January 2022 Transfer Thread

[The_Gun]

Dapo has plenty of potential resale value, as does anyone who we sign on a free.

I would like us to sign more players between the ages of 18 and 23, ones who could more quickly be ready or "men's football". That was definitely the stated aim when we kiboshed the U23s, but in three-and-a-bit windows since we haven't done much.

Yeah exactly. There hasn't been much progress at all with our set-up below the first team during FV's tenure, although I'm willing to concede that the pandemic may well have interrupted their plans in this area.

[Worthy4England]

We have quite a few under Dapo's age, problem is they're generally not rated as "very good" - Thomason, Johnston, Gordon, Brocky, Amaechi, Senior (and can add back in Darcy), with a couple of bench warmers when we've been deep in shit and players out on loan - how many are we expecting?

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

We have quite a few under Dapo's age, problem is they're generally not rated as "very good" - Thomason, Johnston, Gordon, Brocky, Amaechi, Senior (and can add back in Darcy), with a couple of bench warmers when we've been deep in shit and players out on loan - how many are we expecting?

Enough to fill a B-team?

Johnston (23) was signed as a first-teamer. Gordon (22) and Brocky (23) have also had plenty first-team chances and, well, let's say "might not be up to it". Amaechi isn't ours, he's a loanee who agreed to a substantial salary cut to come here. Adam Senior has been here for years, Darcy too, so they can't be filed under FV-era acquisitions. I didn't expect coachloads but I expected us to get at least three or four players who hadn't quite cut it at Big Academies Round Here. From what was said by the club, I suspect perhaps they did too. Maybe the car-crash stuff off-field has frightened a few off, I dunno. We've still got plenty to put right.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Some apparently surplus goalkeepers in the division above who might be able to help.

ALEX PALMER (West Brom)
Former England youth international, now 25, has been at Baggies since the age of 14 but had to wait 11 years for a game, this August… which they promptly lost 6-0 at Arsenal in the League Cup. Otherwise, has only made one Champo squad (unused sub) this season. However, he seems plug-and-play ready: spent 2019/20 helping Plymouth get promoted from D4 and 2020/21 (played 37, conceded 39, 14 clean sheets) helping Lincoln to the D3 play-offs (played 46, conceded 50, 19 clean sheets). West Brom were said to be open to the idea of loaning him out, although probably not if they sell Sam Johnstone.

JACK BONHAM (Stoke)
Remember that teenage goalkeeper who was thrown on as a sub for Watford on the last day of the 2012/13 season in a vital game against Leeds? He’s 28 now (and 6ft 4) and after 100+ third-tier games he signed for Stoke in summer on a one-year deal, as third-choice keeper. Trouble is, when No.1 Joe Bursik got injured, Stoke signed Frank Fielding. Clearly Bonham is surplus. Has played 120 third-tier games, conceding 135 and keeping 39 clean sheets.

FRANK FIELDING (Stoke)
Blackburn-born 33-year-old has been linked with us before, when he was said to want to move back north after leaving Bristol City in 2019 (or was it Millwall last summer?). D3: 74 games, 79 conceded, 26 clean sheets, title-winner in 2015; Champo: 173 games, 221 conceded, 51 clean sheets. Signed for Stoke last month on a “short-term deal” that seems to elapse this month, considering boss Michael O’Neill said “We’ll see how the situation looks in January.” Experienced, but has only played 7 times since summer 2018. This year’s Gilkes?

JAKE EASTWOOD (Sheffield United)
Rotherham-born Blades Academy grad, now 25 with loan experience at Chesterfield, Scunny, Kilmarnock and Grimsby. Started season as third choice but the injury to AS Roma loanee Robin Olsen has pushed him up a notch, albeit still behind Wes Foderingham. Since summer he’s had trials at Cambridge and a brief emergency loan at Pompey (but hasn’t played for Blades).

[Prufrock]

In fairness on the U23s, I don't think we had one during the pandemic, did we? And assume it only started up again this year? One thing to keep on those you already have, but it's not going to be a priority signings wise when there are no games to play. Assume it got put on the backburner. You'd hope we'd be looking hard now at the 20yo+ lads at City, Liverpool, United and further afield.

