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Quoted from RichMariner

I'll say it before anyone else does - highlights reels are obviously just that, so no idea on whether he drifts in and out of games, or whether he's had fitness issues or injury troubles before this season.

I want to get excited by a player like that joining us. I'm in no way being negative when I say this (because he's clearly got talent) but I'd argue we've yet to see the Sousa we all saw from the Darlo highlights reel.

He's shown glimpses though. Much rather we look for talent coming up and with something to prove. This lad fits the bill but it's all speculation at the minute.

I think strikers are a little bit easier to gauge though than other players, because they can be measured by the all important metric of goals scored. He’s the joint 7th top scorer in the Conference North, with 11 in 19 or based on minutes played a goal approximately 1.5 games. That, in a bang-average Kettering team.

Those stats, coupled with the highlights reel and the local journo describing him as ‘outstanding’ gives me a degree of confidence that he’s a half-decent player.

Quoted from Knut Anders Fosters Voles

He’d given me a rabona within a few seconds of that highlights reel.

A gold star from me, whoever red crosses that one needs help. You don’t get many laughs on the fishy but that was one

Probably signing for Chesterfield then. :o

Struggling to find anything linking him to anybody at the moment. He shares an agency with Effiong at Woking but at 5' 6" he's about a foot too short for them.

Are we looking at Callum Potter or Callum Powell, can we phone Hursty and let him know which one we prefer

Quoted from ginnywings

Probably signing for Chesterfield then. :o

For £250k

Quoted from Bristol Mariner

For £250k

After furloughing their manager

Quoted from dicko995

it aint us

Nobody seriously thought it would be.

Solihull are in for him.

There must be nearly 120 teams playing at a higher level than them , so the odds on it being us that is interested are probably........ 🤔 .....

........

........

........ give me a minute...
..

Pretty big.

Quoted from psgmariner

Solihull are in for him.

Very credible, considering they have been given the heave ho from there ground after spending half a million on a pitch

Quoted from coddy60

Very credible, considering they have been given the heave ho from there ground after spending half a million on a pitch

‘ A significant six-figure sum has already been ploughed into the facilities at the site - but the council do have an obligation to find the club another home to the same standard as they one they currently use.’

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/solihull-moors-jaguar-land-rover-22843275

Quoted from RichMariner

........so no idea on whether he drifts in and out of games, or whether he's had fitness issues or injury troubles before this season.

So, much like every other player we have on our roster then.

Watching highlights reel Kettering play ball forward quickly through midfield so wouldn’t do any good for us

Southend bound apparently.

The Solihull pitch was lovely in all fairness.

Not coming here, we don't have any money and what we do have is hoovered up by our former owner.

Quoted from Kris2

Not coming here, we don't have any money and what we do have is hoovered up by our former owner.

Your right no money for signings until Fentys paid off, I can't see the club getting out of this league anytime soon.

Quoted from Hagrid

signed for Southend

On Friday, then played on Saturday v Dover.

https://www.echo-news.co.uk/sport/19885468.southend-united-boss-kevin-maher-pleased-callum-powells-debut-dover-athletic/

He's 26 so perhaps geography counted against us. If we were able to compete on the financials that is.

Quoted from Croxton

On Friday, then played on Saturday v Dover.

https://www.echo-news.co.uk/sport/19885468.southend-united-boss-kevin-maher-pleased-callum-powells-debut-dover-athletic/

He's 26 so perhaps geography counted against us. If we were able to compete on the financials that is.

Kettering to Grimsby = 117 miles
Kettering to Southend = 111 miles
;D

Quoted from tanga_the_indestructible

Kettering to Grimsby = 117 miles
Kettering to Southend = 111 miles
;D

But Southends pier is longer!

Quoted from Gaffer58

But Southends pier is longer!

would pier pressure come into the equation then?

Quoted from Croxton

He's 26 so perhaps geography counted against us. If we were able to compete on the financials that is.

