Summer 2022 - Transfer Talk

I'm not the naive one here. You really think posting a photo of a player entering a ground is suddenly going to alert the presence of another club? Give over. The players agent will have spent weeks throwing his clients name to every possible contact in the country and abroad with the intention of brokering a deal. If it's really that top secret then I suggest a trip to the joke shop for the client some comedy glasses and a false nose and moustache. Or do a deal far away as possible from a public space where taking photos is not a crime.

 

I respect your view Dave but I wouldn't be bothered to see him go.

 

Here’s the linked Sparks article that says similar

RYAN Sparks is confident City will not be caught short with their recruitment after the problems that came back to bite them last season.

The Bantams have been one of the heaviest shoppers in the summer window after making 12 additions.

Optimism among fans has rocketed - with over 14,000 season-ticket sales for the first full campaign under Mark Hughes.

Chief executive Sparks believes plenty of progress has been made in bolstering a squad that he feels will have the depth to cope.



That proved a big issue last year when lengthy injuries to the likes of Lee Angol and Abo Eisa at the start of the season left resources stretched.

Sparks said: “We certainly don’t want to be in a position where lightning could strike twice. You take what we learned from last season and where we came up short.

“Last summer, certainly towards the end of the window, we seemed to stop giving ourselves a chance.

“If you look back at those early games against (Nottingham) Forest, Stevenage and Mansfield, where we did really well, we had lots of quality on the pitch.

“When we lost that through injury or whatever, we didn’t have that second layer to come into the team. We’ve got to be stronger than that.

“We’re trying to build a team now with those layers of quality that can compete consistently.

“We’re hoping to ensure we have created that depth and upgraded the players that we’ve parted company with.”

Hughes has admitted that his summer plans are further advanced than he had anticipated with so many of the signings already on board for a full pre-season.

The window runs until August 31 – a full month into League Two action – and City are likely to go the distance with it. But Sparks insists there will be no late panic buys.

“We’re certainly making good progress,” he added. “There’s still a bit of work to do but there’s quite a lot of time left until the end of the window.

“What we don’t want to be doing is simply signing players in key areas late in the window.

“We want to be able to look at those latter weeks and fine-tune areas we think we need to, whether it be ins or outs.

“It goes without saying the core of the squad is very close to being built and we’re very pleased with what we’ve done so far.

“We knew we needed to upgrade a number of areas in the squad and add more quality.

“That was a conversation I had when I first met (head of recruitment) Stephen Gent. That’s what we were looking for.

Centre half Matty Platt is one of the 12 signings this summer

“Stephen came in and has worked very well alongside us with Mark and Glyn (Hodges). The four of us speak regularly and we’ve all played as much as a part as we can in building a squad and we’ll continue to do that.

“It’s been a good window so far for us but we’re not finished yet.”

With the current size of the squad, Hughes expects some players to look to move on. The likes of Fiacre Kelleher and Oscar Threlkeld, both currently training in the camp in Spain, could be heading elsewhere.

Sparks said: “Undoubtedly there will be movement in the squad, that’s just natural.

“The squad is quite big at the moment and we need to trim it slightly.

“We’ve got to be ready by July 30 and we’ll use pre-season to have a look at how things are shaping up and what the guys we’ve added to the squad are looking like.



“Even the people who played very little football last season, such as Abo Eisa.

“He was a big signing for us last summer and, unfortunately, he wasn’t able to feature. Now he very much will be.

“We’ve got plenty of options in the positions. We want to have good versatility in the squad, that was a discussion we had right at the start about how we wanted to build.

“We’ve planned the window and looked at the targets we have very early and we’ve just tried to make sure we’ve been able to bring as many of those over the line as possible.”

Supporters have shown what they think of the Hughes effect by snapping up season-tickets in their droves. Sparks acknowledged that has made an impact on the manager’s playing budget.

“The season-ticket sales generated over the course of the last 10-11 weeks have been a difference.

