Realistic January CF targets

[Snowflake Royal]

I don't think we're looking for someone to replace Marriot but to partner him.

I think something like this would work well, based entirely on my 0x coaching credentials.

Out of possession

Pereira
Yiadom Burns O'Connor Dorsett
Wing Savage
Doyle Marriot Kyereewa
Target Man


In possession (Ball on right hand side)

Pereira
Burns O'Connor Dorsett
Yiadom Wing Savage Kyereewa
Doyle
Target Man Marriot

In possession (Ball on left hand side)

Pereira
Yiadom Burns O'Connor
Doyle Wing Savage Dorsett
Kyereewa
Target Man Marriot

Obviously Dorsett would be better replaced by someone that can play CB and LB (Like Matty Jacob)

Whilst it may work, I don't think there's any chance of us changing our shape to play 2 up top halfway through a season

Shale changes are rare mid season, and two up top are rare. And Marriott isn't goimg to do a great job pressing and dropping deep to defend which is what that role requires out of possession

[Pepe the Horseman]

Gillingham have apparently bid £200,000 for Hale

[Snowflake Royal]

I could maybe see us bidding similar for the right player who will come in as first choice, but with Marriott going so well, not really for a striker, and not more than £250k

[Sutekh]

I don't think we're looking for someone to replace Marriot but to partner him.

I think something like this would work well, based entirely on my 0x coaching credentials.

Out of possession

Pereira
Yiadom Burns O'Connor Dorsett
Wing Savage
Doyle Marriot Kyereewa
Target Man


In possession (Ball on right hand side)

Pereira
Burns O'Connor Dorsett
Yiadom Wing Savage Kyereewa
Doyle
Target Man Marriot

In possession (Ball on left hand side)

Pereira
Yiadom Burns O'Connor
Doyle Wing Savage Dorsett
Kyereewa
Target Man Marriot

Obviously Dorsett would be better replaced by someone that can play CB and LB (Like Matty Jacob)

Whilst it may work, I don't think there's any chance of us changing our shape to play 2 up top halfway through a season

Shale changes are rare mid season, and two up top are rare. And Marriott isn't goimg to do a great job pressing and dropping deep to defend which is what that role requires out of possession

No, but it would be useful to have an alternative gameplan available if a game wasn’t going too well.

[MR. CYNICAL]

I could maybe see us bidding similar for the right player who will come in as first choice, but with Marriott going so well, not really for a striker, and not more than £250k

So we're so skint/tight, we are struggling to compete with a league 2 club.

[Snowflake Royal]

I could maybe see us bidding similar for the right player who will come in as first choice, but with Marriott going so well, not really for a striker, and not more than £250k

So we're so skint/tight, we are struggling to compete with a league 2 club.

Most L1 and L2 transfers are free. We've already spent money on signings this season.

If you think we should have many hundreds of grand/millions to spend on players, I assume you missed the last decade and a bit.

[stealthpapes]

I could maybe see us bidding similar for the right player who will come in as first choice, but with Marriott going so well, not really for a striker, and not more than £250k

So we're so skint/tight, we are struggling to compete with a league 2 club.

Yes.

Next!

[Sutekh]

I could maybe see us bidding similar for the right player who will come in as first choice, but with Marriott going so well, not really for a striker, and not more than £250k

So we're so skint/tight, we are struggling to compete with a league 2 club.

Yes.

Next!

On the bright side that’s only true if Reading are actually interested in signing him.

[Hound]

I’d be amazed if we spent anything like that sort of money on Hale tbh

[MR. CYNICAL]

I could maybe see us bidding similar for the right player who will come in as first choice, but with Marriott going so well, not really for a striker, and not more than £250k

So we're so skint/tight, we are struggling to compete with a league 2 club.

Most L1 and L2 transfers are free. We've already spent money on signings this season.

If you think we should have many hundreds of grand/millions to spend on players, I assume you missed the last decade and a bit.

