Reconstruction time again: the summer 2018 transfer thread

[mullayo]

If they wait a year to sign him and he does okay then he could be 25mil or more.

Sure, and he has been linked with Tottenham and has made his full debut for Wales so they probably wouldn't have got him if he did enhance his reputation further. But nevertheless. it still seems a big fee for someone who has only shown promise, and hasn't actually delivered week in, week out yet. It just shows what is possible. If any of the likes of Hall, Turner, Earing show promise and have a couple of decent games that are televised very significant fees can result.

I have wondered for a few weeks now if our youngsters will be closer to the first team squad this season. Maybe Edwards and Brockbank will start the season as 3rd/4th or 4th/5th choice centre halves? Maybe Earing and Pritchard will be 4th/5th choice centre midfielders? Chiori Johnson reserve right back? Hall certainly looks like being at least 4th choice striker. Maybe we won't sign too many more senior players? It certainly could be a policy that achieves some savings on the wage bill, and has the potential to bring in big fees. Obviously the risk is they won't be good enough....

Rob Holding didn't get us that much and he went to Arsenal. Gutted about it still.

[BWFC_Insane]

Thought Roberts had been debunked already by Iles?

[palindromeofbolton]

^ Just looked back through MI's tweets and indeed it was a flat "no" from him when asked if there was much in rumours of a Roberts deal.

Looks like an announcement is incoming today. Lee gave Nixon a little scratch with the claw last night for suggesting it may be more than a new signing.

[BWFC_Insane]

^ Just looked back through MI's tweets and indeed it was a flat "no" from him when asked if there was much in rumours of a Roberts deal.

Looks like an announcement is incoming today. Lee gave Nixon a little scratch with the claw last night for suggesting it may be more than a new signing.

Nixon claiming its Ameobi signed up.

If true it fits with what I heard that the club scratched Morais to divert funds into keeping Ameobi.

[GhostoftheBok]

I'd take Ameobi signing up over a new player.

[BWFC_Insane]

I'd take Ameobi signing up over a new player.

Depends who the new player was surely?

Things are slowly taking shape it seems.

We've upgraded on Wilbraham, got a younger Pratley in Lowe and added some flair in Oztumer.

Keep Sammy and then look to strengthen further in midfield and add a left back and cover elsewhere at the back.

Things seem solid to me. We're going to be in and around the relegation fight again, but hopefully can stay a little further away from it than last time.

[mullayo]

^ Just looked back through MI's tweets and indeed it was a flat "no" from him when asked if there was much in rumours of a Roberts deal.

Looks like an announcement is incoming today. Lee gave Nixon a little scratch with the claw last night for suggesting it may be more than a new signing.

Nixon claiming its Ameobi signed up.

If true it fits with what I heard that the club scratched Morais to divert funds into keeping Ameobi.

Fingers crossed. That would be good news!

[bristol_Wanderer3]

I'd take Ameobi signing up over a new player.

Depends who the new player was surely?

Things are slowly taking shape it seems.

We've upgraded on Wilbraham, got a younger Pratley in Lowe and added some flair in Oztumer.

Keep Sammy and then look to strengthen further in midfield and add a left back and cover elsewhere at the back.

Things seem solid to me. We're going to be in and around the relegation fight again, but hopefully can stay a little further away from it than last time.

If we do sign Ameobi, and add Wyke and CYL and get Antonee back and sign a CH or two, and a midfielder or two, we could be nearer to challenging the top than the bottom. I know, a lot of if's but...

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

I have wondered for a few weeks now if our youngsters will be closer to the first team squad this season. Maybe Edwards and Brockbank will start the season as 3rd/4th or 4th/5th choice centre halves? Maybe Earing and Pritchard will be 4th/5th choice centre midfielders? Chiori Johnson reserve right back? Hall certainly looks like being at least 4th choice striker. Maybe we won't sign too many more senior players? It certainly could be a policy that achieves some savings on the wage bill, and has the potential to bring in big fees. Obviously the risk is they won't be good enough....

It's an interesting question but to some extent it's one that even Parky/Didsy/Parkin etc can only guess at until way after the deadline. Some of the lads we've given pro deals might be ready for the edges of the first team but it's not always that simple: look how well the U23s did last year and none really got a look-in.

Also worth noting that even within this summer's signed cohort there's a lot of different players at a lot of different ages and a lot of different stages. Some have come up through our academy, some have been turfed out of bigger ones, others are somewhere in the middle. They range in age from (right now) 21 down to 17. I wouldn't expect to see Dennis Politic streak past Ameobi into the first team but some of those nearer the top of this list will be hoping to be first-teamers somewhere within a couple of years, whether it's BWFC, FCUM, St Mirren or Spurs.

Joe Pritchard (pro, 10/09/96, midfielder)
Liam Edwards (pro, 02/10/96, centre-back)
Chiori Johnson (pro, 05/10/97, right-back/defender)
Joe Muscatt (pro, 15/12/97, left-back)
Harry Brockbank (pro, 26/09/98, centre-back)
Jack Earing (pro, 21/01/99, central midfielder)
Connor Hall (pro, 2yrs, 18/02/00, forward)
Dennis Politic (pro, 05/03/00, winger)
Stephen Duke-McKenna (pro, 17/08/00, forward)

[BWFC_Insane]

I'd take Ameobi signing up over a new player.

Depends who the new player was surely?

Things are slowly taking shape it seems.

We've upgraded on Wilbraham, got a younger Pratley in Lowe and added some flair in Oztumer.

Keep Sammy and then look to strengthen further in midfield and add a left back and cover elsewhere at the back.

