Am I right in thinking last summer we spent zero pounds on transfers?

And now, by the most conservative estimate we've spent half a million. You'd have to assume that we wouldn't blow all our transfer budget in June as well?

Getting Cranie signed up would be one of the best bits of business we could do this season though.

Be nice if we could do a deal for Higdon, a goalscorer in the SPL should surely be able to do a good job in the Championship, and free of course.

If that doesn't work then I'm hoping we have some cash in reserve for someone with maybe a one in three scoring record at least who has played at Championship level or equivalent, trouble is for anyone under contract your talking a million quid at least which I can't see us spending - not on one player anyway.

O'Grady will create a lot of opportunities but can't see him weighing in with more than about 12 goals. Although Dagnall had a few good months, I'd feel a bit uneasy about us relying on him as the main goalscorer and Scotland will probably be someone who comes of the bench more often than not.

Hopefully Jennings will score a few but not sure where he'll be played or how long it's going to take him to get up to speed, as good as he was for Tranmere he's a bit of an unknown quantity and it will take a while for us to see whether the investment is a good one.

Cautiously optimistic for the new season though, seems like Maurice was instrumental in getting the Jennings deal done through his Bayern contacts so I would assume he has similar contacts at a lot of clubs.

 

I reckon those at the top have realised that with a few shrewd signings we are unlikely to be relegation candidates, so whats the point banking the £3m+, as it wont be needed in the near future. May as well take a chance and blow the lions share on some decent young talent, that we can maybe make money on. Cos we have been cautious in the past and have a wages budget that doesnt break the bank we are in a very strong position when compared to some of our rivals. The last time i felt this confident was when we appointed Spackman !

 

Yeah the Championship will continue to be very unpredictable next year and I'd be chuffed to bits if we finished mid-table and never have to look over our shoulders.

You never know what's going to happen but surely we can't end up in a relegation battle - normally the relegation places are filled with one or two teams who are just out of their depth in the division after just coming up or losing key players, and another one or two clubs who are in turmoil. We certainly don't fit either of those criteria.

 

a new fecking scoreboard

 

Even though that money adds up to a fair chunk (maybe as much as £5m) I thought the best we could hope for transfer-wise was to try and get O'Grady on the cheap and then rely on free transfers.

Not sure how much it costs to jazz a stadium up but I'm sure £100,000 would be more than enough for painting/decoration/teles etc. Even though many aren't bothered, I'd be disappointed not to have a massive-o-tron screen to stare at next season...put the old one in the 'Experience Barnsley' museum.

What exactly can they do to the training ground? Surely all you need is some grass. And how does the team bus thing work? Do teams normally own their bus? I'd have thought they were hired, maybe leased in some cases.

 

Shopping list should be:

Goalkeeper - (If Steele doesn't sign) Either a back up to Alnwick or a new number 1.
Centre Half - Commanding replacement for Foster to play either in a back 3 or as a partner for Cranie.
Right Back - Back up for Wiseman or to play at right back if Wiseman is used at centre half against quick strikers.
Striker - Competition for Dagnall as a regular starter. 4 senior strikers with Rose as back up should do us nicely.

I reckon we've got enough in midfield now. O'Brien, Jennings, RNL as wingers. Dawson, Etuhu, Perkins, Mellis, Digby as central players although all (but Digby?) have played out wide so can provide cover for the other 3. We're also waiting on Cywka.

Magic.

 

I'm hopeful it'll happen once Don has gone, he's obviously experienced football through a different era where this sort of thing was seen as unnecessary. A lot of the times when I've been away over the last few years I've seen some of the video screens and thought it would be great to have something like that at Oakwell...when they are used correctly it really adds to the atmosphere in my opinion.

 

Flicker needs to be on the phone to Martinez to ask if Stone's is realistically in his first team plans for Everton next season - as much as I would love to see him play in the Premier League week in week out on Match of the Day I suspect he's a few years away from doing that, if at all.

Get him here on loan, clauses so Everton can recall him when they want (sorry that sounds a bit Football Manager, probably doesn't work like that in reality) which surely can only be good for Stones, Everton and obviously us.

 

Think I heard the arrangement when it was announced we were getting one was that it would be paid over ten years, even if it costs £100,000 (which I think is a massive over-estimation of the cost, surely you could get two for that), I'm sure over a season the club could easily get over £10,000 - that's less than £500 per league game.

 

One of the biggest challenges for Flitcroft could be keeping all the midfielders we've got happy - squad rotation and depth is all well and good but when they're all fit I think most of us would agree on who should be starting.

 

Everton see themselves as candidates for the top four, I think Martinez will be reluctant to throw him in and risk his own future, he might get more time on the bench though.

 

I'm not sure whether Martinez is good or not for our prospects of getting Stones back. On one hand he rates him because he tried to sign him. On the other hand he knows all about Stones and how well we developed him. At Wigan he wouldn't have had to compete against Coleman. All Stones can expect at Everton is cup football.

 

As talented as Stones is I can't see him playing much this season as he's behind Coleman & Hibbert in the pecking order.

I'd love us to get him back on loan. Him plus another centre back & I think top half is a realistic aim.

 

Keith looking after the pennies means Flitcroft bringing in the £££.