Transfer News January 2022/23 Transfer Window preview

[Jaboysmith]

Or a bigger club appealed to him?

Not what I’ve heard

 

[tatabanya]

Out of interest why?
He may have been fantastic, but what backs that up ( you may know a lot more than I do)?

If you look at Oxford spend vs fees recouped in the last 5 or 6 years it should answer your question. Smart recruitment has paid the bills to the landlord which has been massive for the club and our ability to compete at the level we have done despite paying eye-watering rent.

Hopefully that’s about to change, but don’t mistake our failure to win promotion with an inability to spot talent. Without MT but with KR it could be all the poor unimaginative signings without the young diamonds.

 

[YellowSubmarine]

Out of interest why?
He may have been fantastic, but what backs that up ( you may know a lot more than I do)?

Basically it was going around Tuesday that Mark Thomas felt like he was NOT being listened to.

The word that kept coming up was ‘undermined’.

I really hope it’s not true because he’s done an outstanding job behind the scenes & was a major boost for the club in the summer when he rejected Pompey.

If you want to know how highly he’s rated around the game then I’m sure @Shosho will explain.

 

[Swaby39]

Basically it was going around Tuesday that Mark Thomas felt like he was NOT being listened to.

The word that kept coming up was ‘undermined’.

I really hope it’s not true because he’s done an outstanding job behind the scenes & was a major boost for the club in the summer when he rejected Pompey.

If you want to know how highly he’s rated around the game then I’m sure @Shosho will explain.

I’d be interested to know how hard, if at all, they’ve fought to hold on to him or whether this actually plays in to the overhaul they have planned and actually represents a chance to remove a relationship damaged beyond repair and start a new one.

(Please all fight your urges to ask me why don’t they just get rid of KR - I don’t know!)

 

[YellowSubmarine]

I’d be interested to know how hard, if at all, they’ve fought to hold on to him or whether this actually plays in to the overhaul they have planned and actually represents a chance to remove a relationship damaged beyond repair and start a new one.

(Please all fight your urges to ask me why don’t they just get rid of KR - I don’t know!)

Also comes at a time Andy Scott has gone in to Charlton meaning Karl’s best friend in football Steve Gallen may be on the move.

Fingers crossed I’m miles off the mark.

 

[Swaby39]

Also comes at a time Andy Scott has gone in to Charlton meaning Karl’s best friend in football Steve Gallen may be on the move.

Fingers crossed I’m miles off the mark.

I’d be genuinely astounded if the board sanctioned his arrival even if Karl tried everything. Not only are Charlton in an almighty mess, but other appointments to date, such as Steve K in the academy, suggests they’re not looking to surround KR with comfort blankets. There’s also the likely scenario Karl leave us at the end of the season. I think they’ll get their own man in and expect Karl to work with them. They may not bother until later in the season! Question is what markets do they think need tapping in to.

The LOI has been great but very saturated now so maybe it’s time to diversify…

 

[YellowSubmarine]

I’d be genuinely astounded if the board sanctioned his arrival even if Karl tried everything. Not only are Charlton in an almighty mess, but other appointments to date, such as Steve K in the academy, suggests they’re not looking to surround KR with comfort blankets. There’s also the likely scenario Karl leave us at the end of the season. I think they’ll get their own man in and expect Karl to work with them. They may not bother until later in the season! Question is what markets do they think need tapping in to.

The LOI has been great but very saturated now so maybe it’s time to diversify…

True what you say about the LOI market.

Brentford went down the Danish route.
Brighton went down the South American route.

 

[Manorlounger]

Also comes at a time Andy Scott has gone in to Charlton meaning Karl’s best friend in football Steve Gallen may be on the move.

Fingers crossed I’m miles off the mark.

Right now, any fans at OUFC are being turned off and any substances close to being brown in colour removed and quarantined.
Thames Water have again apologised for any extraneous raw sewage being discharged - "extraordinary circumstances" was quoted by a spokesperson.

 

[Shosho]

I’d be genuinely astounded if the board sanctioned his arrival even if Karl tried everything. Not only are Charlton in an almighty mess, but other appointments to date, such as Steve K in the academy, suggests they’re not looking to surround KR with comfort blankets. There’s also the likely scenario Karl leave us at the end of the season. I think they’ll get their own man in and expect Karl to work with them. They may not bother until later in the season! Question is what markets do they think need tapping in to.

The LOI has been great but very saturated now so maybe it’s time to diversify…

We have brexit to thank for this and have been banging on for a while…we needed to strengthen our position when we were having success (imo).

The areas in which we can shop are now incredibly limited. Old school PASHUN football folk don’t like it, but there needs to be something beyond asking some agents, looking on transfer room and ringing around some mates during a window.

Transfers Brentford made previously wouldn’t be allowed now. The only option is is get smart(er).

For an example for smart league one recruitment, Plymouth are the stand out. They even released a podcast on the working of how they get players in…from ID -> announcement. They’ve made a signing today - from Wellington Phoenix.

We have no option but to get creative in the market, to my mind, the loss of Mark Thomas will be significant to that end.

 

[n1]

True what you say about the LOI market.

Brentford went down the Danish route.
Brighton went down the South American route.

