Deal or no deal? - Summer 2022 Transfer gossip!

[GhostoftheBok]

Keith Hill never learns from his own failures. He always manages to blame someone else and thus he never improves.

Sod him. He has a 6% win rate at Scunny and even that hasn't taught him humility. 20 years from now he'll be sat on his own in a pub, telling the bar staff everything that's wrong with the place and what beers they should put on.

[nicholaldo]

I have practically no time for Hill as a person, I wouldn't have ever appointed him, and I was relieved when he was let go.

Despite that, I have a fair degree of sympathy with the idea he was hard done to during his spell here.

[malcd1]

I have practically no time for Hill as a person, I wouldn't have ever appointed him, and I was relieved when he was let go.

Despite that, I have a fair degree of sympathy with the idea he was hard done to during his spell here.

I completely agree with you. The initial job Hill did to sign all those players at short notice was pretty impressive. They then started well and it looked like we had a chance of survival after a run of three consecutive wins early doors.

My problem with Hill (and Flitcroft) was the more time they had with those players the worse we got. Hill is a big mouthed, opinionated chancer. Nothing more.

[nicholaldo]

I have practically no time for Hill as a person, I wouldn't have ever appointed him, and I was relieved when he was let go.

Despite that, I have a fair degree of sympathy with the idea he was hard done to during his spell here.

I completely agree with you. The initial job Hill did to sign all those players at short notice was pretty impressive. They then started well and it looked like we had a chance of survival after a run of three consecutive wins early doors.

My problem with Hill (and Flitcroft) was the more time they had with those players the worse we got. Hill is a big mouthed, opinionated chancer. Nothing more.

He signed an impressive starting eleven at twenty four hours' notice but those time constraints meant we lacked the squad depth required to cope with routine injuries. We then lost important players (Verlinden, Bridcutt, Earl, etc.) in the January transfer window and he was undermined by the frankly bizarre appointment of Tobias Phoenix and hamstrung by the terms of the registration embargo; a particular problem when trying to sign players mid-season.

Results continued to deterioriate in line with the quality of the players available to him - just look at the state of starting eleven against Rochdale just after the turn of the year - but things did begin to improve once the new signing began to bed in right before the pandemic curtailed the season.

[BWFC_Insane]

I don’t think it’s in question that this was an impossible job for anyone. And Hill did ok in terms of building a side and keeping things on the pitch going.

He’s just an absolutely odious bloke though and got weirder and weirder which seems to happen at all clubs he’s been at.

I don’t think he was hard done by though. He was lucky to have a chance to manage a club like this in the first place and then made a tit out of himself.

[nicholaldo]

Yes, he was dealt a bad hand and played it badly.

I still think there things he took uneccessary flak for, most notably the lack of urgency in signing players in January and our lack of squad depth having a significant bearing on our ability to get results.

He was ultimately the wrong fit though, and as you state, an odious character. I'm glad he no longer has anything to do with us.

[GhostoftheBok]

Keith Hill falling on his face was, in hindsight, the best possible thing for the football club. The utter shower of see you next tuesdays who were leeching off the place are gone and whilst I'm not a "Love you auntie Shazza!" type, the current lot see to have a longer term vision of how to get their pay day.

I'm happy with the situation at the club for the first time in a dozen or so years.

If that meant throwing Keith under a bus (it didn't) I'm fine with that. Line up a fleet of them. I throw him under several if it helps move us further along the rebuild.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Away from the past and onto the future. Jordan Shipley, the 24-year-old Coventry No.11/10/8 mentioned on here in previous windows, appears to be leaving the club...

[GhostoftheBok]

Shipley is apparently on his way to Shrews.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Shipley is apparently on his way to Shrews.

No wonder he looks f**king devastated

[GhostoftheBok]

No wonder he looks f**king devastated

I was surprised by the link, to be honest. I think we've got more ambitious targets now and that I'd probably rather have Sadlier, but he's still a good player at this level. He'll definitely improve them. The poor bastard.

[BWFC_Insane]

Keith Hill falling on his face was, in hindsight, the best possible thing for the football club. The utter shower of see you next tuesdays who were leeching off the place are gone and whilst I'm not a "Love you auntie Shazza!" type, the current lot see to have a longer term vision of how to get their pay day.

I'm happy with the situation at the club for the first time in a dozen or so years.

If that meant throwing Keith under a bus (it didn't) I'm fine with that. Line up a fleet of them. I throw him under several if it helps move us further along the rebuild.

Hill got the job by default. Sharon wanted Nolan but Mike James believed Hill had better contacts and was better placed to bring in a lot of players in the space of a few days. Lots of lower league experience and contacts over the years vs Nolan.

That much I know. I suspect there was a large personality clash between Hill and Brittan but that’s speculative. But having seen Sharon operate and chatted briefly to her a couple of times I think she would have found Keith unbearable and he wouldn’t have reacted well to someone new to football but very much with their own business plan and ideas and not there to be dictated to.

