Stickied League 2 Transfer Rumours/Confirmed Transfers 2024/25

[Son of Cod]

Some of us were very vocal in how bad a deal it was. But nobody outside of a few lower league clubs paid any attention.

Did the list of clubs that opposed it ever get published? If anything ever highlights the disparity of finances from the top of the Prem down to the bottom of the EFL it's how much clubs rely on that solidarity handout.

 

[shoddycollins]

Yep. EPPP was a greasy unconscionable "deal" never met the opposition it should have done. The amount of players that have stepped up from the Conference, L2 and L1 and now play for top two tier clubs is much greater than it was before this happened. The extreme optimist in me hopes that that this will be addressed and renegotiated at some point, but we all know that's a pipe dream. Much more likely that it will continue to be almost a dirty little secret that the Premier League clubs are happy to sweep under the carpet.

The argument the Premier League and FA made for it at the time was that Premier League clubs were full of foreign players, English players weren't getting a chance at the top clubs and as a result the England football team was crap.

The Premier League's argument was that English players were overpriced, so in came EPPP. Essentially in a dispute between the Premier League and the FA over the number of English footballers playing at the highest level, the Premier League claimed that lower league clubs were holding them to ransom and that was why they had no choice but to sign players from abroad. They claimed they were too impoverished to give English players a chance unless the ruthless cartel of fat cat lower league clubs was smashed.

Obviously the fact that we were ripping the Premier League off down here is evidenced by how much richer lower league clubs are than their Premier League counterparts, and since EPPP was introduced things have become much more equal.

It's essentially the same argument as used when megacorporations don't pay tax because they can't afford to with greedy employees demanding to be paid a living wage.

If Sol Campbell's goal against Portugal in Euro 2004 hadn't been wrongly ruled offside then we wouldn't be in this situation. The demise of clubs like Bury and Macclesfield is directly traceable to that linesman.

 

[Chris FGR]

If Sol Campbell's goal against Portugal in Euro 2004 hadn't been wrongly ruled offside then we wouldn't be in this situation. The demise of clubs like Bury and Macclesfield is directly traceable to that linesman.

It wasn't ruled offside. Ref Urs Meier deemed John Terry had impeded Ricardo when Campbell scored. Soft to say the least.

So URS MEIER is the man to blame for Bury and Macc's demise. There was nothing poor Day, Dale or Alkhadi could have done.

Seems strange that a Swiss bloke in charge of something in football could ever be dodgy, but there you go.

 

[Shrimpurh]

We signed Sam Hart last week but he cannot play until embargo is lifted and we can register him.

 

[Luke Imp]

Yep. EPPP was a greasy unconscionable "deal" never met the opposition it should have done. The amount of players that have stepped up from the Conference, L2 and L1 and now play for top two tier clubs is much greater than it was before this happened. The extreme optimist in me hopes that that this will be addressed and renegotiated at some point, but we all know that's a pipe dream. Much more likely that it will continue to be almost a dirty little secret that the Premier League clubs are happy to sweep under the carpet.

If BPB got their way, they'd be no EPPP because they'd scrap academy funding for L1 and L2.

Lots of Club's were opposed to it but most voted in favour at the time because the PL basically said if it wasn't voted through then they would withdraw solidarity payments.

 

[Casey]

It would be interesting to know how many clubs have scrapped their academies since EPPP came in.

The top two tiers of academies seem to have survived at this level (Crewe, Colchester, Exeter and such) but below these I got a feeling there was going to be a general shutting down because the finances became unsustainable.

Rather see the facts than the feelings though.

Casey

 

[valefan16]

Our academy is still going, not very good at the moment after a good spell bringing the likes of Sam Morsy, Nathan Smith and James Gibbons through.

We have though invested heavily this year employing about 7000 coaches it seems! Frank Sinclair has come in, now Darren Potter upon retirement has come in from MK Dons and Anthony Griffith amongst others not to mention bringing Emile Heskey to come and chat to them.

Looks like we are investing in getting it more fruitful again.

 

[Luke Imp]

It would be interesting to know how many clubs have scrapped their academies since EPPP came in.

The top two tiers of academies seem to have survived at this level (Crewe, Colchester, Exeter and such) but below these I got a feeling there was going to be a general shutting down because the finances became unsustainable.

Rather see the facts than the feelings though.