“Certain new sponsors coming on board as a result of recent happenings have also helped.

“It’s a collective effort. Everybody who supports Bradford City is responsible for the summer that we’ve had so far.

“But we’re all very mindful that we have to do it on the grass. That’s where the proof will be.

“You’ve got to give yourself the best chance of doing that.”

 

According to the Gills fans, he got no service so I wouldn’t assume that. Anyway even though they’re strikers I imagine Hughes and Gent will look at more than just goal return. As you say strikers do miss chances at all levels, it’s important to factor in other things though such as hold up play, physicality and mobility. I can’t comment on Oliver as I’ve not seen him play, but I do feel Cook is a goal threat but lacks in the other departments. It maybe a case of Hughes feels he can get more out of Cook and the other strikers with someone like Oliver, I don’t know. Or he maybe a replacement for Cook, either way I’m willing to put my trust in Hughes and Gent to make the right call.

 

Well Oliver has 92 goals in 410 games; Cook has 192 in 552. But that’s splitting hairs, they’re both good records.

Let’s just have them both!

 

I believe there were reason for that, Hughes wanted to give everyone a crack which he did, and the Andy Cook that returned after injury didn't look the same player as prior to his injury.
The players the club have brought in look positive no doubt, but none have the scoring statistics Andy Cook has.

 

Cook was one of our most consistent performers in the first part of the season. Then, like the entire rest of the team under Adams, under-performed to say the least. Theres no way i'd be looking to show Cook the door, especially until i've seen what the replacements are capable of. Letting the teams top scorer leave would be madness.

 

Wouldn't be the first time...

 

Scoring goals for the club I'm O/K with that.

 

I don’t think if Oliver comes in it means cooks leaving, with the 5 sub rule this season think we will see a lot more rotation, I also think young plays more wide than through the middle so that leaves us 4 with angol also been able to play wide too

 

I'd hope the situation is the same as when Hughes came last season show me what you can do and you'll get your chance.
I agree at 31, 32 in October Cook will want to be playing football and not a bit player I also accept Hughes can't guarentee him that so if he's not a starter and the window is closed I could see him wanting away come January then again if as you say he's being brought on for the last 20 minutes or so and producing/scoring why would Hughes not start him, a lot of twists and turns before we entertain Doncaster after a few pre-season games we'll see the way Hughes wants the team to line up.

 

Got it. Thanks @king karl . And yes I have a Samsung phone!

 

Similar haircut too.

 

Whether Cook remains a city player or not, I don't think it's going to come down to the club showing him the door, but more about whether Cook gets a decent offer to go elsewhere or not. If that doesn't happen then he will definitely be staying and he will have to accept that he probably isn't going to be starting as many games as he did last season. However, if he gets a decent offer to go elsewhere and be that club's main front man, I just don't see him turning that down.

 

even if Oliver comes in, we won’t be automatically selling Cook. It is very likely we could play a fair share of our games with 2 up top. With Oliver, we would have 5 who can play in those positions. Young is still relatively inexperienced and Angol has his injury troubles. It makes sense to have 5 strikers on the book

As for outgoings, I can imagine that is mainly in reference to Threlkeld, Kelleher an Staunton. Wouldn’t be surprised either way if FCD is also sent on loan or kept as a backup

 

There's nothing to suggest we're going to play two up top. We might find out a bit more at 3pm but I cannot see MH wanting a possession based game and then leaving us short in Midfield.

 

IF he comes in and IF he's better.

Seems a daft debate until there's been time to see if both are true.

 

I wouldn't say first name on the team sheet. I think he'll get a run for his money from Harratt. Young lad but also highly capable, wants to get in the team to show what he can do. Cook will have to be on top of his game to keep him out.

 

I’d say cook is a top earner. If he goes and frees up a salary for an improvement, then it’s good business.

 

Why would we ship out defenders if we have too many attackers? Lol