Summer 2020 transfers

[TonyDomingos]

Tom White on a season-long loan from Blackburn. 23 year old midfielder who apparently went to Barrow on loan for a couple of months last season. Well chuffed to be signing for the biggest club on Earth etc.

He's more than well chuffed: he's "buzzing"!

My mistake. I got caught up in the giddiness

You're "buzzing" too? It's more infectious than fkin covid!

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Toon Tom's first interview. Sounds like Ev had him lined up for a while - wonder if we kept him at arm's length while we saw who else we could get, or if Blackburn were holding fire on loaning him again for the last year of his contract.

Also: "massive football club"

https://www.bwfc.co.uk/news/2020/july/- ... at-bolton/

I’m absolutely delighted to have joined the club. It’s been on the offing for a while and it’s taken a little bit longer than I would’ve liked to be fair, a bit stressful and everything but there was only one place I wanted to come this summer and I’m buzzing that it’s finally been done.

I’ve got a really good relationship with the gaffer. His record last season speaks for itself. It’s an honour that he’s asked me to come back with him because I know how good of a manager he is and what he’s capable of. The fact he’s rang me up and asked me to come to Bolton is a huge pat on the back for myself and I’m obviously happy that he’s given me another opportunity.

I can’t speak highly enough of Barrow and the fans there. It will always hold a special place in my heart and obviously with the promotion and the success it was a great time in my life and probably the best six months I’ve had in football. Hopefully I can carry on that momentum and kick on here.

I spoke to the manager when he got the job here and he asked me to join him. Obviously it’s a massive football club and I was buzzing to come here. It has been a little bit of a wait just sorting things out but I told him that I’d jump at the opportunity to come and play for Bolton.

I remember Bolton as a Premier League club when I was growing up. I had a season ticket at Newcastle when Bolton were an ever present in the Premier League. It’s an unbelievable opportunity for me to come and play my football at such a massive club. I’m on loan from Blackburn which is another huge football club, so I’m in a fortunate position and I hope I can capitalise on that.

I had a look around the place on Friday and then went back up north to pack my stuff and come back down on Sunday night. The training ground and the facilities are obviously very good and the training has been very sharp. It was a very good standard and I think once the gaffer gets his methods into the players and the fitness levels right, I can only see us getting better and better.

I would say I’m quite a busy player, I like to get about the pitch and get on the ball. I like to do both sides of the game; I enjoy having the ball but I also enjoy winning it back. I’d say I’m a player with a lot of energy and hopefully a bit of composure on the ball. I think it’s all about first impressions really, it’s up to me to make an impact and then fans can make their own minds up on me.

A few years back I got a promotion with Scarborough as well and it would be nice to get a third promotion of my career this season. It’s the minimum really that this football club should be aiming for, nothing else is acceptable really. I know the gaffer has said the same thing, so we’ll all be pulling in the same direction and fingers crossed we can be up there.

I had my spell at Gateshead and then got my opportunity to go to Blackburn and for whatever reason that hasn’t really gone as I’d planned. The gaffer gave me a lifeline last year to play at Barrow and play in the National League which is a very tough league, but we did really well.

I’ve always thought that I could make the step up into the Football League; I’ve got the opportunity now and I just need to prove it to myself really. I’ve got the confidence to think I can do it, so it’s now about me going out there and making my feet do the talking.

The last time I took part in a training session before coming here was back in early March. I’ve been doing a lot with my friends back home, meeting up in the local park and keeping fit – just ticking the days down really until we were back in training. It was brilliant to get the boots on this morning and get on the grass and I just can’t wait for it to keep going.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

DSB said (on page 2 of this thread):

Which leaves Matt Platt, and to a lesser extent Tom White and Olly Dyson, as the closest to a continuity candidate from the Barrow buffet

We'll see on Platt - we know where he is, might be chasing other targets first.

Matty Platt has joined Barrow on a permanent deal. Next...

[Bertie Wooster]

DSB said (on page 2 of this thread):

Which leaves Matt Platt, and to a lesser extent Tom White and Olly Dyson, as the closest to a continuity candidate from the Barrow buffet

We'll see on Platt - we know where he is, might be chasing other targets first.

Matty Platt has joined Barrow on a permanent deal. Next...

I don't think that he was ever a target for Evatt at Bolton, I expect a CB to sign before the end of the week as well as 1 or 2 others.

[Prufrock]

A couple of the ones who run up and down the sides would be nice!

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Matty Platt has joined Barrow on a permanent deal. Next...

I don't think that he was ever a target for Evatt at Bolton, I expect a CB to sign before the end of the week as well as 1 or 2 others.

