I don't see us getting Conor Coventry. Featured for West Ham on the bench, I don't see him dropping down to league 1 on a permanent.
I think that link stinks of agent talk/ the club giving Cawley something to post as we trust him and it may take the heat off them.
Sort of like how I am interested in Dua Lipa but she has the pick of most blokes in the world & I'm just a tubby lad from London
There no heat on the owners blimey only been in the role 5 mins .. going to take rest of this season and next to sort out the mis management of the last 10/12 years … and for us to have the structure and foundations to build a top 2 team upon
Well there is I'd say and they really haven't.
It's also not that hard to turn around? You literally just pay the going rate for players like every other successful club does at this level or you're full of sh*t and don't.
Portsmouth have a fairly new manager, signed a ton of new players and are flying? All this building and project stuff is nonsense and to trick fans.
You assign a manager worth their salt, you get a squad full of players of the quality of the likes of Dobson, May and CBT in every position. You then get promoted as it's league 1. You build teams in the championship where it's all about sustainability, if you're a big club, you buy your way out of league 1. Really is that simple I'm afraid
Macauley Gillesphey, Conor Coventry and JCH would be a decent start. But we’d still need more. Three more of the same experience and quality would be a statement of intent. And keeping CBT and Dobbo.
It would. But only 1 is "done" and the other 2 are in the "rumours" thread for a reason.
My take on those 3 -
Gillesphey will sign this week JCH is 50/50 Coventry in a non starter.
And I'm not ITK but just following my instincts over previous windows where those ITK are feed stories for our consumption.
Think you are right, as I said he isn’t a name I have heard. The player I heard, has played in this division and did well, and actually has done okay in the championship as well, only reason he isn’t playing now, os because the club started to invest more money.
if he signs I think he will be a decent player
Coventry rumour might have been ‘leaked’ to push that one along then?
Or he could be 2nd choice target?
Or leaked to encourage Dobson to sign the latest ‘take it or leave it’ contract extension (before we look to bring in a replacement).
I don't see us getting Conor Coventry. Featured for West Ham on the bench, I don't see him dropping down to league 1 on a permanent.
I think that link stinks of agent talk/ the club giving Cawley something to post as we trust him and it may take the heat off them.
Sort of like how I am interested in Dua Lipa but she has the pick of most blokes in the world & I'm just a tubby lad from London
There no heat on the owners blimey only been in the role 5 mins .. going to take rest of this season and next to sort out the mis management of the last 10/12 years … and for us to have the structure and foundations to build a top 2 team upon
Well there is I'd say and they really haven't.
It's also not that hard to turn around? You literally just pay the going rate for players like every other successful club does at this level or you're full of sh*t and don't.
Portsmouth have a fairly new manager, signed a ton of new players and are flying? All this building and project stuff is nonsense and to trick fans.
You assign a manager worth their salt, you get a squad full of players of the quality of the likes of Dobson, May and CBT in every position. You then get promoted as it's league 1. You build teams in the championship where it's all about sustainability, if you're a big club, you buy your way out of league 1. Really is that simple I'm afraid
AND (and at the risk of sounding like Golfaddick), you bring them in early in the summer, so that you can spend pre season (and especially the overseas tour) building them into a team. When they went overseas in early July, they had already signed 9 players, whereas when we did a similar trip, we'd only signed 3, and had MASSIVE gaps in the squad.
At the time there was scepticism here that they'd bought in any old players, rather than waiting for the right ones, but the proof of the pudding is in their results when compared to ours.
I don't see us getting Conor Coventry. Featured for West Ham on the bench, I don't see him dropping down to league 1 on a permanent.
I think that link stinks of agent talk/ the club giving Cawley something to post as we trust him and it may take the heat off them.
Sort of like how I am interested in Dua Lipa but she has the pick of most blokes in the world & I'm just a tubby lad from London
There no heat on the owners blimey only been in the role 5 mins .. going to take rest of this season and next to sort out the mis management of the last 10/12 years … and for us to have the structure and foundations to build a top 2 team upon
Well there is I'd say and they really haven't.
