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Summer transfer targets/rumours, retained list etc


werstayinup

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Whilst we did well against sides from the league above this season I think it is a push to look at what were effectively reserve team fixtures against Bolton and Rotherham, Burton who dominated us for all bit the last 10 minutes and Sunderland who fielded a weakened team and beat us and read much into it. Granted we were outstanding against Accrington.

Lets hope we can do well next season but to use those games as proof the current squad with little or no improvement next season would do well is foolish at best. The current squad may well be able to hold their own but there certainly isn't currently any evidence to either support or counter that argument.

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The team and squad have done an unbelievable job in getting promoted this season. A huge congratulations to all those involved. We do need to strengthen though over the summer in order to kick on again. Putting the be emotion of Saturday to one side, Stone has performed brilliantly towards the back end of the season, but is he ready to be an established league one keeper? Are Harratt and Edmondson going to come back and score more goals than they did last season in League one if Wilson and Proctor are out injured? Only time will tell.

Port Vale are now an attractive proposition for potential new signings as we now clearly look after players and hopefully we can attract some quality signings that will enable us to be competitive in League one. 

Tying down the likes of Crosby, Wilson, Smith and Gibbons to long term contracts is essential for next season. UTV. 

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7 hours ago, Guitar Ray said:

Whatever you wish to believe the overall performance levels of your average player are higher as you move up the pyramid.

Absolutely, on average L1>L2, not disagreeing at all, just saying that the idea that there is a gulf between L1 and L2 is not based on any real evidence I've seen.

It's a continuum in terms of quality from Prem to Conference and beyond, with some overlap at any given point in time between bottom end of one league and top of another. Between Prem and Champ, that overlap is only a couple of teams, between Champ and L1 you could maybe swap the top and bottom 5 or 6, but between L1 and L2 the overlap is much bigger (and probably bigger still L2 to Conf).

Yes, there is a massive gap between playing MK Dons/Sheff Wed and Stevenage/Barrow, but are Accrington, Cambridge, Burton, Cheltenham (all 12th-16th L1) really any better than FGR, Exeter, Gas, Northampton? Not based on games we've played against those teams recently. 

There are posters above who have suggested that a large chunk of the first team, (Proc, Garrity, Pett, Walker, Smith, Benning, keepers, etc), are all either not good or 'athletic' enough for L1 and we need a massive influx. It's this I disagree with. Again, I agree and have already stated that we need a few quality first-team standard players in at the top to replace those at the bottom end of the squad. Not standing still, but after the season we've had and with the squad at our disposal, I'm arguing for evolution not revolution.

Players like Proc, Garrity, Pett, Smith shouldn't be automatic starters in L1, we should have people coming in to compete with them, but that's a very different argument to the more binary 'not L1 standard' some are putting forward, that's all.

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All 4 of the teams who went up from L2 last year survived. 3 did so very comfortably finishing 9th, 14th and 15th.

Lazy pundits and bookies will always see the playoff winners as the “weakest” of the promoted sides. In our case such would ignore the fact we had a good record against our fellow promoted sides and did well against several L1 sides last year as well.

Strengthening certainly required in certain areas (keeper, centre half, another striker) but the nucleus of the squad is already decent enough to compete in L1.

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4 minutes ago, saintvaliant said:

All 4 of the teams who went up from L2 last year survived. 3 did so very comfortably finishing 9th, 14th and 15th.

Lazy pundits and bookies will always see the playoff winners as the “weakest” of the promoted sides. In our case such would ignore the fact we had a good record against our fellow promoted sides and did well against several L1 sides last year as well.

Strengthening certainly required in certain areas (keeper, centre half, another striker) but the nucleus of the squad is already decent enough to compete in L1.

And would have won the league easily had we not suffered horrendous injury problems. Play a full season of Conlon and Proctor and those extra wins to catch FGR come easily I think.

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For me, and it's already been said in different ways, we need to replace the squad players with starters.

Instantly upgrades the whole squad, and you have choices/ competition for the starting eleven.

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All 4 of the teams who went up from L2 last year survived. 3 did so very comfortably finishing 9th, 14th and 15th.


According to transfermarkt, Cheltenham brought in at least 10 new signings. Cambridge at least 9. Bolton 8. This not including loan signings.

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League 1 is really going to be a cracker next year, pity Sunderland rather than Wycombe (because they never should have been relegated in the first place) went up. 

But Sheff Wed, Derby, Ipswich, Pompey, Barnsley, McDons (just for the stadium) and Bolton are the standouts, obviously. But we also renew acquaintances with our 6 fingered-Salopian friends and Burton. We always take decent followings to Fleetwood, Morecombe and Accie (infamously), plus you’ve got a healthy South-West contingent of Brizzle, Exeter and Plymouth and decent weekends away in Oxford, Cambridge and Lincoln for the culture vultures.

Now, how to tell the wife she might be seeing a bit less of me at weekends….?

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Luton just missed out in the playoffs with much the same team that got them up from league 2 . I don’t think we need to make many changes maybe three or four plus a few canny loans. Team spirit is everything a few big money players don’t always sit well ! 

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I don't think we can presume or second guess anything. 

Despite our cup wins over higher ranked opponents there is a gulf of that there's no doubt. 

I know none of the 4 got relegated last season but the Covid season Swindon and Northampton had immediate relegation and now Crewe have joined them. Only Plymouth remain. 

I'm convinced we'll do ok but ultimately stats can be bandied around and you can tweak them to however you want.

It stands to sense the higher you go the better the quality. 

As many have said before, trust the powers that be . Don't imagine we're shopping at Poundland any more so I await new recruits with excitement. 

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