I think, as I said 7 weeks ago, that the fault in the recruitment was that the club were too ambitious, if that is a fault.
The league 1 players we wanted went instead to championship clubs.
So while the business we have done has been good imho (Stockley from a championship club for a fee, Famewo from a premier league club on a loan, perhaps to become permanent, Mac the Net from a rival top 8 club, Dobson on a free after doing well in this division, Matthews back) there hasn't been enough. Yet.
We all know we need another 6 to 9 bodies through the door, no one is saying "this squad will do"
My view is they know what they want and how much they will pay and that isn't £1m for Crewe or Gills players. They are playing poker waiting for the price to drop.
It's a risky game as is waiting for the prem clubs to start loaning out their young stars but we're a league one club.
We have the spine of a good, promotion chasing side already but we need some flesh on the bone.
Again, no one disputes that least of all Adkins, Gallen or Sandgaard.
The frustration with Golfie isn't that he is disagreeing with the happy clappy majority because there is no happy clappy majority. It's because he is relenlesstly negative about every single aspect of the club, no matter what and has been for ever. He critised the 2012 championship winning side for not winning game four or five nil every week!
I think the problem with a lot of posters (including you Henry) is that you don't "get" me. I'm not negative, I'm just contrary and I also say things that a lot of people are thinking....like @Valley11 above. I was once described as a sounding board by an office manager (a Millwall fan btw, but we wont hold that against him) and whenever he wanted to gauge the opinion of the staff he often sought out my views as he knew others wouldn't tell him straight....and I would.
If posters were totally honest with themselves I'm sure they would say that they thought we would be ahead of where we are currently. We needed a major rebuild this summer, with around 10-12 players out of contract. Some have re-signed, some havent....but the main problem as I see it is that last season we weren't even good enough to make the play offs, and our main threat up front had left and 2 if the players that have re-signed are past their best and we have been told that they are primarily going to be used as "back up". So far, last years problems of having no playmaker in midfield or another wide man (now that Millar has left) have not yet been addressed. Obviously they might be, but surely these were the no 1 targets. Yes you cant sign players in any particular order but what's the betting that these positions will ultimately be filled by loanees, which in the past have proved to not always be up to snuff.
I think, as I said 7 weeks ago, that the fault in the recruitment was that the club were too ambitious, if that is a fault.
The league 1 players we wanted went instead to championship clubs.
So while the business we have done has been good imho (Stockley from a championship club for a fee, Famewo from a premier league club on a loan, perhaps to become permanent, Mac the Net from a rival top 8 club, Dobson on a free after doing well in this division, Matthews back) there hasn't been enough. Yet.
We all know we need another 6 to 9 bodies through the door, no one is saying "this squad will do"
My view is they know what they want and how much they will pay and that isn't £1m for Crewe or Gills players. They are playing poker waiting for the price to drop.
It's a risky game as is waiting for the prem clubs to start loaning out their young stars but we're a league one club.
We have the spine of a good, promotion chasing side already but we need some flesh on the bone.
Again, no one disputes that least of all Adkins, Gallen or Sandgaard.
The frustration with Golfie isn't that he is disagreeing with the happy clappy majority because there is no happy clappy majority. It's because he is relenlesstly negative about every single aspect of the club, no matter what and has been for ever. He critised the 2012 championship winning side for not winning game four or five nil every week!
I think the problem with a lot of posters (including you Henry) is that you don't "get" me. I'm not negative, I'm just contrary and I also say things that a lot of people are thinking....like @Valley11 above. I was once described as a sounding board by an office manager (a Millwall fan btw, but we wont hold that against him) and whenever he wanted to gauge the opinion of the staff he often sought out my views as he knew others wouldn't tell him straight....and I would.
If posters were totally honest with themselves I'm sure they would say that they thought we would be ahead of where we are currently. We needed a major rebuild this summer, with around 10-12 players out of contract. Some have re-signed, some havent....but the main problem as I see it is that last season we weren't even good enough to make the play offs, and our main threat up front had left and 2 if the players that have re-signed are past their best and we have been told that they are primarily going to be used as "back up". So far, last years problems of having no playmaker in midfield or another wide man (now that Millar has left) have not yet been addressed. Obviously they might be, but surely these were the no 1 targets. Yes you cant sign players in any particular order but what's the betting that these positions will ultimately be filled by loanees, which in the past have proved to not always be up to snuff.
