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

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Who’s Declan?
Who’s John?

What with Declan, John, Kieran, Lee, Jackson and Irvine, it's hard to know what's a forename and what's a surname these days...

Declan John would fit nicely for us - a proper left wingback - but I'm not sure we'd fit for him, or his club. He's 25 now and has played most of his career in the second tier (and Scotland for Rangers). He would presumably hope not to be playing for a fourth-tier club, and his club might want more wedge in loan fee/wages than we can give.

Kieran Lee seems more believable: the sort of injury-plagued risk we have to take. Seems like a good type and I'd warmly applaud his arrival.

Jackson Irvine - Australia midfielder who left Hull in summer and has been thumb-twiddling since. Like Declan John, he's previously played in England's second tier and Scotland's top one. Currently training with Oldham but more because his compatriot Harry Kewell's in charge than because he fancies a fourth-tier dogfight. Irvine has said “It’s just for fitness. Harry has been great letting me come in to top my levels up before I make a decision in January.” Kewell said three days ago: "We’re here to help him out and get him fit and hopefully he can move onto bigger and better things."

As for the source - Burnden Way is a decent writer but not specifically ITK and seems to be mentioning the Irvine rumour off the back of a literal caricature 'agent' Twitter account. Might be right. We'll see.

[Bruce Rioja]

Who’s Declan?
Who’s John?

One's Elvis Costello and the other's Reg Dwight. Who the feck's Lee?

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Who’s Declan?
Who’s John?

One's Elvis Costello and the other's Reg Dwight. Who the feck's Lee?

Alvin? Arthur? Geddy? Peggy? Mavers? Scratch Perry? Jeans?

Also important not to mix up Kieran Lee, formerly of Sheffield Wednesday, with Keiran Lee, the somewhat unimaginative stage name of an adult movie actor (and Derby County fan) whose middle leg is insured for $1m.

[Worthy4England]

Who’s Declan?
Who’s John?

One's Elvis Costello and the other's Reg Dwight. Who the feck's Lee?

Alvin? Arthur? Geddy? Peggy? Mavers? Scratch Perry? Jeans?

Also important not to mix up Kieran Lee, formerly of Sheffield Wednesday, with Keiran Lee, the somewhat unimaginative stage name of an adult movie actor (and Derby County fan) whose middle leg is insured for $1m.

Given we reckoned we needed to beef up the middle, I'm now unsure which one we're in for...

[TonyDomingos]

Who’s Declan?
Who’s John?

One's Elvis Costello and the other's Reg Dwight. Who the feck's Lee?

Alvin? Arthur? Geddy? Peggy? Mavers? Scratch Perry? Jeans?

Also important not to mix up Kieran Lee, formerly of Sheffield Wednesday, with Keiran Lee, the somewhat unimaginative stage name of an adult movie actor (and Derby County fan) whose middle leg is insured for $1m.

Given we reckoned we needed to beef up the middle, I'm now unsure which one we're in for...

Either way, we're going up.

[Worthy4England]

Who’s Declan?
Who’s John?

One's Elvis Costello and the other's Reg Dwight. Who the feck's Lee?

Alvin? Arthur? Geddy? Peggy? Mavers? Scratch Perry? Jeans?

Also important not to mix up Kieran Lee, formerly of Sheffield Wednesday, with Keiran Lee, the somewhat unimaginative stage name of an adult movie actor (and Derby County fan) whose middle leg is insured for $1m.

Given we reckoned we needed to beef up the middle, I'm now unsure which one we're in for...

Either way, we're going up.

[Bruce Rioja]

Who’s Declan?
Who’s John?

One's Elvis Costello and the other's Reg Dwight. Who the feck's Lee?

Alvin? Arthur? Geddy? Peggy? Mavers? Scratch Perry? Jeans?

Also important not to mix up Kieran Lee, formerly of Sheffield Wednesday, with Keiran Lee, the somewhat unimaginative stage name of an adult movie actor (and Derby County fan) whose middle leg is insured for $1m.

