Reconstruction time again: the summer 2018 transfer thread

[bristol_Wanderer3]

I haven't seen much of Hobbs, except when he played at the Macron for Forest against us. Based on that it is hard to see him as a good signing. Wilbraham and Pratley both had free headers in that game, and it was Hobbs half mistake that led to ALF's goal. He has clearly had injury issues in making 74 appearances in the last four years at Forest. On the plus side if we could get him fit he could well be cheap enough for us and clearly has talent judging by the clubs who have paid money for him.

Raul de Tomas is a good age and has a good goalscoring record. At 5ft11 not sure how he, or we would cope being the focal point in a Parky team.

[Peter Thompson]

Hobbs is / was a quality centre back when fit, but has been injury prone this past 2 years

If we can get him in on favourable terms for BWFC (injury clauses etc) then its a definite yes, because with a run of games he would be an improvement at CB in my opinion.

[GhostoftheBok]

Jack Hobbs, when fit, is a Premier League player. Not a CL level player or an England international as was once hoped for him, but certainly of a good enough level to be in a Prem squad or play regularly for a lower-half side. He has similar limitations to the lads we already have, though, in terms of his lack of real pace. He might improve us player for player, but he's unlikely to improve the team tactically. It's up to the medical lot and the manager whether they think he can do a job for us. If they do, I'll be happy to see him here. Certainly a better player than Dervite, when fit.

As for RdT, anyone who scores that many goals over two seasons in the Segunda is at least worth a shot at a club like ours. People can scoff at European lower leagues, but the second divisions in Spain, France and Germany are competitive leagues with some good players and if he's banged in 40 goals in 2 seasons then sign him up. I'm not having it that the only lower division football in Europe that can produce good players is England's. If that were so, Leicester's recruitment team wouldn't have had such a good time in Ligue 2.

That's not to say I expect RdT to show up any more than I do Teixeira, but I'll be glad to welcome him here if he does. Either of them, for that matter.

[jonnybwfc]

No way de Tomas is coming here ... no way.

[mullayo]

Hobbs with injury clauses I'd snap up. Younger than Wheater and better than both. Would start giving us either Heater or Heevers or Whobbs and Bobbs.

RdT IDK, got a lot of goals but most of them were either eminently save-able or tap-ins. Powerful low centre of gravity is a plus but he also looks like he needs to be playing all the time.

[GhostoftheBok]

No way de Tomas is coming here ... no way.

Probably not, but we're all just reacting to gossip.

[malcd1]

No way de Tomas is coming here ... no way.

Ken's lad said this is a FAKE Story.

[GhostoftheBok]

First impressions from the Shay Stadium today...

Ozzy came on in the second half and looked bright. Good touch, runs really well and his vision is good.
Hobbs looks like he's barely played in two years. Great in the air, good reading etc but slow and overweight.
Donaldson and Alf combined well at times and seemed to understand each other.
Buckley did far better than I'd have expected and he and Vela were threats from midfield.
Not sure if Beevers gained a yard or Wheater lost one, but Mark looked the quicker of the two today.

Generally a load of hoofball with the odd bit of decent stuff, as you'd expect from a pre-season game against Halifax. Some of the new lads looked like they actually wanted to play some football and the old hands just kept hoofing it. Johnson, Pritchard and Ozzy won't be any use to anyone unless the ball is on the deck.

[Harry Genshaw]

What was the score?

[Peter Thompson]

First impressions from the Shay Stadium today...

Ozzy came on in the second half and looked bright. Good touch, runs really well and his vision is good.
Hobbs looks like he's barely played in two years. Great in the air, good reading etc but slow and overweight.
Donaldson and Alf combined well at times and seemed to understand each other.
Buckley did far better than I'd have expected and he and Vela were threats from midfield.
Not sure if Beevers gained a yard or Wheater lost one, but Mark looked the quicker of the two today.

Generally a load of hoofball with the odd bit of decent stuff, as you'd expect from a pre-season game against Halifax. Some of the new lads looked like they actually wanted to play some football and the old hands just kept hoofing it. Johnson, Pritchard and Ozzy won't be any use to anyone unless the ball is on the deck.

So those who say that Parkinson doesn't tell the players to hoof it are talking out of their arses....surely they can pass it out from defence against Halifax in a friendly if the manager instructs them to do so....most players from other clubs want to play decent football, its sounds like Parkinson coaches that out of them quite quickly....

He'd have Brazil hoofing it within a week....no point bringing in better quality players if all Parkinson can do is play hoofball.

[truewhite15]

First impressions from the Shay Stadium today...

