January Transfers and Rumours

[Vale Ball]

They’re probably right 

I should imagine that the professionals would know the answer to that

Sent from my SM-A217F using onevalefan mobile app

[LancyTony]

Sorry for the triple posting, people - you'll maybe have gathered i was having tech problems?  

[fuzzyvalefan]

I predict he will start on Saturday.
As for those saying DC signing players he has worked with before,so does virtually every manager in football

Correct. As daft as it sounds I even do it myself on Championship Manager because you know what you are getting.

But to compare Clarke to Askey is ridiculous. Clarke has brought in the odd player he has worked with before whereas probably half of Askeys signings were ex Macc players. Let's be honest, the recruitment since the change has improved massively.

People shouldn't underestimate what a massive undertaking the summer of 2021 was. To get rid of 2/3 of your squad and bring in 14 new players is a big gamble and for the recruitment team to get the majority of them right and then get promotion with that new squad first time around is an incredible achievement.

[fraggle]

147 pages - 2 players in… a much needed striker and a LWB (ish)

Why we leave it to the last minute when we have known we’ve needed someone for the whole of Jan, it’s been very painful sat waiting and watching games without a proper goal scoring striker on the pitch

[geoff1]

2 hours ago, Coyney Valiant said:

They’re probably right 

lets hope he had a good medical!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!😔

[geoff1]

4 minutes ago, fraggle said:

147 pages - 2 players in… a much needed striker and a LWB (ish)

Why we leave it to the last minute when we have known we’ve needed someone for the whole of Jan, it’s been very painful sat waiting and watching games without a proper goal scoring striker on the pitch

money i would think!

[tisdeano]

Thanks. Once again not allowed to have an opinion / debate unless it fits the mould on here. 
 
My point was more along the lines of, since that first window we seem to be signing a lot of players who DC or AC know and have had before. Similar to under askey. That was my point, and I’m not complaining about that, as Harrison is an excellent signing and Taylor looks so as well. It’s more that our staffs connections are producing decent signings but recently, who has been brought in by the recruitment team specifically? 

I gave you my opinion , you don’t seem to like it

[DazFred]

53 minutes ago, LancyTony said:

Sorry for the triple posting, people - you'll maybe have gathered i was having tech problems?  

I never noticed 

I never noticed 

I never noticed

[Aguar61]

8 hours ago, Shropshire_Valiant said:

Hopefully so, Massey has copped a bit of stick from the masses(no pun intended😁) but in his defence has been used in a variety of positions as a bit of a utility player.  I think he's more a winger by trade?

Happen to know that he came to us expecting to play at rwb.

[Aguar61]

1 hour ago, LancyTony said:

Sorry for the triple posting, people - you'll maybe have gathered i was having tech problems?  

I get the same problems after Plum Porter!...hic!

[Biddulph_PV]

9 hours ago, jjvale_03 said:

Matrix = Darrell calling out of favour players he's previously worked with.

That should please a lot of posters on here!!

[werstayinup]

1 hour ago, fuzzyvalefan said:

Correct. As daft as it sounds I even do it myself on Championship Manager because you know what you are getting.

But to compare Clarke to Askey is ridiculous. Clarke has brought in the odd player he has worked with before whereas probably half of Askeys signings were ex Macc players. Let's be honest, the recruitment since the change has improved massively.

People shouldn't underestimate what a massive undertaking the summer of 2021 was. To get rid of 2/3 of your squad and bring in 14 new players is a big gamble and for the recruitment team to get the majority of them right and then get promotion with that new squad first time around is an incredible achievement.

I think we will have exactly the same this summer a mass cull and recruitment drive

[ginginator]

1 hour ago, werstayinup said:

I predict he will start on Saturday.

As for those saying DC signing players he has worked with before,so does virtually every manager in football

Regarding the bottom line,  when Sir JR was buying his players , he knew all the scouts, opposition  managers and his backroom staff. hence the knowledge to find the odd gem. The more you know the better you get.  

You cannot guarantee that all will work. Naylor was on the radar for ages, what a buy he was. Others were out of the price range. I know for a fact  JR wanted Slaven well before we got him. 

Balancing the books and getting promotion is a tough ask and tbf we have gone up and look like a professional outfit now. 

JR and social media would not have worked, getting info from him was like a smile, cant say, dont ask anymore. Listening to DC is similar and thats fine by me. 

Thats what they are paid for. 

[MBE]

4 hours ago, valiant_593 said:

Thanks. Once again not allowed to have an opinion / debate unless it fits the mould on here. 
 

My point was more along the lines of, since that first window we seem to be signing a lot of players who DC or AC know and have had before. Similar to under askey. That was my point, and I’m not complaining about that, as Harrison is an excellent signing and Taylor looks so as well. It’s more that our staffs connections are producing decent signings but recently, who has been brought in by the recruitment team specifically? 

It’s a fair observation. In the same vai. the Forrest loan signing would be accused of only getting players Sproson is connected with.

I recall when Flickers was Mansfield manager he tapped into Forrest for his loans with likes of Tyler Walker and Jorge Grant. I suspect Donnelly was firmly a recruitment signing using his relationship.

[Danish Valiant]

16 minutes ago, werstayinup said:

I think we will have exactly the same this summer a mass cull and recruitment drive

Was just about to write the same thing. Maybe not 14, but I would guess about 8-10. 

As I wrote in the summer, most of the current squad was signed to fulfill the task of getting us out of L2 in 2 years, hence why they were almost all given 2 year contracts. But as the promotion came a year early, we had a squad assembled to get us out of L2, now having to perform in L1. That gave the club very very little wiggle room in the summer, late promotion or not, as we had to get players out, before we could get players in. And with only Amoo released, we didn't really have loads and loads of room in the squad to bring new, better, faces in.

Now we once again stand in a situation, were almost 2/3 of the squad is out of contract. And I think just a handful of those out of contract, will be offered new deals. And wether the club want to or not, we will eventually have to take a serious look at the wage structure. I'm not saying we should not stay sustainable in any way, shape or form. But paying low wages will eventually take you back down to L2. I know we can't, nor should we right now, compete with the Ipswich or Sheff Weds of the league. But I would really really hate to see us come in a situation, where we end up like the Accrington, Burton or Morecambe end, being more than ecstatic just surviving in L1. The club speak again and again about one day aspiring to be in the Championship. And that will include the need for a slow, but steady increase of the playing budget. That won't come in a year or two, but it has to be done. I'll dare to say, that if a club isn't in development, it's under settlement.