JANUARY TRANSFER NEEDS AND RUMOURS

With long term injuries, an imminent change of manager /coach, players loss of form, and fans wanting to see better formations and styles, who could be in the frame to change the season's fortunes?

Where do we need to strengthen / improve the side to stop the rot?

Can a new management set up instead gee up the current squad pre transfer window opening?

Who comes in, who ships out, it could be a cruel time as we need vast improvement from now to season end ?

2 full months for guesses and rumours, let the thread begin !!1

Quoted from acko338

With long term injuries, an imminent change of manager /coach, players loss of form, and fans wanting to see better formations and styles, who could be in the frame to change the season's fortunes?

Where do we need to strengthen / improve the side to stop the rot?

Can a new management set up instead gee up the current squad pre transfer window opening?

Who comes in, who ships out, it could be a cruel time as we need vast improvement from now to season end ?

2 full months for guesses and rumours, let the thread begin !!1

Not much - I would say a keeper , left back and maybe a midfield player I think it's more important we get Green fit and start gaining results - streamline the squad and add a  few of quality in the summer .

Still want to see Khouri playing , had high hopes for him at the start of the season - but with the situation we are in it's unlikely we will see much of him at least in the near term . Glad he signed a long term deal though .

No need to shout

A goalkeeper definitely, then it depends on the new manager and how he wants to play, perhaps more of a 4 4 2 than the 4 1 4 1, or even a 3 5 2.

He'll have a few games to assess the squad before the January window so we'll have to wait and see.

I'd like to see Cartwright have a long run in the side before I make a goalkeeper judgement. Young lad and you don't win international callups for your country at any age group if you're useless.

Wonder if having Joe Hutchinson in place means there’s some continuity in recruitment, even with a new manager in place. Hurst said immediately after the summer window closed that they were already onto targets for January & next summer, so you’d imagine some of the leg work has already been done.

Like others have mentioned, a left back is #1 for me, and I do wonder if the lad from Newcastle might be worth pursuing still. Whoever we do bring in, I hope they’re a specialist in that particular position. My heart always sinks a bit when we sign someone and they, or Hurst, immediately spell out they can play “anywhere across the back” or “either side of the pitch, behind the striker or running beyond”. Versatile is one word for it, but generally signals to me that it’s someone who’s struggled to hold down & justify a starting place.

One thing that will be interesting to see is what happens with Harry Clifton. Contract’s up at the end of the season, didn’t sign anything in the summer and now has a couple of months to justify a new contract or potentially go on a free.

At the very least I'd say we need a new GK, CB, LB & CF

Ohh FFS.

Let's get a manager first eh ?

Quoted from LocalLadGTFC

I'd like to see Cartwright have a long run in the side before I make a goalkeeper judgement. Young lad and you don't win international callups for your country at any age group if you're useless.

Really liked his performance at Doncaster - Calm, solid and assured - exactly what was needed ; if he can keep that up I would not even say we need a keeper , it's if he can isn't it .

Quoted from moosey_club

Ohh FFS.

Let's get a manager first eh ?

Agreed sorry my brain can't think that  far
It's  Bonfire Night and Christmas first then 2024
UTM 2023-24 and beyond!!! After a turkey dinner/ Sandwiches and leftovers for work "pack up".

Quoted from Mappers

Really liked his performance at Doncaster - Calm, solid and assured - exactly what was needed ; if he can keep that up I would not even say we need a keeper , it's if he can isn't it .

Absolutely, having watched him in the pizza cup i feared the worst tbh . I needn’t of worried he was superb

Quoted from ska face

Wonder if having Joe Hutchinson in place means there’s some continuity in recruitment, even with a new manager in place. Hurst said immediately after the summer window closed that they were already onto targets for January & next summer, so you’d imagine some of the leg work has already been done.

Like others have mentioned, a left back is #1 for me, and I do wonder if the lad from Newcastle might be worth pursuing still. Whoever we do bring in, I hope they’re a specialist in that particular position. My heart always sinks a bit when we sign someone and they, or Hurst, immediately spell out they can play “anywhere across the back” or “either side of the pitch, behind the striker or running beyond”. Versatile is one word for it, but generally signals to me that it’s someone who’s struggled to hold down & justify a starting place.

One thing that will be interesting to see is what happens with Harry Clifton. Contract’s up at the end of the season, didn’t sign anything in the summer and now has a couple of months to justify a new contract or potentially go on a free.

New manager will have his own targets i'd imagine. With Jasons update the recruitment and stuff will be left to the manager. I imagine we'll see some departures as he learns the squad and those departures will be replaced. The people that are interested in the job will no doubt now be watching us with a keen eye and already doing due dillegence on the players involved in the matchday squads and then get a closer look in training.

