Summer transfers rumours, speculation, news | Page 29 | Vital Football

Summer transfers rumours, speculation, news

It's more the potential of what could have been. I don't think his departure weakens us in any way for next season but it's a loss beyond that.

Hopefully we'll see others sign up soon and start refilling the conveyor belt of talent. I've seen a few people saying that McGurk has been promised first team action if he stays - it would be nice to get at least one win over the vultures now!
I’d like to see McGurk in and around the first team next season as he looks like a little diamond who could be anything. He’s a little bit like Joffy in that he has a bit of an X factor
 
I’d like to see McGurk in and around the first team next season as he looks like a little diamond who could be anything. He’s a little bit like Joffy in that he has a bit of an X factor
Like joffy I thought he was off to Leeds
 
Personally i am not fussed if Owen Evans leaves. I think if he was going to make it in our team he'd have got in by now ahead of Evans.

I quite like Darikwa - he's far from perfect but i think at this level he's pretty decent. I hope he stays.

Dodoo i think he did ok for us last season but i don't think he'd be anything more than back up. He's not strong enough or good enough in the air to be a target man we need regardless of if we get Grigg back. I'm happy enough for Dodoo to be 3rd choice forward if he stays but i wouldn't fancy him to be 1st or second choice striker. So if he goes then fair enough.

Viv has pace and the ability to beat a man and although he's not a world beater i think you always want a few of them in your squad even just to throw on as sub. I'd like to keep him on as competition for places - but if he goes then i'm not heart broken.

But i really hope we get Tilt back and i wouldn't mind Ojo too. I think both will likely be available if we want them.
 
The flip side of that is Joseph may not develop and if we pushed the boat out to keep him we'd regret not taking the 1m off Swansea when we had a chance. Him going now could be a blessing in disguise as we get 1m for the potential of player who may never actually go on to fulfil that potential.

The likes of Jerome Sinclair, James Wilson, Nile Ranger, Frederico Macheda, Adnan Januzaj etc were all considered more highly than Joseph at the same age and they flopped massively.

I'm not suggesting that will happen, but the game is littered with wonder kids who can't make the step up to elite level. Swansea will be thinking they got one over on us at the moment but in a few years time we might be thinking we mugged them off. You never know and only time will tell.
Yep, but there is always that wistful moment about the one that got away. If he ends up being a star we'll always remember how we lost him. If he goes on to nothing he'll fade into our history like other youth hotshots e.g. John Marsden and Tommy Amos
 
Like joffy I thought he was off to Leeds
I was told Leeds offered him a contract at the start of May, if that's true (a big if, it was third hand news at least) and he hasn't signed for them then it suggests he's either got eyes elsewhere or he wants to stay
 
Naylor is a great signing and already a relationship with Whatmough. Mental though seeing Pompey fans on twitter praise before and calling them the best in the league etc a month earlier, but now the same fans calling them shite. Bitter is the word. Think the only time in recent years Wigan fans were bitter about a signing leaving was yanic
 
Naylor is a great signing and already a relationship with Whatmough. Mental though seeing Pompey fans on twitter praise before and calling them the best in the league etc a month earlier, but now the same fans calling them shite. Bitter is the word. Think the only time in recent years Wigan fans were bitter about a signing leaving was yanic

I also noticed how good everyone is when they might stay and how rubbish they suddenly are after they leave for us.

Even if some players were below par at their last club, all you need to say is 'Ivan Toney' - to show how a lad plays at one club has no baring on how they'll do elsewhere.
 
Out of the contracts we know offered so far:

Accepted
Keane
Jones
Edwards
Naylor
Whatmough

Rejected
Lee Evans
Merrie
Joseph
Johnston

Waiting on a decision
Darikwa
Dodoo
Owen Evans
Viv

I wonder what our recruitment policy is?
I can't see us having done much player scouting last season so who's identifying targets?

As the signings so far have been from our division are they players who've caught Leam and Gregors eye during games?
Then the names passed on the Tom Markham who does the stats to see if they're worth persuing.

As for the players we're waiting on I think Darikwa and Viv with a proper pre season would fit in well.
Owen Evans is at an age now where he needs regular game time and given that chance elsewhere will go.
Doodo will go for the money. I read an interview with him a few months ago and he seemed to be saying he'll let his agent decide were he goes.
 
I wonder what our recruitment policy is?
I can't see us having done much player scouting last season so who's identifying targets?

As the signings so far have been from our division are they players who've caught Leam and Gregors eye during games?
Then the names passed on the Tom Markham who does the stats to see if they're worth persuing.