Casey

I can only recall reading about Brentford and Huddersfield doing so.

 

[SVH]

We have a good academy but boys as young as 12 are being bought by the likes of Chelsea and Norwich. Or should I say 'stolen'.

Norwich bought a friend of mine's 12 year old son for £12,000 in March.

 

[valefan16]

We have a good academy but boys as young as 12 are being bought by the likes of Chelsea and Norwich. Or should I say 'stolen'.

Norwich bought a friend of mine's 12 year old son for £12,000 in March.

This is our issue, we’ve lost 4 lads to Man City, Stoke and Wolves, big money apparently but dare say most will be lost in the system where as at Vale or Cambridge you’ve got a chance if you have talent to break into the side in time.

Foden aside I can’t think of many at Man City who have done it in recent years! Sancho got out and rebuilt himself but.

 

[Conker]

Our academy is still going, not very good at the moment after a good spell bringing the likes of Sam Morsy, Nathan Smith and James Gibbons through.

We have though invested heavily this year employing about 7000 coaches it seems! Frank Sinclair has come in, now Darren Potter upon retirement has come in from MK Dons and Anthony Griffith amongst others not to mention bringing Emile Heskey to come and chat to them.

Looks like we are investing in getting it more fruitful again.

It’s Frank son you could have done with in the Academy.

 

[The Terminator]

We have a good academy but boys as young as 12 are being bought by the likes of Chelsea and Norwich. Or should I say 'stolen'.

Norwich bought a friend of mine's 12 year old son for £12,000 in March.

Same with us as Arsenal, West Ham and Spurs usually steal ours with relative ease.

Chris Willock who is currently at QPR is good recent example of this in our case.

 

[The Terminator]

This is our issue, we’ve lost 4 lads to Man City, Stoke and Wolves, big money apparently but dare say most will be lost in the system where as at Vale or Cambridge you’ve got a chance if you have talent to break into the side in time.

Foden aside I can’t think of many at Man City who have done it in recent years! Sancho got out and rebuilt himself but.

Man City are slowly putting more youngsters in, with the likes of Eric Garcia, Liam Delap (Son of Rory), Tommy Doyle and Cole Palmer have slowly been put in their first team in the last 18 months.

 

[valefan16]

Man City are slowly putting more youngsters in, with the likes of Eric Garcia, Liam Delap (Son of Rory), Tommy Doyle and Cole Palmer have slowly been put in their first team in the last 18 months.

Unlikely to become regulars when sniffing around Messi though. Harwood-Bellis had a sniff but disappeared again.

More chance of playing for the likes of Vale, Orient etc. How many of these kids are lost because they are in academies that train them to ping the ball around like Barcelona but don’t teach them proper football.

As we played Liverpool our pundit who is Vale legend Phil Sproson (an agent now) was saying that the ones who make a career are the ones like Grealish for example who can take the rough and tumble... but a lot of them can’t.

We’ve beaten every single one of the U21s we’ve faced since they entered the competition and each time they play it nice but can’t cope with us when we get stuck in and go at them. Liverpool with our high press where opened up time and time again.

If you don’t make it at Man City but have been taught to play like you play for them with loads of passing and pretty football but don’t have the nous and physical capabilities you’ve no chance to dropping down the EFL and getting a career there.

 

[masi51]

This is our issue, we’ve lost 4 lads to Man City, Stoke and Wolves, big money apparently but dare say most will be lost in the system where as at Vale or Cambridge you’ve got a chance if you have talent to break into the side in time.

Foden aside I can’t think of many at Man City who have done it in recent years! Sancho got out and rebuilt himself but.

Teams in lge 2 benefit way more than the premier league when it comes to Academy players.
Yes it can be galling if a team takes a 14 year old from your Academy for what seems a pittance, but how many players have been coached at a premier league academy from say age 10 through until they are 18, not quite good enough and a lge 2 then sign them for the first team.......Thousands and Thousands of pounds would have been spent coaching him.......yes its a two way street

 

[pontoonlew]

Holloway announced on Saturday that Bilel Mohsni had been released already.

Moshni however has other ideas, he’s tweeted that this isn’t true and followed up with a video showing the electric scooter that he’s going to ride into training on. He followed that up with a bizarre video of him doing extra training on the beach.

To be continued...

