Our window business

voyeur

voyeur

Well-known member
Some thoughts.

Right back: we look much stronger now, Sterling looks a very promising acquisition and Gabriel is good long term back up
Left back: James gives serious competition to Garbutt, who looks to me to be very determined this season.
CB: weaker without Ballard. Keogh seems an unambitious replacement, not really what we need. Marv looking good though, and Connolly should be solid back up. Casey doesn't look far off either.
DM: slightly worrying area this, with the losses of Ward and Virtue, and Stewart seeming fragile. Connolly might help but we needed someone else, for me. Left it too late with the Brannagan attempt. Edit. Forgot Wintle! Let's hope he's the business.
AM: bit short here too. Only really have Keshi and Carey. Could have done with another, Carey is likely to learn on the job. That said, we tend to play without an AM. 2 DMs, two wide players and 2 strikers seems to be Critch's favoured system. TJJ can play that role behind a striker.
Wide players: Bowler a great addition. But otherwise short, with CJ struggling and Demi a bit fragile. Hopefully Dale arrives.
Strikers: Lavery a great addition. Really needed another, different option, especially with Madine rarely available.

I feel like we are getting there but are short in midfield and need another striker, we were so much more potent when Simms got going last season. We also need to bolster the left side of our attacking play, Dale hopefully.

A decent window, but could have been better, had we shown the Brannagan ambition a bit more, and earlier. We haven't strengthened central defence or midfield, really, and I think we needed more up front too. We have added some depth, quality in a few positions, but still have a way to go, I think. A work in progress.
 
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Good assessment and I agree with it all, I do hope that there are maybe one or two Dougall-esque freebies we can pick up for the midfle of the park as that’s the position that worries me.

centre half has probably sorted itself out with the two confirmed signings yesterday, if Sterling can also play there comfortably and also Connolly, we should be ok.

Hopefully Dale announced this morning.
 
We have done OK although we need another mid- fielder.
Maybe there are some decent out of contract players out there.

Don’t forget the lad from Cardiff
 
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Yep agree with most of that

Central midfield a major worry we really aren't strong enough in that position

Should have really pushed the boat out for Brannagan, he's quality and would have been a key player

All in all I'm a bit disappointed with the window
 
voyeur said:
Some thoughts.

Right back: we look much stronger now, Sterling looks a very promising acquisition and Gabriel is good long term back up
Left back: James gives serious competition to Garbutt, who looks to me to be very determined this season.
CB: weaker without Ballard. Keogh seems an unambitious replacement, not really what we need. Marv looking good though, and Connolly should be solid back up. Casey doesn't look far off either.
DM: slightly worrying area this, with the losses of Ward and Virtue, and Stewart seeming fragile. Connolly might help but we needed someone else, for me. Left it too late with the Brannagan attempt.
AM: bit short here too. Only really have Keshi and Carey. Could have done with another, Carey is likely to learn on the job.
Wide players: Bowler a great addition. But otherwise short, with CJ struggling and Demi a bit fragile. Hopefully Dale arrives.
Strikers: Lavery a great addition. Really needed another, different option, especially with Madine rarely available.

I feel like we are getting there but are short in midfield and need another striker, we were so much more potent when Simms got going last season. We also need to bolster the left side of our attacking play, Dale hopefully.

A decent window, but could have been better, had we shown the Brannagan ambition a bit more, and earlier. We haven't strengthened central defence or midfield, really, and I think we needed more up front too. We have added some depth, quality in a few positions, but still have a way to go, I think. A work in progress.
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Couple of things to add.
Sterling is being seen by us as a RB but has played at CB in pre-season for Chelsea. I wonder if Critch might play him there.
We've got 3 LBS with Hubby.
I think we have enough in defensive mid-field, don't forget Wintle.
Attacking mid-field is the weakness in my mind but Dale' if he's signed might add something.
I would have liked Brannagan though.
 
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You missed off TJJ, who is now in the Eng-u21 squad so obviously is well thought of.
The right back position wasn't a want but an absolute necessity, so i'm glad we have that sorted.
We don't really know yet whether Casey is good enough, but I think Connolly is so centre half is ok, although i'm not sure he's as good as Ballard. Casey might be, we don't yet know.
In the centre we signed Wintle, really don't know much about him, but Ward is a big blow unfortunately. We need to see Wintle before making a judgement, but it's difficult to think he's better than Ward.
If we get Dale, who was Crewe's player of the season, I think that will be a good signing. With Mitchell due back soon, and Bowler impressing, we have some good wide players. But we still lack a physical presence up front. Madine might provide that but I'm not convinced he's good enough or fit enough to impact our results on a regular basis.
So overall i'd agree we are mainly short in midfield. It's been a decent window without ever spilling over into great, Brannagan may have done that so it was a shame we didn't get him.
 
