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The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: Summer Transfer Window 2023
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on: July 24, 2023, 19:27:59 pm
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I guess you've got to have one eye on the Etete loan, where them being uprooted suddenly leaves you in a panic mid-season, but tbf that was a year long loan that got cancelled and not a 6 month loan.
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142
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The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: Summer Transfer Window 2023
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on: July 24, 2023, 18:49:45 pm
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I don't think he'd be able to replace Leonard leaving (mosty likely?) but I did like what I'd seen off Leshabela. Also like the home town connection as well. I think he could end up being this season's Lintott if we signed him.
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144
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The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: Brackley Town away 22-07-23 (k.o. 2pm)
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on: July 22, 2023, 14:08:06 pm
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Helliwell's definitely there, as Casey's just tweeted he's come in the second half. He's a defender though, so another one just to help with the injury cover rather than being someone we're interested in maybe?
Bit suprised about Dickson-Peters if he's there, as he's under contract for two more years, unless it's a trial for a loan?
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146
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The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: Summer Transfer Window 2023
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on: July 21, 2023, 09:32:27 am
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Joe Piggott is about to sign for Leyton Orient.
I can't see Hessenthaler being true at all (famous last words). I'd much rather have the Leicester youngster than him.
Despite all the signings, Stevenage and Leyton both have smaller squads than us, shows what a difference all the injuries are doing to our perceived strength.
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147
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The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: The red box thread. Budget talk, talk budget.
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on: July 20, 2023, 18:43:27 pm
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Our budget, I guess, will be between 2 or 3 million. It'll be a fraction of the top half of the League 1 teams, but comparable with Exeter, Port Vale, Carisle, Cambridge, give a take a few 100k, or close enough that better spending, better team spirit, better fan support etc would surpass the financial differences. It will also be mostly spend on the existing squad, giving us not a lot of room to reinforce, which makes it difficult to get more than 1 or 2 starters, with enough money for maybe a few cheap options.
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148
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The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: Summer Transfer Window 2023
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on: July 20, 2023, 07:32:58 am
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Not sustainable though, is it? We're not going to get free parcels of the land off the council every year. We'll have, I imagine the 6th worst crowds in League One next year. If you expect a Midtable budget, you need a midtable revenue which in League 1 is about 8-9k through the door on average.
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152
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The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: Brummies Friendly
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on: July 19, 2023, 19:44:59 pm
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Pre-seasons never mean anything, i'm not panicking watching. We're clearly missing a gameplan or personnel going forward, but its against two Championship teams and we've got 8 fit first teamers, so with context seems fine.
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153
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The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: Brummies Friendly
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on: July 19, 2023, 19:36:20 pm
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Bowie's looked the brightest spark in the 45 for us. Two interchanges of decent football where we didnt quite get the final ball quite right, and Birmingham fare fair value for the league. Two good chances for them, scored one.
Feel a little bit bad for the little right back on trial, not done anything wrong but surely the one place we're fully stocked.
Appere looks very awkward wide right.
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155
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The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: Summer Transfer Window 2023
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on: July 18, 2023, 09:46:31 am
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I think the lack of transfer news is just getting to everyone's head a bit. A lot of black or white thinking in the thread. In reality the situation is in the middle; there's people that are using the lack of business as another complaint about the budget. Factually, we are where we are. Attendance wise we're in the bottom quarter of the League, and as that is where most of the revenue comes from, that's what our budget is. It is what it is. Expecting us to compete in this league where the average attendance last year was 10,611, and our average was half of that is niave. The budget will be tight as we don't have the means to be competitive, but I'm realistic to expect that to be the case this year, moaning about the reality doesn't change it.
However... I don't buy into the idea of 'Proven League One quality' existing in a vaccum. League two players step up all the time, and players with track records at League One or Championship can come in and be s***. Matt Crooks was playing at League two level with us, as was Byron Webster, and gone on to have solid Championship careers, and Leon Constantine, Danny Hylton came with plaudits etc... well, you can finish that sentence to what the result of that was. It all depends on how player fits a team, fits a style of play, there personal circumstances (and on this, I'd refer to the Kelvin Langmead interview on the podcast where he talks about the reasons behind the massive difference in form in the two seasons he played for us for example). Everybody gets at least 5 games to find a form and show how good they are for me, regardless of where they've come from. Other than perhaps Alistair Slowe, I'm not going to write anyone off if Brady, Calderwood and the team had look at them and think they have something to offer.
On the other hand, I also can absolutely can acknowledge that having signed on three players by the end of July means that it's not reasonable to have blind faith that everything is going rosy in the transfer window so far. People being worried is a fair reaction. But there's no point judging it until we know what the squad looks like going into the season, and we have time for the final signings to come through.
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156
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The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: Summer Transfer Window 2023
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on: July 15, 2023, 19:03:36 pm
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Some of the trialists who featured for the Cobblers against Leicester City in Saturday’s friendly at Sixfields are under consideration as potential new signings. copied and pasted from the Chron!
Sure, but you're literally saying the same thing. One or two are being considered, the rest we're using to manage our minutes during tbe injury spell in return for helping them get fit while they look for new clubs.
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157
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The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: Summer Transfer Window 2023
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on: July 15, 2023, 18:04:09 pm
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Ok, some points on it - firstly, Brady has said in post-match interview, some of these lads are in to help us manage pre-season minutes with the 12 injuries, in return for helping them to get fit to find a club. We're not interested in all of them, but one or two we're looking at.
Secondly, even if the budget was the same or slightly better than last year, it would still be a struggle to have brought anyone in, as the majority of the players including most of the key players remain under contract. A lot of the budget will be spent on Guthrie, Hoskins, Pinnock etc, as the one's that left like Norman, Osew were basically on non-contract terms, and the rest were loanees. Other than Eppiah who's wage contribution may have been a bit, very little budget was freed up from the cut players.
There's a little bit more TV money in this league, but only by around £420k, minus any players that have promotion clauses in contracts. If we're going to sign 8 players to that additional money, it's going to be a tight fit, and it'll be made up of that extra £400k.
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158
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The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: Summer Transfer Window 2023
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on: July 15, 2023, 17:15:04 pm
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That is all true, but Lintott was also released from Gillingham from not being good enough.
I'm not expect all 8 trialists to be signed and turned into gems, but see how they play for us before you make any decision.
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