Signed in summer shipped out in winter

Shiggy

Shiggy

Well-known member
With Robson and MJ Williams both rumoured to be leaving before the end of the day, you have to wonder if this is another sign of naive recruitment? Anyone who’s been in conversation with me on this forum knows I always try to be positive about the club, but in the last 12 months I think the recruitment has been questionable to say the least, and the amount of players that have been signed, started as part of the squad and then seemingly been frozen out in a short space of time is worrying.

Robson is a strange one, I really liked him at the start of the season and still believe he has a lot to offer, but clearly has fallen out of favour in the last few months. MJ Williams on the other hand was always going to be a squad player, so a move for him may be more understandable but still you have to ask why bring him in in the first place only to ship him out a few months later?

There was a lot of talk in the summer about a ‘revolving door’ in relation to transfers, but I’ve been really impressed with how the club has kept its nerve in this window and stuck with the same core group (unlike the farce of last January). However, the potential departure of MJ Williams and Ethan Robson today suggest there’s still problems.

What are our intentions when signing these players? Robson could be considered young, but I won’t accept that he was brought in as a fringe player, based on the comments from Critchley and the board when he arrived and the fact he started a lot of games at the start of the season. So why are we now loaning him out? How can someone deemed good enough to have a starting place in the midfield of a team apparently aiming for promotion at the beginning of the season then not even make the 18 man squad on a match day a few months later? As for MJ, he was brought in due to a connection with Critchley and Garrity, so why is he also now not seen as an important part of the squad?

Of course there’s nothing confirmed yet, and overall I’m so happy with the way the club is being run, but if these two are to be shipped out, particularly Robson, imo this reiterates a common criticism of the current board that the recruitment lacks direction and any real cohesion. Hardie, Howe, Nuttall, Sarkic, Thorniley all signed in the last 12-18 months, 1 has already left after only spending half a season here, Howe, Nuttall and Sarkic are non existent in the current set up, and it’s taken an injury/COVID crisis for Thorniley to get a chance. Signings can go wrong for a thousand reasons, but it’s starting to become a worryingly common occurrence that we’re signing players that, for whatever reason, are either moved on or can’t make the squad 6-12 months down the line.
 
If Robson leaves because he’s out of favour, that’s down to him. Has all the attributes but has failed to deliver. He also, by all accounts still thinks he should be at Sunderland and I don’t think his heart’s in it.
 
The reality is if you bring 18 players or there abouts if 10 of them turn out to be good signings youve done pretty well some players just do fit the club or whats asked of them i like m j and robson though i think robson has under performed there both decent players.
 
Shiggy said:
With Robson and MJ Williams both rumoured to be leaving before the end of the day, you have to wonder if this is another sign of naive recruitment? Anyone who’s been in conversation with me on this forum knows I always try to be positive about the club, but in the last 12 months I think the recruitment has been questionable to say the least, and the amount of players that have been signed, started as part of the squad and then seemingly been frozen out in a short space of time is worrying.

Robson is a strange one, I really liked him at the start of the season and still believe he has a lot to offer, but clearly has fallen out of favour in the last few months. MJ Williams on the other hand was always going to be a squad player, so a move for him may be more understandable but still you have to ask why bring him in in the first place only to ship him out a few months later?

There was a lot of talk in the summer about a ‘revolving door’ in relation to transfers, but I’ve been really impressed with how the club has kept its nerve in this window and stuck with the same core group (unlike the farce of last January). However, the potential departure of MJ Williams and Ethan Robson today suggest there’s still problems.

What are our intentions when signing these players? Robson could be considered young, but I won’t accept that he was brought in as a fringe player, based on the comments from Critchley and the board when he arrived and the fact he started a lot of games at the start of the season. So why are we now loaning him out? How can someone deemed good enough to have a starting place in the midfield of a team apparently aiming for promotion at the beginning of the season then not even make the 18 man squad on a match day a few months later? As for MJ, he was brought in due to a connection with Critchley and Garrity, so why is he also now not seen as an important part of the squad?

