Tooling up: The summer 2024 transfer thread

[officer_dibble]

To be fair I get you can only sign players when the other team lets you - and to get the best players you have to wait. This free transfer seems a bit of a farce given we’ve not taken a loan and let Iredale go, and probably held Matheson back as a result. But the thing that rankles with me about our business is we haven’t signed an experienced leader - Arfield is the nearest but is he going to be involved in 40 games this season?

[Bertie Wooster]

To be fair I get you can only sign players when the other team lets you - and to get the best players you have to wait. This free transfer seems a bit of a farce given we’ve not taken a loan and let Iredale go, and probably held Matheson back as a result. But the thing that rankles with me about our business is we haven’t signed an experienced leader - Arfield is the nearest but is he going to be involved in 40 games this season?

Totally agree, its what many on here have said for a few seasons, it's what we have lacked the most i.e. a proper leader on the pitch - Evatt obviously doesn't agree, perhaps experienced leaders on the pitch don't like tippy tapping - sideways & backwards slow as feck walking football. From the outside and I may be wrong, but he doesn't appear to like any players who may questions his approach, which may be why he hasn't looked to sign an experienced leader.

Perhaps this mystery 'game changing' free signing is the experienced leader ?

[GhostoftheBok]

I don't think he "got away" with anything. The board will have understood that preseason was extremely challenging, by any club's standards. At one stage he didn't have enough players to do full sessions.

You can't really plan for injuries in a detailed sense. If there are issues with the medical team or how we train, that's another story. However, if you have a load of injuries from last term that's going to impact things. You can't usually make players heal faster.

You also can't force the market to give you what you want, except by spending well above market value. We're clearly not going to do that.

We could say he should have kept Morley and Dan, because they're fit to play. However, Dan also missed much of preseason and would we rather have Aaron at the minute than Matete?

We probably could have done Tutu earlier and got more time with him, but we waited on another target. You can say that was a bad idea, but we waited on McAtee and Schon and got those done. So it clearly wasn't a losing strategy all ends up.

Now we can certainly criticise long term transfer policies around injuries and if you want to go there I'll probably end up agreeing. It's been a pet hate of mine for ages.

It's interesting that we waited on players who have a history of being fit and then went for lads with questionable injury records when we missed them. Which may be an admission that the previous strategy wasn't optimal, or at least that it was driven by budgets.

We tried to spend more money this summer, essentially to buy minutes. We offered the big bundles of cash (by our standards) for lads who we'd hope would play 40+ games in all comps over a season. Probably because the "root and branch" review highlighted that us trying to save money by picking up crocks was leaving us light - including heading into this season.

That would seem to indicate they did learn something. I'd argue they should have learnt it 2+ years ago, but that's by the by.

We have still been willing to take a risk on fitness to get more quality, but this time we exhausted other options first.

[Bertie Wooster]

Ghost I didn't expect you to agree.

However reading through your post, it may just be me but even you (towards the end of your post) are possibly saying that he may have got his transfer strategy wrong ?

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Ghost I didn't expect you to agree.

However reading through your post, it may just be me but even you (towards the end of your post) are possibly saying that he may have got his transfer strategy wrong ?

Although the buck eventually stops with Evatt, it's hard to place the blame specifically and solely on the manager for a transfer policy when there's a Markham and a board. It's possible someone was trying to make the money go further. Players with injury records are cheaper. Unless they're Kane Wilson.

The fact it seems to have changed - or initial targets did - suggests maybe we did try to look upwards. Or maybe we were just spending more money. Or trying to, and still couldn't.

[GhostoftheBok]

Ghost I didn't expect you to agree.

However reading through your post, it may just be me but even you (towards the end of your post) are possibly saying that he may have got his transfer strategy wrong ?

Yes and no.

My two bugbears regarding how Chris has done his work have always been injury and age profiles. And pace...my three bugbears. Not to go too Python.

Too many lads with injury histories and not enough bright young things from the lower leagues.

I think those have cost us previously and when we missed out in the final they've had a rethink.

Overall he's done a great job, but there were points of failure and they failed. That happens. I'm not going to crucify him for it.

Chris would argue he provided a promotion-capable team on far less than a promotion budget and we got as close as you can without going up. I think it's a fair enough argument.

This summer the delay to some transfers has been trying to spend money to fix those issues. All the lads we've been waiting on have played about 40 games in the previous season and had fairly clean records before that.

Evatt has framed it as "making us more robust", I think it was.

When we missed those lads we then fell back on a similar profile to some of our previous work, but arguably with more quality - Tutu, and Matete being the main ones.

