Transfer News, Gossip & Speculation Transfer Rumours Thread 2024/2025.

[Lincoln Shrimp]

Isn't Appiah-Forson a creative midfielder?

I don't think we've seen enough of him to know what he truly offers to be honest.

 

[rlb999]

Hate to be the bearer of bad news but it is becoming unreadable. Constantly having to skip over the same issue and comment on every thread.

I come on to look at transfer rumours for example, not hear how the same people think Maher plays sideways football.

For the record I am happy for people to have differing opinions but they don’t need to be voiced on every single thread.

I see your point, but there’s a counter argument that the transfer rumours you come here to see, arent the solution to the problem for many of us. As others have said, we could sign Haaland which would doubtless please you, but unless the style of play is addressed not much is going to change.

 

[Pak Power]

What I remember most about Tom, was a very clever player, one thing that sticks in my mind was, even if he couldn't win a header against a taller central defender, he would jump slightly into the defender thus putting him off wining the header cleanly, and more often than not propelling the defenders header as if he had won it. All on the just side of legal

 

[SUFCGoals]

This forum makes me laugh. People crying to sign anybody. As soon as player is linked the same people moan about signing someone who is 'past it' at the age of 31 and presumably hasn't seen him play for over 5 years.

I'd be quite happy with signing Tom.

 

[Smiffy]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1882074044641706269

 

[SUFCGoals]

Isn't Appiah-Forson a creative midfielder?

No not at all

 

[TrevorFitzpatrickHattrick]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1882074044641706269

Harrogate have done really well there. Plenty of teams in League Two and even League One were very keen on him. Great bit of business I reckon.

 

[Taters123]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1882074044641706269

Maybe Hopper is the back up plan from missing out on above?

 

[kentblues]

The negativity is extraordinary. Whinging and whining about every possible signing. Here we have a player highly regarded by his current manager and supporters at a L2 club that provides a hard working, high press, target man down the middle and its simply not good enough. If we fantasise we are going to sign anyone from the EFL with a decent current scoring record then we need to wake up. We dont have the money to compete. COSU want value.

Likewise if we think we can sign any top striker from our current division who is scoring regular the same applies. COSU want value.

Probably our chances of getting Tom Hopper would be zero if it weren't for the stage he is at in his career. And he is very local.

The only way we will afford a striker that scores goals is to get one that doesn't until he is with us (a la Corr). Or take a risk on someone who scores in the leagues below- but unfortunately oth NL and EFL clubs are looking to do the same and are offering more....

So if we bring him in we will have a target up top that will work his socks off, hold the ball up, get us on the front foot and create a few and at this level probably score a few as well.

BTW the injury prone barb is another alternative fact. As the Col guys have pointed out he is fit with no major injury worries- nothing significant this season, last season one groin injury kept him out for 5 games, and season before that with Col U nothing to speak of (the Col guys will correct me if Im wrong).

 

[kentblues]

Harrogate have done really well there. Plenty of teams in League Two and even League One were very keen on him. Great bit of business I reckon.

How would we ever compete realistically for a striker interesting L1 clubs let alone L2? I think we all need a dose of realism, remember we are a mid table NL side, with a certain budget and where the owners seek value?

 

[Uncle_Rons_Teapot]

All well and good having a target up top but it's redundant if we don't pass forward

 

[kentblues]

Isn't Appiah-Forson a creative midfielder?

No largely a defensive midfielder previously (or box to box he suggested of himself)

 

[Blue Yonder]

How would we ever compete realistically for a striker interesting L1 clubs let alone L2? I think we all need a dose of realism, remember we are a mid table NL side, with a certain budget and where the owners seek value?

100%. If true, why are we wasting time pursuing targets that because of geography, our alleged wage discipline, and our non league status, we haven't got a chance of signing.

 

[TrevorFitzpatrickHattrick]

How would we ever compete realistically for a striker interesting L1 clubs let alone L2? I think we all need a dose of realism, remember we are a mid table NL side, with a certain budget and where the owners seek value?

