Stickied League 2 Transfer Rumours/Confirmed Transfers 2023/24

[Kauto Star]

After a meeting with our owners our supporters trust have said the club are looking to sell Nadersan to a team up north. Doest say who but he has family in Blackpool and was previously with Fleetwood.

They also say we have offered severance terms to Francomb, Craig and Hessanthaler!

Just a few days left of the window and we have one keeper and are now woefully short on league quality players. I reckon Wagmi have gone busy.

Casey

We were linked earlier this month to Nadesan, not sure whether a credible rumour.

Could be Cook's replacement, who I still think might be sold by Hughes

 

[Luke Imp]

Tom Hopper to Colchester apparently.

EDIT - Hartlepool tried/are trying to sign him as well apparently.

 

[pontoonlew]

Honestly I haven’t got a clue. Maybe £3k?

You’re paying a centre back 3.5k

 

[pontoonlew]

Tom Hopper to Colchester apparently.

EDIT - Hartlepool tried to sign him as well apparently.

If we didn’t then you’ve got to question why, and if we did, you’ve got to question how on earth we’ve missed out.

Baffling stuff coming out of our transfer window so far and I’m at a loss as to what on earth we’re playing at.

 

[Son of Cod]

If we didn’t then you’ve got to question why, and if we did, you’ve got to question how on earth we’ve missed out.

Baffling stuff coming out of our transfer window so far and I’m at a loss as to what on earth we’re playing at.

Yep especially as the Lincoln line all window seems to have been, you can have Hopper/Vernam when we sign replacements. Have Lincoln done that yet?

 

[Luke Imp]

Yep especially as the Lincoln line all window seems to have been, you can have Hopper/Vernam when we sign replacements. Have Lincoln done that yet?

The only talk of Hopper and Vernam to Grimsby seems to have come from your end.

We'd certainly not let Hopper leave without a replacement lined up because that would only leave us with House as a striker and he's missed the last two/three weeks with injury.

 

[Indian Dan]

You’re paying a centre back 3.5k

Who’s that?

 

[Boz]

After a meeting with our owners our supporters trust have said the club are looking to sell Nadersan to a team up north. Doest say who but he has family in Blackpool and was previously with Fleetwood.

They also say we have offered severance terms to Francomb, Craig and Hessanthaler!

Just a few days left of the window and we have one keeper and are now woefully short on league quality players. I reckon Wagmi have gone busy.

Casey

Some on Rovers forum linking Nadesan with us, although doubt we could afford him.

 

[pontoonlew]

Who’s that?

Angus Macdonald

 

[Indian Dan]

Angus Macdonald

And you know that how?

 

[pontoonlew]

And you know that how?

The same way I knew he was signing for you a few days before he did

 

[Agombar stool]

I'm far from an expert but it does appear that the teams at the bottom are making a real go of not getting relegated. Colchester and Gillingham have made some eye opening signings - fully aware Gills have had a takeover and have had money pumped into the club but where has Colchester's spending come from? I thought they were in a bit of a financial pickle. Hartlepool seem to be talking a good game but I guess are waiting until the last minute in the window to get proper value and Crawley continue to trip over their NFT sponsored clown shoes.

 

[Chief Rocka]

Talking a good game is what we excel at, conversations about signings has gone from we've money to spend on 1st Jan, to now focused on getting value for money, easy for the chairman to say we have 'bids in for four top strikers' but being 3rd bottom unless they're local and want to come back to the region, we're gonna actually have to push the financial boat out to get them in.

I get the feeling we're all gonna be pissed off when the window closes.

 

[Agombar stool]

Talking a good game is what we excel at, conversations about signings has gone from we've money to spend on 1st Jan, to now focused on getting value for money, easy for the chairman to say we have 'bids in for four top strikers' but being 3rd bottom unless they're local and want to come back to the region, we're gonna actually have to push the financial boat out to get them in.

I get the feeling we're all gonna be pissed off when the window closes.

You at least already have one of the better strikers in the division in Umerah, I assume Curle wants someone else to take the pressure off of him? You'd imagine if you had a front 2 of say Umerah and Danny Johnson you'd have to be fairly confident in their ability to help to get you out of trouble.

 

[Chief Rocka]

You at least already have one of the better strikers in the division in Umerah, I assume Curle wants someone else to take the pressure off of him? You'd imagine if you had a front 2 of say Umerah and Danny Johnson you'd have to be fairly confident in their ability to help to get you out of trouble.

He's been doing everything himself, 10 league goals for a team 3rd bottom is good going, we've only one other striker in Hamilton and he's not really up to snuff, suppose the worry is if we do bring in that 'top striker' we've been chasing all month we really can't afford to lose Umerah to someone else as we're basically back at square one.

 

[Luke Imp]

Hopper to Colchester will probably go through today according to our local media.

It felt like him being here was coming to the end of the road anyway, so despite being captain it's not like losing a key player. He's behind Ben House in the pecking order, hasn't made many starts and has been out of form since our L1 PO season really, albeit he was surrounded by Brennan Johnson, Morgan Rogers and Jorge Grant during that season.