A notable Ram then?

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Quite a few transfer quotes from the gaffer in this morning's local.

On a potential early incoming (or indeed ingoing):
https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/1 ... s-january/

Nothing is completed as yet but we think we have agreed a loan deal for someone. I don’t think that will be announced until early January but apart from dotting I’s and crossing t’s that is almost there. There will be in-goings and out-goings, simple as that, but there is nothing to confirm just yet.

.
On the trouble with shipping players out:
https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/1 ... b-january/

In this market place, the way football is, clubs are not really spending too much money. And we can’t just give them away for free because of the salary cap. It can’t be ‘go and play elsewhere but we’ll pay your wages’. We need to recoup as much as we can. They also love our training and what we do. They have been at other clubs and see how it compares here. They want to maintain their education here in midweek but go and play on a Saturday for another team. That is also tough to get teams to agree. Some of them want to go out and play but there are a lot of ifs, buts and maybes.

.
On sending back Crellin and White:
https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/1 ... s-january/

Nothing has been finalised yet but we are looking at different options, different outcomes. The lads need to be playing football and if you have come to a club and you are not playing then a) they have to want to play games themselves, but b) we are going to possibly look at returning them to their parent clubs. But I must underline that nothing has been finalised yet, we’re still talking and communicating. We will see where it ends up.

.
On heel-kicking free agents:
https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/1 ... er-window/

Football moves on really quickly and has a really short memory. Some of the players who have played a lot of games in the Championship, even up to the end of last season, and have ended up without a club until January, they are now looked upon as a risk because they haven’t played for five or six months. Clubs might rather get a loan who has been in and around a club, it’s a big decision to make. Once you've been out of the game for six months or a year it is hard to get back in.

.
On the risk/reward balance of signing free agents - on both sides:
https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/1 ... er-window/

The issue players have got is agents and their expectations. These players have been on really good money last season, top, top, money. So to come to a club like Bolton, working under a salary cap, we can only pay a certain amount. There's a massive differential between what they earned last season and what they are earning now.

But what I will say is that some money is better than none, and also you have the opportunity to get back in the window and get back to where you believe you should be. If we can help that, why not? If it means we get better players to come and use this platform, even if it is for six months, then why wouldn’t you take advantage of that? It's getting the players and the agents to understand it. They won’t get that money, they have missed the boat. The only way you get back to that earning power is by playing football. This is massive shop window and a massive club. It’s a great opportunity to get back to where you believe you should be.

[nicholaldo]

In this market place, the way football is, clubs are not really spending too much money. And we can’t just give them away for free because of the salary cap. It can’t be ‘go and play elsewhere but we’ll pay your wages’. We need to recoup as much as we can. They also love our training and what we do. They have been at other clubs and see how it compares here. They want to maintain their education here in midweek but go and play on a Saturday for another team. That is also tough to get teams to agree. Some of them want to go out and play but there are a lot of ifs, buts and maybes.

If points were awarded for confidence alone promotion would be a formality.

(To be fair to him, I came across a short clip of one of his training sessions prior to him joining us and it seemed pretty well thought out and put together)

[nicholaldo]

Much of what else he's been quoted on is for the attention of Kieran Lee and his agent I'd imagine, and he's quite right too.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Much of what else he's been quoted on is for the attention of Kieran Lee and his agent I'd imagine, and he's quite right too.

Could be specifically Lee/agent but could also be a warning shot across various bows. I imagine that as a big club in need of fresh blood we will be seen by more than one or two as a soft touch this window, but FV don't appear to throw cash around and Evatt has frequently been publicly vocal about his determination not to be held over a barrel.

For example, I still think that in the last window us refusing to pay big wages led to us getting Mascoll rather than an established LWB (say, for example, Callum McFadzean). That obviously seems the wrong choice in retrospect but we don't know the figures and alternatives, and we certainly do know that at that point we were still seeking a serious striker in to rival Doyle/Delf – Mascoll signed 24 Aug, and on 18 Sep Ilesy broke the news that David Ball wasn't coming and Evatt, without naming Ball, said “It's not the end of the world because a large chunk of our remaining budget was going to be spent on that player and that means that there are other opportunities." All we've signed since is Gnahoua and Isgrove, plus Kioso on loan. Such are the juggles.

