Will Lancashire triumph at Happy Valley? Charlton (A), Saturday, 28 January, 12:30pm

[GhostoftheBok]

I don’t really see it makes much difference. We are two defenders short. A centre half and a utility option to cover a couple of positions.

Don’t think that has changed much other than one would ideally be left footed.

We'll see. I think if we're going to cover all our bases someone else (at least one, preferably more) will need to leave to balance the books. We're already paying 24 first team players. Otherwise I think we're picking which remaining issues we fix and whatever doesn't get done will be labelled borderline malpractice - judging by the general tone.

We fairly clearly have things lined up, so hopefully it all goes off like clockwork.

[sonicthewhite]

I think next week, at home, and if he doesn't leave before then, then it would make sense for John to start. At home and against Cheltenham we'll be expected to attack from the start and going forward is Johns strength. Let Randy have a breather and come on for the last 30mins, maybe as RWB even. But then again I don't get paid to make those decisions,

[GhostoftheBok]

Interesting conundrum for Evatt next weekend as to who he plays at LWB. DJ put in a decent performance for someone who hasn’t played for over two months. (Assuming he doesn’t leave in the next few days).

His one-touch stuff and his movement in the final third were good. He was progressive and you'd have liked to see how he and Shoretire would link up with the latter at 10. Also felt John would have played Ade in early a couple of times if he was on the ball and not Jones.

He was still reactive and slow to read the game defensively, though. I never feel like he has Sadlier-syndrome, but I do think he's one who struggles with some of the tactical stuff.

I have absolutely no issue with John playing games for us in League One. I was delighted when he signed and would love him to reintegrate into the squad. We're paying him enough that we need returns on it. He either goes, or he players an important role. Can't be carried anymore.

If he stays and plays, great. If he goes, also great. We just need solutions at this stage, what package they are wrapped in doesn't matter.

[GhostoftheBok]

Just saw that Morecambe beat Bristol 5-1 with 31% possession.

Utterly glorious.

[GhostoftheBok]

Ian Evatt singled John out for praise post match, described him as performing well in training and said he deserved a chance back with the group.

That would seem to suggest Dec's now part of plans for the rest of the season. thought he was gone last week, but you could imagine maybe his move didn't materialise and Sadlier's did so we've gone in another direction. Alternatively Dec's agent told him to get his head down because nothing was on and to get in the shop window (possibly for the summer). Obviously you *hope* his love of the football club and passion for the fans has spurred him on...but, yeah.

You have to say that if he does come fully back into contention then having him and Williams fighting for that spot on the left is excellent depth at this level and makes for great options off the bench.

[BWFC_Insane]

Ian Evatt singled John out for praise post match, described him as performing well in training and said he deserved a chance back with the group.

That would seem to suggest Dec's now part of plans for the rest of the season. thought he was gone last week, but you could imagine maybe his move didn't materialise and Sadlier's did so we've gone in another direction. Alternatively Dec's agent told him to get his head down because nothing was on and to get in the shop window (possibly for the summer). Obviously you *hope* his love of the football club and passion for the fans has spurred him on...but, yeah.

You have to say that if he does come fully back into contention then having him and Williams fighting for that spot on the left is excellent depth at this level and makes for great options off the bench.

From what I know his wages would be a major issue in any of the potential moves. I also can guess there is considerable pressure on Evatt to use our higher earners or move them on.

Releasing Beck was easy enough and Sadlier has had a lot of interest and probably would take a small cut to get game time.

John will be higher end earner and there are question marks over lack of game time.

So I suspect it’s had to be Evatt swallowing his pride a bit and John knuckling down a bit. Wouldn’t surprise me if there were some clear the air talks.

If you were Sharon Brittan you’d be pushing for something like that because one of our higher earners skulking round the Trafford centre on Saturdays with his missus does nobody any good.

[GhostoftheBok]

From what I know his wages would be a major issue in any of the potential moves. I also can guess there is considerable pressure on Evatt to use our higher earners or move them on.

Releasing Beck was easy enough and Sadlier has had a lot of interest and probably would take a small cut to get game time.

John will be higher end earner and there are question marks over lack of game time.

So I suspect it’s had to be Evatt swallowing his pride a bit and John knuckling down a bit. Wouldn’t surprise me if there were some clear the air talks.

If you were Sharon Brittan you’d be pushing for something like that because one of our higher earners skulking round the Trafford centre on Saturdays with his missus does nobody any good.

Entirely possible.

There was interest in John last week and some work was done there. My personal suspicion is everyone thought he'd go and things got a bit warm, but then it fell apart and now everyone has to muddle along with it. They're all grown men so they've sorted it out. If anything that Tweet from John may have helped matters as it forced them to talk directly.

