Transfer News and Gossip Transfer Rumours Thread 2024/25 - Time to Cook 👨‍🍳

[fbm]

I agree. Calum Butcher would appear to be a free agent after being released by Motherwell. If as I suspect Butcher - a midfielder turned defender - is meant to replace Kensdale, I believe that will be a retrograde step. Crowther needs to be given games and will make mistakes but is a player of real promise.

What he will bring is the bit we have so badly missed... the link between defence and the rest of the team.

 

[BoyWonder2]

Were we realistically in with a chance of getting them if teams like FGR and Barnet can pay double what we can? Just because they are on the board doesn’t mean we were the likely team to sign them. You only have to look at Cardwell to see that players follow the money at this level.

Every name that has/is on the board we could realistically bring into the football club.

No point in having names that would a) never come here b) couldn’t afford c) fit in with what we want.

Obviously other clubs can come in for this players and offer more money, but that’s the same for every club in the land. Someone can always offer more money.

Pearce would have been here. Jack Sims would have been here, Justin Eastman would have been here before, Remy & Mussa both would have been here. The RWB from Worthing who went to York would have been here.

I can give more examples of players we’ve missed out on because we were late to the party because of RM and the embargo.

 

[Mr Browns Ghost]

Every name that has/is on the board we could realistically bring into the football club.

No point in having names that would a) never come here b) couldn’t afford c) fit in with what we want.

Obviously other clubs can come in for this players and offer more money, but that’s the same for every club in the land. Someone can always offer more money.

Pearce would have been here. Jack Sims would have been here, Justin Eastman would have been here before, Remy & Mussa both would have been here. The RWB from Worthing who went to York would have been here.

I can give more examples of players we’ve missed out on because we were late to the party because of RM and the embargo.

Yes please give more

 

[Grayson]

Are we really suggesting Joe Felix was going to join us to be Gus' backup instead of signing for his previous manager at moneybags York to play every week?

 

[Supershrimper]

Every name that has/is on the board we could realistically bring into the football club.

No point in having names that would a) never come here b) couldn’t afford c) fit in with what we want.

Obviously other clubs can come in for this players and offer more money, but that’s the same for every club in the land. Someone can always offer more money.

Pearce would have been here. Jack Sims would have been here, Justin Eastman would have been here before, Remy & Mussa both would have been here. The RWB from Worthing who went to York would have been here.

I can give more examples of players we’ve missed out on because we were late to the party because of RM and the embargo.

Gubbins and Walker joined on the 9th July after the embargo was lifted.

Omar Mussa had been without a club since being released by Dagenham & Redbridge on the 3rd May.

If Omar was really that high up on the list why wasn't he snapped up when Gubbins and Walker joined if he was one we was after for ages. Instead he joined Torquay (National League South) on the 26th July 2 weeks after the embargo was lifted. and a week after the consortium took over.

Why would Joe Felix from Worthing have joined us to play second fiddle to Gus instead of linking up with his previous manager

 

[Medway Blue]

Are we really suggesting Joe Felix was going to join us to be Gus' backup instead of signing for his previous manager at moneybags York to play every week?

Very few players join as "back-up". They join as competition or, in the case of a player like Wind (and as Kensdale was originally seen), a project and succession plan.

 

[Grayson]

Very few players join as "back-up". They join as competition or, in the case of a player like Wind (and as Kensdale was originally seen), a project and succession plan.

Ok. Why would Joe Felix join us to compete with/succeed Gus rather than be the main man in his position at York?

 

[Medway Blue]

Gubbins and Walker joined on the 9th July after the embargo was lifted.

Omar Mussa had been without a club since being released by Dagenham & Redbridge on the 3rd May.

If Omar was really that high up on the list why wasn't he snapped up when Gubbins and Walker joined if he was one we was after for ages. Instead he joined Torquay (National League South) on the 26th July 2 weeks after the embargo was lifted. and a week after the consortium took over.

