Transfer rumours !

karlypants wrote:

There's only one ball...

It's Adolf Hitler's garden.

boltonbonce wrote:
It's Adolf Hitler's garden.

Looks like a bunker behind the fence if you ask me....

Bolton. Tying up Delfouneso. Decent for League Two.

— Alan Nixon (@reluctantnicko) [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I have heard of him.

I hope it's just a rumour.

Natasha Whittam wrote:I have heard of him.

I hope it's just a rumour.

I think it is real and about to be announced soon - someone is anyway!

Josh Emmanuel has signed for Hull. Surprised Evatt didn't take a look at him as he he is young, athletic and the kind of player that could work well in Evatt's proposed playing style.
Maybe a money thing?

I would have liked to keep Emmanuel especially if we are playing wing backs but i presume he would have had offers from league 1 clubs so would have been hard to get him to re-sign.

Alex Baptiste is back!

Answers on a postcard please.

Think we have enough defenders now!

Norpig wrote:Think we have enough defenders now!

A surprising number given than Evatt advocates a high pressing, possession-based, attacking style of football.

One that got away perhaps?

What do people think?

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We are delighted to welcome Josh Emmanuel to Hull City, who has joined the Tigers on a two-year-deal with the Club holding an option to extend by a further year![You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] | [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

— Hull City (@HullCity) [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

See posts 426 and 427 - seems only me and Mr Pig are interested. I thought he'd be an Evatt style player though.

wanderlust wrote:See posts 426 and 427 - seems only me and Mr Pig are interested. I thought he'd be an Evatt style player though.

Sorry must have missed your post above.

The Hull City write up below -

The 22-year-old joins the Tigers on a free transfer following the expiry of his contract with Bolton Wanderers at the end of the previous campaign, signing a two-year deal – plus a further year’s option in the Club’s favour – at the KCOM Stadium.

He made a total of 31 appearances in all competitions for the Trotters last term – with 27 of those coming in League One.

Emmanuel, who hails from London, turned professional at Ipswich Town and made his debut for the Portman Road outfit on the opening day of the 2015/16 campaign at the age of 17.

During his time at the Suffolk club, he also enjoyed loan spells at Crawley Town (2015/16), Rotherham United (2017/18) – helping the Millers win promotion to the Championship – and Shrewsbury Town (2018/19).

Hull City Head Coach Grant McCann commented: “Josh has all the physical tools needed to be a modern day full-back. He’s tall, strong and is rarely beaten for pace, which also highlights just how good he is in one-on-one situations – both attacking and defensively.

“He is comfortable on the ball, likes to get forward and, once there, can deliver dangerous balls into the box.

“The commitment and desire he has shown to come here and become part of a squad looking to mount a real challenge for promotion has been first class. I’m delighted to have him on board and look forward to working with him during his time at the Club.”

This is an interesting perspective of a Bolton fan on a Wigan chatroom responding to the question "are Bolton overspending in the transfer market in a gamble to get out of League 1?" (paraphrased from preceding discussion)
This is what s/he wrote:


I know this wasn't directed at me but I'll give it a go.

I think it's the most positive I've seen Bolton fans for years. Ian Evatt talks the talk and wants to play attractive winning football. Our recruitment looks to be in line with the manager's style and there seems to be a genuine plan built around a good core of players.

We've signed Doyle (L2s top goalscorer last year), Sarcevic (Promoted Plymouth's Player of Year), Delfounso (League 1 level player).

3 renewed first team contracts, Politic and Darcy who are youth players working up and Crawford who was our best player last year. Finally signed 4 or 5 non league players and loans. 

Now - a lot of people are now saying that we're buying the league/overspending again due to us signing so many players in such a short time. 

In reality probably only Doyle, Sarcevic, Delfounso are big earners for L2. But still, imagine we have 23 players this season, some big earners on maybe 2k a week and lower earners on maybe £700 a week. Average that out - say an optimistic 1k a week on 23 players. That's at least a million pounds a year on player wages alone. Don't forget the managing staff, hotel staff, groundsmen, media team etc etc. And some of those contracts are for 2 or 3 years, committed spending.

I'm no expert on finances and I don't know where to find all the relevant evidence but I'm sure I have read that we have a loan from the owners to the club to fund this. I don't know how much the loan is or what interest repayments are.