 

[Bottega Don]

It's quite remarkable Grimsby have the most decorated manager in the league and still continue to be a circus

 

[pontoonlew]

It's quite remarkable Grimsby have the most decorated manager in the league and still continue to be a circus

I think it’s the couple of old dinosaurs running the club that are the issue, I’m worried that Holloway is realising what the rest of us have known for years.

Fenty apparently told Holloway that the negotiations had been completed and he’d gone, turns out that wasn’t true and Mohsni trained today.

 

[Son of Cod]

I think it’s the couple of old dinosaurs running the club that are the issue, I’m worried that Holloway is realising what the rest of us have known for years.

Fenty apparently told Holloway that the negotiations had been completed and he’d gone, turns out that wasn’t true and Mohsni trained today.

This is it essentially. There are a variety of factors at play, but ultimately it comes down to the board's unwillingness to roll with the times. Some credit is certainly due for running the club sustainably but beyond that so many facets of the culture of the club are either rotten or outdated.

 

[Luke Imp]

This is it essentially. There are a variety of factors at play, but ultimately it comes down to the board's unwillingness to roll with the times. Some credit is certainly due for running the club sustainably but beyond that so many facets of the culture of the club are either rotten or outdated.

One of Holloway's comments post-match did confuse me because he said, and I can't recall exactly, something along the lines of that because your Scout couldn't get into game you had prepared for Tranmere to play in a way that they didn't.

There's all sort of video analysis set-ups/tools out there now to use to be able to watch games if you can't physically get there.

 

[Son of Cod]

One of Holloway's comments post-match did confuse me because he said, and I can't recall exactly, something along the lines of that because your Scout couldn't get into game you had prepared for Tranmere to play in a way that they didn't.

There's all sort of video analysis set-ups/tools out there now to use to be able to watch games if you can't physically get there.

Oh yeah, very doubtful that we're up to speed on that front. You're talking about a club that lost Paul Hurst because they wouldn't invest in expanding and improving the fitness coaching staff/facilities, despite promising it.

 

[Bottega Don]

I think it’s the couple of old dinosaurs running the club that are the issue, I’m worried that Holloway is realising what the rest of us have known for years.

Fenty apparently told Holloway that the negotiations had been completed and he’d gone, turns out that wasn’t true and Mohsni trained today.

Do you think Holloway might walk?

Could see a North Lincolnshire relegation battle I think if he does go

 

[pontoonlew]

Do you think Holloway might walk?

Could see a North Lincolnshire relegation battle I think if he does go

He’s been very vocal in the fact he wants to sort the club out from top to bottom or die trying. I’d be surprised to see him walk.

You sense this could all be the catalyst for a proper revolt for change when this all blows over. We’ve got cash in the bank so I’d happily see us being fan owned for a while with a view to getting a proper owner in. With Holloway in charge and a proper owner in place this club has such a fantastic opportunity to grow but Fenty & Day will forever hold us club back.

 

[Son of Cod]

but Fenty & Day will forever hold us club back.

Channeling your inner Paul Hurst there.

 

[pontoonlew]

Channeling your inner Paul Hurst there.

Haha, expect my next match report to bemoan us ‘losing us shape’

 

[Shrimpurh]

We’ve offered a contract to Calvin Andrew and are waiting a response. A big lad up top is definitely required. Ron Martin hopes embargo will be lifted which would mean Sam Hart, Sim Akinola and potentially Andrew all could play

 

[Conker]

Calvin Andrew was comically bad for Mansfield, I think Bowery is a bit of a better version.

He did score his one and only goal at Chesterfield though!

To be fair I can’t see him hurting Southend chances all considered!

 

[valefan16]

Calvin Andrew was a real odd one, signed for us during the season we scored goals for fun to back up Pope and Lee Hughes and was awful! Bear in mind this side was the highest scorers in the top 4 leagues that season he scored once... with his arse when Doug Lofts strike deflected in off him!

Since then every time he played against us for Rochdale he usually scored!

 

[Moomin]

We’re continuing to extend goalkeeper Jokkul Andreasson’s weekly loan from Reading while Ward and Maxted are out.

He’s been class so far and I’d love us to sign him permanently one day.

 

[masi51]

Looking to sign someone called Corey Blackett Taylor from Tranmere Pre Contract in January
Is he any good Tranmere Fans.....Will he do a job for us next season in league 1???