[BWFC_Insane]

Players at academies are often on eye watering salaries. So I’m not surprised it’s not as easy to sign those and riskier doing so than someone more proven. But it is a gap we’ve not exploited yet.

[Worthy4England]

We have quite a few under Dapo's age, problem is they're generally not rated as "very good" - Thomason, Johnston, Gordon, Brocky, Amaechi, Senior (and can add back in Darcy), with a couple of bench warmers when we've been deep in shit and players out on loan - how many are we expecting?

Enough to fill a B-team?

Well we had/have another half dozen on loan..and a few older ones like Crawford and Greenidge to maybe move on. Obvs now done that with Crawford...

We obviously have lots of work to do in many areas, in terms of building the Club backbone...starting with a L1 anchored first team

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

In fairness on the U23s, I don't think we had one during the pandemic, did we? And assume it only started up again this year? One thing to keep on those you already have, but it's not going to be a priority signings wise when there are no games to play. Assume it got put on the backburner.

Aye, fair.

In March 2020 it was announced we'd downscale the Academy from Category 2 to Cat 3 (much cheaper, as academy categories are contingent on how much you spend on coaching etc), and wind up the U23s at the end of that season. We did that but by that time Covid was everywhere; it's possible that that made us kick the can down the road, and I couldn't argue with that considering how worried we all were that clubs would seriously struggle to stay afloat in a pandemic.

We spent 2020/21 without any form of shadow squad above the U18s. Then this summer Sam Hird was hired as first team coach and manager of the reserves, who have so far played four times.

Players at academies are often on eye watering salaries. So I’m not surprised it’s not as easy to sign those and riskier doing so than someone more proven. But it is a gap we’ve not exploited yet.

Not when they're released. So...

You'd hope we'd be looking hard now at the 20yo+ lads at City, Liverpool, United and further afield.

...aye. Summer might tell a tale. Big churn at the end of every season, and time we got involved, IMO.

[Worthy4England]

Maybe they currently have a different approach. Couple of kids (talking much younger) near me, their dad's have told me they'd signed onto Wanderers in last 12 months...that could just be happenstance though...I'd be surprised given what happened with COVID whether their outlook remained the same as it was when they took over...

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

We have quite a few under Dapo's age, problem is they're generally not rated as "very good" - Thomason, Johnston, Gordon, Brocky, Amaechi, Senior (and can add back in Darcy), with a couple of bench warmers when we've been deep in shit and players out on loan - how many are we expecting?

Enough to fill a B-team?

Well we had/have another half dozen on loan..and a few older ones like Crawford and Greenidge to maybe move on. Obvs now done that with Crawford...

We obviously have lots of work to do in many areas, in terms of building the Club backbone...starting with a L1 anchored first team

Oh, agreed, but I don't necessarily think that signing youngsters gets in the way of signing first-teamers. Relatively cheap.

For the record, the three first-year pros we've got out on loan (Alexander, Hutchinson and Fitzmartin) are all agad 19 - basically outgrown the U18s and been sent on non-league "work-ex" loans. Darcy and Politic obviously more advanced, but the other loanees - Greenidge and Edwards - are basically historical accidents; both are 25 and hardly ones for the past, let alone the future.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Maybe they currently have a different approach. Couple of kids (talking much younger) near me, their dad's have told me they'd signed onto Wanderers in last 12 months...that could just be happenstance though...I'd be surprised given what happened with COVID whether their outlook remained the same as it was when they took over...

Yeah - again, all fair. As I say, we'll have a much clearer picture on the "youth"/"B-team" thing after summer. It's always going to be a transitory place, a mix of seniors out of form/fitness sprinkled in among nearly-ready "kids" who might actually be 21. I understand we we nixed the U23s - it's a ludicrous five-year "age group" and often stunts rather than develops players - but I've yet to see clear evidence we've replaced that pathway rather than just chucking 17- and 18-year-olds on the bench in a crisis.

[Worthy4England]

Aye, point is gotta pay them historic accidents or get rid etc..I agree they're not on 15 grand a week, but all costs cash...


