Transfer News Summer Transfer Preview

[Nadi-]

Firstly, I'm not saying I would be desperate to keep McEachran. But he is under contract for us next year, so there isn't really a decision to make on JM unless and until another club comes in for him (he's certainly not so bad that we would want to pay him off, the way we did Wildschut last year)

But I reject the notion that it's recency bias with McGuane. He's now played over 150 games over four seasons for us, so we have a very good idea of his pros and cons, his abilities and limitations.

He's been terrific for us in five months out of those four years - the month before he got hurt during his loan spell, and then August/September in both 2022/23 and 2023/24.

And that just isn't enough. Couple that with the fact that he's not a good style fit for Des' system, and I'm moving on and looking for someone more consistent

we’ve been light in midfield all season.
McGuane didn’t feature first game of the season , think it was Mceachran Brannagan. But after the Bristol game, was hammered game wise.. poor player management.
Mceachran although limited game time, has yet to prove he can manage 2 consecutive games,
I have no problem with people disagreeing with me. Murphy, Brown, Harris even Sykes have been questioned in the past.
All have since proved themselves, so will McGuane.

 

[tonyw]

I have no problem with people disagreeing with me. Murphy, Brown, Harris even Sykes have been questioned in the past.
All have since proved themselves, so will McGuane.

All those four had silenced (almost all of) the doubters well before they'd played 100 games in yellow.

McGuane has played more than 150, and the questions surrounding him are louder than they've ever been because he's been poor now for six months.

I hope you're right. But I think that if he is going to fulfill his undoubted talent, it's going to be somewhere other than here, where he's a better fit for their style of play.

 

[Foley]

All those four had silenced (almost all of) the doubters well before they'd played 100 games in yellow.

McGuane has played more than 150, and the questions surrounding him are louder than they've ever been because he's been poor now for six months.

I hope you're right. But I think that if he is going to fulfill his undoubted talent, it's going to be somewhere other than here, where he's a better fit for their style of play.

It will be interesting to see if Manning comes in for him if he is released.

 

[BicesterU]

Not going to lie, I would love to get a look at Ed Waldron's spreadsheet.

Not a euphemism

 

[Jaboysmith]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1788951692429423026

 

[OX14]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1788951692429423026

Decent player at this level.

 

[Northernyellow]

It will be interesting to see if Manning comes in for him if he is released.

Very much doubt there will be any interest in McGuane at Championship level tbh. Great technique, but he's too cautious and generally doesn't really impact on games. I also think he tends to slow our attacks down, and typically looks for the safe pass. He's technically a similar player to Herbie Kane imo. But Kane moved the ball on far quicker, was always looking forward and was miles more effective. I'm not too bothered if McGuane leaves. He's one of those players who promises lots but only delivers in flashes. He'll have a decent L1 career but I can't see him much above that in this country. Could probably play at a good level abroad, where the pace is slower.

 

[tonyw]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1788951692429423026

A lot of Wednesday fans loved him. Supposedly a decent passer and high energy box-to-box type, but who loves a tackle and has a bit of a nasty streak.

If we're still in League One next year, would be an outstanding signing.

If we're in the Championship though.......then our sights will need to be a little higher......

 

[holdsteady]

A lot of Wednesday fans loved him. Supposedly a decent passer and high energy box-to-box type, but who loves a tackle and has a bit of a nasty streak.

If we're still in League One next year, would be an outstanding signing.

If we're in the Championship though.......then our sights will need to be a little higher......

Are we really, just by getting promoted, going to have access to a much better player pool? We will be heavy, heavy favourites for relegation so established championship players won’t be queuing up.

We will have to be smart and find players over looked by the other championship clubs, we will be at the front of the queue for those at least.

 

[tonyw]

Are we really, just by getting promoted, going to have access to a much better player pool? We will be heavy, heavy favourites for relegation so established championship players won’t be queuing up.

We will have to be smart and find players over looked by the other championship clubs, we will be at the front of the queue for those at least.

I think we'll be able to play in a whole different salary bracket (at least more regularly.....Cam is already on lower Championship level wages!)

Not only is promotion worth around seven million quid, in terms of extra TV money/PL solidarity payments (at least that's what it was......the difference may be more now with the new TV deal) but the FFP rules change completely. At the moment, we're restricted to a salary budget of 60% of our revenues. Bakrie helped us out on this by gifting us a couple of million to embellish our budget, but we are still heavily restricted on how much we can spend. In the Championship, you're allowed to lose an average of 13m quid a season over a three year period.

While I'm not saying we should do this - we could probably treble our wage bill in the Championship and still stay within the rules.

Now that still doesn't mean we'll be able to compete financially with the Leeds and Southamptons of the division, because they operate in a whole different stratosphere. But it should give us access to a broader range of players. At the very least, a lot more Josh Murphy types i.e. Championship level talents who've been struggling to make a mark at their current clubs for whatever reason.......

 

[GeneralLee]

Are we really, just by getting promoted, going to have access to a much better player pool? We will be heavy, heavy favourites for relegation so established championship players won’t be queuing up.

We will have to be smart and find players over looked by the other championship clubs, we will be at the front of the queue for those at least.

