Snog, Marry, Avoid: Summer 2023 Transfer Window

[sonicthewhite]

No Jerome?

[GhostoftheBok]

No Jerome?

He'll be registered as a player, but I expect us to have four other forwards on the books so I've not included him.

[irie Cee Bee]

Midfield is a problem to be fixed. We don't create a lot of chances for the forwards. A decent forward will score one in three chances on average. I think we need more from our midfield to give them more chances. Dempsey is our best. Morley and Thomason are young players with scope to improve. Putting sentiments aside, I would not renew MJ, Lee and Sheehan if we want to go up. MJ struggles in the system we play. He is much better in a 4-2-3-1 system. Lee, a wonderful player, but can barely play half a game these days while Sheehan is at his peak at 28 and though neat and tidy, has not set the house on fire in his time here. Good players all, but I think we now need better.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

I would agree that in midfield (three central positions - 6, 8, 10) and a striker we'd like upgrades.

But I would argue that the gaping holes are still GK & 2x WB. Assuming (not unreasonably) that Sadlier, John, Isgrove and Dixon leave, we've got Iredale, Gethin and, er, that's it.

anyway...

ACCRINGTON have released defender Mitch Clark - two weeks after he was charged with misconduct in relation to alleged breaches of betting rules by the FA. Clark, 24, is alleged to have placed 312 bets on football matches between 8 February 2022 and 10 March 2023. Brentford striker Ivan Toney was given an eight-month ban on Wednesday for 232 breaches of the FA's betting rules.

The Lancashire side have also released Anthony Mancini, Joe Hardy, Rhys Fenlon, Enock Lusiama and Dylan Moonan.

The club have triggered contract extensions for Ethan Hamilton, Joe Pritchard, Rosaire Longelo, Jack Nolan, Korede Adedoyin, Connor O'Brien and Toby Savin.

Michael Nottingham, Harvey Rodgers and Seamus Conneely remain in talks over new deals.

[GhostoftheBok]

I would agree that in midfield (three central positions - 6, 8, 10) and a striker we'd like upgrades.

But I would argue that the gaping holes are still GK & 2x WB. Assuming (not unreasonably) that Sadlier, John, Isgrove and Dixon leave, we've got Iredale, Gethin and, er, that's it.

Are you writing Randell off completely? I mean, I think we still need 2 WBs, but Williams has done alright recently.

[GhostoftheBok]

At Accy the player we might consider is Tommy Leigh. Pompey are supposed to be in the mix for him, but if we wanted that 8/10 type who can also fill in up front he'd be a good pick. Would certainly add physicality in that area.

[Worthy4England]

At Accy the player we might consider is Tommy Leigh. Pompey are supposed to be in the mix for him, but if we wanted that 8/10 type who can also fill in up front he'd be a good pick. Would certainly add physicality in that area.

Last bit, true.

[GhostoftheBok]

Last bit, true.

Insane would be happy, you'd imagine.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

I would agree that in midfield (three central positions - 6, 8, 10) and a striker we'd like upgrades.

But I would argue that the gaping holes are still GK & 2x WB. Assuming (not unreasonably) that Sadlier, John, Isgrove and Dixon leave, we've got Iredale, Gethin and, er, that's it.

Are you writing Randell off completely? I mean, I think we still need 2 WBs, but Williams has done alright recently.

Oops no, forgot him. He's improved recently and I like him but I hope we have better first choices next season. Let's be honest, he's a winger trying his best to cosplay as a wingback.

Also, I posted this bit on the wrong thread...

SWANSEA City expect Ryan Manning, Joel Latibeaudiere and Kyle Naughton to leave the club this summer.

It comes as head coach Russell Martin emerged as the leading contender to become Southampton boss. Martin had been due to meet Swansea's American owners in Washington DC over his own future at the club this week. However, the ex-Scotland international has not travelled across the Atlantic and is in the frame to replace Ruben Selles at St Mary's Stadium.

Swansea confirmed in its retained list that Manning, Latibeaudiere and Naughton are expected to become free agents when their contracts expire next month, although it remains possible that not all three depart. Speaking ahead of Swansea's final day win over West Brom, Martin said of the trio: "I'd love to keep all three, but we're not at that point at the moment... I'll be really sad to lose one of them, let alone all of them."

