Making HMS YouKnowWhat ship-shape: Winter 20/21 transfer thread

[officer_dibble]

That’s got to hurt Evatt. They must feel he wasn’t developing enough here, which must come from the player.

[The_Gun]

That’s got to hurt Evatt. They must feel he wasn’t developing enough here, which must come from the player.

I doubt that’s the case - he was doing really well here. Northampton are in the division above and are much closer geographically than we are, so it makes sense.

[nicholaldo]

Kioso won't be coming back. He's joined Northampton Town on loan.

That's pi$$ poor - feels like they had a plan when they requested his return...

It does seem rather suspect. He was supposedly recalled to due to other players picking up injuries.

[LeverEnd]

Higher division, plus they've a few Luton loanees so presumably a club relationship there. Shane, but doubt it reflects badly on Evatt.
He'll be disappointed I expect, wasn't he reported as saying we had first dibs if they didn't need him?

[LeverEnd]

Kioso won't be coming back. He's joined Northampton Town on loan.

That's pi$$ poor - feels like they had a plan when they requested his return...

It does seem rather suspect. He was supposedly recalled to due to other players picking up injuries.

As soon as he was and we were being fed the lines about injuries, Alan Nixon was reporting Northampton's interest. Anyway, done now. Gethin it is. Hickman's clearly not getting another sniff. Think he was phoenix's man.

[officer_dibble]

Higher division! Yep forgot that bit! Can’t say I blame them but what’s Evatts plan B? Maybe it’s sign an actual goalkeeper what can use his hands?

[LeverEnd]

Higher division! Yep forgot that bit! Can’t say I blame them but what’s Evatts plan B? Maybe it’s sign an actual goalkeeper what can use his hands?

There you go again with your unrealistic expectations. Stop living in the past!!!

[officer_dibble]

How come Luton can recall Kioso but we can’t cancel the clowns loan?

[Prufrock]

Or get Taft back.

[DJBlu]

How much of his salary did we pay Vs Northampton? Money talks.

Ship has sailed.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Hmm I did fear this. It’s a blow. But I can’t blame player or club. On we go.

[irie Cee Bee]

Kisco not coming back is a disappointment. Seems like Evatt was sold a dummy by Luton and fell for it. Just shows how much "power" we have as a L2 side.. if you believe what Evatt is saying. On we go indeed with what we have.

[Bertie Wooster]

There is a rumour doing the rounds regarding Regan Riley signing for Norwich, if true this is not a good sign for me and just shows how shambolic things are on & off the pitch at BWFC (this is only IMO)

[officer_dibble]

It’s a tribunal job I think. That’s what you get without an academy - our transfer path is picking up those who don’t make it and fast tracking for the first team. Ultimately this is a result of ten years mismanagement not down to the current owners.

[The_Gun]

Yeah, I'd agree with OD. How many other teams in League 2 could keep hold of a young player if a club at the top of the Championship comes calling?

[officer_dibble]

He’s a scholar so he can go there for feck all compensation. We can’t afford to offer him a pro deal and have him kicking his heels with feck all football cos he ain’t first team ready. He would be mad not to go. What I don’t know is what fees (if any) are due if he makes it.

[The_Gun]

He’s a scholar so he can go there for feck all compensation. We can’t afford to offer him a pro deal and have him kicking his heels with feck all football cos he ain’t first team ready. He would be mad not to go. What I don’t know is what fees (if any) are due if he makes it.

That Lion of Vienna Suite blog is claiming we've agreed a £250k fee upfront, presumably with some add-ons. If true, that covers our wages for a good few months.

[nicholaldo]

This feels like a kick in the bollocks, even if it's the - to be expected - reality of where we are.

I suspecy Finlay Lockett will follow him out the door shortly too.

[officer_dibble]

Any half decent kids that age we get will. We might even sign them back when they get released 3 years later. As a famous conspiracy theorist and anti establishment nut job once said, it’s not where you’re from is where you are at.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Evatt on Kioso:
https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/1 ... ter-kioso/

Peter picked up the phone to me on Sunday night personally and called me to tell me what was happening and also said how grateful and thankful he was for having this opportunity and being part of this football club and learning from me. But I understand that he’s a 21-year-old kid away from home in the middle of a pandemic and that’s really challenging and difficult for these lads and we forget that.

Some of these young players are staying in the club hotel and other than being at work, can’t socialise with anybody else. They’re away from their families, away from their parents, it’s a really challenging time and I respect the fact that he will have loved to have come back in normal circumstances, but the fact that he can live at home and be with his family was a big plus and the fact that they’re in League One.

More widely:

Obviously that right-back role, we’ve got Gethin (Jones), Harry (Brockbank), we’ve got young Jak (Hickman) as well, so we’re quite well stocked in that area.

Obviously it opens up a space elsewhere in the squad that hopefully we can strengthen and the money going back into the cap helps as well. We’ve got more than enough room in the cap, it’s about the choices we make.

We’re not just trying to get quick fixes now with these two [possible extra signings], we’re trying to bring players in that can make a substantial difference to the club moving forwards and be part of a group that can hopefully take this club on and progress through this division, but hopefully to the next as well.

How he's signing players:
https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/1 ... -recruits/

I’m now personally interviewing everybody that we’re trying to sign. I’m getting many, many character references but also getting a feel for them myself. They have to be the right fit for Bolton Wanderers and coming here for the right reasons and hungry and wanting to earn the right to play for this magnificent football club and in that shirt. There’s many parts to due diligence. There’s the data aspect but that should only back up what your eye tells you, it shouldn’t be a reason to sign players.

It all has to come together to make the right informed decision, so that’s your eye, your knowledge, your references, your character interview and your data, and once that all marries up you’re taking away and limiting the risk of making mistakes with recruitment. We haven’t done that in the past.

We’ll have a coffee over Zoom. That’s it. I like them to look me in the eye when I’m talking to them and that’s difficult on Zoom. It is challenging of course. You’re just wanting to hear the right things and hear the enthusiasm in their voice and understand what their requirements are and what they want to do with their careers moving forwards and if that’s in line with Bolton Wanderers. And if it is, alongside every other part of recruitment they’re hopefully the right ones for us moving forwards.

Obviously we want these players, but we’re not going to be held to ransom, number one; and number two, we have to make sure that the deals are right for the football club, within our means and within the salary cap. As I’ve said many times, there’s still plenty of room in that salary cap and it’s not down to the board and their investment. It’s purely down to me and my decision making choices that I just don’t want to get it wrong and I feel like we’ve rushed recruitment in the past.

Due diligence is very important and vital for this football club moving forwards so that’s what’s happening, that’s what’s taking place. We’ve identified a couple and hopefully we can do it. I feel confident that we can but if we don’t then it is what it is and we’ll have to adapt and overcome.

And on Regan Riley:
https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/1 ... gan-riley/

Certainly we're not in a rush to sell or anything like that, we'll do what we think is right for the football club moving forward and what's going to be of benefit. My role is to make this club sustainable and self-sustainable and that's important. This club needs to have that model and we need to develop our own to ensure that a) we develop players for our first team but b) we have a model that can make this club sustainable for the fans moving forwards and that's what the board want, that's what I want. With the salary cap the fee, if there was one, could potentially go back into the cap, but for now that's an irrelevance.

There's lots more that we need to think about rather than Regan Riley at the moment, with all due respect. Our concentration is fully focused on turning this form around and getting three points on Saturday.