Our Chaotic Transfer Policy

H

HodderSeasider

Well-known member
Anyone else of the same opinion that our transfer policy appears to be all over the place?
It is well recorded we have missed out on many of our targets. Would a marquee signing early in the window have encouraged players who went elsewhere to have instead come to us. It was only until we were well into the window that we actually paid a fee and only two permanents have come into the first team squad.
The manager said only last week he wanted to bring in two out of contract players. It looks as though Liam Bridcutt may be one, but now the manager says no others will becoming, so what has changed?
Everyone at the club and the supporters knew we needed a new striker and terms were agreed for Bishop and Simmons. Neither happened, but how does this diminish our need for a goal scorer?
Why are we diminishing the height of our squad. The majority of teams in a very physical Championship will be filled with giants, so what do we do? We send out three centre halves, two on loan and one sold, and bring in one who will not be a permanent pick. If big Marv is ever injured or suspended I really fear for us. Surely we should have brought in a tall experienced centre half as a Keogh replacement?
 
You’ve got to meet the respectable wage requirements of a decent out of contract veteran player, as they’ve already made good money out of the game and can afford to end their career. When you do then you get someone with Keoghs attitude and ability without paying a fee.

If you want them for free and in the cheap because they are out of work, that is a bit too much of a KOKO play. I do think Mansford wants to pay very modest transfer fees and also not rock the boat on wages which is leaving us with nothing.

Our own players must be shaking their heads at the club’s delivery versus the big words we’ve heard previously from Mansford. It can’t be helping morale and commitment to know we aren’t serious about signing at least one marquee/talisman signing. Where is our centre back or midfield general for instance?
 
It still doesn't account for how quickly things change. One minute we need a sriker, now apparently we do not!
The manager says he his after two non contract players, yet within a matter of days we are only after one.
Two centre halves are sent out on loan who are just as good if not better than one brought in and who warmed the bench yestetday!
 
HodderSeasider said:
It still doesn't account for how quickly things change. One minute we need a sriker, now apparently we do not!
The manager says he his after two non contract players, yet within a matter of days we are only after one.
Two centre halves are sent out on loan who are just as good if not better than one brought in and who warmed the bench yestetday!
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the other non contract player signed abroad
 
clappers said:
You’ve got to meet the respectable wage requirements of a decent out of contract veteran player, as they’ve already made good money out of the game and can afford to end their career. When you do then you get someone with Keoghs attitude and ability without paying a fee.

If you want them for free and in the cheap because they are out of work, that is a bit too much of a KOKO play. I do think Mansford wants to pay very modest transfer fees and also not rock the boat on wages which is leaving us with nothing.

Our own players must be shaking their heads at the club’s delivery versus the big words we’ve heard previously from Mansford. It can’t be helping morale and commitment to know we aren’t serious about signing at least one marquee/talisman signing. Where is our centre back or midfield general for instance?
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Bridcutt midfield corporal (semi retired).😉
 
BigHandsOliverKahn said:
The elephant in the room will always be our home crowds. Even in League One.
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Which is why the club had to go on a charm offensive, attract as many as possible while the going was/is good, feel good from promotion. Or even now, it could have been done.

We're still right at the start of our growth journey and yet the club put prices up to top end, as if its job done. Yes the membership but its clearly not a hit, makes people pay 45 quid at game 1 and casuals won't do that, nor pay just 30.

We're nowehere near ready to do that yet, we don't have enough people hooked to raise them to that level and not see crowds fall.

One of the top priorities should be to grow the crowds as thats how we make the club sustainable for the future. A full Bloomfield Road at lower prices can make a similar amount.

It can also help us at home with even more vocal support.

We really should be doing more to make attending more affordable, attractive and easy, plus market it when we do have a price that can be shouted proudly with leaflets etc.
 
Budgets & Home Attendances:
I hate to say this but .... certain previous owners (I can't even say their names as I wretch), even before our PL season, brought in far better players than we currently have, including several excellent overseas players. They did this with similar home crowds to what we have now, if not even smaller.
Was the scouting team better? Did the board at the time invest everything on the playing side of the club, whilst ignoring the the other side of the business (which improved following VB joining the board)?
Two stand out questions - Why don't we recruit from overseas? & Is our recruitment team up to the job, or are they being restrained by the size of the playing budget?
 
