Summer 2025 transfer rumours

Port Vale fans seem to think he is going there. Was a Cole return mentioned before or after we brought in Swan?

 

Mpanza (released by Luton) who someone linked us with has signed for Cambridge

 

Alexander doesn't like giving youth a chance so you're probably right. Best thing Ibbitson should do is go out on loan. Even in the pizza cup he tends to go with a fairly strong set up. It'll be interesting to see when Metcalf gets his chance, but I'm not expecting it to be in the first 4 or 5 matches.

 

Might be sooner than we think? I thought I’d read he’s done a full preseason so could feature as soon as tomorrow with a 45 min cameo?

 

I'm just relating it to how long Bobby had to wait for his opportunity. GA seems loyal to his players and won't be putting this lad in without going with the older lads first. Had this been a loan it might have been different, but being our player he won't be under any pressure to put him in.

 

Maybe , however he’s not a raw inexperienced lad as Bobby was during his intro especially after playing with Chesterfield for 3/4 of a season . It could go either way tbf.?

 

I doubt we've paid a fee and given him a 3 year deal to have him sitting on the bench. Might be fighting it out with Leigh, another one we've paid a fee for recently.

 

Yes. Younger players got to gain that trust with GA. Bobby waited a wee while and took his chance, frustrating at times as we were shit and Bobby wasnt even seeing the grass.

Metcalfe gets in the 18 against Wycombe perhaps but if not then definately Blackburn you would expect.

 

Some Chesterfield and Notts Co fans seem to think they are both chasing Barry Bannan. Surely he is still too good for league 2, wouldn't mind him here if he fancied league 1 though!

 

Wages will be a massive issue for anyone below the championship IMO

 

How many dreamed of Josh Windass , Nahki Wells etc on here , although less fanciful than Bannon dropping to L2 tbf.

 

I'm fairly confident that most managers stick the XI in that they feel gives them the best opportunity to win games. If Metcalfe shows that he has more to offer in training than the others then he'll get a start.

 

Nobody disputing that - its more when a young player comes onto the scene/signs up. There tends to be a bedding in period.

 

Aye, the bedding in period is not an arbitrary 'trust building' rite of passage though, it's because the manager doesn't feel the player is good enough or developed enough to be the best player for that position. We'll wait and see on Metcalfe but I'm sure if he impresses in training he'll be straight into the starting XI.

 

I don't think Alexander is pro and against young players any more than most managers. Last season he was more than happy to trust Kavanagh with leading the line for the 2nd half of the season.
I think fans get carried away with young players especially from the academy and think they are better than they really are. With Pointon last season until we changed to the 343 there wasn't a natural position for him in the team and he was doing better off the bench than starting, his goal against Bromley was his first goal of the season when starting a game. Like all young players they will be more inconsistent and have a lot more to learn than the older players which is why they get trusted more especially if you are chasing promotion like we were. Early on under Alexander there were a few goals we conceded through Pointon overplaying in our defensive 3rd which I'm sure will have been worked on.
Unless we are looking at Ibbitson as a cheap player and keeping him on the off chance he improves a lot I can't really see why we've kept him, he didn't seem to do a lot in either of his loan spells at Kidderminster or Guiseley last season

 

Agree , if a player is good enough and improves what we have then he plays . It may be a cause for concern for some of the older , more established players, but so be it. Increased competition drives up standards without a doubt.

 

I was definitely guilty of this. I thought he'd be a top end championship player by now when I first saw him. Got completely carried away. I still rate him but definitely had to rein in my assessment of him.

 

Ibbotson , no matter how many times he’s suggested , isn’t the answer this season . If he’s not making an impression in non league how can we expect him to flourish in L1 ? At the moment it’s for the birds tbh.

 

Has anyone suggested Ibbitson? I don't know anything about him tbf.

 

He looked out of shape on Wed … There may be a reason , perhaps his foot problem, but for me he wasn’t involved enough and when he was , other than one shot from the left their keeper parried, he made little impact . In fact I was disappointed with him.