Snog, Marry, Avoid: Summer 2023 Transfer Window

[sonicthewhite]

Good luck to the lad, I wish him well. I would really like to think we have a replacement waiting to be announced because if we haven't then the natives are going to start getting extremely restless!

[GhostoftheBok]

It's a good move for everyone.

MJ just didn't fit into the system anymore. He wasn't good enough in either midfield or defence to be more than a bit-part player.

He goes to MK on a longer deal and should start almost every game. MK get a player who genuinely improves them and knows how to get promoted.

Best of luck to him personally, though obviously I hope they somehow get relegated again.

[BWFC_Insane]

Pleased for MJ who never let us down. He didnt fit the system ideally anymore but was versatile.

Absolutely needs replacing.

Good deal for him at MK Dons but the numbers in required keeps going up.

[GhostoftheBok]

Pleased for MJ who never let us down. He didnt fit the system ideally anymore but was versatile.

Absolutely needs replacing.

Good deal for him at MK Dons but the numbers in required keeps going up.

Does it change the numbers we need in?

We needed two in midfield anyway, which takes us to 6 for 3 spots.

We were at 6 for 3 defensive spots before Johnston got hurt and I think most would agree we needed to cover that even if MJ stayed.

MJ, like Sads, just sort of existed on the fringes as a player who might count as a utility yet was never likely to play.

What it means is we definitely need the players we need. That is to say we can't really fudge the numbers in the spine of the team now and say "Well, it's not ideal but we have MJ." It doesn't change what we need, though. It's still 2 more mids and a centre back, then other positions MJ couldn't cover anyway.

[BWFC_Insane]

Pleased for MJ who never let us down. He didnt fit the system ideally anymore but was versatile.

Absolutely needs replacing.

Good deal for him at MK Dons but the numbers in required keeps going up.

Does it change the numbers we need in?

We needed two in midfield anyway, which takes us to 6 for 3 spots.

We were at 6 for 3 defensive spots before Johnston got hurt and I think most would agree we needed to cover that even if MJ stayed.

MJ, like Sads, just sort of existed on the fringes as a player who might count as a utility yet was never likely to play.

What it means is we definitely need the players we need. That is to say we can't really fudge the numbers in the spine of the team now and say "Well, it's not ideal but we have MJ." It doesn't change what we need, though. It's still 2 more mids and a centre back, then other positions MJ couldn't cover anyway.

Maybe not in pure numbers but we need that bigger midfield option for some games so it impacts the type we need I think.

[boltonboris]

You're obsessed with height! He couldn't win headers as he's got no physicality, so what does it matter how tall he is?

[GhostoftheBok]

Maybe not in pure numbers but we need that bigger midfield option for some games so it impacts the type we need I think.

If Evatt wants to stick a Papa Bouba Diop sort in midfield I've no real issue with that. I'd welcome an absolute unit in the middle.

I don't think we'll be looking at small lads as the signings we want are supposed to be Championship-ready players, but equally I'm not sure being 6'2" is the main criteria.

I'm sure we'll look at big, strong, athletic lads where we can. We also clearly need combative players. The main criteria will still be footballing ability and mobility, though. If we can get them all in one package, that's the dream.

At Curzon we had Khumbeni running diagonals and laterals, playing on the edge of the box and dribbling. Anyone who comes into this midfield as a big signing (and they both need to be) will have to be of a high level technically.

[GhostoftheBok]

We're being linked to Jack Hunt, most recently of Sheffield Wednesday fame.

[sonicthewhite]

Never heard of him?

[BWFC_Insane]

We're being linked to Jack Hunt, most recently of Sheffield Wednesday fame.

Don’t see that. 32. Free. Evatt says we are beyond the free market now. He’s decent going forward but far from exceptional and legs at his age would be a concern for such a high energy role.

[GhostoftheBok]

Don’t see that. 32. Free. Evatt says we are beyond the free market now. He’s decent going forward but far from exceptional and legs at his age would be a concern for such a high energy role.

It'd seem an odd one from first glance if he's a pivot from Wilson.

If you're attempting to rationalise it, Hunt is well-known to Markham from Huddersfield and he covers two positions whilst offering experience.

If he's a reaction to the Johnston injury then fine. That's a decent call, though not ideal. If it's a pivot from Wilson, I'm very much not okay with it.

My concern would be that we get him in to cover two positions and aim to go again for RWB in January. If that was the play, with Sads as the more attacking RWB option until then, I'd need to see a very serious player in midfield for me to feel alright about it.

[BWFC_Insane]

Don’t see that. 32. Free. Evatt says we are beyond the free market now. He’s decent going forward but far from exceptional and legs at his age would be a concern for such a high energy role.

It'd seem an odd one from first glance if he's a pivot from Wilson.

If you're attempting to rationalise it, Hunt is well-known to Markham from Huddersfield and he covers two positions whilst offering experience.

If he's a reaction to the Johnston injury then fine. That's a decent call, though not ideal. If it's a pivot from Wilson, I'm very much not okay with it.

My concern would be that we get him in to cover two positions and aim to go again for RWB in January. If that was the play, with Sads as the more attacking RWB option until then, I'd need to see a very serious player in midfield for me to feel alright about it.

It would smack of desperation and failure in the market to me.