We’re obviously not where we thought we would be by now, everyone knows that. It’s nothing to do with being more honest and saying what we’re really thinking, Mr Positive NA has even said it himself.
Some have decided we now won’t sign enough or that we’ll only bring in questionable loan players.
Others know we still can’t rule out a mixture of permanents, frees and loans. The majority might even turn out to be good signings.
I think, as I said 7 weeks ago, that the fault in the recruitment was that the club were too ambitious, if that is a fault.
The league 1 players we wanted went instead to championship clubs.
So while the business we have done has been good imho (Stockley from a championship club for a fee, Famewo from a premier league club on a loan, perhaps to become permanent, Mac the Net from a rival top 8 club, Dobson on a free after doing well in this division, Matthews back) there hasn't been enough. Yet.
We all know we need another 6 to 9 bodies through the door, no one is saying "this squad will do"
My view is they know what they want and how much they will pay and that isn't £1m for Crewe or Gills players. They are playing poker waiting for the price to drop.
It's a risky game as is waiting for the prem clubs to start loaning out their young stars but we're a league one club.
We have the spine of a good, promotion chasing side already but we need some flesh on the bone.
Again, no one disputes that least of all Adkins, Gallen or Sandgaard.
The frustration with Golfie isn't that he is disagreeing with the happy clappy majority because there is no happy clappy majority. It's because he is relenlesstly negative about every single aspect of the club, no matter what and has been for ever. He critised the 2012 championship winning side for not winning game four or five nil every week!
I think the problem with a lot of posters (including you Henry) is that you don't "get" me. I'm not negative, I'm just contrary and I also say things that a lot of people are thinking....like @Valley11 above. I was once described as a sounding board by an office manager (a Millwall fan btw, but we wont hold that against him) and whenever he wanted to gauge the opinion of the staff he often sought out my views as he knew others wouldn't tell him straight....and I would.
If posters were totally honest with themselves I'm sure they would say that they thought we would be ahead of where we are currently. We needed a major rebuild this summer, with around 10-12 players out of contract. Some have re-signed, some havent....but the main problem as I see it is that last season we weren't even good enough to make the play offs, and our main threat up front had left and 2 if the players that have re-signed are past their best and we have been told that they are primarily going to be used as "back up". So far, last years problems of having no playmaker in midfield or another wide man (now that Millar has left) have not yet been addressed. Obviously they might be, but surely these were the no 1 targets. Yes you cant sign players in any particular order but what's the betting that these positions will ultimately be filled by loanees, which in the past have proved to not always be up to snuff.
That's fair enough Golfie and fair play to you. However some of your statements are sometimes well over the top in alot of peoples opinion. As an example you say above that our squad was not good enough to even get into the playoffs! Alot of people (me included) think it easily was if it wasnt for the Bowyer meltdown for 3/4 months. Obviously that cannot be proved as nobody will ever really know. But that is my thoughts and like you with yours I'm entitled to my view. FWTIW I also think LB got us relegated the season before by his inept game management where we dropped crucial points when we shouldn't have. But I always get pelters for that so I appreciate where your coming from
I think, as I said 7 weeks ago, that the fault in the recruitment was that the club were too ambitious, if that is a fault.
The league 1 players we wanted went instead to championship clubs.
So while the business we have done has been good imho (Stockley from a championship club for a fee, Famewo from a premier league club on a loan, perhaps to become permanent, Mac the Net from a rival top 8 club, Dobson on a free after doing well in this division, Matthews back) there hasn't been enough. Yet.
We all know we need another 6 to 9 bodies through the door, no one is saying "this squad will do"
My view is they know what they want and how much they will pay and that isn't £1m for Crewe or Gills players. They are playing poker waiting for the price to drop.
It's a risky game as is waiting for the prem clubs to start loaning out their young stars but we're a league one club.
We have the spine of a good, promotion chasing side already but we need some flesh on the bone.
Again, no one disputes that least of all Adkins, Gallen or Sandgaard.
