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Post by UpTheGas on Jul 13, 2015 14:52:46 GMT
They are both correct. DC's budget won't decrease as a result of today and any subsequent appeal (NH is correct), but it likely would have increased if it had gone in our favour today (DC is correct).
Unfortunately for us and DC, his budget probably doesn't allow for any more than one or two more people to come in before the season starts.
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Post by UpTheGas on Jul 12, 2015 12:53:24 GMT
Odd that Preston was preferred to Puddy! Puddy is injured, as per DC at Salisbury yesterday.
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Post by UpTheGas on Jul 8, 2015 13:52:31 GMT
Craig Mackail-Smith is a free agent?! And is on trial at Luton?!!! Surely he would be a fantastic signing for any team outside of the Championship?? Luton are going for it, they signed Danny Green already and CMS is a very good player, would have liked him here. I wonder how much the court case will affect our signings, expect when the transfer window closes we will get the result, and not be able to do any business, Toni will be happy with that. Don't think it'll effect it too much to be honest as the playing budget has already been established and is separate from other costs (i.e the court case). The BoD may decide to put a bit more money in DC's kitty if we get a favourable verdict, but it wouldn't change considerably.
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Post by UpTheGas on Jul 7, 2015 20:55:38 GMT
To be fair, I don't often agree with Gashead79's opinions, but I'm kind of with him on Lee Brown. He isn't the top footballer he is often made out to be by some on here.
People, understandably, think highly of him given the loyalty he showed after our relegation last year, but as a player he isn't all that - he often bottles 50/50s and shirks a tackle if he can, which isn't good for a player whose primary focus should be on defending.
Me not thinking the world of him doesn't mean I dislike the guy, though; he's a really nice bloke and I do think he's a steady left back. Unlike most modern footballers he has shown commitment to the club and is a part of a strong back four unit, which shouldn't be underestimated, but I don't think he's the outstanding full back many believe him to be.
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Post by UpTheGas on Jul 6, 2015 12:28:47 GMT
Just checked tomorrow's listings and... we're not there. Again.
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Post by UpTheGas on Jul 6, 2015 11:51:44 GMT
No harm in looking and if DC sees that Myrie-Williams or Ajala has the sort of flair he is looking for to add to our wide options then that's great. I'd trust his decision. If he doesn't, what have we lost?
To be honest I am not particularly enamoured by Ajala, but Myrie-Williams was in the L2 Team of the Year whilst with Port Vale in 2013 and with a manager like DC pushing to get the best out of him again, it could be a clever piece of business (should anything come of it).
McLoughlin is interesting in as far as he's a goalkeeper, but he hasn't earned rave reviews anywhere he's been really. I'd hazard a guess right now that he won't impress sufficiently to earn a deal, but good luck to him. He's only 23 and he may just have been unlucky to have been at MK Dons over the last few years while they've been pushing for promotion to the Championship.
* Oh, and I absolutely agree about Monkhouse; we'll miss his experience and physicality. We can't get too hung up on him, though, as he wanted more money than DC thought he was worth and we have to move on. Monky was too clever for a lot of non-league defenders, but he may not have been as effective back in the FL so perhaps going for a different type of wide man isn't a bad idea.
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Post by UpTheGas on Jul 4, 2015 21:53:23 GMT
What's to say the new goalkeeper would be a number three? I think a new goalie would potentially be our number one with Puddy and then Mildenhall behind him. People may say 'Mildy can't be third choice given his wage', or something similar, but it appears to me DC has lost faith in the man and that is all that can/should influence decisions at the end of the day. I'd be surprised Puddy would sign again if he thought there's a chance of being number 3. It's a good point, although I guess he wants the chance to play in the FL again and must be confident he could see off competition from any other goalkeeper. I guess there's the possibility that he doesn't know DC will bring in another keeper. DC keeps things close to his chest and it was only on Thursday that, for the first time, he publicly said he may bring another goalkeeper in. Puddy had already agreed his contract at this point, so he may not have been aware what the situation was. Personally I'd quite like a first choice goalie brought in, but I am content that we do already have two men who will be competent at this level.
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Post by UpTheGas on Jul 4, 2015 18:16:27 GMT
Neil Etheridge has signed for Walsall, another option gone. Thought he was decent, clarkey gone to Northamton leaves Conrad Logan! Puddy signed a new deal so would we really be looking at a number 3 of that calibre? What's to say the new goalkeeper would be a number three? I think a new goalie would potentially be our number one with Puddy and then Mildenhall behind him. People may say 'Mildy can't be third choice given his wage', or something similar, but it appears to me DC has lost faith in the man and that is all that can/should influence decisions at the end of the day.