Unless Madine and Stewart can return and consistently play between now and January we look a little short to me. The one position we needed to strengthen we have, delighted with both Sterling and Garbriel. Brannagan would have been a terrific signing. If we can get the Dale deal done I'll be happy but both he and Wintle are going to need to hit the ground running. 7/10.
 
I managed to forget about Wintle. Not woken up yet. I've no idea how he will shape up, but hopefully gives us what we need alongside Dougall. We need to pray Kenny stays fit.
 
Insider said:
Couple of things to add.
Sterling is being seen by us as a RB but has played at CB in pre-season for Chelsea. I wonder if Critch might play in there.
We've got 3 LBS with Hubby.
I think we have enough in defensive mid-field, don't forget Wintle.
Attacking mid-field is the weakness in my mind but Dale' if he's signed might add something.
I would have liked Brannagan though.
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Critch doesn't really do attacking midfield though does he? He likes two holding players and 4 attacking players, 2 of the wide. Anderson, Carey and TJJ are all capable of filling that gap, but we don't tend to use them that way.

I think Sterling will want to play as an attacking full back, and I think Marv will play RCB. But if we play a 3 then Sterling could play on the right of it. And we might, in time.
 
Have a look around at the general transfer activity done in the championship yesterday.
Our main priority was right back and that box was ticked twice plus a midfield option and, possibly, a wing option in Dale.
Many championship clubs did nowt in the summer hols or in the window. We did alright
 
We’ve 3 centre mids, one of which is incredibly injury prone in Stewart. James has shown he’s not a centre mid. I’m worried we’ve really failed to add here and it might punish us. We were short before Ward’s injury imo, so we massively are now.
 
No mention of king kenny 🙄 people are
Forgetting that Stewart and kenny ran the show for the 2nd half of last season and so far we’ve yet to see either fully fit. We have struggled with some injuries so far, demi really looked good in preseason
 
northstand said:
No mention of king kenny 🙄 people are
Forgetting that Stewart and kenny ran the show for the 2nd half of last season and so far we’ve yet to see either fully fit. We have struggled with some injuries so far, demi really looked good in preseason
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Hope Kenny gets a contract extension
 
voyeur said:
Some thoughts.

Right back: we look much stronger now, Sterling looks a very promising acquisition and Gabriel is good long term back up
Left back: James gives serious competition to Garbutt, who looks to me to be very determined this season.
CB: weaker without Ballard. Keogh seems an unambitious replacement, not really what we need. Marv looking good though, and Connolly should be solid back up. Casey doesn't look far off either.
DM: slightly worrying area this, with the losses of Ward and Virtue, and Stewart seeming fragile. Connolly might help but we needed someone else, for me. Left it too late with the Brannagan attempt. Edit. Forgot Wintle! Let's hope he's the business.
AM: bit short here too. Only really have Keshi and Carey. Could have done with another, Carey is likely to learn on the job. That said, we tend to play without an AM. 2 DMs, two wide players and 2 strikers seems to be Critch's favoured system. TJJ can play that role behind a striker.
Wide players: Bowler a great addition. But otherwise short, with CJ struggling and Demi a bit fragile. Hopefully Dale arrives.
Strikers: Lavery a great addition. Really needed another, different option, especially with Madine rarely available.

I feel like we are getting there but are short in midfield and need another striker, we were so much more potent when Simms got going last season. We also need to bolster the left side of our attacking play, Dale hopefully.

A decent window, but could have been better, had we shown the Brannagan ambition a bit more, and earlier. We haven't strengthened central defence or midfield, really, and I think we needed more up front too. We have added some depth, quality in a few positions, but still have a way to go, I think. A work in progress.
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Agree with that, but we knew we were short in terms of midfield and attacking options and haven't really addressed that, despite having all summer to do so
 
Phil_bfc deux said:
Yep agree with most of that

Central midfield a major worry we really aren't strong enough in that position

Should have really pushed the boat out for Brannagan, he's quality and would have been a key player

All in all I'm a bit disappointed with the window
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Unlike you to be disappointed with something.

We’ve brought in some quality players and you’re still unhappy. If we’d have paid well over the odds for Brannagan you’d have been unhappy that we’d spent too much.
 
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I’m seeing it is as good business. It gives us the platform which will achieve this season’s goal: championship security.

