Cal Sold to Aberdeen

[uysapie]

I'm fully aware that they are the people who discovered him, but I also think he was the jewel in their crown and will be very difficult to replace.

My hopes for the coming season are lower than they were this morning.

Presumably makes business sense but seems to me that it seriously affects our promotion chances unless someone is going to pull a rabbit out of a hat and find an improvement.

[matt_magpie]

I'm fully aware that they are the people who discovered him, but I also think he was the jewel in their crown and will be very difficult to replace.

My hopes for the coming season are lower than they were this morning.

I’m not 100% sure it was fully radar, he was on their list but I can remember it was either Neil Cox or even Crossley that had him recommended to us and that he was available.

[MAD_MAGPIE]

Presumably makes business sense but seems to me that it seriously affects our promotion chances unless someone is going to pull a rabbit out of a hat and find an improvement.

This is where I’m at. Yes we have sold a player for money and a good one at that, but it’s getting a bit too close to the start of the season for me to lose such talent. Yes we signed players this late in the day in season one but that was not normal.

We can but only put our trust in the radar to find someone. I do have faith they have their targets and players they will have looked at as suitable replacements for Roberts a long time before today. I guess the big question is are they still available or can we prise them away from their clubs so close to the season starting?

It might be a more interesting week or two before the season starts than initially envisaged.

[MancMagpie]

Slighty controversial but I think it was the right time. Although he's a great player and has an abundance of quality, he faded a bit after his injury/long covid/stomach saga. It must have dented his confidence a bit and he's never looked like the same player since.

Also, he's one of the most difficult players to fit in to the formation and that has seen him play in midfield a fair bit so I'm not surprised really.

Cal in a 442 or 433 is a dealy weapon.
But it doesn't seem like we want to play that way predominantly. So yeah, I understand it from both sides.
It's defo a loss, but it's less of a headache for selection now.

[queenslandpie]

Must admit I never saw keeping todgers out of sight as a measure of success!



We do, but at level 5. I suspect if we get relegated we will win even more.

Bloody ridickulous that you do not see keeping todgers off socials as a measure of success. Did you see what I did there. Either way we can only wish we had the radar and not Hardy in L2. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Relegated? Whilst like you I am not overly confident on the coming season I think mixing it up with Kings Lynn again won't be happening any time soon as they are certainly not going to get promoted with that fool they have in charge.

[ForeignLegion]

It seems Cal was sussed by a yawping yob in the Boston game.....as Cal was dribbling close to their penalty area, you can clearly hear "He's all fooqin' left foot."

[laddo]

I'm fully aware that they are the people who discovered him, but I also think he was the jewel in their crown and will be very difficult to replace.

My hopes for the coming season are lower than they were this morning.

I also think he's difficult to replace (although not as much as if Ruben was sold) but the real issue is when you recruitment system does not have the ability to find a Cal type in the first place. Then you are on worlds of trouble.

As we can all remember under the old regime our approach would have been to spend the sort of money we have just reportedly received for Cal (or more) then let them leave on a free a couple of seasons after just like we did with Dennis and Enzio.

That approach is only going to get you into financial trouble.

[Woodypie]

This is what happens when the rigidity of your "strategy" of play cancels out the effectiveness of your undoubted (in this case) recruitment "strategy." He looked a fish out of water last season, when he played. The Grimsby play off game was a typical cameo - effort, frustration and injury. He is a good player and hopefully will enjoy his football again.

[slack_pie]

I wonder if we'll try to replace him or just look to strengthen elsewhere. A decent direct replacement would be Ryan Colclough from Altrincham. Personally, I hope we sign the midfielder we've been craving for years.

The problem with selling your best players is that it's extremely difficult to replace them. It wouldn't surprise me if all our summer signings combined had less of an impact on the first team than Cal Roberts alone would have had this season. Ultimately, it means we're weaker than we were last season, with two of our best players leaving and being replaced by unknowns/gambles from the division below.

I also feel that this season is a pivotal one. Will we record yet another worst-ever league finish, or will we turn the corner and make a real go at promotion? At this stage, if I had to bet on one, it would be the former.

[laddo]

It's a very fair comment.

In basic terms we've replaced two known talents who have performed well at this level with two exciting but unknown talents at this level.

Could or should the defensive unit be better now than last season, you would certainly hope so after the incomings and outgoings in that area.

Not much change after that, other than the obvious one. We've replaced a PE Teacher with an unknown coaching talent. A lot will depend (as is usually the case) on whether LW is an upgrade on IB or not. I'd suggest that's the most important change.

Still time for more additions and departures before the opening game so our perceptions are likely to change again. Exciting stuff.