It's been difficult pre season so far because Duff did a runner. Not the club's fault. You choose the word shambles because you want to blame the club for eveything because you can't accept the reality of supporting a small to medium sized football club.
C,O,Y,R. i'm happy, happy with the Club, happy with the signings so far and as long as we replace the ones that leave with a better player then i'll be happy, we have the foundation in place to build on and i'm sure Neil knows exactly what he needs, keep calm, keep the faith, and be patient the blokes only been at the club a few days. 3 / 4 decent players in 3 weeks, we'll be reight.
It'll be interesting to monitor whether Duff left because he's a liar, or whether he left due to him perceiving a lack of ambition from the board that doesn't match his own. Only time will tell I guess.
What constitutes ambition though Fonzie? Spending money we have got or spending money we haven't? We may have a little more cash to splash this season on maybe one or two players. I'd guess the rest will be lower league or loans. That's just the reality of where we are.
Not really sure if that's much of a question mate. I dont think they'd have put in as much money as they did last year, if they had little ambition they would have gone for 'cheap' option for a manager and sold all our better players in Jan imo. We turned bids down for players, just a shame we put so much trust into someone without integrity.
Guaranteed future post on here I must put my hand up and say I was one of those to slag Kahled, the board and players off pre season but the coach and players are doing a great job, far better than I expected. I was wrong. Future post we won't see I in future will not slag the club off before we have even kicked a ball in the new season. Maybe the club do know what they are doing and won't get every decision right but we are definitely heading in the right direction.
I’d rather only sign players from non-league than only sign players from other clubs’ academies. But am sure by the end of the window, the signings will be a mix of frees from non-league and league clubs, maybe the odd fee paid and a full complement of loan signings. My main concern is how difficult it will be to replace Mads.
But they're just rumours. I mean a quick Google search shows that Andy Dallas has been on the verge of signing for Chesterfield, Notts County, Gillingham and Grimsby just in this window alone. It's not ideal that we're less than a month away from the season, and we still need a few players, but have some patience. Our plans were obviously disrupted by the departure of Duff. No matter how much forward planning we did/didn't do, it was always going to put us back a few weeks. Even with how busy we were in the market last summer, we still made most of our signings on deadline day, that's just the nature of the market. And as has been mentioned before, very few of our signings appear to be of public knowledge before they come off anyway. The club is definitely good at keeping incoming transfers under wraps.
Yes they do but to put it into context he is the only one anywhere in history .. The last window we signed was Barry Cotter which some may argue is non league standard. Or at least lower than L1. This window a goalie and too centre backs from non-league. Then supposably in talks with a couple from Halifax and Solihull. Now I'm all for scouting no league. But it would foolish to fill you're team with em.. Or maybe Khalid long term plan is to win the vanararma league.
And supposedly interested in players from Grimsby and Salford - both league teams. Why is everyone focusing on the non league rumours?
He was never a big name.. no one had even heard of him. It was a Conway deal so was Luke Thomas.. so that should reasonably explain that bit of miss management. It just looks at the minute that the board think they've put enough money in last season and won't be putting anymore in. And that Duff knew this and that's why he went after one year. The reality was different to the club's spin.. And may I just add.. if the board won't put any of their own money in then why are they here?. In any industry people are asked on to board's of company's because they bring or add value. Sorry not seeing either..
A big couple of weeks to come. If we still haven't brought anyone in of a decent standard by then I think you may be right about the money available for signings. They obviously put a lot in last season to keep the club going and are now looking reluctant to invest further on the playing side. It would all make sense as to why Duff did a runner. The next month will show is if this is the case or not.
Yep ok fine... I truly hope every player we bring in, league or not end up being world beaters.. so I shall now stay stum until the end of the window, not with any motive, but until we all know who we're going into the season with.
That's the way it looks to me at least.. but like I put in another post.. I'll leave it now while the end of the window. And for the club toadies.. I don't want the board to chuck money in willynilly. But I do expect us to be able to at least compete at L1
Steven Finnan played in all four leagues and non-league in England. He is the only player to combine that with appearances in the World Cup, Champions League, UEFA Cup and Intertoto Cup. Steve Bull played in all four divisions and non league. He was the last player to be an England international while playing outside the top two divisions. Other examples are available.
I don't really care who we bring in, let them crack on. What I don't want to hear 10 games in is any reference to the abysmal pre season preparation, match fitness or time to gel.
It's a good debate really. I certainly don't want us to spend money we don't have - nobody does. Unless they're really daft. But I'd be lying if I said I'd love us to sign the odd established/experience player every now and then. Look at Norwood - can't imagine he cost a bomb, but his influence on us was huge. Maybe it boils down to the fees we receive from other clubs, I don't know. The reported 3m for Mads seems fair for all parties - but then again the Morris money wasn't great. But then again I also understand that if someone wants to leave then we aren't in a position to play Hardball and make them stay. I guess the answer is somewhere in the middle and I'm arguing with myself. What needs to happen though in my not so humble opinion is the vilification of anyone who criticises BFC - whether its at board level or on the field. Folk want their club to do well - it doesn't mean that they aren't a proper fan or anything. If someone isn't happy with Hex, or the dismissal of Keith, or been kicked out of their seat in the West Stand whilst a suit sits in it - then they're allowed to do so.