I noted Evatt saying the financial package offered for Will Aimson was too good to turn down (for a player on an expiring contract, you'd assume he means). I do wonder what that means to us in terms of getting things over the line that have been bubbling away for a while.

[Mar]

Why are people under the impression Declan John is one of our big earners?

Surely he was signed as a midtable league two player looking for promotion so would be part of the budget for that.

Maybe Evatts desire for top drawer wing back talent stands him in good stead but can't imagine he'd be one of the big wage outlays

[GhostoftheBok]

Why are people under the impression Declan John is one of our big earners?

Surely he was signed as a midtable league two player looking for promotion so would be part of the budget for that.

Maybe Evatts desire for top drawer wing back talent stands him in good stead but can't imagine he'd be one of the big wage outlays

Because of how much he was paid before and how difficult it was to sort out a financial package he'd sign on for.

[GhostoftheBok]

I suspect it wouldn't from Ghost, to be fair.

Sorry, I missed this. Not sure if it's a good or bad thing, but yeah.

I hate losing and love winning. However, I only hey really excited by structural stuff. I get the few hours of blood pumping everyone does, but the things that excite me are technical aspects of the game that I think will mean we will win over a season, even if we lose particular games.

Yesterday was the best technical execution of Evatt's gameplan I've seen so far from us. We've done bits better (better press etc), but as a complete performance that's the best one. It was far from perfect and the analysis on Monday will no doubt pick it apart, but that's how you improve. That's now the benchmark of what a good performance looks like from this side. There has been enough consistency of development recently that I don't think it's a peak - I think over the next dozen or so games we'll view this as the teams level.

Whether you then win games comes down to individual quality. Can you pass/cross/finish well enough to score the goals you need to win. I think we're flying in that regard with the business we've done. So it should be that this level of technical execution turns into lots of points.

We are far more likely to go up now than we were in December, in my view. Still not one of the four favourites, but if/when we do more business I might change my mind on that.

What I feel even more strongly now is that if we don't go up this season (and assuming the backroom staff stay), we will storm this league next season. Again, if we don't go up this season (even if something went on and we failed to make the play-offs, now) I'd not be too badly hit emotionally. I'm extremely confident that the Championship is at most 18 months away.

Now I've seen far more shocking collapses than if this project were to derail, but normally something that looks like this is worth backing.

[TonyDomingos]

Lancashire triumphed. Happy Valley. End of.

[BWFC_Insane]

From what I know his wages would be a major issue in any of the potential moves. I also can guess there is considerable pressure on Evatt to use our higher earners or move them on.

Releasing Beck was easy enough and Sadlier has had a lot of interest and probably would take a small cut to get game time.

John will be higher end earner and there are question marks over lack of game time.

So I suspect it’s had to be Evatt swallowing his pride a bit and John knuckling down a bit. Wouldn’t surprise me if there were some clear the air talks.

If you were Sharon Brittan you’d be pushing for something like that because one of our higher earners skulking round the Trafford centre on Saturdays with his missus does nobody any good.

Entirely possible.

There was interest in John last week and some work was done there. My personal suspicion is everyone thought he'd go and things got a bit warm, but then it fell apart and now everyone has to muddle along with it. They're all grown men so they've sorted it out. If anything that Tweet from John may have helped matters as it forced them to talk directly.

I noted Evatt saying the financial package offered for Will Aimson was too good to turn down (for a player on an expiring contract, you'd assume he means). I do wonder what that means to us in terms of getting things over the line that have been bubbling away for a while.

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

[GhostoftheBok]

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

That makes a lot of sense.

If the offer I'm aware of was a loan and it didn't meet the threshold then everything sort of falls into place. They'd worked things out for a permanent exit, there was an offer and I couldn't understand why he was still here.

Very happy to have him stay if he's last-years model.

One thing you have to say is that certain fan's fear of a fire sale are clearly unfounded, given that we've clearly turned down offers that don't meet valuations. Also probably tells us that Sadlier's loan was on favourable terms for us as a club.

[BWFC_Insane]

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

That makes a lot of sense.

If the offer I'm aware of was a loan and it didn't meet the threshold then everything sort of falls into place. They'd worked things out for a permanent exit, there was an offer and I couldn't understand why he was still here.

Very happy to have him stay if he's last-years model.

One thing you have to say is that certain fan's fear of a fire sale are clearly unfounded, given that we've clearly turned down offers that don't meet valuations. Also probably tells us that Sadlier's loan was on favourable terms for us as a club.

We tried to move John on in the summer but found any suitors quickly moved away when wages came up. I don’t know but strongly suspect that has been the case now too.

