Players for next season

[Ricky330]

Some great signings this pre season. MH seems to have got a good balance of physicality & experience so far and it feels like we have men to compete this season (no disrespect to the players of the last 2 seasons).
Would still like to see another striker added & possibly Ngwa if we xan afford it.
Couple of questions
1) is the playing budget just for players or does it include coaches too?
2) is the lottery fund being used as part of the player budget or is it ring fenced for when/if we need it?

[BartonRaz]

Some great signings this pre season. MH seems to have got a good balance of physicality & experience so far and it feels like we have men to compete this season (no disrespect to the players of the last 2 seasons).
Would still like to see another striker added & possibly Ngwa if we xan afford it.
Couple of questions
1) is the playing budget just for players or does it include coaches too?
2) is the lottery fund being used as part of the player budget or is it ring fenced for when/if we need it?

The manager is given an overall budget for players and staff for him to proportion how he likes. I believe this is different to how the Club operated in the past when it had separate budgets for players and coaches. I prefer the new method which allows the manager to pull funds from one pot and put it in another at his discretion. Obviously it goes without saying that neither Chris or Michael have ever over-inflated the staffing budget at the expense of the playing squad.

An amount of the lottery fund is transferred in to the account monthly purely to pay player wages. We don't assign particular players to the budget, rather it supports the overall budget. It is ring-fenced for this purpose as per the terms of the lottery.

[sussexdiamond]

Some great signings this pre season. MH seems to have got a good balance of physicality & experience so far and it feels like we have men to compete this season (no disrespect to the players of the last 2 seasons).
Would still like to see another striker added & possibly Ngwa if we xan afford it.
Couple of questions
1) is the playing budget just for players or does it include coaches too?
2) is the lottery fund being used as part of the player budget or is it ring fenced for when/if we need it?

I am a bit concerned that all new players are from Step 5 with limited experience of Step 4 or above. Can we reasonably expect all six to reach the level required to push for a top five placing. Most seem to be Dan Porter recommendations from Bugbrooke or Hackleton.
We definitely need someone who can score goals as apart from Taylor (8) I don't think anyone else scored more than 4 or 5.
Maybe we can get another loanee from Cobblers (or similar) as good as Wyatt and Scott, but this time a striker.
On a more positive line the defence looks strong.

[rickthediamond]

Some great signings this pre season. MH seems to have got a good balance of physicality & experience so far and it feels like we have men to compete this season (no disrespect to the players of the last 2 seasons).
Would still like to see another striker added & possibly Ngwa if we xan afford it.
Couple of questions
1) is the playing budget just for players or does it include coaches too?
2) is the lottery fund being used as part of the player budget or is it ring fenced for when/if we need it?

Can we reasonably expect all six to reach the level required to push for a top five placing.

Should we reasonably be expecting to be pushing for a top five placing? We’ve just had back to back relegations, albeit saved via a reprieve the second time around. We obviously don’t want to be lingering near the relegation spots throughout the season, but anything around 11th and above would be fine in my eyes. We need to calm our expectations as a fanbase for a while. What I will say though, is I personally have massive faith in the management and the players, and fully believe they can finish much higher up the table than 11th.

[sussexdiamond]

As regular supporters I agree anything has to be better than the past two seasons but I'm thinking that if we want to bring more people through the gate we need to be in the "race" from the start and maintain a top 8 place always in touch with the top five.
Winning games 1-0 will always bring more fans than losing or drawing 2-3 or 3-3..

[BartonRaz]

Some great signings this pre season. MH seems to have got a good balance of physicality & experience so far and it feels like we have men to compete this season (no disrespect to the players of the last 2 seasons).
Would still like to see another striker added & possibly Ngwa if we xan afford it.
Couple of questions
1) is the playing budget just for players or does it include coaches too?
2) is the lottery fund being used as part of the player budget or is it ring fenced for when/if we need it?

I am a bit concerned that all new players are from Step 5 with limited experience of Step 4 or above. Can we reasonably expect all six to reach the level required to push for a top five placing. Most seem to be Dan Porter recommendations from Bugbrooke or Hackleton.
We definitely need someone who can score goals as apart from Taylor (8) I don't think anyone else scored more than 4 or 5.
Maybe we can get another loanee from Cobblers (or similar) as good as Wyatt and Scott, but this time a striker.
On a more positive line the defence looks strong.

Completely get your point. What I would say though is that I don't think Tarik Dallas had played at Step 4 before and I think we're all agreed we like him. Jarvis Wilson's Step 4 experience was limited to a struggling Daventry Town side and I don't think anyone has got any issues with him. Ryan Inman was pulled from Step 5. Cairo Taylor was playing Step 6 last November and is probably our talisman now. I don't necessarily view the fact we are pulling from levels below as a problem, it's simply the market we are having to shop in because we can't compete with your Harborough's, Bedford's, Real Bedford's, K*ttering's, Corby's and Stamford's of this world. That's not something that's going to change either.

We have built a team so far, of 'men', with experience. The Leighton manager described us as a 'big physical side' after playing us last weekend. Great - that shows we've adjusted to the level we're at. I don't think anyone would have said that about us this time last year!

Re: loan players, things are being worked on.

[SouthRushdenJFC]

Winning games 1-0 will always bring more fans than losing or drawing 2-3 or 3-3..

Did you not read anything about England over the summer?

[sussexdiamond]

Winning games 1-0 will always bring more fans than losing or drawing 2-3 or 3-3..

Did you not read anything about England over the summer?

If England had won seven games 1-0 the nation would now be ecstatic. Open top bus through London, pubs overflowing with joyous fans, newspapers calling for Gareth to be knighted. Results will always overshadow performance. Spain had the right balance and deservedly won.