[Post edited 2 Sep 2023 9:37]

[Post edited 2 Sep 2023 9:29]

So now it’s done by Horsham 1 Sep 2023 22:57
My thoughts.

And I think the context of the January window is more important that what Ashton said during this one.

Just to reflect. Clarke, Broadhead, Hirst and Luongo. The first two are hugely significant as they were bought with fees around £1-1.5m and Hirst later made permanent for around the same fee. Why is the context important? Clarke and Broadhead came from big Premier League clubs on the back of decent performances on loan at championship teams. What kind of fees would they have been attracting this summer? Maybe I’m guessing a lot more, actually maybe 3 times more or so. In hindsight those guys and Hirst are tremendous value.

Fast forward to this window. Suddenly the previously skint championship is seemingly awash with cash from player trades. Ultimately that money has flowed into some championship clubs from the premier league but not us. We have seemingly been resolute in the principle of a deal needing to be justifiable on a value basis. Fundamentally unless this madness continues to be sustained for a long period of time then there has been little to no value in domestic transfers this summer. For instance the example of Simms. It’s hard based on the little I know of him to imagine £15m + player there. It certainly isn’t a sure fire thing that he is and when Coventry next come to trade him, I think there’s a strong chance there’ll fo it as a loss. Was there value for us to go toe to toe with them and outbid them? I don’t think so.

So I guess the trick now is to learn, because as many have said we’ve seemingly not moved as far forward as we’d have liked. For me it remains about securing value in player trading and using that to constantly drive the team forward and to plan strategically. Recruiting in oversees markets seems like something we’ve not cracked and if Ashton is to be as relentless as he says he is then I think we need to improve this. Not all leagues, all the time can be awash with money and we should be able to exploit those where there is value. The basic premise has to be to buy low and sell high.

Next summer I think will potentially be massive. It’s got to be almost inevitable we sell at least Davis for big money and we will have cash to spend. Fingers crossed we can spend it well.

Sorry waffle and late for me so I’ll leave it there!

[Post edited 1 Sep 2023 23:44]

[Post edited 2 Sep 2023 8:48]