Quoted from acko338

With long term injuries, an imminent change of manager /coach, players loss of form, and fans wanting to see better formations and styles, who could be in the frame to change the season's fortunes?

Where do we need to strengthen / improve the side to stop the rot?

Can a new management set up instead gee up the current squad pre transfer window opening?

Who comes in, who ships out, it could be a cruel time as we need vast improvement from now to season end ?

2 full months for guesses and rumours, let the thread begin !!1

Are you for real, lets get in a manager first.

Personally i think we need to add more coaches first and foremost. Even though we have lost two ex-defenders, we still have another 2 ex-defenders and an ex-keeper in the coaching team. They, like the previous incumbants, wpont have much of an idea how to properly utilise and coach our front line. We desperately need an attacking coach who can specialise, and possibly a coach for the midfielders too.

Only then should we be possibly looking to recruit further, BUT if the coaches can get a tune out of the players we already have, then further recruitment may be minimal.

Quoted from WayneBurnettsJockstrap

Personally i think we need to add more coaches first and foremost. Even though we have lost two ex-defenders, we still have another 2 ex-defenders and an ex-keeper in the coaching team. They, like the previous incumbants, wpont have much of an idea how to properly utilise and coach our front line. We desperately need an attacking coach who can specialise, and possibly a coach for the midfielders too.

Only then should we be possibly looking to recruit further, BUT if the coaches can get a tune out of the players we already have, then further recruitment may be minimal.

Ben Davies was a central midfielder and a very forward thinking one at that, He was basically the lower league James Milner and he turned into a bit of a utility man towards the end of his career playing everywhere. He scored 91 league goals in 565 league appearances.. think he scored 16 league goals one season 😆

It’s the 1st of November FFS. We haven’t got a manager to assess the players we have got never mind signing any more!!

Keeper, left back and centre half are pretty urgent, unless the current lads have a sudden improvement in performances. And still that elusive finisher

Goalkeeper - Unfortunately as much as I'd like to I'm not convinced by either yet.

Centre Back - an absolute must! We have Maher and Rodgers who at times have been ok, but when out of form it shows we are lacking options. Mullarkey predominantly a right back having seen him and Waterfall is then the only recognised replacement and as much as I like Luke, he looks to be abit of a weak link when playing now.

Left Back - I like Glennon but if he doesn't improve defensively then this is an obvious area we need reinforcements.

No 10 - We lack any real option to play anyone behind a striker.

Winger - Purely for numbers as we only have 3 wingers up to the job imo; Eisa, Khan and Vernam.

Striker - Think we miss a target man, as good as Rose is in the air we need a different option at times.

All depends who comes in though, how they want to play and how the team reacts. Not outrageous that players we have end up improving and settling down under a new direction. We could get to January and think we don't need much or need alot more. We may have gone a tad early with this one!  

Quoted from WayneBurnettsJockstrap

Personally i think we need to add more coaches first and foremost. Even though we have lost two ex-defenders, we still have another 2 ex-defenders and an ex-keeper in the coaching team. They, like the previous incumbants, wpont have much of an idea how to properly utilise and coach our front line. We desperately need an attacking coach who can specialise, and possibly a coach for the midfielders too.

Only then should we be possibly looking to recruit further, BUT if the coaches can get a tune out of the players we already have, then further recruitment may be minimal.

This is just peddling the flawed notion that if you’re a coach and were a defender when you were a player, you can only coach defensive play. It’s just cobblers.

Quoted from chaos33

This is just peddling the flawed notion that if you’re a coach and were a defender when you were a player, you can only coach defensive play. It’s just cobblers.

100% agree with this. Just because someone was a defender, it doesn't mean their playing philosophy would be a defensive-minded approach, nor does it mean they can only coach defenders. Christ, Guardiola was a defensive midfielder but arguably changed the way top level football is viewed now after introducing some of the most expansive football ever seen.

Added to the point raised by LocalLadGTFC that Ben Davies was an attack minded midfielder anyway, that is often ignored by some just because he dropped back to full back to prolong his career.

Jurgen Klopp spent more of his career playing as a centre-back than he did as a striker.  Pep Guardiola, a very defensive minded midfielder, Arsène Wenger a very limited midfielder who ended his career at sweeper...

But as said by others, Ben Davies was not a defender.  He was an attacking midfielder who stepped back in the final years of his career.  For quite a few years he was consistently one of the most creative midfielders in the lower leagues.

The positions that need strengthening seem to agreed by most.

