January 2023 Transfer Window

[GhostoftheBok]

Intriguing last bit, who are the names you have in mind (assuming Standard Liege scouts don't read TW)?

The most surprising one is Shayne Lavery, given his first season at Blackpool went well. He's struggled this term and there's no indication yet that they intend to exercise their optional extra year. He'd add to our growing Northern Irish contingent and would almost certainly bang them in at this level. I imagine there'd be a queue, though, were he to leave Blackpool.

Conor Coventry is another. Also Greg Docherty. Mark Harris at Cardiff.

Coventry was actually on the bench for West Ham not long back, but they've asked agents to sound clubs out for a fee this month. Docherty is one of a number of Hull players who got lost in their 35-man training squad. He played recently, but again agents are working to see what can be done there.

Harris is an odd one. Cardiff felt he might be something special and then he just stalled - a bit like Declan John I suppose. A couple of years ago you'd have been laughed out of Wales for suggesting he's have to drop down to League One, but suddenly he's a 24-year-old impact sub on an expiring contract.

There's always a chance these lads will suddenly sign new deals (as happened with Billy Mitchell) and go on to set the league alight, but as things stand it's an interesting window with plenty of options.

[Prufrock]

Interesting, cheers.

This Gary Docherty lad, is he a balding Irish centre half we could randomly stick up top for a bit?

[GhostoftheBok]

Interesting, cheers.

This Gary Docherty lad, is he a balding Irish centre half we could randomly stick up top for a bit?

Absolutely. Also willing to play with a fractured leg, so long as the club doctor doesn't tell him.

[GhostoftheBok]

[Worthy4England]

Shock!

[sonicthewhite]

Didn't see that one coming!

[GhostoftheBok]

I found his interview interesting.

Ralph Hasenhuttl is an excellent coach and his team at Saints judged that Nlundulu might still cut it in the Prem. We have to find that exciting.

When he was with England as a kid the feeling was that he was hampered by being too sensitive to criticism and struggled for confidence. At Lincoln the famously abrasive Michael Appleton wasn't the sort of coach he needed and when he left he spoke about having confidence issues there. He went to Cheltenham and they seem to have managed his personality better, getting more from him.

Evatt's past "man-up" comments aside, he's got a rep as being better with different personalities than someone like Appleton. So you'd have to hope this will be a positive environment for Daniel. Emotional energy can be positive or negative for a player, depending how they channel it. Wade Elliot spoke about him "wearing his heart on his sleeve" and them working on that with him. That will probably be a continuing management processes for Evatt. We need to get him to the point where he plays up rather than acts out.

It was also interesting to go back and look at what was written about his time at Lincoln, where he felt he was misused. Asked to plough a lone furrow and expected to drop out of U23s and immediately use that physique to win battles on his own in men's football, he really struggled. He views himself as a link-up player in attack, so he wants to play in a front two and we can offer him that. We will get men in and around him to feed off short passes and flicks, as well as offering him runs in behind.

If we can keep his head right he's got the tools to really offer something here.

[GhostoftheBok]

In other news, Ipswich drop a cool £1.5m on a very serious striker for this level. Which shows us exactly what we are up against. That's in addition to George Hirst (13 goals and 4 assists in 27 League One starts last season) and Massimo Luongo.

We talk about going strong in January to try and go up, but we are being massively out-spent by the sides above us. Let's hope we are making better judgement calls.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Interesting points on Nlundulu, Ghost, thanks for the profiling. We are going to have to do that sort of player-polishing because as I was saying the other day, and as Ipswich are proving before even getting there, the second division is a “dear do” (translation for non-Lancastrians: “expensive affair”).

I see Plymouth have also made their fifth addition of the window. I haven’t noticed Wednesday yet but they’ll be active and had the best squad anyway. It really would take a huge effort for us to crack the top two, but let’s hope we strengthen enough to be prime playoff contenders. After that, who knows?

[The_Gun]

Plymouth have paid fees for four players already this window - where are they getting all their money from? The bloke who owns them I wouldn't have thought would be particularly wealthy by relative standards, and they can't generate that much from ticket sales and commercial activities.

[GhostoftheBok]

The target this season has to be the play-offs, but regardless we're on an upward trajectory.

After the summer I thought we'd struggle with a promotion push, but that if we were within a few points of the top teams we could kick on this month. Ipswich and Sheff Weds being who they are were always going to spend in January if they had any shot at the autos and Plymouth being 16 points (fecking hell) clear of us has encouraged them to really go for it this window too.

As such it's too much now, I think, to look at the autos (hope is free). We can try our best to position ourselves as the form side going into the play-offs. It may or may not pan out that way.

What we definitely can do is continue the process of building a side that can go up automatically next season. That means more pace, more power and more goals. It also means every signing we make this window being a medium to long term solution for an issue in the squad, but on a tight budget and with limited room for error.

The fact two of our key players are loanees who won't be here next season if we don't go up is a major issue. As is that fact that we probably can't affect long term planning in those position until we know what league we are in.

I'd love to see a "breathtaking" signing come in this window, but when you look at the fact Ipswich might end up spending £5m in transfer and agents fees this window you can see why every signing we make is likely to come with strings attached.

[BWFC_Insane]

Interesting points on Nlundulu, Ghost, thanks for the profiling. We are going to have to do that sort of player-polishing because as I was saying the other day, and as Ipswich are proving before even getting there, the second division is a “dear do” (translation for non-Lancastrians: “expensive affair”).

I see Plymouth have also made their fifth addition of the window. I haven’t noticed Wednesday yet but they’ll be active and had the best squad anyway. It really would take a huge effort for us to crack the top two, but let’s hope we strengthen enough to be prime playoff contenders. After that, who knows?

