January transfer window

Middlesbrough did just that with the lad Olusanya.

Exactly the same.

 

There are 4 (minimum) games still to play in January 12 points !!!
We should have identified players by now and had them ready to sign contracts by the 2nd latest
Leaving it till the end of Jan could mean the difference between a play off spot or not
There seems no urgency at the club to rescue the season
Come on Mr Adams your reputation for getting teams with zero budgets promoted has already slipped and you got what you wanted with your own scouting team
Time to prove your bluster

 

And didn’t Hannah come with a significantly better reputation than Hanson?

 

Yep, I also remember Chib Chilaka.

I think as a general rule if you sign a player from that level they need something more than just technical ability. Power, like Hanson, speed, like Vardy, where Hannah and Chib had none of these.

Hopefully this Darlo lad has those attributes or proves me wrong!

 

Initially, shouldn't players from the non league pyramid be viewed as players brought in to compliment the main squad, with a view to developing and breaking into the first team?

Good players will make the upgrade. Great players will break into the first team quickly. As such, I feel it is a risk bringing NL players, with potentially, a view to throwing them "straight" into the first team.

If we lose Cooke and Watt, as rumoured, I would be greatly concerned if replacements are from below were we as club, we ply our trade now.

 

According to the 72, Blackpool are also interested. Be a nice easy commute for him if true.

 

It would be sensible to take the jump up in competition into account, and possibly the jump from semi pro to pro.

Relying on them without seeing them at at this level would be a big gamble.

 

That would be the sensible option both from the player and club aspect.

The move up from NL also provides a test of character. Possibly going full time, fitness, change of schedules, new expectations /pressures. Playing in front of a few hindred/thousands to 5 figure crowds.

Whilst it's a vague conclusion, Danny Rowe stepped up from NL but is soon back there, despite some obvious qualities, from a playing point of view. Character (or whatever you label) was called into question?

 

He’d scored 52 goals for Matlock the previous season and 90 in 3 seasons all together.
Looked lost with us and then when he left scored fairly regularly for Grimsby and Chester at non-league level.
So maybe he just couldn’t hack it at pro level.
He wouldn’t be the first to find the step up a little bit too much.

 

I’m happy to shop in NL as long as the players are scouted correctly and show attributes needed to make the step up, like the lad I wanted us to sign from Boreham Wood 18 months ago. It only took 2 fa cup games I saw to see he had power, a bit of pace and an eye for goal but either our scouts were blind or the club unwilling to pay money unlike Chesterfield.

There is talent down there, it’s identifying the right ones and being willing to pay because non league teams aren’t daft, they’ll still make you pay the going rate when they know they have someone to good for NL.

Regarding Ross Hannah it’s important to remember he played below the national league levels. I don’t believe for a second we actually scouted him, we most likely saw his high scoring numbers at more or less Sunday league level and jumped straight in. Hopefully if we sign players from NL there will be a bit more due diligence than that!

 

Indeed, you could even argue one such player just recently departed for non league as well...

 

There was a kid at Guiseley cannot recall his name now watched him against BPA forward player who held the ball up well apparently Everton and a few other clubs are sniffing around him ............ and Adams was at the said game only 19 I think maybe another Hanson in the making ????

The kids name is Josh Stones

 

The Boreham wood chairman described the fee Chesterfield paid for Tshimanga as “amazing” so I think that pretty much ruled us out.
His stats at Chesterfield are very impressive and their recent game away at top of the league Grimsby where he apparently copped for some pretty relentless abuse from the home fans but had one chance and scored the winner with 10 minutes left shows they made the correct decision to spend that fee.
I agree about Hannah. It seemed at the time we only signed him to stop others signing him rather than it being based on any in depth scouting report.

 

Didn't we make similar comments about Crankshaw's fee, which is supposedly around 65k?

 

No chance. Championship or top end L1 at least next term.

We missed the boat there. In the form he showing we would be turning draws into wins.

 

It could well be. I pretty much meant it ruled us out as it was “a fee”.No doubt the Boreham wood chairman was saying the right things to appease his own supporters due to them losing their main asset.
Time will tell but at least one of Chesterfield,Wrexham or Stockport is going to miss out this season.They’ve all invested heavily in strikers(Tshimanga,Mullin,Madden) and it shows that with a bit of investment then the results can be had.
I suspect the dreaded “i” word may be missing from our January transfer window activity.