Squad So Far

I wonder if Kitching could do a job there? Apparently can operate at Left Back and he does like to bomb forward occasionally..

 

He hasn't got the pace. He's good in the air, but needs someone like Mads with him to cover.

 

Looks a bit worrying to me. This is the period when i believe you define the season as in good start or playing catch up in January window. We have performed best when we have a settled side at the start of pre-season.

Other than the two defenders i don't see we have signed what would be seen as a ‘first name on the team sheet’ type of player and attack looks less than ready.

Add the uncertainty of Styles, Morris, Helik, Collins and Brittain the picture gets worse. It does limit our options while ever decisions aren't made here. Im hoping we can get the main squad assembled a bit quicker before the rest of pre-season and avoid starting the league with a squad who aren't quite ready.

 

Hard to say at this stage. Many more twists and turns, ins and outs, also consider.

Losing Morris is a blow but as per the model he signed as relative unknown who didn't have many first team games or greatest goal tally. But on arrival he made immediate impact and has proven to be one of the best in recent times.
Opposite end of the scale Mowatt arrived a ready made player and we all had big expectations. First two seasons he bombed and then shipped out on loan and majority including me had written off his Oakwell career. But he returned pre-season with fresh attitude and hunger and became the player we all hoped he would be.

Point being players will come and go, and others come back to surprise us. Some signings will exceed expectations others may bomb. This season will be no different.

Big season for many of the squad. Hoping to see Kane and Thomas come back become key players we hoped they would be. Brittain return to form he had in first season. Big year for Benson, Aichison, Matty Wolfe and Aiden Marsh all who I hope will be key to success this year.
Victor, Cole and Iseka, dropping down a league have potential to deliver. And they need to.

From core of last year's squad who will stay and go? Collins, Helik, Anderson, Styles etc

New additions, will Butterfill and Cadden join? Will Searle be number one, will Cundy, Connell and McCarthy go straight into the squad?

Not even mentioned Kitchen, Odour, Moon, Shraha, Helliwell, Walton or Hondermark.

 

That post didn’t half make me feel better this morning after last nights Morris news. Thanks for that Johnny

I have faith in the spreadsheet model, when we’ve stuck with it we’ve often done well. I think Moore, Winnall, Woodrow, Morris we’re all found from that model and I imagine the total fee we paid for all 4 wasn’t too far away from the reported 2m we are receiving for Morris.

As you say plenty of twists and turns to come and some players will surprise us and do better than last season.

 

I honestly think all the "crown jewels" will be sold. Woodrow, Morris, Helik, Anderson, Collins, Brittain and Styles. That's why I'm in favour of them being sold early so Duff can re-shape the squad. I'm happy by the business done so far and excited by how our new look side might look.

 

I don't think they all will go but I have been burned already as I didn't think Morris would leave either.

Styles and Helik will 100% go. That I am sure of, aside from that I am not sure which club would stump up the money we would want for a keeper or for Mads. The only other one that may go could be Brittain as he had Blackburn sniffing in the January window iirc? But then again his form last year was so bad it has probably put them off.

 

Yes you're right mate i reckon.

 

Typo?

 

I don’t think they’ll all go either. From what the CEO has said the hope is to sell as few as possible. The impression I got was that as soon as the debt was paid the need to sell would end.

Duff last week said they would be reviewed “bid by bid”, which suggests we don’t have the luxury of choosing who we sell, when we sell and who we keep, we are in a position where while ever we are in debt if a players value is met we’ll accept it. It’s why we’ve sold Morris immediately after Woodrow, from a football side it’s not ideal, but while ever this debt exists and player values are met we must accept bids.

We can’t wait for someone to bid for Styles/Helik and turn down bids for others while we wait. What if no one bids high enough, what if bidders choose to wait until winter, if we did wait and someone did bid we’d be in a vulnerable position and more likely to have to accept a lower bid value.

It’s a rubbish situation (one we inherited from the old board) but I believe we are going about it in the most sensible way.

 

I agree, we also can't be far off branching that gap now with the fee for Woodrow and mainly the money saved from his wages, plus the 2 million for Morris and his wages saved as well as the 1 million from the board we are well over half way now. In theory just losing Styles should cover the rest and have us in the clear though Helik will also leave as he need to be at a higher level to keep getting into Poland's side.

 

Early? theres about 3 and half week until the season starts

 

I’d like to think we are half way, in the boards press conference they announced the debt as well as the 1m investment. It wasn’t clear if the debt they quoted included the 1m. Either way we’ve made a good dent into that debt and more importantly we’ve sold quickly. The sooner the selling is over the sooner we can move in on transfer targets with fees and the sooner Duff, the team, us fans knows where we stand.

If we did sell enough players to cover the debt and Helik was still with us, I think we could still go on to sell him. With him only having a year left, wanting to go to the World Cup and us now having plenty of cover in his position it would make sense. On the other hand If the debts paid and we still have Styles we might be tempted to keep him m, unless someone offers something stupid.