Isn't it strange...

...how all the mentions of Mladen has disappeared recently?

If Conor is getting praise, so should he. So far and early days recruitment looks quite exceptional for the grand sum of f.ck all. Fair play.

Reds.

 

I said after Bolton we’ve signed some really exciting young players to go with the exciting young players we already had at the club.

If we can sign a centre back and a striker and then keep our better players, this window will have been a big success in my opinion.

 

Agree, definitely need both, but especially a centre back

 

I thought the manager was getting a much bigger say in recruitment.

I don’t think it’s a good look for Sormaz that when he controlled recruitment it was terrible & when they give more control to a manager it’s looking a lot better.

 

Agreed mate. I really like the look of Ogbeta.

interestingly how he was slated by both Plymouth and Bolton fans

 

Mladen

 

Or, he's learned from the mistakes of his first season, has a stronger manager to work with and both are doing their jobs pretty well?

 

Its almost as if football supporters, this one especially, know f.ck all.

 

Tbh the midfield and front line looks like they could take anyone in this league to pieces.

We haven't addressed defence sufficiently, so I'll still reserve judgement for now. And I'm convinced Conor is more to do with it that Mladan

 

Mladen deserved the stick he got last season. From the appointment of Clarke to the abject signings in the summer and January. The ones in Jan given we were 5th in the new year were absolutely appalling.

A hell of a lot went wrong last season.

Now……should this season be a major improvement then I’m happy to forget last season.

A lot suggest Conor is more involved with recruitment so let’s see. I heard him say so in the pre season radio Sheff interview.

So far tho…..no moaning from me.

Last season tho…….complete shambles and deserved the stick.

 

It just feels like the signings are coming from the manager this time round. Ogbeta’s come from Hourihane’s old club & I think we’ve all heard the McGoldrick story by now. Players like Kelly & Vickers aren’t the typical signings that we’ve made in the last couple of seasons either so I’d guess they’re more likely to have come from Hourihane than Sormaz.

Others may have differing opinions but I think if Collins & Clarke would have had more of a say in recruitment with their contacts & knowledge of the football league that they could have come up with better options than Lewis, Rodrigues, Nwakali, Farrugia & Lembikisa.

I might be a bit harsh mentioning Collins time too as I’m not sure when Sormaz came in.

Mladen just needs to stick to sorting contracts & paperwork out. Let the football people find the players.

 

The window hasn’t closed yet Dyson. Keep your powder dry.

 

Was going to say the exact same thing, you can see from a mile off in my opinion that Connor has had a say in the transfers

 

Nobody knows what level of input Conor is having in the transfers. It's been confirmed that McGoldrick was Connor's doing, but none of the others have. I think there will still have been significant input from Mladen in terms of identifying players and doing negotiations. I don't think Conor has been given free reign. Many were quick to criticise Mladen the other week (admittedly, myself included) when the Koroma deal fell through. Connor didn't get a mention in that one not coming off.

Credit should be given where it's due, the recruitment team as a whole have done a lot of good so far this summer.

 

It'll be interesting - sounds like Conor has complete control on transfers, so if we have a bad last week or two is that Conor or Mladen?

 

The difference between a proper, top level football man and an admin bod who never played the game

 

Mladen

How dare you wanna get on King Conor’s back.

 

I'd love to be on his back. The ultimate hunk.

 

I don't know if Conor has significantly more input into the incoming transfers than his predecessors. I don't think he has. Sounds like McGoldrick was Conor's choice, but the rest seem very much like what Mladen would identify. I'm not even sure if all of them are great players, although a couple look very good.

I think Conor is having a huge effect on the belief and positivity of all the squad, new signings and established players. That's the difference, not necessarily that the quality of the signings have improved so dramatically. For Vickers and Kelly this season see DKD and Mathew Craig last season. We've got another young keeper on loan like last season. Time will tell if Ogbeta, Watson and Cleary are better than some of the other signings made by Mladen. The difference is the head coach and what he's getting out of them, not necessarily the quality of the signings. And I'm still scared to death by our centre halves.

Having said that, January was inexcusable.

 

If it’s good Conor. If it’s bad Mladen. That seems like how it works?