Signings - This season

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Originally Posted by Bohinen

I would question that. If you look at that list of signings, there would be quite a big wage bill associated with it, and the club does run at a loss. Better run clubs are achieving far more with fewer resources. There have been times in the past when we have had a very low budget and couldn't afford the quality of players required.

When we had money, or fake money, it was spent well, even under Munto. Schmeichel was way too expensive for a League 2 club and Sol Campbell was a ridiculous publicity stunt, but Bishop and Ravenhill were normal and good signings, and Ben Davies was exceptional yet still affordable. Even Hughes was good business, it makes sense to recruit the best forward you can afford, even if you skimp on back-up strikers rather than recruit four, all of whom are not good enough.

We seem to have recruited three or four wingers in the hope they might be convertible to the wing-back position without really considering their defensive attributes, and then, of course, they have to play on their wrong side, but that's down to the manager. And lastly, there's the sick bay, the policy of buying injury-prone players is not working. Yes, I know the Jones argument, but even he's not contributing right-now and we haven't had value from him this season.

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I was agreeing with what drillerpie said about the Munto era, which is probably the most recent time before now that we signed some really good players, albeit with fake money. Hughes, Ravenhill, Bishop and Davies were all normal signings for the level and I believe were identified as targets before Munto arrived, although most if not all of them wouldn't have come if it were not for Munto giving us that extra bit of financial pop.

Leaving aside the Munto era, our recruitment for pretty much all of the rest of the past 20 years was fairly abysmal, with only the occasional highlight, whereas in the past three years we've had multiple players arrive and star for us, such that several have either been poached or signed for decent money by other clubs.

I would agree with you however that our apparent policy of taking risks on players with significant injury history has had mixed results. Jodi Jones aside from a bit of bad luck this season has been mostly available, otherwise he wouldn't have won league Two Player of the Year last season, but a few others have appeared to be made of sugar and we've had more long-term absences than one would expect in a season, certainly this time around. If we were going to change anything about the recruitment strategy I'd say stick with players that haven't got a history as 'sick notes'.

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Originally Posted by The_Don_ORiordan

Not disputing the player assessments, although I think Bass is L1.

I?m confused by the maths though.

I make it 19 signings.

And ?up to? 11 not good enough for a league above where we are playing. Including 2 who aren?t even with the club for any hypothetical promotion.

Did I get that wrong? As it doesn?t look all that bad to be honest.

Or you could look at it this way?.

16 signed who are currently at the club.

2 who should never have been signed, and 3 where the jury is still out.

Meaning up to 5 who are not good enough for the level we are at.

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Fair enough, I'll concede it's statistics which can of course read anyway you like. I appreciate your feedback though.

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Originally Posted by jacobncfc

With the injuries we?ve got at the minute in attacking and creative areas, we should be giving Jarvis a go
through the middle I think.

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100% agree.

I think using the Munto season as a recruitment comparison is a dud. As mentioned, it was all totally fake. I am happy to accept Ravenhill, Bishop and Davies as relatively normal profile signings, amongst a few others but God only knows what we actually paid them.

Lee Hughes turned us down earlier that summer and then signed post Munto.

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Originally Posted by LeftPeg_Pie

I think using the Munto season as a recruitment comparison is a dud. As mentioned, it was all totally fake. I am happy to accept Ravenhill, Bishop and Davies as relatively normal profile signings, amongst a few others but God only knows what we actually paid them.

Lee Hughes turned us down earlier that summer and then signed post Munto.

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And even that money doesn?t buy you good players.

As well as those mentioned there was Adi Akinbayi, Grahame fall on the floor Lee, and Karl ?can?t score anymore? Hawley.

So it wasn?t all roses.

The pre season strategy admitted by McParland and Kevan, wasn?t exactly Radar, it was to sign ?captains?.

Since captains are usually the better players in the side (wtf went wrong with Cameron) and money was no object that sort of worked out. Very scientific.

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Originally Posted by Jampie

I think we've got a bit of a perception problem, too.

We almost never sign players who can truly hit the ground running, and almost never sign players who are at their full potential yet. We almost always sign players who we think can significantly improve. Based on that, if I look at all recruitment under the brothers since they bought the club, in general they've done an absolutely fantastic job and I really don't remember a time when recruitment was better.

Right now the squad is a bit weak. That's really bad timing. But it's likely that even with no new signings the current squad will become a L2 killer. Still some newbies finding their feet and yeah, absolutely, odds are one or two recent signings don't work out. That's a WAAAY better ratio than the previous several owners'.

So overall I'm not concerned about the long term, although promotion this season is looking somewhat far-fetched at this stage. Which is disappointing because it was looking within reach not so long ago.

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I think this just about nails it all.

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Originally Posted by The_Don_ORiordan

And even that money doesn?t buy you good players.

As well as those mentioned there was Adi Akinbayi, Grahame fall on the floor Lee, and Karl ?can?t score anymore? Hawley.

So it wasn?t all roses.

The pre season strategy admitted by McParland and Kevan, wasn?t exactly Radar, it was to sign ?captains?.

Since captains are usually the better players in the side (wtf went wrong with Cameron) and money was no object that sort of worked out. Very scientific.

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Graeme Lee was quality! He should be in the list of decent Munto signings, along with Westcarr.

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Originally Posted by slack_pie

Graeme Lee was quality! He should be in the list of decent Munto signings, along with Westcarr.

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That good he wasn?t a regular the following season then left for national league Darlington. He joined us at the very end of his career and his legs had gone. He was lucky to play in a side in 2009/10 that barely needed to defend and had the best keeper in the bottom 3 divisions. And was found out when it did.

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Originally Posted by The_Don_ORiordan

That good he wasn?t a regular the following season then left for national league Darlington. He joined us at the very end of his career and his legs had gone. He was lucky to play in a side in 2009/10 that barely needed to defend and had the best keeper in the bottom 3 divisions. And was found out when it did.

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In terms of a no nonsense defender, he was about as good as an average L2 side could get back then. Great experience, a beast in the air. He was a regular under Short the following season if I recall. Maybe not under Ince or whoever replaced Short.

We had three decent CBs that promotion season in Lee, Edwards, and Hunt. Hunt had a lot of potential - shame his career was ruined by injuries.

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Originally Posted by slack_pie

In terms of a no nonsense defender, he was about as good as an average L2 side could get back then. Great experience, a beast in the air. He was a regular under Short the following season if I recall. Maybe not under Ince or whoever replaced Short.

We had three decent CBs that promotion season in Lee, Edwards, and Hunt. Hunt had a lot of potential - shame his career was ruined by injuries.

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My recollection of Lee was entirely different. He fell over whenever turned, and had the acceleration of a speed bump. The fact he was only 32 when he left and his career after involves 20 odd games for Darlington (relegated) in the national league then on to Celtic Nation (whoever they are) suggests he was far from at his peak and ?decent?.

And you are right, he played in the early games under Short, and kept his place until being dropped for midfielder/full back Thompson as centre back. Also well past his prime, but still better.