585 = never give up said:
Budgets & Home Attendances:
I hate to say this but .... certain previous owners (I can't even say their names as I wretch), even before our PL season, brought in far better players than we currently have, including several excellent overseas players. They did this with similar home crowds to what we have now, if not even smaller.
Was the scouting team better? Did the board at the time invest everything on the playing side of the club, whilst ignoring the the other side of the business (which improved following VB joining the board)?
Two stand out questions - Why don't we recruit from overseas? & Is our recruitment team up to the job, or are they being restrained by the size of the playing budget?
Click to expand...
I think we are in a transition phase.
We are buying in talented youngsters and setting up to promote from our own youth set up. After years of neglect I think we are only a short way into this journey.
Hopefully we can maintain our current status while the building blocks are put into place.
 
585 = never give up said:
Budgets & Home Attendances:
I hate to say this but .... certain previous owners (I can't even say their names as I wretch), even before our PL season, brought in far better players than we currently have, including several excellent overseas players. They did this with similar home crowds to what we have now, if not even smaller.
Was the scouting team better? Did the board at the time invest everything on the playing side of the club, whilst ignoring the the other side of the business (which improved following VB joining the board)?
Two stand out questions - Why don't we recruit from overseas? & Is our recruitment team up to the job, or are they being restrained by the size of the playing budget?
Click to expand...
Brexit has happened now so it's not so easy recruiting overseas anymore. We have a smaller labour pool to choose from (Britain and Ireland) like all industries in the UK.
 
That is a good point though if Ekpiteta is injured we would be seriously short. Is he going to play 46 games for us ?
There will have to be some new faces in January, very surprised we have'nt replaced Keogh.
 
The recruitment since NC left leaves a lot to be desired. Yes he was hit and miss, but he also identified and signed some cracking (permanent) players, ones who led us to where we are now.
Since he left it all seems to have been a bit aimless. Are we any stronger than we were last season, despite having the summer to strengthen?
Where will we be once the loanees have all left us?
For all the guff from Mansford we've been fed about putting a long term plan in place, we're actually in a situation where we've lost our highly rated manager and best player (by miles) banked a lot of money for them, and ended up with a guy no one really wanted on the longest contract we've ever handed out (I think) and a load of young loanees, most of which look out of their depth at this level.

It's all a bit of a mess, from the boardroom down to the pitch. It's staggering how half arsed it all now appears to be.
 
JJpool said:
Which is why the club had to go on a charm offensive, attract as many as possible while the going was/is good, feel good from promotion. Or even now, it could have been done.

We're still right at the start of our growth journey and yet the club put prices up to top end, as if its job done. Yes the membership but its clearly not a hit, makes people pay 45 quid at game 1 and casuals won't do that, nor pay just 30.

We're nowehere near ready to do that yet, we don't have enough people hooked to raise them to that level and not see crowds fall.

One of the top priorities should be to grow the crowds as thats how we make the club sustainable for the future. A full Bloomfield Road at lower prices can make a similar amount.

It can also help us at home with even more vocal support.

We really should be doing more to make attending more affordable, attractive and easy, plus market it when we do have a price that can be shouted proudly with leaflets etc.
Click to expand...
Unless we naturally get base gates which fall in the top 3 whilst in League One (around 12,000) or at least at the half way mark whilst in the Championship (16,000), then fans will, somewhat ironically, always place the onus on the club to drive up fan interest.

Clubs like Swansea, Hull etc were getting 15,000 in League One which propelled their club up. We seem to have a base gates lower than that in League One and the Championship.

The people running the club today are not the same as those who ran it for the past 100 years but our gates have always been low so it probably comes down to geography as to why our gates are limited. The Fylde Coast is surrounded by sea and rivers and the only extension to the east soon hits the catchment area of a rival so we don't benefit from a radius that other clubs do.
 
One thing is for sure, if we reach the promised land again then all the money will be re invested into the club and of course the fans will come Flooding back. Not that if you reach the prem then really Fan base isn’t the be all and end all, something like 150 mill for finishing bottom dwarves gate receipts. This is the plan build slowly but surely and get back to the Prem.

We have a kitty now going into the Jan window with plenty of time to prepare, this window was all about would Josh stay or go
 
BigHandsOliverKahn said:
Unless we naturally get base gates which fall in the top 3 whilst in League One (around 12,000) or at least at the half way mark whilst in the Championship (16,000), then fans will, somewhat ironically, always place the onus on the club to drive up fan interest.