Ozzy came on in the second half and looked bright. Good touch, runs really well and his vision is good.
Hobbs looks like he's barely played in two years. Great in the air, good reading etc but slow and overweight.
Donaldson and Alf combined well at times and seemed to understand each other.
Buckley did far better than I'd have expected and he and Vela were threats from midfield.
Not sure if Beevers gained a yard or Wheater lost one, but Mark looked the quicker of the two today.

Generally a load of hoofball with the odd bit of decent stuff, as you'd expect from a pre-season game against Halifax. Some of the new lads looked like they actually wanted to play some football and the old hands just kept hoofing it. Johnson, Pritchard and Ozzy won't be any use to anyone unless the ball is on the deck.

So those who say that Parkinson doesn't tell the players to hoof it are talking out of their arses....surely they can pass it out from defence against Halifax in a friendly if the manager instructs them to do so....most players from other clubs want to play decent football, its sounds like Parkinson coaches that out of them quite quickly....

He'd have Brazil hoofing it within a week....no point bringing in better quality players if all Parkinson can do is play hoofball.

It's game one of pre-season. Put the pitchfork down for a bit, fer cryin' out loud...

[Peter Thompson]

First impressions from the Shay Stadium today...

Ozzy came on in the second half and looked bright. Good touch, runs really well and his vision is good.
Hobbs looks like he's barely played in two years. Great in the air, good reading etc but slow and overweight.
Donaldson and Alf combined well at times and seemed to understand each other.
Buckley did far better than I'd have expected and he and Vela were threats from midfield.
Not sure if Beevers gained a yard or Wheater lost one, but Mark looked the quicker of the two today.

Generally a load of hoofball with the odd bit of decent stuff, as you'd expect from a pre-season game against Halifax. Some of the new lads looked like they actually wanted to play some football and the old hands just kept hoofing it. Johnson, Pritchard and Ozzy won't be any use to anyone unless the ball is on the deck.

So those who say that Parkinson doesn't tell the players to hoof it are talking out of their arses....surely they can pass it out from defence against Halifax in a friendly if the manager instructs them to do so....most players from other clubs want to play decent football, its sounds like Parkinson coaches that out of them quite quickly....

He'd have Brazil hoofing it within a week....no point bringing in better quality players if all Parkinson can do is play hoofball.

It's game one of pre-season. Put the pitchfork down for a bit, fer cryin' out loud...

Appreciate that, no pitchforks & I 100% agree....but surely we don't need to hoof it against Halifax in a friendly.....do we not coach the players ?

[GhostoftheBok]

First impressions from the Shay Stadium today...

Ozzy came on in the second half and looked bright. Good touch, runs really well and his vision is good.
Hobbs looks like he's barely played in two years. Great in the air, good reading etc but slow and overweight.
Donaldson and Alf combined well at times and seemed to understand each other.
Buckley did far better than I'd have expected and he and Vela were threats from midfield.
Not sure if Beevers gained a yard or Wheater lost one, but Mark looked the quicker of the two today.

Generally a load of hoofball with the odd bit of decent stuff, as you'd expect from a pre-season game against Halifax. Some of the new lads looked like they actually wanted to play some football and the old hands just kept hoofing it. Johnson, Pritchard and Ozzy won't be any use to anyone unless the ball is on the deck.

So those who say that Parkinson doesn't tell the players to hoof it are talking out of their arses....surely they can pass it out from defence against Halifax in a friendly if the manager instructs them to do so....most players from other clubs want to play decent football, its sounds like Parkinson coaches that out of them quite quickly....

He'd have Brazil hoofing it within a week....no point bringing in better quality players if all Parkinson can do is play hoofball.

It's game one of pre-season. Put the pitchfork down for a bit, fer cryin' out loud...

Appreciate that, no pitchforks & I 100% agree....but surely we don't need to hoof it against Halifax in a friendly.....do we not coach the players ?

We went 4-4-2 and to be honest nobody looked too uncomfortable. I don't think it was a question of negative football, it was just that when you play 4-4-2 with the lads we had out in the starting 11 then Ameobi and Donaldson were the obvious outballs and the way to hit them was to hoof it.

Ameobi and Buckley both played some good football and switched play to each other and the fullbacks nicely; but when your midfield is Josh Vela and Jason Lowe you're not going to see much slide-rule passing and dribbling. Sammy and Will looked like Championship players.