Of course there’s nothing confirmed yet, and overall I’m so happy with the way the club is being run, but if these two are to be shipped out, particularly Robson, imo this reiterates a common criticism of the current board that the recruitment lacks direction and any real cohesion. Hardie, Howe, Nuttall, Sarkic, Thorniley all signed in the last 12-18 months, 1 has already left after only spending half a season here, Howe, Nuttall and Sarkic are non existent in the current set up, and it’s taken an injury/COVID crisis for Thorniley to get a chance. Signings can go wrong for a thousand reasons, but it’s starting to become a worryingly common occurrence that we’re signing players that, for whatever reason, are either moved on or can’t make the squad 6-12 months down the line.
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I said months ago that the summer recruitment was a bit of a dog's breakfast and so it is proving to have been.
It has to be quality over quantity from now on.
 
Not sure why people are surprised at Robson, Sunderland sent him on loan for a reason - if we can sent him out for 4 months and he gets regular L2 games we only benefit.
Williams looks like a 6/10 every time he plays, but I think he struggles to get in ahead of Dougall, Stewart, Virtue and Ward so makes sense
 
I think it depends on the nature of the deals, if they're both loans then its a case of getting them game time/experience where we can't currently offer it.

If they're permanent deals then its basically the recruitment team admitting they've made an error.
 
I think that area of the field, defensive mid, is well covered and we probably have better in Dougal and Stewart. A creative midfielder is what we're crying out for and if offloading a couple to bring in quality is needed then fine by me.
 
Firstly, we have no idea if we are actively looking to move Williams & Robson, the club have no control over other teams wanting their players.

Hardie, Howe, Nuttall & Thorniley weren't signed by the current coaching set up, so whereas they might have featured had Grayson stuck around, why should Critch be expected to use any of them given he may have never seen them play before arriving at the club.

Critch and Garrity now have a far better understanding of what is needed for League One football than they did 8 months ago, when they had to bring in numerous players in a very short space of time due to the delayed preseason/season. In a normal year they would have had months to bring players in who they knew fit the bill of what they needed

Mistakes have been made, but there isn't a club on the planet who has a 100% hit rate on players. Considering how quickly he had to put a squad (not team) together, I think there have been far more successes than failures. It is only on football message boards that players are seen as crap, useless, a waste of money etc because they're not playing well every week. Not everyone who arrived in the summer will have been brought in to have been capable of being much more than a squad player, we aren't Man City.

Some signings don't work out, for numerous reasons, we are fortunate enough to be in a position financially where we are able to take a hit on them if it means moving them out in order for us to bring someone in better, which leads me to something which I think has been massively overlooked on here.........

You also aren't taking in to account the effect that the squad cap is playing in all of this, in the past players would arrive and then not get a kick for months, but it didn't really matter because clubs could have as many players on their books as they wanted. This isn't the case anymore, so clubs can't afford to keep deadwood on board.

I don't think there is anything to worry about, unless you're actively trying to find issues, we have a talented squad of players who are almost all under 25 or so and are showing real signs of improving. I'd be more worried if we were supposed to be bringing in a striker today only for him to sack us off, turn around and drive back down the motorway before signing for the basket case of a club we used to be.
 
BlackpoolsFinest said:
Firstly, we have no idea if we are actively looking to move Williams & Robson, the club have no control over other teams wanting their players.

Hardie, Howe, Nuttall & Thorniley weren't signed by the current coaching set up, so whereas they might have featured had Grayson stuck around, why should Critch be expected to use any of them given he may have never seen them play before arriving at the club.

Critch and Garrity now have a far better understanding of what is needed for League One football than they did 8 months ago, when they had to bring in numerous players in a very short space of time due to the delayed preseason/season. In a normal year they would have had months to bring players in who they knew fit the bill of what they needed

Mistakes have been made, but there isn't a club on the planet who has a 100% hit rate on players. Considering how quickly he had to put a squad (not team) together, I think there have been far more successes than failures. It is only on football message boards that players are seen as crap, useless, a waste of money etc because they're not playing well every week. Not everyone who arrived in the summer will have been brought in to have been capable of being much more than a squad player, we aren't Man City.

Some signings don't work out, for numerous reasons, we are fortunate enough to be in a position financially where we are able to take a hit on them if it means moving them out in order for us to bring someone in better, which leads me to something which I think has been massively overlooked on here.........

You also aren't taking in to account the effect that the squad cap is playing in all of this, in the past players would arrive and then not get a kick for months, but it didn't really matter because clubs could have as many players on their books as they wanted. This isn't the case anymore, so clubs can't afford to keep deadwood on board.

