Call me a simple man but transfers and kits will forever get the juices flowing, it has to be the human instinct to chase the salacious rumours and glorious threads
Oh, there will still be transfer coverage every Friday from July; listing all the deals and picking our favourites. But with that bit more focus on the wider context.
Love this setup. I think it will also help if in the done deals where you have your rating / context, you can link back to the team rebuilds you’ve done. Excited for this!
I'm doing the unglamourous job of checking all the 25/26 player histories are added properly in the FM database, and it strikes me how little impact a fair proportion of January signings turned out to have.
Yup! And a lower impact on teams towards the bottom.
A slight positive for teams at the top, who get to "top up" to get them over the line. But their needs are very clear, so it's much easier for them I guess.
I’m biased, but I think the rebuild at Portsmouth is interesting. We’ve been told by Rich Hughes that we will have a slightly bigger budget (still bottom half, but hopefully not lowest in league). We know Hughes and Mous can outperform a budget. But there is loads to rebuild. Bishop had an off season, but hopefully with thrive again under Murphy next year. We still need a ST though for competition (although I think Waddingham will be big for us). Poole and Shaugh are good champ CBs, and we have decent cover but always seem to have injury issues there. We need about 3/4 CMs with Dozzell going, Pack can’t last forever despite his brilliance last year. We haven’t replaced Lang. We need a RW desperately. Chaplin not returning. Devlin likely sold. New full backs needed. It’s another huge summer, I’m interested to hear your thoughts on where we go. No doubt the biggest thing for us is to keep Mousinho though!
Interesting, Alex. Got to say that Pompey were not on our longlist. But "rebuild" is a loose definition that we'll fit to different clubs. And we'll certainly have a think on them.
I’m sure we’re on your list but RUFC have the biggest rebuild in years even though we have tended to make this category fashionable - including after promotion. We have I think 8 players contracted and at least 2 of those will attract suitors. We have a Head of Football in Steve McClaren who still hasn’t got a head coach in place with time ticking away. Lots to do in double quick time!
A lot will depend on whether SM has understood the brief of what fans want from a Millers team. I’m a bit concerned that he initially thought Ian Burchnall was the answer when our most successful teams - Paul Warne aside - have been led by strong characters.
He seems to be talking a good game in terms of wanting athletic players with high work rate and with quality etc but the proof will be in the pudding and very much depends on whether the owner, who likes to be the centre of attention, will be steadfast in truly letting him take the reigns.
Fans worry that our EFL status rests on this HoF/head coach model and the egos at the top could bring it all crashing down in an instant, not least because it has been tried before and ripped up before in favour of the big statement to bring in Steve Evans (again!).
Call me a simple man but transfers and kits will forever get the juices flowing, it has to be the human instinct to chase the salacious rumours and glorious threads
Oh, there will still be transfer coverage every Friday from July; listing all the deals and picking our favourites. But with that bit more focus on the wider context.
Love this setup. I think it will also help if in the done deals where you have your rating / context, you can link back to the team rebuilds you’ve done. Excited for this!
Yep, that's the plan!
One step ahead. Great season from the whole team. Good luck to the boys on international duty this summer👏👏
I'm doing the unglamourous job of checking all the 25/26 player histories are added properly in the FM database, and it strikes me how little impact a fair proportion of January signings turned out to have.
Yup! And a lower impact on teams towards the bottom.
A slight positive for teams at the top, who get to "top up" to get them over the line. But their needs are very clear, so it's much easier for them I guess.
I’m biased, but I think the rebuild at Portsmouth is interesting. We’ve been told by Rich Hughes that we will have a slightly bigger budget (still bottom half, but hopefully not lowest in league). We know Hughes and Mous can outperform a budget. But there is loads to rebuild. Bishop had an off season, but hopefully with thrive again under Murphy next year. We still need a ST though for competition (although I think Waddingham will be big for us). Poole and Shaugh are good champ CBs, and we have decent cover but always seem to have injury issues there. We need about 3/4 CMs with Dozzell going, Pack can’t last forever despite his brilliance last year. We haven’t replaced Lang. We need a RW desperately. Chaplin not returning. Devlin likely sold. New full backs needed. It’s another huge summer, I’m interested to hear your thoughts on where we go. No doubt the biggest thing for us is to keep Mousinho though!
Interesting, Alex. Got to say that Pompey were not on our longlist. But "rebuild" is a loose definition that we'll fit to different clubs. And we'll certainly have a think on them.
I’m sure we’re on your list but RUFC have the biggest rebuild in years even though we have tended to make this category fashionable - including after promotion. We have I think 8 players contracted and at least 2 of those will attract suitors. We have a Head of Football in Steve McClaren who still hasn’t got a head coach in place with time ticking away. Lots to do in double quick time!
Very excited for this new direction by the way 👌🏻
Oh yes. Very much on the to-do list are Rotherham.
Any thoughts on the situation that might help us?
A lot will depend on whether SM has understood the brief of what fans want from a Millers team. I’m a bit concerned that he initially thought Ian Burchnall was the answer when our most successful teams - Paul Warne aside - have been led by strong characters.
He seems to be talking a good game in terms of wanting athletic players with high work rate and with quality etc but the proof will be in the pudding and very much depends on whether the owner, who likes to be the centre of attention, will be steadfast in truly letting him take the reigns.
Fans worry that our EFL status rests on this HoF/head coach model and the egos at the top could bring it all crashing down in an instant, not least because it has been tried before and ripped up before in favour of the big statement to bring in Steve Evans (again!).
Does McClaren know the league? Does it matter? That's the question I keep asking.
Exeter City will be in the rebuild category 🫤
They're deffo on our shortlist mate.
Looking forward to it! Thanks 🙏🏻