January 2023 Transfer Window

[BWFC_Insane]

I'd hope "exciting incomings" will be just that, and I'm unsure when he said "a couple more to come in" whether that was factoring in we were unloading 2...

Evatt saying the incomings weren't contingent upon Dapo money-raising implies that any cash received has not been 'expected'. How much of it is immediately reinvested - a word that means much more now than it used to - is up to the board, who have ponied up cash in two previous crucial winter windows; they wouldn't be selfish to want that investment back, but equally the fact they coughed up means they want us to improve.

Should Evatt be given, for the sake of argument, £500k to spend it would be up to him and Markham, presumably in concordance with the board, how to spend it. That could be a(nother) cash signing, or perhaps higher wages for a gamechanging loan... or we could simply save it for summer. I know which of those would be least popular with signing-hungry fans, and I can see their point....

I’d say less about signing hungry fans and more about having got this far having a proper go second half of the season. It would be foolish to leave ourselves light. Not just foolish. Completely ridiculous.

Lots to play for here. Need a squad capable. And that means not Kachunga. However anyone might think nobody expects him to fire us up.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

So hang on, you're saying we need another forward (to replace Dapo who's been invisible for three months) because we've not got enough forwards but we also need to get rid of another forward (Kachunga) and presumably replace that forward with another forward? But it's not about being "signing-hungry"?

Just trying to keep up with your worldview, it fascinates me.

[officer_dibble]

Ominous quotes from Evatt about one club splitting the fan bases opinion….don’t let him go to fecking Wigan on the cheap Ian.

Doesn't he just mean that some will be fuming we've sold him? I have absolutely no feeling on it either way.

I've been gutted in the past when certain players went but I think now as Worthy will say we have a bunch of league one players and whilst some have given us some great moments I'm not sure its close to losing the talents we lost in the top flight when players genuinely were irreplaceable for a club like ourselves.

Its clear from social media a lot of 'good to get the money' vs 'how dare the club sell our best player' stuff will be happening. That will always be the case. I think Evatt is just alluding to that. Frankly for me I couldn't care less if he goes to Wigan or St Pauli. Its move on and improve the squad.

Dibs – the quote is “This is one that will probably separate the fanbase and everyone will have an opinion.” I think that's The Sale rather than A Bidder. And as BWFCi says, he's right - there will always be those who don't want to sell our better players, and I understand that, but we have to get by somehow.

Noted. Less ominous on a second read!
Would like to get a fee IRO one million squid’s (if it’s add ons or installments furry muff). Think he’s worth that much more than Charles with 18 months on deal personally.

And yeah happy to sell him as well btw, just right!

[jmjhb]

So hang on, you're saying we need another forward (to replace Dapo who's been invisible for three months) because we've not got enough forwards but we also need to get rid of another forward (Kachunga) and presumably replace that forward with another forward? But it's not about being "signing-hungry"?

Just trying to keep up with your worldview, it fascinates me.

We could sell Sadlier too, that'll be 4 forwards we need to replace. Dad Bod out of contract in summer too. Loads of work to do.

On a more serious note it's looking like there will be more of an overhaul over the next 2 windows than I expected.

[sonicthewhite]

Summer is sure going to be busy irrespective of which division we're in.

[GhostoftheBok]

Kachunga won't get a new contract, I shouldn't think; but right now he's trusted. With Dapo going it's unlikely Kacha will go anywhere this window.

At some stage we need a striker, at least one 10 and a 6/8. In the summer we're likely to need a CB, 2 keepers and options down both flanks.

I make that at least 8 signings across the next two windows. That's after we've already signed two. If someone steps out of the Bs/youth, great, otherwise that's where we stand.

How we split that between the windows we shall see. The pressing issue this window is goals, so that'll presumably be the focus of any spending.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Ghost might disagree mildly with me here but I don't mind going into a summer window with the squad room to make five or six upgrades. Allows for competition at the top in every department, and for natural wastage of the lesser lights at the bottom.

Obviously it puts pressure on the signings, but that's the deal. We have to keep improving.

[GhostoftheBok]

Ghost might disagree mildly with me here but I don't mind going into a summer window with the squad room to make five or six upgrades. Allows for competition at the top in every department, and for natural wastage of the lesser lights at the bottom.

Obviously it puts pressure on the signings, but that's the deal. We have to keep improving.

Very mildly. I think the expiring contracts of some players give you that option. Bodvarsson for example I'd want on another deal if we don't go up, but probably would want to upgrade if we do. However, I think going into a season looking for too many carries risks.

If we had a different recruitment team then maybe, but with Markham it's long term planning and the targets in the summer will already be largely known. There'll be some variation dependent on league, but if we could get one or two of those who we want regardless I'd feel better for it.

What I will say is the goalie issue makes it look worse than it is. If we get 2-3 quality players in before this window closes I've no real worries.