I don't think there is anything to worry about, unless you're actively trying to find issues, we have a talented squad of players who are almost all under 25 or so and are showing real signs of improving. I'd be more worried if we were supposed to be bringing in a striker today only for him to sack us off, turn around and drive back down the motorway before signing for the basket case of a club we used to be.
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You make some good points and I agree with a lot of what you say, but you mention how certain players were signed under old coaching set up. Wasn’t this another bizarre recruitment decision? To allow a manager to bring in a number of players in January only to sack him in the first week of February? I’m not actively trying to find issues, as I say the club is largely doing a fantastic job, but I think we have to be a bit more honest with ourselves about the standard of recruitment so far and more specifically, the inconsistency of it. We’ve made some terrific signings, but also some strange ones.
 
Shiggy said:
With Robson and MJ Williams both rumoured to be leaving before the end of the day, you have to wonder if this is another sign of naive recruitment? Anyone who’s been in conversation with me on this forum knows I always try to be positive about the club, but in the last 12 months I think the recruitment has been questionable to say the least, and the amount of players that have been signed, started as part of the squad and then seemingly been frozen out in a short space of time is worrying.

Robson is a strange one, I really liked him at the start of the season and still believe he has a lot to offer, but clearly has fallen out of favour in the last few months. MJ Williams on the other hand was always going to be a squad player, so a move for him may be more understandable but still you have to ask why bring him in in the first place only to ship him out a few months later?

There was a lot of talk in the summer about a ‘revolving door’ in relation to transfers, but I’ve been really impressed with how the club has kept its nerve in this window and stuck with the same core group (unlike the farce of last January). However, the potential departure of MJ Williams and Ethan Robson today suggest there’s still problems.

What are our intentions when signing these players? Robson could be considered young, but I won’t accept that he was brought in as a fringe player, based on the comments from Critchley and the board when he arrived and the fact he started a lot of games at the start of the season. So why are we now loaning him out? How can someone deemed good enough to have a starting place in the midfield of a team apparently aiming for promotion at the beginning of the season then not even make the 18 man squad on a match day a few months later? As for MJ, he was brought in due to a connection with Critchley and Garrity, so why is he also now not seen as an important part of the squad?

Of course there’s nothing confirmed yet, and overall I’m so happy with the way the club is being run, but if these two are to be shipped out, particularly Robson, imo this reiterates a common criticism of the current board that the recruitment lacks direction and any real cohesion. Hardie, Howe, Nuttall, Sarkic, Thorniley all signed in the last 12-18 months, 1 has already left after only spending half a season here, Howe, Nuttall and Sarkic are non existent in the current set up, and it’s taken an injury/COVID crisis for Thorniley to get a chance. Signings can go wrong for a thousand reasons, but it’s starting to become a worryingly common occurrence that we’re signing players that, for whatever reason, are either moved on or can’t make the squad 6-12 months down the line.
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There are also a lot that have worked out
I think MJ may have been stop gap
Robson has been replaced with better, and we may have made money on him, others were pre Critchley.
Only Critch failure to my mind is Sarkic but maybe he is not showing a good attitude but has the ability
 
Tr33frog said:
Not sure why people are surprised at Robson, Sunderland sent him on loan for a reason - if we can sent him out for 4 months and he gets regular L2 games we only benefit.
Williams looks like a 6/10 every time he plays, but I think he struggles to get in ahead of Dougall, Stewart, Virtue and Ward so makes sense
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But this is my point really re Robson. He was brought in as a first team player, you can’t tell me otherwise. I know the club doesn’t have a crystal ball, but if you sign a player who you believe should be one of the first names on the team sheet, and then a few months down the line he’s sent out on loan, what does that say?
 
Shiggy said:
You make some good points and I agree with a lot of what you say, but you mention how certain players were signed under old coaching set up. Wasn’t this another bizarre recruitment decision? To allow a manager to bring in a number of players in January only to sack him in the first week of February? I’m not actively trying to find issues, as I say the club is largely doing a fantastic job, but I think we have to be a bit more honest with ourselves about the standard of recruitment so far and more specifically, the inconsistency of it. We’ve made some terrific signings, but also some strange ones.
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It's been done to death; it was a mistake but I see it as another example of SS backing his manager.
I'm happier they brought the players in then potted Grayson than carried on with him purely because he'd signed some players in the January window.
 
I don’t even think they’re mistakes. Both decent players and both have shown they are capable, there’s no crystal ball with these things.