It's also not that hard to turn around? You literally just pay the going rate for players like every other successful club does at this level or you're full of sh*t and don't.
Portsmouth have a fairly new manager, signed a ton of new players and are flying? All this building and project stuff is nonsense and to trick fans.
You assign a manager worth their salt, you get a squad full of players of the quality of the likes of Dobson, May and CBT in every position. You then get promoted as it's league 1. You build teams in the championship where it's all about sustainability, if you're a big club, you buy your way out of league 1. Really is that simple I'm afraid
AND (and at the risk of sounding like Golfaddick), you bring them in early in the summer, so that you can spend pre season (and especially the overseas tour) building them into a team. When they went overseas in early July, they had already signed 9 players, whereas when we did a similar trip, we'd only signed 3, and had MASSIVE gaps in the squad.
At the time there was scepticism here that they'd bought in any old players, rather than waiting for the right ones, but the proof of the pudding is in their results when compared to ours.
Yep, it really is that simple. You basically spend cash and that's that. You can't build teams as if you fail to get promotion, all the decent players move on. The only reason the likes of Wednesday, Sunderland, Derby and Ipswich got away with it, is they were paying big wages.
You look at most auto promoted sides over the years and they all are just big spenders or newly relegated sides.
I think if Bolton manage to go up this season, they're the only real example I can think of where a side has kept managers and players and slowly built their way to promotion. I am amazed they've managed to hold on to that squad but I reckon if they don't go up this year that will be that and they'll be on a rebuild.
I like the look of the players we are being linked with so far, all very positive, but I am definitely a half glass empty/cautious type, so until those players are through the door, question marks all over the ownership..
I don't see us getting Conor Coventry. Featured for West Ham on the bench, I don't see him dropping down to league 1 on a permanent.
I think that link stinks of agent talk/ the club giving Cawley something to post as we trust him and it may take the heat off them.
Sort of like how I am interested in Dua Lipa but she has the pick of most blokes in the world & I'm just a tubby lad from London
There no heat on the owners blimey only been in the role 5 mins .. going to take rest of this season and next to sort out the mis management of the last 10/12 years … and for us to have the structure and foundations to build a top 2 team upon
Well there is I'd say and they really haven't.
It's also not that hard to turn around? You literally just pay the going rate for players like every other successful club does at this level or you're full of sh*t and don't.
Portsmouth have a fairly new manager, signed a ton of new players and are flying? All this building and project stuff is nonsense and to trick fans.
You assign a manager worth their salt, you get a squad full of players of the quality of the likes of Dobson, May and CBT in every position. You then get promoted as it's league 1. You build teams in the championship where it's all about sustainability, if you're a big club, you buy your way out of league 1. Really is that simple I'm afraid
AND (and at the risk of sounding like Golfaddick), you bring them in early in the summer, so that you can spend pre season (and especially the overseas tour) building them into a team. When they went overseas in early July, they had already signed 9 players, whereas when we did a similar trip, we'd only signed 3, and had MASSIVE gaps in the squad.
At the time there was scepticism here that they'd bought in any old players, rather than waiting for the right ones, but the proof of the pudding is in their results when compared to ours.
I don't see us getting Conor Coventry. Featured for West Ham on the bench, I don't see him dropping down to league 1 on a permanent.
I think that link stinks of agent talk/ the club giving Cawley something to post as we trust him and it may take the heat off them.
Sort of like how I am interested in Dua Lipa but she has the pick of most blokes in the world & I'm just a tubby lad from London
There no heat on the owners blimey only been in the role 5 mins .. going to take rest of this season and next to sort out the mis management of the last 10/12 years … and for us to have the structure and foundations to build a top 2 team upon
Hang on a minute @RonnieMoore, you've fully supported the last 10-12 yrs of ownership! Now you say it's been mis-managed for the last 10 to12 yrs! Fuck me you do 'flip-flop'! As its been pointed out to you, it's not difficult to build a competitive squad, it just needs ambition,forward planning and a decent budget! Scott and Co have had 1/2 a season to look at the squad, observe where we are short of quality and find replacements! Stop all this "but they've only been here 5 mins crap" they are businessmen, they make money for a living, they do it by investing in the future, if they can't see, with their own eyes the crap on the pitch, they have no business being here! Take those Roland, ESI and Sangaard rose tinted glasses off and look at what's happening, we are 14th in the old 3rd Division, and 6 pts above the relegation spots! FFS!!
