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Transfer News and Gossip Transfer Rumours Thread 2023-24 (Part 2 - Back in Business. Oh no we’re not)

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danbowen said:
2 goals from open play and 6 penalties. His numbers look good but it screams Harry Kane in the world cup when he was **** and he was top scorer with 4 penalties and a deflection he knew nothing about.
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I was going to say it reminded me of Josh Wright. Top goalscorer when he arrived from Gillingham, but mostly pens and I say that as a fan of Lewis.

The flipside of that is most of Jack Bridge's goals came from the spot last season and the at everything he adds to the side that isn't quantified in a statistic.
 
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ColinMorrisWalksOnWater said:
Totally agree, apart from Powell was at Kettering, not Kiddy. Let's not also forget Gard failed to impress with Aldershot in this division too and wasn't injury hampered there either.

So for me , forward for players with as yet, hopefully untapped potential and seeing if we can progress them, not returning to players that have had their chance and haven't impressed at this level.
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Are you thinking of Michael Klass?

Gard joined Tonbridge after leaving us. He’s never been at Aldershot AFAIK.
 
For me, the sheer number of ex-players that are out there is a reflection of the turmoil at the club for the last few seasons (and how some players were thrown in at the deep end). Looking forward to that being a thing of the past. Fingers crossed.
 
SeaSideDoughnut said:
I've just caught up with all comments and I thought I'd throw my opinion out there.

Crowhurst - would've have left were it not for the embargo. It was never a question of a youth player not being good enough. The club axed the U23's to focus more on the genuine prospects and Jayden was one of them.

Benton - maybe he hasn't scored he hasn't scored since joining Solihull Moors but being in team of the weeks might suggest that he's adapting to the step up in this league and has possibly improved other areas of his game. Just speculating.

Gard - league clubs were watching him and if we were keeping a tab on him, we wouldn't be only ones.

I was sticking up for the other Sheff Utd played who was recalled. I can't even remember his name now, that's how much I know about him. But the thing is, if we've looked at him or any of these ex-players I have absolute trust that they've been brought in for good reason.
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Agree with much of this.

I do think there’s a difference between Jaden Crowhurst and Jacob Bland - both of whom are relatively recently out of youth team football - and Lewis Gard and Jon Benton, who are a little older.

I’d expect Crowhurst and Bland to return to the club because they’re both playing locally and at a lower level to get minutes in senior football, potentially on a dual-registration basis to enable them to continue their development whilst we still won’t have numbers to field the much-fabled ‘B’ team, but keeping them training in full-time football (I think Bland may have continued training with us anyway). Neither would necessarily be banging on the first-team door, but their returns would signal a return to something of a normally-functioning football club.

Gard and Benton are both in the National League (whether that be the top tier or NL South) and, whilst both may have been retained at different times in the club’s history, are now forging their own path. That’s not to say - as local lads that spent over a decade at the Academy - they won’t return, like Jack Bridge, in the future, but it’s unlikely to be this season, and our attention should be focussed elsewhere.

I would also expect Vilhete to remain at Roots Hall for this season at least. He’s versatile and useful when squad numbers aren’t going to be particularly high, quite apart from any desire to reward those who have stuck by us during this dark period. If he’s not going to be involved in a particular matchday squad further down the line, he’d be able to play at Hayes & Yeading anyway.

Whilst it’s great to dream of going on a play-off run (and we absolutely should do that), from what I’ve read about the consortium they are focussed on providing us with a sustainable football club, and that will probably mean, unless there are some quick wins to introduce new revenue streams to the club, we’ll have to be patient outside of the initial 2-3 new faces (which I wouldn’t include Crowhurst and Bland in) and possibly another 2-3 later in the season.
 
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Exiled Shrimper said:
Agree with much of this.

I do think there’s a difference between Jaden Crowhurst and Jacob Bland - both of whom are relatively recently out of youth team football - and Lewis Gard and Jon Benton, who are a little older.