When you build a new squad you sign players and over time the cream rises to the top. Other players come in and certain players don’t get opportunities to play and they move on.

Now we have a solid spine to the team I wouldn’t expect this to happen again in the same way. We should see players come in who can make this current team better moving forward.
There’s also wages to consider, especially for Robson who was highly sought after when he signed for us and Dougall/Steward will be on decent wages I’m sure.

You have to go through the process though which we have done and we’re lucky SS is willing to put up the cash and take risks.
 
Shiggy said:
But this is my point really re Robson. He was brought in as a first team player, you can’t tell me otherwise. I know the club doesn’t have a crystal ball, but if you sign a player who you believe should be one of the first names on the team sheet, and then a few months down the line he’s sent out on loan, what does that say?
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That he may not be able to play the role he was signed to fulfill, that he isn't as good as initially hoped, that the opportunity has arisen to sign better, that he isn't happy to play a bit part because other players are performing to a higher standard than he is.

Not everything is black/white, good player/shit player, good signing/shit signing.
 
When any club signs a player their is no garantee that they will fit into the setup or style of play, and it can take a few months to suss them out ,like others have said if we can get a bit of cash for them and try to improve thats fine with me,even spending millions doesnt garantee they will be any good,just look at some of the signings that the big clubs have made and lost millions on when sold on.
 
Robson was given the number 6 shirt

Critchley built him up as the deep lying play maker in a midfield 3

He wasn't signed as a fringe player he was signed to play week in week out in a key role

If he goes now its another Critchley mistake no two ways about it

We can't keep signing players then shipping them out after a few months

We need stability and players need time to settle

Isn't that what we all say about Critchley

"Give him time"
 
Phil_bfc deux said:
Robson was given the number 6 shirt

Critchley built him up as the deep lying play maker in a midfield 3

He wasn't signed as a fringe player he was signed to play week in week out in a key role

If he goes now its another Critchley mistake no two ways about it

We can't keep signing players then shipping them out after a few months

We need stability and players need time to settle

Isn't that what we all say about Critchley

"Give him time"
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So you've spent the last however many months telling anyone who will listen that Critch messed up by not signing an experienced spine to the team, but now he has got Dougall & Stewart in the middle, he must keep Robson.

Pick a narrative and stick to it, instead of constantly dredging up things from 8 months ago in your eternal quest to be seen as being right.
 
BlackpoolsFinest said:
That he may not be able to play the role he was signed to fulfill, that he isn't as good as initially hoped, that the opportunity has arisen to sign better, that he isn't happy to play a bit part because other players are performing to a higher standard than he is.

Not everything is black/white, good player/shit player, good signing/shit signing.
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Of course it isn’t. But Robson isn’t the only player who isn’t ‘as good as initially hoped’. For me we have a lot of players that have done okay, but could still improve, and that’s fine. I just think that the amount of players brought in that have then been shipped out a few months later is a worrying sign and doesn’t exactly signify a consistent plan of recruitment.
 
Shiggy said:
Of course it isn’t. But Robson isn’t the only player who isn’t ‘as good as initially hoped’. For me we have a lot of players that have done okay, but could still improve, and that’s fine. I just think that the amount of players brought in that have then been shipped out a few months later is a worrying sign and doesn’t exactly signify a consistent plan of recruitment.
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So which players have actually been signed under Critch and then left?

Edit to add: Let's say Robson leaves, thats 1 out of 18(?) hardly a trend is it?
 
BlackpoolsFinest said:
So which players have actually been signed under Critch and then left?

Edit to add: Let's say Robson leaves, thats 1 out of 18(?) hardly a trend is it?
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I think you’re mistaking my position a bit. This isn’t an attack on Critchley. This isn’t an attack on anyone. Merely pointing out a pattern has developed since the takeover of bringing players in, the club telling us how good they are, and then these same players being at best fringe players within the space of a few months. To this list you could add Hardie, Nuttall, Thorniley, Howe, Sarkic, Robson, Callum McDonald, MJ Williams, Demetri Mitchell, Sean Scannell.

For me the club has done much better this season in establishing a core group. Yates, CJ, Kenny, Marv are brilliant signings. I just think the potential departure of Williams and Robson is a backwards step and once again exposes some errors in recruitment. Permanent signings should be permanent signings, not gradually fringed out of the squad and sent away on loan a few months after they arrive, unless they’re young and need more game time which I don’t think you can apply to either MJ or Ethan.
 
