Schumacher’s super white army

[boltonboris]

Baxter used to wax lyrical about Evatt & Gilks and how much they've developed him and how much he loves playing for them etc etc.. Maybe he's just a brown nose. Maybe he's smart enough to say what the fans want to hear

It's always easy to say nice things when the managers put you in the team
It's also easy to say bad things about a manager who took you out of it

[BWFC_Insane]

Baxter used to wax lyrical about Evatt & Gilks and how much they've developed him and how much he loves playing for them etc etc.. Maybe he's just a brown nose. Maybe he's smart enough to say what the fans want to hear

It's always easy to say nice things when the managers put you in the team
It's also easy to say bad things about a manager who took you out of it

The majority of the players didn’t enjoy playing for Evatt. Heard that from a number of places and completely confident in it. Obviously I expect there will be some exceptions as always in life. But he was not popular with most of the dressing room.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Seems increasingly clear Schuey has looked into the bag of bits and not liked what he's found. A big summer ahead, perhaps. But who might he target from his hugely successful 101-point Plymouth side of 2022/23? While the juggle might be difficult (we have a large and expensive squad), the following names seem the likeliest to me. Listed in decreasing order of appearances that season...

Jordan Houghton (DM) - the six-foot defensive midfielder is out of contract in summer after four years at Plymouth. He was signed by Ryan Lowe but was a key player under Schumacher - nobody topped his 43 league appearances in the promotion season. Chelsea-schooled, he turns 30 in November so it will be his last big contract. There's a question over whether he's as good a passer as some defensive midfielders – Rooney preferred Adam Forshaw - but some would say that's the opposite problem to what Schumacher's facing now. Whether he'll be able to persuade Houghton and his young family to uproot is another question.

Ryan Hardie (CF) - Top scorer in the promotion season, the 6ft 2in Scottish striker would be hard to get. Just turned 28 and contracted until 2026, he's also their highest scorer this season, so they may be in no mood to sell.

Matt Butcher (DM) - 6ft2in midfielder we were linked with in summer 2022 when he was leaving Accy. He went to Schuey's Plymouth instead and made 40 league appearances as they went up. Schuey's slapstick successor Ian Foster released him in January 2024 and he went to Wycombe, then a year later was loaned to Bristol Rovers for the rest of the season. Wycombe play their contract cards close to their chest so nobody's sure if he is free this summer, but the loan suggests Wycombe might not want him anyway. Despite the Accy link he's a southerner. Turns 28 in May.

Niall Ennis (CF) - Second-top scorer in the promotion season. Schuey signed him again for Stoke in Jan 2024 on a 2.5yr contract but they don't seem to want him and he's bagged 6 in 15 for Blackpool on loan. Turns 26 in May.

Sam Cosgrove (CF) - not our favourite human but dontcha all want a physical striker? He's 6ft 4, 28 and out of contract in summer. In the promotion season he made 34 appearances, 20 from the bench - he was Schumacher's most-used sub - and scored 8. He's not got near that goal rate since - 3 in 32 and 1 in 19 for Barnsley, followed by 0 in 7 so far for Stockport - but if you want a third-tier battering ram and you can't afford Matt Smith, he's yer boy.

Nigel Lonwijk (CB) - 6ft 5in Dutch centre-back made 34 appearances in the promotion season on loan from Wolves, who still hold his contract. Since then he's been lent to Grasshopper, Wycombe and Huddersfield. His contract is up this summer but Wolves have a year's option; even so, Schuey might fancy a repeat borrow.