Clubs like Swansea, Hull etc were getting 15,000 in League One which propelled their club up. We seem to have a base gates lower than that in League One and the Championship.

The people running the club today are not the same as those who ran it for the past 100 years but our gates have always been low so it probably comes down to geography as to why our gates are limited. The Fylde Coast is surrounded by sea and rivers and the only extension to the east soon hits the catchment area of a rival so we don't benefit from a radius that other clubs do.
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Yeah but we do have enough people to build further, with the right pricing, energy and relatvie success.

It requires getting the big decis right, creating a feelgood factor and marketing it as the right price.

We could easily get a few thousand more home fans in the next few years if prices and done correctly with some relatvie success.
 
Hazi said:
One thing is for sure, if we reach the promised land again then all the money will be re invested into the club and of course the fans will come Flooding back. Not that if you reach the prem then really Fan base isn’t the be all and end all, something like 150 mill for finishing bottom dwarves gate receipts. This is the plan build slowly but surely and get back to the Prem.

We have a kitty now going into the Jan window with plenty of time to prepare, this window was all about would Josh stay or go
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Agree with most of that. To be fair though we were told there was a contingency plan if, as was likely, Josh left. It was a very underwhelming window and we lack leadership and experience on the pitch.
 
JJpool said:
Yeah but we do have enough people to build further, with the right pricing, energy and relatvie success.

It requires getting the big decis right, creating a feelgood factor and marketing it as the right price.

We could easily get a few thousand more home fans in the next few years if prices and done correctly with some relatvie success.
Click to expand...
Quite right JJ and if the bloody Oystons can get our average up to 14k for 4 seasons then surely SS with a reasonable pricing strategy could do at least the same.
 
onlyonepool said:
Quite right JJ and if the bloody Oystons can get our average up to 14k for 4 seasons then surely SS with a reasonable pricing strategy could do at least the same.
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Yep, Sadler hasn't had much luck with covid and cost of living.

But this will pass just as covid did, even now it's even more vital to make it as affordable and attractive as we can.

It's madness if we say we can't do better.
 
585 = never give up said:
Budgets & Home Attendances:
I hate to say this but .... certain previous owners (I can't even say their names as I wretch), even before our PL season, brought in far better players than we currently have, including several excellent overseas players. They did this with similar home crowds to what we have now, if not even smaller.
Was the scouting team better? Did the board at the time invest everything on the playing side of the club, whilst ignoring the the other side of the business (which improved following VB joining the board)?
Two stand out questions - Why don't we recruit from overseas? & Is our recruitment team up to the job, or are they being restrained by the size of the playing budget?
Click to expand...
We don't recruit from abroad because of Brexit. The level we would look at wouldn't get a visa.
 
HodderSeasider said:
Well answer the question, how can they pay upwards of 2 million for a player if they are as indebted as you say and have to abide by the leagues financial fair play rules?
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IIRC the league rules allow clubs to lose up to £14m per season, so they're operating within the rules (just), and it seems that the owner is happy to set fire to £100,000,000 or so, thus an extra £2m is neither here nor there.
 
Hazi said:
One thing is for sure, if we reach the promised land again then all the money will be re invested into the club and of course the fans will come Flooding back. Not that if you reach the prem then really Fan base isn’t the be all and end all, something like 150 mill for finishing bottom dwarves gate receipts. This is the plan build slowly but surely and get back to the Prem.

We have a kitty now going into the Jan window with plenty of time to prepare, this window was all about would Josh stay or go
Click to expand...
We've had 3 years to prepare for an experienced number 6 FFS!!
 
Hazi said:
One thing is for sure, if we reach the promised land again then all the money will be re invested into the club and of course the fans will come Flooding back. Not that if you reach the prem then really Fan base isn’t the be all and end all, something like 150 mill for finishing bottom dwarves gate receipts. This is the plan build slowly but surely and get back to the Prem.

We have a kitty now going into the Jan window with plenty of time to prepare, this window was all about would Josh stay or go
Click to expand...
Unbelievable. Totally.

Perhaps join hands and contact the real world?
 
With the money in the bank and another 3 months to do his research, I'd like to think Appleton can change things in January - defence and up front being the priority. My concern is that if he thinks another midfielder of the standard of Liam Bridcutt is what we need then we're in trouble.
 
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