Ozzy looks like he could be the ball-carrying mid we've not had since Mavies did his....well, everything and never recovered. He was only one for half an hour, but he was more creative than anything we had in midfield last season. He wasn't too popular with a couple of other lads, though. Told a few people off and demanded the ball for a free kick he didn't win. I liked it, even if the free kick was garbage. Dennis Politic won the free kick and looked lively. He wasn't a happy bunny that Ozzy took it and he sulked for a few minutes before he got over it.

A few of the young lads look like they're okay players. It's only 30 mins vs Halifax in a friendly, but they can at least receive a ball and pass it a few yards. Tackling not so much...

[mullayo]

What was the score?

2-1 to us. Alf and SAmeobi then the multiple changes at 60mins and we conceded.

[mullayo]

1) Hobbs looks like he's barely played in two years. Great in the air, good reading etc but slow and overweight.
2)Donaldson and Alf combined well at times and seemed to understand each other.
3) Buckley did far better than I'd have expected and he and Vela were threats from midfield.
Not sure if Beevers gained a yard or Wheater lost one, but Mark looked the quicker of the two today.

4)Johnson, Pritchard and Ozzy won't be any use to anyone unless the ball is on the deck.

1) So we give him lots of pre-season and sign him? How slow? Slower than Wheater?

2) So striker not the priority anymore? Apparently Donaldson scored but was incorrectly ruled out.

3) Same with left wing. Making the main priority DM? BTW how did Politc look he's a lefty too?

4) That's why midgets are luxury signings and won't make the bench. Ozzy has goal threat at least but the other two.

[GhostoftheBok]

1) He turned slower than either of the big lads, but they both look like they've come back to training in great shape and Hobbs needs work.
2) Striker is absolutely a priority. This is Halifax Town we're talking about. Donaldson looked onside to me, the officials were dodgy all game. Some of the decisions were unbelievable. There was one where Vela got dragged down by a player holding his shirt and the ref somehow decided Vela was the one who made the foul. The assistant ref near the away fans seemed to wait until the players appealed and then made the award to whomever shouted at her loudest.
3) Again, Buckley taking on a Halifax side with a load of trialists in it was nice to see, but we still need players in as before. Politic made some good runs and he has a trick. Needs to get his head up when he runs and he needs to time his movement better when players are trying to find him. Has some ability, certainly - but then so do loads of lads in the Conference. No idea if he's got enough yet.
4) Hard to say that a right back won't feature because of his lack of goal threat. The ball spent half the time in the air after the changes. There was one head tennis session that went on for about a dozen headers. In the Championship, someone would have brought one of those down on the chest and actually played. Johnson went off injured after he got hacked and was replaced by Connell. Didn't look bad, just a precaution from the staff. Pritchard tried too hard, but when he had a couple of decent touches he did okay. The main issue was that Hobbs and Edwards were booting everything. Ozzy went mad at them a few times for not just passing it 10 yards and instead going 50 yards to nobody. Pritchard and Johnson both look like talented players who have spent too long in academy football and need to see some proper game time. Same can be said for a few we've produced over the years.

There's plenty of work to do, but we expected that. We're in preseason and we've not seen many changes to the squad yet, in terms of incoming players.

[mullayo]

1) He turned slower than either of the big lads, but they both look like they've come back to training in great shape and Hobbs needs work.
2) Striker is absolutely a priority. This is Halifax Town we're talking about. Donaldson looked onside to me, the officials were dodgy all game. Some of the decisions were unbelievable. There was one where Vela got dragged down by a player holding his shirt and the ref somehow decided Vela was the one who made the foul. The assistant ref near the away fans seemed to wait until the players appealed and then made the award to whomever shouted at her loudest.
3) Again, Buckley taking on a Halifax side with a load of trialists in it was nice to see, but we still need players in as before. Politic made some good runs and he has a trick. Needs to get his head up when he runs and he needs to time his movement better when players are trying to find him. Has some ability, certainly - but then so do loads of lads in the Conference. No idea if he's got enough yet.
4) Hard to say that a right back won't feature because of his lack of goal threat. The ball spent half the time in the air after the changes. There was one head tennis session that went on for about a dozen headers. In the Championship, someone would have brought one of those down on the chest and actually played. Johnson went off injured after he got hacked and was replaced by Connell. Didn't look bad, just a precaution from the staff. Pritchard tried too hard, but when he had a couple of decent touches he did okay. The main issue was that Hobbs and Edwards were booting everything. Ozzy went mad at them a few times for not just passing it 10 yards and instead going 50 yards to nobody. Pritchard and Johnson both look like talented players who have spent too long in academy football and need to see some proper game time. Same can be said for a few we've produced over the years.

