Snog, Marry, Avoid: Summer 2023 Transfer Window

[Bertie Wooster]

Just woke up in Chicago to the news that George Johnston is out for the season! Terrible start to the day

I would imagine that he will regret not signing a contract extension, if one was offered ? He may not kick a ball for us again if he's out of contract at the end of the season.

[GhostoftheBok]

To what Insano said, IE deffo spoke about not spending the Dapo money in Jan, can't quite recall if it was "any of it" or "all of it" that he wasn't spending in Jan.

I'm not disputing that, but football finance doesn't work on a basis of money just sitting around for anyone to dip their hand into.

Evatt will have outlined his spending plans to the board and they'll have signed off on them. If that plan changes, as it will now have to, he will have to speak to the board again. That's not to say it's a hard sell, but the conversation has to happen.

You can't just go out and agree to sign a player nobody has signed off on. They will need to understand the kind of finance available and how it ties into future planning. A loan is pretty simple. If what we want to do is bring forward a planned purchase then you're looking at fees, multi-year contracts, etc.

Let's say the best solution is to spend, for example, £250k on a player on 3k a week over three years. Someone has to sign off on at least £750k of outlay over the next three years once you factor in agents etc. That's whilst we're still paying at least another year of George's wages and we've potentially had to scratch hundreds of thousands of value off the club's assets, as he now has no resale value as things stand.

All in all that would be anything up to a £1.5m shift in the finances on paper over the next 3 years from one injury and signing a replacement.

That's all just by way of an example, but it's how this all works. We've lost a business asset and we also need to spend to cover that loss.

[Worthy4England]

To what Insano said, IE deffo spoke about not spending the Dapo money in Jan, can't quite recall if it was "any of it" or "all of it" that he wasn't spending in Jan.

I'm not disputing that, but football finance doesn't work on a basis of money just sitting around for anyone to dip their hand into.

Evatt will have outlined his spending plans to the board and they'll have signed off on them. If that plan changes, as it will now have to, he will have to speak to the board again. That's not to say it's a hard sell, but the conversation has to happen.

You can't just go out and agree to sign a player nobody has signed off on. They will need to understand the kind of finance available and how it ties into future planning. A loan is pretty simple. If what we want to do is bring forward a planned purchase then you're looking at fees, multi-year contracts, etc.

Let's say the best solution is to spend, for example, £250k on a player on 3k a week over three years. Someone has to sign off on at least £750k of outlay over the next three years once you factor in agents etc. That's whilst we're still paying at least another year of George's wages and we've potentially had to scratch hundreds of thousands of value off the club's assets, as he now has no resale value as things stand.

All in all that would be anything up to a £1.5m shift in the finances on paper over the next 3 years from one injury and signing a replacement.

That's all just by way of an example, but it's how this all works. We've lost a business asset and we also need to spend to cover that loss.

No finance does work on "ohh there's a pot of money"...I understand.

[boltonboris]

Which is why a loan is the most likely scenario and if his rehab goes well, we offer GJ a deal and politely remind him how we have supported him during his recuperation...

[GhostoftheBok]

No finance does work on "ohh there's a pot of money"...I understand.

I know you do. I'm just grumpy. Sorry

[GhostoftheBok]

Which is why a loan is the most likely scenario and if his rehab goes well, we offer GJ a deal and politely remind him how we have supported him during his recuperation...

The issue there is that Johnston is one of the top performers in one of the best defences in the division.

Can we find a loanee who can offer a similar level, or do we just accept a drop in quality overall in the defence?

Losing Johnston without gaining funds to reinvest is an absolute clusterfuck.

[GhostoftheBok]

Lee Bonis has signed a new 3-year deal to stay in Ulster. So we can scratch him off the list of possible 5th (6th) strikers.

[boltonboris]

Which is why a loan is the most likely scenario and if his rehab goes well, we offer GJ a deal and politely remind him how we have supported him during his recuperation...

The issue there is that Johnston is one of the top performers in one of the best defences in the division.

Can we find a loanee who can offer a similar level, or do we just accept a drop in quality overall in the defence?

Losing Johnston without gaining funds to reinvest is an absolute clusterfuck.

Well it's a gamble bringing anybody in, but a Loan is the most cost-effective. We have Mbete apparently willing and available and I'm sure we can rely on him as a backup until Toal comes back. We also have Iredale who can slot in.

[sonicthewhite]

Mbete would be an obvious option, and pretty risk free too.

[Harry Genshaw]

I'd be happy to see Mbete back. He started very well but dipped alarmingly by the end of his time. There's definitely a player there though.

Big if but Toal getting and staying fit, for me means we have our strongest back 3 a'la Wembley.

[Mar]

I'd happily take Mbete back on loan to cover Johnstons injury period. Whilst he's not performed at the level Johnston has been performing at he has however got familiar with our style of play and what is required. He's got the right attributes to come good.

Can imagine we are in need of another player given the injury. Doubt we'd be looking to bring in a top notch replacement given our current squad level so I suspect the focus would be on other positions such as RB or RWB, whatever we wanna call it these days.

The GJ injury might dissuade us from releasing MJ as that adaptability from MJ just became extra useful. We'll see.

[BWFC_Insane]

I'd see Mbete signing as a poor move. For us and him. He's not ready to play week in week out for a side with our aspirations. We saw that last season. He needs some confidence. He started well but it went gradually downhill and honestly became a problem.