Shiggy said:
I think you’re mistaking my position a bit. This isn’t an attack on Critchley. This isn’t an attack on anyone. Merely pointing out a pattern has developed since the takeover of bringing players in, the club telling us how good they are, and then these same players being at best fringe players within the space of a few months. To this list you could add Hardie, Nuttall, Thorniley, Howe, Sarkic, Robson, Callum McDonald, MJ Williams, Demetri Mitchell, Sean Scannell.

For me the club has done much better this season in establishing a core group. Yates, CJ, Kenny, Marv are brilliant signings. I just think the potential departure of Williams and Robson is a backwards step and once again exposes some errors in recruitment. Permanent signings should be permanent signings, not gradually fringed out of the squad and sent away on loan a few months after they arrive, unless they’re young and need more game time which I don’t think you can apply to either MJ or Ethan.
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Who said Scannell was decent 😂

You're going back over points I've already answered; the players signed before Critchley should not be counted because why would he keep players when he had a blank cheque (League One wise) to bring in players, but could only sign x amount due to the squad cap.
Why would he keep players who he thought wouldn't play a part when he had the opportunity to sign the players he wanted; would you have preferred him to stick with what we had because they had been signed by the previous manager purely for continuity? Especially so considering the dogs abuse those players were receiving under Grayson.
We are never going to have 22 inter-changeable players, some players are inevitably going to be squad players, does that makes them a failure?
Of course it doesn't, but in today's black/white world there is no in between.

So my previous point stands, you're claiming there is an issue with moving players on after 6 months, yet not 1 single player signed by Critch has been moved on, so you have created a scenario that doesn't exist.
 
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I think critch had a Liverpool mentality of having 2 players for every postion...and now realises that it doesnt work for league 2 standards....and at times had to change sometimes winning line ups to accomadate other players.
we currently have a squad of 30 players with 23 of them seen playing time this season. so for me there are quite a few in defence and midfield who could be shipped out.As most fans know
where our problems have been...lack of goals and a creative midfield player...I think young Simms maybe the answer to keeping the strikers on their toes and It was good to see Virtue get a goal and I think he offers more than most of our midfielders and will get better as his fitness improves.

All IMO of course
UTMP
 
BlackpoolsFinest said:
Who said Scannell was decent 😂

You're going back over points I've already answered; the players signed before Critchley should not be counted because why would he keep players when he had a blank cheque (League One wise) to bring in players, but could only sign x amount due to the squad cap.
Why would he keep players who he thought wouldn't play a part when he had the opportunity to signthe players he wanted; would you have preferred him to stick with what we had because they had been signed by the previous manager purely for continuity? Especially so considering the dogs abuse those players were receiving under Grayson.
We are never going to have 22 inter-changeable players, some players are inevitably going to be squad players, does that makes them a failure?
Of course it doesn't, but in today black/white world there is no in between.

So my previous point stands, you're claiming there is an issue with moving players on after 6 months, yet not 1 single player signed by Critch has been moved on, so you have created a scenario that doesn't exist.
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They should be counted, because this is a thread about recruitment, not Critchley, and since the central argument within my post was based on players moved on shortly after arriving, I’m not creating anything since Robson and MJ are rumoured to be heading out on loan today. We clearly don’t see eye to eye on this, so let’s agree to disagree rather than go round in circles
 
BlackpoolsFinest said:
So you've spent the last however many months telling anyone who will listen that Critch messed up by not signing an experienced spine to the team, but now he has got Dougall & Stewart in the middle, he must keep Robson.

Pick a narrative and stick to it, instead of constantly dredging up things from 8 months ago in your eternal quest to be seen as being right.
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Play the ball not the man eh
 
Shiggy said:
With Robson and MJ Williams both rumoured to be leaving before the end of the day, you have to wonder if this is another sign of naive recruitment? Anyone who’s been in conversation with me on this forum knows I always try to be positive about the club, but in the last 12 months I think the recruitment has been questionable to say the least, and the amount of players that have been signed, started as part of the squad and then seemingly been frozen out in a short space of time is worrying.

Robson is a strange one, I really liked him at the start of the season and still believe he has a lot to offer, but clearly has fallen out of favour in the last few months. MJ Williams on the other hand was always going to be a squad player, so a move for him may be more understandable but still you have to ask why bring him in in the first place only to ship him out a few months later?