Or we never tried to sign him.

Quoted from tanga_the_indestructible

Kettering to Grimsby = 117 miles
Kettering to Southend = 111 miles
;D

Ah but... it's also 20 min longer to Grimsby. All about the small margins! Seems he was at Wrexham with Shaun Pearson so due diligence may have played a part. Southend manager has already said 'he's a maverick'. Someone please tell me we at least tried?

Sounds like a promising player that other clubs are interested in and commands a fee. We never seem to sign those do we?

I look at the players other clubs in this league are signing compared to us and it makes me feel we are not serious about promotion.

I understand all the arguments about sustainability, but the only thing it seems likely to sustain is our current position as a mid table 5th tier club. If you want out of this division I think you have to invest in some decent players. I just don't think they come on free transfers.

Investment is the right word too. The financial cost to this club of being out of the EFL is huge, I think our revenue dropped by several hundred thousand pounds a season last time we were down here.

Quoted from RonMariner

Sounds like a promising player that other clubs are interested in and commands a fee. We never seem to sign those do we?

I look at the players other clubs in this league are signing compared to us and it makes me feel we are not serious about promotion.

I understand all the arguments about sustainability, but the only thing it seems likely to sustain is our current position as a mid table 5th tier club. If you want out of this division I think you have to invest in some decent players. I just don't think they come on free transfers.

Investment is the right word too. The financial cost to this club of being out of the EFL is huge, I think our revenue dropped by several hundred thousand pounds a season last time we were down here.

Have faith. £500k of transfer income plus another £500k of the boards money has gone straight into Fentys' bank. Anything due from the Dembele move to Bournemouth is going to him as well. Jason and Andrew have spent £1.5m of their own personal cash to buy Fentys' shares plus a few more and then chucked £1m in to improve our club; which was starved of investment and round footballs.

It takes time but the evidence is above that money is being spent or diverted elsewhere for now. We are building and I'm sure as we get players tied down for next season, our summer recruitment will be a bit different this year.

Quoted from RonMariner

Sounds like a promising player that other clubs are interested in and commands a fee. We never seem to sign those do we?

I look at the players other clubs in this league are signing compared to us and it makes me feel we are not serious about promotion.

I understand all the arguments about sustainability, but the only thing it seems likely to sustain is our current position as a mid table 5th tier club. If you want out of this division I think you have to invest in some decent players. I just don't think they come on free transfers.

Investment is the right word too. The financial cost to this club of being out of the EFL is huge, I think our revenue dropped by several hundred thousand pounds a season last time we were down here.

This is the way to go. Have a great scouting system and pay a bit of dosh ( we are not talking millions, are we?) for those up and coming players that are in demand at our level and sell them on for a profit. I am sure the owners know this.

Looking at James' reply below perhaps it is just a matter of time before we start paying for these types when Fenty has finally been paid off.

I must admit though had it been my money I would have paid Fenty off straight away and recouped it over time as our fortunes improved. The great attendances home and away and the fact we are who we are means our fortunes will indeed improve substantially as time goes by.

Quoted from lew chaterleys lover

This is the way to go. Have a great scouting system and pay a bit of dosh ( we are not talking millions, are we?) for those up and coming players that are in demand at our level and sell them on for a profit. I am sure the owners know this.

Looking at James' reply below perhaps it is just a matter of time before we start paying for these types when Fenty has finally been paid off.

I must admit though had it been my money I would have paid Fenty off straight away and recouped it over time as our fortunes improved. The great attendances home and away and the fact we are who we are means our fortunes will indeed improve substantially as time goes by.

Not far down the road Scunny did a brilliant job of this for years, constantly signing players for little to nothing and then selling them on for millions.

Billy Sharp, Gary Hooper, Martin Paterson, Andy Keogh and Conor Townsend alone netted them over £10m in transfer fees having cost them a combined total of £150k (£100k for Sharp and £50k for Keogh). That’s not an accident, and it’s that kind of approach that organically funded their promotions to the Championship before Peter Swann got his grubby hands on the club and fúcked it all up.

