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

[Scotchegg]

Another Striker is essential by Derby to give us cover if needed.

I wouldn't be against a short term contract with Sinclair until January. He has been better than many have given him credit for and could still do a job as 3rd/4th striker. If we've brought another striker in and they're match fit and ready to go, and Baldock is well on the way to recovery, then we don't need to register Sinclair for league games. Final squad numbers do not need to be confirmed until 7th September so there's no rush.

 

[LeftSideBoy]

Agree with most of this but would say Browne to the left, have Bodin in behind Taylor & play Eastwood in goal & Perhaps Gorrin for Mcguane as I think we need a genuine defensive minded player in that side who will sit and protect the back 4. Think we do need to two higher quality RB & LB’s as for me Seddon and Long should be used in rotation.

If he’s fit, Wildschut has to start on the left. On Saturday, Browne was largely anonymous out wide until Murphy came on. Browne moved into CAM, and immediately linked up with him and saw more of the ball in ten minutes, than he had done in the 60 minutes prior!

I think McGuane is being unfairly overlooked by some. He’s added a lot of defensive qualities to his game, and was our best player on Saturday. He seems to have really bought into what is required to play in that deeper role, and he’s been one of our best players in pre-season. I can’t see Gorrin being risked against Derby, but we may see him start in the cup game against Swansea.

 

[southcoastyellow]

Really hope we sign a CDM, looks the biggest weakness for me again this season. We have lots of creative players in that starting 11. MM is not the answer, we will not get the best of him or Cam if they play that role.

 

[Foley]

Hmm wonder if there will be any movement today. Derby County not far away now. Need two full backs in the door before Friday.

We don't need two full backs.
Long is perfectly good as a right back.
If we can get a left back in great but its not the end of the world if Brown or Seddon have to play

 

[Bicester Yellow]

If he’s fit, Wildschut has to start on the left. On Saturday, Browne was largely anonymous out wide until Murphy came on. Browne moved into CAM, and immediately linked up with him and saw more of the ball in ten minutes, than he had done in the 60 minutes prior!

I think McGuane is being unfairly overlooked by some. He’s added a lot of defensive qualities to his game, and was our best player on Saturday. He seems to have really bought into what is required to play in that deeper role, and he’s been one of our best players in pre-season. I can’t see Gorrin being risked against Derby, but we may see him start in the cup game against Swansea.

That’s fair enough, I was just picking that side on the premise that Wildschut was not fit after KR’s comments about the injury etc. I don’t think they will risk him if it’s more than a twinge & I guess they will all have the data needed to make a decision. Yeah I’ve been impressed with Mcguane also, looks like he’s put on some muscle & wouldn’t mind him starting, Just suppose it’s more to do with the fact we know as a CDM what gorrin can do consistently & I believe it makes our midfield more balanced

 

[Scotchegg]

Really hope we sign a CDM, looks the biggest weakness for me again this season. We have lots of creative players in that starting 11. MM is not the answer, we will not get the best of Cam if he plays that role.

Out of interest, why isn't MM the answer? He has looked excellent in that role in preseason, and wasn't out muscled by either Championship side or a rough Wimbledon side. Equally Cam has looked really bright in these games too. Maybe not at the level he was at times last season, but that was alongside Kane so I'm not sure that a more defensive CDM makes that much difference.

 

[LeftSideBoy]

MM is not the answer

Based on what? You’re obviously seeing things differently to many of those that have watched him in pre-season! Best player on the pitch on Saturday and he was playing CDM.

I think he’s going to surprise a lot of people this year. The lad oozes class, and if he keeps developing like he is, he’s going to be one of our best players.

 

[Bicester Yellow]

We don't need two full backs.
Long is perfectly good as a right back.
If we can get a left back in great but its not the end of the world if Brown or Seddon have to play

We will not finish in the top 6 with Seddon & Long as our first choice Full Backs, Last season showed that. Long will pick up injuries over the season as well. He basically plays with some kind of niggle every time he steps on to the field. I’ve heard that from a few sources that are close to him, last season he had an injury or felt tightness in his calf I believe & we sent him for scans & they found nothing. Seddon will burn out again as a LB as well. We need someone to share the load with him.

 

[UTO]

I wouldn’t be against another striker coming in. I think Dane Scarlett is heading for the championship, and Kion Etete is going to Derby.

UTO mentioned a big bid had gone in for a striker, but I haven’t seen/heard anything on that, since it was first mentioned. Interesting.

No mention from me regarding a big bid going in for a striker.

Tottenham lad on loan at Northampton and Cheltenham last year is someone we are interested in on loan. And an experienced striker permanently. But think a loan option will be most likely at this stage, with Baldock hopefully back at the end of September.
Still expect Jones to be signed. Robbo sounded confident on Murphy.
I think 3 in this week.

