Snog, Marry, Avoid: Summer 2023 Transfer Window

[BWFC_Insane]

If we want to focus on delivery we need much better delivery from wing backs which means finding at least one really tremendous attacking wing back that I don’t think we yet have.

That's how Ipswich did it. Most of their goals came from crosses or cut-backs from the flanks. They also had players who could play through-balls to runners.

The Wilson "transfer saga" (as it would have been called were we still in the Prem) at least shows we want the type of player who can put it on a plate. Just as signing Shoretire show we want a lad who can create through the middle, even if he didn't have to impact Evatt thought he would.

On the left? Your guess is as good as mine as to whether one of Williams, John or Iredale is going to turn into Leif Davis with his 14 assists. I suspect not, but hope springs eternal.

Exactly. Their goals came from those wide areas a lot. They had a better midfield than we can put out and better wide players.

So if our strikers can do the business we need to focus on improvements in those areas still.

It’s clear that’s what we are looking at but it’s an imperative not a want.

[Worthy4England]

Marc Iles' latest piece has the following quotes from Evatt:

We are in a difficult scenario where we have moved past the free agent market and we are looking to improve by taking players from other clubs – and that means fees are involved and negotiations, not only with the players but the selling club too. It takes time so we need an air of patience and we are working really hard.

We are in a really good place and the ones we have done so far I am delighted with because they have started well and settled really well, especially over here in Portugal.

Pre-season is a real key block of time for Dan – and not just him but for some of the January recruits as well. Some of them, and they will be the first to admit this, but have not hit the heights we know they can get to yet.

Not that they have under-performed but not to the level I know they can be. And this block of time to coach them, ingrain the philosophy and what we want from them, it is really hard to do in-season when you are playing Saturday-Tuesday because time on the grass is really limited.

It is this time now that we can get tactical and technical detail into the players.

Dan needs to be fitter but he has so many tools and he is an exciting talent. He needs a home and Bolton is now his home, so hopefully we can now improve him and unlock all that untapped potential.

As expected, he's talking up the natural improvement we can expect from the January recruits and will be relying on that to get us where we need to go.

So where a lot of fans are saying, "This player only did this last time, so that's what we can expect" that isn't what Evatt is basing his plans on.

He has, in the past, got that call wrong. Viewing some players as capable of a lot more than they were because "his teams" do 'x'.

He's also got most calls right.

He’s basically admitted they’ve been rubbish, so that’s interesting.

He’s also talking about signing players for money - so isn’t entirely relying on what we have and also sounds like no more younger loans on the horizon thankfully.

If Evatt can turn the strikers into a strike force that takes and creates their own chances regularly and hit the sort of conversion rates Ipswich had January onwards then great. I think it’s a big ask. But if they can start committing defenders one touch and then shot away and bagging them it will be a great piece of coaching.

He's said they didn't "hit the heights" previously. He says "Not that they've underperformed." There's a leap from there to "rubbish"

We're pretty sure he's trying to sign players for money as fees were mentioned for Wilson and Baccus, bit less clear on Flick, but I doubt a loan would've been free. No one said he was just going to jump exclusively to the 19 YO loan market - like ever, but I'm missing where he says not going to bother on players who don't count to our senior squad registrations...

[GhostoftheBok]

Exactly. Their goals came from those wide areas a lot. They had a better midfield than we can put out and better wide players.

So if our strikers can do the business we need to focus on improvements in those areas still.

It’s clear that’s what we are looking at but it’s an imperative not a want.

But you said we need the strikers to create their own goals if we're to match Ipswich.

Ipswich's forwards didn't do that. If we take Ledapo and Chaplin together then of their 43 league goals only 5 were that sort of thing.

Ipswich scored team goals, so how does forwards creating their own goals relate to them

[GhostoftheBok]

He's said they didn't "hit the heights" previously. He says "Not that they've underperformed." There's a leap from there to "rubbish"

I read it was him essentially saying they were up to league standards, but not up to top of the league standards. Which I think it about right.

The question for Evatt is whether he has judged their potential in his team correctly.

