3 minutes ago, MBE said:

Tashan Oakley Booth has mutually terminated his contract at Blackpool to “persue another opportunity “. Sounds like he’s signing for another club tomorrow. A player I think fits the profile we are looking for. Another player in CM would definitely be very welcome.

 

Zac Sturge and a striker that's never played a competitive game is what I'd expect tomorrow.

As I write this at 21hrs on 31st January, we've experienced yet another frustratingly disappointing transfer window (unless, of course, there's massive activity in the next 2 hours?!!) 
What with the lack of replacement signings and our weighty list of injuries, we're competing in the next few games with a threadbare and imbalanced squad.  However understanding of DF's team I am trying to be and however optimistic I'm trying to remain, this next few games are going to test my patience and finger nails to the limit. Here's hoping!

Thought the window closed at 11pm tonight!

Lol

2 hours ago, LancyTony said:

I don't think we'll ever loose a game of football?

Cut him some slack 😁

I've backed the long-term plan but also said we need to take care of the here and now - which some have perceived as flip-flopping/changing my mind every game.

I just don't think we're treading the line very well at the minute. Fans are constantly being asked to defer enjoyment, when:

• we've been pretty naff for over 12 months
• sit 20th
• are without our two best players from the first half of the season in Blaster and Garrity
• are now relying on between 3-5 under-23s to find match fitness very quickly as they adapt to men's football.

Dan Gore is probably a great footballer, but he's playing his very first competitive minutes. It might take him weeks (as it did with Devine) to stand out. I don't think the centre-half is even training fully yet. We don't have weeks for them to get up to speed - they need to play at a competent League 1 standard in 3 days' time. If the hit rate for the first half of the season loanees was 2/4, and 1 of those successes took 6 weeks, then we're bang in trouble here. 2/5 with a 3rd coming good in mid-March won't cut it.

To be faffing about on deadline day, again, is pretty poor for a club that bangs on about long-term planning and models. How many times has it worked? Butterworth, Politic, McCarron, Matty Taylor were the deadline day deals last season. Maybe Butterworth was alright? The other 3 were simply not good. If you want a player, sometimes you have to overpay a little bit and take the hit. This trading model is leading to a seeming obsession with beating the market, being the smartest in the room, when maybe we just need to do some conventional stuff like sign competent and experienced players at their (inflated) market value.

If Burton and Exeter can do business, why on earth aren't we? I don't think we should get too caught up in the silly striker market, but I also don't think we should be reliant on Championship clubs moving players on when things are this precarious. 

As I've said, and sometimes the middle ground is hard to find on here, I don't have any real issue with possession football, academy development, loanee signings, and infrastructure investment. If anything, I think it's a pretty reasonable plan which should look to stick to despite pressure. We aren't going to spend our way to the Championship.

What must also happen is we win enough games of football to make things at least somewhat enjoyable in the meantime and keep the fans on board. I'm seeing more and more diehards losing faith. Loaning a couple of 20 year olds tomorrow is unlikely to reverse that. Telling fans to write off another season gets a bit tedious. It's fine to be thinking about 2029 when you're a paid employee of the club, and not as fine when you're a supporter who wants to enjoy going to PVFC games on a Saturday.

I don't think we'll go down, but christ we are taking some risks. We might stay up and shave 500 from the average gate, thereby reducing the budget and impacting the long-term plan. I've tried to be patient and positive, but whatever business we do tomorrow, it is hardly going to be calm, considered, and planned, and more of 'what can we get done?'.

Hope that wasn't too faux-intellectual for you.

Edited January 31, 20242 yr by JoeB2

24 hours to go. Not great so far, in fact pretty awful. Will I still be saying that this time tomorrow? I really hope not!

UTV! 

OK let's go through squad before start of big day finished early at work not for the drama of it no so can enjoy a good sleep .

      G/keepers Ripley Leutiweiler 

Centre half's Lowe Smith Icavetti Williams  Jones Debrah Cass 

Rwb Sang Massey Lwb Grant Clark plant 

   Midfielders Gore Weir Garrity Ojo Chislett 

Forwards Loft Uche Wilson .

Young academy lads Dipepa Shorrock Lomax .

So I make that 25 players .

I may have missed someone out .

Out of that 25  players currently injured Garrity Ojo Clark Uche Jones Plant,19 -3   so that's  with 3 of them kids so 16  fully paid seniors of which I'd say 5 or 6 who play well  once in a blue moon .

It's vital we try do something today .

Let's hope  robbies left a gift to strengthen us if not every player has a price 

UTV 

1 hour ago, Devine intervention said:

OK let's go through squad before start of big day finished early at work not for the drama of it no so can enjoy a good sleep .

      G/keepers Ripley Leutiweiler 

Centre half's Lowe Smith Icavetti Williams  Jones Debrah Cass 

Rwb Sang Massey Lwb Grant Clark plant 

   Midfielders Gore Weir Garrity Ojo Chislett 

Forwards Loft Uche Wilson .

Young academy lads Dipepa Shorrock Lomax .

So I make that 25 players .

I may have missed someone out .

Out of that 25  players currently injured Garrity Ojo Clark Uche Jones Plant,19 -3   so that's  with 3 of them kids so 16  fully paid seniors of which I'd say 5 or 6 who play well  once in a blue moon .

It's vital we try do something today .

Let's hope  robbies left a gift to strengthen us if not every player has a price 

UTV 

Rhys Walters, isn't he still with us? We still seem a bit threadbare though...