Maybe, maybe not. Many noted that Platt's arrival (and Evatt's shift to back three) kickstarted Barrow's good form last season. Certainly Platt is higher up the mentions for key players. Doesn't matter now, and we seem to be investigating options.

At the moment we've got four senior centre-backs, five if you count Senior as a senior, which is possible but arguable. It might now be getting down to how much of our wage budget – under embargo and as-yet-undecided salary cap – we want to spend on more centre-backs when, as noted, we don't seem to have a single wingback in the building (unless Bunney re-signs). Might be why Turnbull went to Salford.

I still think / hope we've got a decent name or two under wraps awaiting confirmation. Now Barnet are finished we'll see if the rumours linking us with their Portuguese wardrobe RICARDO SANTOS come to anything. From what I've seen I'd also hope we've got some or all of the following, who I've previously mentioned, under consideration:

• CALLUM McFADZEAN (free-agent former Plymouth left wingback who wants to move north - 38.6 passes per game, 69.9% accurate, 1.3 goalscoring chances created per game)
• JOSEPH MILLS (free-agent former FGR left wingback, 39.4 ppg, 73.7%, 1.5 chances)
• LIAM SHEPHARD (free-agent former FGR right wingback, 32.8 ppg, 76.2%, 1.8 chances)
• GETHIN JONES (free-agent former Carlisle right-sider, ex-Everton, 31.3ppg, 66%, 0.9 chances)
• AARON CHAPMAN (free-agent former Peterborough goalkeeper, was at Chesterfield with Evatt, promoted with Accy)

Another name to consider has popped up, and those with exhaustive memories may recall it from back in the day:

RHYS BENNETT – Bolton born (although some sources say Whitefield) centre-back, 6ft3in, 28 (DOB 1.9.91). Was on our books from 18 to 21 but we were Premier League and he couldn't get in. Played 110 lower-league games for Rochdale, then 84 for Mansfield, then followed Steve Evans to Peterborough and played another 50 for them before being released this summer. That's 244 lower-league games. Guess he could follow Evans again to Gillingham but again I wouldn't be amazed if we're interested and so is he. The fact he's also played as a holding midfielder might suggest he's happy on the ball. I'll see what else I can dig out.

[Bertie Wooster]

DSB - I'll be surprised if Santos doesn't sign in the next day or so.

[officer_dibble]

A couple of the ones who run up and down the sides would be nice!

Second only to a chap what stands in between the goal posts.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

DSB - I'll be surprised if Santos doesn't sign in the next day or so.

He’s announced this afternoon that he’s leaving Barnet.
.

.
To which his (ex) manager was the first respondent...
.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

• CALLUM McFADZEAN (free-agent former Plymouth left wingback who wants to move north - 38.6 passes per game, 69.9% accurate, 1.3 goalscoring chances created per game)

Official Plymouth Twitter: "Wing-back @McfadzeanCallum has opted to move on after a memorable season at Home Park. Thanks for the memories, Fadz, and all the best for the future. "

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

...earlier lists are here viewtopic.php?f=4&t=27117#p1091094 and here viewtopic.php?p=1091324#p1091324 but may now be woefully out of date... In D3, still no word as I can see from Ipswich, Tranmere and three play-off contenders (Wycombe, Oxford and Fleetwood).

League One

Fleetwood
Released
Kyle Dempsey
Matt Gilks
Conor McAleny
Dean Marney
James Cottam
Gerard Garner

- Gilks is now our GK coach (we think)
- McAleny is a forward, ex Everton, 27, 5ft10, 21 goals in 98 third-tier games (58 starts)

Wycombe
Released
Craig Mackail-Smith
Sido Jombati
Jamie Mascoll
Jacob Gardiner-Smith

- Mackail-Smith is a recognisable name but he's 36
- Sido Jombati is a right-sided centre-back, Portuguese (like Ricardo Santos - JSL), 6ft4, 32, two promotions in three years with Wycombe

[TonyDomingos]

...earlier lists are here viewtopic.php?f=4&t=27117#p1091094 and here viewtopic.php?p=1091324#p1091324 but may now be woefully out of date... In D3, still no word as I can see from Ipswich, Tranmere and three play-off contenders (Wycombe, Oxford and Fleetwood).