We’ve shown that we’re mainly interested in pursuing players with strong potential for improvement and we may see more activity along these lines in January. We seem to like going for individuals who have been the player’s player of the season. That says a lot about character and what happens behind the scenes and the sort of team we want to be.

It looks like we are being guided by a clear business strategy and have an owner who is prepared to stand by it with investment. It doesn’t look like we go all out at the earliest opportunity to throw money around. Mr Sadler has been consistent about that. Yet it doesn’t rule out further considered investment once this season’s goal is looking secure.

We can all carry on debating who is out there and who would do a job for us. And for the first time in all my years, we have an owner who is having the same thoughts and talks with his management team. 👍
 
voyeur said:
Critch doesn't really do attacking midfield though does he? He likes two holding players and 4 attacking players, 2 of the wide. Anderson, Carey and TJJ are all capable of filling that gap, but we don't tend to use them that way.

I think Sterling will want to play as an attacking full back, and I think Marv will play RCB. But if we play a 3 then Sterling could play on the right of it. And we might, in time.
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Sterling can also play wing back. Liverpool have no attacking midfielders really and that seems to be the way NC plays, no number 10 really,
 
Phil_bfc deux said:
Yep agree with most of that

Central midfield a major worry we really aren't strong enough in that position

Should have really pushed the boat out for Brannagan, he's quality and would have been a key player

All in all I'm a bit disappointed with the window
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You cannot buy a player when the club he is contracted to refuses to sell.
How many of the players we have bought or loaned are you disappointed in, will you name them now?
I know you are an ardent fan, but I cannot understand your negativity.
Maybe you should do a green shoots type of thread and consider what has improved since Sadler came on the scene
 
Phil_bfc deux said:
Yep agree with most of that

Central midfield a major worry we really aren't strong enough in that position

Should have really pushed the boat out for Brannagan, he's quality and would have been a key player

All in all I'm a bit disappointed with the window
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We've probably been told by Brannagan's agent that he was available for a fee of X and a salary of Y.
Whilst I'm sure there will have been some negotiation I'd hazard a guess that most pieces of the jigsaw were in place.
It looks like Karl Robinson may have thrown a last minute spanner in the works and all deals are off.
This deal got leaked but I'll also make another guess that this wasn't the only one that fell through.
That's football.
Pure speculation on my part so I'm sure you'll put me right with your "inside" information. 😉
 
The Brannagan thing has me puzzled for a variety of reasons. There appears to have been a release clause… So we failed to activate with our bid.. Does that mean we were late and missed the supposed 2 week deadline or did we not bid enough…?

I’m assuming that in the event of us having missed a deadline, that we could go back in for him in January, which may explain some of the last minute wrangling…

Oxford are not in a position where they really need to sell key players below their ‘expected’ market value and KR will be keen on maintaining his squad and pushing for promotion.
 
Not going to be any movement on this yet but Simms has dropped further down the pecking order with Everton signing Rondon.
I cannot see any logic for him signing a new contract so he should be first target in January to buy, as he would be out of contract in the summer so should not break the bank.
 
We've covered the main concern at RB and added a couple of other options so we have at least strengthened the squad.
Brannigan would have been a good addition but we still have enough to crack on with and there is still the option of picking up a quality out of contract signing.
TJJ and Carey are both developing quickly and it will be interesting to see how much they add to the squad in weeks to come.
I've not checked the final list but we could have done with getting a few of ours out on loan or off the books.
 
BFC_BFC_BFC said:
The Brannagan thing has me puzzled for a variety of reasons. There appears to have been a release clause… So we failed to activate with our bid.. Does that mean we were late and missed the supposed 2 week deadline or did we not bid enough…?

I’m assuming that in the event of us having missed a deadline, that we could go back in for him in January, which may explain some of the last minute wrangling…

Oxford are not in a position where they really need to sell key players below their ‘expected’ market value and KR will be keen on maintaining his squad and pushing for promotion.
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I imagine we were trying to negotiate the release clause with Thorniley involved. E.g. if it was 1 million we were offering 500 plus Thorniley valued at 500k whereas they were probably valuing Thorniley at less, say 300k, to try and get us up to 700k. Those figures are made up but just an example
 
bfc1993 said:
I imagine we were trying to negotiate the release clause with Thorniley involved. E.g. if it was 1 million we were offering 500 plus Thorniley valued at 500k whereas they were probably valuing Thorniley at less, say 300k, to try and get us up to 700k. Those figures are made up but just an example
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Or they didn't want even want Thorniley
 
bfc1993 said:
I imagine we were trying to negotiate the release clause with Thorniley involved. E.g. if it was 1 million we were offering 500 plus Thorniley valued at 500k whereas they were probably valuing Thorniley at less, say 300k, to try and get us up to 700k. Those figures are made up but just an example
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I can’t see how you can ‘negotiate’ a release clause. It is either activated or it isn’t…In effect the activation of it is a legal absolute…i.e. the option to refuse is taken out of Oxfords hands.

