Who opened the door? My money is on Janus! 2024 January transfer thread.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

I know fans on forums don't always offer the most nuanced or balanced views (ahem), but having a quick read of the Blackburn forum doesn't fill me with confidence regarding Ennis. Most concerning would be the suggestions that he's not very mobile and can't stay fit - certainly not what we need right now.

But then again Plymouth fans say things like "We wouldn’t have got promoted without him last season. A brilliant all round forward when he’s fit and firing", "Quality player that should have stayed". Last season in League One he got 12 goals and 6 assists from 38 games, of which he only completed 3 (19 subbed on, 16 subbed off). 18 goal involvements from 1,838 minutes.

[The_Gun]

The 'when he's fit and firing' presumably being quite key there. Are we in a position where we can afford to be rehabilitating an unfit player?

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

The 'when he's fit and firing' presumably being quite key there. Are we in a position where we can afford to be rehabilitating an unfit player?

Are we in a position where we can rely on Cameron Jerome?

Yeah, I hear you, 'course. Always a risk. If he were fit and firing they wouldn't be sending him on loan.

But it's not often you get the chance to borrow a player who scored 12 and assisted 6 in your division just the previous season - and also presumably wouldn't be stamping his feet demanding to start every game (and nor will his club). 20-30 minutes off the bench every game, from a striker who knows where the net is and is, apparently, pacy (when fit) – I can certainly see the appeal.

[jmjhb]

Jensen Weir, who has been mentioned here a couple of times, has gone to Port Vale.

[GhostoftheBok]

Jensen Weir, who has been mentioned here a couple of times, has gone to Port Vale.

Blackpool are getting a bad rep. Arsenal were very unhappy with them last season.

Now they've cocked another one up.

Currently no development loanees at the club. Will be interesting to see who is willing to take that risk any time soon. No doubt someone will, but they won't get many more chances with proper talent.

[nicholaldo]

Not playing staff, but we now have a head of sports science:

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Iles in BN: we didn’t want Joe Taylor and don’t want Onomah; but we would be interested in Niall Ennis if he’s available.

https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/2 ... g-january/

[BWFC_Insane]

Iles in BN: we didn’t want Joe Taylor and don’t want Onomah; but we would be interested in Niall Ennis if he’s available.

https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/2 ... g-january/

Makes a lot of sense. I mean Ennis scored 14 last season 12 in this league and clearly has quality if he’s fit and a loan to get his fitness back might suit everyone.

Taylor felt like more of a project/punt given where he’s played at and not sure that’s the business we need to be in this January.

But what about wing backs?

[sonicthewhite]

Iles in BN: we didn’t want Joe Taylor and don’t want Onomah; but we would be interested in Niall Ennis if he’s available.

https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/2 ... g-january/

Makes a lot of sense. I mean Ennis scored 14 last season 12 in this league and clearly has quality if he’s fit and a loan to get his fitness back might suit everyone.

Taylor felt like more of a project/punt given where he’s played at and not sure that’s the business we need to be in this January.

But what about wing backs?

We've still got 21 days to see if we can find a wingback or two down the back of the sofa

[TANGODANCER]

But what about wing backs?

We've still got 21 days to see if we can find a wingback or two down the back of the sofa
[/quote]

Oh for a Fossey to get off the train at Horwich Parkway!

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Iles in BN: we didn’t want Joe Taylor and don’t want Onomah; but we would be interested in Niall Ennis if he’s available.

https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/2 ... g-january/

Makes a lot of sense. I mean Ennis scored 14 last season 12 in this league and clearly has quality if he’s fit and a loan to get his fitness back might suit everyone.

Taylor felt like more of a project/punt given where he’s played at and not sure that’s the business we need to be in this January.

But what about wing backs?

“We know what we want and who we want but in the January window there is always that domino effect, so for now we’re just having to sit tight, be patient and wait.”

No mention of Idris El Mizouni (Ipswich No6), or young Spurs defender Tyrell Ashcroft. Have we even been linked with a wingback?

[boltonboris]

Surely if you know who you want, you do it early. Benefits everyone - The longer it goes on, the less likely the buying team is to get a good deal and things fall through

[BWFC_Insane]

Surely if you know who you want, you do it early. Benefits everyone - The longer it goes on, the less likely the buying team is to get a good deal and things fall through

I guess the assumption I'd have is we're only looking for loans and therefore have to wait for a club to decide to let us have a player.

But yeah I'd worry that the longer the month drags on the less likely we are to bring in what we need to mitigate the risks we have in the squad.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Surely if you know who you want, you do it early. Benefits everyone - The longer it goes on, the less likely the buying team is to get a good deal and things fall through

Early transfers are a benefit, but they're not always possible because no club operates in a vacuum and each club's outgoings are intricately interrelated with incomings. That's why Evatt mentions the domino effect.

Say for made-up instance we're interested in borrowing a RWB from Boro, call him Carl Thompson. He's on the fringes of the squad, a bit like Matheson, so Carrick doesn't want to get shut of him until they borrow Johnny Epsom-Salts, who helped Burnley go up but has been found out in the top flight. But before they send him out, Burnley are waiting on Vinny Kompany pulling strings at City to borrow their wunderkind Kian Town-Hall – who Pep won't let go until they've completed the £93m signing of Barcelona's Dani Navas.