Why would Joe Felix from Worthing have joined us to play second fiddle to Gus instead of linking up with his previous manager

He's talking about Mussa 2 years ago, not now. Same with Remy and Eastman. Historical cases, not this summer.

 

[Medway Blue]

Ok. Why would Joe Felix join us to compete with/succeed Gus rather than be the main man in his position at York?

Because positive discussions had been had, and it was on the cards.

Maher, Still and the way we want to play have a decent amount of pull, and we'd have been a Southern option closer to home rather than uprooting to the far North.

We had been watching him on and off all season and were probably one of the first, if not *the* first, club to male contact with the agent.

 

[Jack_23]

We NEED! a Callum Powell style player and last night was another example of that. We had no height and kept going long, we are crying out for players who can take the ball and run at the opposition to create space for our more clinical players

Matt Dennis

 

[Grayson]

Because positive discussions had been had, and it was on the cards.

Maher, Still and the way we want to play have a decent amount of pull, and we'd have been a Southern option closer to home rather than uprooting to the far North.

We had been watching him on and off all season and were probably one of the first, if not *the* first, club to male contact with the agent.

I can believe we would have talked to the likes of Pearce and Felix but I struggle to believe that they would have joined us above York - especially given the difficulties we have seemingly had in recruitment since the takeover. That suggests Maher, Still and the way we want to play haven't quite got the pull we require. Ultimately it's mostly about wages, as ever.

 

[sufc4life21]

I think we can all agree we need couple more signings but who can we attract to Southend now...... free agents who no club wants, youth loans from EFL but no guarantees they would improve us but could be decent short term option. We really needed to get all our business done by the 31st August, hopefully COSU will have gained knowledge of how the transfer market works going forward so we aren't scrapping the barrel in September for crap frees and odd youth who not upto mens football. The pool of players available now is very small so with that in mind I'm not overly confident whoever we bring in will greatly improve us. Might just be case of waiting till January for more availability in the transfer market.

Whatever kensdale done it can't be that bad. We had nile ranger play for us lol. Free kensdale!

 

[defender05]

The fact that recent signings and possible the next one if it is true are so unfit is a worry. I'm sure we have had old players without a club train with us to help keep their fitness levels up before so why haven't they been doing something like this.

 

[nevereatwhitesnow]

Surely the simple SUFC model is to target the players that have the attributes the manager wants that are affordable within the budget set? It’s not a complicated model so presumably the scouting network can’t find what is needed for the money and therefore either the quality or budget has to be compromised.

The only other alternative is to take a gamble on the potential of up and coming players from lower leagues or picking up players somewhat on the way down because of injury, age or other issues.

What is slightly odd though is John Stills famous contacts and knowledge of the lower leagues and locality isn’t bearing fruit (accept he doesn’t set the budget but will know what it is so shouldn’t be looking for the goods in Waitrose if he has a Aldi budget). But If players are being identified that fit the brief why arent they being signed?

 

[duncan bulgaria]

From what it seems and from narrowing down every possible thing it cant be then there is no way back for Kensdale, if there had been an issue similar to other high profiled footballers then there is support and avenues you can go down to turn your life around and you probably would have the backing of your manager, team mates and colleagues

For him to have lost the trust from fellow players and manager then i wouldn;t want said person/player/ work colleague working with us an is most likely a sackable offence in most industries

Think we need to move on from this one and put it down to a very good player letting us and himself down

 

[barton west]

Every name that has/is on the board we could realistically bring into the football club.

No point in having names that would a) never come here b) couldn’t afford c) fit in with what we want.

Obviously other clubs can come in for this players and offer more money, but that’s the same for every club in the land. Someone can always offer more money.

Pearce would have been here. Jack Sims would have been here, Justin Eastman would have been here before, Remy & Mussa both would have been here. The RWB from Worthing who went to York would have been here.

I can give more examples of players we’ve missed out on because we were late to the party because of RM and the embargo.

