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It's 10 days and counting before the transfer window closes and business at Wanderers looks like going to the wire once again.
At this stage before the summer deadline Phil Parkinson’s squad appeared painfully thin in some areas and fans were predicting the worst. One manic deadline day later and we all rejoiced at the sight of five fresh faces.
“Embargo? What embargo?” Wanderers had snapped up 12 new players since Phil Parkinson was installed as manager and his squad looked as strong as anyone else’s in League One.
There had been little by way of explanation from the club or the EFL as to exactly what restrictions were placed on the Whites but after a dramatic day we didn’t care a jot. Besides, by the time the next window came around, surely it would be sorted?
We had certainly been assured it was close.
Four months on, and little has changed. We are assured Wanderers are now within the salary cap – which is one of the hurdles it had to clear to have an embargo lifted – but still have quite a few big fences to clear before trading freely for the first time since October 2015.
At least now we have a fuller picture of the constraints in which the club is operating in the transfer market. The “one-in, one-out” policy which was denied so vehemently last summer has now been laid down in black and white by the EFL itself.
“Currently, the club is limited to a squad of 23 players and is able to sign new players on a one out, one in basis only,” confirmed the Football League in a document issued to the Supporters’ Trust this week.
Both the Wanderers ownership and the EFL have been guilty of obfuscation in the last 12 months and even now, the exact definition of who counts and who does not is still undefined.
To my knowledge - the following statements are true.
Mark Davies – who is out for the season with a knee injury – does NOT currently count towards the quota as a result of negotiations in the previous window.
Darren Pratley – who Parkinson revealed this week would be out until May with a second bout of ankle surgery – IS one of the 23, as is Dorian Dervite, who has yet to play a competitive game for the Whites this season.
Jack Earing and Alex Perry, who have played for Wanderers in the Checkatrade Trophy, do NOT count. But Will Jaaskelainen cannot be named in the senior squad, or else he does.
By my reckoning Wanderers have one available space. That could be increased if Pratley’s injury deems him null and void in the eyes of the EFL, or indeed if the club choose to pay up the contract of one of the players whose contract expires in the summer.
Conor Wilkinson’s return from Chesterfield has also left him in a difficult position as he cannot play for a third club this season. The young striker made a couple of Bolton appearances in August before moving to the Spireites. He occupies valuable real estate but – realistically – has little chance of usurping Gary Madine or Jamie Proctor up front.
Welcome to the mathematical equation Phil Parkinson has been playing for several months now as the boardroom battle continues over his head.
I find it sad that we are forced into such emergency measures. Football is a transient business, players come and go, but discussing the potential of ending a player’s employment prematurely simply because they occupy a number in a squad feels a tad tasteless.
Embargoes are more commonplace in football than people realise, and evidently, clubs at the lower end of the league slip in and out of them quite frequently if they fail to pay the bills, especially HMRC.
Wanderers have actually managed well, given the circumstances. Credit to Parkinson for keeping his 23 plates spinning and Ken Anderson for his negotiating skills.
The right signing could make all the difference on January 31. But above that, I hope this is the last transfer window this grand old club has to endure in embargo.
Maybe then we can put this whole sorry chapter behind us?
Source
At this stage before the summer deadline Phil Parkinson’s squad appeared painfully thin in some areas and fans were predicting the worst. One manic deadline day later and we all rejoiced at the sight of five fresh faces.
“Embargo? What embargo?” Wanderers had snapped up 12 new players since Phil Parkinson was installed as manager and his squad looked as strong as anyone else’s in League One.
There had been little by way of explanation from the club or the EFL as to exactly what restrictions were placed on the Whites but after a dramatic day we didn’t care a jot. Besides, by the time the next window came around, surely it would be sorted?
We had certainly been assured it was close.
Four months on, and little has changed. We are assured Wanderers are now within the salary cap – which is one of the hurdles it had to clear to have an embargo lifted – but still have quite a few big fences to clear before trading freely for the first time since October 2015.
At least now we have a fuller picture of the constraints in which the club is operating in the transfer market. The “one-in, one-out” policy which was denied so vehemently last summer has now been laid down in black and white by the EFL itself.
“Currently, the club is limited to a squad of 23 players and is able to sign new players on a one out, one in basis only,” confirmed the Football League in a document issued to the Supporters’ Trust this week.
Both the Wanderers ownership and the EFL have been guilty of obfuscation in the last 12 months and even now, the exact definition of who counts and who does not is still undefined.
To my knowledge - the following statements are true.
Mark Davies – who is out for the season with a knee injury – does NOT currently count towards the quota as a result of negotiations in the previous window.
Darren Pratley – who Parkinson revealed this week would be out until May with a second bout of ankle surgery – IS one of the 23, as is Dorian Dervite, who has yet to play a competitive game for the Whites this season.
Jack Earing and Alex Perry, who have played for Wanderers in the Checkatrade Trophy, do NOT count. But Will Jaaskelainen cannot be named in the senior squad, or else he does.
By my reckoning Wanderers have one available space. That could be increased if Pratley’s injury deems him null and void in the eyes of the EFL, or indeed if the club choose to pay up the contract of one of the players whose contract expires in the summer.
Conor Wilkinson’s return from Chesterfield has also left him in a difficult position as he cannot play for a third club this season. The young striker made a couple of Bolton appearances in August before moving to the Spireites. He occupies valuable real estate but – realistically – has little chance of usurping Gary Madine or Jamie Proctor up front.
Welcome to the mathematical equation Phil Parkinson has been playing for several months now as the boardroom battle continues over his head.
I find it sad that we are forced into such emergency measures. Football is a transient business, players come and go, but discussing the potential of ending a player’s employment prematurely simply because they occupy a number in a squad feels a tad tasteless.
Embargoes are more commonplace in football than people realise, and evidently, clubs at the lower end of the league slip in and out of them quite frequently if they fail to pay the bills, especially HMRC.
Wanderers have actually managed well, given the circumstances. Credit to Parkinson for keeping his 23 plates spinning and Ken Anderson for his negotiating skills.
The right signing could make all the difference on January 31. But above that, I hope this is the last transfer window this grand old club has to endure in embargo.
Maybe then we can put this whole sorry chapter behind us?
Source