We were possibly a tad unlucky in that, Bogle aside, Liam Hearn was probably our most saleable asset in recent years and he got badly injured, but our failure to produce and attract players with a sizeable resale value is just one of the reasons we’ve fallen behind as a club.

It makes it all the more galling that, uncertainty over the Dembele deal aside, we’ve probably had our most profitable season in many years and not a penny has made it back into the transfer kitty.

Quoted from Poojah

We were possibly a tad unlucky in that, Bogle aside, Liam Hearn was probably our most saleable asset in recent years and he got badly injured, but our failure to produce and attract players with a sizeable resale value is just one of the reasons we’ve fallen behind as a club.

.

True, and I think a similar thing happened with Reddy. I thought one of the Bristol clubs were at one point offering £400k, but then he got injured. Not sure what happen to him after that

Quoted from lew chaterleys lover

This is the way to go. Have a great scouting system and pay a bit of dosh ( we are not talking millions, are we?) for those up and coming players that are in demand at our level and sell them on for a profit. I am sure the owners know this.

Looking at James' reply below perhaps it is just a matter of time before we start paying for these types when Fenty has finally been paid off.

I must admit though had it been my money I would have paid Fenty off straight away and recouped it over time as our fortunes improved. The great attendances home and away and the fact we are who we are means our fortunes will indeed improve substantially as time goes by.

On your last point, I don't think they would have been popular as they siphoned £1.5m of attendance money and transfer income back into their bank accounts. Even if they are both worth £75m (simple maths) then £750k each is still a sizeable amount of cash to have liquid. Whatever they are worth, I would hazard most of it is tied up in investments.

It's always easy to spend someone elses money but I think they were right not to pay the loan off immediately for a number of reasons.

Quoted from RonMariner

True, and I think a similar thing happened with Reddy. I thought one of the Bristol clubs were at one point offering £400k, but then he got injured. Not sure what happen to him after that

It’s so long ago now that I can’t remember all the details however I seem to remember someone vaguely ‘ITK’ telling me that we’d agreed to sell him to Luton for a similar figure to that, but that he’d failed the medical.

I’ve no idea if that was the case but the idea of him failing a medical is within the boundaries of possibility when you think how his body just completely broke down not long after.

I remember him scoring a goal in a 1-0 win against Wrexham not appreciating at the time that it would be his last goal in football. I think things soured a bit after the Cardiff debacle and he wanted out, but a real shame that such a great player saw his career end like that.

Quoted from Poojah

Not far down the road Scunny did a brilliant job of this for years, constantly signing players for little to nothing and then selling them on for millions.

Billy Sharp, Gary Hooper, Martin Paterson, Andy Keogh and Conor Townsend alone netted them over £10m in transfer fees having cost them a combined total of £150k (£100k for Sharp and £50k for Keogh). That’s not an accident, and it’s that kind of approach that organically funded their promotions to the Championship before Peter Swann got his grubby hands on the club and fúcked it all up.

We were possibly a tad unlucky in that, Bogle aside, Liam Hearn was probably our most saleable asset in recent years and he got badly injured, but our failure to produce and attract players with a sizeable resale value is just one of the reasons we’ve fallen behind as a club.

It makes it all the more galling that, uncertainty over the Dembele deal aside, we’ve probably had our most profitable season in many years and not a penny has made it back into the transfer kitty.

I am optimistic that we can go down the Scunthorpe pre Swann route, and assuming we can get the attendances a club of our stature deserves then we should be able to maintain it.

The first step is the hardest but once we have got rid of Fenty entirely the sky is the limit.

Mind you if we lose on Saturday ask me again.