So we end up bringing in 3rd, 4th, 5th choices? The results on the field, and the growing dissatisfaction shown by the fans, demonstrates where that policy leads to. We should not recruit players that are not better than the ones we have, or are at least as good.

 

[fbm]

So we end up bringing in 3rd, 4th, 5th choices? The results on the field, and the growing dissatisfaction shown by the fans, demonstrates where that policy leads to. We should not recruit players that are not better than the ones we have, or are at least as good.

And here is the dilemma... do we do this, or do we just "get bodies in", as so many fans seem to want?

The problem with just signing a player is that you've then got them and you can't sign another one if you get it wrong as there isn't room in the budget. The chances of getting it wrong are hugely increased by just randomly buying players.

On the other hand, getting the right players needs patience and a little luck. This fanbase seems ridiculously short on the former quality. Whilst it's perfectly acceptable to be critical after a bad performance, for some on here to start questioning the management team after all that's happened and everything they've gone through is madness.

 

[jarriss]

It's the 2004/05 season all over again.
Former player as manager.
Defender leading the scoring charts during a mediocre start to the campaign.

All we need now is to sign a teenage striker from the lower leagues who'll score a hattrick on their home debut in October, before leading us to play-off glory and a double promotion.

Easy.

 

[Smiffy]

There are always going to be a few teams that really go for it budget wise every season in the NL. This season it is Forest Green, Barnet & York. Last season it was Chesterfield, before that Stockport & Wrexham. On the whole it does appear to work, but with only 2 teams getting promotion it is a big risk.

We aren't in a position to be able to keep up with those clubs (as depressing as it is) on a financial level. So our recruitment simply has to be better than everyone elses, on a much smaller budget. As SC said not that long ago, we need probably at least 8 out of 10 signings to do the business. But when you are under embargo and eventually have to shop with a mid-range budget in the bargain bin last knockings, this is what happens. You are bringing in what you feel is the best of what is left, rather than the best of what is out there.

Kev is clearly frustrated (you can see that in his comments in recent weeks):

"I understand development, but I want to win football matches"

"We've got to look forward now and bring in adequate replacements of the level, which is really really difficult at this stage of the season without spending big money"

"We're working as hard as we can behind the scenes, but getting value for money at this stage of the season becomes very difficult"

"We need to get bodies in"

"We know what we need"

This is going to be a real headache for COSU I think and perhaps Kev has identified players that we aren't willing or can't stretch to right now budget wise. Which is what they are there for, to keep on top of finances and I completely get it...

But and there is always one of those, at some point COSU are going to have to take a bit of a leap of faith and relax the purse strings. Because unless we are getting somewhere within the same postcode as other teams when it comes to budgets, then it is going to be an incredibly difficult task to build a side capable of returning to the EFL any time soon. John Still and his black book or not.

There needs to be that balance between developing some non-league gems and having some real quality probably of League 2 level or at least top end NL. Perhaps in Walker, Moncur and Bonne they may blossom once up to speed. But this is another issue we have, we are giving some players a pre-season run out during the actual season. It all boils down to another ****show over the summer, that was out of everyones hands.

But, that is gone now and COSU are going to have to decide what to do. Stick for now and trust Kev and Co. can do the business with what they currently have. Or twist and release the purse strings a bit and provide the budget required to give him a fighting chance?...

I reckon we have a window of about 12-15 months tops, before this incredible support drops off a cliff and our finances are further troubled. The clock is ticking and somehow COSU need to build a side to ride the crest of the wave to promotion, before it all comes crashing down and we are left with 4-5k crowds like Oldham.

 

[KiwiRob]

What he will bring is the bit we have so badly missed... the link between defence and the rest of the team.

I hope you are right. Getting released by Motherwell at the age of 33 does not fill me with enormous confidence, particularly if his presence in the team comes at the expense of the development of promising younger defenders like Crowther and Gubbins.

Having said that, the management team must be convinced Calum Butchers' legs have not gone and he can provide vital leadership and experience at the back. I guess we will soon know.