Transfer News, Gossip & Speculation Transfer Thread - Summer 2025 Edition.

[Blues4LifeDan]

Looking at the players who made at least 20 appearances for Barnet last year they were signed from

NLS/N
Stead (their top scorer, signed from Kettering)
Ndlovu (from Boreham Wood in Jan)
Oluwu (from Chelmsford)

NL
Glover (from Aldershot - we were interested in him)
Collinge (Dover after they finished bottom)
Browne (Woking)
Brunt (Boreham Wood)
Ben Coker (released by Solihull)
Kenlock (Ebbsfleet)
Shelton (released by Oldham)
Cropper (released by Grimsby)
Tavares (Dagenham)
Clifford (Ebbsfleet)

L2
Hartigan (Mansfield- had been on loan there previous season)
Chapman (Bradford)

L1
Kanu (signed 3 years ago from Peterborough who had signed him from Aldershot)
Hayes (signed from Ipswich, who had signed him from NLS Hemel, but then sold to us)


They also signed a couple from local non-league - Jermaine Francis (Chelmsford), Finley Wilkinson (Hitchin), Joe Grimwood (Braintree) who just missed the cut-off point.

That doesn’t seem too different to ours. Probably the bigger difference is they had a much bigger squad.

The main thing that stands out is how many of the NL teams they recruited from got subsequently relegated. I suppose this points at astutely identifying key players.


Hmm. He took three months to get into shape.

Again, that's very harsh. I'm not saying that isn't true, but there were circumstances to that. We didn't sign him until late on. He'd had no preseason because he didn't have a club and we have no reserve games in order to get him match sharp. Southend knew all of this and still took him on, because we were desperate.

We are not currently under that desperation cloud and therefore don't have to bow down to his, or anybody elses agent. However, you can't say he didn't give his all.

I was genuinely surprised by his level of commitment and respect towards the games. I thought he'd walk around like a big time Charlie, thinking he was too good for the league and put in minimal effort. He certainly didn't do that.

I know you always champion younger players instead of EFL players on the way down, I agree. I do think it's a little harsh to suggest he didn't give his all though.

 

[rshepp]

No one can say Bonne was only here for money etc. yes the goal return wasn’t great but apart from Gus no ones was. He worked is absolute socks off and definitely offered the team a lot. We looked a better team with him in

Agreed.
I rate Bonne. He works for the team.

 

[LCBB72]

Bit of target , but what has happend to Beau Macdonald .

 

[Sensei Phil]

Looking at the players who made at least 20 appearances for Barnet last year they were signed from


Brunt (Boreham Wood)

Zak was only on loan to Boreham from Sheff Utd, so was technically from the Premier league at the time of signing, though never played at that level. He did appear in the Carling Cup though when they were in the Championship.

 

[Blue Yonder]

Looking at the players who made at least 20 appearances for Barnet last year they were signed from

NLS/N
Stead (their top scorer, signed from Kettering)
Ndlovu (from Boreham Wood in Jan)
Oluwu (from Chelmsford)

NL
Glover (from Aldershot - we were interested in him)
Collinge (Dover after they finished bottom)
Browne (Woking)
Brunt (Boreham Wood)
Ben Coker (released by Solihull)
Kenlock (Ebbsfleet)
Shelton (released by Oldham)
Cropper (released by Grimsby)
Tavares (Dagenham)
Clifford (Ebbsfleet)

L2
Hartigan (Mansfield- had been on loan there previous season)
Chapman (Bradford)

L1
Kanu (signed 3 years ago from Peterborough who had signed him from Aldershot)
Hayes (signed from Ipswich, who had signed him from NLS Hemel, but then sold to us)


They also signed a couple from local non-league - Jermaine Francis (Chelmsford), Finley Wilkinson (Hitchin), Joe Grimwood (Braintree) who just missed the cut-off point.

That doesn’t seem too different to ours. Probably the bigger difference is they had a much bigger squad.

The main thing that stands out is how many of the NL teams they recruited from got subsequently relegated. I suppose this points at astutely identifying key players.


Hmm. He took three months to get into shape.

Interesting analysis. Thank you. Have you done the same for our squad out of interest ?

