Transfer Window January 2024 Transfer Window Thread

[Roge]

I agree plus it appears that many fans think we have a huge bank account with vast amounts of money.
We may have wealthy owners but their financial commitment is already great.
Somewhere we must start to balance the books and unfortunately this forum would happily see us merrily slipping to financial ruin like Reading if we satisfied all their player recruitment
Hey ho
Our current budget is well up there already
Let’s just see and hope we have some contingency left

Where do we start?

OUFC Year Ended June 2022

Total Assets£4.29m

+£1.37m (+46.84%)

vs previous year

Total Liabilities£-24.31m

-£4.03m (-19.87%)

vs previous year

Net Assets£-20.02m

-£2.66m (-15.33%)

vs previous year

Cash in Bank£414k

+£257k (+163.69%)

vs previous year

 

[RgYellows]

Where do we start?

not having £20m of net liabilities?

 

[Didcotox]

It’s just my opinion that it won’t be that elusive, recognised and guaranteed 20 goals a season, striker that we get in. Yes, of course we will sign a striker but it will be late in the window and it will be a relatively unknown youngster - who we will be told has bags of potential - but hardly a senior goal to his name.

Likewise, I think any Oxford fan could have predicted we will be signing a wide attacker, who can perhaps operate down the middle, like Burley, and with a strike rate of about 1 in 8 or 9. It’s what we specialise in. It’s the hardest spot in the team to fill and Waldron failed badly in the summer and is not filling us with much confidence in this winter window either.

I‘d love to be proved wrong though.

I remember feeling that way when we signed Connor McAleny. Some work out and some don’t.

 

[dickwalton1964]

How much did Pompey pay for Bishop ? That’s the sort of signing we don’t make, my guess is he was around £500,000. For people to say these strikers, who get up and around 20, don’t exist is nonsense. They’re out there, we just give them a wide berth probably because they’re not capable of doubling up out wide.

 

[tatabanya]

Set my sights higher

Surely you set your sights higher before you hit a snag?

My point is that people on here seem to think landing a top, recognised striker is easy. As if you just pay the fee and off you go, like in Football Manager. In reality, there are so many moving parts. It seems Ladapo won't be allowed out of Ipswich until they replace him. Maybe JCH would rather wait until the summer so he can play his strongest hand at the negotiating table? Maybe Fleetwood continue to reject our frankly ridiculous offers for a player whose market value is likely half that. What do you do then?

I think we will sign a senior striker this window, but it'll be hard work and it'll cost us a bomb and, if it doesn't work out, everyone will be asking why we splashed the cash on an injury prone reject and forget the clamour on here just to spend the money and get someone in.

 

[werthersoriginal]

Surely you set your sights higher before you hit a snag?

My point is that people on here seem to think landing a top, recognised striker is easy. As if you just pay the fee and off you go, like in Football Manager. In reality, there are so many moving parts. It seems Ladapo won't be allowed out of Ipswich until they replace him. Maybe JCH would rather wait until the summer so he can play his strongest hand at the negotiating table? Maybe Fleetwood continue to reject our frankly ridiculous offers for a player whose market value is likely half that. What do you do then?

I think we will sign a senior striker this window, but it'll be hard work and it'll cost us a bomb and, if it doesn't work out, everyone will be asking why we splashed the cash on an injury prone reject and forget the clamour on here just to spend the money and get someone in.

We need two though, it’s frustrating that we’ve signed neither when we’re half way through the window. Not from lack of effort I’m sure.

 

[tatabanya]

How much did Pompey pay for Bishop ? That’s the sort of signing we don’t make, my guess is he was around £500,000. For people to say these strikers, who get up and around 20, don’t exist is nonsense. They’re out there, we just give them a wide berth probably because they’re not capable of doubling up out wide.

I agree, but Bishop's had scored 10, 10 and 12 in his 3 seasons at Accy before moving to Portsmouth. If we spent half a million quid on that scoring record tomorrow I don't think this forum would be a particularly happy place.

Better to go after the next Bishop rather than the current Clarke-Harris, in my view, but it's easier said than done.

 

[Osleroad]

If it was that easy to get front players in then Premier teams wouldn't struggle themselves so much..

 

[Yellow River]

Surely you set your sights higher before you hit a snag?

My point is that people on here seem to think landing a top, recognised striker is easy. As if you just pay the fee and off you go, like in Football Manager. In reality, there are so many moving parts. It seems Ladapo won't be allowed out of Ipswich until they replace him. Maybe JCH would rather wait until the summer so he can play his strongest hand at the negotiating table? Maybe Fleetwood continue to reject our frankly ridiculous offers for a player whose market value is likely half that. What do you do then?

I think we will sign a senior striker this window, but it'll be hard work and it'll cost us a bomb and, if it doesn't work out, everyone will be asking why we splashed the cash on an injury prone reject and forget the clamour on here just to spend the money and get someone in.

Even if JCH would like to leave before the summer you can be sure that MacAnthony won’t be selling him to a promotion rival before the end of January.

 

[RgYellows]

Surely you set your sights higher before you hit a snag?

Indeed. I hope we are.

 

[LeftSideLarry]

If Ladapo was a possibility, but you knew you had to wait til late in the window, what would you do?

What a silly question. We all know that the transfer window is easy to navigate and that things happen when WE and WE alone want them to. It has zero nuance and its success or failure is binary.

 

[WRox]

Surely you set your sights higher before you hit a snag?