So yeah. Sounds like Evatt sounding a warning to agents generally that we're not, in Jack Hayward's deathless phrase, a golden tit. I see no wrong in that, nor in his gradual change of stance on signing unattached players, which has gone from a late-summer "they won't be fit" to now warning them they won't get much and that "clubs" will be wary.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

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.

Nixon tweet: "PRESTON. Close to winning race for Ched Evans. FLEETWOOD may yet want fee for player Joey Barton said was out. SUNDERLAND and IPSWICH also been in for Evans. But PRESTON hopeful if fee/free thing is sorted."

[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.

Nixon tweet: "PRESTON. Close to winning race for Ched Evans. FLEETWOOD may yet want fee for player Joey Barton said was out. SUNDERLAND and IPSWICH also been in for Evans. But PRESTON hopeful if fee/free thing is sorted."

Aye I heard about that link earlier. I'm surprised at a championship club coming in for him. He must have a great agent! Barton and Fleetwood can ask for a fee all they like but they've either sacked Evans or they haven't.

I saw some talk on Twitter as us being linked with Gnanduillet (sp?)

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

I saw some talk on Twitter as us being linked with Gnanduillet (sp?)

Free transfer, 6ft4, played for three years with Evatt at Chesterfield. Turns 29 next month. Moved to Turkey last summer but that's been cut short. Said to be of interest to Rotherham, two tiers above us.

[Prufrock]

I remember him and Delf giving us the run around at Bloomfield Road in the telly a couple of years back. That's all I've got. Big feck*.

[TonyDomingos]

Iles confirms (more or less) that Declan John will join our merry gang for the remainder of the season.

https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/1 ... clan-john/

Also some mention of formations for the anoraks.

[officer_dibble]

Wonder how many games we’ll actually play? Need some wins to get that PPG ratio up!

[BWFC_Insane]

Iles confirms (more or less) that Declan John will join our merry gang for the remainder of the season.

https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/1 ... clan-john/

Also some mention of formations for the anoraks.

Right I know nothing about John.

But I don't think we are in great need of a LB....for me we need to go back four...I'd say either Jones or Brockbank can play LB adequately. And whilst a natural would be nice and certainly not a terrible addition - it can't be priority. Where priority should lie IMO (in this order)...

Wide forward type with pace
Centre midfield player who isn't blown over by a strong gust (I like Thomasson but come on he's not ready for 90 week in week out yet and midfield is weak).
Striker to add something different to Delf and Doyle
Goalkeeper
IF Kioso is to be recalled then probably a LB since we would move Jones across to RB.

That would be my priority. We have absolutely nobody beyond Delf and Doyle in attacking berths and nobody bar Gnahoua (hmmm) who can run at teams with the ball - that has to be a priority to actually improve the 11. Centre mid is a big problem that needs a fix. And a taller or quicker striker would help with an out ball at times. Obviously a keeper because Gilks is all we've got in reality. I'd say leave full backs alone UNLESS Kioso is recalled.

We've got to get a team on the pitch winning games and for me that means improving the first 11 wherever possible. In a 4231 (which Evatt suggests he'll play) we're lacking that wide forward type and we're lacking a proper midfield player to sit alongside Tutte (though I'd give Comley a go I doubt Evatt will).

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

I don't think we are in great need of a LB....

[BWFC_Insane]

I don't think we are in great need of a LB....

How many points will a natural left footed LB in a back four win us at this level over Jones (who is probably our most consistent performer) or Brockbank or even trying Mascoll there?

If we're continuing with a back three its a different story because natural width and pace down the left flank is essential. But I'd abandon 3 at the back and Evatt seemingly is talking that way too...so a left winger/forward type with pace for me would be more essential.