There was a lot of talk in the summer about a ‘revolving door’ in relation to transfers, but I’ve been really impressed with how the club has kept its nerve in this window and stuck with the same core group (unlike the farce of last January). However, the potential departure of MJ Williams and Ethan Robson today suggest there’s still problems.

What are our intentions when signing these players? Robson could be considered young, but I won’t accept that he was brought in as a fringe player, based on the comments from Critchley and the board when he arrived and the fact he started a lot of games at the start of the season. So why are we now loaning him out? How can someone deemed good enough to have a starting place in the midfield of a team apparently aiming for promotion at the beginning of the season then not even make the 18 man squad on a match day a few months later? As for MJ, he was brought in due to a connection with Critchley and Garrity, so why is he also now not seen as an important part of the squad?

Of course there’s nothing confirmed yet, and overall I’m so happy with the way the club is being run, but if these two are to be shipped out, particularly Robson, imo this reiterates a common criticism of the current board that the recruitment lacks direction and any real cohesion. Hardie, Howe, Nuttall, Sarkic, Thorniley all signed in the last 12-18 months, 1 has already left after only spending half a season here, Howe, Nuttall and Sarkic are non existent in the current set up, and it’s taken an injury/COVID crisis for Thorniley to get a chance. Signings can go wrong for a thousand reasons, but it’s starting to become a worryingly common occurrence that we’re signing players that, for whatever reason, are either moved on or can’t make the squad 6-12 months down the line.
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It could be that the players havent settled in the area and that's why they want out. Not always down to onfield matters.
 
Phil_bfc deux said:
We can't keep signing players then shipping them out after a few months
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I maybe jumping the gun abit here and the club could sign a few tonight but it looks as though that’s exactly what we’ve done.

We’ve brought in one talented stop gap in Simms to bolster the attack without being tethered to a large fee and wage

We’ve also brought in 1 player who’s clearly a cut above in the centre, which on the face of it seemed odd to me, but when I think about it people like Sarkic, Kai Kai ,Williams and probably Ward are off in 6 months so it was a good opportunity to pre plan and upgrade.

It really looks like they’ve learned their lesson this window, the spines taken a lot longer to come together than it should have but it’s been assembled non the less.

When squad and Salary spaces become available in the summer we’ll likely add the finishing touches then.

If they now go and sign ridiculous loans in central midfield that never play granted it’ll be disappointing. But this looks good for me.
 
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Makes me laugh, let’s wait and see what does and doesn’t happen before we make judgement on NC and our recruitment 😂😂, sometimes it’s just paper talk and nothing more!, if it does happen let’s listen to what the club says, then comment if we feel we must.
 
Rektseasider said:
I maybe jumping the gun abit here and the club could sign a few tonight but it looks as though that’s exactly what we’ve done.

We’ve brought in one talented stop gap in Simms to bolster the attack without being tethered to a large few and wage

We’ve also brought in 1 player who’s clearly a cut above in the centre, which on the face of it seemed odd to me, but when I think about it people like Sarkic, Kai Kai ,Williams and probably Ward are off in 6 months so it was a good opportunity to pre plan and upgrade.

It really looks like they’ve learned their lesson this window, the spines taken a lot longer to come together than it should have but it’s been assembled non the less.

When squad and Salary spaces become available in the summer we’ll likely add the finishing touches then.

If they now go and sign ridiculous loans in central midfield that never play granted it’ll be disappointing. But this looks good for me.
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Makes sense to me and perhaps NC doesn’t think we’re quite ready for promotion this season and wants to clear the decks, get the right signings in in the summer within the constraints and really push for next season.
 
TangerineBayern said:
Makes sense to me and perhaps NC doesn’t think we’re quite ready for promotion this season and wants to clear the decks, get the right signings in in the summer within the constraints and really push for next season.
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That was my thoughts on it, they realise they’ve made a bit of a hash of the summer window, a lot of that’s on Critchley and his Critchball theory we’d be playing this season. But it’s the price you pay for a coach stepping up manage a league one side for the first time, doesn’t look like too much harm done.

They’re trying to rectify the situation for next year when both NC and BM will live or die by the next two windows.
 
Even the top Premier League clubs with their sophisticated scouting schemes make mistakes. Just look at Chelsea and Arsenals recent signings. Probably more misses than hits.
 