I’d expect Crowhurst and Bland to return to the club because they’re both playing locally and at a lower level to get minutes in senior football, potentially on a dual-registration basis to enable them to continue their development whilst we still won’t have numbers to field the much-fabled ‘B’ team, but keeping them training in full-time football (I think Bland may have continued training with us anyway). Neither would necessarily be banging on the first-team door, but their returns would signal a return to something of a normally-functioning football club.

Gard and Benton are both in the National League (whether that be the top tier or NL South) and, whilst both may have been retained at different times in the club’s history, are now forging their own path. That’s not to say - as local lads that spent over a decade at the Academy - they won’t return, like Jack Bridge, in the future, but it’s unlikely to be this season, and our attention should be focussed elsewhere.

I would also expect Vilhete to remain at Roots Hall for this season at least. He’s versatile and useful when squad numbers aren’t going to be particularly high, quite apart from any desire to reward those who have stuck by us during this dark period. Whilst it’s great to dream of going on a play-off run (and we absolutely should do that), from what I’ve read about the consortium they are focussed on providing us with a sustainable football club, and that will probably mean, unless there are some quick wins to introduce new revenue streams to the club, we’ll have to be patient outside of the initial 2-3 new faces and possibly another 2-3 later in the season.
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Is a B team something that is likely to happen? Where would it play for example as unless it goes in to an U21 league or something it seems like a non starter. I would like to think the idea would be something similar to what Brentford have. Is this something that we could realistically have in place for next season?

If I was Crowhurst/Bland it would make more sense to me to stay playing mens football than go to a B team of a NL team.
 
danbowen said:
Is a B team something that is likely to happen? Where would it play for example as unless it goes in to an U21 league or something it seems like a non starter. I would like to think the idea would be something similar to what Brentford have. Is this something that we could realistically have in place for next season?

If I was Crowhurst/Bland it would make more sense to me to stay playing mens football than go to a B team of a NL team.
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The “B” team idea, like Brentford have, is exactly what Stan was pushing for, and a lot better than the Under 23’s set up.

We played their B team in Eriksen’s first match back after the Euros.
 
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danbowen said:
Is a B team something that is likely to happen? Where would it play for example as unless it goes in to an U21 league or something it seems like a non starter. I would like to think the idea would be something similar to what Brentford have. Is this something that we could realistically have in place for next season?

If I was Crowhurst/Bland it would make more sense to me to stay playing mens football than go to a B team of a NL team.
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As always, there are options, but all of them are longer-term. As it’s a transfer rumours thread, I’ll try to keep it brief.

There is an U21 league (the Suburban League), which the likes of Aldershot, Bromley and Woking compete in. If we’re eligible - because it’s not strictly in our area - that would be the quickest fix to replicate a step between the current youth team (U19s) and first-team.

The ‘B’ team model is completely different to that. The principle is that you operate an inflated senior squad (so we’re a fair distance from that) and offer a varied games programme; you’d play some Category 1 & 2 Academy U23 teams, some teams closer to our level and then play local non-league teams, all in friendlies. The intention is that you attract local gems at a slightly older age and sell them on for a profit, or they make it in our first team. Given that we aren’t currently operating a full Academy, if that’s the route we seek, putting the seeds in place now is probably the best time.

The third route is to re-establish the Academy, without EFL funding or a games programme currently. Lots of children have left, but I think a shell has continued to train, along with the U19s in the National League Youth Alliance. We could put teams into local competitions, such as the Eastern Junior Alliance, or try to provide them with a ‘B’ team-type schedule, resuscitating the European Tours and playing Cat 1, 2, 3, 4 Academies to prepare for a return to the EFL.

Would be a really good question to ask of the consortium at the Cliffs in January, I reckon.
 
BoyWonder2 said:
The “B” team idea, like Brentford have, is exactly what Stan was pushing for, and a lot better than the Under 23’s set up.

We played their B team in Eriksen’s first match back after the World Cup.
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Wasn't it his first game after his incident at the Euro's?
 
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