Transfer News 2022/23 Season Incoming Transfers and a few other things

[Yellowmania]

I suppose this dispels the Todd Kane rumour

Hope so, I seem to be in the minority that were not impressed by him in his first stint.

 

[Ox in the Box]

Hope so, I seem to be in the minority that were not impressed by him in his first stint.

Would you not consider the fact that three championship managers have signed him since a bit of a clue you might not be right about him?

 

[Yellowmania]

As things turned out he would have played in all 3 league games for us so far
For whatever reason it dispels the fact that we didn’t want him, we did but he chose MK

Holland wouldn’t. Injured during Sheffield Wednesday game, limped off and had to have a scan (along with Grigg).
Two bullets missed there methinks.

 

[Left Wing Cross]

Hughie Curran first time around.
Wolves had virtually written him off because of his knee injury.
Came here scored on his debut against Millwall. Scored around 1 in every 3 overall.
And of course the legend Dave Langan. Best right back we have ever had.

Steve Basham was coming back from a broken leg

 

[Yellowmania]

Would you not consider the fact that three championship managers have signed him since a bit of a clue you might not be right about him?

Yep, I can agree that. Must be something there obviously but personally I didn’t see much in him and I know I’m very much in the minority on this one!

 

[unification]

And how much of it is to do with the fact that the team as a whole starts poorly every season?

Chicken and egg I guess. Is the team struggling because Taylor is not scoring or is Taylor not scoring because the team is struggling?

For me, it's most definitely the latter - but as ever when we're not getting results Matty Taylor is a convenient scapegoat for some.

One aspect that may be worth considering with Taylor is his age. 32 now and he’ll turn 33 in March. Obviously he doesn’t become instantly useless past his 33rd birthday nor over a summer, but age creeps up with players. I certainly can’t see Matty Taylor improving any more. His level could and should remain high for a season or two longer although he'll need replacing in the Championship should we get there (which we won't this season - no hope of that).

My issue with it is that KR has surrounded him with players all of similar ages. Baldock is 33, Henry is 33, Bodin is 30. He’s started to add some youth into the frontline (Browne, 24, Jones 24, Joseph 20, Murphy in the middle at 27) but started with a load of 30+ players on Saturday. It further shows to me what a ill-thought out, unbalanced transfer window we continue to have. The contract extension to James Henry that sees him on our books until he’s 35 is baffling to me. He’s been an excellent player for us however injuries have crept into his game lately and he certainly has never added much pace to our side – something we need desperately nowadays.

With the players we have signed up, it’ll be a completely new frontline needed in one to two seasons from now, regardless of what league we’re in.

 

[Ox in the Box]

I

Yep, I can agree that. Must be something there obviously but personally I didn’t see much in him and I know I’m very much in the minority on this one!

I cant say I remember his performances greatly but seem to think he got forward well, made things happen and the team had a big upturn in form in his time with us. But other than that he hasn’t stuck in my mind greatly so see your point.

 

[tonyw]

A new right-back link is Ethan Ingram of West Brom.
MK Dons, Cheltenham, Us and Crewe expressed interest
Source - The Athletic

Getting back to this one - because it's exciting to actually be linked to a right back at all! - the concern is that this is a 19-year old kid who's played a total of one professional game (and that was a 6-0 defeat in the EFL Cup by Arsenal!)

It can work, if the player's good enough - Jonjoe Kenny held his own just fine at about the same age, and he had minimal experience before joining us - but it's a risk. And given that almost all of summer signings (other than Findlay) have been to some extent risky, I'm a little uneasy.

Assuming that his injury/operation is indeed as minor as has been suggested, I would prefer Todd Kane. Much better idea of what you're gonna get from him.

 

[Mitcham Exile]

Lunch time question for us all - who are the players with concerning injury histories that we've signed and have worked out the best?

Suspect it could be my memory but seems most of them struggle to shake the injuries, or they're not the player they once were.

I must be forgetting some/plenty.

I'd argue Robbie Hall - for a while. When he first came back, he eventually worked his way up to playing a huge part in the 2016/17 season.

 

[Chippy]

Getting back to this one - because it's exciting to actually be linked to a right back at all! - the concern is that this is a 19-year old kid who's played a total of one professional game (and that was a 6-0 defeat in the EFL Cup by Arsenal!)

It can work, if the player's good enough - Jonjoe Kenny held his own just fine at about the same age, and he had minimal experience before joining us - but it's a risk. And given that almost all of summer signings (other than Findlay) have been to some extent risky, I'm a little uneasy.

Assuming that his injury/operation is indeed as minor as has been suggested, I would prefer Todd Kane. Much better idea of what you're gonna get from him.

With all this money we still have to spend why take a chance on someone who’s currently injured and had an op (even if it is minor) or a risk on a youngster at all?

I’d like to think we’re looking elsewhere? Just don’t understand why we haven’t got a new fit and able bodied full back or two in the building yet. Only had almost 4 months!

 

[TailsWeWin]

Holland wouldn’t. Injured during Sheffield Wednesday game, limped off and had to have a scan (along with Grigg).
Two bullets missed there methinks.

Talking of scans. What’s the news on Murphy? Cramp? Bit tired? Or can we admit the truth now?

 

[Ox4 yellow]

Personally, I would love to see Joseph and Taylor play up front, Joseph winning a few flick-on's for Taylor to pounce on.