Rektseasider said:
That was my thoughts on it, they realise they’ve made a bit of a hash of the summer window, a lot of that’s on Critchley and his Critchball theory we’d be playing this season. But it’s the price you pay for a coach stepping up manage a league one side for the first time, doesn’t look like too much harm done.

They’re trying to rectify the situation for next year when both NC and BM will live or die by the next two windows.
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I wouldn’t say they’ve made a hash Rekts but bringing all those new players was never going to be 100% successful and was perhaps a bit of a gamble.
 
Rektseasider said:
I maybe jumping the gun abit here and the club could sign a few tonight but it looks as though that’s exactly what we’ve done.

We’ve brought in one talented stop gap in Simms to bolster the attack without being tethered to a large few and wage

We’ve also brought in 1 player who’s clearly a cut above in the centre, which on the face of it seemed odd to me, but when I think about it people like Sarkic, Kai Kai ,Williams and probably Ward are off in 6 months so it was a good opportunity to pre plan and upgrade.

It really looks like they’ve learned their lesson this window, the spines taken a lot longer to come together than it should have but it’s been assembled non the less.

When squad and Salary spaces become available in the summer we’ll likely add the finishing touches then.

If they now go and sign ridiculous loans in central midfield that never play granted it’ll be disappointing. But this looks good for me.
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I think thats a fair post

Things are certainly different with the condensed season, wage caps and squad sizes

There is a lot to think about when signing players these days

Gone are the days of the Holloway development hotel room filling scheme

My concern is more about the way we sign players then appear quick to discard them

Robson is only 24 and hasn't really had much first team football previously yet was sold to us fans like some sort of Thiago or Xavi controlling the midfield from a deep position

Dougall and Stewart are clearly infront of him now and he's not started much since Dougall came in

I fell a bit sorry for him if I'm honest and is a victim of Critchley changing the system

Robson started the season well but had very little help in midfield or behind him

There are other players like Mitchell, Sarkic and Williams who don't seem to get much action either
 
Now here's a novel thought.
The Manager signs a player in the summer who is the best available at the time.
6 months later a better player becomes available at a price we can now afford in the same position.
So do we want to move forward or just be faithful to the summer signing?
I think I know the answer and so does Critchy.
The whole set up at BFC right from the top with Simon Sadler all the way the through the stucture is work in progress and everybody is learning to do their jobs a little bit better everyday.
I happen to believe we are heading in the right direction
 
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Has Robson gone then?

He looks like a box-to-box player to me which fits the original 4-3-3 but less so with two defensive central midfielders. I'd keep him not least because we don't how Stewart will perform.
 
Phil_bfc deux said:
Robson was given the number 6 shirt

Critchley built him up as the deep lying play maker in a midfield 3

He wasn't signed as a fringe player he was signed to play week in week out in a key role

If he goes now its another Critchley mistake no two ways about it

We can't keep signing players then shipping them out after a few months

We need stability and players need time to settle

Isn't that what we all say about Critchley

"Give him time"
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If a better player comes available and you can make a profit on Robson then sell for me
 
Phil_bfc deux said:
I think thats a fair post

Things are certainly different with the condensed season, wage caps and squad sizes

There is a lot to think about when signing players these days

Gone are the days of the Holloway development hotel room filling scheme

My concern is more about the way we sign players then appear quick to discard them

Robson is only 24 and hasn't really had much first team football previously yet was sold to us fans like some sort of Thiago or Xavi controlling the midfield from a deep position

Dougall and Stewart are clearly infront of him now and he's not started much since Dougall came in

I fell a bit sorry for him if I'm honest and is a victim of Critchley changing the system

Robson started the season well but had very little help in midfield or behind him

There are other players like Mitchell, Sarkic and Williams who don't seem to get much action either
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Things certainly do seem to be changing in the recruitment department, in reality they couldn’t carry on in the same way as they were or both NC and BM would have been collecting P45s.

They had to address the situation and it looks like they’re doing that, probably just in the nick of time.

You win some and you lose some on transfers, just throwing a dart out there but I’d say currently under SS and BM’s management we’re at about 70:30 towards the loss side on transfers. That needs to get to around 50:50 otherwise as you say, we’ll just haemorrhage money, which will be unsustainable for us.

The signs are however pointing in the right direction.
 