Yeah, I don't see that we were realistically in the mix for him both in terms of playing level, finances and geographic location.

 

[stewart]

No largely a defensive midfielder previously (or box to box he suggested of himself)

well he scored a nice one from in the box last he played more than a few minutes , with his head too .I think hes our 2nd top scorer from midfield this season ,only behind Coker and he hardly gets any playing time . As for Hopper i would give him a contract until the end of the season with an option of 1 season , Hes only 31 for gods sake not some old man as many of you seem to think .

 

[kentblues]

What is interesting is that the computer will spit out a number of potential targets that tick all sorts of boxes. As indeed will other teams computers (not excepting all don't use data well but enough do that anyone really good won't be just on our radar). The question is for this computer programme is at what point does the "value" parameter get filled in? I assume we won't know up front either what someone is earning or if there might be a fee and how much? So the computer might spit out lots of Mr Signing for Harrogates but on a fools errand as when we get to ask the question, maybe after all the scouting, we find out that we are in Waitrose not Aldi? Would be interesting to understand the new process in more detail (if theyt will share) at some point.

 

[Shrimper]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1882074044641706269

 

[kentblues]

well he scored a nice one from in the box last he played more than a few minutes , with his head too .I think hes our 2nd top scorer from midfield this season ,only behind Coker and he hardly gets any playing time .

I saw Miley score an absolute cracker from midfield...what a shot he has on him...5th goal of his career I think... broken clocks and all that..

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Actually think he's the right profile for us. Good in the air, presses well. Should help with defending our box from set pieces as well as winning knock downs for kendall/walker etc.
The smart move would be a loan till end of season with a view to a permanent. He'd then be more or less in direct competition with Bonne for a contract for the next season. (Or we bid them both farewell come June)
Injury concerns are the one thing that bugs me.
Pretty certain he lives in Leigh and plans too for the long term, and we wanted him not that long ago, so it makes sense.

There’s one other criteria I’d add which is mobile. Not sure if that’s still the case though…

We need exactly the kind of forward Hopper is, walker and kendall would benefit greatly from a decent hold up man. As would the rest of the team.

We need exactly the kind of forward Hopper was.

Sign as many strikers as you want Kev.
It won’t make a difference unless they are prime Lionel Messi.

Midfield, midfield, MIDFIELD!!

playing style, playing style, PLAYING STYLE!!

Actually what this team misses more than a creative midfielder is a targetman. Someone who can hold the ball up, win headers, press from the front.

If you add one of those it makes everyone else better. They are the glue that holds a side together. They help defensively - by pressing, by relieving pressure, at set pieces; they help the midfield - by providing an outlet, by linking play, by winning the ball higher up the field; and they help their strike partner - by occupying defenders, doing the dirty work, creating chances.

The player Hopper was would immediately transform the current team into a playoff contender. How well he can still run the channels, how effectively he can still press etc is another matter though.

I’d expect he’ll improve our defending at set pieces (which is two-thirds of the goals we’ve been conceding of late); he should improve our attack by meaning we don’t have to play Bonne. Hopefully he’ll set the example with workrate and energy that will rub off on everyone. A front duo of Hopper and Kendall would be horrible to play against, not giving defenders a moment’s respite. That’s an important part of our identity that was lost when we effectively swapped Cardwell for Bonne.

The smart thing to do isn’t to go looking for a goalscorer but to look at how you can get your existing players to fire. Kendall, Walker, Waldron have scored goals at previous stops. We’d all be super excited if we were signing Kendall from Eastbourne, Walker from Daggers. We need to get them back to that form. Fingers crossed Hopper can help with that. I’m not sure if Hopper can still do that but it’s a step in the right direction.

 

[Colchester and proud!]

What I remember most about Tom, was a very clever player, one thing that sticks in my mind was, even if he couldn't win a header against a taller central defender, he would jump slightly into the defender thus putting him off wining the header cleanly, and more often than not propelling the defenders header as if he had won it. All on the just side of legal

He hasn’t changed