Wonder if we might go down the Italian route given the contacts that our new MD will have, and the recent Djavan Anderson signing.

 

[RyanioBirdio]

Wonder if we might go down the Italian route given the contacts that our new MD will have, and the recent Djavan Anderson signing.

Anderson only managed to get a work permit because Lazio qualified for Europe and agreed to put him in a Serie A matchday squad the day before the window shut (with the comical 99 number on his back for good measure), which was enough to essentially con the system into squeaking through a work permit. We won’t be able to “raid” any European country moving forward, hence why so many clubs over the last couple of years have muscled into Ireland, as it still has a freedom of movement of sorts with the UK.

The biggest problem with losing any recruitment manager is that quite often the scouts move with them, as they are essentially freelancers and can therefore do what they like. Just like when a manager leaves a club you often find assistants and senior coaches doing the same. If Mark Thomas is leaving then we may well be about to have to rebuild most of our scouting network, unless we hire somebody who can bring their own in with them. But even then, they will need to be utilised and listened to.

Perhaps this is why there were reports from people at the recent fans forum that they had been told afterwards that January was likely to be pretty quiet?

 

[Foley]

If you look at Oxford spend vs fees recouped in the last 5 or 6 years it should answer your question. Smart recruitment has paid the bills to the landlord which has been massive for the club and our ability to compete at the level we have done despite paying eye-watering rent.

Hopefully that’s about to change, but don’t mistake our failure to win promotion with an inability to spot talent. Without MT but with KR it could be all the poor unimaginative signings without the young diamonds.

Oh I totally get how good our recruitment has generally been over the past few years.
My question was more in relation to why Thomas was so important in the really good recruitment and not the less than good recruitment.
The CEOs programme notes v Charlton was suggesting that the club is looking to get strong people recruited into the club shortly.
Are we suggesting that improvement in recruitment is not possible?

 

[YellowSubmarine]

Oh I totally get how good our recruitment has generally been over the past few years.
My question was more in relation to why Thomas was so important in the really good recruitment and not the less than good recruitment.
The CEOs programme notes v Charlton was suggesting that the club is looking to get strong people recruited into the club shortly.
Are we suggesting that improvement in recruitment is not possible?

That would be because he’s very much a data driven individual that wouldn’t of had any say in a lot of our deals this window.

This window was very different in previous where a different style was used in our signings.

 

[YellowSubmarine]

January window 2022.

Browne - KR signing.

Baldock - KR signing.

Smyth - MT & scouting signing. KR approved after watching.

C’Brown - KR signing. Made easier by
Brown’s friendship with Gavin Whyte. Was plan B. Club wanted Jordan Thorniley back.

Trueman (GK) - Emergency loan. KR signing via Bowyer.

 

[YellowSubmarine]

Summer window 2022.

Murphy - KR signing.

Anderson - Tiger signing through Brian Tevreden.

Wildschut - Tiger signing through Brian Tevreden.

Jones - Trial arranged with us through agent & long term friendship of Marcus Browne.

Findlay - KR signing.

McGinty - MT & scouting signing.

Negru - MT & scouting signing.

Joseph - KR signing.

Bate - KR signing.

C’Brown - see above. Returned following contract expiry at Cardiff.

 

[Scotchegg]

Looks like KR made some decent signings then!

 

[YellowSubmarine]

Whilst Mark Thomas & his team have recruited Smyth, McGinty & Negru recently who we are yet to know if they’re any good, his past record of Whyte, Sykes, McNally, Cooper wasn’t the worst.

Tiger has got it wrong before with the Zamorui signing. Remember him? What about Osei Yaw.. Ben Davis..

Karl has form too. Remember Allardyce son joining us? What about Asonganyi? Joe Grayson.. or this summers Jacob Fowler.

I’d say Thomas is & has been a massive asset to the football club.

 

[YellowSubmarine]

Looks like KR made some decent signings then!

True.

You don’t manage 700 games of football if you don’t have half a clue.

A major point in that thought we be that 95% of them games have all been at League 1 level & we are aiming to get out of the league.

Safe pair of hands if we are looking for consistency in the league we compete in. I’ve never denied that.

I’d hope we’d have a bit more ambition than that as a board & fanbase though!!

 

[ECYellow]

True.

You don’t manage 700 games of football if you don’t have half a clue.

A major point in that thought we be that 95% of them games have all been at League 1 level & we are aiming to get out of the league.

Safe pair of hands if we are looking for consistency in the league we compete in. I’ve never denied that.

I’d hope we’d have a bit more ambition than that as a board & fanbase though!!

Stop that ambition talk!

 

[Marked Ox]

Whilst Mark Thomas & his team have recruited Smyth, McGinty & Negru recently who we are yet to know if they’re any good, his past record of Whyte, Sykes, McNally, Cooper wasn’t the worst.

Tiger has got it wrong before with the Zamorui signing. Remember him? What about Osei Yaw.. Ben Davis..

Karl has form too. Remember Allardyce son joining us? What about Asonganyi? Joe Grayson.. or this summers Jacob Fowler.

I’d say Thomas is & has been a massive asset to the football club.

One small point, Fowler was for the youth team, not even a fringe player for the 1st team unlike Grayson. Asonganyi and Allardyce were u21/23 players and at best very, very fringe players.