Schu me the way to Amarillo - Summer 2025 Transfer Thread

[Prufrock]

Looks like a lot of inference from Iles rather than ITK (though it makes sense). Suspect it depends on the money given I imagine he's on a fair wedge and we don't have many other ways of cutting wages. Far from convinced Southwood is the answer as number 1.

[Harry Genshaw]

I liked the look of the lad at Doncaster, Teddy Sharman-Lowe who saved a penalty last weekend. On loan from Chelsea, I thought another loan a division up in a more pressurised environment might give us a shout but alas, Google says they want him playing Championship football next season.

[Worthy4England]

Looks like a lot of inference from Iles rather than ITK (though it makes sense). Suspect it depends on the money given I imagine he's on a fair wedge and we don't have many other ways of cutting wages. Far from convinced Southwood is the answer as number 1.

Yeah - that's where I am. Schumacher will need to work through what he can do, to work out how he can break the longer contracts etc. and try and get the best fit, which is why I wouldn't like to see him overly restricted. There are a few I might be less happy if they went vs others, but he's going to need as much flexibility as he can grab.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Ilesy running a piece that Baxter “looks likely” to leave and that Schumacher will need/want a new senior goalkeeper as at least competition for Southwood. (Suggests Coleman will leave and Hutchinson may get an extension.)
https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/2 ... on-summer/

Imagine that we aren’t in a position where we want to tie up the wages it would take to keep Baxter given the need for additions more generally. I suspect that he’s not quite done enough for the club to want to sink in that much.

Still I’m nowhere near convinced on Southwood and I think we need a more physical keeper who commands their box and comes for set pieces and crosses.

Agree with all of that mate.

Would also add that while I understand Pru’s point that “shots saved” can be a reductive stat, I genuinely can’t remember Southwood doing that main job - keeping ball from net - very often. Well, not in open play - that penalty save was great PR but there have been a few times this season where the eye test has left me hoping we manage to stop the oppo shooting (at which we’ve also been gash). It’s all a very long way from the season Traf was topping divisional lists for clean sheets and, yes, save percentage.

One other thing - Ilesy notes that SS hasn’t loaned keepers, which is true, but his Plymouth side were cornerstoned by loaners, so I wouldn’t rule it out as quickly as Marc seems to have done.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Looks like a lot of inference from Iles rather than ITK (though it makes sense). Suspect it depends on the money given I imagine he's on a fair wedge and we don't have many other ways of cutting wages. Far from convinced Southwood is the answer as number 1.

Yeah - that's where I am. Schumacher will need to work through what he can do, to work out how he can break the longer contracts etc. and try and get the best fit, which is why I wouldn't like to see him overly restricted. There are a few I might be less happy if they went vs others, but he's going to need as much flexibility as he can grab.

Pru - it does look like inference but I suspect it’s more of an informal briefing than a wild guess. Like you and Worthy I think the central point is to be as flexible as this manager needs us to be. Had Bax been as good as last season there’d be a very different conversation and decision.

Goalkeepers are weird in that they don’t often earn much money compared to particularly strikers, but (like a drummer in a band) a bad or good one can make an enormous difference.

Unless Schuey knows a bargain, I guess a young loanee to compete with Southwood is the way forward. The Chelsea lad Harry mentions will be one of about a dozen knocking around, and we should remind clubs of the Trafford/Bradley success.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Two examples of possible young loanee keepers - Joe Whitworth and Filip Marschall. Both setting clean-sheet records and turning heads - Whitworth for Exeter from Palace, Marschall for Crewe from Villa. Whitworth’s arguably too small but the point is there’s a few around.

[Prufrock]

Looks like a lot of inference from Iles rather than ITK (though it makes sense). Suspect it depends on the money given I imagine he's on a fair wedge and we don't have many other ways of cutting wages. Far from convinced Southwood is the answer as number 1.

Yeah - that's where I am. Schumacher will need to work through what he can do, to work out how he can break the longer contracts etc. and try and get the best fit, which is why I wouldn't like to see him overly restricted. There are a few I might be less happy if they went vs others, but he's going to need as much flexibility as he can grab.

Pru - it does look like inference but I suspect it’s more of an informal briefing than a wild guess. Like you and Worthy I think the central point is to be as flexible as this manager needs us to be. Had Bax been as good as last season there’d be a very different conversation and decision.

Goalkeepers are weird in that they don’t often earn much money compared to particularly strikers, but (like a drummer in a band) a bad or good one can make an enormous difference.

