This highlights my thoughts posted previous how strong our squad is this year.Squad strength will be more important than ever in this condensed season.

DTS will be gone to accommodate nowhere near the level required and not really a viable backup. If there is any chance to sign Clarke I would sacrifice a midfield replacement for him and consider Monty as LW/RW/AM backup.

 

If we are serious about getting out of this league we need to replace Browne. He was decent backup if nothing else and our squad has now just got that little bit less strong than it was. Theres no rush to bring in someone so Askey can take his time if need be to find the right guy. But to think a kid with no experience at this level can replace Browne is naive at best.

13 minutes ago, TylerB said:

 

If we are serious about getting out of this league we need to replace Browne. He was decent backup if nothing else and our squad has now just got that little bit less strong than it was. Theres no rush to bring in someone so Askey can take his time if need be to find the right guy. But to think a kid with no experience at this level can replace Browne is naive at best.

Plenty of kids with no experience have done well. Jake Taylor for one last season.

I take the point that a proven player would be less risk but the manager clearly has faith in the likes of Hurst and he's going to know best whether this is the time - after all, he has surely been brought in to step up at some time. You have to take a risk on giving someone a chance sometime or you may as well completely fill your squad with experienced thirty somethings...

You can get some cracking players on loan. More so in those more technical positions as well. 

1 hour ago, robf said:

I personally don't think Askey did know till recently and it had no bearing on the Fitzpatrick signing which was done to add competition/cover at LB (which was sensible as Monty is currently injured).

I don't think Fitzpatrick was signed in the knowledge that Browne would go but because we have built up a versatile squad, we can cope with shock departures because we have cover in many positions. As Fitzpatrick can play at LB, we can move Monty forward onto the flank.

As for Clark - I don't think it works like Football Manager where we can simply get any player we want when we want. 😉  What if enquiries had been made about Clark but Leicester didn't want him to go to League Two again or wanted to wait to see if other clubs made enquiries?

The problem with bringing in loan players like Clark and Taylor is the wages.  I suspect both of them would be on considerably more money than the average Vale player and I doubt higher division clubs would be prepared to subsidise wages in the current climate.  Would signing either of those two keep us within the wage cap?  I doubt it.

2 hours ago, tisdeano said:

Askey certainly doesn’t mess around

Is this insinuating that another signing is already lined up?

58 minutes ago, The Kalamazoo Kid said:

Is this insinuating that another signing is already lined up?

 

if there is another signing hoe it is osadabe that would put us on the front foot in this league.

 
if there is another signing hoe it is osadabe that would put us on the front foot in this league.

I have seen his play and he would be an amazing addition

52 minutes ago, hamilboy said:

 

if there is another signing hoe it is osadabe that would put us on the front foot in this league.

Osadebe would be a class signing. 

I would love Clark to re-sign, however when I found out how much we were paying him in January, it nearly made bad.[emoji15]

Clark is quality, but he is only a leftback.

If we were going to spend that proportion of the budget on one player, I would prefer to invest in a player who could change a game.

2 hours ago, valiant_593 said:

You can get some cracking players on loan. More so in those more technical positions as well. 

All loan players count as over 21 regardless of age. It's then down to the percentage of the salary the parent club insist on being paid. I think a lot more young players from higher leagues will go to clubs in Europe this year as league one and two clubs will be limited in terms of their contribution. We paid Leicester a lot of money to borrow Clark.

I’m not saying we should be blowing 2k a week on a full back but we have got full backs who can change a game in monty and gibbo. Plus Clark showed it when he came back last season too. Gibbo must be in double figures throughout his vale career for assists, Monty must be too and he was scoring goals as well (til last season too). 

We have a strict budget and squad now so I doubt there is any way we'd want yet another full back added to the 4 already here (Gibbons, Monty, Fitzpatrick, Mills). Even Crookes at a push. And Oyeleke. Other priorities beckon.

Browne will get replaced and the only remaining question mark, I guess, hangs over Oyeleke's fitness. We need, in my view, another combative midfielder just like he is. But if he's not fully fit for ages then what do we do? I see we're hopeful he'll be back in the week but we've told that a few times and it's now desperately important that he gets match fit asap. How many games has he played? It's a source of anxiety for me. We can't carry anyone.

So, all I'm expecting is a replacement in some shape or form for Browne and some considered thought as to whether or not Oyeleke is going to be available regularly.

If think If we get a quality replacement winger (like Rowe or Osadebe for example) then I wouldn’t be too concerned by the midfield ‘gap’ as personally I think Worrall could play the left of a midfield three.

Is this insinuating that another signing is already lined up?

Not at all, it’s insinuating Askey won’t hang around if players don’t want be here