Harry Lewis

Lol!

 

I said the kid isnt highly rated. The fact is if he was he wouldnt be in L2.

He might be highly rated by MH though and thats his opinion.

I bet you trust Derek Adams with the shite he signed too....

 

Im waiting to see

 

Or Brad Jones.

Unfortunately being a top end reserve keeper means very little. It's nothing like signing a top end reserve outfield player.

 

Not a chance

 

England U18 International as well

https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/20143143.southampton-goalkeeper-completes-transfer-bradford-city/

 

Ken Mulhearn eh? Jeez I’m old.

 

I was waiting for the normal we beat other clubs to sign him, and never say who.

 

At 6' 4" you'd hope that he'd be less of a Dracula than ROD. I think the lower down the pyramid you go, the more commanding the keeper has to be. Probably because set plays are more integral to creating goal scoring opportunities than higher up the leagues.

Watching those canine canoodling near neighbours on the TV earlier. The commentator mentioned that they hadn't paid a transfer fee for a single player this season. And I'm lead to believe that not even the promise of a night on the town with one of Kirklees better looking Alsatians was deployed as a sweetener in contract negotiations. I'd hope that Hughes is going to approach things in a similar fashion. Pick up higher quality but out of contract players and spend the money on their wages.

One of my fears with Sparky was that he's never sunk this low in his managerial career before and the attritional nature of the football in this league possibly takes some acclimation. But if he can draw on his wealth of experience and unearth players that can prosper under his tutelage. Then he might have half a chance of building something in the longer term.

 

I keep reading stories headlined something like "Bantams swoop to snap up...." etc.

Makes us sound more like pterodactyls than bantams.

 

Having seen the tune Hughes got from the shambles of a squad left behind by Adams, I've no concern about his ability to build a squad capable of getting us up next season. He quickly identified the wheat from the chaff and used a lower number of players from the available squad on a regular basis. Some never featured and some only once.

I'd also add that the form we showed at the end, probably had us on a trajectory toward top six had he joined the club in December.

 

Hughes ,I think, was saying recently that 2 years was the norm in L1/2 nowadays , something he said he wasn’t used to. Maybe this “ extra” year is insurance to protect the club…I like it and it stops players walking off for nothing….which could happen to three of ours who we wish to keep! ( Watt/ Vernam/Paudie)?

 

Hang on though ….The “paying a fee” for a player could be very misleading.

Example . Player X goes to Salford on a free because he’s a free agent out of contract. How to Salford entice him above other clubs….by paying him a mahoosive signing on fee..

They need to be more precise with this “ fee” malarkey. They won’t I know.

 

Likewise, I remember him playing against us for Stockport, not sure where else he played besides Man C but seem to remember him at Shrews for a while.

 

I dont think there's any way they can in the UK, that undisclosed stuff clubs love these days. Signing on fees are usually in the personal terms of a contract i believe. But i remember listening to some podcasts around the covid era and the salary cap terms, and that mahoosive signing fee was an idea pitched.

I think it was a Gary Neville one but Sparks mentioned something similar about caps on his first appearance on the posh podcast, but the pitch from the EFL was going to be a copy of the NFL salary cap. But anyone who follows the sport knows the NFL salary cap is a joke, so glad that idea was shot down. It's far too easily manipulated because the cap only includes players yearly salary, it doesn't include contract bonuses or signing fees so teams just alter the contract terms.

Over there say a team has a 20 million cap, Player X signs for 1 million a year, but they'll adjust the contract so his signing bonus is 950K, and his contract is 50K a year, so against the cap he only counts as a 50K player, rather than 1 million. That was the original pitch from the EFL to clubs and it was shot down instantly as like you say above, teams like Salford could offer the same deal as a Crawley, but offer 4 or 5 times the signing fee. It would have just created a situation, where contracts and transfer fees meant nothing outside the championship.

 

Totally agree and strengthens my point that clubs promoting the idea they haven’t paid a fee for a player is bull.

 

Not very optimistic about this one. I think it sounds better than it actually is.

He hasn't played any senior matches in 5 seasons, and even then it was in the Scottish Championship which is pretty much League 2/National League standard (lower level than what Jamie Walker, Anthony o'Connor etc were playing in before they came to us)

 

Maybe he's not going to be our #1? OD is leaving and Bass has gone back.

 

Do you think Southampton would have kept him for another 5 seasons if he wasn't half decent , like someone else stated can you see any of our last few keepers been Southampton third choice.
.

 

I think he probably is. I doubt he'd have moved half way up the country to a league 2 club without some assurance of regular game time. Having said that, wasn't there a rumour a week or two ago about the Middlesbrough keeper that's been on loan at Kilmarnock coming in? Although that could just have been someone putting 2 and 2 together and coming up with 5 after Gent joined the club.