I’m not averse to returning players.
1) I loved Ruffels, was impressed on the odd occasion I caught him playing on the TV at Championship level he still looked extremely capable. No problem with a returning local lad, who has documented affection for the club, enough versatility to cover multiple positions and is still a solid footballer. (Albeit I’m not sure how he fits into ‘Manning-ball’ style)
2) If Nelson is still performing at a similar level to he was when he left us I’d love him back. Powerful, good on the ball, consistent, half-decent turn of pace, leadership skills. No idea if he’s still at that level (Blackpool’s championship record suggests not) - but if he was he is very much the kind of centre back we’ve been missing. In the conveyer belt of CB talent we’ve seen in recent years Nelson is by far the most under-rated in my book.
3) I think we already have players in the building that do the same things Thorniley does (solid 7/10 performance every week, brave, dependable etc), and he doesn’t feel like the kind of defender we’re missing to adopt a more progressive, Manning-esque philosophy (e.g. as above, Nelson at his best). However he was a great, robust pro and we had nowhere near enough of those in the building last season. If he was back here on affordable terms, ok then.
4) Whyte’s pace scares teams. At L1 level even if your end product is mixed (at best) - as Gavin’s was - if you are direct and can run at people at pace then you are an asset. He also has good experience (at a decent age) for this league. If he returns (again) I don’t think many would complain. And we could all enjoy the Browne or Whyte song again too
5) Even Shodipo had an uncanny ability to beat a player, or score a goal from nowhere. He wouldn’t be anywhere close to the top of my shopping list. But if he rocked up here and replaced someone like Wildschut (ie an almost total non-contributor last year) that could be argued as an improvement.
The point I’m getting at isn’t that I’m not desperate for anyone to come back. But all the five I’ve mentioned above would’ve drastically improved our pitiful 22/23, unbalanced misfit squad (albeit that’s harsh because Moore/Findlay/Brown weren’t really the problem so swapping them out for Nelson/Thorniley as an example wouldn’t mean a great deal).
And on the flip side. None of the above five mentioned stand out as overtly special, MUST HAVE players at this level. There are other fast, direct players so Whyte isn’t essential. There are other inconsistent wide-men who pop up with occasional goals/assists who’d probably be cheaper than Mide Shodipo. League One is chock full of likeable, whole-hearted, robust 7/10 every week pros like Ruffels/Thorniley - even if our ex-manager seemed hellbent on not signing any of them for the last 18 months. I’m sure there are other talented, but probably injury-prone and talent-wise on the wane CB’s with a bit of ball skill if Nelson isn’t the direction we want to go in.
I really hope we do our homework, and sign players who are going to play plenty of games, and tangibly improve the squad. The noises are that we will. That needs to be the absolute priority over the ‘easy’ option of signing someone familiar with the club and that you know the fans will like (ie Ruffs). I want to see us take the best realistic option available and assemble a competent, physically robust squad for the first game of the season. Not hanging around in late August batting our eyelids and lifting our skirts up at PL clubs in the hopes they’ll chuck a decent youngster our way.
️