 

[tatabanya]

Based on what? You’re obviously seeing things differently to many of those that have watched him in pre-season! Best player on the pitch on Saturday and he was playing CDM.

I think he’s going to surprise a lot of people this year. The lad oozes class, and if he keeps developing like he is, he’s going to be one of our best players.

It's pretty dangerous to read too much into pre-season performances at the best of times, let alone in the midfield destroyer role which doesn't really exist in warm-up games. I agree, McGuane is a fantastic talent but his is not the player to play that role in our side given what is required.

 

[ZeroTheHero]

Another Striker is essential by Derby to give us cover if needed.

I wouldn't be against a short term contract with Sinclair until January. He has been better than many have given him credit for and could still do a job as 3rd/4th striker.

I *still* don't understand this point of view (not just from you, SE!), it must be me not understanding what a striker is. I don't get how even a fourth string striker is any use if they simply don't (and really never have) scored goals consistently. Running about, being cheap and maybe being able to hold the ball up simply aren't enough for me. The club is spending a lot of money on decent players elsewhere, and I accept that might be a double edged sword in that there is less to spend on backup players, but I cannot believe that there is no young striker worth taking a chance on who might be more useful.

 

[RgYellows]

Do you know why we owe that money? Who is it owed to? How long has it been owed for? What type of debt is it? Is it from investment? We all know that we run on a loss of around 2million per year, so yes, we do cover that loss from saleable assets.

Profits from player trading are included in your profit for the year. If we 'covered the loss', the loss wouldn't exist. The loss does exist.
Here are the facts per the accounts since Tiger took over during FY18:

Year	Profit/(Loss)
FY18	(£2,024,283)
FY19	(£4,256,822)
FY20	£1,493,649 - includes £5.7m profit on player disposals
FY21	(£3,738,341)
Total	(£8,525,797)

The FY20 figure includes £5.7m of profit on disposal of players, in case you didn't believe me when I said that profits from player trading are included.

That total loss averages out at just over £40,000 a week.

Derby recorded losses of approximately £8m In 2016-17, and £14.7m the year before that, so without the stadium sale two days before the 2017-18 year end, they could have made total published losses of £48m - in 2 years alone!

Things, as you know, got much much worse for them in the years that followed.

Things 'get worse' when rich owners decide that they don't want to pick up the tab.

Our owners are happy to keep funding our losses. For now.

That does not mean that we stand on our own two feet, and manage to be competitive in League One by only spending what we earn.

What do you think a £40,000 per week reduction in our wage bill would look like? Where do you think we would finish in the league if we had to make that sort of cut?

We have a board that will back us and keep us sustainable, while we transform the football club both on the field, and off of it. Can you say the same for Derby and Sheffield Wednesday?

I doubt any former owner of a crisis club has said "Lads, I'm going to live it large for a couple of years and then I'm going to pull a fast one, and leave your beloved club fighting for it's life in a much worse state than I found it".

I imagine that the fans hear lots of talk about sustainability, and transformation, and all that good corporate stuff.

If we become the next Brighton or Brentford, then that's just great by me. I only want Oxford to succeed. But we aren't there right now. We depend on our owners to be competitive at this level, and some of our fans seem to like pretending that we don't.

 

[southcoastyellow]

Out of interest, why isn't MM the answer? He has looked excellent in that role in preseason, and wasn't out muscled by either Championship side or a rough Wimbledon side. Equally Cam has looked really bright in these games too. Maybe not at the level he was at times last season, but that was alongside Kane so I'm not sure that a more defensive CDM makes that much difference

Out of interest, why isn't MM the answer? He has looked excellent in that role in preseason, and wasn't out muscled by either Championship side or a rough Wimbledon side. Equally Cam has looked really bright in these games too. Maybe not at the level he was at times last season, but that was alongside Kane so I'm not sure that a more defensive CDM makes that much difference.

My point is it’s not his natural position nor is it Cams its a dedicated position and doesn’t get the best out of them. Sorry don’t buy the he’s had a couple of good pre season and therefore should be the answer for the season.

 

[southcoastyellow]

My point is it’s not his natural position nor is it Cams its a dedicated position and doesn’t get the best out of them. Sorry don’t buy the he’s had a couple of good pre season games and therefore should be the answer for the season.

 

[Swaby39]

The McGuane debate is a simple one for me. He's arguably been our best and most consistent performer in pre-season so... The simple answer is that he's surely earned the opportunity to start the season there and the rest will take care of itself? He'll either take ownership of the role and grow in to it or he won't. But I can't understand the notion we need to go to market immediately when he's actually done everything asked of him. It's not fair to say he can't do it in the league when he wasn't had the opportunity. He's played there earlier in his career so it's not alien to him and it's the sort of role that requires games to fully grasp. But while he learns he's good enough to make a wrong choice and get out of it. Gorrin's not quite fit anyway so to me it just seems obvious to give McGuane the run of games he deserves and see how he gets on. If we signed a CDM today, he wouldn't be thrown in at Derby anyway and the same point can be made of new full backs. We could sign 2 outstanding full backs today, neither would start on Saturday; I'm pretty confident of that. McGuane has undoubtedly earned the opportunity to play there.