Quoted from jamesgtfc

Have faith. £500k of transfer income plus another £500k of the boards money has gone straight into Fentys' bank. Anything due from the Dembele move to Bournemouth is going to him as well. Jason and Andrew have spent £1.5m of their own personal cash to buy Fentys' shares plus a few more and then chucked £1m in to improve our club; which was starved of investment and round footballs.

It takes time but the evidence is above that money is being spent or diverted elsewhere for now. We are building and I'm sure as we get players tied down for next season, our summer recruitment will be a bit different this year.

Some double counting going on there.

Quoted from HerveJosse

Some double counting going on there.

Are you intimating that the £500k loan repayment on 31st December was part of the £1.125m Jason referred to in the statement on Monday? I don't think John Shelton Fenty counts as infrastructure or the playing side of the club.

“Andrew and I intend to continue to invest in the infrastructure and playing side of the Club and since the financial year end 1878 Partners has invested a further £1.125m into the business to support these initiatives."

Quoted from jamesgtfc

Have faith. £500k of transfer income plus another £500k of the boards money has gone straight into Fentys' bank. Anything due from the Dembele move to Bournemouth is going to him as well. Jason and Andrew have spent £1.5m of their own personal cash to buy Fentys' shares plus a few more and then chucked £1m in to improve our club; which was starved of investment and round footballs.

It takes time but the evidence is above that money is being spent or diverted elsewhere for now. We are building and I'm sure as we get players tied down for next season, our summer recruitment will be a bit different this year.

Are those figures of the new owner’s payments true? In that case I have to ask, are they mental?!

Quoted from jamesgtfc

On your last point, I don't think they would have been popular as they siphoned £1.5m of attendance money and transfer income back into their bank accounts. Even if they are both worth £75m (simple maths) then £750k each is still a sizeable amount of cash to have liquid. Whatever they are worth, I would hazard most of it is tied up in investments.

It's always easy to spend someone elses money but I think they were right not to pay the loan off immediately for a number of reasons.

I was rather thinking they could have explained to us that they were paying him off to get rid of him but would recoup the money as our fortunes improved over time - I am sure we would have understood that.

However I know absolutely nothing about finance on that scale and speak more from the heart so I am sure your analysis holds more weight.

Quoted from lew chaterleys lover

I was rather thinking they could have explained to us that they were paying him off to get rid of him but would recoup the money as our fortunes improved over time - I am sure we would have understood that.

However I know absolutely nothing about finance on that scale and speak more from the heart so I am sure your analysis holds more weight.

It's a good idea in theory but we've seen how people have behaved recently. Everyone was fine with the improvements when we were top of the league but once we hit a bad run of form people were debating how many players we should have bought instead of the sprinklers and glass barrier.

Based on the experience above, can you imagine how crazy people would be going as it transpired we failed to get promoted yet still managed to pay the directors £250k for example?

Quoted from jamesgtfc

Are you intimating that the £500k loan repayment on 31st December was part of the £1.125m Jason referred to in the statement on Monday? I don't think John Shelton Fenty counts as infrastructure or the playing side of the club.

“Andrew and I intend to continue to invest in the infrastructure and playing side of the Club and since the financial year end 1878 Partners has invested a further £1.125m into the business to support these initiatives."

Carefully worded I would suggest

Quoted from jamesgtfc

It's a good idea in theory but we've seen how people have behaved recently. Everyone was fine with the improvements when we were top of the league but once we hit a bad run of form people were debating how many players we should have bought instead of the sprinklers and glass barrier.

Based on the experience above, can you imagine how crazy people would be going as it transpired we failed to get promoted yet still managed to pay the directors £250k for example?

I was thinking more of a £100 monthly standing order once we had reached the Championship. That would be £100 EACH.

I know it's a source of frustration for some but we should absolutely be investing in the infrastructure first.

To sign good players you've got to want them to come. Show them their 'office' - a nice training facility, all the gym equipment they need, all the technology and (dare I say) data to help them improve.

