Stickied League 2 Transfer Rumours/Confirmed Transfers 2023/24

[TheEndIsNigh]

I do think we’re being mischaracterised as a tippy tappy team. We were under Burchnall and were many times completely ineffective against any team that could press and got men behind the ball. Last season we were far more pragmatic and mixed it up better. We’ll be absolutely fine going forward, not sure how many we’ll score but we’ll certainly score enough regardless of how much better teams are at this level of stifling us.

Defending balls over the top with our high line and conceding from set pieces will be our undoing if anything. Which is why I can’t see us not trying to find an upgrade at CB for Brindley and Rawlinson. Brindley is more comfortable on the ball and quicker but lacks any sort of aggression and leaves us a bit of a short team, Rawlinson adds more steel but obviously lacks pace and he’s not terrible on the ball but you saw last season that he was often the oppositions trigger to press because he was a lot weaker in possession than Baldwin and Cameron.

Dobra’s goal at Wembley is a good example of why we’d be insane not to try and get and new RCB for this level.

 

[Boz]

There's bound to be someone looking at Stevenage last year and thinking they could replicate it.
Any teams noticeably signing huge players?

Stevenage played some decent football last season, it wasn’t all long ball to big strikers. Though that type of game can get you a promotion too.

 

[Boz]

Funnily enough AFCW were the worst for their agricultural style I saw last season, think we had two players out with concussion injuries and one further injured after playing them.

Definitely Wimbledon and Sutton to a lesser extent played that way. Most of the L2 sides last year, even around the bottom of the table tried to play football.

 

[Kauto Star]

A lad on one of our message boards has said Omari Patrick is signing.

Highly doubt that’s true but you never know.

Oh dear, good luck with that if true. Maybe he was better at Carlisle than with us, but truly awful with us. He was awful against us last season with Carlisle. Nowhere near good enough for league 1, so doubt Carlisle will object to moving him on.

 

[Indian Dan]

Strength is what’s needed - of character as well as physically. We were so weak last season. I’d like to see a stat of the teams that made the fewest tackles - we’d be top of that.

 

[DearneValleyRover]

Strength is what’s needed - of character as well as physically. We were so weak last season. I’d like to see a stat of the teams that made the fewest tackles - we’d be top of that.

Nah we’d have smashed that one

 

[EnglishRed]

Oh dear, good luck with that if true. Maybe he was better at Carlisle than with us, but truly awful with us. He was awful against us last season with Carlisle. Nowhere near good enough for league 1, so doubt Carlisle will object to moving him on.

He was good when he was on loan with us a few years back, but that was in the National League as part of a terrible team.

 

[Kauto Star]

He was good when he was on loan with us a few years back, but that was in the National League as part of a terrible team.

Forgot we loaned him to you and Yeovil.

 

[EnglishRed]

Forgot we loaned him to you and Yeovil.

He contributed hugely to saving us from relegation to regional football. We were really on the bones of our arse back then.

 

[joethegill]

We've signed JJ McKiernan this morning, CM who was on loan at Eastleigh and has just left Watford. It sounds like a decent up and comer, joethegill did you seen him last season?

I did, tidy little player. Bit of a box to box player, more of a runner than a ball carrier. Passes well, doesn't get involved nearly enough at the top end of the field with attacking moves. Reminded me a little of our former player Jake Hessenthaler - an easy player to like having in your side, probably a 6.5 or 7/10 every week, but take a step back and realise you don't actually remember him impacting too many games.

 

[Casey]

Kwesi Appiah leaves Crawley on a mutual termination. I've no idea where he is off too. Possibly Colchester.

League 1 standard. Will only play 20 games a season but will get around 10 goals.

Said to be good around the training ground...too be honest I'm not sure why we are letting him go. We knew his problems when we signed him. I'm guessing wagmi increased his pay by too much towards the end of last season and we need to trim the wage bill.

Casey

 

[gary]

Funnily enough AFCW were the worst for their agricultural style I saw last season, think we had two players out with concussion injuries and one further injured after playing them.

Agricultural style lol. Since when has there been a right and wrong way to play football. Style of play is irrelevant it's about winning. Actually we started the season playing out from the back which was boring us fans shitless. We then changed the way we played. Teams play the way that best suits the player's that they have at their disposal.