Republic of Ireland international Manning registered 10 assists and five goals in the 2022-23 Championship campaign. He also won the club's Supporters' Player of the Season award. Naughton has made more than 250 appearances for Swansea since joining from Tottenham in 2015 while Latibeaudiere has been a prominent figure under the current coaching staff.

Michael Obafemi will complete a permanent transfer to Burnley following the conclusion of his loan spell at Turf Moor. Goalkeeper Andreas Sondergaard will also leave the club at the end of the short-term deal he signed when joining in February 2023. Academy products Tivonge Rushesha and Daniel Williams, who have both made senior appearances, are to depart when their contracts expire this summer.

Paul Coutts is being released by BRISTOL ROVERS along with Harry Anderson and Calum Macdonald. Coutts, 34, and Anderson, 26, were key members of Rovers' promotion-winning squad last season.

Midfielders Josh Grant and Grant Ward, whose contracts also finish, are discussing new deals, as are youngsters Ryan Jones and Harvey Greenslade.

[GhostoftheBok]

Oops no, forgot him. He's improved recently and I like him but I hope we have better first choices next season. Let's be honest, he's a winger trying his best to cosplay as a wingback.

Yeah, it's tricky. I do worry the budget might be a bit tied up on that side. I could see Williams/Iredale and Johnston/Mbete again and I don't think it's enough.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Oops no, forgot him. He's improved recently and I like him but I hope we have better first choices next season. Let's be honest, he's a winger trying his best to cosplay as a wingback.

Yeah, it's tricky. I do worry the budget might be a bit tied up on that side. I could see Williams/Iredale and Johnston/Mbete again and I don't think it's enough.

As you've said, we need more creativity, so we may have to go with cosplaying wingers whom Evatt thinks he can train to track back (with more solid options, eg Iredale/Geth, on rare occasions). Charlton clearly want shut of homesick northwesterner Charlie Kirk, and I imagine they'd happily loan him out as they did last season - think he could fit, or would he weaken the defensive side more than he strengthened the attack?

[GhostoftheBok]

As you've said, we need more creativity, so we may have to go with cosplaying wingers whom Evatt thinks he can train to track back (with more solid options, eg Iredale/Geth, on rare occasions). Charlton clearly want shut of homesick northwesterner Charlie Kirk, and I imagine they'd happily loan him out as they did last season - think he could fit, or would he weaken the defensive side more than he strengthened the attack?

I think Kirk is another Sadlier waiting to happen.

Williams is more winger than wingback, but he at least sees himself as a wingback. We need to be careful with who we get in to avid unhappy wingers filling the books.

The left is tricky. It always has been. I wanted Cadden, but we can't compete with Barnsley and therein lies the issue. Lefties are in demand and other clubs will usually outbid you for the up and coming ones, so we're probably looking at an out of favour chap. That's how we got Williams.

I can think of a dozen options on the right, but the left is much harder. I do wonder if we might look at Chima Okoroji.

[BWFC_Insane]

We should recruit our wingbacks such that we could play a 343 or a 352.

I want primarily wingers in the wingback roles. What they do going forwards is more critical than the other way. Clearly we don’t want someone who does nothing defensively. There is a certain profile to the role. They need an engine and be keen to cover the ground.

But we have Iredale and Jones who can cover when we need a more defensive option.

But we’ve learned this season. We need wingbacks who are basically critical attacking players in this system.

Pace, direct running, crossing, engine, drive.

Get wingers who can do a job going backwards for me.

[GhostoftheBok]

Get wingers who can do a job going backwards for me.

So long as they know what they're getting in for.

The issue with Williams isn't that he's mostly a winger, it's that he's not been a good enough winger thus far.

I don't really care is someone has been a winger, a fullback or a sugarplum fairy. So long as the attributes are there and they want to play to role then that's fine.

What we need most are players who can attack fluidly, but who will run through brick walls for the team in all phases. Nicky Cadden is a winger, but he's excellent at wing back because he absolutely hates losing personal duels.

[BWFC_Insane]

Get wingers who can do a job going backwards for me.

So long as they know what they're getting in for.

The issue with Williams isn't that he's mostly a winger, it's that he's not been a good enough winger thus far.

