Transfer News, Gossip & Speculation January transfer window 2023

[Massimo Giovanni]

Except @Blue43 money talks, if he, Kacper, or a n other, is offered, perhaps 10 or 15K a week how would, could SUFC compete with that; and being unable to how would we be able to compel him to stay?
That is the reality of the power of clubs up the pyramid, especially when young professionals have such limited career years.

 

[danbowen]

Now that we are in the National League (thanks to Ron) we are low down in the pyramid and even more vulnerable to our better players being poached. We lost Dalby in the summer and he was average at best, thankfully we have five strikers better than him now in my opinion. It will be an ongoing challenge trying to replace players who depart that are of a similar calibre though. At least we have players that would command a transfer fee, however I doubt we would receive much if we lost players to League Two clubs. A further problem is our precarious financial position which puts us in a poor negotiating position. I was watching the Wrexham documentary series recently, it mentioned on there the average National League salary is £39,000 (I assume most other clubs actually pay their salaries when they are due as well!). You can’t blame people wanting to further their careers by playing at a higher level and earning more money.

Are you actually sad that Dalby left? Tbh Dalby going went towards us getting Lopata back. He also isn’t the type of player that compliments the way we play best which is getting the ball down on the floor and he most certainly isn’t a lone striker. Also most players I can’t see leaving us to go to most league two teams currently. We have a great team who are moving forward whereas most league two teams have literally no chance of moving forward as a project. Most also don’t have big budgets. What I think is important to remember is the way we are going is buying players with a potential sell on for us which in turn helps the club financially. It’s great to see Stan etc planning in the eventuality that any of our players do leave though and also looking to constantly improve us.

 

[Tommy2holes]

Except @Blue43 money talks, if he, Kacper, or a n other, is offered, perhaps 10 or 15K a week how would, could SUFC compete with that; and being unable to how would we be able to compel him to stay?
That is the reality of the power of clubs up the pyramid, especially when young professionals have such limited career years.

Who is going to offer a national league player 10 to 15k a week?

Thats like the very top earners at the bigger league 1 clubs. Most league 1 players earn like 1500 - 2500 per week.

 

[Massimo Giovanni]

Who is going to offer a national league player 10 to 15k a week?

Thats like the very top earners at the bigger league 1 clubs. Most league 1 players earn like 1500 - 2500 per week.

Oops, in that case an offer of very much less, say 3k a week might force a sale. That makes the chances of losing our better players more likely as we are unlikely to get anywhere near those numbers.

 

[KiwiRob]

The sheff utd well seems to have run dry.. did we poison it through our glorious leader?

That might be true. But there could be another possibility. The Sheffield United loanees, especially Lopata, enjoyed the Southend experience so much that it effectively unsettled them when they returned to their parent club.

 

[stewart]

I would think that the embargo will shortly be lifted, like the others when it was a tax thing ,RM paid up just before the hearing which must be very soon, He would have collected the interest on it as he normally does then pays it .

 

[Barry.C]

Wasnt Hobbos contract option to extend to 2023 triggered ? or if not isnt that option avaialble to the club>

I thought he signed for this year plus another year option to us?

 

[Murkey_Mouse]

If we poisoned it, it would probably be through our pursuit of Łopata. Don’t suppose parent clubs would take kindly to their loanees being so obviously unsettled and forcing through a move.

It’s their own fault, for recalling him, then don’t play him at all, when their own defenders was rubbish. If he stayed until end of the season, we probably gained extra 18 points, and make the play off.

 

[Holy Joe]

I would think that the embargo will shortly be lifted, like the others when it was a tax thing ,RM paid up just before the hearing which must be very soon, He would have collected the interest on it as he normally does then pays it .

Since he is most likely borrowing to pay the tax bill it will be reducing interest paid not collected!

 

[Grayson]

Its gone very quiet off the pitch and as every week passes, it sadly becomes more "accepted" by the sheep (fanbase) that the embargo is still in play.

What have you done to not accept the embargo that we 'sheep' can all learn from?

 

[TheSouthendUnitedRunner]

Its great to hear that we are so well run "off the pitch" in the footballing area but its pretty pointless when we are being so badly let down by an incompetent chairman steering the ship. In a way, its actually a total waste having the likes of SVC and JS being involved. Being in the NL allows us to bring in players "whenever" and its important we make the most of it. Being under an embargo in OCTOBER isn't the end of the world if you are in the FL as very limited on making personal changes but that isn't the case now.