The frustration with Golfie isn't that he is disagreeing with the happy clappy majority because there is no happy clappy majority. It's because he is relenlesstly negative about every single aspect of the club, no matter what and has been for ever. He critised the 2012 championship winning side for not winning game four or five nil every week!
I think the problem with a lot of posters (including you Henry) is that you don't "get" me. I'm not negative, I'm just contrary and I also say things that a lot of people are thinking....like @Valley11 above. I was once described as a sounding board by an office manager (a Millwall fan btw, but we wont hold that against him) and whenever he wanted to gauge the opinion of the staff he often sought out my views as he knew others wouldn't tell him straight....and I would.
If posters were totally honest with themselves I'm sure they would say that they thought we would be ahead of where we are currently. We needed a major rebuild this summer, with around 10-12 players out of contract. Some have re-signed, some havent....but the main problem as I see it is that last season we weren't even good enough to make the play offs, and our main threat up front had left and 2 if the players that have re-signed are past their best and we have been told that they are primarily going to be used as "back up". So far, last years problems of having no playmaker in midfield or another wide man (now that Millar has left) have not yet been addressed. Obviously they might be, but surely these were the no 1 targets. Yes you cant sign players in any particular order but what's the betting that these positions will ultimately be filled by loanees, which in the past have proved to not always be up to snuff.
I think, as I said 7 weeks ago, that the fault in the recruitment was that the club were too ambitious, if that is a fault.
The league 1 players we wanted went instead to championship clubs.
So while the business we have done has been good imho (Stockley from a championship club for a fee, Famewo from a premier league club on a loan, perhaps to become permanent, Mac the Net from a rival top 8 club, Dobson on a free after doing well in this division, Matthews back) there hasn't been enough. Yet.
We all know we need another 6 to 9 bodies through the door, no one is saying "this squad will do"
My view is they know what they want and how much they will pay and that isn't £1m for Crewe or Gills players. They are playing poker waiting for the price to drop.
It's a risky game as is waiting for the prem clubs to start loaning out their young stars but we're a league one club.
We have the spine of a good, promotion chasing side already but we need some flesh on the bone.
Again, no one disputes that least of all Adkins, Gallen or Sandgaard.
The frustration with Golfie isn't that he is disagreeing with the happy clappy majority because there is no happy clappy majority. It's because he is relenlesstly negative about every single aspect of the club, no matter what and has been for ever. He critised the 2012 championship winning side for not winning game four or five nil every week!
I think the problem with a lot of posters (including you Henry) is that you don't "get" me. I'm not negative, I'm just contrary and I also say things that a lot of people are thinking....like @Valley11 above. I was once described as a sounding board by an office manager (a Millwall fan btw, but we wont hold that against him) and whenever he wanted to gauge the opinion of the staff he often sought out my views as he knew others wouldn't tell him straight....and I would.
If posters were totally honest with themselves I'm sure they would say that they thought we would be ahead of where we are currently. We needed a major rebuild this summer, with around 10-12 players out of contract. Some have re-signed, some havent....but the main problem as I see it is that last season we weren't even good enough to make the play offs, and our main threat up front had left and 2 if the players that have re-signed are past their best and we have been told that they are primarily going to be used as "back up". So far, last years problems of having no playmaker in midfield or another wide man (now that Millar has left) have not yet been addressed. Obviously they might be, but surely these were the no 1 targets. Yes you cant sign players in any particular order but what's the betting that these positions will ultimately be filled by loanees, which in the past have proved to not always be up to snuff.
The trouble is @golfaddick you are negative, contrary is making a point against others views and challenging them, and yes you do that, but you constantly repeat the same comments and, as I said in a previous post, we get it! You say at work you were used as a sounding board, but on here you're a sounding board with a repetitive echo!! Did your boss at work never say to you "Ok we get it, now what else do we need to know"? Or did they seek views on just one topic? Try and see that not everything happens just when we want it...TS has made millions, NA has been, and no doubt will be again, a successful Football Manager, give them until the end of the transfer window, if we are still lacking quality bodies I'll agree with you and apologise, but until then change the narrative!
To be fair I can understand the frustrations of fans that post on here.The club are going about things in a different way to what we are used to keeping there cards very close to there chest there is a reason for this.Thomas our leader wants a big show of our signings his music new sponsorship shirts all in one go looks well on TV and most importantly keeps our competitors quessing I would assume that we have already signed some quality players and more to come. My faith is with gallon and the management team things are MOVING in the right direction.
