2018 summer transfer thread

[wakes123]

At the risk of getting chased out of SZ with pitch forks, I'm a little underwhelmed by Chris Powell's off-season transfer results. Reading between the lines, I don't see him having as much pull with some of the bigger fish like, dare I say it, Phil Brown did. That's not to say he wont be better and bringing the best out of the players he does acquire, but I'm getting a sense that he is not as successful in landing the transfers. By his own admission, he has missed out on numerous targets throughout the summer and we are left with the following to date:

Mantom - Already with us, seems decent, although only technically a summer signing as was with us for several games at the tail-end of last season
Hyam - Very suspect on injuries and discipline. I live in Ipswich and most ITFC fans have said he is a gamble even at L1 standard
Lennon - Looks very uneasy at the back
Barratt - Non-League find, always a gamble
Hopper - Another "gamble" signing, might pay off, might be behind Ba in selection come next May
Dieng - Possibly the better prospect of the summer transfer activity, but not really seen much of him

Sure, financials lay in the hands of RM, but I can't help but feel we've not made the most of the transfer window and last Saturday's result is probably a signal that we've not got the players to challenge beyond mid-table.

I think it's too early to say that. We would have won that game on Saturday if it wasn't for an outstanding goalkeeping performance from their keeper. We're also missing our best player from the second half of last season, who should be back shortly and will definitely improve us.

 

[Goughy]

At least the signings are all under the age of 30!

 

[Bromley Blue]

At the risk of getting chased out of SZ with pitch forks, I'm a little underwhelmed by Chris Powell's off-season transfer results. Reading between the lines, I don't see him having as much pull with some of the bigger fish like, dare I say it, Phil Brown did. That's not to say he wont be better and bringing the best out of the players he does acquire, but I'm getting a sense that he is not as successful in landing the transfers. By his own admission, he has missed out on numerous targets throughout the summer and we are left with the following to date:

Mantom - Already with us, seems decent, although only technically a summer signing as was with us for several games at the tail-end of last season
Hyam - Very suspect on injuries and discipline. I live in Ipswich and most ITFC fans have said he is a gamble even at L1 standard
Lennon - Looks very uneasy at the back
Barratt - Non-League find, always a gamble
Hopper - Another "gamble" signing, might pay off, might be behind Ba in selection come next May
Dieng - Possibly the better prospect of the summer transfer activity, but not really seen much of him

Sure, financials lay in the hands of RM, but I can't help but feel we've not made the most of the transfer window and last Saturday's result is probably a signal that we've not got the players to challenge beyond mid-table.

I think I agree overall that I’ve been a bit underwhelmed by our transfer dealings this summer compared to previous seasons.

But I think some of the observations you’re making against the players Powell has signed are at best mid-placed. Harry Lennon wasn’t great on Saturday by all accounts but looked decent against Leeds. It’s really harsh to judge after one game!

And if Tom Hopper is behind Amadou Ba for anything other than injury or suspension by the end of the season then I’ll eat my hat.

 

[Jim Levenstein]

hahaha one game in and slagging off the new signings love SZ sometimes.

 

[Benfleetboy]

Wild rumour....

Seen on Twitter that a host of L1 clubs are after Kevin Van Veen - would he be the sort of player we could get?

Scored for Scunny against us if I remember correctly.

Set a new OPTA record in April for the least effort of a player

 

[Benfleetboy]

Kevin Van Veen.
Set a new OPTA Stat record in April this year for the LEAST effort by a player
Hmmmm

 

[fbm]

Bear in mind we are SUFC and are not going to sign great players at the peak of their careers. We will be getting one of the following -

1 - Untried youths with potential (for instance Yearwood)
2 - Competent young players at our level or slightly above/below who fancy a change in order to kick start their careers because for whatever reason it hasn't worked out where they are (for instance Mantom or Lennon)
3 - Quality players in their prime but who have something wrong with them, i.e. attitude or injury prone (Ranger and Kiernan)
4 - Quality players at the ends of their careers (Ferdinand)

Phil Brown's preference was for players from 3 and 4. SCP's is from 1 and 2... as in fact he was himself when Dave Webb picked him up from the Aldershot scrap heap.

A few years ago I was sad enough to actually trawl back through history and research this point... the number of players in category 1 probably have a 50% chance of success and when they are successful, it is sometimes spectacular. Think Eastwood, Bentley, Payne, Roget, all of whom went on and made us some dosh. In category 2 the players are generally ok and things don't change massively in their favour... but when they do, it can again be spectacular. Chris Powell, Stanley are ones that spring to mind. More often than not, the players are good servants, hard working and don't often make us money. They just move on at the end of their contracts. Sometimes they become stalwarts and play most of their careers with us. Alan Moody, Kevin Maher, Michael Timlin I would put in this category.

Contrast that with the players in group 3, that actually don't often work out. We get some occasional great moments but they usually end up crashing and burning without ever playing properly to their potential - Mike Marsh is probably the best example of that. Whilst not in the same class, in the mid 80's we went through another phase of "buying people we'd heard of" which meant they were in higher divisions. Billy Kellock was the biggest name I can think of here - he'd played for Wolves in the first live Division 1 game v Tottenham on opening day and two weeks later we've got him. Masterful start and we got relegated.

