Apart from the already promoted 3some, hows your recruitment goin

[Moomin]

Quite a lot of changes for us, which is something we weren’t used to under Tisdale but understandably Taylor wants to put his stamp on things and trim the large squad:

So far we’ve had 12 departures which includes 4 loanees leaving. Of the permanent departures only Moore-Taylor and Storey are ones we will miss.

Overall I have been happy with Taylor’s signings. Coming in we have made 4 signings so far, all of whom look decent. Nicky Law will be an upgrade on Lloyd James and both Forte and Abrahams will strengthen our forward line with pace and power which we lacked. There was so much pressure on Stockley so nice to have two new options to support him.

Defensively is my biggest concern as Aaron Martin had a couple of poor years at Oxford so unsure how well he will do for us but he should be solid enough. We need another CB and cover at RB imo. Other than that we need at least one winger and we will be good to go.

This may be a season of transition as Taylor will make mistakes being a rookie but there’s a real feel of freshness and optimism around the place. Season ticket sales are up on last season’s total already so can’t wait for the beginning of August now!

 

[hold'um Oldham]

We are meant to be recruiting?
Is that what summer is for?

Seriously we have brought in Baxter (potentially the best signing in the league if he gets his head straight).

Apart from that we have a 17 yr old centre back on loan and some French kid from French none league. I'm not sure either will get near the first 11. Gunna be an interesting 4 weeks

 

[EricSabin]

We've signed one player, striker Andy Williams.

Richard O'Donnell has signed for Bradford and Joe Bunney has gone to Blackpool.

The former is a big loss, the latter I'd have carried him anywhere. We need a keeper, striker and a couple of wingers/attacking midfielders.

I think with Facey, Pierre, Taylor, Buchanan, Crooks, O'Toole, McWilliams, Van Veen (if he stays) and Williams we could have a very decent League 2 side with a few additions.

 

[immariner]

I'm not getting the huge optimism that a lot of Town fans have for this season. But then I never do. Easier that way. However, on paper:

Hessenthaler>Berrett
Whitehouse>Summerfield
Welsh>McCallister (who? Exactly).
Davis>Clarke
Fox>not quite match sharp Fox
Russell>Killip
Famewo>Osbourne
Robles>Vernon?

As for the front line, fuck knows. We already have 5 forwards in Jordan Cook, JJ Hooper, Harry Cardwell, Louis Robles and Ahkeem Rose. Only Hooper fills me with any real optimism because of the way he performed in the last half a dozen games, but then that's tempered by the memory of how he performed in the preceding 40 games. So not entirely sure where I see the goals coming from, however with Summerfield firing a 46 game blank and M Rose only scorimg a couple that weren't penalties, we surely have to score more from midfield this year. Be surprised if we don't sign another forward- Cardwell and A Rose appear ripe for loanage.

So in summary:
Keepers- looking half decent. Mckeown established himself as a competent L2 keeper last year and Russell is handy backup.

Defence- looks alright. Signings look like probable improvements on those they replaced and Hall-Johnson showed some fair promise at right back towards the end of the season. Dixon though? Shame.

Midfield- hoping for much better this year. Especially from Whitehouse and Welsh. Wide areas look a concern at this stage, though I think Jolley is more likely to go with wing backs or wide forwards. Where does Woolford fit in? Can't see him playing much.

Forwards- kinda feels like close your eyes and hope-for-the-best at this stage. Perhaps Cook might surprise us and manage to get a few. Hopes rest with Hooper at this stage. Didn't imagine I would say that for most of last season.

With 2 year contracts aplenty, this season is most definitely about not fighting relegation, which I think is a more than reasonable expectation. Do I think we'll trouble the top half? Not without 2 or 3 decent signings.

 

[Son of Cod]

I'm not getting the huge optimism that a lot of Town fans have for this season. But then I never do. Easier that way. However, on paper:

Hessenthaler>Berrett
Whitehouse>Summerfield
Welsh>McCallister (who? Exactly).
Davis>Clarke
Fox>not quite match sharp Fox
Russell>Killip
Famewo>Osbourne
Robles>Vernon?

As for the front line, fuck knows. We already have 5 forwards in Jordan Cook, JJ Hooper, Harry Cardwell, Louis Robles and Ahkeem Rose. Only Hooper fills me with any real optimism because of the way he performed in the last half a dozen games, but then that's tempered by the memory of how he performed in the preceding 40 games. So not entirely sure where I see the goals coming from, however with Summerfield firing a 46 game blank and M Rose only scorimg a couple that weren't penalties, we surely have to score more from midfield this year. Be surprised if we don't sign another forward- Cardwell and A Rose appear ripe for loanage.