Did anyone from the SLP ask Jacko about signings? I notice in the official club interview he wasn’t asked about potential incomings. Not names but where we might be.
The trouble with Golfie is that whilst he is undoubtably negative, that has made him right more times than most over recent years. Hopefully he is wrong about this season and I suspect he hopes he is too. I'm waiting to see who the new signings are as I'm sure we will bring a few in. I think it will be decent enough but I am more 60:40 on that due to experience beating optimism out of me with Charlton. Hopefully Sandgaard can cure that affliction.
Although he didn't stand out quite as much and had less time, I really think Clayden could breakthrough this season. I really like what I see with him. My Spidey sense is usually right with this sort of thing.
In a summer of some absolutely shit football "hot takes" some of these are right up there with "What ever team Southgate picks the bench will beat it", "if he picks Rice and Philips I'll support Scotland" and "it was only Denmark, Croatia, the Czechs, Ukraine and Germany".
No one with any understanding of football thinks our squad is good to go, including the 4 that matter.
There will be signings, between now and September, there may even be 1 or 2 in September. Some will be "wow how the fuck did we get him" some will be "why the fuck did we get him".
There will be loans, there will be frees, there will be fees.
If anyone thinks that Thomas will sit on his wallet thinking he doesn't have to "invest" is in lar lar land. He is looking at an 8-10 million loss next season already if he doesn't. He isn't an idiot.
Last season, for the most part, we had a play offs/promotion squad. We didn't have a promotion team. We had a play off/promotion team from March. We will have a better team AND squad than that next season. I have no doubt.
We might not go up, there are dozens of external factors, but we will be bloody close.
The view I am coming around to is.... in three transfer windows we are overall net sellers and I think the only time we've spent money on fees was to retain players we already had. It seems our new strategy is to somehow get promoted on free's and loans. In my opinion, given there are always a few clubs blowing out their budget, I believe it is going to be very hard to get promoted now or in the near future with this way of doing things. As much as people talk about "sustainability," in the end clubs that spend the most on good players tend to be the ones that move up. Hope I am wrong but just sayin.' When I think of clubs at any level (international - PSG), in the PL (Chelsea, ManC) or even in the league above us that made it to the promised land (Wolves, Bournemouth, Brighton, Watford, etc), they usually get where they are by spending more than they should, even to the point of fines. It sucks but it's reality. Sustainable works for about a year and then fans lose interest and slowly stop coming. Ask Newcastle fans; in 2019-20 Ashley was giving away 10,000 seats per match because fans were tired of breaking-even. I've never met a fan yet who told me "We never left League One but at least we were sustainable." Because they don't exist. Being an owner is very hard but any owner who buys a club who does not want to spend at least a BIT more than they should, really needs to consider not buying a club at all. Good football talent and their smart agents don't care about sustainability of the clubs they join and rightly so; they care about joining teams that pay well and have other great players to play with. Graveyards are full of owners who thought they could spend "smarter" than they guy before them rather than spending "more."
League one betting has Sunderland favs we are 4th fav and Wigan are 7th
Meaningless right now ....... all teams in the division are still building their squads.
Some have finished & some are almost done. Imo we really havent got started yet.
Am curious... Which clubs have finished their transfer business this summer?
Especially as there have been very few Premier League loans so far to the lower leagues
The loans from Premier League clubs usually happen after they have to name their squads for the European competitions. Those not in the squad get loaned out.
I think, as I said 7 weeks ago, that the fault in the recruitment was that the club were too ambitious, if that is a fault.
The league 1 players we wanted went instead to championship clubs.
So while the business we have done has been good imho (Stockley from a championship club for a fee, Famewo from a premier league club on a loan, perhaps to become permanent, Mac the Net from a rival top 8 club, Dobson on a free after doing well in this division, Matthews back) there hasn't been enough. Yet.
We all know we need another 6 to 9 bodies through the door, no one is saying "this squad will do"
My view is they know what they want and how much they will pay and that isn't £1m for Crewe or Gills players. They are playing poker waiting for the price to drop.
It's a risky game as is waiting for the prem clubs to start loaning out their young stars but we're a league one club.