So anything else is just a transfer negotiation and Oxford would have had the option to refuse (as they have done).
 
BFC_BFC_BFC said:
I can’t see how you can ‘negotiate’ a release clause. It is either activated or it isn’t…In effect the activation of it is a legal absolute…i.e. the option to refuse is taken out of Oxfords hands.

So anything else is just a transfer negotiation and Oxford would have had the option to refuse (as they have done).
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Yeah exactly. I don't think we are in a position financially to be paying £1 million plus for a player but we could have afforded to pay a bit less with a makeweight involved
 
Some on here seem to forget the quality ( sic) of transfer window signings under the Oystons ( that’s assuming of course we did any😉in the first instance).
This was always going to be a tough season but I believe we have assembled a squad capable of getting enough points on the board and entertaining us at the same time.Fingers crossed that I turn out to be right.
 
I’m not sure what the Oystons did or didn’t do has any particular relevance to an objective view of our current transfer dealings.
 
tangysider said:
Not going to be any movement on this yet but Simms has dropped further down the pecking order with Everton signing Rondon.
I cannot see any logic for him signing a new contract so he should be first target in January to buy, as he would be out of contract in the summer so should not break the bank.
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If Simms doesn’t sign a contract with Everton am I right in thinking we can sign him on a pre-contract in January for the summer?
 
BFC_BFC_BFC said:
I’m not sure what the Oystons did or didn’t do has any particular relevance to an objective view of our current transfer dealings.
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... if you can’t see that mine was an opinion and an objective view as much as anyone else’s then so be it.
 
LeedsSeasider said:
Unlike you to be disappointed with something.

We’ve brought in some quality players and you’re still unhappy. If we’d have paid well over the odds for Brannagan you’d have been unhappy that we’d spent too much.
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Over the odds ?

What does that actually mean?

He had a value put on him and we didn't meet it for whatever reason

He would have been a key player so i certainly wouldn't have been unhappy if we had of matched Oxfords value

If you think we are fine then good for you

I still think we are short in midfield
 
Phil_bfc deux said:
Over the odds ?

What does that actually mean?

He had a value put on him and we didn't meet it for whatever reason

He would have been a key player so i certainly wouldn't have been unhappy if we had of matched Oxfords value

If you think we are fine then good for you

I still think we are short in midfield
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They wanted £1.5M from what I hear, personally I think that is reasonable value for his age and form over the last 2 and a bit seasons. Wintle is a very similar type of player, box to box, high energy, if we can get Stewart and Dougall fully fit I'm not 100% sure who would drop out, given how Stewart and Dougall completely dominated Oxford's midfield in all 4 games last season?
 
bleach51 said:
... if you can’t see that mine was an opinion and an objective view as much as anyone else’s then so be it.
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I just don’t see what relevance it has… The business we have done / players we have signed aren’t better or worse, because of anything the Oystons may have or have not done historically… So what difference does it make?
 
LeedsSeasider said:
If Simms doesn’t sign a contract with Everton am I right in thinking we can sign him on a pre-contract in January for the summer?
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I would think so, but I’m guessing he will consider his options as we are likely to be one of a number of clubs interested. So might take a while to get sorted if we still want him.
 
tangysider said:
You cannot buy a player when the club he is contracted to refuses to sell.
How many of the players we have bought or loaned are you disappointed in, will you name them now?
I know you are an ardent fan, but I cannot understand your negativity.
Maybe you should do a green shoots type of thread and consider what has improved since Sadler came on the scene
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Brannigan is under contract to Oxford for 2 years. They have some very, very rich board members, so they are not skint. If he does go it will be to an established championship club.
 
GrumpyGit said:
Brannigan is under contract to Oxford for 2 years. They have some very, very rich board members, so they are not skint. If he does go it will be to an established championship club.
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He’ll presumably go to any club that meets the valuation and can agree personal terms. I don’t see why that shouldn’t be us tbh…

I’m would be at all surprised if we are not back in for him in January.
 
if in January BTFC are in the top 10, Brannigan might come, but if the club are in the lower reaches of the division, he won’t. Oxford have been if the play off places for the last two years and he wouldn’t gamble on becoming a championship player who gets relegated back to L1, when Oxford could win promotion.
 
clappers said:
Yep honestly think Robinson holds a grudge against Blackpool. I wouldn’t put it past him to have told his board if they sold below a silly amount he’d resign or something. Our promotion really sticks in his craw.
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What makes you think that?
 