Show them that they'll be looked after. Let them hear through the grapevine that Grimsby is a place where you're properly looked after.

For many years we've signed players of decent calibre and then wondered why they haven't performed with us. Well, perhaps they simply weren't inspired by what they saw and experienced here. A rubbish training pitch. A portakabin. Non-spherical footballs.

You get the idea.

We've been plastering over the cracks for decades now. Investing in our training facilities and equipment means we now have something with actual value to sell to players when we're trying to entice them to join us.

Once everything has been brought up to the standards Hurst, Doig and 1878 feel is right, and once we owe nothing more to Fenty, then maybe we might see some of our profits spent on talent.

Let's also not forget that, in spite of the crap condition of the club, we've been able to make money from selling young players. Neil Woods and staff continue to do a phenomenal job there. This shouldn't stop but only get better.

Quoted from RichMariner

We've been plastering over the cracks for decades now. Investing in our training facilities and equipment means we now have something with actual value to sell to players when we're trying to entice them to join us.

Good points.  This above is the key sticking point though.

Because we've stagnated and even regressed over the last few decades we're now in a position that makes us completely unappealable on so many levels.

You're absolutely right, the infrastructure needs to be sorted.  That not only attracts people to the place but it keeps them. But aspiration and ambition attracts people as well, with it money.

On a simplistic level, if Town sign better players now they've got a better chance of promotion.  If they get promotion they can then attract better players again because a) players are naturally ambitious and would rather play in League Two than Non-League and b) you can pay better wages.

The ideal is that balance, you can invest in your infrastructure on an ongoing basis to make sure it always improves, but you can also invest in the best that you can in terms of actual players.  1878 are absolutely right to sort the infrastructure because it will have a legacy.  But the longer we stay down at this level, the harder it becomes to get out of it.  Saying that, I think next season the Conference becomes easier.  It's not unlikely to think that two of Halifax, Stockport, Chesterfield and Wrexham will be the ones to go up, replaced by Scunny and Oldham (neither of whom are likely to be a threat).  But you get a reputation as a Conference side, not a side who've dropped down with a view to bouncing back, but a genuine fifth tier outfit.  That's got to be an impact on players signing for you.

It's chicken and egg.  You can spunk everything on decent players to get you out and then try to build the infrastructure or do what we're doing.  Either way you're going to have a shortfall and run the risk of a period of rebuilding, with that there's potential consequences.

Frustrating and I don't think there's a right or wrong answer to it.

Quoted from RichMariner

I know it's a source of frustration for some but we should absolutely be investing in the infrastructure first.

To sign good players you've got to want them to come. Show them their 'office' - a nice training facility, all the gym equipment they need, all the technology and (dare I say) data to help them improve.

Show them that they'll be looked after. Let them hear through the grapevine that Grimsby is a place where you're properly looked after.

For many years we've signed players of decent calibre and then wondered why they haven't performed with us. Well, perhaps they simply weren't inspired by what they saw and experienced here. A rubbish training pitch. A portakabin. Non-spherical footballs.

You get the idea.

We've been plastering over the cracks for decades now. Investing in our training facilities and equipment means we now have something with actual value to sell to players when we're trying to entice them to join us.

Once everything has been brought up to the standards Hurst, Doig and 1878 feel is right, and once we owe nothing more to Fenty, then maybe we might see some of our profits spent on talent.

Let's also not forget that, in spite of the crap condition of the club, we've been able to make money from selling young players. Neil Woods and staff continue to do a phenomenal job there. This shouldn't stop but only get better.

Over the years we have signed some really class players who didn't mind coming to poor old Grimsby.

The longer we stay out of the Football League the worse our finances will be due to the lack of income from the EFL plus the likelihood of gates dropping the longer we stay here.

We should be making our first objective to get back in the EFL.

Quoted from Poojah

Not far down the road Scunny did a brilliant job of this for years, constantly signing players for little to nothing and then selling them on for millions.