A loan that wouldn’t cover enough of his wages isn’t going to help us.

Like you say player and club both realised there was no move that would make sense.

So needed some sort of talks which I would imagine Sharon and the board were pushing for. You can’t have a highly paid asset excluded without a chance to move them. And John needs to play to be able to command a move away.

Again I don’t know about Sadlier’s deal but it would not surprise me at all if he took a cut to get the move. So desperate to play he was. The thing is that from a board view Sadlier wasn’t a fit in the plans of Evatt. Whereas John absolutely was and is now more than ever.

[dave the minion]

Why are people under the impression Declan John is one of our big earners?

Surely he was signed as a midtable league two player looking for promotion so would be part of the budget for that.

Maybe Evatts desire for top drawer wing back talent stands him in good stead but can't imagine he'd be one of the big wage outlays

If (big if) this is true and based on actual data.....

Screenshot 2023-01-29 at 09.47.16.png (228.69 KiB) Viewed 796 times

[GhostoftheBok]

We tried to move John on in the summer but found any suitors quickly moved away when wages came up. I don’t know but strongly suspect that has been the case now too.

A loan that wouldn’t cover enough of his wages isn’t going to help us.

Like you say player and club both realised there was no move that would make sense.

So needed some sort of talks which I would imagine Sharon and the board were pushing for. You can’t have a highly paid asset excluded without a chance to move them. And John needs to play to be able to command a move away.

Again I don’t know about Sadlier’s deal but it would not surprise me at all if he took a cut to get the move. So desperate to play he was. The thing is that from a board view Sadlier wasn’t a fit in the plans of Evatt. Whereas John absolutely was and is now more than ever.

Well, it's done now. So long as we're not paying anyone to play elsewhere then I'm fine. Always hate that.

The club is saying it got good terms for Baka, Aimson and Dapo. Good enough for me at this stage.

I do wonder if that means that one of the players we had lined up is now a no-go, or if we will shift Izzy to make room.

Minimum we now need in that defender. Think we'll see two arrive. If we do three we'll be very, very strong - but we'll have to see some leave.

I'm stuck in the house playing covid nurse, so an exciting close the window is a huge boon. Especially when most of the nerves have been knocked off with all the attacking additions.

[jmjhb]

We tried to move John on in the summer but found any suitors quickly moved away when wages came up. I don’t know but strongly suspect that has been the case now too.

A loan that wouldn’t cover enough of his wages isn’t going to help us.

Like you say player and club both realised there was no move that would make sense.

So needed some sort of talks which I would imagine Sharon and the board were pushing for. You can’t have a highly paid asset excluded without a chance to move them. And John needs to play to be able to command a move away.

Again I don’t know about Sadlier’s deal but it would not surprise me at all if he took a cut to get the move. So desperate to play he was. The thing is that from a board view Sadlier wasn’t a fit in the plans of Evatt. Whereas John absolutely was and is now more than ever.

Well, it's done now. So long as we're not paying anyone to play elsewhere then I'm fine. Always hate that.

The club is saying it got good terms for Baka, Aimson and Dapo. Good enough for me at this stage.

I do wonder if that means that one of the players we had lined up is now a no-go, or if we will shift Izzy to make room.

Minimum we now need in that defender. Think we'll see two arrive. If we do three we'll be very, very strong - but we'll have to see some leave.

I'm stuck in the house playing covid nurse, so an exciting close the window is a huge boon. Especially when most of the nerves have been knocked off with all the attacking additions.

I wonder if Jack Tucker is regretting his decision of club right now, especially with recent dire performances costing his team points.

Although, looking at Toal, we got the best deal in the end!

[GhostoftheBok]

I wonder if Jack Tucker is regretting his decision of club right now.

Although, looking at Toal, we got the best deal in the end!

Think we would have signed both.

Tucker was seen as an investment we'd have made a lot of money from once in the Championship - a bit like Johnston.

I think Toal was seen as someone who'd need more development time than he has and could be worked in to replace one of the lads who was sold and kept the lights on.

It's worked out okay, but we're still some value short as a result of missing him. Plus a player down.

Maybe we can fix that in the next couple of days.

[Bruce Rioja]

One has to immediately question the veracity of an item that has League One down as being 'the fourth division of mens professional football in England and the lowest football league division'.

[GhostoftheBok]

One has to immediately question the veracity of an item that has League One down as being 'the fourth division of mens professional football in England and the lowest football league division'.

You'd have to think they've just not edited it properly after we were promoted.

On the other hand, they're wrong on Traf. Neither what we earns nor what we pay him. No idea on the others, but it that's wrong...