Also, have we allowed for Randy's knee injury when assessing what he can do for us? I remember when Ronaldo did his knee and had to change his entire game, because he could no longer dribble in the way he had prior to getting hurt. His knee just didn't have the same mobility without blowing up, so he became more of a direct runner and moved centrally over time. Randy at Exeter was an excellent one-on-one player, but we've seen far less of that in his time here.

There's no point isolating the wide players against a fullback if they can't then beat their man.

Randy was signed to shred fullbacks, but hasn't looked like doing it. Victor was signed to finish under pressure in the box, but we couldn't get him the ball. Dan was signed to create space and carry, but did his hamstrings.

We'll go into next season needing Evatt to get all that working if we want to go up and I understand why people are iffy about it.

[Mar]

Interesting way of looking at things there Ghost. Evatt certainly has a game plan and somewhat of a moneyball approach to signing players. Some will come off some won't. I think it's fairly evident we didn't get the desired end product from a few of the signings last season and that may have been a clear indication of what we need to focus on this season.

The hope would be that Evatt and his team have identified and come good on making the decisions that get the best out of the likes of Dan. Other ones are likely to come good are Randell and Iredale. Maybe that'll help a preseason focusing on Randells strengths and well see that bare more fruit than relying too much on the right side of the pitch. For all the good things that Bradley did, being less reliant on him might make everyone a little sharper.

Given we've got players such as Vic getting used to the system it would seem were not a million miles away were just lacking a midfield maestro that can speed our counter attacks up a touch perhaps in that vacant Lee role.

Room to be positive I guess.

[BWFC_Insane]

Exactly. Their goals came from those wide areas a lot. They had a better midfield than we can put out and better wide players.

So if our strikers can do the business we need to focus on improvements in those areas still.

It’s clear that’s what we are looking at but it’s an imperative not a want.

But you said we need the strikers to create their own goals if we're to match Ipswich.

Ipswich's forwards didn't do that. If we take Ledapo and Chaplin together then of their 43 league goals only 5 were that sort of thing.

Ipswich scored team goals, so how does forwards creating their own goals relate to them

We need to have both. There are tight games where I think you need forwards who can create some magic or score a goal from nothing. Nobody expects that to happen every game but it helps. But I was more talking half chances. If we isolate a striker one on one against a defender on the edge of the box we need those to hit the net far more often than they did. More from edge and outside of box. More efforts early before keepers get set.

[GhostoftheBok]

Room to be positive I guess.

I'm mostly positive, but then I think Nlundulu and Adeboyejo are better players than most on here do.

If someone thinks Victor, Dan and Randy aren't up to it then I understand them having a negative view. As things stand we need those guys to perform. It'll be the same if Shoretire comes back. Evatt raved about his ability, but we've not seen it on the pitch.

We don't see what they see week after week on the training pitches and when it comes down to it they are either right or they're not.

If Evatt is wrong about the quality of his current squad then we won't go up.

[GhostoftheBok]

More from edge and outside of box. More efforts early before keepers get set.

That's what I'm saying, though. That's a fraction of Ipswich's goals.

The reason we need that now is because our general play isn't creative enough. Ipswich very rarely needed that to win a game, they won because they created loads as standard.

I agree we'll sometimes need that, but the plan has to be figure out how to score the same kind of goal over and over again.

That means better wide play, I completely agree there. Especially down the left. It means midfielders risking the last pass into the box (and getting it right often enough). It means getting through the press and into the back lines in a way we couldn't last season.

[Worthy4England]

He's said they didn't "hit the heights" previously. He says "Not that they've underperformed." There's a leap from there to "rubbish"

I read it was him essentially saying they were up to league standards, but not up to top of the league standards. Which I think it about right.

The question for Evatt is whether he has judged their potential in his team correctly.

Also, have we allowed for Randy's knee injury when assessing what he can do for us? I remember when Ronaldo did his knee and had to change his entire game, because he could no longer dribble in the way he had prior to getting hurt. His knee just didn't have the same mobility without blowing up, so he became more of a direct runner and moved centrally over time. Randy at Exeter was an excellent one-on-one player, but we've seen far less of that in his time here.

There's no point isolating the wide players against a fullback if they can't then beat their man.