There's plenty of work to do, but we expected that. We're in preseason and we've not seen many changes to the squad yet, in terms of incoming players.

Thanks Bok, you certainly are a busy bee.
What do you make of Ozzy's bossiness? He's not Bashful but is he being Grumpy for a good reason? For the team or for himself?
Also, how did Lowe go? Upgrade on Henry and/or Pratley in your opinion or just younger?

[mullayo]

Depth Chart - youf/backups italicised

GK: Alnwick, Turner
CB: Wheater, Beevers, Hobbs, Edwards, Brockbank
RB: Olki, Little, Darby, Chiori
LB: Taylor, Muscatt
DM: Lowe, Earring
AM: Oztumer, Vela, Pritchard,
RW: SAmeobi, Noone
LW: Will Buckley, Noone, Dennis Politic, Duke McKenna,
ST: ALF, Donaldson, Conor Hall,

Priorities: DM, LB, LW, TS,GK

[GhostoftheBok]

1) He turned slower than either of the big lads, but they both look like they've come back to training in great shape and Hobbs needs work.
2) Striker is absolutely a priority. This is Halifax Town we're talking about. Donaldson looked onside to me, the officials were dodgy all game. Some of the decisions were unbelievable. There was one where Vela got dragged down by a player holding his shirt and the ref somehow decided Vela was the one who made the foul. The assistant ref near the away fans seemed to wait until the players appealed and then made the award to whomever shouted at her loudest.
3) Again, Buckley taking on a Halifax side with a load of trialists in it was nice to see, but we still need players in as before. Politic made some good runs and he has a trick. Needs to get his head up when he runs and he needs to time his movement better when players are trying to find him. Has some ability, certainly - but then so do loads of lads in the Conference. No idea if he's got enough yet.
4) Hard to say that a right back won't feature because of his lack of goal threat. The ball spent half the time in the air after the changes. There was one head tennis session that went on for about a dozen headers. In the Championship, someone would have brought one of those down on the chest and actually played. Johnson went off injured after he got hacked and was replaced by Connell. Didn't look bad, just a precaution from the staff. Pritchard tried too hard, but when he had a couple of decent touches he did okay. The main issue was that Hobbs and Edwards were booting everything. Ozzy went mad at them a few times for not just passing it 10 yards and instead going 50 yards to nobody. Pritchard and Johnson both look like talented players who have spent too long in academy football and need to see some proper game time. Same can be said for a few we've produced over the years.

There's plenty of work to do, but we expected that. We're in preseason and we've not seen many changes to the squad yet, in terms of incoming players.

Thanks Bok, you certainly are a busy bee.
What do you make of Ozzy's bossiness? He's not Bashful but is he being Grumpy for a good reason? For the team or for himself?
Also, how did Lowe go? Upgrade on Henry and/or Pratley in your opinion or just younger?

Lowe looked like your typical destroyer. Not a great tackler, but put himself about. Not a great passer, but mostly retained possession. The idea of him in a 4-4-2 makes me want to self-harm, but in a 3 he'd be useful. He'll pick up a lot of yellows if he keeps banging around like a pinball, though.

Ozzy looked like he's used to being the (little) big man at Walsall. Certainly has a mouth on him and expects people to give him the ball when he wants it and run where he wants them to run. He played a couple of good passes that the lads in front of him didn't read, but also gave the ball away trying stuff that wasn't on. Looked a player, to me. Probably a bit selfish and I doubt PP will have liked the little scrap he and Politic had over who would take the free kick. Presumably it'll be the junior lad who will get told his place and not Ozzy.

[GhostoftheBok]

Depth Chart - youf/backups italicised

GK: Alnwick, Turner
CB: Wheater, Beevers, Hobbs, Edwards, Brockbank
RB: Olki, Little, Darby, Chiori
LB: Taylor, Muscatt
DM: Lowe, Earring
AM: Oztumer, Vela, Pritchard,
RW: SAmeobi, Noone
LW: Will Buckley, Noone, Dennis Politic, Duke McKenna,
ST: ALF, Donaldson, Conor Hall,

Priorities: DM, LB, LW, TS,GK

The trouble is that we're not even sure what system we'll be playing, so it's all guesswork at this stage. If we want to go 3-at-the-back then we suddenly need 3 more centre backs, if we're going with the old 4-3-3 then we have very different requirements. 4-4-2 changes things again.

I'm hoping for 4-3-3, given the players we have; but you'd have to imagine some of the youth players would then struggle to see the pitch. I'm thinking specifically of Hall, who looks like a pure striker and will be behind 3 senior pros (we hope).