Then the real gamble... quality versus cost and the return was always usually in favour of the player. Consider Frank Lampard (snr), Trevor Whymark, Kevin O'Callaghan, Ronnie Whelan, Dougie Freedman, Anton Ferdinand, Shaun Goater... only the Goat gave us value and he played just one season. Anton was excellent in his first season and then we all know what's happened. The jury is still out on Michael Kightly and Michael Turner, who at times have been good but nowhere near worth what we are paying them.

On balance, whilst less exciting, the players from groups 1 and 2 are more likely to be a success for us.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

I think there are more like 6 main categories:

1. The promoted. On an upward curve they've impressed at a lower level to earn this chance and flush with confidence from that are looking to see if their success continues at the higher level. This can be the young youth teamer (Dru), the loanee who has done well enough in League 2 to attract interest from a League 1 side (the gaffer) or even the older non-league stalwart (Mark Bentley). Sam Barratt is the most recent example but historic examples include Freddy Eastwood, Mark Gower, Nicky Bailey, Steve Tilson. These are players who have established a floor but not yet a ceiling.

2. The stalled youngsters - they showed occasional glimpses of promise, often at a higher level, but promise hasn't translated into success and they are having to take a step backwards to try and establish their level - and a career. Their confidence is likely to be low as a result and they don't have much success in the adult game to fall back on. Their next stop could be the Championship or non-league. Examples are Osei Sankofa, Conor Clifford or more successfully Ryan Leonard.

3. The young graduates - they've served their football league apprenticeship and have seasons under their belt so they now know what being a pro in the division is about. Aged around 23-25 they are approaching their prime and are breakout candidates to take that step from supporting act to being a main man but may need a sideways move and a fresh start to achieve that. Tom Hopper, Harry Lennon and Sam Mantom all seem to fit into this category. Even if it all goes wrong for them at Roots Hall and they don't take the next step as players they should still be able to find a starting spot at a league two club. If it goes well then maybe they can go up a division.

4. Established journeymen - slightly older players who have bounced around the division so you know can play at this level but also that they won't rise above this level. Josh Wright would be a prime example, he was established enough that if it didn't work out for him at Southend there would be another League 1 club who'd take him on. Kevan Hurst or Jason Demetriou would be examples of some of the better journeymen signings; Franck Nouble one of the poorer recent ones.

5. Flawed quality players - the likes of Mike Marsh or Rob Kiernan (injury), Nile Ranger, Paul Byrne or Michael Ricketts (attitude). They're available for a reason. Luke Hyam's injury record probably puts him in this category. One of the most successful example for us would be armed robber Ricky Otto.

6. Former quality players on the way down - Turner, Kightly, Cox etc - trying to recapture past glories. It can work - see Benji and Spinner for two of the more spectacular examples of rolling back the years and having Indian summers at Roots Hall.

 

[Rattus Norvegicus]

Blimey ..... the quality of posting on here has gone up a notch or two lately ........... where is Blue79 when you need him/her ................

 

[NZamba Legend]

Nice to see Weberian ideal types being used to good effect on this thread.

 

[fbm]

Blimey ..... the quality of posting on here has gone up a notch or two lately ........... where is Blue79 when you need him/her ................

Well, Yorkie and I try.

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

Nice to see Weberian ideal types being used to good effect on this thread.

Why bring Dave Webb into this, what's he done?

 

[Harry Bullocks]

Got us to the top of the Championship for 3 hours....

 

[Jay_SUFC]

I think it's too early to say that. We would have won that game on Saturday if it wasn't for an outstanding goalkeeping performance from their keeper. We're also missing our best player from the second half of last season, who should be back shortly and will definitely improve us.

No matter how good the keeper was, we still conceeded 3 at home, so can't blame the defeat on that!!

When people moaned about PBs signings I suggested then it doesn't matter who our manager is, we will always struggle to sign players because of who we are. IMO this will not change until we get a new stadium.

Another reason why our youth team are so important as we can bring them through rather than spending a lot money trying to unearth a gem.

Therefore you just hope each manager just gets the best out of whoever they sign and who is already at the club.

 

[MisterStubbs]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1027133783953301504

 

[Flinty]

this is a worry in my opinion

 

[MisterStubbs]

Looks like Harry Lennon will be out for some time now as well due to a fractured toe.

 

[shrimpled]

The loan window remains open until 31st August I believe, and since a few weeks ago I've expected any signings to be on loan. Won't change much for us this window closing tomorrow.

 

[Tampa Blue]

Looks like Harry Lennon will be out for some time now as well due to a fractured toe.

That's bad news, could happen to anyone I guess but typically happens to someone with an already bad injury record. Looks like 4 - 6 weeks out and then will need to regain match fitness.

Good opportunity for John White and Harry K though.

 

[manor15]

That's bad news, could happen to anyone I guess but typically happens to someone with an already bad injury record. Looks like 4 - 6 weeks out and then will need to regain match fitness.

Good opportunity for John White and Harry K though.

And wonder if Anton may be back in the picture. Only takes one more injury or red card and we're looking thin at the back.