Actually, I've not missed the last 45 plus years thanks.
Sorry to assume after finally being released from the Dai era and being taken over by presumably someone hoping to take the club forward again and has apparently got a couple of investors onboard, that maybe we can compete again at least at the level we are at.

[Snowflake Royal]

So we're so skint/tight, we are struggling to compete with a league 2 club.

Most L1 and L2 transfers are free. We've already spent money on signings this season.

If you think we should have many hundreds of grand/millions to spend on players, I assume you missed the last decade and a bit.

Actually, I've not missed the last 45 plus years thanks.
Sorry to assume after finally being released from the Dai era and being taken over by presumably someone hoping to take the club forward again and has apparently got a couple of investors onboard, that maybe we can compete again at least at the level we are at.

How do you think we re-signed Pereira and Wing, and signed Stevens, O'Connor, Burns, Jacob, Fraser, Doyle, Marriott, O'Mahoney, Ritchie, Lane, Williams and Rinomhota, all players other teams at our level would be interested in signing?

[Stranded]

Most L1 and L2 transfers are free. We've already spent money on signings this season.

If you think we should have many hundreds of grand/millions to spend on players, I assume you missed the last decade and a bit.

Actually, I've not missed the last 45 plus years thanks.
Sorry to assume after finally being released from the Dai era and being taken over by presumably someone hoping to take the club forward again and has apparently got a couple of investors onboard, that maybe we can compete again at least at the level we are at.

How do you think we re-signed Pereira and Wing, and signed Stevens, O'Connor, Burns, Jacob, Fraser, Doyle, Marriott, O'Mahoney, Ritchie, Lane, Williams and Rinomhota, all players other teams at our level would be interested in signing?

This - the question isn't are we able to compete for signings but have we competed for the right signings.

I also love that because we have been linked with Hale before that we are automatically still after him even though:

a) we have a new manager
b) we signed Marriott after links to Hale went quiet, so therefore may not be the type of player we are after.

and therefore another club bidding, not signing, just bidding for him means we can't compete.

The club will have money to spend but will only spend it on a player they believe is going to be an improvement on the squad, if they aren't convinced by Hale, then we won't even bid but if we wanted him, I would expect us to be able to match a 200k bid (though I don't think that has even been accepted as yet).

[Snowflake Royal]

Actually, I've not missed the last 45 plus years thanks.
Sorry to assume after finally being released from the Dai era and being taken over by presumably someone hoping to take the club forward again and has apparently got a couple of investors onboard, that maybe we can compete again at least at the level we are at.

How do you think we re-signed Pereira and Wing, and signed Stevens, O'Connor, Burns, Jacob, Fraser, Doyle, Marriott, O'Mahoney, Ritchie, Lane, Williams and Rinomhota, all players other teams at our level would be interested in signing?

This - the question isn't are we able to compete for signings but have we competed for the right signings.

I also love that because we have been linked with Hale before that we are automatically still after him even though:

a) we have a new manager
b) we signed Marriott after links to Hale went quiet, so therefore may not be the type of player we are after.

and therefore another club bidding, not signing, just bidding for him means we can't compete.

The club will have money to spend but will only spend it on a player they believe is going to be an improvement on the squad, if they aren't convinced by Hale, then we won't even bid but if we wanted him, I would expect us to be able to match a 200k bid (though I don't think that has even been accepted as yet).

And does the fee it would take represent good value. Start over paying by £50k to £100k regularly and it mounts up quickly.

[Stranded]

How do you think we re-signed Pereira and Wing, and signed Stevens, O'Connor, Burns, Jacob, Fraser, Doyle, Marriott, O'Mahoney, Ritchie, Lane, Williams and Rinomhota, all players other teams at our level would be interested in signing?

This - the question isn't are we able to compete for signings but have we competed for the right signings.

I also love that because we have been linked with Hale before that we are automatically still after him even though:

a) we have a new manager
b) we signed Marriott after links to Hale went quiet, so therefore may not be the type of player we are after.

and therefore another club bidding, not signing, just bidding for him means we can't compete.