Unless Schuey knows a bargain, I guess a young loanee to compete with Southwood is the way forward. The Chelsea lad Harry mentions will be one of about a dozen knocking around, and we should remind clubs of the Trafford/Bradley success.

Yon Ian Graham writes that defenders and keepers are generally undervalued, you can get a lot more bang for your buck there because they're still a relative afterthought. That seems to correlate with our last few years where all the big fees we've paid have been at the top end where we've scored loads of goals, with frees and minor fees for the back of bits at the back that has been hopeless.

I have no issue with letting Baxter go if the sums don't add up, we don't have the info really to weigh that up and he hasn't been an unqualified success. But it's a vital position and I'm a little nervous given SS hasn't really ever had to sign one (he did at Stoke but didn't make it to October).

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

I have no issue with letting Baxter go if the sums don't add up, we don't have the info really to weigh that up and he hasn't been an unqualified success. But it's a vital position and I'm a little nervous given SS hasn't really ever had to sign one (he did at Stoke but didn't make it to October).

Again, agreed with all that but TBH not sure I’d be confident in Baxter either given his return on this season’s cost - and the fact that he’d presumably take up a bigger slice of next season’s pie, due to an increase in his wages or a general decrease in expenditure over this season’s “we’re backing Ian to the hilt” attitude.

[BWFC_Insane]

Two examples of possible young loanee keepers - Joe Whitworth and Filip Marschall. Both setting clean-sheet records and turning heads - Whitworth for Exeter from Palace, Marschall for Crewe from Villa. Whitworth’s arguably too small but the point is there’s a few around.

Are there any older ones out of contract? Think we should be looking at that rather than a kid. Someone with experience looking for a few more years.

[irie Cee Bee]

I for one dont see Baxter as being much better than Southwood who is a decent L1 keeper. Right now, Baxter would not be my choice in goal. He has had a poor season and is not often fit.

I would probably offer him a contract on much lower wages. If he doesn't accept, we thank him and look for a replacement.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Two examples of possible young loanee keepers - Joe Whitworth and Filip Marschall. Both setting clean-sheet records and turning heads - Whitworth for Exeter from Palace, Marschall for Crewe from Villa. Whitworth’s arguably too small but the point is there’s a few around.

Are there any older ones out of contract? Think we should be looking at that rather than a kid. Someone with experience looking for a few more years.

Aye will have a look, in time. Long summer…

Think one is Mansfield’s Christy Pym - no idea if he’s any relation of our 1920s hero Dick Pym, its quite a common name down here in Cornwall/Devon

More importantly, I’ve no idea if he’s any good

[Worthy4England]

Two examples of possible young loanee keepers - Joe Whitworth and Filip Marschall. Both setting clean-sheet records and turning heads - Whitworth for Exeter from Palace, Marschall for Crewe from Villa. Whitworth’s arguably too small but the point is there’s a few around.

Are there any older ones out of contract? Think we should be looking at that rather than a kid. Someone with experience looking for a few more years.

Aye will have a look, in time. Long summer…

I'm actually less worried by age and more concerned with capability. I mean we'd have Traff back, wouldn't we? He's only 22 now! We need to balance youth and experience, for sure. If I look through GK/CD/DM/9 then I'd want at least two of those to have a good chunk of experience and whilst I think we might need to be looking at some elder folks for CD and DM, I'm not going to rule out capable players solely on age.

In fact, right on cue, some wise words from Traff in today's BEN.

"When the season ends I'll go on holiday and relax from football and then I'll start getting ready for the national team in the summer. I don't go on my phone too much."

[Harry Genshaw]

Another keeper I spotted was Thimothee Lo-Tutala. Contracted to Hull until 2028 but yet to make an appearance for them. Some loan time at Doncaster and Crawley. 6'1 which isn't quite the behemoth most of us want in there. Like others, I've not been convinced by Southwood. Baxter, of the season before this one variety would be easily good enough but the one we've had this year is not. I can't imagine him rediscovering that form if he's re-signed on a significantly lower deal.

[BWFC_Insane]

Two examples of possible young loanee keepers - Joe Whitworth and Filip Marschall. Both setting clean-sheet records and turning heads - Whitworth for Exeter from Palace, Marschall for Crewe from Villa. Whitworth’s arguably too small but the point is there’s a few around.

Are there any older ones out of contract? Think we should be looking at that rather than a kid. Someone with experience looking for a few more years.