We have the spine of a good, promotion chasing side already but we need some flesh on the bone.
Again, no one disputes that least of all Adkins, Gallen or Sandgaard.
The frustration with Golfie isn't that he is disagreeing with the happy clappy majority because there is no happy clappy majority. It's because he is relenlesstly negative about every single aspect of the club, no matter what and has been for ever. He critised the 2012 championship winning side for not winning game four or five nil every week!
I think the problem with a lot of posters (including you Henry) is that you don't "get" me. I'm not negative, I'm just contrary and I also say things that a lot of people are thinking....like @Valley11 above. I was once described as a sounding board by an office manager (a Millwall fan btw, but we wont hold that against him) and whenever he wanted to gauge the opinion of the staff he often sought out my views as he knew others wouldn't tell him straight....and I would.
If posters were totally honest with themselves I'm sure they would say that they thought we would be ahead of where we are currently. We needed a major rebuild this summer, with around 10-12 players out of contract. Some have re-signed, some havent....but the main problem as I see it is that last season we weren't even good enough to make the play offs, and our main threat up front had left and 2 if the players that have re-signed are past their best and we have been told that they are primarily going to be used as "back up". So far, last years problems of having no playmaker in midfield or another wide man (now that Millar has left) have not yet been addressed. Obviously they might be, but surely these were the no 1 targets. Yes you cant sign players in any particular order but what's the betting that these positions will ultimately be filled by loanees, which in the past have proved to not always be up to snuff.
That's fair enough Golfie and fair play to you. However some of your statements are sometimes well over the top in alot of peoples opinion. As an example you say above that our squad was not good enough to even get into the playoffs! Alot of people (me included) think it easily was if it wasnt for the Bowyer meltdown for 3/4 months. Obviously that cannot be proved as nobody will ever really know. But that is my thoughts and like you with yours I'm entitled to my view. FWTIW I also think LB got us relegated the season before by his inept game management where we dropped crucial points when we shouldn't have. But I always get pelters for that so I appreciate where your coming from
You are spot on about Bowyer, relegated because of him, messed up being promoted again because of him.
The view I am coming around to is.... in three transfer windows we are overall net sellers and I think the only time we've spent money on fees was to retain players we already had. It seems our new strategy is to somehow get promoted on free's and loans. In my opinion, given there are always a few clubs blowing out their budget, I believe it is going to be very hard to get promoted now or in the near future with this way of doing things. As much as people talk about "sustainability," in the end clubs that spend the most on good players tend to be the ones that move up. Hope I am wrong but just sayin.' When I think of clubs at any level (international - PSG), in the PL (Chelsea, ManC) or even in the league above us that made it to the promised land (Wolves, Bournemouth, Brighton, Watford, etc), they usually get where they are by spending more than they should, even to the point of fines. It sucks but it's reality. Sustainable works for about a year and then fans lose interest and slowly stop coming. Ask Newcastle fans; in 2019-20 Ashley was giving away 10,000 seats per match because fans were tired of breaking-even. I've never met a fan yet who told me "We never left League One but at least we were sustainable." Because they don't exist. Being an owner is very hard but any owner who buys a club who does not want to spend at least a BIT more than they should, really needs to consider not buying a club at all. Good football talent and their smart agents don't care about sustainability of the clubs they join and rightly so; they care about joining teams that pay well and have other great players to play with. Graveyards are full of owners who thought they could spend "smarter" than they guy before them rather than spending "more."
But when you actually look at the costs that Sandgaard has run up and continues to run up, rather than just the transfer fees, it's an entirely different picture.
We're not just talking the usual expenses that come with running a club either, the book balancing and legal fees above and beyond those also have to be considered. TS is rich in "normal" terms but in football terms much closer to a sardine than a shark, not remotely one of the bigger fish.
