50 minutes ago, Brian Johnson said:

Not since they put the big fence up.

I can see him buying a drone 

Or a Periscope 🙄

3 hours ago, VantaaVale said:

Don't call him Shirley!

Sorry lol 

The signings so far have been steady but we need to push the boat out for a quality keeper, centre back and  striker now. 

1 hour ago, Bernie's evil said:

Or a Periscope 🙄

Yeah, wait for the next one then. 😂😂😂😂

My initial sense is that Darren is signing competent back ups initially so that we don't get stung with injuries. It almost cost us this year, so he's looking to have decent depth in all areas. We'll make more 'first team' signings but obviously they will have more offers, so we'll have to be patient.

1 hour ago, TreacleValiant said:

The signings so far have been steady but we need to push the boat out for a quality keeper, centre back and  striker now. 

Exactly mate. The less they score the better, the more we score the better 

Agree that the signings are solid rather than spectacular.

Their playing characteristics suggest to me DM is looking at creating a strong  team base that can hurt the opposition by scoring on the break

Still need quality signings that will create the spine of the team.

Edited June 14, 2025Jun 14 by andy jones

hope it comes off !! like we want it to 👍 juries out at mo 🤞see wots wot in a months time 🍻

10 hours ago, andy jones said:

Agree that the signings are solid rather than spectacular.

Their playing characteristics suggest to me DM is looking at creating a strong  team base that can hurt the opposition by scoring on the break

Still need quality signings that will create the spine of the team.

I think we are in a different position squad wise than when we last went up. Below is the retained list from DCs promotion year. How many of these players could we really say were up to the level? I'd argue Garrity, Smith and possibly Hall although he didn't show it much in the season after. We needed to build a first team that time around. 

Compare that to this time, obviously we haven't seen them playing in L1 yet but I'd argue Clark, John, Byers, Garrity, Curtis, Tolaj, Croasdale, Walters, Shorrock, Hall, Debs and Headley should all be plenty good enough for a mid table league one push. Potentially add Amos and Stockley to that list although I think we will try to replace both with starters.

The recruitment team shouldn't really need to rip up the squad and start again, its more about building a bench and having depth. Gabriel in to push/cover Mitch, Gordon to push/cover Headley, Shipley to cover the 4 very good midfielders we've already got contracted, Rico to offer an attacking option off the bench if we are struggling to break a team down. Try and offload a few bits of deadwood like Hart and Hennegan and we should be good to go. 

Edited June 15, 2025Jun 15 by Walka003

Hart will move on , Hennegan we should keep. 

All depends on money and deals we can do.

Main thing is to have the right players in the squad, happy players will perform better, yes they have to be at the standard, we will need.

Happy so far with the signings.

Hard to build a squad. 

 

21 hours ago, NW9Valiant said:

All the players who came in before are all black so far 😄 Though I’m sure it has nothing to do with our recruitment. just good to see how much more diverse our team is compared to last we went up too. 

What an odd comment to make? 

Personally I don’t care if our players are black, white, purple or bright green as long as they can play.  That also means I get most upset if people make racist comments about Vale or opposing players. 

1 hour ago, Walka003 said:

I think we are in a different position squad wise than when we last went up. Below is the retained list from DCs promotion year. How many of these players could we really say were up to the level? I'd argue Garrity, Smith and possibly Hall although he didn't show it much in the season after. We needed to build a first team that time around. 

Compare that to this time, obviously we haven't seen them playing in L1 yet but I'd argue Clark, John, Byers, Garrity, Curtis, Tolaj, Croasdale, Walters, Shorrock, Hall, Debs and Headley should all be plenty good enough for a mid table league one push. Potentially add Amos and Stockley to that list although I think we will try to replace both with starters.

The recruitment team shouldn't really need to rip up the squad and start again, its more about building a bench and having depth. Gabriel in to push/cover Mitch, Gordon to push/cover Headley, Shipley to cover the 4 very good midfielders we've already got contracted, Rico to offer an attacking option off the bench if we are struggling to break a team down. Try and offload a few bits of deadwood like Hart and Hennegan and we should be good to go. 

Our current squad is a world apart from some of the names on that list from 21/22. 

When does the window open again for buying players?

4 minutes ago, werstayinup said:

When does the window open again for buying players?

Tuesday 

I see the Peterborough Chairman has had a rant at Ricky-Jade Jones an Academy for turning down 4 Championship clubs to join St Pauli meaning that Boro recieve nothing for him.

Seems like they have a McPhee situation there