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Well it`s been the exact opposite of last year for GTFC so far.We flogged Bogle made a mint and got in a heap of players which was quite exciting at the time and the possibilities seemed endless.This time around we have lost a fans favourite and a squad player for peanuts and our 3 most saleable assets on the playing staff remain albeit probably on a few teams radars.I have a feeling Slade may well be in the sell to buy position and if that`s right will we see a last day scramble for player ins/outs?

I wouldn't want Slade to spend a penny more or sign anyone with his track record.

We shouldn’t be letting him sign anyone, he’s let some of our better players such as Pearson and Osbourne go and brought in crap. Why won’t he just except that we the fans of GTFC don’t won’t him at our club, he should resign now. We have gone backwards since promotion. Our promotion winning team is far superior to the one we have now. Slade can say what he likes, this is his team and it’s not good enough. Crowds are down, mood around the club is rock bottom, even if he wins a few games it changes nothing. No one wants him here. Leave so I can start enjoying my club again.

Just remind me who our 3 saleable assets are again? 🤔

Quoted from jimgtfc

Just remind me who our 3 saleable assets are again? 🤔

Jones,Dembele,Mills

Was Osborne really a fans' favourite? He made 20-odd appearances and scored 1 goal for us. Not really worthy of any great accolades with that record. Unfulfilled potential, I suppose.

As regards new signings, I'd imagine we'll be looking for an athletic striker of some sort and a bit more pace elsewhere in the team.

You could well be right about the need to sell before getting any new players in as the squad is still massive even after the two departures. If you count Jones, we've got 7 central midfielders on the books at the moment which is just madness! Partially down to Bignot's signings this time last year and partially down to Slade's inability to ship any of the other players out (though, if the players have decent contracts, why should they want to leave?).

Compare that to just 3 full-backs and 3 centre-halves. I suppose we have 4 wingers, but does Kelly really count? Woolford looks better to me when he's moved more centrally and can actually get involved a bit as opposed to achieving nothing on the wing but we really don't need someone else in the centre. Add this to a handful of strikers who aren't scoring and don't look like they will, and there are issues.

A bloated squad, badly lacking in pace and physicality. It will take a couple of transfer windows to sort out this mess, regardless of who is in charge.

Quoted from Maringer

Was Osborne really a fans' favourite? He made 20-odd appearances and scored 1 goal for us. Not really worthy of any great accolades with that record. Unfulfilled potential, I suppose.

As regards new signings, I'd imagine we'll be looking for an athletic striker of some sort and a bit more pace elsewhere in the team.

You could well be right about the need to sell before getting any new players in as the squad is still massive even after the two departures. If you count Jones, we've got 7 central midfielders on the books at the moment which is just madness! Partially down to Bignot's signings this time last year and partially down to Slade's inability to ship any of the other players out (though, if the players have decent contracts, why should they want to leave?).

Compare that to just 3 full-backs and 3 centre-halves. I suppose we have 4 wingers, but does Kelly really count? Woolford looks better to me when he's moved more centrally and can actually get involved a bit as opposed to achieving nothing on the wing but we really don't need someone else in the centre. Add this to a handful of strikers who aren't scoring and don't look like they will, and there are issues.

A bloated squad, badly lacking in pace and physicality. It will take a couple of transfer windows to sort out this mess, regardless of who is in charge.

Just going by the outrage at his departure last week personally I thought he looked a very capable player at Lg 2 level and on that basis was sorry to see him leave.CM for what it`s worth I would play Jones and Summerfield as my 2.We lack quality and pace throughout and like I say for me 11 of the current squad can go.

Quoted from Maringer

A bloated squad, badly lacking in pace and physicality. It will take a couple of transfer windows to sort out this mess, regardless of who is in charge.

Why are we allowing the man who has created this mess even more freedom to ‘sort it out’?

He’s given 2 year contracts to a number of players who don’t make the starting 11, some of whom can’t even make the bench.