I think the stark contrast of playing in a new division with very different shorter term ambitions will largely mean that we'd need to over invest in certain player contracts I suspect.

Interestingly a lot of owners of promoted clubs from League One over the last 10 years have spoken as to how it's easier to sign the calibre of players that you want for the Championship while pushing for promotion from League One rather trying to sign those same players having already secured promotion. The psychology of a deal changes based on the ambition (pushing for promotion and having that on your CV rather than a possible relegation). Players will also seek Championship wages if they are 'Championship players'.

 

[tonyw]

Out of curiosity, I was just looking at what Plymouth did - because they're our closest comparable from last year's promoted teams.

They first broke their transfer record twice to secure the two players they'd had on loan from the Championship the previous year (Mumba & Whittaker, who've been two of their key players this season). Then they signed a keeper from Celtic, a youngster from Everton, a Spanish CB from Twente, a Sierre Leonean winger from Anderlecht and then they finished up by signing Adam Forshaw in January.

I doubt they would have been able to do all those things in League One, on a League One budget.

 

[Emilio]

The psychology of a deal changes based on the ambition (pushing for promotion and having that on your CV rather than a possible relegation). Players will also seek Championship wages if they are 'Championship players'.

Saw someone claim Jamie Vardy has had a more successful career than Harry Kane, as he has achieved more in terms of promotions and titles. The counter-argument was Kane's scoring record both in the Prem and for England, but that's exactly my point here.

A retired lower-level Championship player would most likely look back on their career as having been more "successful" if it consisted of promotions from League One to the Championship, as opposed to regularly playing in the Championship while constantly battling to avoid relegation to League One.

Promotion doesn't guarantee pulling power, but it can offer us a bigger budget.

 

[Foley]

Out of curiosity, I was just looking at what Plymouth did - because they're our closest comparable from last year's promoted teams.

They first broke their transfer record twice to secure the two players they'd had on loan from the Championship the previous year (Mumba & Whittaker, who've been two of their key players this season). Then they signed a keeper from Celtic, a youngster from Everton, a Spanish CB from Twente, a Sierre Leonean winger from Anderlecht and then they finished up by signing Adam Forshaw in January.

I doubt they would have been able to do all those things in League One, on a League One budget.

That seems a pretty sensible approach.
It would be interesting to see what Ipswich did. I read somewhere that 9 of their highest appearances in the Championship also played in L1.
They clearly had some very good players, bit a lot were good L1 players ( Wes Burns) and lower Championship players.
I think that they had a very different approach?

 

[greatunclekip]

Are we really, just by getting promoted, going to have access to a much better player pool? We will be heavy, heavy favourites for relegation so established championship players won’t be queuing up.

We will have to be smart and find players over looked by the other championship clubs, we will be at the front of the queue for those at least.

Yep, see Wycombe. Although they were spending a fortune in League 1 (certainly not plucky) the Championship suddenly opened the door to the likes of Sam Vokes.

Ipswich and Luton bought Champ players in League 1.

 

[Northernyellow]

I think the stark contrast of playing in a new division with very different shorter term ambitions will largely mean that we'd need to over invest in certain player contracts I suspect.

Interestingly a lot of owners of promoted clubs from League One over the last 10 years have spoken as to how it's easier to sign the calibre of players that you want for the Championship while pushing for promotion from League One rather trying to sign those same players having already secured promotion. The psychology of a deal changes based on the ambition (pushing for promotion and having that on your CV rather than a possible relegation). Players will also seek Championship wages if they are 'Championship players'.

If we go up, I would think/hope we'll be sensible about it. Sign 3-4 of the 22-24 year old standout players from smaller L1 clubs, on 3-4 year contracts, and 2-3 older Championship players on one year contracts - like Bennett. Build in relegation clauses into all contracts. Then, if we do come straight down, we have the nucleus of a really strong L1 team. Bit like Rotherham.

 

[holdsteady]

Yep, see Wycombe. Although they were spending a fortune in League 1 (certainly not plucky) the Championship suddenly opened the door to the likes of Sam Vokes.

Ipswich and Luton bought Champ players in League 1.

Did Luton just not keep following the plan that got them the other two promotions, finding players who were underrated and giving them a chance? Not like they signed any relative big name players?

We found Sykes, Dickie, Atkinson and probably the rest of the Bristol City squad as a league one team, might push us to the front of the queue for that type of player but I can’t see us suddenly, in the summer after a play off win, going out and buying name championship players?

It’s obviously all a bit dependent on next Saturday, this could be a very redundant conversation but I am not sure we will be going from shopping in Aldi to shopping in Waitrose straight away, I think that might be the waters that the more established championship clubs fish in and we will get outmuscled.

 

[WRox]

Theres been a flood of loan talent in L1 this season, mostly from the Premier League. That could be useful for us if we go up as we’ll have access to a pretty well tested pool of players. Big clubs will want them to go and get game time that more established Championship clubs might not guarantee as well.

 

[billyturleyscurlywurly]

Byers is exactly what we need should we remain in L1 next season.

 

[yellow rose of Texas]

Spend money on poaching Peterborough’s scouting network. It’s been outstanding since our non league days when they were poaching McClean etc