Does it concern me/other Bolton fans where the money comes from? I would probably say no, but most of your fans would've said the same a year ago about where the money comes from to fund your player wages.

In reality, most don't care until something like admin happens and I think it's incredibly concerning that something like your situation can happen where someone just turns off the tap in an instant. With Bolton the writing was most certainly on the wall, at least under Ken Anderson's ownership.

Ultimately it comes down to trust. So far our new owners have said all the right things, they seem to be genuine, good, open people with a plan to invest in Bolton, with the idea that the club can become self sustainable, if not profitable at some point. 

If you look at Brentford's model over the last several years, they have an unbelievable transfer record, signing players for low sums, developing them and selling for a better value. I think that's FV's idea with Bolton.

So on the topic of trust - How open was Stanley Choi when he came in? Was there plan to develop, was he just gambling on getting promoted and if it didn't happen was this always his plan? I don't know. 

Are Bolton spending beyond our means again because someone has come in that looks to be a good owner? I don't know. It depends on your perspective.

It's not a clear answer, because you can either look at it that, the owners ARE the club, or the club is a separate entity from the owners.

Should Bolton and Wigan and every other club only spend what they KNOW they can recoup from gate receipts and merchandise?

If an owner wants to come in and invest in a club and community, should they not be allowed to do that due to the chance that they may be a Ken Anderson or a Stanley Choi?

I've seen a lot of double standards in football fan's opinions, not necessarily only Wigan fans, but I think [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] illustrates it perfectly (not a dig). 

"Bolton gained promotion by overspending and not paying bills" a fair point, was it fair that Ken Anderson made promises he knew he couldnt keep? Absolutely not.

But for Wigan, had you not had the wages paid every week since IEC's takeover, your club makes nowhere near the amount of money required for that without outside investment, so you could say that you are also "overspending". Without the money that has been paid to players this year, what would your squad actually look like, if it was on a more sustainable budget?

I'm not trying to rile you guys up here but I'm trying to have a reasoned debate on the complicated matter of football owners. Apologies for the long message.

Yes [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] Latics were just dumped, but does that make it any different when you really break it down? Wigan, Bolton and most clubs rely on funding from an investor or benefactor. It makes for interesting cyclical eras in clubs histories. Because the EFL doesn't force clubs to live within their means, clubs like Bolton, Wigan can have incredible highs in the Premier League but also awful lows like your current situation.

Sluffy wrote:One that got away perhaps?

What do people think?

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We are delighted to welcome Josh Emmanuel to Hull City, who has joined the Tigers on a two-year-deal with the Club holding an option to extend by a further year![You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] | [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

— Hull City (@HullCity) [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

 i would have liked to have kept him as he would be ideal in Evatts style of play but if he's offered a 2 year deal with a club just relegated from the Championship then we probably couldn't compete.

Add me to the list i thought Josh would have been a good fit for IE

wessy wrote:Add me to the list i thought Josh would have been a good fit for IE

I'm lamenting not having the funds to keep him, but hopefully these new lads fulfil the promise the manager sees in them.
Confidence and positive mental attitude can take you a long way and in that respect Evatt is an evangelical leader of Billy Graham proportions, but he has to have the raw materials.
As a "born again" believer, I'm praying () that our limited resources allowed him to bring in prospects that are able to succeed at L2 level but until we start playing teams of that calibre we'll not really know where we're at.
One thing is for sure though - he's bought decent athletes and physical presences so even if they're shit, they'll be able to compete for 90 minutes by the time he's finished with them - and athletes in your face severely restricts more talented players.
So let's join hands and.......

Another interesting part of the recruitment plan is that many have been given a two year contract, so if the dream comes true IE must think this group can go again in league 1 with a few more additions rather than a full team rebuild again.

If so then we should be confident that if this manager is who we hope he is, then we should really be at the sharp end this season. Bloody Covid seems the biggest threat both to completing the season and the fans enjoying the ride.

Fixtures out on the 21st, not sure if Charlton or Wigan will feature. but maybe then season tickets or some payment arrangement can be forthcoming. Back to transfers guessing Politics's injury leaves another hole in probably our weakest department, attacking goalscorer needed now.

| Delighted to welcome you back, [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]!

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