The Promotion Commotion Transfer Thread 2017

[officer_dibble]

Good. Get some proper dosh then.

[irie Cee Bee]

Not too sure whats all the fuss is about Vela. Certainly hasn't impressed me since his return and had a poor game today. Contributed nothing. Would accept a reasonable offer for him in January if it helps us get in a couple players who are not afraid to take the ball forward rather than safety first.

[twilight]

It might be that Vela's head is elsewhere and maybe that's why he is in poor form?

[TANGODANCER]

Might be wrong and not based on being there, but it seems to me that a lot of teams have found us out. Push us back and keep doing it and they'll win games that effectively we should be winning. A lot of blame is being put on lack of this that and the other (some obviously rightly) but the same things seem to be happening too often: no support up front, not getting forward quickly enough and having everybody back when we should be the ones pressing. The commntator remarked quite a lot that Burton had everybody in our half and were forcing us to hack it clear. In Championship football that isn't something that should happen. Sounded like Sammi was MOTM and if he were to leave we'd be well and truly up to the necks in it (if we aren't already.

[Harry Genshaw]

Vela was awful yesterday, not that he was on his own, but any chance of us getting a big fee for him went out the window if scouts were watching that.

You're right TD I think teams have sussed us out. Close us down quickly and we go sideways or backwards. When we do look to get it forward it's the big lump up to Madine. Stick an uncompromising centre half on him and the rest of their defence can enjoy an easy afternoon

[Bruce Rioja]

Had to miss the game on Saturday, but the commentators said that their goal took a wicked deflection. The camera angle didn't really show it. Was it that bad? Because the way it looked to me was that we appeared to have swapped Bens in goal.

[bristol_Wanderer3]

https://lionofviennasuite.sbnation.com/ ... ielder-efl

Hope this one is true, I wanted us to sign him earlier in the season when we got Henry.

[boltonboris]

Gearing up for another Leagues 1 season, I see

[jonnybwfc]

Get Tim Cahill in.

Left Melbourne City last week to get some game-time before the World Cup.

Has said he doesn't need money, just wants to be playing in the next 6 months, so he can get to the World Cup and hopefully score in 4 consecutive Cups.

He's about 90, but still scoring in big games, is a target man, and can put away easy chances.

[boltonboris]

Get Tim Cahill in.

Left Melbourne City last week to get some game-time before the World Cup.

Has said he doesn't need money, just wants to be playing in the next 6 months, so he can get to the World Cup and hopefully score in 4 consecutive Cups.

He's about 90, but still scoring in big games, is a target man, and can put away easy chances.

Must be a reason he can't get into their team?

[Bruce Rioja]

Get Tim Cahill in.

Left Melbourne City last week to get some game-time before the World Cup.

Has said he doesn't need money, just wants to be playing in the next 6 months, so he can get to the World Cup and hopefully score in 4 consecutive Cups.

He's about 90, but still scoring in big games, is a target man, and can put away easy chances.

Must be a reason he can't get into their team?

Decent point, Boz, but are we not in the - give the chap a go - category just now?

[Harry Genshaw]

Get Tim Cahill in.

Left Melbourne City last week to get some game-time before the World Cup.

Has said he doesn't need money, just wants to be playing in the next 6 months, so he can get to the World Cup and hopefully score in 4 consecutive Cups.

He's about 90, but still scoring in big games, is a target man, and can put away easy chances.

I don't necessarily see him as a target man but that's a decent shout jonny

[TANGODANCER]

I used to really dislike Tim Cahill in the same way I did the likes of Clint Dempsey and Darren Bent etc. They were almost guaranteed to score against us every time we played against them...

[boltonboris]

I just think we should be looking for something different than:

"when chucking it up to the best header of the ball ain't working, try doing the same thing, but with a different lad"

If we delivered quality crosses into the box consistently, I'd be up for it, but I don't think he's what we're missing

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Elsewhere,

He needs to tinker a bit more - try new faces...at least if they're cwap then discount them rather than have the nagging doubts of wonder.

This is an interesting point as January nears. Presumably to have ins we need outs, so PP needs to decide who to lose (always assuming we can find takers). The Christmas schedule might see some fringe players auditioning for their futures, here or elsewhere.

Pretty obviously Chris Taylor's card is marked, but after that it's a bit harder to say. You can get a drift from the usage stats, like league minutes played – so which of the non-loanees have played under 1,000 minutes?

• Derik (289 minutes) has only featured in two league games, which we lost 4-0 and 3-0. Although it was hardly his fault – we were 3-0 down when he emerged for the second half at Hull, and when he was sacrificed at home to Boro after an hour we were only one down – he's also at a disadvantage as he isn't a Parky signing: the only other members of the squad not to be signed or re-signed under PP and Ken are Pratley and Amos. Can Ken palm him back off to Spain?

