Summer 2025 transfer rumours

Yeah it's really annoying to see. I like Tommy Leigh and thought his second half was unreal last saturday compared to his first half, but he is the main culprit so far. His pass accuracy so far this season is 59%, which puts him in the bottom 5% of all midfielders in L1. It's a new team really, still kinda getting to grasp with each other and hopefully it comes. But as you say, I would like us to use the simple pass or even shift it backwards to keep it a little longer, rather than aimless boots down the channel.

 

On paper , and time will tell, a very astute signing . In his last year of a deal so a good season at VP , could pay off. Add to that Kelly is also on his last year , then a perfect replacement with a skill set at least a division higher.

 

Do you think so? The remit is to get the ball up the field as fast as you can. They are bound to make mistakes as they have to think fast and act on it. How can it be rectified?

 

Can we imagine Kelly playing in those two alternative roles? On second thoughts ……

 

I have to agree in reality. Nobody likes poor ball control but if the press is our mojo and to do it we get it forward quickly then……..It’s working so far!

 

I reckon Kelly leaves in Jan. It's obvious we have Tilt as the LCB and then McIntyre will be the back up now. I don't see Kelly getting much time outside of the cups unless there's an injury?

Maybe a good time to go back to Ireland in Jan compared to August/September as their leagues run from Feb to Oct from memory? So if someone goes over there now, they might take a few weeks to get up to speed and then there's only a handful of matches left. But if you go in Jan, it's pre-season for them so kinda suits.

 

It's not the ball down field that concerns me, it's it's the centre of the park where we need to be tight with the ball. Again not a massive issue but could prove costly against the better sides, the first half against Stockport a case in point.

 

I agree. As we (hopefully) develop into a better League 1 side thats truly able to dominate games through ability and not just intensity, I think the big requirements are a technically gifted midfielder in the Cullen/Norwood mould, and a couple of Centre Backs who are more comfortable in possession. and Probably a really top drawer 10, like Diamond. Not a million miles away, its a case of 3-4 fringe players being replaced by 3-4 top quality players. But that's probably an extra £1m into the budget every year.

 

I agree. Every game they are learning even on the ones that we win. I am patient, and we may have to wait for another two windows to get the skilful players in who can retain the ball in midfield.

 

Small baby steps as they say. Doing it on one window will cost more than we can afford . This windows recruitment has seen some great business , no silly long term deals for older players .

Honestly 9/10 for me aaaaaaand we have moved on the “three”. Some won’t admit it but it is again an “investment “ indirectly .

 

I presume that was a gift from Rupp….

 

He will have sanctioned the spend for sure. Increased crowds already , and the brilliant cup draw will pay for it?

 

Still early days bud would be worried if it was happening in a month or twos time

 

Just a natural thing if you want to progress. It comes with money, but look at your Stockport, Orient, Mansfield type clubs that have come up and stayed. They give the L2 lads a chance but they all get replaced within 12/18 months and there's an improved batch. We will be no different next summer with a fair amount out of contract as well as a fair amount over 31/32 who might naturally have to drop to be back ups.

 

Tbf theres a very real world where to start the 26/27 season, that entire L2 team is moved on from. Of the survivors from that day we have Walker, Kelly, Byrne, Pattison, Halliday, Pointon, Sarcevic, Kavanagh, T Wright, Lapslie & Leigh.

Walker looks like the most probable to be here but he will be turning 34 soon and we dont know what we have yet in Hilton. I'd be amazed if Kelly is still here, Byrne too given he was in and out in L2 and we've signed a 4 ahead of him. Halliday and Sarcevic might well see new recruits drop them down the order and they might want a new home, Sarce will be 34 & Halliday will be 31 to start next season, they might want another contract as a starter somewhere. Lapslie & Wright in a similar boat. Pattison, Leigh and Kav are three i cant pick either way. If they are squad players then all 3 might want a new scene, if they break out and take to L1 without trouble then we are golden.

But as we have shown so far, even the successful players we move on from we have recruited well to replace (so far), long may it continue.

 

I think we're a team who will always struggle in this system to maintain posession in midfield and have high passing/posession stats from there.

Fundamentally we play a two man midfield and not just a two but often a two man diamond, with one of Leigh/Power screening the back 3 while the other one leads the press alongside the front 3.

I thought it was a bit mental/ballsy when I first saw us set up with it but its clearly deliberate and it's looking really effective for a team that looks to press high and aggressively, win the ball back & use fast turnovers to turn the opposition around with passes into space/channels and make use of overloads in wide areas with high wingbacks and two wide 10's that move infield as required.

We've even seen Curtis Tilt maraude forward to provide an extra body there, similarly to how Chris Wilder set up Sheffield United.

But as we've seen a few times already this season, we're susceptible to losing the midfield battle, especially against a 3 man midfield and teams that pass it around in midfield. And it'll be our undoing in some games I'm sure but so far its working so we'll see how it goes.

Thats my boring take on us anyway.

 

Spot on .

 

I’m surprised we gave him another deal in all honesty. His injury record has stalled his progress, and he’s not at the level he needs to be. His distribution and positioning are league 2 level for me and throwing him on at the end of matches, without this basic level of understanding will only cause issues as we’ve seen, although I’m not laying all the blame at his door. Can’t fault his commitment and as a basic defender he’s not all bad, it’s just we need more against a better level of attacker. As we saw, Joe Wright struggled against a clever attacker in Stevens. Having strength will only get you so far.

 

Fair point about losing the midfield , I said it myself that two ain’t enough in some fixtures, in fact I said it last week. The main thing is we arnt losing GAMES which is what it’s all about .,

GA twice now has seen the big issue and dealt with it by changing the formation …..Stockport away at half time and Dons a little bit later. Both were followed by three points instead of nil!