Randy was signed to shred fullbacks, but hasn't looked like doing it. Victor was signed to finish under pressure in the box, but we couldn't get him the ball. Dan was signed to create space and carry, but did his hamstrings.

We'll go into next season needing Evatt to get all that working if we want to go up and I understand why people are iffy about it.

Yeah mate, I read it as with the benefit of a full pre-season's content delivery and steering clear of injuries, he's backing his and Markham's picks. I thought Randy was improving, just as season finished, but if he can get the right tunes out of Randy/Vik and Dan, that'd make a big difference too.

[GhostoftheBok]

Yeah mate, I read it as with the benefit of a full pre-season's content delivery and steering clear of injuries, he's backing his and Markham's picks. I thought Randy was improving, just as season finished, but if he can get the right tunes out of Randy/Vik and Dan, that'd make a big difference too.

Marc's quotes are lifted straight from the club video and the context is much more apparent when you listen to him say it.

He's certainly not having a go at the players.

He also says that whilst Coleman (who we had in to train last season, which makes sense of the goalkeeper rumour from last term) is a safe pair of hands, Baxter is another issue...

Nathan is a really exciting signing. He's 24 now and at an age where again he needs a home and needs to go and blossom. Being at Chelsea from a very very young age - and you don't spend that time at Chelsea, up to the age of 24, unless you're highly rated and highly regarded - so we're excited to have him. We think he's a Championship goalkeeper, at the very least.

That's putting his quotes about other players into context, as he talks about similarities in Baxter and Dan's current positions.

Evatt clearly has plenty of players now that he feels can play Championship football and possibly above that level. He's said that of Santos, Johnston, Morley, Baxter, Nlundulu, Adeboyejo and others. This is now the season where he and they have to prove that to the fans with performances on the pitch.

[Prufrock]

I think it's also worth saying that if we went into this season with the squad we had last year I think we'd have a shot at top 2 without additions (albeit you know, with Traf and Conor). It's a much weaker league.

Obviously you look to improve, I'm not suggesting we get cocky, but as good as Leif Davis was he cost £1m in the third tier.

Ipswich have gone, Weds have gone, upwardly mobile Plymouth have gone. Instead you've got 2.5 basket cases and the only other team who finished above us have lost their manager. Sure there's Derby but they've lost 25 goals (always liked McGoldrick, lot of time for that story) and that isn't easily replaceable.

You've got to do it, but the signs of who we're looking for are good. Looks like we're moving on from our top targets, but I buy the medical stories and we've found that out early doors
I expect us to do good business, no doubt I wont have heard of them like, but it's rosy. You still have to do it, but I'm excited.

What's Owen Moxon up to?

[BWFC_Insane]

I think it's also worth saying that if we went into this season with the squad we had last year I think we'd have a shot at top 2 without additions (albeit you know, with Traf and Conor). It's a much weaker league.

Obviously you look to improve, I'm not suggesting we get cocky, but as good as Leif Davis was he cost £1m in the third tier.

Ipswich have gone, Weds have gone, upwardly mobile Plymouth have gone. Instead you've got 2.5 basket cases and the only other team who finished above us have lost their manager. Sure there's Derby but they've lost 25 goals (always liked McGoldrick, lot of time for that story) and that isn't easily replaceable.

You've got to do it, but the signs of who we're looking for are good. Looks like we're moving on from our top targets, but I buy the medical stories and we've found that out early doors
I expect us to do good business, no doubt I wont have heard of them like, but it's rosy. You still have to do it, but I'm excited.

What's Owen Moxon up to?

I disagree that what we have are consistent enough to finish top 2. The midfield showed last season they weren't. And wing back areas haven't strengthened sufficiently either for any confidence that we can overcome the teams we struggled to last season.

I'd be cautious on the bar being considerably lower too - I think it will be a bit but there are teams who underperformed last season who I think will be in the mix and those coming down will always have strong squads.

We're going to need considerable improvement in Nlundulu and Victor and Jerome too and whilst Evatt might be confident of that I have concerns especially with Victor that his shortcomings are too fundamental.

