The Hotel End

... On an 18 month contract.

Your thoughts? Personally I think he can do a good job for us and will fight tooth and nail for the cause, Its a bonus we will have him next season aswell!

Where did you find this out? It's not on the OS  ???

Interesting you say you think he'll fight tooth and nail. Dean Holdsworth appears to think his heart wasn't in it in recent weeks.

Wind up?

If true, I think it's great news as long as he can stay fit and not get sent off, which were the problems last time. Otherwise, he's a really good footballer.

Good news if true, seen him a few times down here where he always puts in a good shift, MotM v ManUre.  ;)

Guttridge fought every game when he was last here, Just because he didn't do it for Holdsworth doesn't mean he won't do it again. There has been a lot of reported unrest under Holdsworth as there was here with Johnson.

Keep your eyes on the OS.

Looks like you were right Lodgy  ;)

http://www.ntfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10425~2590178,00.html

Welcome back Luke Guttridge!

We are slowly getting our best team in recent years back together, just need Bunn, Chambers, Jackman, Hubertz, Johnson, Little, Jones and Gypes

Top marks, Lodger, for the scoop of the century!

Haha, Suppose it has to be said... 'Told you so!'

Maybe Doig put in a good word for him?

Really good signing. He has travelled to Torquay so hope he will start!

Is it not concerning anybody else, that bar loanees we are only able, or only willing to attract players from the past?

No. Most live locally and would have come cheap. If they are good enough then I dont care what the circumstances are

Yep, Ian Benjamin is currently undergoing a medical  ;)

The fact these type of players are returning IMO speaks wonders about the Stuart Gray era....

That one has come out of leftfield, hasn't it?? Pleased to see him back though, a quality player at this level and he'll both get stuck in and provide a creative spark. Good signing!

As I put on another thread , I was told that Guttridge could be "moody" when he first signed for us , I do believe this to be true but he is also a very good player at this level ,so i'm pleased to see him back.

He was probabably the best player on the pitch when we played down at Aldershot at the beginning of the season.

I do remember Rotherham away too, however !

Overall though, hopefully he will be a very good signing ...........

Guttridge had a few good games for us, but was often anonymous, and I felt was too guilty of getting caught in possession.  At least I can get him to sign the shirt he threw into the crowd when we won 3-1 at Orient.  Come to think of it, Doig played that day too.

This is getting silly ::)

Be interesting to see where he fits in to the team, doubt he'd want to come in just as cover. So Harding to go back? Jacobs leaving? Davies replacement? Hopefully he's played in the middle of the park rather than out wide where he was far less effective.

Not overly excited, but if he finds form he should be a good signing.

Are we restarting the "five year plan?"

Pleased with this one, we need a midfielder with creative spark  :)

In my opinion this signing frees Johnson to move back to right back if needed to give Crowe a rest.

Plus another set-piece taker to rival Jacobs. As we have seen us switching to a 4-3-3/4-5-1 type formation a centre three of Harding Johnson and Guttridge shouldn't be bad at all when we have Saido, Asante, Jacobs, Robinson and Young to pick from for wing men.

Mentioning Robinson I really would like to see him play out on the right with Jacobs on the left with Saido as lone striker. Guttridge making runs into the box with Harding while Johnson does the boring stuff sees us quickly change into a five man attack.

Your thoughts?

As he was down there the season before when Ben Harding equalised for them at about quarter past five...!

Should NEVER have got rid ...

He's exactly the type of player we need. Some creativity in midfield. Someone get on the blower to Poul Hubertz!

Sean Parrish has been named in the squad too.

He's the type of player we have needed all season. I just hope he stays injury-free (seem to recall he had a fair few last time he was here) but he certainly looked decent when he played against us for Aldershot down at their place earlier in the season. Not unhappy about this at all.

But where, or where, is this striker we were supposed to have signed at the beginning of the week?

It's incredible the number of former players that have come back for a second spell with us this season- that must be about half a dozen by now?

Happy to have him back though, a player I really rated in his first spell here.

By the way, I'd love to hear the views of the morons who were booing him on our last couple of trips to Aldershot...

They realise that the grass isn't always greener....... 8)

I'll never understand people who boo former players, especially when they were alright for us but WE released THEM. What are they supposed to do, never get another job in football and spend the rest of the lives mourning the fact they'll never again play for the mighty Northampton Town?! It's different when players leave under a cloud like Coke, Jackman or Gilbert but booing someone simply for playing for someone else is just stupid.

And don't get me started on those that boo players that we went out and sold, like those divs who booed Chambers at Forest...

We must be close to a record by now!

Isn't it: Westwood, Crowe, Guttridge, Akinfenwa...do we count Tozer?....possibly Doig to follow...who have I missed?

Welcome back Gutts...

I doubt this is the answer to our prayers but lets keep positive..

Hmmm I liked him when he was here before but didn't he have attitude problems? I seem to remember seeing a number of photos of him drunk and smoking - Not something you really expect a professional footballer to have on his facebook? More the smoking thing than the drinking.

So, if only he used grandma prostitutes as well, he'd be Wayne Rooney...?!