Things seem solid to me. We're going to be in and around the relegation fight again, but hopefully can stay a little further away from it than last time.

If we do sign Ameobi, and add Wyke and CYL and get Antonee back and sign a CH or two, and a midfielder or two, we could be nearer to challenging the top than the bottom. I know, a lot of if's but...

Lets not get carried away. Don't think CYL is on the cards. Not IF the Ameobi talk is true.

Wyke is simply talk from Bradford end a this stage. He wants away. He's the right age to spend money on, but I'm not totally convinced we'll spend money in that sort of a way. Robinson will be a loan at end of August if at all, and I suspect that we'll have to go for someone else ahead of that.

We won't be anywhere near the top half. Easy to get carried away in the summer, but lots of teams are getting substantially better and whilst I think we will too, we're not going to do so at a rate that pushes us past 8 or 9 or 10 teams in this league.

[GhostoftheBok]

I'd take Ameobi signing up over a new player.

Depends who the new player was surely?

Things are slowly taking shape it seems.

We've upgraded on Wilbraham, got a younger Pratley in Lowe and added some flair in Oztumer.

Keep Sammy and then look to strengthen further in midfield and add a left back and cover elsewhere at the back.

Things seem solid to me. We're going to be in and around the relegation fight again, but hopefully can stay a little further away from it than last time.

Yes, but I can't see us signing better than Ameobi to replace him.

[bristol_Wanderer3]

Lets not get carried away. Don't think CYL is on the cards. Not IF the Ameobi talk is true.

Wyke is simply talk from Bradford end a this stage. He wants away. He's the right age to spend money on, but I'm not totally convinced we'll spend money in that sort of a way. Robinson will be a loan at end of August if at all, and I suspect that we'll have to go for someone else ahead of that.

We won't be anywhere near the top half. Easy to get carried away in the summer, but lots of teams are getting substantially better and whilst I think we will too, we're not going to do so at a rate that pushes us past 8 or 9 or 10 teams in this league.

Well we could have at least a moment at this time of year of getting carried away At least until we don't sign these players. At the moment it is possible and not completely unrealistic

[mullayo]

SKELETON SQUAD but already better on paper than last year. With LOANEES to come

--------------Alnwick---------------
Little, Wheater, Beevers, A.Taylor,
---------Vela---------- Lowe ---------
SAmeobi-- Oztumer---Will Buckley
------------ Adam Le Fondre-----------

BENCH
TS: Clayton Donaldson
ST: Conor Hall
W: Noone
B: Darby
GK: Turner

[Prufrock]

Lets not get carried away. Don't think CYL is on the cards. Not IF the Ameobi talk is true.

Wyke is simply talk from Bradford end a this stage. He wants away. He's the right age to spend money on, but I'm not totally convinced we'll spend money in that sort of a way. Robinson will be a loan at end of August if at all, and I suspect that we'll have to go for someone else ahead of that.

We won't be anywhere near the top half. Easy to get carried away in the summer, but lots of teams are getting substantially better and whilst I think we will too, we're not going to do so at a rate that pushes us past 8 or 9 or 10 teams in this league.

Well we could have at least a moment at this time of year of getting carried away At least until we don't sign these players. At the moment it is possible and not completely unrealistic

Exactly. We're currently only outside the automatic spots on alphabetical order and there are new players to get excited about. Enjoy it while it lasts.

[bristol_Wanderer3]

Also, in terms of us pushing "past 8,9 or 10 teams in this league", there are a lot of teams with a lot of problems. WBA, Swansea, Villa, Derby, Norwich, Sheffield Wed, QPR, Leeds, Hull all have significant issues of the financial and/or new managers not used to the Championship variety. Bristol City and likely Brentford are in the process of losing their best players. Millwall will never get through a season again with such luck with avoiding key injuries. Middlesbrough and Stoke will be up there, but after that a whole number of unfancied teams could join them.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

There's a lot of teams that could go either way. It's a bit like the World Cup. But not the Premier League.

[mullayo]

Also, in terms of us pushing "past 8,9 or 10 teams in this league", there are a lot of teams with a lot of problems. WBA, Swansea, Villa, Derby, Norwich, Sheffield Wed, QPR, Leeds, Hull all have significant issues of the financial and/or new managers not used to the Championship variety. Bristol City and likely Brentford are in the process of losing their best players. Millwall will never get through a season again with such luck with avoiding key injuries. Middlesbrough and Stoke will be up there, but after that a whole number of unfancied teams could join them.

Sound like all you got to do to survive in this league is... survive in the league.Then next year a whole lot of teams will implode around you.

Have we done enough?
Madine, Antonee, and Karl Henry out.
Donaldson, Oztumer, Lowe in.
SAmeobi retained = About even.
But PLUS new batch of loanees and a bunch of lucky dips. If we get one or two decent starters out of those two groups we're winning.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Iles: "WANDERERS are optimistic Sammy Ameobi will sign a new contract to keep him at the Macron Stadium this season. The winger’s current deal expires at the end of the month but talks are understood to have progressed well, with an agreement expected in the next few days."
http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/16 ... wanderers/

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

BREAKING NEWS

AMEOBI SIGNS

Two-year deal.

I spoke to the manager and he knows me very well. I get on so well with everyone here and it’s such a wonderful environment to work in. That was a huge factor in me wanting to stay here.

https://www.bwfc.co.uk/news/2018/june/s ... -new-deal/

[bristol_Wanderer3]

Absolutely wonderful. Two years too. At least we will get a fee if he improves further and becomes hot property during this season.