League One

Fleetwood
Released
Kyle Dempsey
Matt Gilks
Conor McAleny
Dean Marney
James Cottam
Gerard Garner

- Gilks is now our GK coach (we think)
- McAleny is a forward, ex Everton, 27, 5ft10, 21 goals in 98 third-tier games (58 starts)

Wycombe
Released
Craig Mackail-Smith
Sido Jombati
Jamie Mascoll
Jacob Gardiner-Smith

- Mackail-Smith is a recognisable name but he's 36
- Sido Jombati is a right-sided centre-back, Portuguese (like Ricardo Santos - JSL), 6ft4, 32, two promotions in three years with Wycombe

You can never have too many Portugeezers!

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Couple more notes on a centre-back theme where, to quote the Stranglers, the Rodneys are queuing up.

AARON MARTIN - Exeter, 30 (29.9.89), 6ft3, regarded as one of their best performers as the Grecians passed their way to the play-off final. 200-odd league appearances, including bit parts in two Southampton promotions.

ROD McDONALD - AFC Wimbledon, 28 (11.4.92), 6ft3. Nicknamed 'Concrete Rod' while winning fourth-tier promotions with ChrisWilder'sNorthampton (2016) and Coventry (2018). Liverpool-born, started at City, dropped into non-league, picked up by Chris Wilder. 100ish lower league appearances in the five seasons since. Fun fact: Rodney Troy McDonald is the son of ex-footballer Rodney McDonald and the younger brother of footballer Clayton Rodney McDonald, he of the Ched Evans link. And moving swiftly on to another Rodney...

MATT CASEY - Maybe one for the B-team/future. A startling 6ft8 (and nicknamed "Rodney" as in Trotter), the 20-y-o was the Pompey Academy’s player of the season in 2017/18 but has been released after being farmed out for non-league loan spells. One of them was at Bognor, where the gaffer - the one and only Robbie Blake - said "Technically, Matt is very good. He can pick a pass, can use both feet and is technically very good. Matt’s still very young and still has a very good chance of having a professional career, but he has just got to become that bit more aggressive. I’ve said to him that he has to become more of a focal point in the dressing room. Because of the size of him and stature, it will bode well for him going forward. That is the one bit of advice that I would give him. He’s got all of the height and the physicality but, as a person, he just needs to bring it out of him." 6ft fkn 8.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Wondering about strikers - we can't go into a season with just Doyle and Faal, so we'll need others. But who?

Being as we're after free transfers, we were lucky to get Doyle but there are one or two other L2 strikers coming available. Some options:

NICKY MAYNARD
Now firmly a veteran at 33 (DOB 11.12.86), the Cheshire-born 5ft11 striker has scored 34 in 70 (63 starts) at this level and 33 in 89 (72 starts) at the one above. That's probably why he's been linked with two promoted teams, Swindon and his old club Crewe, this summer since stalling on a new contract at Mansfield, where he scored 14 in 33 - only Doyle got more - to follow his 20 in 37 for Bury the previous season. However, money might be an issue, and we may not want to promise too much of it to someone who's 34 before Christmas.

OLLIE PALMER
"We are struggling to get Ollie to sign, I think he will be leaving." So said Crawley boss John Yems (who knew?) on 13 July. 6ft5in and 28 (DOB 21.1.92), Palmer was League Two's join-fifth top scorer last season with 12 in 28 games (22 starts) – not bad for a team finishing 13th. He was also their top scorer the previous season and has played at this level for Lincoln, Orient and Mansfield – although not as prolifically (54 in 249 overall, 132 starts) because he has been labelled "super-sub": one season he scored 11 for Lincoln but only started 15 and came on 42 times.

THEO ROBINSON
Pacy 5ft11in striker, now 31 (DOB 22.1.89). Scored 11 in 28 last season for Colchester (Brandon Comley's old team, remember), his 14th club. He was there on loan from Southend. Overall fourth-tier record is 31 in 87 (66 starts) – at Hereford 13 seasons ago, then Swindon and Colchester in the last two.

Dipping into Division Five, one that Evatt knows well, with a few more strikers, one that Evatt knows well...

JAKE HYDE
Joint-6th top scorer in the National League with 16 from 32 games (28 starts) for 10th-placed Woking – including two in an early 3-2 win over Evatt's Barrow – Hyde is 6ft1 and turned 30 this month. Overall he's bagged 32 from 92 (70 starts) in that division, 29 from 131 (88 starts) in League Two - half of them when he top-scored for relegated Barnet in 2012/13 with an impressive 15 in 40 (31 starts). Signed a one-year contract last summer; no word on him signing an extension, although team-mates have.