[Bertie Wooster]

It would smack of desperation and failure in the market to me.

Hold on, how is it failure in the market ? - many have said that we need championship experience to have a real go at getting top 2 - this guy is exactly the type we need. You can't have it both ways i.e. we need championship standard players but they need to be under 25 ! (which such players would cost millions !)

Hunt has extensive championship experience, and IMO we need a couple of 30 year old 'been there, done that' type players to help the younger ones and he got promoted out of League 1 last season.

[Mar]

^^ We've chucked a few quid (comparatively) at Vic and Dan, I might not be too quick to roll out the N'gog...

I'll roll it out alright. Vic had at least showed competence elsewhere. N'gog looked crap prior to us signing him and proceeded to continue to be crap. If Vic doesn't make it, it's partially on us.

Ngog had played 60 odd times for liverpool and scored 10 goals.

Victor came from Burton having scored 10.

I’m not convinced that you can say Victor had a significantly more convincing record considering pre Burton he had been a massive flop.

If you're going to start adding goal records to the mix then at least get them reported properly lest we end up sugarcoating history.

Adeboyejo had a 13 in 34 record for Burton, with 2 assists. Overall a goal contribution every 173 mins when taking into account time playing.
N'Gog had a 19 in 94 record for Liverpool with 6 assists. Overall a goal contribution every 170 mins when taking into account time playing.

For the record, it was 11 goals for Burton in the League One from 26 games, and 9 goals in the league for N'Gog (63 appearances, 6 assists from 2377 mins).


I think your point about Vic's history is valid, he's not been a massive success at Barnsley (from a scoring perspective at least), so I think its probably a calculated gamble based upon his playing ability. Arguably N'Gog could've been seen as a prospect given his age.


Time will tell whether Vic will come good at Bolton. He had come good at Burton. It took N'Gog till he played in the Hungarian first division till he got double figures in a season.

£4m was terrible money for N'Gog. No prior proof he would deliver, just a gamble by Coyle, who, judging by his ability to not cover tactical coaching sessions probably didnt do his homework.

Ermmm so Vic and Ngog have virtually identical records pre our signing except Ngog had his at the highest level vs league one Burton.

I mean I think you just exploded your own argument.

Coyle didn’t have a clue what he was doing and I said so at the time (and was pilloried for it) but come on. Your argument just dissolved.

My initial argument was that it was better that we were standing in good stead by aiming for players that other teams are interested in as its an indicator of quality players. There wasn't a clamouring of attention when we were looking to sign N'Gog, IIRC it was only ourselves that were interested and we paid more than we should.

Not sure how you can say my argument dissolved by adding context to the debate. I think you're just looking for a way of calling Vic crap by saying he's the equivalent of the N'Gog style signing simply due to record at Barnsley. Either that or you're looking to defend N'Gog for some reason.

I think the difference between my stance and your own, is i'm not looking to frame Vic as a crap signing.

[Worthy4England]

I think that's reasonable, Mar, but I don't think he's been a good signing so far. That's not framing him, it's just (my) reflection of what I thought I saw when he played. I didn't write him off last Jan, thinking he'd benefit maybe from closed season, but for me we've gone past "what he did elsewhere" when we bought him. There's now only what he does here...If I see the same between Aug and Jan as I did between Jan-May, then he's destined for the N'gog award for me (but I'm hoping we see something much better)

[Bertie Wooster]

I think that's reasonable, Mar, but I don't think he's been a good signing so far. That's not framing him, it's just (my) reflection of what I thought I saw when he played. I didn't write him off last Jan, thinking he'd benefit maybe from closed season, but for me we've gone past "what he did elsewhere" when we bought him. There's now only what he does here...If I see the same between Aug and Jan as I did between Jan-May, then he's destined for the N'gog award for me (but I'm hoping we see something much better)

Agree with this, I expected much more power & pace (a bit like Ricketts) - however he looks clumsy with a poor 1st touch. I thought that he'd be a real handful for defenders but I didn't see that at all. Happy to give him time early doors as with Nlundulu and really hope they perform after a pre season - but I honestly can't see it happening.

More than happy to be proved wrong.

[GhostoftheBok]

It would smack of desperation and failure in the market to me.

Not a move I'd make, personally; but if viewed as a reaction to Johnston's injury then no, it wouldn't be failure in the market.

[BWFC_Insane]

It would smack of desperation and failure in the market to me.

Not a move I'd make, personally; but if viewed as a reaction to Johnston's injury then no, it wouldn't be failure in the market.

If we’ve gone from Dabo or Wilson to Jack Hunt for wing back having been told we are beyond the free market I don’t think any rationalising can help make that look anything other than a mess.

[The_Gun]

It would smack of desperation and failure in the market to me.

Not a move I'd make, personally; but if viewed as a reaction to Johnston's injury then no, it wouldn't be failure in the market.

Is Hunt a left sided centre back?

[GhostoftheBok]

Is Hunt a left sided centre back?

No, but he's closer to a Jones type than he is to Kane Wilson.

We have Iredale and Forrester who are adept at that role and Jones and Toal who have shown they can play it, so if the market yields a right-sider so be it.

I don't think Hunt solves any of the problems in our squad, hence why I wouldn't sign him; but he's also a long way off a disaster.