Shiggy said:
You make some good points and I agree with a lot of what you say, but you mention how certain players were signed under old coaching set up. Wasn’t this another bizarre recruitment decision? To allow a manager to bring in a number of players in January only to sack him in the first week of February? I’m not actively trying to find issues, as I say the club is largely doing a fantastic job, but I think we have to be a bit more honest with ourselves about the standard of recruitment so far and more specifically, the inconsistency of it. We’ve made some terrific signings, but also some strange ones.
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Absolutely agree that if there was any inkling in the owners mind of binning SG then there’s no way he should have been backed and allowed to bring in so many players in the January.

it left us with several, some of whom were and still are big earners (Thorniley apparently being one) who the current manager didn’t want.

When a new regime starts it’s reasonable to expect there to be some who will become deadwood, but not quite so many who are quite so new at the club 👍🏻
 
Insider said:
Now here's a novel thought.
The Manager signs a player in the summer who is the best available at the time.
6 months later a better player becomes available at a price we can now afford in the same position.
So do we want to move forward or just be faithful to the summer signing?
I think I now the answer and so does Critchy.
The whole set up at BFC right from the top with Simon Sadler all the way the through the stucture is work in progress and everybody is learning to do their jobs a little bit better everyday.
I happen to believe we are heading in the right direction
Click to expand...
But Robson and Stewart were available in the summer they were both unattached

We started the season with Ward, Robson and Keshi Anderson in a midfield 3 with an inexperienced Expiteta and a right back in Nottingham as our centre halves

In anybodies book that just wasn't going to be strong enough for this league as our early season form proved

On numerous occasions Critchley defended our lack of experience in the middle, fast forward 6 months and its all change

There is no getting away from it we started the season under prepared for this level

I'm all for improving the squad but don't try and dress it up than anything else but Critchley completely changing his mind and philosophy on his team, tactics and style of play
 
It seems like you lot are getting excited about a bit of speculation , it happens , that is the nature of the game !
 
Insider said:
Now here's a novel thought.
The Manager signs a player in the summer who is the best available at the time.
6 months later a better player becomes available at a price we can now afford in the same position.
So do we want to move forward or just be faithful to the summer signing?
I think I now the answer and so does Critchy.
The whole set up at BFC right from the top with Simon Sadler all the way the through the stucture is work in progress and everybody is learning to do their jobs a little bit better everyday.
I happen to believe we are heading in the right direction
Click to expand...
I don't get this buy better 6 months later. Essentially you are paying 2 wages for 1 player. Why not pay 1.5 wages in the summer?

Recruitment smacked of signing numbers who are 'on paper' players, for seemingly no real defined position. There was no plan.

You can't carry on like that. Hopefully it's changed, but I'm not convinced.

What is it, 18 players signed, and how many of the previous squad are in the first team?
 
I think everyone must be bored shitless to go on and on about the same point, 'mistakes' were made. Stewart has just become available, we signed him the coach thinks he is an upgrade and Robson goes as we have to balance the squad and the books, we may have taken a couple in at the death to cover the squad and to have a look see, we have done that and now move them on. Hopefully over the next few windows it's 2 or 3 in and out if that as we get to be a settled squad.
 
Phil_bfc deux said:
But Robson and Stewart were available in the summer they were both unattached

We started the season with Ward, Robson and Keshi Anderson in a midfield 3 with an inexperienced Expiteta and a right back in Nottingham as our centre halves

In anybodies book that just wasn't going to be strong enough for this league as our early season form proved

On numerous occasions Critchley defended our lack of experience in the middle, fast forward 6 months and its all change

There is no getting away from it we started the season under prepared for this level

I'm all for improving the squad but don't try and dress it up than anything else but Critchley completely changing his mind and philosophy on his team, tactics and style of play
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I'm sure it was reported that Stewart wanted a Championship club as I think Dougall did.
Not sure what you mean about Robson of course he was available, we signed him.
Perhaps you actually meant Dougall. Maybe Cirtchy made a similar typo when giving Mansford his shopping list.
 
fcblackpool said:
I don't get this buy better 6 months later. Essentially you are paying 2 wages for 1 player. Why not pay 1.5 wages in the summer?

Recruitment smacked of signing numbers who are 'on paper' players, for seemingly no real defined position. There was no plan.

You can't carry on like that. Hopefully it's changed, but I'm not convinced.

What is it, 18 players signed, and how many of the previous squad are in the first team?
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My point is perhaps the better players weren't available. When they are, if you want to improve, you go get 'em.
 
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