He's good for 5-8 goals a season, wins free kicks and excellent at defending the front post on set pieces. He's not particularly mobile anymore, certainly not as mobile as he was when he joined three years ago, so very much a back to goal player and would need pace around him. A little surprised he's dropping so low into L2 though but location has perhaps played a part if he still has a place down in Southend.

 

[F!RTHY]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1618554464566218752

 

[F!RTHY]

Yann Songo’o flogged to Walsall on-loan.

Shame, as I think he could’ve done a job in midfield.

 

[Gi Dalor]

I'm far from an expert but it does appear that the teams at the bottom are making a real go of not getting relegated. Colchester and Gillingham have made some eye opening signings - fully aware Gills have had a takeover and have had money pumped into the club but where has Colchester's spending come from? I thought they were in a bit of a financial pickle. Hartlepool seem to be talking a good game but I guess are waiting until the last minute in the window to get proper value and Crawley continue to trip over their NFT sponsored clown shoes.

I wonder if Crawley are genuinely having trouble persuading players to join. There is a conception (possibly untrue as it happens, but perception is reality) that the owners interfere with team selection. Their last 2 matches have been postponed, but the reality is that had those gone ahead, they'd have had only 1 senior keeper. Possibly had they gone ahead they'd have brought in an emergency keeper, but there's no guarantee that someone prepared to sign on such a match by match basis would be viable.

Do you think clubs get better value at the end of the window? I'd have thought it would be the opposite; that agents and clubs are able to profit from the desperation. Also, since those players are by definition not your first options, you're probably paying first choice money for your fourth choice signings. But I guess that some players start off asking too much, and then panic when nobody snaps them up.

 

[shouting men gfc]

I'm far from an expert but it does appear that the teams at the bottom are making a real go of not getting relegated. Colchester and Gillingham have made some eye opening signings - fully aware Gills have had a takeover and have had money pumped into the club but where has Colchester's spending come from? I thought they were in a bit of a financial pickle. Hartlepool seem to be talking a good game but I guess are waiting until the last minute in the window to get proper value and Crawley continue to trip over their NFT sponsored clown shoes.

recon gills swindon will be on the weekend ? heard rumours your pitch is frozen solid and unlikley to go ahead?

 

[shoddycollins]

I'm far from an expert but it does appear that the teams at the bottom are making a real go of not getting relegated. Colchester and Gillingham have made some eye opening signings - fully aware Gills have had a takeover and have had money pumped into the club but where has Colchester's spending come from? I thought they were in a bit of a financial pickle. Hartlepool seem to be talking a good game but I guess are waiting until the last minute in the window to get proper value and Crawley continue to trip over their NFT sponsored clown shoes.

I wondered this myself a couple of weeks ago. Seems they have a new DoF, though nothing to suggest that he's part of some investment. The one thing I did notice is that a Bollywood studio used their stadium for filming a couple months back. Possibility? Bollywood is big money.

 

[AR27]

Best of luck to Songo'o. Even with our midfield issues he was never getting a game there and was down the pecking order at CB. I would've kept him as he's ideal for bringing on in the last few minutes when holding onto a result but can understand why he wants more game time.

 

[saddler78]

Yann Songo’o flogged to Walsall on-loan.

Shame, as I think he could’ve done a job in midfield.

Is he more of a midfielder than a cb mate don't know much about him?

 

[F!RTHY]

Is he more of a midfielder than a cb mate don't know much about him?

We primarily played him at centre-halve, but he’s most definitely a defensive midfielder IMO.

Wears his heart on his sleeve - top professional.

 

[AR27]

Songo'o is a better CB than midfielder because he's an absolute car crash in possession.

 

[Agombar stool]

recon gills swindon will be on the weekend ? heard rumours your pitch is frozen solid and unlikley to go ahead?

Looking at the forecast ahead I don't see why not. This week since Tuesday has been milder and although temps are supposed to be around 0 overnight on Friday night into Saturday I don't think there should be any problem. I haven't seen anything from the club about any planned pitch inspections. I'd guess 80/20.

I wondered this myself a couple of weeks ago. Seems they have a new DoF, though nothing to suggest that he's part of some investment. The one thing I did notice is that a Bollywood studio used their stadium for filming a couple months back. Possibility? Bollywood is big money.

Very interesting! So I suppose they are trying to MumBuy their way to safety, arf!

I wonder if Crawley are genuinely having trouble persuading players to join. There is a conception (possibly untrue as it happens, but perception is reality) that the owners interfere with team selection. Their last 2 matches have been postponed, but the reality is that had those gone ahead, they'd have had only 1 senior keeper. Possibly had they gone ahead they'd have brought in an emergency keeper, but there's no guarantee that someone prepared to sign on such a match by match basis would be viable.

Do you think clubs get better value at the end of the window? I'd have thought it would be the opposite; that agents and clubs are able to profit from the desperation. Also, since those players are by definition not your first options, you're probably paying first choice money for your fourth choice signings. But I guess that some players start off asking too much, and then panic when nobody snaps them up.