So in summary:
Keepers- looking half decent. Mckeown established himself as a competent L2 keeper last year and Russell is handy backup.

Defence- looks alright. Signings look like probable improvements on those they replaced and Hall-Johnson showed some fair promise at right back towards the end of the season. Dixon though? Shame.

Midfield- hoping for much better this year. Especially from Whitehouse and Welsh. Wide areas look a concern at this stage, though I think Jolley is more likely to go with wing backs or wide forwards. Where does Woolford fit in? Can't see him playing much.

Forwards- kinda feels like close your eyes and hope-for-the-best at this stage. Perhaps Cook might surprise us and manage to get a few. Hopes rest with Hooper at this stage. Didn't imagine I would say that for most of last season.

With 2 year contracts aplenty, this season is most definitely about not fighting relegation, which I think is a more than reasonable expectation. Do I think we'll trouble the top half? Not without 2 or 3 decent signings.

I think Woolford will be used sparingly but in the middle in a three as and when needed maybe? He looked a lot better there than out wide and he's more creative than the rest of our CMs, so he could give us a bit of creativity when we're struggling to break teams down.

 

[Gladders]

Finishing 12th this season should be classed as a decent season, unfortunately it probably won't by the loud minority

 

[Buxton Vale]

If Hooper is the cause for optimism, then you have problems.

 

[EricSabin]

If Hooper is the cause for optimism, then you have problems.

Seconded

 

[Son of Cod]

Two thirds of the way through the season, I don't think you'd have found a Town fan that would disagree with you. However, when Hooper can be arsed there is a decent player in there. The jury is well and truly still out on him, but most of us are happy to give him a fair crack.

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

I'm not getting the huge optimism that a lot of Town fans have for this season. But then I never do. Easier that way. However, on paper:

Hessenthaler>Berrett
Whitehouse>Summerfield
Welsh>McCallister (who? Exactly).
Davis>Clarke
Fox>not quite match sharp Fox
Russell>Killip
Famewo>Osbourne
Robles>Vernon?

As for the front line, fuck knows. We already have 5 forwards in Jordan Cook, JJ Hooper, Harry Cardwell, Louis Robles and Ahkeem Rose. Only Hooper fills me with any real optimism because of the way he performed in the last half a dozen games, but then that's tempered by the memory of how he performed in the preceding 40 games. So not entirely sure where I see the goals coming from, however with Summerfield firing a 46 game blank and M Rose only scorimg a couple that weren't penalties, we surely have to score more from midfield this year. Be surprised if we don't sign another forward- Cardwell and A Rose appear ripe for loanage.

So in summary:
Keepers- looking half decent. Mckeown established himself as a competent L2 keeper last year and Russell is handy backup.

Defence- looks alright. Signings look like probable improvements on those they replaced and Hall-Johnson showed some fair promise at right back towards the end of the season. Dixon though? Shame.

Midfield- hoping for much better this year. Especially from Whitehouse and Welsh. Wide areas look a concern at this stage, though I think Jolley is more likely to go with wing backs or wide forwards. Where does Woolford fit in? Can't see him playing much.

Forwards- kinda feels like close your eyes and hope-for-the-best at this stage. Perhaps Cook might surprise us and manage to get a few. Hopes rest with Hooper at this stage. Didn't imagine I would say that for most of last season.

With 2 year contracts aplenty, this season is most definitely about not fighting relegation, which I think is a more than reasonable expectation. Do I think we'll trouble the top half? Not without 2 or 3 decent signings.

I'll be very interested to see how Famewo does. He has previously been linked with moves to Championship sides (development squads most albeit) so must have something.

Mid point of last season where we had a few injuries and suspensions there were calls to get him in, which Jones held off on initially which gave me a bit of pause about just how good he might be. When he did get a go he had a pretty dreadful game by most accounts (although most did to be fair).

I was surprised he got what I think is a very good loan move to you lot. Sort of expected him to go to a conference club first as he is something of an unknown commodity right now.

Early on I know but would it be likely he will start?

 

[Son of Cod]

I'll be very interested to see how Famewo does. He has previously been linked with moves to Championship sides (development squads most albeit) so must have something.

Mid point of last season where we had a few injuries and suspensions there were calls to get him in, which Jones held off on initially which gave me a bit of pause about just how good he might be. When he did get a go he had a pretty dreadful game by most accounts (although most did to be fair).

I was surprised he got what I think is a very good loan move to you lot. Sort of expected him to go to a conference club first as he is something of an unknown commodity right now.

Early on I know but would it be likely he will start?

