personally, I think there's a chasm between our best starting eleven and the rest of our squad, a couple of notable exceptions aside.

I think I agree we should try something more pragmatic though, at the very least until Tutte returns, but I don't know what that would look like.

Doesn't even necessarily need to be more pragmatic. We're struggling in midfield so a 4-4-2 with perhaps one wide player and a narrow energetic type the other side (Darcy?) might alleviate some of that and simplify things. We can still play some football. It doesn't mean we just hoof it. But the midfield would potentially not be as stretched and as a team we'd not be as stretched. In theory. You've got an attacking full back in Kioso down the right so Darcy play from the right, Isgrove from the left and Jones who is more a full back at LB.

I think that way your midfield three isn't having to cover the full backs and get a hold of midfield and you've got a more tight and compact team behind Doyle and Fonz. The downside of course is Santos looks less a CB in that system but still I'd try it.

[Harry Genshaw]

That new striker. Ched Evans? Just been told to leave Fleetwood by Barton for "several infractions". Unsure whether they're terminating his contract yet though.

[officer_dibble]

If he’s been bombed out by Barton for discipline it’s a no from me.

[officer_dibble]

Left back from Swindon training with us apparently. Big fecking tick!

[Worthy4England]

I think whatever he signs, he's then got to fit them into a formation that works. That's not a directive to go 442 Lump. It's back to the pragmatism v perseverance thread. It could take 4, 5, 6 windows to find a set of players that fit a dogmatic formation selection, so we need to move to it incrementally imo. That we don't have the personnel capable of playing the current formation is pretty apparent.

[BWFC_Insane]

I think whatever he signs, he's then got to fit them into a formation that works. That's not a directive to go 442 Lump. It's back to the pragmatism v perseverance thread. It could take 4, 5, 6 windows to find a set of players that fit a dogmatic formation selection, so we need to move to it incrementally imo. That we don't have the personnel capable of playing the current formation is pretty apparent.

I’m not advocating we start lumping the ball forwards. I just don’t think 3 at the back works with our midfield. I’d like to see a tighter 4-4-2 with our more attack minded mids given a little bit of freedom to get forwards.