Aye will have a look, in time. Long summer…

I'm actually less worried by age and more concerned with capability. I mean we'd have Traff back, wouldn't we? He's only 22 now! We need to balance youth and experience, for sure. If I look through GK/CD/DM/9 then I'd want at least two of those to have a good chunk of experience and whilst I think we might need to be looking at some elder folks for CD and DM, I'm not going to rule out capable players solely on age.

In fact, right on cue, some wise words from Traff in today's BEN.

"When the season ends I'll go on holiday and relax from football and then I'll start getting ready for the national team in the summer. I don't go on my phone too much."

Yeah age isn’t the ultimate determinant. I’d hope we might find a keeper from higher levels who is out of contract and looking for one more challenge. But I mean Trafford is outstanding and we were lucky to have him so anyone that good would be welcome of course.

[Prufrock]

Aye the standard isn't "future England number 1" but keepers are hard to read. Traf's record before us was far from confidence inspiring. Just got to trust they get it right.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Another keeper I spotted was Thimothee Lo-Tutala. Contracted to Hull until 2028 but yet to make an appearance for them. Some loan time at Doncaster and Crawley. 6'1 which isn't quite the behemoth most of us want in there.

Aye. Similar others floating across the radar might include

* Tommy Simkin (20) of Stoke, whose 13 clean sheets in 39 league two games have helped his hometown club Walsall’s automatic promotion push. His three previous loans have been to tier-6 Fylde, tier-5 Solihull Moors and an FGR team who were busy falling out of the arse end of tier 4, so Stoke are definitely moving him up the ladder; in that case, we might hope the Saddlers (currently 4th) stay down.

* Owen Goodman (21) of Palace. The 6ft4 Londoner has 20 clean sheets in 44 L2 games for Wimbledon, currently 6th. Last term he was loaned to Colchester and played 38 so he needs to move up a level.

Note that with those two and the Donny loanee Harry likes, half of L2’s promo-slot top 7 teams have preferred young higher-tier loan goalies. Half of 7? Aye, because 7th-placed Salford have spent the season switching between Sunderland’s 18-year-old Matthew Young and Jamie Jones, a journeyman twice his age. Each has twice held the jersey down for six weeks at a time, and each time the younger man has come in they’ve climbed the table…

[TANGODANCER]

A keeper is only as good as those in front of him and many a loss is wrongly attributed to errors that lead to goals, i,e lead to losses. All comes down to the team in the end, plus whether the dice rolls out the lucky numbers. As for keeper age/size, Stan Hanson spent his whole career at Bolton retiring at 39 and was built like Oliver Hardy. Eddie Hopkinson was five feet nine and was capped 14 times for England. Go figure.

[Mar]

I for one dont see Baxter as being much better than Southwood who is a decent L1 keeper. Right now, Baxter would not be my choice in goal. He has had a poor season and is not often fit.

I would probably offer him a contract on much lower wages. If he doesn't accept, we thank him and look for a replacement.

Annoying our first choice goalkeeper for the season doesn't seem like good business strategy.

We need players buying into where we're going rather than criticising the club for contract dealings whilst at the club.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Are there any older ones out of contract? Think we should be looking at that rather than a kid. Someone with experience looking for a few more years.

Slim pickings. Lapsing Champo keeper contracts include:

Freddie Woodman (PNE): linked with Man U so I guess not.

James Shea (Luton): 33, definitely third choice but been there seven years and the Londoner has never played for a club further north than Luton.

Jack Bonham (Stoke): 32 in September, and thus a long way away from his infamous teenage debut when, as a sub for Watford, he let in two poor goals and cost them automatic promotion. Released that summer, he battled back via Brentford, loans and two seasons at third-tier Gillingham to Stoke, where he’s been second choice for four seasons. 120 League One games (39 clean sheets), 54 Champo (15 clean sheets).

Ben Killip (Pompey): 30 in November, signed short-term from Barnsley in Jan to be third choice. 25 games in L1 and just one Champo. Hmm.

Frank Fielding (Stoke): 37, hasn’t played regularly since the season Parky was keeping us up.

Jon McLaughlin (Swansea): 37, ex Rangers. Last regular football was 2019/20.

Simon Eastwood (Oxford): 36 in June and at Oxford since 2016, he wasn’t named in the EFL squad list this season but he coaches in the community so you imagine he’d stay there.

[TonyDomingos]

* Tommy Simkin (20) of Stoke, whose 13 clean sheets in 39 league two games have helped his hometown club Walsall’s automatic promotion push.

Just an aside, but Walsall's collapse in the second half of the season has been astounding: won 3 in 21 and gone from 12 points clear at the top to 4th.