It's been suggested at our end that Jones has maybe been assured that he gets game time, purely because you would have just sent him to the Conference otherwise. All speculation of course, but could be something in it. He's 1 of 4 CBs and we look like we're going to be giving the wing back thing a go next season, so I'm sure he'll get game time. Not sure if he'll start the season, but would expect him to come in at some point. 1 of those 4 CBs is Danny Collins who turns 38 2 days after the start of the season (but did also play 44 games last season).

 

[PaulHaddock]

There is definitely a player in JJ Hooper. Jolley shifted him out wide and he was good. He’s awful with his back to goal but when he has time on the ball, he can do a lot with it. You only need to see his goals v FGR to see that.

 

[Agombar stool]

Slowly. We have sold Mullin and Norris to Tranmere and Colchester and brought in a striker and an attacking/box to box midfielder on season long loans from Fulham and Brighton respectively. Only permanent signings are a reserve keeper - McCormick and Martin Smith, a midfielder from Coleraine.

We have a large number of triallists training with us and it wouldn't surprise me if we signed Lloyd Sam as we need a winger or 2. Phil Brown is definitely not rushing things with recruitment.

 

[Tranmerewhite]

The new winger from Bristol City has torn Liverpool a new one, we’ve bossed them second half here. On that basis “we’re going to piss this tinpot league”

 

[Indian Dan]

The new winger from Bristol City has torn Liverpool a new one, we’ve bossed them second half here. On that basis “we’re going to piss this tinpot league”

We thought that when we drew with them in a pre season friendly.

We got relegated.

 

[Tranmerewhite]

We thought that when we drew with them in a pre season friendly.

We got relegated.

New attackers we’ve got fill in what we were missing. Just a centre mid away from a good squad here.

 

[valefan16]

There is definitely a player in JJ Hooper. Jolley shifted him out wide and he was good. He’s awful with his back to goal but when he has time on the ball, he can do a lot with it. You only need to see his goals v FGR to see that.

When we put him out wide early part of the season before last he threw a strop so was sent to Northampton on loan.

He looks decent in the last few games of a season oddly, he tore apart a Rochdale late the season before that but from August until early April he just can’t be arsed.

 

[Pablosammy]

Some promising signings, some not so promising, and a definite lack of 'substantial improvement' from our non-league squad. I'm a natural pessimist, so I worry that we're going to be fighting for survival, but I've often been wrong! My main concern is our pedestrian defence, which I think will get found out at this level.

There have been a few mutterings from the manager that suggest our budget isn't quite what we'd hoped for. I'd be interested to see where it ranked amongst the rest of the division, seeing as we should have a top 6 attendance figure.

 

[Boz]

New attackers we’ve got fill in what we were missing. Just a centre mid away from a good squad here.

Mullin's the only forward we've signed though. Smith the loanee looks decent and a source of ammunition, but we need a target man option up front.

Some promising signings, some not so promising, and a definite lack of 'substantial improvement' from our non-league squad. I'm a natural pessimist, so I worry that we're going to be fighting for survival, but I've often been wrong! My main concern is our pedestrian defence, which I think will get found out at this level.

There have been a few mutterings from the manager that suggest our budget isn't quite what we'd hoped for. I'd be interested to see where it ranked amongst the rest of the division, seeing as we should have a top 6 attendance figure.

To what extent are they tactical mutterings from the manager to try and depress the fees we might be asked to pay? I get the impression that being competitive in L2 may be a tad more expensive than the Palioi thought.

Defensively, whatever their failings, Caprice and Monthe are relatively fast, no idea about Ellis. I'd, perhaps optimistically, thought that defence is the one area we seem to have sorted.

 

[Indian Dan]

Stop posting during the game!

FFS

 

[Boz]

Stop posting during the game!

FFS

Why were you reading it during the game then?

 

[Indian Dan]

Half time - you know, the bit where there’s no football going on.

 

[Tranmerewhite]

Posting during the game is clearly why we lost, bloody Tranmere fans.

 

[hellogregory]

I genuinely think we’ve got the worst forward line in the history of League 2.

 

[Indian Dan]

Tell me more

 

[GTFCfish]

I genuinely think we’ve got the worst forward line in the history of League 2.

Our forward line last season might have something to say about that.

 

[Agombar stool]

Tell me more

I’d say given our current injury list our forward line is currently Twine and Young!

 

[Indian Dan]

What about Anderson and Adebola

 

[Agombar stool]

What about Anderson and Adebola

Think it’s Adebayo but yeah I guess that could work. Big target man and pacy striker with no end product, like Kane and Sterling I guess?