I don't see us getting Conor Coventry. Featured for West Ham on the bench, I don't see him dropping down to league 1 on a permanent.
I think that link stinks of agent talk/ the club giving Cawley something to post as we trust him and it may take the heat off them.
Sort of like how I am interested in Dua Lipa but she has the pick of most blokes in the world & I'm just a tubby lad from London
Apart from half a season in the championship he’s only played League 1 football
It is more so it being a permanent transfer.
Good player but I reckon this one is unlikely. If we did manage it however and kept Dobson, that would be a cracking midfield duo
He’s 24 in March and has been said he’ll be leaving West Ham at the end of his contract. I’d imagine they’d rather get a fee for him perhaps with a sell on clause rather than lose him for nothing in the summer.
He’s had four loan spells, two in L1 and two in the Championship, both of the latter with smaller clubs in Posh and Rotherham. If he was going to seriously interest Championship clubs he’d have probably left WH by now.
He’s also played under MA at Lincoln and will be available, I’d be surprised if we weren’t interested.
It’s not the sort of signing we’ve made before but for all those reasons he seems a realistic target to me. We need to bring in experience but if we’re making several signings a few like Coventry who have some but are young enough to improve would make sense.
It would be great if we retained Dobson and CBT but it’s pretty obvious that they both want out. No idea what’s been offered to them but I doubt it’s not competitive. They are after all important players for us but if they can get better offers beyond ours and want out then now’s the time to usher them out the door when we can hopefully get a small fee for both. That’s the reality of football. We’ll no doubt be taking advantage of the same opportunities. If there’s truth in Coventry and JCH there’s two straight away.
I've not seen any evidence to say that for definite. Just because a player isn't signing a new deal now, it doesn't follow that they're 100% set on leaving.
They might be waiting to see what division we're in next season. They might be waiting to see what transfer business happens. They might be waiting to see what offers come in once the season has finished before deciding whether to stay or not.
Either way it would be daft to push players out of the door just because they might leave. Patrick Bauer helped us get promotion before leaving, for example.
They are forcing the club to a corner though aren’t they. They can leave for nothing if they don’t sign in the next few weeks which is quite rightly unacceptable to the club so what is the club supposed to do ? We have made them an offer which I can only assume is as much as we can afford given their importance to the team. I think the take it or leave it offer at this point is absolutely the correct thing to do.
Yes, they can leave for nothing in the summer so how much do you think we could get in fees for them NOW, seeing as they can be picked up for nothing in 6 months time ? £200k ? £300k ?
I would suggest that would pale into insignificance if they left now & we got relegated. We would lose that much 5x over being in League 2.
Their VALUE to us is worth more than their COST.......even if its just for 5 more months.
Dobson gave his shirt and captains arm band to a young boy at the end of the game to Oxford . Think that tells you he is off?
Dobson's given more shirts away than he's done sliding challenges.
I'd rather have Fraser's shirt, as it would be cleaner
It's true, Dobson's one against Orient has practically changed colour...
I don't see us getting Conor Coventry. Featured for West Ham on the bench, I don't see him dropping down to league 1 on a permanent.
I think that link stinks of agent talk/ the club giving Cawley something to post as we trust him and it may take the heat off them.
Sort of like how I am interested in Dua Lipa but she has the pick of most blokes in the world & I'm just a tubby lad from London
Apart from half a season in the championship he’s only played League 1 football
It is more so it being a permanent transfer.
Good player but I reckon this one is unlikely. If we did manage it however and kept Dobson, that would be a cracking midfield duo
He’s 24 in March and has been said he’ll be leaving West Ham at the end of his contract. I’d imagine they’d rather get a fee for him perhaps with a sell on clause rather than lose him for nothing in the summer.