 

[Scotchegg]

It's pretty dangerous to read too much into pre-season performances at the best of times, let alone in the midfield destroyer role which doesn't really exist in warm-up games. I agree, McGuane is a fantastic talent but his is not the player to play that role in our side given what is required.

I'm not sure what is required, and certainly don't think it's a midfield "destroyer" in every game.

Gorrin does that role, but can often slow the game down leaving Cam to drop deep to direct play.

Kane last season did the quarterback role allowing Cam to play further up the pitch and both were excellent at times. But he was caught out against teams with a high press or combative midfields.

McGuane is closer to the Kane model, but has shown that he is stronger and more athletic than Kane, but may struggle against the toughest teams. For those you play Gorrin.

 

[Greenstar]

Profits from player trading are included in your profit for the year. If we 'covered the loss', the loss wouldn't exist. The loss does exist.
Here are the facts per the accounts since Tiger took over during FY18:

Year	Profit/(Loss)
FY18	(£2,024,283)
FY19	(£4,256,822)
FY20	£1,493,649 - includes £5.7m profit on player disposals
FY21	(£3,738,341)
Total	(£8,525,797)

The FY20 figure includes £5.7m of profit on disposal of players, in case you didn't believe me when I said that profits from player trading are included.

That total loss averages out at just over £40,000 a week.



Things 'get worse' when rich owners decide that they don't want to pick up the tab.

Our owners are happy to keep funding our losses. For now.

That does not mean that we stand on our own two feet, and manage to be competitive in League One by only spending what we earn.

What do you think a £40,000 per week reduction in our wage bill would look like? Where do you think we would finish in the league if we had to make that sort of cut?



I doubt any former owner of a crisis club has said "Lads, I'm going to live it large for a couple of years and then I'm going to pull a fast one, and leave your beloved club fighting for it's life in a much worse state than I found it".

I imagine that the fans hear lots of talk about sustainability, and transformation, and all that good corporate stuff.

If we become the next Brighton or Brentford, then that's just great by me. I only want Oxford to succeed. But we aren't there right now. We depend on our owners to be competitive at this level, and some of our fans seem to like pretending that we don't.

Loans are long term from the owners, usually triggered when we buy players or pay wages for loan players from higher divisions. This business model is common with many football clubs. Owners only make a financial gain when they sell the football club or a share in it. This way the club always operates at a loss, so doesn't pay tax.

 

[Scotchegg]

I *still* don't understand this point of view (not just from you, SE!), it must be me not understanding what a striker is. I don't get how even a fourth string striker is any use if they simply don't (and really never have) scored goals consistently. Running about, being cheap and maybe being able to hold the ball up simply aren't enough for me. The club is spending a lot of money on decent players elsewhere, and I accept that might be a double edged sword in that there is less to spend on backup players, but I cannot believe that there is no young striker worth taking a chance on who might be more useful.

And we definitely should take a chance on a young striker to be alongside Taylor and Baldock. However, with Baldock out until September at the earliest, have another option on a short term contract is not necessarily a bad thing. Sinclair has looked ok in preseason despite not scoring. But then Taylor has barely scored and our service has not always been the best.

I just think that people have made their minds up on Sinclair without seeing him play or what he could offer, even if just to close out games or give Taylor a break.

 

[Sheik djibouti]

McGuane might be the answer if we played the same opposition that suited his style week in, week out.

We won't of course (that would be as silly as it would be boring), but it may well be that we will have to keep our fingers crossed that Gorrin's progress to fitness continues apace and that he can provide the answer when McGuane can't.

I think we have consensus that he is a technically gifted player and given the right opposition, is more than capable in CDM. He will learn the role with experience too, but we need to be able to change it about if he's overun/dominated by the opposition.

I still want to see home stand strong on the ball a bit more, rather than go to ground as much as he does. Whilst he wins a fair out of free kicks they don't by any means all go his way. If that happens when he's in CDM/covering for a recovering CB or L/RB, that could leave us pretty exposed.....

 

[Sheik djibouti]

And we definitely should take a chance on a young striker to be alongside Taylor and Baldock. However, with Baldock out until September at the earliest, have another option on a short term contract is not necessarily a bad thing. Sinclair has looked ok in preseason despite not scoring. But then Taylor has barely scored and our service has not always been the best.

I just think that people have made their minds up on Sinclair without seeing him play or what he could offer, even if just to close out games or give Taylor a break.

Like Dan Agyei, you mean?
[emoji1787]