 

[fredheim_holm]

Looking at the players who made at least 20 appearances for Barnet last year they were signed from

NLS/N
Stead (their top scorer, signed from Kettering)
Ndlovu (from Boreham Wood in Jan)
Oluwu (from Chelmsford)

NL
Glover (from Aldershot - we were interested in him)
Collinge (Dover after they finished bottom)
Browne (Woking)
Brunt (Boreham Wood)
Ben Coker (released by Solihull)
Kenlock (Ebbsfleet)
Shelton (released by Oldham)
Cropper (released by Grimsby)
Tavares (Dagenham)
Clifford (Ebbsfleet)

L2
Hartigan (Mansfield- had been on loan there previous season)
Chapman (Bradford)

L1
Kanu (signed 3 years ago from Peterborough who had signed him from Aldershot)
Hayes (signed from Ipswich, who had signed him from NLS Hemel, but then sold to us)


They also signed a couple from local non-league - Jermaine Francis (Chelmsford), Finley Wilkinson (Hitchin), Joe Grimwood (Braintree) who just missed the cut-off point.

That doesn’t seem too different to ours. Probably the bigger difference is they had a much bigger squad.

The main thing that stands out is how many of the NL teams they recruited from got subsequently relegated. I suppose this points at astutely identifying key players.


Hmm. He took three months to get into shape.

Always a big fan of your deep dives YB, please keep posting content like this, very insightful.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Again, that's very harsh. I'm not saying that isn't true, but there were circumstances to that. We didn't sign him until late on. He'd had no preseason because he didn't have a club and we have no reserve games in order to get him match sharp. Southend knew all of this and still took him on, because we were desperate.

We are not currently under that desperation cloud and therefore don't have to bow down to his, or anybody elses agent. However, you can't say he didn't give his all.

I was genuinely surprised by his level of commitment and respect towards the games. I thought he'd walk around like a big time Charlie, thinking he was too good for the league and put in minimal effort. He certainly didn't do that.

I know you always champion younger players instead of EFL players on the way down, I agree. I do think it's a little harsh to suggest he didn't give his all though.

Callum Powell gave his all. You could see on the pitch the fitness work off the pitch he put in into being a professional footballer. That’s commitment.

Macauley Bonne was no Callum Powell.

For the first few months Bonne was a shoe-in for the breathing-out-their-backside-and-it’s-not-even-half-time-yet XI alongside Nile Ranger, Andre Blackman, George Moncur and Liam Ridgewell ffs. As far as I’m aware he wasn’t coming off injury when he signed. He certainly improved his fitness but we can’t just ignore those first few months and even as a sub at Wembley I felt he was flagging.

Now there’s a reasonable chance he turns up to pre-season in better shape than he was at any stage last season. If he does that we can say he’s giving his all and that the start of his Southend career was just an aberration. I certainly saw improvement and he was trending in the right direction.

Interesting analysis. Thank you. Have you done the same for our squad out of interest ?

There’s one for Maher’s signings earlier in the thread.

But to apply the exact same criteria as appeared 20+ times and where they were before we signed them

Youth
Collin
Coker

NLS/N
Gus
Husin
Morton
Crowther

NL
Miley
Taylor
Bridge
Kendall
KAF (on loan from EPL)

SPL
Ralph but signed years ago

L2
Bonne
Gubbins (on loan from QPR, had been on loan with us previously)

L1
Walker (Burton signed him from then NL Daggers)


We also had 5 who made 18 or 19 appearances:
Goodliffe and Hopper (both L2), Hayes (NL), Parillon (NLS), Pepple (had loans in NL and SPL last year)

 

[Hadleigh-shrimper]

Callum Powell gave his all. You could see on the pitch the fitness work off the pitch he put in into being a professional footballer. That’s commitment.

Macauley Bonne was no Callum Powell.

For the first few months Bonne was a shoe-in for the breathing-out-their-backside-and-it’s-not-even-half-time-yet XI alongside Nile Ranger, Andre Blackman, George Moncur and Liam Ridgewell ffs. As far as I’m aware he wasn’t coming off injury when he signed. He certainly improved his fitness but we can’t just ignore those first few months and even as a sub at Wembley I felt he was flagging.

Now there’s a reasonable chance he turns up to pre-season in better shape than he was at any stage last season. If he does that we can say he’s giving his all and that the start of his Southend career was just an aberration. I certainly saw improvement and he was trending in the right direction.



There’s one for Maher’s signings earlier in the thread.

But to apply the exact same criteria as appeared 20+ times and where they were before we signed them

Youth
Collin
Coker

NLS/N
Gus
Husin
Morton
Crowther

NL
Miley
Taylor
Bridge
Kendall
KAF (on loan from EPL)

SPL
Ralph but signed years ago

L2
Bonne
Gubbins (on loan from QPR, had been on loan with us previously)

L1
Walker (Burton signed him from then NL Daggers)


We also had 5 who made 18 or 19 appearances:
Goodliffe and Hopper (both L2), Hayes (NL), Parillon (NLS), Pepple (had loans in NL and SPL last year)

I completely disagree on Bonne , anyway isn’t this the transfer thread

 

[Blues4LifeDan]

Callum Powell gave his all. You could see on the pitch the fitness work off the pitch he put in into being a professional footballer. That’s commitment.