Hope the new boys get similar universal support when they join.

All this talk about the coaches being ex defenders means nothing . To get your FIFA PRO Licence you must show that you can coach all forms of playing and that include all aspects of attacking play .

Quoted from diehardmariner

Jurgen Klopp spent more of his career playing as a centre-back than he did as a striker.  Pep Guardiola, a very defensive minded midfielder, Arsène Wenger a very limited midfielder who ended his career at sweeper...

But as said by others, Ben Davies was not a defender.  He was an attacking midfielder who stepped back in the final years of his career.  For quite a few years he was consistently one of the most creative midfielders in the lower leagues.

When Rob’s adding on the pop up about Barrow training in Manchester, we could add another one on the fallacy that defensive players can’t coach attackers successfully

Quoted from diehardmariner

Jurgen Klopp spent more of his career playing as a centre-back than he did as a striker.  Pep Guardiola, a very defensive minded midfielder, Arsène Wenger a very limited midfielder who ended his career at sweeper...

But as said by others, Ben Davies was not a defender.  He was an attacking midfielder who stepped back in the final years of his career.  For quite a few years he was consistently one of the most creative midfielders in the lower leagues.

And my favourite one every time this crops up: bagsman Buckley's most iconic side's top scoring striker got 8!

A new keeper - we've not replaced Crocombe with an adequate goalie

A new left back - unless the new manager can get Glennon playing again and consistent

A pair of rapid wingers - Barrow and Colchester came at us with real pace down our flanks at BP this season and its what we need too.

A target man up top - A powerful presence up front to support / be a foil for Wilson and Rose

A keeper ,A right  back to cover mullarkey and a first choice left back with Amos as Back up .Another striker .Possibly a centre back as waterfall looks to have seen better days .Got plenty midfielders

Quoted from chaos33

This is just peddling the flawed notion that if you’re a coach and were a defender when you were a player, you can only coach defensive play. It’s just cobblers.

That's spot on for me. The fact that we keep leaking goals blows the theory about ex defender coaches and their approach. Coaching courses and badges cover all aspects of the game and ex footballers know, through experience, all aspects of the game.

Quoted from Norseman

A keeper ,A right  back to cover mullarkey and a first choice left back with Amos as Back up .Another striker .Possibly a centre back as waterfall looks to have seen better days .Got plenty midfielders

erm whats wrong with Efete? who is the better of the two right backs currently at the club

What we need is ---goalkeeper  left back   attacking midfielder    right winger   big striker    left winger    manager

Quoted from Hagrid

erm whats wrong with Efete? who is the better of the two right backs currently at the club

Efete is playing the best of all our full backs I think but that doesn't change the fact he has poor concentration defending set pieces, has poor control, poor passing, no ability to beat a man with the ball and is a dreadful crosser. We need better.

We also need a new GK, new CB, new LB and a 4th striker (not a 4th choice striker).

Quoted from Hagrid

erm whats wrong with Efete? who is the better of the two right backs currently at the club

Not good enough in my opinion .

Quoted from Norseman

Not good enough in my opinion .

Totally disagree, he is the best RB we have at the club atm.

Hmm. I’d say that both of our right backs need to raise their standards in a few aspects or face the risk of being upgraded in January. I think they both have some good strengths and are satisfactory generally but their consistency isn’t there. Best places for Efete to start are to stay switched on, and gravitate to where the ball’s going, not where it’s just been. And a crying need to learn how to cross and make better decisions in the attacking third.

Do we need anything new?

Im hoping a new manager may get a tune out of some of those being criticised, we have seen countless times players look completely different under a new boss. Vernam for one.

So for me no one can be discounted at the moment and one of those could go from zero to hero very quickly.

Quoted from monkeyboy

Do we need anything new?

Im hoping a new manager may get a tune out of some of those being criticised, we have seen countless times players look completely different under a new boss. Vernam for one.

So for me no one can be discounted at the moment and one of those could go from zero to hero very quickly.

You make a very good point and as they say 'A new brush sweeps clean'. I'm not saying that previous errors can be forgotten but they all will have a chance to prove themselves.

We would have good FBs if we could combine the 2 left FBs and the 2 right FBs.

We would then have 2 attacking fullback who could also defend.  Crossing would still be work in progress.  

I really don’t get how pro footballers can be so consistently bad at crossing. It’s really not difficult to be good at it.

Efete totally cancelled out probably the best left winger in the league a couple of weeks back, the first time in ages he's played in his favoured position, and still gets pelters. He's better than a lot of people think on here, his presence, pace and power counts for a lot, and it doesn't matter if he plays well or not, his biggest critics will never be proved wrong..