I'm not sure how I feel about this signing, firstly it is rather odd we seem to be re-signing players from a few years back, I can't quite get my head around it. With Guttridge I think you only have to read Aldershot fans views on him leaving to see that he is still a decent player for this level so on that basis he has to be a decent addition I guess. IF he stays injury free then he will do well for us, where he fits into the team? I have no idea, that is down to AB of course. As for his supposed off field antics, I personally don't care what the players do in their spare time, provided it is all legal antics of course, if they choose to drink and smoke then so be it as long as they still perform on the pitch then who cares?! Footballers are humans aswell, yes they are in the limelight as such but you'll be surprised how many footballers do smoke, crazy in this day and age of fitness regimes/dieticians etc I know. I couldn't care if it turns out Guttridge is a massive tw@t but if he is the man to spark our revival then I and I'm sure the rest of the supporters will be over the moon.

He'll be one of the best midfielders in the Blue Square next season...

For goodness sake Doc we are NOT going down  ;D   you heard it here 1st  ;)

(I damn well hope that does not come back to haunt me)

Nice photo of a younger you in the bar montage by the way  8)

Oh and .. welcome back Luke  :)

He completely changed the game when they bought him on. He was also the stand out player when we played them at home last year as well.

I am well pleased to have him back. A performer of genuine quality. Hopefully we'll actually use him in the middle this time.

I agree with you, I was merely making a passing comment, I'm sure AB will keep him in line anyway.

Welcome back Gutts. Wish he had never left, quality player at this level and likely to chip in with a few goals along the way. Just what we need.

cracking signing jacobs guttridge and harding through the middle now :) with jj just behind in defensive role!!

Just a word on Gutts and the notion he is injury prone... he's had 80 games for Aldershot in just a season and a half. That's a huge appearance total, not sure any of the current Cobblers squad could match that.

Would seem to suggest that whatever problems he had, he didn't take them to Aldershot. He should hit the ground running, and finally we have a signing who is currently fit and happy at rejoining. Exactly what we need!

Now for that elusive centre back, in the same mould (appearance-wise I mean, not necessarily a former player though haha!) :)

That is some stat, good work, Wikipedia? ;) Does put to bed the notion that he is struggling with injury. The worrying thing still has to be lots of players tend to be injured while with us!

Mixed reaction from me, but if he brings passion and desire for the team - then I'm on board. Welcome back Luke.

Just in case Gutts happens to stumble across this...the messageboard filters the word c.racking for some reason- ClaretAndWhite is not saying he thinks you're s.hit! ;D

we should be sh*t hot at set pieces with Guttridge and Crackers

lol NTFC nut to clarify i mean exactly what he said in good terms!! :P

.... and Harding.  Gutts is a good player but i'm not sure he's the right player, depends who else is due to come in.

At least with Guttridge we should have someone who can get a corner past the first defender.

I'm very happy with this signing.

Excellent signing. Well done Aidy.

This is the equivalent of playing Football Manager, doing shit and so just reloading an old save game from ages ago. If this fails, I imagine we'll just turn it off and on again.

Sorry about this I know im in a minority but I always found him rather moody,and he ( to me) always seemed to need too much time on the ball.Can't argue about his performance against us, then again everyone seems to play well against us.Having said that he's our player so i'll back him all the way.Mr Betamax are you saying the quality of Hardings corners against Barnet were not up to standard? Remember Bayos goal!

And then they remember where The Fields Are Green and The Sky Is Blue...........

What about getting someone to hack the players' abilities, and turn them all into Prem players overnight?

 >:D

I think the main problem was that Calderwood used to play him as a right winger and it was so obvious he didn't want to be there. The shots seemed to play him just behind the front man in a more central role and he bossed the games.

I think that's over-egging it a bit.  Aldershot haven't won in six, they haven't even scored in six, and Guttridge has played in all of them.  I don't see this as the ball-winning midfield signing that everyone on here has been clamouring for.  The more I reflect on AB's signings even without Doig, the more I fear we are going to drop. 

Guttridge is one of the better midfield players in L2 and one we should never have let go.  Therefore, his signing is to be much welcomed.  I expect he will replace Young and, if so, that has to be the right decision.  Young has a future but at the moment he is just not doing enough.  I expect to see one or two more players coming in but AB, not surprisingly, appears to be having difficulty moving some of the failures out.  Like others, I am concerned with the possibility of Doig because he was struggling for pace 3-4 years ago and lack of pace is the great problem at the heart of our defence.

I think the main criterion on which to judge a new signing is: will he improve us? Is he better than what we have?

Guttridge, for me, is better than Turnbull, Davies and Young. He is experienced, is a fighter and knows how to win at this level.


The key thing is going to be using him correctly. We know that he doesn't like being stuck out wide where his lack of searing pace is a problem. He puts in tackles, but is not really a holding midfielder, so JJ should probably continue there for the time being. Hopefully we'll go back to the 4-5-1/4-3-3 which has served us well away from home. I'd like us to play:

Weale

Crowe Langmead Tozer Adams


Asante/Young Guttridge JJ Harding Jacobs

               Berahino

When Guttridge was with us I rated him highly even though we didn't play him to his strengths often enough , HOWEVER I am deeply worried by this trend of bringing back players who are several years slower than when they were last here.
This is a high-risk policy. Where are the new generation players to drag us out of the mire?
 

I'd much prefer Robinson (if available) to either Asante/Young but wouldn't be surprised if AB goes with Gilligan. Young has been mediocre for a long while (for the most part) now and Asante hasn't really impressed me when I have seen him.

SteveR I don't see how you can make the slowness comment about Guttridge who is 29 and has been playing well for Aldershot since he was with us but I do agree with the criticism about Bayo & Crowe who are both past their best.  Doig has not signed yet.