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Post by UpTheGas on Jul 4, 2015 16:11:09 GMT
Pierce Mitchell most definitely hasn't been given a contract as far as I am aware. DC and the coaching staff didn't rate him.
Greenslade and Lucas have agreed new deals which I am sure will be announced soon, while Dominic Thomas is definitely still with the club as he was photographed in training on Thursday. I don't know about Ward-Baptiste, though.
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Post by UpTheGas on Jul 4, 2015 10:55:06 GMT
I don't think he rejected Cobblers in favour of us. He could agree on a deal with them in May and then DC offered him the opportunity to come in recently.
Still, if he proves he is over his injury problems I think he could be a clever signing. Relatively cheap, I'd imagine, but highly rated not so long ago.
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Post by UpTheGas on Jul 3, 2015 13:23:10 GMT
Simple really Puddy did OK when Mildenhall was injured, was unfairly dropped when he weas fit, Mildenhall then had two shockers against Eastleigh & Halifax so Puddy was correctly instated, whilst he got lucky on a few occassions he did nothing to warrent being dropped, then had a shcoker for 45 mins at Wembley! It seems DC's not as rose tinted as some posters on here as he appears to have reservations about the goalie position. This. Anybody who regularly went to away games last season will have seen a very shaky and uninspiring Steve Mildenhall midway through the season. I had gone from previously being confident in our experienced goalkeeper to fearing every high ball into the box. Puddy was unfairly dropped when Mildy recovered from injury, but he was deservedly recalled and then did nothing to warrant being dropped again. He kept clean sheets and, generally, was very good at claiming crosses. Sure he had a few nervous moments, but in general he was a safe pair of hands. I would like another goalkeeper brought in as I don't have trust in Mildy like I used to and Puddy is unproven at FL level, so hopefully DC is able to identify someone he wants and bring him in.
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Post by UpTheGas on Jun 27, 2015 11:39:01 GMT
What I'm most concerned about is whether DC can cope when things aren't hunky dory. Why people on here think he is the messiah I don't know. Don't get me wrong, I hope he proves to be one of our best ever managers, but why are people on here and elsewhere so convinced he is THE MAN? I'm not blaming him for our relegation, but we didn't turn it around when he took over, then we got out of a non league situation we should never have been in. The evidence on how good or bad DC will be begins now. He firstly has to put a team together to get us up another division ( not saying it has to be first time), and he has to prove he can motivate the team when things are not going well. I hope we are all celebrating again at the end of the season, but let's not get carried away. He hasn't proved anything yet in my opinion. I still feel we are woefully short of league level strikers, which must be addressed. I'm not sure why you're bringing up the relegation - the man had 6/7 games as first team manager with a team that clearly lacked quality, enthusiasm and fight. I went to all those games and DC tried his very best to rouse an improvement in the team; away from home we went to win games unlike under JW, and although we only won at Wycombe, we deserved more from the Bury and Portsmouth games too IMO. No, he didn't turn it around as you state, but to blame him for that with so few games left is incredibly harsh. From that point of view he isn't the messiah, I guess you'll say, but given the hate he and the team received in the opening month of last season and the way he completely transformed our form was incredible. That proved to me he is a good young manager who can cope with the expectation and and pressure of being at a (relative to the level) big club. If we don't put our trust in him now and appreciate what a magnificent job he did last season, when can we? Let's give him the time over pre-season to construct his squad and get them going. As for Linesy, I think he would be a good player and I do think his attitude has changed since he left in 2011, although there must be other players out there we could sign if needs be. I do think, though, that if we can get the boy home that we should do because at his best he can be very good in this division.
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Post by UpTheGas on Jun 25, 2015 18:52:50 GMT
I'd still put money on us having one of the highest budgets last season when our annual results are published, what other Conference side brought in the likes of Easter & Lines late in the season? The Play Offs showed we're miles ahead of FGR & Eastleigh so there's no way their playing budget was higher than ours and I doubt Grimsby splashed the cash last season. We did have one of the highest, but I doubt it was the highest. Some of the wages Eastleigh and FGR were/are paying is staggering and I do think they spent more than us regardless of the additions of Lines and Easter. DC very deliberately kept a chunk of his budget to bring in top quality loans in the second half of the season and whilst we may have increased our budget slightly to get him on board, it won't have been enough to make us the biggest spenders IMO.