The view I am coming around to is.... in three transfer windows we are overall net sellers and I think the only time we've spent money on fees was to retain players we already had. It seems our new strategy is to somehow get promoted on free's and loans. In my opinion, given there are always a few clubs blowing out their budget, I believe it is going to be very hard to get promoted now or in the near future with this way of doing things. As much as people talk about "sustainability," in the end clubs that spend the most on good players tend to be the ones that move up. Hope I am wrong but just sayin.' When I think of clubs at any level (international - PSG), in the PL (Chelsea, ManC) or even in the league above us that made it to the promised land (Wolves, Bournemouth, Brighton, Watford, etc), they usually get where they are by spending more than they should, even to the point of fines. It sucks but it's reality. Sustainable works for about a year and then fans lose interest and slowly stop coming. Ask Newcastle fans; in 2019-20 Ashley was giving away 10,000 seats per match because fans were tired of breaking-even. I've never met a fan yet who told me "We never left League One but at least we were sustainable." Because they don't exist. Being an owner is very hard but any owner who buys a club who does not want to spend at least a BIT more than they should, really needs to consider not buying a club at all. Good football talent and their smart agents don't care about sustainability of the clubs they join and rightly so; they care about joining teams that pay well and have other great players to play with. Graveyards are full of owners who thought they could spend "smarter" than they guy before them rather than spending "more."
But when you actually look at the costs that Sandgaard has run up and continues to run up, rather than just the transfer fees, it's an entirely different picture.
We're not just talking the usual expenses that come with running a club either, the book balancing and legal fees above and beyond those also have to be considered. TS is rich in "normal" terms but in football terms much closer to a sardine than a shark, not remotely one of the bigger fish.
I agree with you entirely! I am glad TS is here because there were no other legitimate options. And... in the long run neither agents nor good players and eventually... fans... will care, if we do not get at least back to mid-table Championship in a few years. Football, especially lower league football has never been or ever will be "fair."
Comments
How did Ipswich u12s do BTW?
If posters were totally honest with themselves I'm sure they would say that they thought we would be ahead of where we are currently. We needed a major rebuild this summer, with around 10-12 players out of contract. Some have re-signed, some havent....but the main problem as I see it is that last season we weren't even good enough to make the play offs, and our main threat up front had left and 2 if the players that have re-signed are past their best and we have been told that they are primarily going to be used as "back up". So far, last years problems of having no playmaker in midfield or another wide man (now that Millar has left) have not yet been addressed. Obviously they might be, but surely these were the no 1 targets. Yes you cant sign players in any particular order but what's the betting that these positions will ultimately be filled by loanees, which in the past have proved to not always be up to snuff.
Some have decided we now won’t sign enough or that we’ll only bring in questionable loan players.
Others know we still can’t rule out a mixture of permanents, frees and loans. The majority might even turn out to be good signings.
Was at the game today, woefully short of being competitive at the top of the table. It’s undeniable.
You say at work you were used as a sounding board, but on here you're a sounding board with a repetitive echo!!
Did your boss at work never say to you "Ok we get it, now what else do we need to know"? Or did they seek views on just one topic?
Try and see that not everything happens just when we want it...TS has made millions, NA has been, and no doubt will be again, a successful Football Manager, give them until the end of the transfer window, if we are still lacking quality bodies I'll agree with you and apologise, but until then change the narrative!
Although he didn't stand out quite as much and had less time, I really think Clayden could breakthrough this season. I really like what I see with him. My Spidey sense is usually right with this sort of thing.
No one with any understanding of football thinks our squad is good to go, including the 4 that matter.
There will be signings, between now and September, there may even be 1 or 2 in September. Some will be "wow how the fuck did we get him" some will be "why the fuck did we get him".
There will be loans, there will be frees, there will be fees.
If anyone thinks that Thomas will sit on his wallet thinking he doesn't have to "invest" is in lar lar land. He is looking at an 8-10 million loss next season already if he doesn't. He isn't an idiot.
Last season, for the most part, we had a play offs/promotion squad. We didn't have a promotion team. We had a play off/promotion team from March. We will have a better team AND squad than that next season. I have no doubt.
We might not go up, there are dozens of external factors, but we will be bloody close.
We're not just talking the usual expenses that come with running a club either, the book balancing and legal fees above and beyond those also have to be considered. TS is rich in "normal" terms but in football terms much closer to a sardine than a shark, not remotely one of the bigger fish.
I agree with you entirely! I am glad TS is here because there were no other legitimate options. And... in the long run neither agents nor good players and eventually... fans... will care, if we do not get at least back to mid-table Championship in a few years. Football, especially lower league football has never been or ever will be "fair."