Macauley Bonne was no Callum Powell.

For the first few months Bonne was a shoe-in for the breathing-out-their-backside-and-it’s-not-even-half-time-yet XI alongside Nile Ranger, Andre Blackman, George Moncur and Liam Ridgewell ffs. As far as I’m aware he wasn’t coming off injury when he signed. He certainly improved his fitness but we can’t just ignore those first few months and even as a sub at Wembley I felt he was flagging.

Now there’s a reasonable chance he turns up to pre-season in better shape than he was at any stage last season. If he does that we can say he’s giving his all and that the start of his Southend career was just an aberration. I certainly saw improvement and he was trending in the right direction.



There’s one for Maher’s signings earlier in the thread.

But to apply the exact same criteria as appeared 20+ times and where they were before we signed them

Youth
Collin
Coker

NLS/N
Gus
Husin
Morton
Crowther

NL
Miley
Taylor
Bridge
Kendall
KAF (on loan from EPL)

SPL
Ralph but signed years ago

L2
Bonne
Gubbins (on loan from QPR, had been on loan with us previously)

L1
Walker (Burton signed him from then NL Daggers)


We also had 5 who made 18 or 19 appearances:
Goodliffe and Hopper (both L2), Hayes (NL), Parillon (NLS), Pepple (had loans in NL and SPL last year)

I get what you're saying but giving your all isn't exclusive to being a gym freak and being 'fit'. Bonne was fit, he just wasn't match sharp because he hadn't played any matches for months. Like the semi-pro players we've signed over the years, it takes time for the body to get fully match sharp.

You mentioned Powell, he gave his all in the gym and he could bench press an enormous amount but he was always flagging in the second half too. By Bonne giving his all for us, I'm also referring to his general attitude on the pitch. He showed passion, pride in the shirt and was supportive of his peers. We've had an array of players who've done none of the those things.

I simply stated that because of that, he deserves to weigh up his offer and is entitled to negotiate. I haven't said we should give him everything to sign him. I haven't even said we should keep him. Just that he is entitled to consider his offer. The simple fact that Kev has even offered him a deal shows he must like what he brings. If Kev thought for one minute that he wasn't commited, he would have binned him straight away.

 

[smudgster]

Blah blah blah, any chance of a transfer rumour on here ?

 

[Sensei Phil]

Blah blah blah, any chance of a transfer rumour on here ?

Lopata could be on the cards for a return...

 

[Bar na bas]

Lopata could be on the cards for a return...

Now that would be class...

 

[Sensei Phil]

Now that would be class...

Not going to happen. You asked for a transfer rumour so I started one .... it would though, but bridges have been burnt there.

 

[londonblue]

Lopata could be on the cards for a return...

If only.

 

[smudgster]

Lopata could be on the cards for a return...

Thank you, a proper rumour.

 

[flangejackrabbit]

Lopata could be on the cards for a return...

Lopata AND Cards? You really are spoiling us...

 

[Shrimper83]

Lopata would be class signing, surely he didn't burn bridges with Maher etc it was Ron that ****ed him around?

The Dackers going to Killie will be interesting reading comments on here i wonder if these same people that dont want him will change there tune if he does what Dalby done in the same league! Dackers will cause teams problems in that division and will get goals. I'm looking forward to seeing this Bulgarian that we've just signed as he'll get a full pre season.

Last season Bonne signed late didn't have a pre season looked better once fully fit.

KAF again signed late for whatever reason ended up being one of the best players

We need the players ideally in time for a decent pre season

 

[Hadleigh-shrimper]

Lopata would be class signing, surely he didn't burn bridges with Maher etc it was Ron that ****ed him around?

The Dackers going to Killie will be interesting reading comments on here i wonder if these same people that dont want him will change there tune if he does what Dalby done in the same league! Dackers will cause teams problems in that division and will get goals. I'm looking forward to seeing this Bulgarian that we've just signed as he'll get a full pre season.

Last season Bonne signed late didn't have a pre season looked better once fully fit.

KAF again signed late for whatever reason ended up being one of the best players

We need the players ideally in time for a decent pre season

Lopata did unfortunately

 

[Strykr]

I get the feeling lopata is the exact opposite personality type that kev wants.

 

[Sensei Phil]

Lopata would be class signing, surely he didn't burn bridges with Maher etc it was Ron that ****ed him around?

Yes, but he also sadly left under a cloud. Kev was respectful to him when he left, but that cloud won't go away with se others. Then again, in football never say never!