[Worthy4England]

If we needed a lot, we'd need to deliver a fair chunk of content!

[TANGODANCER]

Going to be Billy no mates here, but I'd be quite happy to see this season out with what he have (or had as the case may be ). We could change the entire team and end up not getting promoted. We may well not have Trafford and Bradley end of season after doing so well with our current squad. To lose Dapo (possibly our most talented player) after it all seems silly to me.

[Worthy4England]

We don't really know why he's being sold TD. For all we know he might have had clauses in contract that said if Club from higher div comes in and meets our asking price (ehich Evatt acknowledged they had), he has permission to talk to them...

[BWFC_Insane]

Going to be Billy no mates here, but I'd be quite happy to see this season out with what he have (or had as the case may be ). We could change the entire team and end up not getting promoted. We may well not have Trafford and Bradley end of season after doing so well with our current squad. To lose Dapo (possibly our most talented player) after it all seems silly to me.

He might be our best player but he hasn’t been a regular this season and has only scored 3 in the league is it?

Not saying he doesn’t have talent. But I’m not convinced he was showing it very often. In fact we can see he wasn’t. I think that’s the issue. Were he playing at his best week in week out we’d find seeing him go very hard. But he hasn’t been.

[truewhite15]

He might well be the most individually gifted player at the club. But he hasn't been performing so far this season, or certainly not to the levels we've seen. Part of that is because he's having to be played out of position - necessary, because his natural and best position isn't one we've been using. And the fact that we're 5th and in a cup semi sorta justifies us using the different formation, as far as I'm concerned.

He's struggled to adapt to the new system, he's struggled to change his game to fit into the positions we're asking him to fill. Gifted he may be, but if he's not showing it in the positions we need him to play in, then it's best for all concerned if he moves on.

[TANGODANCER]

A three game suspension (which I still regard as a bit iffy after a dozen views) hardly helps giving him a case to shine(for me) but yes, we don't know his reasons is true.. Best to just wait and see.

[TANGODANCER]

Here's a history of our player selling activities over the years. Two of the biggest disappointments for me were Per Frandsen and Kev Nolan (who claimed at the time he didn't know anything about it till the deed was done) :

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/bolton- ... verein/355

[BWFC_Insane]

So, Dapo himself wants out. If I was a betting man I’d say he wanted away in the summer we kept him and he’s not been that happy since. Sounds like the move on the table might not be what he was wishing for now. But best all round if he wants away that we get the money now and strengthen the squad for a very big few months ahead.

https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/2 ... ian-evatt/

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Not only that, but Evatt says he won’t necessarily spend the money this month. Depends who’s available. I’m going to predict now that this will become a stick to beat him with should this season not pan out to promotion.

[GhostoftheBok]

Generally accords with our expectations.

Dapo not happy being asked to play roles that don't suit him. Evatt basically accepting that attempts to shift him haven't work. Those two things may be related.

The money looks to be more what I've been hearing, rather than that 600k speculation. It'll mostly be used in the summer as expected, though part of that may well be about avoiding clubs raising asking prices this month off the back of this sale.

All in all, best outcome. If the John blockage has also been resolved and he leaves next week then we're about £1.6m better off over the next 18 months, without much impact on our best 11. That's a very significant wedge of money for this football club.

[Worthy4England]

There's little in the report that wasn't speculated at. How many times on here have the words "he's not a 10" been posted in mitigation of a game that's not quite panned out for Dapo? I think most of us recognised that the system was really leaving Dapo with nowhere to play. Then there's the "business model" which is supposed to be based around taking in cash for saleable players, such as this transaction.

In response to DSB, I'd say if anyone is expecting 1/2 finish then they're probably a bit screw-loose. Which leaves the tricky prospect of play-offs, Having looked at our pre-season poll, most folks were in the playoffs (with a couple either side of playoff places). I think if we get to the playoff's given we've been in those places, pretty much all season, most would say "that's what we expected" - obviously tempered with whether we're successful in them or not!

I think where it gets murky from here, is if we were holding cash and didn't make the play-offs. I think that'd probably raise some eyebrows and maybe get the Twittersphere buzzing somewhat.

[BWFC_Insane]

Not only that, but Evatt says he won’t necessarily spend the money this month. Depends who’s available. I’m going to predict now that this will become a stick to beat him with should this season not pan out to promotion.

If we fail to make the play offs I think it’s been a failure. And so will Evatt. Dapo leaving is neither here nor there because Evatt says he wants to come out of this window stronger. This isn’t a case of losing an irreplaceable player against our will - we’ve seen that in January before with Anelka, Madine etc and neither were close to replaceable in that window.

Dapo is. Because his form in this system for whatever reason hasn’t been irreplaceable. The fact remains that Evatt, the board and everyone knows we do need to replace him now. Because purely numbers wise, and strength in depth quality wise we’d be too light if we don’t.