There is a 4 part documentary on Sky Documentaries called 'Transfer Window' which is pretty self explanatory. It's follows a group of agents and how they go about arranging transfers for their clients. Ex-Champ Man legend Cherno Samba is on it! Anyway, one of the agents said that a lot of clubs do wait until the end of the window for the very reason that they can get the player they are after cheaper. But obviously it's not that straight forward as if other clubs want that player and are willing to pay the asking/market price then the waiting club loses out and has to go to their second, third, fourth choice etc. I mean it's not an exact science and the points you made are totally valid and so it's a bit of a gamble, but bargains can be had I suppose.

 

[MWS]

Got 5 mins off the bench last game and has scored 1 in 9 - not sure he’s done that well.

Yeah because the ONLY thing to consider when judging a striker is goals scored.......

What a numpty!

 

[dedwardp]

I'm far from an expert but it does appear that the teams at the bottom are making a real go of not getting relegated. Colchester and Gillingham have made some eye opening signings - fully aware Gills have had a takeover and have had money pumped into the club but where has Colchester's spending come from? I thought they were in a bit of a financial pickle. Hartlepool seem to be talking a good game but I guess are waiting until the last minute in the window to get proper value and Crawley continue to trip over their NFT sponsored clown shoes.

We've always had a very healthy budget for the level other than the covid seasons when the chairman's businesses took quite a hit and he decided to cut it back - his attitude was to spend as little as possible without getting relegated until we came back through it, and we no doubt cut it much finer than he was hoping.

The club didn't borrow a penny during covid like others, we just slashed all of the budgets instead. So now that he says his businesses have recovered and we haven't got any covid loans to pay back it seems as though we're in a better position and reverting back to the pre-covid budgets. There's also been quite an overhaul behind the scenes this season and we appear to have moved away from the merry go round of old managers and internal appointments all over the shop by bringing in new faces for recruitment, DOF and of course the manager. I get the sense that Bloomfield will become a very good appointment, and so perhaps the chairman is also now willing to back them and give them the resources to do a good job.

As for the January window more broadly, I think we've approached it very strategically in the sense that we have a lot of players out of contract in the summer, including all of the Ipswich old guard that we brought in for an easy life - probably not on the cheap, either. Our additions have been coming in on two and a half year deals so in effect we've been starting the summer rebuild early, paying fees to bring players in now rather than joining the summer scramble as and when they may become free agents. Usually our January window features a host of last minute loan deals that look a bit desperate, whereas this time it seems to have been in the planning for a while with a longer-term look to next season. Still have to survive this season of course, but I think we'll be comfortable to be honest and then back to looking upwards again next year as we were before covid.

 

[Son of Cod]

Kiernan - gone back to Walsall
McAtee - ineligble for Luton match
Simmonds - gone back to Birmingham
Richardson - injured, rumoured to be going back to Burnley
Wearne - cup tied for Luton match as we let Torquay use him
Taylor - injured for a few more months
Khan - injured for six weeks
Pepple - gone back to Luton
JMD - gone to Yeovil
O'Neill - cup tied for Luton match

Only Orsi and Scannell available for Saturday in terms of attacking players.

Confirmed. Recalled by Burnley. Shame, looked decent.

We're threadbare up top, we've been told to trust Hurst and the club but that's becoming more and more difficult as the time ticks by. We need a few decent signings in, but I just can't see it happening.

5 attackers out and 1 in this window.

 

[Agombar stool]

We've always had a very healthy budget for the level other than the covid seasons when the chairman's businesses took quite a hit and he decided to cut it back - his attitude was to spend as little as possible without getting relegated until we came back through it, and we no doubt cut it much finer than he was hoping.

The club didn't borrow a penny during covid like others, we just slashed all of the budgets instead. So now that he says his businesses have recovered and we haven't got any covid loans to pay back it seems as though we're in a better position and reverting back to the pre-covid budgets. There's also been quite an overhaul behind the scenes this season and we appear to have moved away from the merry go round of old managers and internal appointments all over the shop by bringing in new faces for recruitment, DOF and of course the manager. I get the sense that Bloomfield will become a very good appointment, and so perhaps the chairman is also now willing to back them and give them the resources to do a good job.

As for the January window more broadly, I think we've approached it very strategically in the sense that we have a lot of players out of contract in the summer, including all of the Ipswich old guard that we brought in for an easy life - probably not on the cheap, either. Our additions have been coming in on two and a half year deals so in effect we've been starting the summer rebuild early, paying fees to bring players in now rather than joining the summer scramble as and when they may become free agents. Usually our January window features a host of last minute loan deals that look a bit desperate, whereas this time it seems to have been in the planning for a while with a longer-term look to next season. Still have to survive this season of course, but I think we'll be comfortable to be honest and then back to looking upwards again next year as we were before covid.

Thanks for that dedwardp, that's really interesting and I wasn't aware about how you got through the Covid period, it's an interesting strategy. Makes sense now that you are opening the purse strings a little and it sounds like you have a longer term strategy which should see you challenging at the upper end of the table going forward. In some ways what you have said echoes what we are looking to do. The last few seasons have been rinse and repeat with new players, and a hefty turnover reliant on loans. We do have loan players, of course, but we also have signed players on longer term contracts in order to try and build something with a more solid base.