 

[Indian Dan]

Tbh, you were pretty crap whichever way you chose to play. I know it’s only a 1 game snapshot but when we won 5-1 at your place you were the worst team I’d seen all season.

 

[gary]

Tbh, you were pretty crap whichever way you chose to play. I know it’s only a 1 game snapshot but when we won 5-1 at your place you were the worst team I’d seen all season.

I'm not disagreeing with you. I was at that game and went for a pint after 30 mins !!!! My point being is that there is no right or wrong way to play football. It's fine margins in league 2 between winning and losing games. Most of it is pretty attritional.

 

[Luke Imp]

MK fans, Tennai Watson? We tried to sign him after his release by Reading a couple of years ago and it seems we're back in for him and he's out of contract with you?

 

[The Jovial Forester]

Teams play the way that best suits the player's that they have at their disposal.

Been a while since we had a manager subscribe to that novel philosophy.

 

[Third Team Lucky]

MK fans, Tennai Watson? We tried to sign him after his release by Reading a couple of years ago and it seems we're back in for him and he's out of contract with you?

Well you do fairly well with our cast offs.

T is a solid rwb / rb who can also play anywhere across the back line if needed. Wouldn't have minded keeping him but Cameron Norman looks to be an upgrade.

 

[chief]

Said it earlier in the thread, but I don’t think we’re going to change.

I think the game at your place was a bit unfair to judge us on anyway because we were without Baldwin and Brindley who are our only two centre backs with any pace. Obviously we recklessly didn’t adapt at all with the Cameron/Bajrami/Rawlinson back three who are all very slow, but it wasn’t really a reflection of our defence for most of the season. I think if Baldwin, in particular, hadn’t been ill then we would probably have won that game from 1-0 up considering the disaster Baj had in his position.

If the linesman hadn't been way to trigger happy with incorrect offside calls we'd have probably won it more comfortably. Ifs and buts, and all that.

 

[pontoonlew]

Looks like we’re signing Kamil Conteh from Middlesbrough for another fee. Won Gatesheads POTY and is a Sierra Leone international at 20 years old, nothing but good things seem to be said about him so on the face of it, it looks like a very good signing for us.

 

[Indian Dan]

They’re all good until they get on the pitch!

 

[Stocky]

Hurst finally making a decent signing with the never ending FA Cup bunce. He's been spending it for years aswell, it's like he's psychic.

Conteh is highly rated, was linked with us which shows what a great player he is.

 

[Son of Cod]

Woah now fellas, we need to wait to see if Firthy has heard of him before declaring this a decent signing...

 

[Gladders]

The two keepers expected to be announced this week as well. I also see Bennett has signed for Cambridge, as expected the deal with us has been off for a while (rumours of a disagreement with a member of our coaching staff when he was training with us earlier in the year).

 

[RavenBish]

Conteh was very good at Gateshead, only 20 and only been at Boro a year so proper weird they’re giving up on him though - would have thought they’d prefer another loan deal at L1/L2 level before deciding to sell him (guess there could be a buy back clause or something attached).

 

[F!RTHY]

Woah now fellas, we need to wait to see if Firthy has heard of him before declaring this a decent signing...

Given our recruitment gaffer is ex-Middlesborough and we seem to sign most of our players who were born/play in the North-East, we haven’t signed him for a reason - he’s obviously gash.

Sorry about that.

 

[GTFCfish]

Woah now fellas, we need to wait to see if Firthy has heard of him before declaring this a decent signing...

Apparently he turned down Bradford to sign for us too…..

 

[LS Bantam]

Apparently we put him up in a hotel but couldn’t compete with his ‘love of fish fingers’.

 

[F!RTHY]

I do apologise, we did offer him a contract and he did turn us down. Said he didn’t want to play 5th fiddle behind Ryan East on’t bench.

Can’t blame him.

 

[WhiteRussian]

MK fans, Tennai Watson? We tried to sign him after his release by Reading a couple of years ago and it seems we're back in for him and he's out of contract with you?

I'd be sorry to lose him. I gather we have offered him a contract but if he wants to stay in League one and gets an offer? He's going.

 

[GTFCfish]

Apparently we put him up in a hotel but couldn’t compete with his ‘love of fish fingers’.

When he was a kid his parents took him to Cleethorpes for the day and since then he’s been a big fan of ours and always dreamed of one day playing regularly in Cleethorpes and now his dreams are finally going to come true.