It was a fraction under 12 months ago when we shunted the "old academy" management. The press release talks about a "plan" to be issued the week after the announcement but don't recall seeing it

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

It was a fraction under 12 months ago when we shunted the "old academy" management. The press release talks about a "plan" to be issued the week after the announcement but don't recall seeing it

Academy director Jimmy Phillips left in July 2020 and was effectively replaced by academy manager (note different title) Mark Litherland the following month, but aye - David Lee (academy assistant director), Nicky Spooner (U18 manager), Gavin McCann (U18 asst manager), Steve Ellis (safeguarding officer), youth coach Paul Wroe, goalkeeping coach Ben Williams and head of recruitment Brian Morris all left in late January 2021. In thanking them on the way out, Sharon acknowledged "The restructure took longer than was originally anticipated due to the pandemic."

Possibly the same day, we sold academy prospect Regan Riley for around £250,000. Nothing wrong with that.

The following week, Sharon also released a typically warm and enthusiastic statement:
https://www.bwfc.co.uk/news/2021/februa ... k-academy/

Our new look Academy is the cornerstone of our long-term plan for Bolton Wanderers Football Club. Under the fresh and dynamic leadership of Mark Litherland, the Academy is making positive progress at every level. The Academy is a beacon for excellence and will be positioned at the epicentre of our community so that we can develop and nurture the most talented young people of Bolton and beyond.

Mark’s philosophy mirrors that of our manager Ian Evatt's and both of them have a harmonious relationship with a shared ambition of developing young players and creating a competitive culture. With a talented group of staff it is a very exciting time for Bolton Wanderers Football Club as a whole.

In July 2021, Evatt talked about bridging the gap:
https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/1 ... s-futures/

We want the academy and the first team to be playing the same way, doing the same things. The standard and intensity will increase throughout the age groups and then up to the first team, but they should all have the understanding of what’s required and what’s expected.

The youth team now will have access to our analytics, our player data, our player clips, so they can show our young players what Gethin Jones does at right-back, what his specific movements are, where he runs and then they have to try and mirror that, because when their opportunity comes and arises, they have to be used to what we expect and what we require as a first team.

All that work is happening, it is not a quick fix, it is not an overnight thing, it is going to take time, but eventually we will have academy players that are being developed and played and trained the right way, the correct way, the Bolton Wanderers way, and we’ll have them ready for our first team.

With the young players, our biggest challenge is to bridge the gap between academy and first team. At the moment, the first team is accelerating in one direction and the academy needs to be travelling at that same speed. We need to make sure that once they leave that academy process, they come up to us and they know what to expect, they know what’s required. They understand the intensity we train at and play at, and tactically and technically what’s expected.

At the moment that’s not the case but there’s lots of hard work with Dave Gardner and Mark Litherland and myself and Sam Hird which will bridge that gap between the first team and the reserves/B team/under-23s - whatever you want to call it, will have a big part to play in that.

[Worthy4England]

And somewhere in between, Litherland gave an update...



Still difficult to tell "the plan"

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

...meanwhile, Liverpool are asking £15m for Nat Phillips, who we let go amid the fun and games of summer 2016. Ho hum...

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

And somewhere in between, Litherland gave an update...



Still difficult to tell "the plan"

Heh! Indeed. The words, in case you can't watch/listen at work:

Mark, you've been at the club five or six months now, have you settled into the role and the new environment and what sort of things have you look to put in place during that time?
First of all, I'm loving every minute of it. I think what we've created is a really positive environment, one for the staff, one for the players because, you know, the lads are here a long time during the week and we try and make it as enjoyable as we can do. But also, they work really hard. So we've created a really good, positive environment for both staff and players, and we start reaping the rewards of that now.

And the staff with the Under-18s, the likes of Dave Gardner and Julian Darby, what's the working dynamic like between yourself and your staff?
You know what? They've been brilliant. They've bought into the new philosophy, how we want to play. Previously the philosophy was 4-4-2, defend relatively deep sometimes and look to counter teams, especially within the academy. We've changed now to a 4-3-3, we're on the front four, so it all replicates what the first team's doing and the lads have bought into it, they've been terrific.