Billy Sharp, Gary Hooper, Martin Paterson, Andy Keogh and Conor Townsend alone netted them over £10m in transfer fees having cost them a combined total of £150k (£100k for Sharp and £50k for Keogh). That’s not an accident, and it’s that kind of approach that organically funded their promotions to the Championship before Peter Swann got his grubby hands on the club and fúcked it all up.

We were possibly a tad unlucky in that, Bogle aside, Liam Hearn was probably our most saleable asset in recent years and he got badly injured, but our failure to produce and attract players with a sizeable resale value is just one of the reasons we’ve fallen behind as a club.

It makes it all the more galling that, uncertainty over the Dembele deal aside, we’ve probably had our most profitable season in many years and not a penny has made it back into the transfer kitty.

They paid fees for Hooper and Paterson too, I think Hooper was about 200k. Townsend was definitely a Swann era signing too, but I'm just nitpicking as you're totally right they played several blinders in the transfer market. I think Dagnall was another one. Strikers we couldn't dream of having at that time, I'm thankful those days are gone! They even made a decent profit on Martyn Woolford, I seem to remember?

Quoted from RichMariner

I know it's a source of frustration for some but we should absolutely be investing in the infrastructure first.

To sign good players you've got to want them to come. Show them their 'office' - a nice training facility, all the gym equipment they need, all the technology and (dare I say) data to help them improve.

Show them that they'll be looked after. Let them hear through the grapevine that Grimsby is a place where you're properly looked after.

For many years we've signed players of decent calibre and then wondered why they haven't performed with us. Well, perhaps they simply weren't inspired by what they saw and experienced here. A rubbish training pitch. A portakabin. Non-spherical footballs.

You get the idea.

We've been plastering over the cracks for decades now. Investing in our training facilities and equipment means we now have something with actual value to sell to players when we're trying to entice them to join us.

Once everything has been brought up to the standards Hurst, Doig and 1878 feel is right, and once we owe nothing more to Fenty, then maybe we might see some of our profits spent on talent.

Let's also not forget that, in spite of the crap condition of the club, we've been able to make money from selling young players. Neil Woods and staff continue to do a phenomenal job there. This shouldn't stop but only get better.

Agree wholeheartedly with this.

Someone made a point about the need to be back in the EFL for attraction purposes and not becoming part of the furniture of the NL. I don't think that is necessarily a blocker to advancement. The last time we were here we spent 5 years of this and although only marginally, we improved year on year generally speaking. We certainly didn't fluctuate as Wrexham have done since they came down, or nosedive like York and Stockport have/had done.

When we did get promoted that trend continued and we found ourselves inside the play-offs when PH left for Shrewsbury. I know opinion will be divided on this but I don't think it's coincidence that the longevity we gave PH the first time around and the stability he brought was the major factor in that progression into L2 being successful until he left. From there we've ripped up those foundations time and time again and suffered as a consequence (amongst other things).

Management is largely about providing resources for the staff to conduct their job. The owners don't fiddle with team selection or training, their role is to give PH and his staff the tools to deliver on the pitch. Budget is one aspect to it but the environment where they conduct their daily work also has to be of a suitable standard too.

If our off-field facilities provide the management team all they need to achieve success then they can then be truly judged on their abilities. Given our turnover in managers over the years, is the problem that good managers aren't given the right tools? Is this why JS and AP won't be quick to dismiss PH because they recognise their office isn't up to standard?

I'm firmly of the opinion that in the modern age of football, we have to take a temporary relaxation of expectation on league standing (within reason) and allow the new owners to 'do-up' the house so that there are minimal excuses and we're equipped as best possible to push not just for a promotion to L2 but further. It's daft to be thinking of the Championship right now but Luton were where we are 5 years ago... Get your house in order and try align all the things required for success and any club has the capability to go beyond the expectation. Yeovil, Scunthorpe and Wycombe are other great examples of that dream, however short lived in two of the examples.