Do/Can we bring any free agent defenders in?

[rolymiller]

Can we pay up eaves and get a player in that way?

[HensonsPRman]

We could if we hadn't submitted the youth player as the 25th man. But we have so we can't. I don't know how many more times I can say it.

We have done this to death before, we have to have one Club grown player in the 25, therefore we could not have brought in another free agent. The sale of Wiles and the loaning out of Kayode removed 2 club grown players from our squad.
It anyone is interested it's all on the end of the Cardiff Post match thoughts.
https://boards.footymad.net/showthread.php?t=38310791

[HensonsPRman]

The rules are complex and change on an annual basis. What kills us is the lack of an U21's set up, so we have only a small number of contracted U21 professionals compared to our rivals. This inflates their squad sizes as these players can play but are not part of the 25 man squad. Have a look at the link to the thread in the previous post for a number of examples of our rivals squad sizes.

[flourbasher]

Can we pay up eaves and get a player in that way?

I don’t think that’s possible either as it would effectively be a loophole to allow players to move between transfer windows
If Eaves has his contract cancelled and then moves to another club then many teams and players would be doing the same and it would make a mockery of the system

[gru]

What if Morrison retired on medical grounds?

[Citizen Erased]

What if Morrison retired on medical grounds?

Doesn't matter.

Next squad registration is 01/01/24

[avondalemiller]

....Christ Almighty, how many times do people have to explain why we can't..............it's like banging your head on a wall, great when you stop.

[Karl998yr]

Am I right in thinking though if our goalkeepers got injured we could sign another?

[Masbroughstreet]

Am I right in thinking though if our goalkeepers got injured we could sign another?

Oh god, don't open that can of worms Karl!

[Derbymiller]

The rules are complex and change on an annual basis. What kills us is the lack of an U21's set up, so we have only a small number of contracted U21 professionals compared to our rivals. This inflates their squad sizes as these players can play but are not part of the 25 man squad. Have a look at the link to the thread in the previous post for a number of examples of our rivals squad sizes.

Yes the lack of a U21 set-up hits us in many ways and I still think this is a huge mistake and the reasons suggested as to why, such as other big clubs around us don't stack up, mainly because hundreds of young footballers drop out of the system and real talent gets lost in those kids, I am sure a well run scouting and recruitment system could find enough of them that would jump at a second chance, add them to our own academy players and we have a U21 team. In my opinion the real reason is about finance TS doesn't want to spend money on it, he wants to focus on the first team and other areas of the club. That is his decision whether we agree with it or not, but there are consequences to that decision, as there are with all decisions.