5 hours ago, JoeB2 said:

I've backed the long-term plan but also said we need to take care of the here and now - which some have perceived as flip-flopping/changing my mind every game.

I just don't think we're treading the line very well at the minute. Fans are constantly being asked to defer enjoyment, when:

• we've been pretty naff for over 12 months
• sit 20th
• are without our two best players from the first half of the season in Blaster and Garrity
• are now relying on between 3-5 under-23s to find match fitness very quickly as they adapt to men's football.

Dan Gore is probably a great footballer, but he's playing his very first competitive minutes. It might take him weeks (as it did with Devine) to stand out. I don't think the centre-half is even training fully yet. We don't have weeks for them to get up to speed - they need to play at a competent League 1 standard in 3 days' time. If the hit rate for the first half of the season loanees was 2/4, and 1 of those successes took 6 weeks, then we're bang in trouble here. 2/5 with a 3rd coming good in mid-March won't cut it.

To be faffing about on deadline day, again, is pretty poor for a club that bangs on about long-term planning and models. How many times has it worked? Butterworth, Politic, McCarron, Matty Taylor were the deadline day deals last season. Maybe Butterworth was alright? The other 3 were simply not good. If you want a player, sometimes you have to overpay a little bit and take the hit. This trading model is leading to a seeming obsession with beating the market, being the smartest in the room, when maybe we just need to do some conventional stuff like sign competent and experienced players at their (inflated) market value.

If Burton and Exeter can do business, why on earth aren't we? I don't think we should get too caught up in the silly striker market, but I also don't think we should be reliant on Championship clubs moving players on when things are this precarious. 

As I've said, and sometimes the middle ground is hard to find on here, I don't have any real issue with possession football, academy development, loanee signings, and infrastructure investment. If anything, I think it's a pretty reasonable plan which should look to stick to despite pressure. We aren't going to spend our way to the Championship.

What must also happen is we win enough games of football to make things at least somewhat enjoyable in the meantime and keep the fans on board. I'm seeing more and more diehards losing faith. Loaning a couple of 20 year olds tomorrow is unlikely to reverse that. Telling fans to write off another season gets a bit tedious. It's fine to be thinking about 2029 when you're a paid employee of the club, and not as fine when you're a supporter who wants to enjoy going to PVFC games on a Saturday.

I don't think we'll go down, but christ we are taking some risks. We might stay up and shave 500 from the average gate, thereby reducing the budget and impacting the long-term plan. I've tried to be patient and positive, but whatever business we do tomorrow, it is hardly going to be calm, considered, and planned, and more of 'what can we get done?'.

Hope that wasn't too faux-intellectual for you.

Very well put, we seem to have overspent the budget to create an unbalanced squad of injury prone players and youth.

7 hours ago, MBE said:

Tashan Oakley Booth has mutually terminated his contract at Blackpool to “persue another opportunity “. Sounds like he’s signing for another club tomorrow. A player I think fits the profile we are looking for. Another player in CM would definitely be very welcome.

He’s signed for a club in Portugal league 2

Well ladies and gents welcome to the traditional Dave Flitcroft transfer deadline day panic!

In prior year's this has given us such success stories as Liam McCarron, Ryan Loft, Dennis Politic (2nd time) and Matty Taylor all under the guise of "squeezing the most value out of the market".

In positive news, all rumours of money troubles at vale should now be quashed as they are clearly still paying LancyTony to post his nonsense and abuse on here.

I think the evidence that we've perhaps taken our eye off of the here and now is that we have 11 of our last 48 league games - 23%.

I think it's reasonable to both support the long-term idea and also think they're devoting to much energy and money into long-term stuff, to the real detriment of the short-term.

You can't have a long-term project with buy-in whilst only delivering 23% of the time in the short-term. If this was a business, the shareholders would be kicking off and demanding that the short-term is addressed - and if the fans are our most important stakeholders, then things are going the same way.

Just sign some reasonably decent players and then win games of League 1 football, imo. 

Edited February 1, 20242 yr by JoeB2

8 hours ago, tommytunstall said:

Yes I will. But I am extremely concerned at the apparent lack of action 

Agree, but not sure we are dead certs for relegation.

It feels high risk for us to be waiting for clubs to sign strikers, so our preferred loans become available. I agree it could land us better players but personally I don't think we have the luxury of messing about with it.

Get another striker in, and then hold out for that premier league academy dream player.

27 minutes ago, JoeB2 said:

I think the evidence that we've perhaps taken our eye off of the here and now is that we have 11 of our last 48 league games - 23%.

I think it's reasonable to both support the long-term idea and also think they're devoting to much energy and money into long-term stuff, to the real detriment of the short-term.

You can't have a long-term project with buy-in whilst only delivering 23% of the time in the short-term. If this was a business, the shareholders would be kicking off and demanding that the short-term is addressed - and if the fans are our most important stakeholders, then things are going the same way.

Just sign some reasonably decent players and then win games of League 1 football, imo. 

What is the long term plan on the pitch?

Loan young players from top clubs and send them back after 6 months, then start again

Bring players through the youth system like Walters and Lomax yet play players like Grant instead

Ignore any chance of ever signing a quality striker

Continue to persist with players like Massey and Loft

Sign another center defender so we can continue to play Smith out of position as wing back

 

Sorry, I don’t see any particular long term plan on the pitch.