The first team manager, it's important to have a good relationship with him. What is your relationship like with both him and his assistant, Pete Atherton?
Great. I can't speak highly enough of both of them. With Regan Riley, who's just gone to Norwich now, it wasn't uncommon for Regan to be with the first team Monday to Friday. Absolutely terrific environment in terms of, he's really interested in what players are coming through. And it's not uncommon that he'll say 'Send me two or three players [from the] under-18s' and they'll go up and train with them on a regular basis. Look from the Checkatrade [Trophy] where we had Regan involved, we hads Finlay [Lockett] involved, we had Mitchell Henry involved. So we've got a clear positive pathway from 18s to first team.

It's encouraging that there is that clear pathway for the lads in the under-18s to to go and train and play for the first team.
Absolutely. Yeah. And you've seen today, the first team are on one pitch and we're relatively close to them on another pitch. So the connection between both sides is terrific, as good as anything I've seen.

And with the current structure in place, how excited are you about the future of both the academy and the football club moving forward?
It's an exciting place to be. The first team got a couple of players in, had a really good transfer window, and the 18s are going from strength to strength in terms of we have developed a totally new playing style which they've bought into. On a match day now it's not uncommon to get 15 or 20 scouts from Premier League clubs watching us, which just shows how far we've come. And a lot of Premier League clubs – we play Liverpool on Saturday, Liuverpool's dead keen to play us, so we're attracting a lot of interest from a lot of clubs.

[GhostoftheBok]

If FV intend to flip the club once we get into the Championship then investing in the full structure you need to be a successful Championship club might be seen as limiting their margins.

[BWFC_Insane]

In fairness on the U23s, I don't think we had one during the pandemic, did we? And assume it only started up again this year? One thing to keep on those you already have, but it's not going to be a priority signings wise when there are no games to play. Assume it got put on the backburner.

Aye, fair.

In March 2020 it was announced we'd downscale the Academy from Category 2 to Cat 3 (much cheaper, as academy categories are contingent on how much you spend on coaching etc), and wind up the U23s at the end of that season. We did that but by that time Covid was everywhere; it's possible that that made us kick the can down the road, and I couldn't argue with that considering how worried we all were that clubs would seriously struggle to stay afloat in a pandemic.

We spent 2020/21 without any form of shadow squad above the U18s. Then this summer Sam Hird was hired as first team coach and manager of the reserves, who have so far played four times.

Players at academies are often on eye watering salaries. So I’m not surprised it’s not as easy to sign those and riskier doing so than someone more proven. But it is a gap we’ve not exploited yet.

Not when they're released. So...

You'd hope we'd be looking hard now at the 20yo+ lads at City, Liverpool, United and further afield.

...aye. Summer might tell a tale. Big churn at the end of every season, and time we got involved, IMO.

IIRC it was Phil Brown on a podcast a while ago who said that these kids released from academies could have been paid £10k a week for years or even more and have never played a game or mens football and released at 20 or 21. In his experience in many cases they don’t want to go to league one or two for a fraction of their salary and drift away from football entirely if someone higher up the ladder doesn’t take them. His point being that it’s not the same as 30 years ago. Many young players don’t ‘love the game’ in the same way and will play if they can get the money at the top level but don’t have the same desire to grow from the bottom up. Not all. But a lot.

I’m not sure it’s an easy exercise plundering academy release lists. Many still live at home and don’t need money. Not initially. And probably don’t see league one as their destination.

[The_Gun]

Maybe they currently have a different approach. Couple of kids (talking much younger) near me, their dad's have told me they'd signed onto Wanderers in last 12 months...that could just be happenstance though...I'd be surprised given what happened with COVID whether their outlook remained the same as it was when they took over...

Signing up the best kids from the local area would certainly be an excellent start. I know when I was growing up in Bolton we were fecking shite at this.

[TANGODANCER]

And the staff with the Under-18s, the likes of Dave Gardner and Julian Darby, what's the working dynamic like between yourself and your staff?

Hasn't that lad got a very serious illness that ended his career. He's the husband of Stephahie Houghton, the England women catain) ?