He’s had four loan spells, two in L1 and two in the Championship, both of the latter with smaller clubs in Posh and Rotherham. If he was going to seriously interest Championship clubs he’d have probably left WH by now.
He’s also played under MA at Lincoln and will be available, I’d be surprised if we weren’t interested.
It’s not the sort of signing we’ve made before but for all those reasons he seems a realistic target to me. We need to bring in experience but if we’re making several signings a few like Coventry who have some but are young enough to improve would make sense.
Great points , and I don't think him being on the bench for them last night actually changes much in terms of if he's a realistic target. He's never going to be a first team regular at West Ham.
Feels like a realistic target of a player that's got the potential to develop with us and maybe down the line has sell on potential for good money.
"Crystal Palace have had numerous bids for Peterborough and England youth defender Ronnie Edwards, 20, turned down. They face competition from up to five Premier League clubs with the League One club holding out for up to £10m".
Might explain why Peterborough aren't in a rush to accept low bids for Clarke-Harris.
"Crystal Palace have had numerous bids for Peterborough and England youth defender Ronnie Edwards, 20, turned down. They face competition from up to five Premier League clubs with the League One club holding out for up to £10m".
Might explain why Peterborough aren't in a rush to accept low bids for Clarke-Harris.
A great reminder of how much a good young player can be sold for at this level. It would be even more if he was in the Championship.
Peterborough with their ability to scout Lower League gems (Doesnt always work granted), and ability to hold out for good fees is an element that we should be looking at.
"Crystal Palace have had numerous bids for Peterborough and England youth defender Ronnie Edwards, 20, turned down. They face competition from up to five Premier League clubs with the League One club holding out for up to £10m".
Might explain why Peterborough aren't in a rush to accept low bids for Clarke-Harris.
But I doubt Edwards is in his last six months of his contract and can walk for nothing if he’s not out the door in four weeks.
There's been links with a new CB, CM and CF (how credible remains tbc) but that's the "spine of the team" as the old cliche has it.
Which honestly is not a bad thing as I think most people agree that cosmetic surgery won't fix this team, we need heavy duty work and lots of it.
That said, not even a whisper of new FBs or a GK, both of which seem quite pressing to me.
Appreciate its early days but there is a LOT of work to do so hopefully things start moving quickly instead of the usual 10:55 31st Jan panic buy model.
"Crystal Palace have had numerous bids for Peterborough and England youth defender Ronnie Edwards, 20, turned down. They face competition from up to five Premier League clubs with the League One club holding out for up to £10m".
Might explain why Peterborough aren't in a rush to accept low bids for Clarke-Harris.
A great reminder of how much a good young player can be sold for at this level. It would be even more if he was in the Championship.
They could also have a bonus with the Ivan Toney sell on shortly
I think we need a winger nearly as badly as we need a striker. If CBT has an off day we have zero threat. Tyreece is a decent young kid but he isn't half as dangerous as CBT.
I think we need a winger nearly as badly as we need a striker. If CBT has an off day we have zero threat. Tyreece is a decent young kid but he isn't half as dangerous as CBT.
There's been links with a new CB, CM and CF (how credible remains tbc) but that's the "spine of the team" as the old cliche has it.
Which honestly is not a bad thing as I think most people agree that cosmetic surgery won't fix this team, we need heavy duty work and lots of it.
That said, not even a whisper of new FBs or a GK, both of which seem quite pressing to me.
Appreciate its early days but there is a LOT of work to do so hopefully things start moving quickly instead of the usual 10:55 31st Jan panic buy model.
There’s a good argument for strengthening in every position but I hope we prioritise the spine to add experience, leadership and physicality to the team as I think it would have a biggest impact.
I think we need a winger nearly as badly as we need a striker. If CBT has an off day we have zero threat. Tyreece is a decent young kid but he isn't half as dangerous as CBT.
Only if we persist with 4-3-3 …
Hasn’t MA used 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 his entire management career?
I don't see us getting Conor Coventry. Featured for West Ham on the bench, I don't see him dropping down to league 1 on a permanent.