Its gone very quiet off the pitch and as every week passes, it sadly becomes more "accepted" by the sheep (fanbase) that the embargo is still in play.

What surprises me, is what we have in place with our football department, isn’t in place at Clubs up and down the country. It’s not exactly ground breaking stuff, and isn’t reinventing the wheel.

The football department will also have a list of potential replacements for anyone of our players, as well as management staff. So if King Kev is poached next week, we already have a list of potential replacements. Surely, that’s good practice. I know Brighton have that in place for example, but they are the exception, and not the rule surprisingly.

I won’t defend the indefensible. I partly agree with what you are saying. What I will say, is being in an embargo is only a problem if/when we need to bring players in. As it stands, we don’t need too. In the EFL, for example, as you mentioned this wouldn’t be an issue as we couldn’t do any business anyways. So it’s almost like being in an embargo in some parts.

However, we have a strong, settled squad, with competition for places. We don’t need to bring anyone in, so in that sense, the embargo doesn’t really matter. Obviously it’s not ideal, but we aren’t the only club in this league, or the football league, to be under an embargo at present.

I always find that having a dig at supporters at the end of a post a really classy way to sign off a fairly decent post.

 

[TheSouthendUnitedRunner]

Now that we are in the National League (thanks to Ron) we are low down in the pyramid and even more vulnerable to our better players being poached. We lost Dalby in the summer and he was average at best, thankfully we have five strikers better than him now in my opinion. It will be an ongoing challenge trying to replace players who depart that are of a similar calibre though. At least we have players that would command a transfer fee, however I doubt we would receive much if we lost players to League Two clubs. A further problem is our precarious financial position which puts us in a poor negotiating position. I was watching the Wrexham documentary series recently, it mentioned on there the average National League salary is £39,000 (I assume most other clubs actually pay their salaries when they are due as well!). You can’t blame people wanting to further their careers by playing at a higher level and earning more money.

Ultimately, whatever level of the football pyramid we find ourselves, we are a selling Club and all of our players and staff have a price.

It was the same when we were in the Championship and it’s the same in the National League.

The only real issue with us being in the National League, in terms of losing players, is that the “bigger” Clubs in this division like Wrexham & Notts County, could attempt to poach any of our players at anytime. Although Dalby went during the traditional transfer window, there was nothing stopping them doing that business at any stage before the end of March.

Obviously, being in the EFL, we would be less likely to lose our players to National League Clubs, however Wrexham have still signed some proven, football league quality players from the EFL.

We just have to enjoy the players we have, whilst we have them.

 

[Barry.C]

Ultimately, whatever level of the football pyramid we find ourselves, we are a selling Club and all of our players and staff have a price.

It was the same when we were in the Championship and it’s the same in the National League.

The only real issue with us being in the National League, in terms of losing players, is that the “bigger” Clubs in this division like Wrexham & Notts County, could attempt to poach any of our players at anytime. Although Dalby went during the traditional transfer window, there was nothing stopping them doing that business at any stage before the end of March.

Obviously, being in the EFL, we would be less likely to lose our players to National League Clubs, however Wrexham have still signed some proven, football league quality players from the EFL.

We just have to enjoy the players we have, whilst we have them.

Some strong and helpful reminders, msot of which I agree with

However can you confirm that with an embargo in place we can not extend contracts?

If that is the case then surely it could have a potential impact and runs the risk of shooting ourselves in the foot

Also as good as the current atmosphere is within the squad and Management, as a player you may feel more security for your family is wiser to seek, if you were not playing for a club that annually ends up in an embargo through lousy Management and also fails to pay some staff

Kev and Co have worked wonders but as a player sooner or later you might feel embarrassed to be picking up a salary whilst poor other staff are being treated despicably. It runs into the soul eventually, although obviously not our Rons

 

[danbowen]

Don’t know where anyone has got the idea that you cannot extend contracts of existing players. If a players contract ends then I don’t believe you can extend as technically they are a free agent and would need re registering but if you are extending now under and embargo someone who is still contracted then that is fine

 

[SUFCGoals]

Derby couldn't extend contracts last year during their embargo so I assume the same with us too

 

[Smiffy]

Don’t know where anyone has got the idea that you cannot extend contracts of existing players. If a players contract ends then I don’t believe you can extend as technically they are a free agent and would need re registering but if you are extending now under and embargo someone who is still contracted then that is fine

As mentioned by @Westcliff Shrimper, he said that Stan confirmed no extensions are possible under embargo. Be that permanent contracts or loan contracts.