But I also don't think we're miles away. I think we are 3 (or 4) quality additions away from really being in the mix. A wing back who is very strong going forwards on the right, a dominant midfield type who controls the game and gets all over the show, a midfield player who will add goals. Those 3. Then for me we're still a real quality striker away but Evatt might disagree. I think the other area is LWB.

[Prufrock]

It's all hypothetical but mid 80s has roughly been what you need to finish second. Some seasons our 81 would have been enough. If you swap out our 6 games against the top 3 last year (3 points in total) for games against Wigan, Reading and Blackpool I think we'd have been very close.

I think we both agree you can't just assume it will happen if we stay the same, we're looking to improve and should do. But it's very much there for us if we get it right.

[Worthy4England]

What I think I'm hearing is we'd like a team full of mid 20's, championship level talent, which solves all the problems that football teams face and accrues 100 points and 100 goals, beating the crap out of every team we face. Unstoppable wing backs, central midfielders who can get, up, back, through and round defences and strikers who never miss. Defence seems to have got off likely, given the proliferation of pub players at the heart of it. So maybe some improvements there too, whilst hoping the new GK keeps fit, well and is at least as good as Traff.

Yeah - I'd be ok with that.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

What I think I'm hearing is we'd like a team full of mid 20's, championship level talent, which solves all the problems that football teams face and accrues 100 points and 100 goals, beating the crap out of every team we face. Unstoppable wing backs, central midfielders who can get, up, back, through and round defences and strikers who never miss. Defence seems to have got off likely, given the proliferation of pub players at the heart of it. So maybe some improvements there too, whilst hoping the new GK keeps fit, well and is at least as good as Traff.

Yeah - I'd be ok with that.

There'd still be some decrying us for bieing tippy-tappy and saying we should be scoring 200 with the possession we have.

[BWFC_Insane]

What I think I'm hearing is we'd like a team full of mid 20's, championship level talent, which solves all the problems that football teams face and accrues 100 points and 100 goals, beating the crap out of every team we face. Unstoppable wing backs, central midfielders who can get, up, back, through and round defences and strikers who never miss. Defence seems to have got off likely, given the proliferation of pub players at the heart of it. So maybe some improvements there too, whilst hoping the new GK keeps fit, well and is at least as good as Traff.

Yeah - I'd be ok with that.

What we need to be is one of the two best sides in the league.

When we look at last season a basic fact is we didn't score nearly enough goals to be up there. I'd be interested to know how that will change.

[Worthy4England]

I don't think either of those things will be lost on Mr Evatt.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

To tidy up a few names mentioned earlier on this thread - LCB Romoney Crichlow has gone to Posh, midfielder Carl Winchester has left Sunderland for Shrewsbury and, perhaps most eye-catchingly, Orient keeper Lawrence Vigouroux has joined PremierLeagueBurnley.

[BWFC_Insane]

I don't think either of those things will be lost on Mr Evatt.

I agree which is why he felt we needed the likes of Wilson and Baccus - experienced players with pedigrees above this league to an extent but still the right age to progress.

The challenge is to find others like that - midfield I think there are options but wing backs worry me more - we don't want a situation where we're hopelessly playing centre backs or normal full backs as wing backs because it simply will not work and we won't solve the issues we had last season.

I'd be less worried in a 433 as there are a multitude of players available to fill the roles. The thing that concerns me mainly is our system and the paucity of players who can genuinely do what I believe is needed to really make it work. Lad from Tranmere sounds like a good squad option but we need the star - the man who will create double figures with their pace and delivery. I think Williams will improve but he's far from natural at LWB. So its crucial we get a really top RWB IMHO. Someone who is a coup. Wilson might have been that but I'm wondering where the other options are. And we have a history here of make do and mend with wing backs and for me its a big mistake. We need the quality in those areas.

[Worthy4England]

That then becomes a single point of failure, when you're RWB breaks their leg 2 games in. I'm much rather we improved right, left and central. Fossey was great, but done after 15 games. If we'd had him from the start of the season, he wouldn't have been back fully fit, before the end of it.

That's not to say I don't want really capable folks in each position - I do. Just not all eggs in one position.