I think that link stinks of agent talk/ the club giving Cawley something to post as we trust him and it may take the heat off them.
Sort of like how I am interested in Dua Lipa but she has the pick of most blokes in the world & I'm just a tubby lad from London
There no heat on the owners blimey only been in the role 5 mins .. going to take rest of this season and next to sort out the mis management of the last 10/12 years … and for us to have the structure and foundations to build a top 2 team upon
Well there is I'd say and they really haven't.
It's also not that hard to turn around? You literally just pay the going rate for players like every other successful club does at this level or you're full of sh*t and don't.
Portsmouth have a fairly new manager, signed a ton of new players and are flying? All this building and project stuff is nonsense and to trick fans.
You assign a manager worth their salt, you get a squad full of players of the quality of the likes of Dobson, May and CBT in every position. You then get promoted as it's league 1. You build teams in the championship where it's all about sustainability, if you're a big club, you buy your way out of league 1. Really is that simple I'm afraid
I think we need a winger nearly as badly as we need a striker. If CBT has an off day we have zero threat. Tyreece is a decent young kid but he isn't half as dangerous as CBT.
Only if we persist with 4-3-3 …
Hasn’t MA used 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 his entire management career?
Coventry isn’t one I have heard, but if true I would imagine would be a permanent signing, he certainly fits the type of players we are looking.
I would add, that Dobson has been offer a take or leave or deal, if he doesn’t sign, he will be gone, same as CBT. But I think that is old news.
As I mentioned there is going to be a lot of transactions this month, in and out of the club. I honestly think these owners want to a big go at, I get to fans are once bitten twice as shy, and want instant success, but personally I feel we need to give them a bit of time, they haven’t done anything alarmingly wrong at the moment. They have a strategy and a plan, and it is certainly bette than the last few owners that’s for sure!
As I go back, there is a base on here would only be happy if it was Varney that took over!
It is a big month for Scott, if no improvement then we deserve to go after him, but at the moment the jury is out for me!
Why did we not do this in the summer?! They’ve basically wasted a season (and a very weak league 1) and missed a great opportunity.
If the money is there now, why wasn’t it in the summer? Just seems like a bit of an odd approach
Because basically the whole window was planned around Holden… he basically got the younger small squad he wanted!
I seem to remember the line being trodden during the summer window was that we couldn't sign more players because then we would have broken FFP.
But it turns out it was Holden that was rejecting experienced and capable strikers for a month while losing games and later his job, in favour of holding out for Tedic on deadline day.
I don't see us getting Conor Coventry. Featured for West Ham on the bench, I don't see him dropping down to league 1 on a permanent.
I think that link stinks of agent talk/ the club giving Cawley something to post as we trust him and it may take the heat off them.
Sort of like how I am interested in Dua Lipa but she has the pick of most blokes in the world & I'm just a tubby lad from London
There no heat on the owners blimey only been in the role 5 mins .. going to take rest of this season and next to sort out the mis management of the last 10/12 years … and for us to have the structure and foundations to build a top 2 team upon
Well there is I'd say and they really haven't.
It's also not that hard to turn around? You literally just pay the going rate for players like every other successful club does at this level or you're full of sh*t and don't.
Portsmouth have a fairly new manager, signed a ton of new players and are flying? All this building and project stuff is nonsense and to trick fans.
You assign a manager worth their salt, you get a squad full of players of the quality of the likes of Dobson, May and CBT in every position. You then get promoted as it's league 1. You build teams in the championship where it's all about sustainability, if you're a big club, you buy your way out of league 1. Really is that simple I'm afraid
major surgery needed in our squad, the names being mentioned on this thread as potential signings look decent.
let's assume we lose both Dobson and CBT - both need replacing, that's before we need another striker.
Personally of our current first choice back 5, only Jones would keep his place - I know we won't get them, but 2 new FB's, a Hector replacement and a new keeper would be on my shopping list
Comments
It's also not that hard to turn around? You literally just pay the going rate for players like every other successful club does at this level or you're full of sh*t and don't.