He needs somewhere he can play and build his confidence.

We need something more established.

[boltonboris]

I'd see Mbete signing as a poor move. For us and him. He's not ready to play week in week out for a side with our aspirations. We saw that last season. He needs some confidence. He started well but it went gradually downhill and honestly became a problem.

He needs somewhere he can play and build his confidence.

We need something more established.

We're not advocating him play 46 league games. He's perfectly adequate back-up

[BWFC_Insane]

I'd see Mbete signing as a poor move. For us and him. He's not ready to play week in week out for a side with our aspirations. We saw that last season. He needs some confidence. He started well but it went gradually downhill and honestly became a problem.

He needs somewhere he can play and build his confidence.

We need something more established.

We're not advocating him play 46 league games. He's perfectly adequate back-up

So we'd have a youngster to make up the numbers? I'm not convinced by that. I think we'll end up if we're not careful with the same problems...cover...but not the quality to make a fist of it.

I mean if City let us have him for nothing and pay his wages - sure it makes sense. But using resources for a lad who in the end struggled last season just to plug a cover hole...I'm unconvinced in the extreme.

If we want a CB and now we know Johnston is out I say we look for genuine competition for Iredale.

[GhostoftheBok]

There are two sides to it, as we discussed before.

Making sure whoever we get in is utilised in a way that suits them and making sure Johnston has a pathway back.

The worst thing for a player with a long-term injury is to feel frozen out and forgotten.

[Mar]

I'd see Mbete signing as a poor move. For us and him. He's not ready to play week in week out for a side with our aspirations. We saw that last season. He needs some confidence. He started well but it went gradually downhill and honestly became a problem.

He needs somewhere he can play and build his confidence.

We need something more established.

We're not advocating him play 46 league games. He's perfectly adequate back-up

So we'd have a youngster to make up the numbers? I'm not convinced by that. I think we'll end up if we're not careful with the same problems...cover...but not the quality to make a fist of it.

I mean if City let us have him for nothing and pay his wages - sure it makes sense. But using resources for a lad who in the end struggled last season just to plug a cover hole...I'm unconvinced in the extreme.

If we want a CB and now we know Johnston is out I say we look for genuine competition for Iredale.

He struggled towards the end of the loan, he was perfectly fine early on. One of those goals was a free kick on the edge of the box that we didn't deal with. If that's the metric we're going off then there are a few of the players that have been responsible for those sort of mistakes, it just wasn't as penalised.

Either we aim for a top quality centre back to cover for GJ, or we bring in a youngster in the mould of Mbete. Given that we've just brought in Forrester for that role, it may end up being too soon for him, but getting backup to fit in behind (or alongside) Forrester in the pecking order is probably the right way to go.

[BWFC_Insane]

I'd see Mbete signing as a poor move. For us and him. He's not ready to play week in week out for a side with our aspirations. We saw that last season. He needs some confidence. He started well but it went gradually downhill and honestly became a problem.

He needs somewhere he can play and build his confidence.

We need something more established.

We're not advocating him play 46 league games. He's perfectly adequate back-up

So we'd have a youngster to make up the numbers? I'm not convinced by that. I think we'll end up if we're not careful with the same problems...cover...but not the quality to make a fist of it.

I mean if City let us have him for nothing and pay his wages - sure it makes sense. But using resources for a lad who in the end struggled last season just to plug a cover hole...I'm unconvinced in the extreme.

If we want a CB and now we know Johnston is out I say we look for genuine competition for Iredale.

He struggled towards the end of the loan, he was perfectly fine early on. One of those goals was a free kick on the edge of the box that we didn't deal with. If that's the metric we're going off then there are a few of the players that have been responsible for those sort of mistakes, it just wasn't as penalised.

Either we aim for a top quality centre back to cover for GJ, or we bring in a youngster in the mould of Mbete. Given that we've just brought in Forrester for that role, it may end up being too soon for him, but getting backup to fit in behind (or alongside) Forrester in the pecking order is probably the right way to go.

It wasn't just that. He looked more and more lost over time, especially in possession.

[Mar]

It wasn't just that. He looked more and more lost over time, especially in possession.

That might be avoided by being able to alleviate nerves. There is an argument to say that he shouldn't have been playing as many games as he did, but we had problems and we had to rely upon what we had. When we signed Mbete, the remit was for him to cover, not become first choice due to injuries, same for MJ covering CB duties.

If Mbete was to come back, I'd suspect that it'd be on the original scope, cover and support where needed, with starts in the cups.

[boltonboris]

Jones
Iredale
Santos
Forrester
Toal

5 perfectly fine players for 3 positions. And we want to break the bank to bring in another one, resulting in us consigning Johnston to the free transfer bin?

[BWFC_Insane]

It wasn't just that. He looked more and more lost over time, especially in possession.

That might be avoided by being able to alleviate nerves. There is an argument to say that he shouldn't have been playing as many games as he did, but we had problems and we had to rely upon what we had. When we signed Mbete, the remit was for him to cover, not become first choice due to injuries, same for MJ covering CB duties.

If Mbete was to come back, I'd suspect that it'd be on the original scope, cover and support where needed, with starts in the cups.

See I just don't understand the logic. We use resources to sign a player not really good enough to start games to act as cover, hoping we don't really need to use them in big games. And not a youngster we own and can develop over time....

Its just illogical to me.