Transfer News Transfer Window Summer 21

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Boro sign a keeper presumably to be first choice. So if they really are/were interested in Stevens, then it would be to go and sit on the bench.
They have signed Joe Lumley? What an absolutely fabulous signing for them...
 
QPR 's main keeper also looking to be off ( Seny Dieng ) so likely they will be looking for another keeper or two !
 
Sorry WRox, I don't think we are .."close to being good enough to go up". Blackpool were head & shoulders above us last night & will be comfortable in the Championship if they are successful at Wembley. Ruffles looks like his head is already with another club & Hanson - well - sorry not good enough. We really missed Sam Long. I do not think paying a load of money for Barker is sensible either. We need a player like Blackpool's Ellis & experienced strong cover at CB & both FB sides PDQ so that we can plan for next season.

You're nuts re Barker. He's SO much better than this level. He's top end Championship minimum. There is no scenario by which you don't make a profit on him.

It's nearly awkward how much better he is than everyone else at this level in my book!
 
You're nuts re Barker. He's SO much better than this level. He's top end Championship minimum. There is no scenario by which you don't make a profit on him.

It's nearly awkward how much better he is than everyone else at this level in my book!
If he was that good, he would be involved a lot more than the (charitably) 15 minutes against Blackpool.
 
If he was that good, he would be involved a lot more than the (charitably) 15 minutes against Blackpool.
If we are to rightly praise Blackpool's overall play and in particular high press then does it not follow that the supply to him was cut off at source?

Let's keep in mind that fantastic run beating 3/4 players which began from him from the edge of our box when in space as Opposed to constantly having 2-3 players around him.

Let's hope that clubs further up the chain don't rate him and we can welcome him here permanently
 
Last night (well, our streaky form all year) showed how vital Long is to the shape of the team. Ruffels role is so much clearer when Long plays - pace down the left, support from LB, create overloads on the right with Henry/Lee/Long link up. Blackpool are an excellent side, and the only way we could impose our playing style over theirs was to perform to our maximum level. That was not possible without Long.

The scary thing though, is that it could have been others as well. If Atkinson or Moore were injured, could we still play the same way? Our midfield massively lacks the power and drive McGuane gave us when we come up against the top teams. Who’d play left back if Ruffels was out?

We are so close to being good enough to go up. Frankly the really difficult bit of signing or developing Championship quality players as a L1 club has been frequently achieved. The seemingly more straightforward element of signing vaguely competent back up for these we’ve got horribly wrong - no cover in key positions and the quality outside of our best team is extremely limited.

Most clubs in our division will be signing half a first team this summer, we need to fix our substitutes bench so we don’t have more wingers on it than full backs in the entire squad. That’s an excellent starting point, but means nothing if KR doesn’t finally fix the issues of squad depth and balance.
Agree. Good post. I think we have a very strong platform on which to build for recruitment going into the summer, and it won't take too much to bolster the squad effectively.

The thing with Sam Long is that, while we all agree that he is essential to our best play, for the reasons you lay out, I would be curious as to what standard of backup right back we could get in who does the same things he does. It's not a case of just getting in another body who is a specialist right back - it needs to be somebody who can get forward as intelligently and effectively as Long does. And players who can do that are not ten a penny. Anyone who was good enough to come in and do the role Long does as well as he does it when he's out I suspect wouldn't be willing to come and play second fiddle.

Thinking out loud, I suppose the problem is alleviated if, if Ruffels moves on, you make the first choice left-sided fullback an attacking, Sam Long type, and then swap the wingers accordingly. That way you could bring in the more dependable, solid defensively but not-quite-Dani-Alves righback to shore up the defence if Sam's hammies go again (which it is looking concerningly like they may very well do - it's becoming a recurrent problem) without totally sacrificing your style of play. Alternatively, Lofthouse seems to have done well as a RB out on loan this year. Perhaps you rely on him as an understudy for next year? If we're really gunning for promotion, that seems risky.

Will be an interesting summer for sure.
 
If we are to rightly praise Blackpool's overall play and in particular high press then does it not follow that the supply to him was cut off at source?

Let's keep in mind that fantastic run beating 3/4 players which began from him from the edge of our box when in space as Opposed to constantly having 2-3 players around him.

Let's hope that clubs further up the chain don't rate him and we can welcome him here permanently
I think that he did well against Blackpool considering.
He did very well also to beat his men and put in the really good cross that Henry put over the bar from what 8 yards out?
 
I think that he did well against Blackpool considering.
He did very well also to beat his men and put in the really good cross that Henry put over the bar from what 8 yards out?
Yes it’s strange how him doing that would have led to loads of praise had it gone in, yet he’s getting criticised while James Henry isn’t for missing what was a fairly good chance.
 
Sorry WRox, I don't think we are .."close to being good enough to go up". Blackpool were head & shoulders above us last night & will be comfortable in the Championship if they are successful at Wembley. Ruffles looks like his head is already with another club & Hanson - well - sorry not good enough. We really missed Sam Long. I do not think paying a load of money for Barker is sensible either. We need a player like Blackpool's Ellis & experienced strong cover at CB & both FB sides PDQ so that we can plan for next season.

I think we clearly are close having finished 6th and with the vast majority of key players under contract. We’re not about to lose Johnson, Rogers, Palmer and Morton like Lincoln if they stay down, or Simms (who’s an incredible pick up for L1) and Ballard like Blackpool if they do. Barker’s our best loanee and his input is far more replaceable than those. I’d like to think we’ll keep Lee.

Realistically to be 8 points better off, we need to replace or keep Barker/Mide/Lee with the same quality, probably replace Ruffels, and find appropriate and specialist back up for the defence. It would be nice if we could find the same quality of loanee that Blackpool/Lincoln have this year, but not easily done. We’ll also need to replace anyone we sell, but don’t have anyone as important to us as Dickie last year.

I can’t imagine there’ll be many with less to do than that this summer, it’s certainly less than we’ve had to do in previous years. Less variable, less risk. 6th and 3rd in the previous two years suggests we’re not far off either.
 
You're nuts re Barker. He's SO much better than this level. He's top end Championship minimum. There is no scenario by which you don't make a profit on him.

It's nearly awkward how much better he is than everyone else at this level in my book!
He’s very eye catching and exciting to watch, but I’m not sure that makes him better than all the other players in the team. I agree we’d probably make a profit if we signed him.

I know about the model, but I think we need to sign an experienced midfield player or defender. We’re too young and prone to losing composure
 
If we’re talking Ruffs replacement I’d look at Amari’i Bell from Blackburn or Dan Potts from Luton

Luke Garbutt is also OOC, could we see him return?
Really good suggestions those, didn’t realise Bell was available on a free. We’d need very good centre backs and a very solid right back to get away with Garbutt at full back, but we do have those now and he’s excellent further up.
 
Age doesn't guarantee composure. Just look at David Luiz
That’s true, but collectively we do lack experience and maturity which showed on Tuesday. Interestingly Henry, who I really like, doesn’t seem to have the big match temperament. Sykes seems to perform well in big games but I always feel there’s a danger of him and Brannagan getting too worked up and being sent off.
 
Would be sensible to assume Kelly's going to be on his way. I notice on Tuesday, he didn't post anything on social media regarding the game, but put some random post about Karim Benzema on. Might be reading too much into it but suggests his head is elsewhere.

It's a shame in a way, because we'll lose the greatest bit of irony at the club - the fact that that 5'6" gnome is sponsored by a company called Sturdy's...
 
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