Portsmouth have a fairly new manager, signed a ton of new players and are flying? All this building and project stuff is nonsense and to trick fans.
You assign a manager worth their salt, you get a squad full of players of the quality of the likes of Dobson, May and CBT in every position. You then get promoted as it's league 1. You build teams in the championship where it's all about sustainability, if you're a big club, you buy your way out of league 1. Really is that simple I'm afraid
Good player but I reckon this one is unlikely. If we did manage it however and kept Dobson, that would be a cracking midfield duo
At the time there was scepticism here that they'd bought in any old players, rather than waiting for the right ones, but the proof of the pudding is in their results when compared to ours.
You look at most auto promoted sides over the years and they all are just big spenders or newly relegated sides.
I think if Bolton manage to go up this season, they're the only real example I can think of where a side has kept managers and players and slowly built their way to promotion. I am amazed they've managed to hold on to that squad but I reckon if they don't go up this year that will be that and they'll be on a rebuild.
I like the look of the players we are being linked with so far, all very positive, but I am definitely a half glass empty/cautious type, so until those players are through the door, question marks all over the ownership..
Scott and Co have had 1/2 a season to look at the squad, observe where we are short of quality and find replacements! Stop all this "but they've only been here 5 mins crap" they are businessmen, they make money for a living, they do it by investing in the future, if they can't see, with their own eyes the crap on the pitch, they have no business being here!
Take those Roland, ESI and Sangaard rose tinted glasses off and look at what's happening, we are 14th in the old 3rd Division, and 6 pts above the relegation spots! FFS!!
If we did manage it however and kept Dobson, that *could* be a cracking midfield duo.
He’s had four loan spells, two in L1 and two in the Championship, both of the latter with smaller clubs in Posh and Rotherham. If he was going to seriously interest Championship clubs he’d have probably left WH by now.
He’s also played under MA at Lincoln and will be available, I’d be surprised if we weren’t interested.
It’s not the sort of signing we’ve made before but for all those reasons he seems a realistic target to me. We need to bring in experience but if we’re making several signings a few like Coventry who have some but are young enough to improve would make sense.
Just spending money isn't enough.
Duchatelet spent so much he lost £13m in a season and we got relegated.
Sandgaard spent a lot of money but a lot of it was wasted on the likes of Schwarzt and Kirk.
Spending in itself isn't enough, this is the real world not football manager.
Of course, having a bigger budget is a huge advantage but you need to spend it well.
You need a good manager to coach the players you've brought in (radical idea but you could even let the manager pick those players).
You need a balanced squad, you need experience, leadership and flexibility.
You need good recruitment so you get the right personalities.
You need good scouting to see what opposition are doing.
You need the right sports science people and facilities to get and keep the players fit.
You need good facilities and infrastructure to back up all of that.
You need time and management to build a collection of individuals into a team that is greater than the sum of its parts.
No, it's not "simple". That's what Sandgaard and Duchatelet thought.
We've yet to see if GFP are any better.
Right, back to some rumours now.
Great points , and I don't think him being on the bench for them last night actually changes much in terms of if he's a realistic target. He's never going to be a first team regular at West Ham.
Feels like a realistic target of a player that's got the potential to develop with us and maybe down the line has sell on potential for good money.
Might explain why Peterborough aren't in a rush to accept low bids for Clarke-Harris.
Which honestly is not a bad thing as I think most people agree that cosmetic surgery won't fix this team, we need heavy duty work and lots of it.
That said, not even a whisper of new FBs or a GK, both of which seem quite pressing to me.
Appreciate its early days but there is a LOT of work to do so hopefully things start moving quickly instead of the usual 10:55 31st Jan panic buy model.
But it turns out it was Holden that was rejecting experienced and capable strikers for a month while losing games and later his job, in favour of holding out for Tedic on deadline day.
let's assume we lose both Dobson and CBT - both need replacing, that's before we need another striker.
Personally of our current first choice back 5, only Jones would keep his place - I know we won't get them, but 2 new FB's, a Hector replacement and a new keeper would be on my shopping list