Not ideal timing as I know we have been attempting to tie Hobson and Ralph (and others) to longer deals. Ron needs to pull his finger out, quickly.

 

[TheSouthendUnitedRunner]

Some strong and helpful reminders, msot of which I agree with

However can you confirm that with an embargo in place we can not extend contracts?

If that is the case then surely it could have a potential impact and runs the risk of shooting ourselves in the foot

Also as good as the current atmosphere is within the squad and Management, as a player you may feel more security for your family is wiser to seek, if you were not playing for a club that annually ends up in an embargo through lousy Management and also fails to pay some staff

Kev and Co have worked wonders but as a player sooner or later you might feel embarrassed to be picking up a salary whilst poor other staff are being treated despicably. It runs into the soul eventually, although obviously not our Rons

As far as I’m aware, we cannot “officially” extend contracts under our embargoes.

We can agree terms with a player, they can sign the paperwork etc but it can’t be official ratified by the National League/FA until the embargo is lifted.

As @Smiffy eludes to, it isn’t just Ralph & Hobson we’ve been in talks with about extending their stay with us.

 

[bazzashrimper]

As far as I’m aware, we cannot “officially” extend contracts under our embargoes.

We can agree terms with a player, they can sign the paperwork etc but it can’t be official ratified by the National League/FA until the embargo is lifted.

As @Smiffy eludes to, it isn’t just Ralph & Hobson we’ve been in talks with about extending their stay with us.

Either way, this is great. The last few years have been all about counting down the weeks until we can release players. It’s the right problem to have (embargo aside).

 

[The General]

What surprises me, is what we have in place with our football department, isn’t in place at Clubs up and down the country. It’s not exactly ground breaking stuff, and isn’t reinventing the wheel.

The football department will also have a list of potential replacements for anyone of our players, as well as management staff. So if King Kev is poached next week, we already have a list of potential replacements. Surely, that’s good practice. I know Brighton have that in place for example, but they are the exception, and not the rule surprisingly.

I won’t defend the indefensible. I partly agree with what you are saying. What I will say, is being in an embargo is only a problem if/when we need to bring players in. As it stands, we don’t need too. In the EFL, for example, as you mentioned this wouldn’t be an issue as we couldn’t do any business anyways. So it’s almost like being in an embargo in some parts.

However, we have a strong, settled squad, with competition for places. We don’t need to bring anyone in, so in that sense, the embargo doesn’t really matter. Obviously it’s not ideal, but we aren’t the only club in this league, or the football league, to be under an embargo at present.

I always find that having a dig at supporters at the end of a post a really classy way to sign off a fairly decent post.

Touchè.

I totally get that being under an embargo at the moment isn't a huge problem, it was more of a problem in the summer when there was clearly a "spell" when no-one came in and that then meant that we missed out of a player or two. The lad that went to Daggers was clearly the biggest "miss" but I'm not going to sit here and say how well he's done at Daggers as I have zero idea.

And I totally agree its great to see such a good system in place and it makes total sense but we all know common sense and football doesn't come hand in hand.

Unfortunately whilst RM and his continued poor practices are in place, I find it hard to "support" the club. I get people can't understand that or maybe question why but its just the way I feel. Don't get me wrong, I want the football club to be successful but what I'd love more is the club to be well managed throughout the entire set-up and then do well. October should have been a positive month off the pitch with the training pitches being nearly in play but its all gone quiet on that front and despite the fan base being told the embargo would be sorted "within weeks" that was clearly another lie.

Kev

 

[Angell Delight]

Touchè.

I totally get that being under an embargo at the moment isn't a huge problem, it was more of a problem in the summer when there was clearly a "spell" when no-one came in and that then meant that we missed out of a player or two. The lad that went to Daggers was clearly the biggest "miss" but I'm not going to sit here and say how well he's done at Daggers as I have zero idea.

And I totally agree its great to see such a good system in place and it makes total sense but we all know common sense and football doesn't come hand in hand.

Unfortunately whilst RM and his continued poor practices are in place, I find it hard to "support" the club. I get people can't understand that or maybe question why but its just the way I feel. Don't get me wrong, I want the football club to be successful but what I'd love more is the club to be well managed throughout the entire set-up and then do well. October should have been a positive month off the pitch with the training pitches being nearly in play but its all gone quiet on that front and despite the fan base being told the embargo would be sorted "within weeks" that was clearly another lie.

Kev

Omar Mussa has been on the bench for Daggers in their last 10 straight games - unused sub in 5 of those - so I don’t really think we missed too much….