More worried about.. a keeper, another centre back if Mullarkey isn't going to step up as a back up, a left back upgrade and more quality in centre midfield. Fix the midfield, and the other pieces will fall into place.. From what I've seen of Andrews and Ainley so far, they were panicky fill ins and nowhere near the quality we need. Maybe a fresh start for Hunt will be a blessing in disguise too along with the strength and combativity of the returning Green..

Quoted from Bigdog

Efete totally cancelled out probably the best left winger in the league a couple of weeks back, the first time in ages he's played in his favoured position, and still gets pelters. He's better than a lot of people think on here, his presence, pace and power counts for a lot, and it doesn't matter if he plays well or not, his biggest critics will never be proved wrong..

More worried about.. a keeper, another centre back if Mullarkey isn't going to step up as a back up, a left back upgrade and more quality in centre midfield. Fix the midfield, and the other pieces will fall into place.. From what I've seen of Andrews and Ainley so far, they were panicky fill ins and nowhere near the quality we need. Maybe a fresh start for Hunt will be a blessing in disguise too along with the strength and combativity of the returning Green..

Who’s the best left winger in the league?

Quoted from chaos33

Who’s the best left winger in the league?

Louie Barry, Stockport..

Quoted from Bigdog

Louie Barry, Stockport..

The guy who scored 2 in that game you mean?  

Quoted from TownSNAFU5

We would have good FBs if we could combine the 2 left FBs and the 2 right FBs.

We would then have 2 attacking full-backs who could also defend.  Crossing would still be work in progress.  

The whole problem all along has been the fad for playing out from the back and using full-backs as wingers - square pegs in round holes. As I've posted before ,the team lacks the skill to do this and as we have often seen we are caught out defensively. Opposition teams soon clicked and raided us virtually unchallenged. The full-backs have been told to play this way but it has not led to success. We need to get back to basics and quickly. Leave the out-and-out wingers to do the running and crossing. Glennon played in this way-as a winger- would be far more effective and Amos would suffer less criticism. The same goes for the right wing with Efete. Colchester adopted this with great success.

Quoted from ginnywings

The guy who scored 2 in that game you mean?  

Exactly. Absolute non point.

Central midfield getting a bit of an easy ride in this thread. Surely I'm not the only one that thinks it's all a bit meh, in the middle of the park (Conteh aside)? We've got the numbers but we don't have the quality at all. We've either got midfielders that excel at one single thing or just do everything particularly averagely. Mansfield have bossed us twice because their entire midfield is tidy, well up for a scrap and moves the ball at pace.

The new manager has got his work cut out in the transfer market, I'm hoping whoever comes in is gonna get JS and AP to pay a few of our lot to go their own way. Some of those two/three year deals we've been handing out don't look ideal now.

Quoted from chaos33

Exactly. Absolute non point.

Penalty and set piece when Efete's job was to mark one of their big men. Ripped Mullarkey a new one first thirty minutes and not a sniff after Efete swapped roles. If you watched the game you'd know..

Quoted from Bigdog

Penalty and set piece when Efete's job was to mark one of their big men. Ripped Mullarkey a new one first thirty minutes and not a sniff after Efete swapped roles. If you watched the game you'd know..

Totally fair point, I agree he has done well recently in his 1 on 1 defensive job during normal play. I said he is the most in form of our full backs (albeit that's not a high bar). He's a great athlete. Doesn't change any of the criticisms I made of him in my post, and that have been obvious for 2 years now (concentration, ball control, passing, skill, crossing) which hes really poor at and that's why we need better.

Quoted from Bigdog

Penalty and set piece when Efete's job was to mark one of their big men. Ripped Mullarkey a new one first thirty minutes and not a sniff after Efete swapped roles. If you watched the game you'd know..

Of course I watched the game. Your assertion is an absolute overstatement.

Quoted from Bigdog

Penalty and set piece when Efete's job was to mark one of their big men. Ripped Mullarkey a new one first thirty minutes and not a sniff after Efete swapped roles. If you watched the game you'd know..

I don’t want to argue mate. I respect you. You always post eloquent sense. I think Efete receives unfair criticism, but I think you’re overstating his case here. Just my view.

Quoted from 123614

Totally disagree, he is the best RB we have at the club atm.

As he is the only right back Mullarkey being a centre back you are on a winner doesn't mean he's good enough .

Quoted from Norseman

As he is the only right back Mullarkey being a centre back you are on a winner doesn't mean he's good enough .

He is the best we have atm, no point in whinging about some of his faults when there is no one to take his place.