LP implies ST sales are poor at the moment in his programme notes.
But Walsall is a lot closer to South Wales than Bradford is, so that might have clinched the deal for us.
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Heâd probably already lined up Philips - heâs done so much better than Barry this seasonâŚoh wait!!
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Donât think JF was a fan of youth, at one of them chairman dinner things LP stated that JF had told him a blend of youth and experience being a recipe for success was a myth, although when he looked in JFâs direction for support in this claim it wasnât particularly convincing.
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Maybe it wasnât an ultimatum, but the board saying thatâs not us, thatâs him. Hard to believe recruitment was done without the coachâs input, pretty hard to believe he was responsible for every bad decision, but who else from the board would take blame for it. Generally, when something fails to work, you just improve things, not start anew. Where and what is plan B? Probably doesnât matter, plan A has been changed many times. Maybe there is no plan at all, just loosely blended ideas.
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Yep, thatâs about it, I would say.
Barry possibly, but Archer, I would say very definitely not. Prestonâs Ryan Lowe is an old mate of Steve Gerrard and word is that he was in his ear, badgering him for ages trying to get Archer up to Deepdale on loan.
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What about âOtherâ Barry??
I think Archer was mentioned in the summer, prior to Lowe and Gerrard taking charge at Preston and Villa respectively and more importantly, before Archer gained attention for his League Cup hat-trick vs Barrow.
I have it from his brother directly. Walsall were offered Archer. They didnât even bother to reply to the agent. This was at the start of the season. Pretty sure he nearly at double figures now in the championship and playing for England
Sums us up.
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If thatâs the case Iâm glad the bloke whoâs made that decision is now in the dole queue.
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If true, an absolute scandal.
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This is exactly what I was told as well. I heard it from a very very close source of Pomletts. Fullarton didnât want Archer and wanted Miller instead.
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Thatâs just the kind of judgment that indicates that Fullarton deserved to be sacked!! One of the key requirements for anyone sourcing players for a club like ours is to be able to spot the odd gem thatâs going to make a key contribution but doesnât cost us much. Getting in loan players, especially from our bigger neighbours, should be a high priority. But this season: who did we get in from Villa, Albion and Wolves? Nobody. Itâs so galling to see the likes of Swindon, who were on the verge of going bust only 4 days before the season started, picking up really good players on loan from Villa. Instead, our seed clubs were Halifax, Huddersfield and Barnsley! We didnât even get the odd gem from Spurs or Palace, even though our Head Coach and DoF had good contacts there. Letâs hope Mickey Flynn has better contacts!
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Those clubs wanted to send their kids to us? I can perfectly understand why no one from Spurs or Palace academies was loaned (financial penalty for approaching young players from these clubs could be hefty) and from other clubs? Lack of currency called trust. It was enough only to get a keeper from the England U21 squad.
I agree: getting Rushworth was a bit of a coup but I would have swapped him for a 20-goal striker like Barry. Our problem this season has generally been scoring goals not stopping them. That is the key area to address next season. Letâs hope we manage to go into the new season owning at least one striker - unlike this season! We probably will, but unfortunately it will be Dave!
Yep. Rushworth has been brilliant and as a retired member of the goalies union, albeit at a much, much, much worse level I love to see a talented young keeper get gametime and do well but would we have won many more of the games we drew or drawn anymore of the games we lost with Rose in goal? I donât think the points difference would be huge. However Archer or/and Barry couldâve been gamechangers.
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I donât know what was agreed between the coach and DOF. What players they wanted to sign, which ones were available and which ones wanted to play in League Two. Easy to say after the season, recruitment was bad, but if next time players who played +200 games in higher leagues or scored +15 goals in this level will be seen as bad, something is not right. Every club can say recruitment could be better, but it requires a lot of time to build some web of knowledge about players and needs of a club. Definitely, after one year you are nowhere near it.
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Itâs a good point, and I think youâre right, although there have certainly been games when Rushworth has won us points. A decent forward would have been likely to make a bigger difference. However weâd have needed another 20 points to be even on the edge of the playoffs, and Iâm not sure either or both would have made that much difference.
Anyway, itâs moot. The choice wasnât Rushworth or a forward. We should have had both.
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Largely I agree, and bigger clubs of course hold all the cards in these situations, but a valuable skill in someone who is supposed to build relationships with other clubs is the old âgift of the gabâ. Having a full address book is worthless if nobody in it wants to talk to you. If itâs on a knife-edge whether a player is given to Swindon or us, that kind of thing might just swing it.
It certainly doesnât hurt to have someone on your side who can talk a good game, and perhaps damningly in Fullartonâs case, those sorts of people are usually amiable and chatty. He struck me as moody and withdrawn.