And yet for some people, he’s the right man to sort it - he’s the one who has created the mess in the first place!!

Slade Out

we need a proper centre forward who has real quality. We can't risk going down. I imagine we will see a couple of underwhelming loan signings though.
Since we've come back into the league we have gone back to the same mistakes that led to us dropping out.

He’s not going to bring in any decent signings, he had the whole of the summer to do that and managed one, an untried winger with no football League experience. It’s all smoke and mirrors from the club to buy him sometime. Money available my bottom...

Quoted from Maringer

Was Osborne really a fans' favourite? He made 20-odd appearances and scored 1 goal for us. Not really worthy of any great accolades with that record. Unfulfilled potential, I suppose.

As regards new signings, I'd imagine we'll be looking for an athletic striker of some sort and a bit more pace elsewhere in the team.

You could well be right about the need to sell before getting any new players in as the squad is still massive even after the two departures. If you count Jones, we've got 7 central midfielders on the books at the moment which is just madness! Partially down to Bignot's signings this time last year and partially down to Slade's inability to ship any of the other players out (though, if the players have decent contracts, why should they want to leave?).

Compare that to just 3 full-backs and 3 centre-halves. I suppose we have 4 wingers, but does Kelly really count? Woolford looks better to me when he's moved more centrally and can actually get involved a bit as opposed to achieving nothing on the wing but we really don't need someone else in the centre. Add this to a handful of strikers who aren't scoring and don't look like they will, and there are issues.

A bloated squad, badly lacking in pace and physicality. It will take a couple of transfer windows to sort out this mess, regardless of who is in charge.

And ability, skill, goals, creativity and nous.

I think we've got plenty of skill in there - Dembele, Jaiyesimi, Jones, for instance. The problem is we don't have the pace and strength to stretch teams and let these skilful players show their stuff. All three of those players can beat a man, but tend to receive possession near the half-way line and in front of a well-set defence.

If we could force the play another 20 yards upfield and stretch the opposition defence a lot more, more opportunities and chances would be created just due to proximity to the box.

Newport gave a good example of this at the weekend. Lots of dinked chips into the corners over the heads of our defenders for the movement and intelligence of Amond and the strength of Nouble to gain possession. We're more static up front so it ends up being a lump up the middle, with predictable effects.

We're going to have to sign some players if we want to reverse the current form. I agree with others that it would be preferable to get rid of those who can't make the side in order to free up some of the wage budget first, but the idea that Slade shouldn't be allowed to sign anyone and be made to work with what he's got is quite dangerous.

A couple of good players (perhaps a proper no. 9 forward and an athletic midfielder) could be enough to turn us around and get us into a safe mid-table slot. Our January business is crucial to our finishing position, so if we're going to stick with Slade he needs to be allowed to recruit.

Quoted from Maringer

I think we've got plenty of skill in there - Dembele, Jaiyesimi, Jones, for instance. The problem is we don't have the pace and strength to stretch teams and let these skilful players show their stuff. All three of those players can beat a man, but tend to receive possession near the half-way line and in front of a well-set defence.

If we could force the play another 20 yards upfield and stretch the opposition defence a lot more, more opportunities and chances would be created just due to proximity to the box.

Newport gave a good example of this at the weekend. Lots of dinked chips into the corners over the heads of our defenders for the movement and intelligence of Amond and the strength of Nouble to gain possession. We're more static up front so it ends up being a lump up the middle, with predictable effects.

Spot on Maringer, we do not get the ball into dangerous areas quickly enough and the front players are too static, easy to defend against. It was interesting to see how quick and mobile Podge was on Sat. He was difficult to mark and took up good positions.

I was very impressed with Podge on Saturday who I thought played better than he generally did for us in the Conference. Obviously, he didn't get his goal, but it was his run in behind which set up their first and his all round play was much better than I remembered.

A pity he didn't come back, though I'm not sure we're capable of the passes over the top and into the corner that he thrived on at the moment!