I don't really care is someone has been a winger, a fullback or a sugarplum fairy. So long as the attributes are there and they want to play to role then that's fine.

What we need most are players who can attack fluidly, but who will run through brick walls for the team in all phases. Nicky Cadden is a winger, but he's excellent at wing back because he absolutely hates losing personal duels.

Absolutely agree. There is a profile to the player. But I’d definitely like us to have the option to play a 343 at times next year. Especially some home games.

Just need to find the next Ricardo Gardner.

[GhostoftheBok]

We're not miles off a 3-4-3 when we play with an orthodox 10, so it's not beyond the realms.

When you look at the teams who have outperformed us there are a few areas where we need to improve, outside just scoring more.

On clean sheets we've obviously been amazing, but there are aspects of defensive play that are also offensive and we're behind in those metrics.

When it comes to one-on-one duels we're about even with Cheltenham. Importantly, Plymouth, Sheff Wednesday and Derby all significantly outperformed us. It was in duels that we struggled against the Rams and the Owls.

We actually outperform most rivals in defensive duels, but that's mostly Santos' stats kicking in as he's an absolute monster in that area. If you filter him out it's a bit less rosy.

A lot of people have singled out our lack of recoveries per 90 as something to work on, but it's a bit of a false one as they're not factoring in possession. When you do we're very good here, but where we fall down is recoveries in the opposition 3rd. Those turnovers that were giving us goals last season aren't happening as frequently this term. That's where Barnsley beat us, with that style of final third press.

Why that's relevant to the current discussion is that there's an imbalance between our left and right in most of these metrics. We're not just offensively better down the right, we also win more possession on that flank. If we go more for wingers than wingbacks then the chances are we will become increasingly flaccid on the right and not gain a huge amount down the left.

Recoveries are net goals - or at least they have been for us under Evatt. If we just go for "wing play" we might gain some dribbly, crossy goals; but that could easily be offset by conceding more and not getting those transition goals.

We definitely need to be better in wide areas creatively, but it's a more complex picture than just, "Let's throw wingers at them."

If we are going to lose traction down that right side (very probable, given how good Bradley was) we need a holistic solution to that.

[BWFC_Insane]

Yeah I don’t think it’s Dapo style wingers we need. It’s the hard running sort who can work hard have presence and ideally some pace.

There is a balance to it.

Ricardo Gardner. As I say. A better full back than winger. But would have been a superb wing back.

[TANGODANCER]

Wing back, defender, midfield general, striker. You can buy the lot of them, but you can't buy spirit, attitude and desire to win. Barnsley haven't really got any world beaters yet they are in a play-off final with a chance of promotion, why is that?

You don't need to be a season ticket holder to answer a simple honest question; We simply aren't good enough. It isn't a sin to fail, but it surely is if you don't die trying. Come on then, shake the dust off and get back in there. Mr Evatt, the ball is with you sir...

[GhostoftheBok]

In terms of spirit and attitude this is the best Bolton team for many years.

The only lack of belief is with the ball. The belief that they can consistently make that pass, or that the touch of the receiving player will hold in a tough spot. You have to trust yourself and your team mate to do the most difficult things in the sport.

I think we need a couple of players in the middle that everyone else in the team trusts absolutely. Players everyone is always willing to pass to and who will always play the difficult ball that needs taking on.

Get them on the pitch and the change in this team will be dramatic. Once that change happens, it'll stick.

Give us 2 months with a 6 and 10 who will receive the ball in any situation and try any necessary pass and we'll storm this division. After that two months it won't matter if those new players are in the team, the change in mindset will be permanent for the group.

[irie Cee Bee]

In terms of spirit and attitude this is the best Bolton team for many years.

The only lack of belief is with the ball. The belief that they can consistently make that pass, or that the touch of the receiving player will hold in a tough spot. You have to trust yourself and your team mate to do the most difficult things in the sport.

I think we need a couple of players in the middle that everyone else in the team trusts absolutely. Players everyone is always willing to pass to and who will always play the difficult ball that needs taking on.

Get them on the pitch and the change in this team will be dramatic. Once that change happens, it'll stick.

Give us 2 months with a 6 and 10 who will receive the ball in any situation and try any necessary pass and we'll storm this division. After that two months it won't matter if those new players are in the team, the change in mindset will be permanent for the group.

This!