My point is that people on here seem to think landing a top, recognised striker is easy. As if you just pay the fee and off you go, like in Football Manager. In reality, there are so many moving parts. It seems Ladapo won't be allowed out of Ipswich until they replace him. Maybe JCH would rather wait until the summer so he can play his strongest hand at the negotiating table? Maybe Fleetwood continue to reject our frankly ridiculous offers for a player whose market value is likely half that. What do you do then?

I think we will sign a senior striker this window, but it'll be hard work and it'll cost us a bomb and, if it doesn't work out, everyone will be asking why we splashed the cash on an injury prone reject and forget the clamour on here just to spend the money and get someone in.

It’s telling that the only real striker moves so far in the league have been first loans of youngsters and the Taylor one to Lincoln.

As well as all of the other obvious reasons why it’s difficult, finding one that suits our system is a challenge too. I’m not convinced a JCH, Lee Gregory or Michael Smith suits the way we play, I’m not convinced Taylor would have for the opposite reason. Ladapo’s one I think would suit but won’t be going anywhere until Ipswich have sorted their squad out. Same as we wouldn’t let Gatlin go at this point even if we might like to this month.

I would not be surprised if the next one in was another Burey type who can play and wide and up front, then the main striker to compete with Harris comes very late in the window.

 

[bazzer9461]

What a silly question. We all know that the transfer window is easy to navigate and that things happen when WE and WE alone want them to. It has zero nuance and its success or failure is binary.

Apparently Charlton are looking at Ladapo now

 

[Joey]

£10 via PayPal? PM if you're serious

That's not me offering a bet, those are odds that a couple of bookies are offering.

I've always said they have some good players and have made some good additions but I think a lot of their other players are below the level I thought. Dobson and Coventry is a top midfield at this level and Blackett-Taylor and May get into pretty much any team but they might struggle at the back. I don't think 50/1 is the worst bet around but they probably need to match Portsmouth's first half of the season form from here on to make the playoffs which is a tough ask.

 

[Swaby39]

I’m not in too much doubt that we’ll get a striker in and a good one, maybe two. I don’t doubt the deals are difficult to do but we’ve demonstrated that those are not beyond us now so I’m just hopeful we get one that we can all get enthusiastic about and invest a couple of seasons in rather than a few months and repeat the never ending cycle of wondering who will score our goals. I’d love to see an intimidating, predatory 9 at my club again, it just feels like it’s been ages. You can’t plug and play new unproven strikers as often as we have, we need one in that we know will fire us goals in our style of play and build the service around them.

Also think the game has evolved and these diminutive small players (like Marriott) are less universally effective at this level than Ladapo/JCH that offer you much more of an all-round threat. Plus, we already have one in Harris who I do really like despite his allergy to goals.

 

[The mighty Aldo]

Perhaps we need to go back to a different solution when it comes to strikers.

The last decent striker was Taylor who came from a division higher but couldn’t get goals at Division 2 level.

Before that Kemar Roofe who came on loan from WBA Academy but backed himself and signed for us.

I believe the best way forward is to look at players in lower divisions and bring them on. Rodrigues is not an out and out striker but I think he will score 10/12 goals this season. There must be others around who are scoring goals for teams in Division 4 and The Conference.

This has worked for us in the past and I feel we should return to it, plus if that striker does get you goals his value will increase in a big way.

We do this for other positions around the pitch why not do it for a striker

 

[Sheik djibouti]

Apparently Charlton are looking at Ladapo now

Well, of course they are. He's been mentioned on here after all

More of their scouts on here than actually at games I reckon....(isn't that right @Lundinsponytail, or whatever your username is these days)

 

[Symp59]

Yes it was interesting last year hearing from the coaches when they were saying because clubs now tend to play only one striker there are less around. We certainly struggle to find one ,and yet When Blackpool played us they seem to have more .Early days in the market 18 days to go ,and counting

 

[Mystery Yellow]

I agree, but Bishop's had scored 10, 10 and 12 in his 3 seasons at Accy before moving to Portsmouth. If we spent half a million quid on that scoring record tomorrow I don't think this forum would be a particularly happy place.

Better to go after the next Bishop rather than the current Clarke-Harris, in my view, but it's easier said than done.

I do remember at the time during the pandemic when Accrington had that side which were causing upsets during 20/21 season they caused us nothing but problems in the home game which they won 2-1 (+ done us a right favour by beating Portsmouth away in the last game of the season with us making the playoffs at Pompey’s expense) they had both Bishops & Charles playing at the Kassam that day & looked decent you could see both wouldn’t be staying there long as someone would that a punt on them (Bishop to Portsmouth £500k & Charles to Bolton £300k)

Just look at Bolton for example they have been clever the last couple of years they managed to get in decent strikers in Adeboyejo £250k Charles £300k even Eion Doyle on a Free to get them promoted to L1

All talk of us needing a 20/25+ goalscorers doesn’t have to be a thing there’s players in average teams in L1/L2 getting in to 13/17 goals over a season which could do us a job. we should be in the market & targeting the likes of (Will Evan’s, Freddie Draper, Michael Mellon) now as examples going forward imo

 

[Big Ronaldo]

What surprises me most is that players playing striker for us don’t fill their boots with goals.
The chances we have created for Harris is legion.
I swear that some of them were harder to miss than score.
While it is a mystery to me how GOD and BB also struggle to finish at least some of the through balls and crosses flying into the penalty area, I don’t really get that they find it so damn hard (from 6 yards out at times).
So many are also 1on1 situations and they don’t even hit the bloody target let alone force a save from the keeper.