We are finding someone with teal quality in front of goal and in and around the box away from the top three. And probably away from a chance of survival if we were to go up.

Was thinking this last night. Find a Michael Ricketts and I think we’d be a match for any team in this league and then some. But that’s like saying find an Anelka. It’s as likely. And as hard.

[BWFC_Insane]

Interesting here from Evatt. His comment if it is indeed in the context reported would suggest to me they would sell Dapo for the right money. Which doesn’t surprise me entirely.

https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/2 ... er-rumour/

Also really pleased with his comments about the defence and Santos. Such a refreshing change from the nonsense earlier in the season. You pick your best team and right now that is the back three who have conceded one goal in 8 hours. Santos can play tonight and hopefully get to the defensive level Aimson is at. But that’s what competition is about. Isn’t it. Not just putting someone back in for the sake of it.

[Worthy4England]

The target this season has to be the play-offs, but regardless we're on an upward trajectory.

After the summer I thought we'd struggle with a promotion push, but that if we were within a few points of the top teams we could kick on this month. Ipswich and Sheff Weds being who they are were always going to spend in January if they had any shot at the autos and Plymouth being 16 points (fecking hell) clear of us has encouraged them to really go for it this window too.

Think I had us as 7th to playoffs. Thought I'd have a sneak peek into how we compare to the table in 2017. Some snippets - the top three (of which we were third) had exactly the same points tally as the current top 3, albeit Sheff Weds are currently one game in hand.

The three below the top 3 are slightly behind those in 2017 (around 4 points). We're currently 9 points adrift of where we were in 2017. We've lost one more, but drawn three more - which points to that "cutting edge" in games we could (or should've) shaded. We've scored 4 less and conceded 3 more - fairly fine margins.

5 of the top 6 were in the top 6 at season's end - surprising how that often stretches from maybe October time as the table settles down. So all in all, about where I had us, pre-season (maybe a little in front), feels like the gap is large and with Jan activity, getting larger. Play-offs would be a result, for me.

[GhostoftheBok]

We are finding someone with teal quality in front of goal and in and around the box away from the top three. And probably away from a chance of survival if we were to go up.

Was thinking this last night. Find a Michael Ricketts and I think we’d be a match for any team in this league and then some. But that’s like saying find an Anelka. It’s as likely. And as hard.

I think it's easier than finding an Anelka, as you just need to identify the right traits at this level - rather than perform a miracle or pay millions. Obviously if you can pay big money it makes it much, much easier.

Aaron Collins was always going to be good at this level in the right system, for example. He'd have been great here. We wouldn't have needed a magic wand to get him.

Shayne Lavery would score for fun in our side, but can you get him out of Blackpool before the summer? Dipo Akinyemi would also score for us, if we just wanted a pure striker; but in that case you'd likely lose some of the work rate that makes us so special when we are really on it.

They are out there. Hopefully Markham finds one we can afford.

[Harry Genshaw]

Head said play offs, heart said another Colin Todd season smashing everyone in sight.

The reaction of most Cheltenham fans on social media suggests we might have a lot of work to do with Nlundulu before we see anything like his best.

[Worthy4England]

Head said play offs, heart said another Colin Todd season smashing everyone in sight.

The reaction of most Cheltenham fans on social media suggests we might have a lot of work to do with Nlundulu before we see anything like his best.

That last bit, combined with what Ghosty's said, is a worry for me. I'd always rather work with someone slightly less talented, with the right attitude, head-space, whatever, than someone who has problems motivating themselves or other medical issues. In amongst all the measurable stats, "will to win" for me is fundamental.

When I hear of players "not being quite there," "a bit precious around criticism" etc. I worry that competitive sport, might not be their calling and actually (as we probably saw with Sordell/Maddison), might not help them much at all..

[GhostoftheBok]

So all in all, about where I had us, pre-season (maybe a little in front), feels like the gap is large and with Jan activity, getting larger. Play-offs would be a result, for me.

Other clubs are taking the gamble that we won't (and shouldn't) take.

Plymouth know this might be the best chance they have for years. The other clubs involved are going to go bust if they stay down here much longer, so they think they don't have much to lose by spending.

We have to hope our people are just more talented (or harder working, better trained, etc) than the folk at those clubs.

I think if we miss out on the play-offs this season we'll also struggle next season, because it'll probably mean we've cocked-up an important window.

[Harry Genshaw]

Head said play offs, heart said another Colin Todd season smashing everyone in sight.

The reaction of most Cheltenham fans on social media suggests we might have a lot of work to do with Nlundulu before we see anything like his best.

That last bit, combined with what Ghosty's said, is a worry for me. I'd always rather work with someone slightly less talented, with the right attitude, head-space, whatever, than someone who has problems motivating themselves or other medical issues. In amongst all the measurable stats, "will to win" for me is fundamental.

When I hear of players "not being quite there," "a bit precious around criticism" etc. I worry that competitive sport, might not be their calling and actually (as we probably saw with Sordell/Maddison), might not help them much at all..

Agreed. You can generally ignore the odd balloon and troll talking shite but it was a worrying number of their fans, including one friend whose opinion I trust, who were saying he spent too much time berating colleagues for poor passes rather than chasing stuff down and working hard.

Hopefully our environment and the Evatt factor will get him playing to his full potential.

[GhostoftheBok]

When I hear of players "not being quite there," "a bit precious around criticism" etc. I worry that competitive sport, might not be their calling and actually (as we probably saw with Sordell/Maddison), might not help them much at all..

For what it's worth, I don't think it's anything like the clinical depression or personality disorders we've dealt with with other players.