As for the players we're waiting on I think Darikwa and Viv with a proper pre season would fit in well.
Owen Evans is at an age now where he needs regular game time and given that chance elsewhere will go.
Doodo will go for the money. I read an interview with him a few months ago and he seemed to be saying he'll let his agent decide were he goes.

They probably have started sorting out a new recruitment team but right now I think your probably right, i imagine we've done it a bit old school where the manager had identified players himself rather than having a full scouting system and recruitment team doing his leg work.

Any manager probably watches all of the opposition teams in the division regularly on top of the pre match work they do on the next opponent so has has a good idea of who's any good. Plus there will be contacts and agents suggesting names on top of any of the input from Markham.

I think identifying good L1 players is probably the easy part as they are proven quantities who Richardson will be familiar with.

The harder part he will need help with is identifying the talent not in our league that he doesn't see as part of his job and probably doesn't have time to watch everyone. The lads that can step up from lower leagues or the young talent from higher leagues who haven't got a track record yet who could make an impact will be the ones we may be a little behind the curve on.

Judging by our situation, signings so far and who we have been linked to I think most of our business will be players who we are relatively familiar with over recent seasons. That's not necessarily a bad thing but I'm not really expecting this window will see us bringing in many unknown gems.

If you look at the business Sheff U did on under Wilder on the way to the Prem - it often wasn't that clever or expensive he just tried to get in the best frees he could manage. His shopping list was pretty obvious, not many risks, unknown quantities or that glamerous but proven / solid players for the level he was at. If he needed a player all you had to do was look at who was the best cheap or free in that position they could afford and attract and that was most likely who they'd aim to sign. I think we will probably treading a similar approach. That's a fine approach but obviously if your top targets go elsewhere it starts to become trickier without having an established recruitment team to pull out some back ups from left field.
 
Last edited:
I despair with football. After six or seven years of investing in a young player then see him break into the first team we just see him taken from us with one swoop. We knew this was about to happen but my God this bloody stinks. The game stinks. It's shite.
There should be rules introduced to support clubs who have nurtured players like this. Maybe a guaranteed 50% sell on clause throughout the parting players career.
Can't see it happening though.
 
They probably have started sorting out a new recruitment team but right now I think your probably right, i imagine we've done it a bit old school where the manager had identified players himself rather than having a full scouting system and recruitment team doing his leg work.

Any manager probably watches all of the opposition teams in the division regularly on top of the pre match work they do on the next opponent so has has a good idea of who's any good. Plus there will be contacts and agents suggesting names on top of any of the input from Markham.

I think identifying good L1 players is probably the easy part as they are proven quantities who Richardson will be familiar with.

The harder part he will need help with is identifying the talent not in our league that he doesn't see as part of his job and probably doesn't have time to watch everyone. The lads that can step up from lower leagues or the young talent from higher leagues who haven't got a track record yet who could make an impact will be the ones we may be a little behind the curve on.

Judging by our situation, signings so far and who we have been linked to I think most of our business will be players who we are relatively familiar with over recent seasons. That's not necessarily a bad thing but I'm not really expecting this window will see us bringing in many unknown gems.

If you look at the business Sheff U did on under Wilder on the way to the Prem - it often wasn't that clever or expensive he just tried to get in the best frees he could manage. His shopping list was pretty obvious, not many risks, unknown quantities or that glamerous but proven / solid players for the level he was at. I think we will probably treading a similar approach.
Many teams use analytics for scouting these days. The days of a long in the tooth scout watching a player are past now. Scouting software means most efl players will have a huge host of data collected about them.

The guys who are involved in the takeover have been involved in some pretty innovative analytics projects, including designing the model used to value football clubs. You can bet these guys are subscribing to things like ProScout to identify targets from across the league.

The only players they won't have visibility on will be the youngsters and the non-league but that will be the same for everyone.
 
He was on loan at Pompey when we bought him and i think Pompey fans thought he was shit too! Thank God they all did as he really was the missing piece we needed to go up.
He certainly was part of an amazing squad. Probably played the best and most entertaining football I can ever remember a Latics team playing in that promotion year. Mind you we had our greatest ever manager too who knew how football should be played.
 
Last edited:
True but unfit for purpose, loaded in favour of the greed league vultures and makes you wonder why any smaller club (in normal circumstances) would waste their time having an academy
Well... Profit. That Jospeh sale alone keeps the club going, and it's a single academy product.

Edit: I find it more concerning when bigger teams take away academy products to stuff their own without leaving anything behind.
 
  • Like
Reactions: GSM