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Post by UpTheGas on Jun 22, 2015 15:05:10 GMT
It has to be 6 signings now with Monky and Balanta leaving as well. We only have 15 senior pros going by the Post's list and IMO we'd need 21 first teamers plus a few loans as we go through the season.
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Post by UpTheGas on Jun 20, 2015 19:04:43 GMT
Teams coming up normally do well. Whether that is winning mentality or the standard is similar I'm not sure. If I'm honest, I reckon we are in a bad place to compete. But, teams coming up normally do well...... We played against some really really bad teams last year and didn't look convincing. The next few weeks will help shape it but again I won't get excited or disappointed by pre season. You say about not looking convincing, but after January I thought we did very well and comfortably beat a lot of teams. Admittedly March wasn't our most emphatic month result-wise but other than that we thoroughly deserved to win every single game that we did and that's all you can do, so I'm not sure that particular point counts for a lot. Yes it would have been nice if we scored another goal or two per game, however I guarantee every single other team in the country would say the same thing. We do need to make improvements if we want to be a proper force next season, though, without a doubt. 2-3 wide players, a central midfielder and then one other in whatever area DC feels we most need more quality. Having said that, I don't think we're in a 'bad place to compete' even if we aren't able to bring in our first choice signings.
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Post by UpTheGas on Jun 19, 2015 15:47:06 GMT
Very pleased with this. Gosling is a young winger who showed very encouraging signs last season when given a run in the team. Some of the goals he scored were absolutely superb and he was almost unplayable at Torquay and at home to Macclesfield over Christmas.
Sure there is plenty for him to improve on, but he's 21 and made a positive contribution in his first year. I think he'll go from strength to strength.
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Post by UpTheGas on Jun 17, 2015 17:20:51 GMT
Not sure why this is being taken as gospel without being announced by anyone with any credibility?
It came from a transfer rumours account on Twitter that looks like it's run by a kid. A Rovers fan page copied the tweet to make it look as though they are in the know, but as far as I can see there is nothing in it.
If Scapuzzi does indeed train with us then fair enough, but I am sceptical given the origin of the rumour.
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Post by UpTheGas on Jun 16, 2015 14:35:16 GMT
We won't be having two pacey wingers in the starting XI, DC is a shrewd manager and likes to have at least one side covered with a player who is willing to drop in and cover his full back. Monkhouse was superb at doing that and that is why Browner made a contribution this/last season as he could overlap almost at will.
Thanks for everything Monky. I thoroughly enjoyed watching you in the quarters and thank you for the part you played in our return to the Football League. Good luck.
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Post by UpTheGas on Jun 14, 2015 14:12:34 GMT
I liked Dawson as he bought into the club and everything DC wanted of him. He was a direct winger who liked to get to the by-line and put a cross in, which was encouraging to see from the terraces as we didn't have that sort of flair or pace out wide earlier in the season.
Having said that, Daws had a tendency to try and beat his man several times in one move, when if he looked up or had better awareness he could have chosen a better option. I also found that he rarely pulled off his trademark step-overs during a game once his full back had worked out, a couple of minutes after kick off, that he was going to do it every time he got the ball.
Daws is a tidy player who showed a lot of promise, but remember he hasn't proven himself at FL level and may not be quite as good as he was in the Conference. We don't need to sign every loanee we ever have - other players are available at this time of year. I would be happy and trust DC if he signs him, I would be happy and trust DC if he goes for other players.
I know a lot of people on here are panicky and fidgety at this time of year if we haven't already made five signings, but patience is a virtue. Darrell has told us he doesn't 'expect' any of the four new signings to come in before the end of June/early July, but that doesn't mean we won't bring someone in this coming week, for example. Transfers can progress quickly and, of course, DC may be playing a few mind games as well, so don't get too worked up.
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Post by UpTheGas on Jun 6, 2015 20:38:04 GMT
If this is true I think it sounds a decent acquisition, as he will be a third or fourth choice centre half and/or a second choice right back. But he is of a similar ilk to some of last summer's signings in terms of being hungry and he is coming into his prime as well, which can only be a good thing. I would suggest it means Trots is moving on, though.
I do think we will sign some quality players this summer, DC has got contacts and we must surely look an good proposition right now on the back of a fantastic immediate return to the FL.
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