Three at the back with Brown, Findlay and Moore. Sedds and Long as wing backs FOR NOW.

Eastwood

Moore.............Findlay.............Brown

Long...........................Mcguane............................Seddon

Browne......................Brannagan

Taylor..............Joseph​

Murphy if fit for sedds

 

[captainox]

Genuine question, who is our head of scouting? And who makes up our recruitment team?

Head of Recruitment has been Mark Thomas since 2014.
Other clubs have tried poaching him numerous times, most recently his previous employer Pompey in May this year.

Ed Waldron is assistant head of recruitment having previously been an opposition/performance analyst. Seem to think he went and worked for Bordeaux for a season before coming back to us in recruitment.

There's separate youth/academy roles as well.

You've then got Eddie Denton who heads up the analysis team supported by Isaac Alder (good piece on their department in this month's issue of The Ox magazine)

Scouting is a bit hard to identify, as not specifically listed on the club website but believe a fair chunk is done on a regional basis.

A quick LinkedIn search suggests that the following people are also currently employed across the recruitment/analysis/scouting teams:
Naythan Din-Kariuki - Performance & Recruitment Analyst (been with us 2 years, seems to run own scouting venture too)
Levi Lawrence - Football Scout
James Fazackerley - North West Regional Scout
Couple others with private pages

That's just the people who are publicised/searchable.

 

[RyanioBirdio]

Head of Recruitment has been Mark Thomas since 2014

Craig Dean was our recruitment head from 2014-2017 when Appleton left. He went to Leeds.

Mark Thomas then took over the department having previously been our head recruitment analyst.

 

[Brahma]

Not unrelated but nice little OUFC email tonight with a little preview from KR. He even addresses, to an extent, the injury situation and has now stepped back from confirming when Josh Murphy is back. ( Note West Oxon Yellow ) It's like they are personally addressing the YF audience with these little soundbites

The concern for me with the drip drip feed of info from the club is that it is ever changing. First we heard was we knew about his hammy before he signed, then he aggravated it vs Cambridge, then we wouldn't risk him vs Swansea to enable him to be ready for Rovers. Then he could have trained last Friday if we wanted (see Oxford Mail quotes) and now............... we may appear to have gone from being able to train, to 2 weeks out, to not quite so committal.

I continue to hope be proved wrong, but I still reckons early november.

#Mushrooms

 

[RgYellows]

Dave Langan.

Hughie Curran first time around.

Both a fair bit before my time!

I'd argue Robbie Hall - for a while. When he first came back, he eventually worked his way up to playing a huge part in the 2016/17 season.

Swindon goal aside, I don't have any strong memories on that stint but fair enough for your opinion. I would say it's hardly a glowing endorsement of the gamble we take so often if Hall is the biggest pay off.

When we signed Matt Taylor I remember thinking "great impact player, but how many games are we going to get out of him?". Can't remember if that was based on reality or just my general pessimism. Either way, I was dead wrong.

Fair enough if Taylor counts, when he signed my reaction was "bloody hell, we've signed someone who proved they can do the business in L1".

Then we got thumped by Burton at home straight after.

 

[tonyw]

With all this money we still have to spend why take a chance on someone who’s currently injured and had an op (even if it is minor) or a risk on a youngster at all?

I’d like to think we’re looking elsewhere? Just don’t understand why we haven’t got a new fit and able bodied full back or two in the building yet. Only had almost 4 months!

I mean Todd Kane has been getting a regular game in the Championship for the past four seasons (ever since he left us, in fact).

There's not going to be too many full backs about and available that have that amount of relevant recent experience.

Assuming, of course, that our medical team are comfortable that he is not a significantly greater than average injury risk post-op.

 

[Marston70]

Head of Recruitment has been Mark Thomas since 2014.
Other clubs have tried poaching him numerous times, most recently his previous employer Pompey in May this year.

Ed Waldron is assistant head of recruitment having previously been an opposition/performance analyst. Seem to think he went and worked for Bordeaux for a season before coming back to us in recruitment.

There's separate youth/academy roles as well.

You've then got Eddie Denton who heads up the analysis team supported by Isaac Alder (good piece on their department in this month's issue of The Ox magazine)

Scouting is a bit hard to identify, as not specifically listed on the club website but believe a fair chunk is done on a regional basis.

A quick LinkedIn search suggests that the following people are also currently employed across the recruitment/analysis/scouting teams:
Naythan Din-Kariuki - Performance & Recruitment Analyst (been with us 2 years, seems to run own scouting venture too)
Levi Lawrence - Football Scout
James Fazackerley - North West Regional Scout
Couple others with private pages

That's just the people who are publicised/searchable.

I know Eddie Denton Snr was scouting for a while (First Signing by Mark Lawrenson) Not sure if he still is...

 

[cecantena]

Craig Dean was our recruitment head from 2014-2017 when Appleton left. He went to Leeds.

Mark Thomas then took over the department having previously been our head recruitment analyst.

With your obvious knowledge of Club affairs, at the time of the Eddie Odhiambo appointment, one of the respected ITKs suggested another off the field appointment was about to be made - any idea what happened to him/her?
Also, could you please refresh my memory as to what happened to Sarah Gooding, who appeared to be well thought of at the time.

 

[Bicester Yellow]

From what I heard he chose them over us

Good!