So it's only when City sign Navas that they'll let Burnley borrow Town-Hall, at which the Clarets will send Epsom-Salts to Boro and we might get a crack at Thompson. Oh and then Matheson might be lent to say Donny. And on it goes.

The other option, which comes into play at some point if you're desperate enough, is that you ignore the guy at the top of the list for the one further down who you know is available and unwanted, just not as good. Not so much Mr Wright as Mr Wright-Now.

It's annoying for fans but today's only the first double-digit date in January. Three weeks left yet.

[boltonboris]

Perversely..

Boro can't loan Jonny Epsom Salts from Burnley, until the wages of Carl Thompson are temporarily off the books..... (?)

So it can go the other way. I suppose that would be more relevant to our division than the crack pot one above mind

[Worthy4England]

Karl Henry is still listed on Wiki as having made no appearances for Boldmere St. Michaels...and we're 1/3rd through the transfer window! Miguel hasn't even had a mention yet and he's played 10 times for Pisa....

[BWFC_Insane]

I think this is a different window to past ones. I assume its loans only. And we're flying in the league.

What we're needing is options in the short term to mitigate against potential points of failure. So key areas where we lack cover. Wing back, centre back (temporarily), and up front.

I think that there are options like say, Ennis, where they could also add qualities we don't possess and strengthen us.

I don't think its the same as permanent acquisitions. I'd be more than happy with adequate cover - even if the cover is worse than we have at either WB position, someone capable of doing the job, for a period if necessary who would be trusted is better than we have now. Even a bang average option who can just fill the role for a month might make a difference between promotion and missing out. They only need to be a gap filling option if that's what is available.

I don't think its a 'only sign our ideal targets or wait' window. Personally. I guess at wing back if someone is more experienced and solid than Matheson and maybe more naturally a wing back than Ashworth those are the sort of hurdles that would apply. Not much point signing someone under those but I think those are fairly low hurdles right now.

Up front is a less clear cut scenario as it probably is a case of someone 'different' rather than just basic capability.

But I don't want it to be a 'perfect is the enemy of the good' scenario. Maybe its not quite 'get a body' in situation but it would be somewhat frustrating to end up short in key areas for want of bringing in a 'league one average sort'.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Perversely..

Boro can't loan Jonny Epsom Salts from Burnley, until the wages of Carl Thompson are temporarily off the books..... (?)

So it can go the other way. I suppose that would be more relevant to our division than the crack pot one above mind

Yeah, it's actually biting a lot in the top flight with FFP etc. West Ham among those who have to sell to buy. But Wolves and others are baulking at Danny Ings' £150kpw wages...

So yeah - it can now be a double problem where clubs "above" want to shift players on bit need to find some suckers footing their exorbitant wages.

Dominoes.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

I think this is a different window to past ones. I assume its loans only. And we're flying in the league.

What we're needing is options in the short term to mitigate against potential points of failure. So key areas where we lack cover. Wing back, centre back (temporarily), and up front.

I think that there are options like say, Ennis, where they could also add qualities we don't possess and strengthen us.

I don't think its the same as permanent acquisitions. I'd be more than happy with adequate cover - even if the cover is worse than we have at either WB position, someone capable of doing the job, for a period if necessary who would be trusted is better than we have now. Even a bang average option who can just fill the role for a month might make a difference between promotion and missing out. They only need to be a gap filling option if that's what is available.

I don't think its a 'only sign our ideal targets or wait' window. Personally. I guess at wing back if someone is more experienced and solid than Matheson and maybe more naturally a wing back than Ashworth those are the sort of hurdles that would apply. Not much point signing someone under those but I think those are fairly low hurdles right now.

Up front is a less clear cut scenario as it probably is a case of someone 'different' rather than just basic capability.

But I don't want it to be a 'perfect is the enemy of the good' scenario. Maybe its not quite 'get a body' in situation but it would be somewhat frustrating to end up short in key areas for want of bringing in a 'league one average sort'.

I hear you and largely agree with you. Life is often about right-sizing - deciding where you are on sliding scales. I can see two, interlinked, for us in this window - namely:
• How good is good enough?
• How late is too late?

I guess every member of this forum will have different answers, but more importantly where's Ian's line? And arguably even more importantly, where are the lines of the managers/clubs he's dealing with?

For me, FWIW, I thought we left ourselves short at the end of the last window and got away with it through a frankly startling run of wins. I don't want us to have to get away with it again. I worry that our first-choice wingbacks are overused, and I worry that without Dion we're dreadfully weak up top. No squad is perfect and just about every manager will want to tweak his personnel this month. Where are people's lines?

[dave the minion]

For me, FWIW, I thought we left ourselves short at the end of the last window and got away with it through a frankly startling run of wins. I don't want us to have to get away with it again. I worry that our first-choice wingbacks are overused, and I worry that without Dion we're dreadfully weak up top. No squad is perfect and just about every manager will want to tweak his personnel this month. Where are people's lines?

Playing devil's advocate and being slightly provocative (just for the sport of it ): if we "got away with it" due to the run of wins and performances, doesn't that actually suggest that we didn't "get away with it" and IE got it spot on at the end of the summer & we weren't left short
(bear in mind we even managed that with the loss of Johnstone, who was presumably a shoe-in first teamer?)??

I do agree though - the wing-backs are very heavily used - but they do seem to be fit as fiddles (so maybe this was calculated?), and we could be exposed without Charles, but again, I wonder how much of it was lack of availability of suitable alternatives v carefully calculated risks?