NewburyOne said:
They wanted £1.5M from what I hear, personally I think that is reasonable value for his age and form over the last 2 and a bit seasons. Wintle is a very similar type of player, box to box, high energy, if we can get Stewart and Dougall fully fit I'm not 100% sure who would drop out, given how Stewart and Dougall completely dominated Oxford's midfield in all 4 games last season?
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We certainly didn't dominate the Oxford midfield

Brannagan didn't play in the first league game as he was injured

Without checking i think they had more possession than us in all 4 games
 
Phil_bfc deux said:
I still think we are short in midfield
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I think we could be short in midfield too, but it depends really. We only really need to fill those two holding places. The front 4 can be assembled in a variety of ways. We have Anderson and JJ who can play as a 10. For the 2 we have Dougall, Stewart and Wintle. With Stewart's injuries and Wintle unknown, it feels light. Connolly may be called upon. I'm not convinced by that, not by Reece James in there.

I think we could also be short of goals. Lavery won't keep us up by himself, so others need to step up now, sooner rather than later. Apart from Yates and John-Jules, where else might goals come from?
 
voyeur said:
What makes you think that?
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Didn’t want to be our manager, seems a prickly sort, we keep besting him on the pitch performances wise, they are still stuck in league one, and he seemed overly keen to declare the deal off last night with a grand announcement. Just get a feeling of sour grapes generally.
 
voyeur said:
I think we could be short in midfield too, but it depends really. We only really need to fill those two holding places. The front 4 can be assembled in a variety of ways. We have Anderson and JJ who can play as a 10. For the 2 we have Dougall, Stewart and Wintle. With Stewart's injuries and Wintle unknown, it feels light. Connolly may be called upon. I'm not convinced by that, not by Reece James in there.

I think we could also be short of goals. Lavery won't keep us up by himself, so others need to step up now, sooner rather than later. Apart from Yates and John-Jules, where else might goals come from?
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Bowler will score goals but I’m really not sure JJ will get many… he still looks lightweight but tbf is young enough to improve that part of his game… I don’t understand people thinking Madine will just walk back in… I think it will take him weeks to get fit and of all the signings we have made his makes the least sense given his injury and wages he is reputedly on… we still need two good loans a ball playing midfielder who can chip in with goals and a free scoring centre forward but I guess those are the loans everyone is looking for
 
voyeur said:
I think we could be short in midfield too, but it depends really. We only really need to fill those two holding places. The front 4 can be assembled in a variety of ways. We have Anderson and JJ who can play as a 10. For the 2 we have Dougall, Stewart and Wintle. With Stewart's injuries and Wintle unknown, it feels light. Connolly may be called upon. I'm not convinced by that, not by Reece James in there.

I think we could also be short of goals. Lavery won't keep us up by himself, so others need to step up now, sooner rather than later. Apart from Yates and John-Jules, where else might goals come from?
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Yep agreed i suppose it all depends how we set up

If we are going to persist with the 442 i think we will struggle as we dont have a natural wide left player and it also puts more pressure on the 2 holding

If anything was to happen to Dougall we would be knackered
 
clappers said:
Didn’t want to be our manager, seems a prickly sort, we keep besting him on the pitch performances wise, they are still stuck in league one, and he seemed overly keen to declare the deal off last night with a grand announcement. Just get a feeling of sour grapes generally.
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He's a bit of a touchy character. He took the defeat in the semi pretty well though. Perhaps wishes he had taken the job here. He will have been keen to keep Brannagan, can't blame him for that. He's likely still smarting from the 3-0 at theirs, a kind of career defining moment for him.
 
Phil_bfc deux said:
Yep agreed i suppose it all depends how we set up

If we are going to persist with the 442 i think we will struggle as we dont have a natural wide left player and it also puts more pressure on the 2 holding

If anything was to happen to Dougall we would be knackered
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I don't disagree with that either really. We are heavily reliant on Dougall now, and we are short on the left unless Dale arrives and can fill that position. I don't think we should persist with 442, and I doubt we will. Some kind of 343 seems to suit what we've got. We are creating chances, but we don't look like taking very many. Hopefully that will come but it's clearly harder at this level. I still don't think we will go down but we are a bottom half side as things stand, in my opinion, with a season that will be battle after battle ahead of us.
 
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