I do think this group, on paper, was mostly more "robust" than their previous windows. However, it's fair to point out that the delay waiting on the fitter lads has cost the more injury prone lads we ended up with some time. That is an issue.

Personally I'm happy they *tried* to get the fitter lads in. They did get some. Hopefully that continues in future windows and we get more minutes out of people.

The age profile issue has meant the squad registration rules have finally bitten us and clearly caused some discontent. That's something to get right as we go along.

[Bertie Wooster]

Think we had one need for the transfer window I’m not sure we’ve sorted - have we solved the leadership / experience issue? Arfield helps but I think we’re lacking still. We’ve let Iredale go and he was a senior voice. Thomason and Santos are the main voices and I don’t think we’ve added to that. I’d want this free transfer to be experienced.

I wouldn't hold your breath Dibs, it's gone very quiet in regards to the free transfer that was close to being done - sounds like another Dembele, Armstrong, McCowen etc. If the player wanted to come and play for BWFC he would have been signed by now and be getting ready for Huddersfield, which could quite possibly be Evatt's last game if we lose ?

It won't be.

You are probably right Nicho, but I'm not sure that the Swiss investors will put up with this much longer, it could be taken out of SB's hands, I just think that a defeat to Huddersfield will trigger something.

[malcd1]

I can’t see anything above but there are rumours we are after Sylvester Jasper a former Fulham forward currently playing in the Portugese second division.

https://www.footballinsider247.com/blac ... r-sources/

[malcd1]

Pete O’Rourke is the journalist who has broken a couple of story’s about us.

[The_Gun]

I can’t see anything above but there are rumours we are after Sylvester Jasper a former Fulham forward currently playing in the Portugese second division.

https://www.footballinsider247.com/blac ... r-sources/

That would align with what Evatt’s been saying this week. I can’t recall ever having seen the lad, but his career to this point doesn’t look hugely impressive. I suppose if Blackburn and NAC Breda are in for him he must be ok.

[GhostoftheBok]

That would align with what Evatt’s been saying this week.

Yeah, makes a lot of sense.

Foreign club getting involved recently. Right profile of player considering what's missing from the squad. Reliable source.

Immediate apprehension is it'll be correct.

[Bertie Wooster]

That would align with what Evatt’s been saying this week.

Yeah, makes a lot of sense.

Foreign club getting involved recently. Right profile of player considering what's missing from the squad. Reliable source.

Immediate apprehension is it'll be correct.

Isn't he a winger, we don't play with wingers - is he really a player who will make a big difference ? as per Evatt's comments about the free agent he's after, his career to date says no.

[GhostoftheBok]

Isn't he a winger, we don't play with wingers - is he really a player who will make a big difference ? as per Evatt's comments about the free agent he's after, his career to date says no.

He impressed quite a lot of people in Portugal. I didn't know he'd been released and he did enough that it must be contractual and budgetary, rather than footballing stuff, that's led to that.

He's an inverted winger off the left or a #10.

He's "quite wee", so English managers naturally play lads like that wide.

We wanted Dembele as a #10 and I don't think there's a huge difference, other than Dembele being better at the minute.

[GhostoftheBok]

Speaking to someone who watches a lot more Portuguese footy than I do, Jasper apparently played a lot as the right of 3 in a hybrid 10/7 position in their 3-4-3 system.

If that's correct then he should be able to play a similar role in League One very easily.

[Bertie Wooster]

Ladapo rumoured to be going to Huddersfield according to Mr O'Rourke.

[BWFC_Insane]

Ladapo rumoured to be going to Huddersfield according to Mr O'Rourke.

Have no idea if we were interested in Ladapo or not, but this is beginning to look like another cock up to me.

Let players go on deadline day, left a gap in the squad said we hoped to fill it (early next week, which was last week) and a week later have not filled it and potentially our targets are signing elsewhere.

All the while saying we have injuries and need a bigger squad,,,,

[The_Gun]

Iles said we were never interested in Ladapo. Apparently it was a Prem loan or this kid who’s been in Portugal, so yeah, if we don’t get the latter then that would be a bit of a cock up.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Chancers.
.

Screenshot 2024-09-09 at 19.38.41.png (756.73 KiB) Viewed 2619 times

[BWFC_Insane]

Iles said we were never interested in Ladapo. Apparently it was a Prem loan or this kid who’s been in Portugal, so yeah, if we don’t get the latter then that would be a bit of a cock up.

Has he? Not seen that.

[GhostoftheBok]

That Trotter Chatter account is hilarious.

No "#bwfc" in the correction. Lovely stuff.