2023/24

Three weeks away from the start of the new season and the squad is in a state of flux as the transfer window unfolds so where are we at?

We've said goodbye to some of the key figures of last season's excellent squad: goalie James Trafford has gone back to City and is probably going to sign for Burnley for a reputed £15million rising to £19 million. MJ Williams has signed for MK Dons. WB Conor Bradley has returned to Liverpool. Attacking midfielder Kieran Lee has moved on to retirement or may still play on at 35 elsewhere and one or two non regulars have also left the building.
Incoming? Couple of free transfer goalies, Dan Nlundulu signed permanently following a "mixed" loan spell, young Forrester in from Vale - enough to put a team out but not the excitement we were promised when the early rumours of Wilson, Baccus and Flick came to nothing.

As is becoming traditional at BWFC one of our regular starters got severely injured in the pre-season - this time it was CB George Johnston who did an ACL just 10 minutes into the first game and who is now out for the season.

We allegedly have a transfer budget so this season we won't just be looking at unattached players and loans - but having made the rookie error of telling the media we have some money at last, player demands are on the rise and fans are desperate for us to spend it. But we won't - not unless the right players come along at the right price.

And for that I'm grateful. These owners are clearly intent on us never returning to the dark days of financial insolvency that almost put us out of existence and I for one would rather see us struggle on the pitch rather than blow what money we've scraped together on greedy players/agents or on fanciful purchases designed to please the fans.

We have a plan and I pray and hope the owners stick to it. So we wait. Nervously.

Carlos Mendes Gomes seems like a solid signing and Zac Ashworth looks a decent prospect - both will need time to settle in - but we are still missing one or two more incoming and that will mean departures.
Decent performance against Everton yesterday and a good workout but our finishing woes have continued from last season - plus both goalies made some good stops to ensure the game ended goalless. TBF Everton's finishing was no better than ours and it could have been 5 all on a different day.
Encouraging, but we're not quite ready yet and I feel this season's team won't be finalised until the absolute end of the window.

Preseason done and dusted with a 4 - 3 home win against a very decent West Brom side. Young loanee Zac Ashworth started as both Toal and Iredale were rested due to knocks and he was OK but needs to improve his defensive positioning. We scored 4 fabulous goals from distance which was a bit of a shock as last season we tried to walk it into the net which made us predictable - and low-scoring overall. A good run out and we learned a lot especially about the depth of the squad - even academy player Conroy looked promising. All in all we don't look in bad shape for the season ahead, but I still feel there'll be more movement transfer-wise.

Paris Maghoma season loan from Brentford and that looks like it although the B team has been strengthened. All that needs to happen now is to carry our preseason form into the real thing tomorrow. Easier said than done, but we live in hope.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wanderlust

Easier said than done, but we live in hope.

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...which turned out to be a 3 nil home win against a potential banana skin Lincoln. Not quite at our best, looking a bit lethargic at times but it's something to build on. Defensively solid for the most part but we laboured a bit to create chances - incredibly, two of our goals were set pieces - and we controlled the game. Promising start and plenty of room for improvement.

Having been brought crashing down to earth in the last few games in which we discovered that:
* we may struggle against the more physical/athletic teams who press hard and stop us playing as our midfielders can't do the pretty stuff under constant pressure - at least not yet.
* we can't afford much more in the way of injuries as we are dependent on certain individuals in key positions - we've already lost Johnstone for the season with an ACL and a couple more are struggling with injuries.
* we still can't compete financially against several clubs in this division.....

....we emerged from the transfer window in one piece.

On the one hand we didn't manage to land our top targets and given our recent financial history I am (reluctantly) grateful that we stuck to our guns and didn't overstretch ourselves to meet the high personal terms and fees demanded.
On the other hand we did manage to keep hold of Santos and Dion Charles and despite agreeing a £million deal for George Thomason with Brizzle, the player himself turned down the move to stay with us.

Two fringe players left on the final day of the window which will help financially and may give us some wriggle room in January if needed.

It would have been wonderful if we'd been able to strengthen but finances dictate we're going to have to do that from within our ranks by maximising the potential of the players that we have got - and there are a few diamonds in the rough who just might step up.

We play one of the aforementioned physical/athletic teams this afternoon when big-spending Derby come to town and at this stage of the season it will be a huge test of resilience and ability for our injury-hit and as yet unsettled squad.

If we get anything from the game it will be a bonus, but no doubt some of our fans, especially those deluded by the pre-season media hype, will be calling for the manager's head if we lose.

IMO, there's a long way to go, we're living within our means and although the squad is a bit thin, we have a lot of players with the potential to do well - so our season looks like it's going to be dependent on how well we can develop those players and integrate them into our attacking (reckless?) playing style.

Previous post turned out to be uncomfortably accurate.
A spate of new injuries and a couple of sending offs and suspensions has left us down to the bare bones at the moment and we're in the middle of trying to negotiate a three game week before the international break when we should be getting our captain and a couple of others back from the treatment room.
Somehow, we're hanging in there despite being tested severely by two very physical and athletic teams with tactically astute managers who knew exactly where to target us. We've somehow scraped a couple of wins and if we can go back to the well one more time on Saturday and get some sort of result we'll have got away with it and normal service should be resumed after the break.
That said, it's been so close a few of us have been wondering if there's any money left in the pot for a bit of wheeling and dealing in January.
Can't complain though - we're still 3rd and if we come out of this without losing touch with the leaders it will have been a great achievement under very difficult circumstances.

Halfway through the season and we're two points behind the leaders with a game in hand which is great, but there are seven teams in the mix.
Reckon it will all comedown to how we play against the likes of Derby away and the double header with Barnsley. Tough schedule ahead and a long way to go but so far, pretty good.

Bit of a watershed moment ATM. Form has gone down the swanny and with players away and injuries there’s not a lot left in the pot to mix things upas we continue a heavy schedule including away ties against the better teams. No signs of incoming inflation bodies as yet so I’m just hoping the form returns. Still in a good position though- but the lads aren’t inspiring us with a lot of confidence.

With 2 more CBs injured, Jones away at the Asian cup with Australia and Thommo suspended again we’ve been forced into the January transfer window to boost the squad for the second half of the season push for promotion - and it’s been decent. Two very good prospect WB loanees, emergency loanee CB and we’ve paid a massive £750k for a forward as Nlundulu is also out for the rest of the season - most we’ve paid for a player in years.Aaron Collins was on our radar for a summer signing if we got promoted so in effect we’ve brought it forward and gambled.
If Collins lines up with Dion Charles once he settles in we’ll have the AC/DC strike force so a few old pictures of Brian Johnson wearing a Wanderers shirt and drinking with the Bolton players in the 80s have been dug out of the closet and we can expect a few of their tunes to be played before matches.
We’ll have to see if it turns out to be the Highway to Hell or not.