Summer 26/27 Transfer Rumours

Depends on budgets i think. We had the 11th biggest budget this season i think Sparks said in the fans forum, if it's similar to that then maybe we can still have a threat.

I guess he will want a Champ club, but i'd go for Lewis Baker from Stoke. Just released after an injury hit season but whenever i've seen them on TV he looks like he had top quality still and his set pieces have been a known weapon for a while. Whether he drops to L1 is another matter, but apparently he lives near Manchester. Think he is a southerner, maybe wants to drop down south, can see a Luton type throwing money at him.

New keeper is a must, it's probably just a mental thing for me but i swear Walker is beaten by his first shot on target far too often. I think Peacock-Farrell could well be chased by a few. On Blackpool, dogs fans think they are bringing in Ashley Fletcher.

 

Don't want to slate Walker too much since overall he's been great for us in League 2 and at times this season but he did seem to drop off in the run in. Ideally we could bring someone in to challenge for number 1 at least.

 

In order for a back 5 to work your wingbacks are expected to provide an attacking threat and do the bulk of the creating. Part of the reason we were so good early on in the season is that Touray was effective going forward and Neufville was also able to use his pace to stretch teams and get balls into the box. Now that Touray has reverted to the player Stockport told us about (solid defensively but limited going forward) and Neufville’s form has dropped off a cliff we lack that creative spark and it showed not just over the two legs with Bolton, but at various points throughout the season.

Right and left wing-back are two positions we should look to upgrade this summer if we are serious about promotion. Either that or revert to a back 4

 

Like others have said,we aren’t the unknown quantity next season.
We’ve definitely been found out a bit in the second half of the season.
Quality rather than quantity (January) is needed to make the little bit of difference when a game is level.

Quality costs though.

 

I don't think it's much to do with the players (although I do agree about Touray). Our primary route of progressing the ball to the wing backs is the Baldwin long ball which has been found out and countered since about October. It's on the coaching staff that we haven’t found another way to get Neufville/Touray/Wright on the ball in the final third.

 

Peacok-Farrell's career only seems to be going downwards with a lot of errors creeping into his game.
Fletcher was mentioned in January but I'm not sold on him. A lot of fans at his old clubs have accused him of being lazy and that's the type of player we can't have. The last 1.5 seasons he's finally started scoring but a lot of them goals have come in a phase. This season he had a 3 month spell getting 11 goals then from the end of January to the end of the season he got 3 goals, similarly in the first 10 games he got 1 goal. When we've already got Humphrys we don't need another forward like that who is all or nothing

 

Think it’s a mixture of both.

Even when Touray and Neufville find themselves in decent attacking positions they don’t do a lot with it. An on-form Tyreik Wright has fared far better than either from an attacking viewpoint in the exact same setup, although I take your point on the coaching.

We don’t get our attacking players involved anywhere near as much as we should do and have looked one-dimensional throughout various stages of the season, especially away from home. Yesterday’s game plan in particular was to lump the ball up front and hope for the best. Awful to watch.

 

Does anyone else think that if Powell really wants to play and we can keep him fit then he's a potential keep and a starter? He's very strong in the air, hugely intelligent and has a great record playing as striker.

Probably lacks a bit of pace but as a focal point, if he's enjoying his football, I think he could be a great option and certainly be more effective than Humphrys has been. It ahar964 allows Jackson to maybe move wider or into the 10s.

Oh, and don't reply with "the press". We haven't pressed a team for over 6 months now and given we've been going longer someone that can actually get on the end of something to keep the ball up there is a must.

 

I've a feeling he'd want huge money and I'm not sure he be worth it. Obviously it's only a small sample size but when I've seen him he's very Humphrys-esque in that he doesn't really want to have to battle and wins very little in the air given his size. Perhaps it's his style but he just looks very disinterested and lazy when it's not going his way.

I'm happy to trust GA in the players he wants though so if he does sign then I'm all for it and like I say, it's only my own opinion from just a couple of times seeing him. He may actually have been the best player on the pitch in every other game.

 

We've been asking the three aforementioned players to create everything for most of the season, which is a bit unfair when none of them are really out and out wingers.

 

What about “the press”?

 

Possibly and I can't argue with the stats but he does have the extra quality we need and presumably he's also affordable.

 

Abdul Abdulmalik, pacy, direct and scores goals. Also, has a quality name.

 

Neufville's form has gone downhill as the season progressed,I wonder if there is a problem there,maybe he has not settled in the area,something is not right.