The club will have money to spend but will only spend it on a player they believe is going to be an improvement on the squad, if they aren't convinced by Hale, then we won't even bid but if we wanted him, I would expect us to be able to match a 200k bid (though I don't think that has even been accepted as yet).

And does the fee it would take represent good value. Start over paying by £50k to £100k regularly and it mounts up quickly.

Exactly. 200k (if he goes for that) could be a very good piece of business for a player who has 7 in 18 this season for a side bottom the Scottish Championship but is it the right deal given he is quite similar in style/stature to Marriott but would come in really to sit on the bench. You ideally want a slightly different style of striker on the bench, as if it isn't working with Marriott in a game, changing him for a player with the same attributes makes close to zero sense.

I would rather we look at a player who has some experience, but not necessarily a regular starter, who could develop and would be happy coming off the bench as a "super sub" at least for the rest of this season.

So I expect us to sign someone that most will have no idea who they are but the club will have expectations of improving. If such a striker isn't available, then I hope we focus on bringing Patton or Evans into the squad more to see how they can develop (or ship them out on loan).

[WestYorksRoyal]

I don't know much about him, but if he's a similar style of striker to Marriot wouldn't this be quite a bad signing? You want different options and at the moment we lack old school physical presence. We already have the best "fox in the box" finisher in the division.

[Snowflake Royal]

I don't know much about him, but if he's a similar style of striker to Marriot wouldn't this be quite a bad signing? You want different options and at the moment we lack old school physical presence. We already have the best "fox in the box" finisher in the division.

Depends. Coppell, for example, played mainly one way and generally did like for like subs. Sometimes you're just looking for fresh legs, or someone just isn’t playing well or struggling with an individual match up.

People always complain about no plan B, but I'm a big fan of having a good plan A and making it work rather than switching as soon as things look tough.

[Hound]

I don't know much about him, but if he's a similar style of striker to Marriot wouldn't this be quite a bad signing? You want different options and at the moment we lack old school physical presence. We already have the best "fox in the box" finisher in the division.

Depends. Coppell, for example, played mainly one way and generally did like for like subs. Sometimes you're just looking for fresh legs, or someone just isn’t playing well or struggling with an individual match up.

People always complain about no plan B, but I'm a big fan of having a good plan A and making it work rather than switching as soon as things look tough.

Tbf we’ve already got a plan B haven’t we? And it’s been working pretty well - see Stockport where Marriott wasn’t working out and Kelvin made a big impact

I actually like the Marriott/Kelvin rotation thing - give one an hour (Marriott atm) and switch if needed

If we don’t have the budget or the pull to bring in a more proven experienced striker then someone like Adeboyejo would have been fine - someone who knows the div and can rotate a bit or cover for injury.

We definitely can’t rely on our two current strikers staying fit if we’re serious about a play off spot though. Patten or Evans aren’t ready to fill that role

[Stranded]

Also, the fact that MOM hasn't gone back to Brighton yet, suggests he may well still be around for the rest of the campaign - so that needs to be taken into account as well.

[Hound]

Also, the fact that MOM hasn't gone back to Brighton yet, suggests he may well still be around for the rest of the campaign - so that needs to be taken into account as well.

Fair point. Was really hoping he’d pick up under LR but hasn’t happened

[WestYorksRoyal]

Also, the fact that MOM hasn't gone back to Brighton yet, suggests he may well still be around for the rest of the campaign - so that needs to be taken into account as well.

Fair point. Was really hoping he’d pick up under LR but hasn’t happened

But Kelvin definitely has. A month ago I'd have said it would be a disaster to go into January without an extra CF option. In the week with Stevenage and Bradford losses, he looked out of his depth.

I still think we could use another, but our current options are probably passable. And I think Kelvin may have even more to come in this set up. But if Marriot gets a big injury perhaps the pressure will get to him; he's looked most encouraging off the bench.