[GhostoftheBok]

Hill got the job by default. Sharon wanted Nolan but Mike James believed Hill had better contacts and was better placed to bring in a lot of players in the space of a few days. Lots of lower league experience and contacts over the years vs Nolan.

That much I know. I suspect there was a large personality clash between Hill and Brittan but that’s speculative. But having seen Sharon operate and chatted briefly to her a couple of times I think she would have found Keith unbearable and he wouldn’t have reacted well to someone new to football but very much with their own business plan and ideas and not there to be dictated to.

This is the thing. Keith falling flat will have reinforced for the new administration that they didn't want to go down the old school route with their project.

Everyone was told time and again that Hill was a proper football man whose contacts would stand us in good stead, but in reality he was everything wrong with the English game at this level.

We'd got rid of Anderson and we needed to get rid of the agent-driven jobs-for-the-boys culture. Hill was the first nail in the coffin of Phoenix and his ilk.

Hopefully that shocking experience has drilled into the FV folk how it has to be from now on. Professional, process-driven work.

[BWFC_Insane]

Hill got the job by default. Sharon wanted Nolan but Mike James believed Hill had better contacts and was better placed to bring in a lot of players in the space of a few days. Lots of lower league experience and contacts over the years vs Nolan.

That much I know. I suspect there was a large personality clash between Hill and Brittan but that’s speculative. But having seen Sharon operate and chatted briefly to her a couple of times I think she would have found Keith unbearable and he wouldn’t have reacted well to someone new to football but very much with their own business plan and ideas and not there to be dictated to.

This is the thing. Keith falling flat will have reinforced for the new administration that they didn't want to go down the old school route with their project.

Everyone was told time and again that Hill was a proper football man whose contacts would stand us in good stead, but in reality he was everything wrong with the English game at this level.

We'd got rid of Anderson and we needed to get rid of the agent-driven jobs-for-the-boys culture. Hill was the first nail in the coffin of Phoenix and his ilk.

Hopefully that shocking experience has drilled into the FV folk how it has to be from now on. Professional, process-driven work.

Equally Tobias Phoenix showed that many of these shiny suited so called ‘modern football people’ are complete charlatans who don’t have a clue about the realities of English football.

You need the right people. Markham was a very good appointment. Not one for nonsense and down to earth and understands that you need the basics right.

[GhostoftheBok]

Equally Tobias Phoenix showed that many of these shiny suited so called ‘modern football people’ are complete charlatans who don’t have a clue about the realities of English football.

You need the right people. Markham was a very good appointment. Not one for nonsense and down to earth and understands that you need the basics right.

Markham is a man with a proven track record in the game who fully embraces advances.

Phoenix was the DoF of a club with nothing to say for itself in terms of recruitment.

"Analysts" like Phoenix are ten a penny, but they usually get no further than an instagram account. I was prepared to give him and Keith a chance, but feck.

Again, Hill's failure was a blessing. FV put money into an area that is worth paying for and we are all seeing the benefits. I'll keep Markham and co for as long as they want to stay.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Ilesy piece with (by his own admission) scant detail but saying Fossey deal looks close to wrapped up.

Fee was agreed in January, apparently, and personal terms almost sorted.

https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/2 ... on-fossey/

[GhostoftheBok]

Ilesy piece with (by his own admission) scant detail but saying Fossey deal looks close to wrapped up.

Fee was agreed in January, apparently, and personal terms almost sorted.

https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/2 ... on-fossey/

So that's Fossey and Iredale basically confirmed then. Huge improvements to the squad in terms of quality. I hope Fossey can get at least 30 games in next season.

[nicholaldo]

Ilesy piece with (by his own admission) scant detail but saying Fossey deal looks close to wrapped up.

Fee was agreed in January, apparently, and personal terms almost sorted.

https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/2 ... on-fossey/

So that's Fossey and Iredale basically confirmed then. Huge improvements to the squad in terms of quality. I hope Fossey can get at least 30 games in next season.

That's the key, isn't it?

He's already demonstrated his ability but his injury record is, unfortunately, quite dreadful. I just hope we do our due diligence and make (made?) our decision for the right reasons.

[TANGODANCER]

He's already demonstrated his ability but his injury record is, unfortunately, quite dreadful. I just hope we do our due diligence and make (made?) our decision for the right reasons.

For me, the only right reason that matters is he's a superb footballer and not a single one player can guarantee injury free fitness. Rope him in before someone else does, and get Ricardo finalised and we're on our way.

[GhostoftheBok]

There's no point rehashing the fitness issue. It has it's own thread.

As Tango says, we are bringing in good players. Both Iredale and Fossey have very similar injury records. Iredale has, through injury management at Cambridge, started to look like he can play plenty of games. Hopefully Fossey can do the same. These guys, like Sheehan and Geth, are down in these divisions because they've been hurt. We just have to say thank you, hope for the best and plan for the worst.

In Fossey's case that may mean more natural RWB cover than Izzy or Jones. We'll see what Evatt does there.