• Aaron Wilbraham (330) has only just arrived, but if he's still second- or even third-choice front-man after January, we'll have failed. He obviously wants to be based round here for family reasons, so maybe there's a lower-division club at which he might restart the coaching career Bristol City were going to give him.

• Stephen Darby (383) has only made three league appearances; in each of the first two we shipped three goals, and in the latest we lost to bloody Burton.

• Craig Noone (471) is next lowest; although he came later, it's something of a surprise to learn that the Scouser has made 14 appearances for us, albeit the last nine coming from the bench, frequently too late to do owt.

• Adam Le Fondre (503) hasn't started since the first half of August, and although frequently used as a late Hail Mary – eight of his 13 sub appearances have been on 70+ minutes – he hasn't seen so much as a minute in four of the last six games, and not always through tonsillitis. PR-wise it would be risky to get rid of the fans' favourite, but if it helps to get another striker in, it wouldn't astonish me...

• Will Buckley (575) has only just started contributing, so he should be safe.

• Dorian Dervite (585) hasn't played a league minute since August. Parky plainly prefers Burke, so if the Hammers agree to extend the kid's loan, Doreen might be deemed surplus.

• Mark Howard is on 720 minutes, may not be Championship standard, and in Jake Turner we might just have a very good young goalkeeper. I wouldn't expect us to be desperate to get shut of Howard but nor would I expect tears on the streets if he left.

• Jem Karacan (834) hasn't been in any of the last 11 matchday squads. That's partly due to the Henry/Pratley axis, but to not even be on the bench suggests summat's up.

• Filipe Morais (922) is next and I'm sure there'd be plenty of third-tier takers if he were available, but I'd be surprised – he's another Hail Mary, and quite adaptable - against Burton he was brought on at No.10 (mystifyingly) then switched to overlapping right-back.

• Andy Taylor (935) has lost his place to the nippier Robinson, but he's a solid squad member and – unlike Robinson – a solid defender, so I'd be surprised if he was let go.

After that - barring 984-minute Sammy, who's so obviously our key man that it may is well be the new stadium sponsor - everyone's played over 1,000 minutes. I started this post wondering who we might let go, but during the course of writing it I think there's a case for making a few available, whether subtly or boldly; Karacan, Derik, Dervite and Darby are the most obvious ones, but a few others might be wondering where they'll be in six weeks...

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

On this note – so I'll put it in here rather than the Ken thread - our chairman has released his latest notes, and they're the most... let's say "interesting"... in months.

https://www.bwfc.co.uk/news/2017/decemb ... chairman7/

“Experience has taught me that January is not the best time to bring new faces in … they have to be ready and able to hit the ground running … Unfortunately, recruitment is not an exact science … we already have an eligible squad of 33 players and I have to weigh up the ability of the manager being able to manage a squad of this size, let alone increase it … conventional wisdom is that 23/24 is a maximum ideal squad size …

... the scouting and recruitment team have been actively scouting players for several months that the manager thinks will improve the squad and a short list has been produced … I have set the ground rules running along the lines that any new player coming in has to be match fit and ready to challenge for a berth in the match day squad and to enhance immediately the quality we already have …

... I have also taken a great deal of time recently looking at the current squad statistics with particular emphasis on our recent recruitment and contract renewals to see if there is anything to be learnt. The stand out statistic that l was looking for is the number of starts that each of these players has made. To be honest, in several cases, the stats were generally disappointing and makes me realise that I need to take a long, hard look at future recruitment decisions, as in all honesty, a number of the players we recruited in the past 12 months have had very few starts. Indeed, the actual playing time of a number of the players has also been very disappointing. We already have too many players who are regularly not making the match day squad and are on the periphery and we must ensure that we don’t add to this number when bringing players in. I have made it absolutely clear to the manager that we need to have a balanced and manageable squad and before I can consider bringing players in he will need to trim the current squad size of those who have had little or no game time of late.”

Like I say, interesting. So it might be worth looking at that list above (or your own) because to me that sounds a lot like "use the players you asked for or get them off my payroll."

[Abdoulaye's Twin]

It may also mean I've got no money so here's me managing expectations that we'll be improving the team anytime soon. He might have a point about players not starting, but I'm fairly certain many were brought in as squad fillers due to them being cheap and willing if not able. Wilbrahim the most obvious, but others spring to mind.

[officer_dibble]

Ouch. That’s a big swipe at Parky. Understandable!

[boltonboris]

“Experience has taught me that January is not the best time to bring new faces in

Oh yeah, Ken, and what experience is that?

[Harry Genshaw]

“Experience has taught me that January is not the best time to bring new faces in

Oh yeah, Ken, and what experience is that?

I'd say his only experience was a roaring success. Sold Clough, got shot of Anderson and Taylor. Brought in Ameobi and Alf