SIMEON AKINOLA
Scored 14 in 30 National League games (28 starts) last season for Barnet, who finished 11th but got hoisted into the playoffs on PPG. Struggled at fourth-tier level with Barnet - 6 goals in 48 Football League games, although half were as sub and he's also frequently played as a left-winger. The Nigerian-born, Madrid-raised former futsal player with a degree in systems engineering was released by Barnet this summer, although that's far from the worst news of his year: sadly, his dad died of COVID-19.

KRISTIAN DENNIS
Mentioned here before. 5ft11in Manc, just turned 30 (DOB 11.3.90). Has scored 13 in 31 (just 17 starts) for 3rd-placed Notts County this season (so far: they're in the play-off final v Harrogate and frantically hoping he'll get over the muscle pull that saw him subbed in the semi - after scoring). Overall record at that level is 34 in 69 (48 starts), and he's also scored 24 in 84 (58 starts) in League Two – including, very notably, 19 in 43 (38 starts) for Chesterfield in 2017/18. That's notable because they finished bottom, but very relevant because his captain was Ian Evatt. (Other team-mates, reading like a list of BWFC past and possibly future, included Chris O'Grady, Andy Kellett, Sam Hird, Aaron Ramsdale, Jake Eastwood and Giles Coke.) His contract expires this summer, and Notts County were prepared to let him leave for a League club last year if an offer came in. If they don't go up, he might very well move on. Even if they do, it wouldn't astonish me to see him pop up here.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Alan Nixon is reporting that young Sheffield United goalkeeper Jake Eastwood, whom we'd wanted on loan, is off up north to join Kilmarnock instead. So BWFC Twittererz are consoling themselves with the rumour that instead we're going to borrow Chelsea's JAMAL BLACKMAN (who we were strongly supposed to be borrowing back in summer 2017 after promotion). Some are even going so far as to say he's staying at the hotel, but add your own salt to taste.

So who he? 6ft6in 26-year-old who, in the Chelsea way, has already had seven loans: Middlesbrough, Östersund, Wycombe, Sheffield United, Leeds, Vitesse and most recently Bristol Rovers. Played 42 games in this division for Wycombe.

[BWFC_Insane]

Alan Nixon is reporting that young Sheffield United goalkeeper Jake Eastwood, whom we'd wanted on loan, is off up north to join Kilmarnock instead. So BWFC Twittererz are consoling themselves with the rumour that instead we're going to borrow Chelsea's JAMAL BLACKMAN (who we were strongly supposed to be borrowing back in summer 2017 after promotion). Some are even going so far as to say he's staying at the hotel, but add your own salt to taste.

So who he? 6ft6in 26-year-old who, in the Chelsea way, has already had seven loans: Middlesbrough, Östersund, Wycombe, Sheffield United, Leeds, Vitesse and most recently Bristol Rovers. Played 42 games in this division for Wycombe.

I really can’t see Blackman rumour being anything at all. Surely he’s at the point of needing to be far higher than league two.

Also nobody with any track record in these things seems to give it much credence.

[irie Cee Bee]

Cheked out his Wikki page (Yes I know). Someone has already updated his carreer infor with 2020...Bolton Wandereers (Loan). Take that for what its worth.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamal_Blackman

[Harry Genshaw]

Excellent work DSB. Talk of a busy few days coming up. FV must be pretty confident with their budget, committing to new contracts when we still dont know when we can attend games again.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Plenty talk now about LIAM GORDON, a 21yo Guyanese international leftback or leftwingback at Dagenham & Redbridge. Was linked with Wolves about the tome they signed young Mathieson from Rochdale for the other side; at the time it was said plenty of EFL clubs had watched him. Curious then that Daggers had loaned him down a division to Dartford for part of last season, but hey-ho - trust the process, and so on.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Alan Nixon is reporting that young Sheffield United goalkeeper Jake Eastwood, whom we'd wanted on loan, is off up north to join Kilmarnock instead. So BWFC Twittererz are consoling themselves with the rumour that instead we're going to borrow Chelsea's JAMAL BLACKMAN (who we were strongly supposed to be borrowing back in summer 2017 after promotion). Some are even going so far as to say he's staying at the hotel, but add your own salt to taste.

So who he? 6ft6in 26-year-old who, in the Chelsea way, has already had seven loans: Middlesbrough, Östersund, Wycombe, Sheffield United, Leeds, Vitesse and most recently Bristol Rovers. Played 42 games in this division for Wycombe.

I really can’t see Blackman rumour being anything at all. Surely he’s at the point of needing to be far higher than league two.

Also nobody with any track record in these things seems to give it much credence.

I don’t think it’s a solid rumour, but not necessarily because of our division. He’s hardly threatening the first team. Curious legacy contract thing. They have people hanging round for years.