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Post by borobob on Jan 11, 2024 17:39:50 GMT
On loan... to Braintree!!
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Post by Tom Bowen on Jan 11, 2024 18:05:16 GMT
Shame that we couldn't get him back, but we've already played Braintree twice so at least we don't need to worry about him.
I'm in two minds as to whether we would benefit from having him back. Part of me says yes because of the reputation he has with him at the club now, part of me says no because we'd just return to a "give it to him" sort of team.
We still aren't playing the ball on the ground as much as I think we should.
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Post by boromike on Jan 11, 2024 19:13:38 GMT
That is a massive kick in teeth. Surely we must have had first refusal.
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Admin
Administrator
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Post by Admin on Jan 12, 2024 5:44:19 GMT
That is a massive kick in teeth. Surely we must have had first refusal. We may have done, but we have three capable strikers in the squad plus others who can fill in if needed. Whichever way, not a "kick in the teeth" in my opinion. In my view, the priority is to strengthen in other areas so the oppo doesn't walk straight through us and we create sufficient opportunities to win football matches i.e. resetting our midfield and fixing an unbalanced defence. Some progress has been made and I'm hoping for more.
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Post by boromike on Jan 12, 2024 10:19:29 GMT
That is a massive kick in teeth. Surely we must have had first refusal. We may have done, but we have three capable strikers in the squad plus others who can fill in if needed. Whichever way, not a "kick in the teeth" in my opinion. In my view, the priority is to strengthen in other areas so the oppo doesn't walk straight through us and we create sufficient opportunities to win football matches i.e. resetting our midfield and fixing an unbalanced defence. Some progress has been made and I'm hoping for more. I fully agree we need to strengthen in other areas, but it is transparent that we do not have the goals in us to push up the table. Folivi seems to be made of glass and always injured. According to Spencer he is unwilling to help the team when carrying a slight knock and he seemingly wanted to join Hemel. So you have to ask if his hearts really in it. All that aside, despite showing glimpses he’s hardly been prolific. Connor Cullen is learning the level and although I really do like him and believe he is a useful player to have around, he isn’t going to score the number of goals we need to move up the league. Ghandour has been good but he’s not our player. He might be heading back down the A331 by the end of the month. Pavey put out a message saying how much he loved the club and how our paths would cross again. We didn’t stand in his way yet rather than repaying the club which helped him get his big move, he has seemingly chosen to join a direct rival. Spencer alluded after St Albans that we’d either get him back on loan or we’d get some money if Woking sold him. Instead he’s going to help Braintree push up the league! Hence, it feels like a kick in the teeth to me. He is still going to be training full time with Woking so it would appear he must still be living in the area, as I doubt he’ll be commuting from Essex to Woking everyday to train with a team he’s not going to be playing for! Which makes me wonder why he wouldn’t want to come back here. In terms of his wages, surely Braintree have similar financial clout to us, ergo if they can afford him, so can we. When all is said and done his sale to Woking was the catalyst for our season coming off the tracks and now the opportunity to bring him back has either been passed up or he didn’t want to return. Either way, Its really disappointing to me. Would anyone bet against Braintree pushing on from here and making the play offs again, while we continue to struggle in front of goal and finish lower than we did last season?
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Post by borobob on Jan 12, 2024 10:58:20 GMT
Whilst I agree with much that has been said, I still think it comes down to hard cash!! Alfie signed a two year full time contract at National League level with Woking and, one would assume on a much higher reward than he gets here!!
Woking haven't, or don't appear to be, wanting to offload him, and obviously still see some value in him as a transfer, or need him next season, especially if they drop to NLS!!!
It follows that they would also need to recoup his wage outlay as part of any loan deal.
When we played Braintree earlier, Spencer reported on how heavily financed Braintree are, compared to us, and yes I know he says that about most Clubs, but the calibre of player they attract seems to support that. They are an ex National Club after all!!
So, if it is purely a wages situation, then I can understand why it has occurred.
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Post by antz27 on Jan 12, 2024 10:58:34 GMT
I’ve always been honest on here, when we signed Alfie I wasn’t his greatest fan his numbers didn’t stack up for a prolific striker to push us to where we wanted to go this season but he won me over. Yes he wasn’t the fastest but he always seemed to be where he needed to be and was scoring goals.
As much as I would love to of seen him return I like others feel we have other priorities and holes to plug. Unfortunately I don’t feel we have enough time or the players out there to plug all the holes in time to help us push for playoffs and I genuinely feel if Spencer can get mid table and stop the slide that will be seen as success for the club and with our finances where we probably should be.
For me we do need a RB, CB, CM, RM and possibly a Striker if Folivi goes or doesn’t pull his finger out also with Ghandour possibly leaving at the end of the month that leaves us light.
Next season I feel Spencer needs to return to finding some lower league diamonds or from this level. Going to the league above is good but also I feel players from above who drop down unless they are near the end of their careers then they will want to push back for full time football and won’t want to run through walls and risk themselves/ play with slight knocks.
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Admin
Administrator
Posts: 908
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Post by Admin on Jan 12, 2024 12:21:38 GMT
When all is said and done his sale to Woking was the catalyst for our season coming off the tracks and now the opportunity to bring him back has either been passed up or he didn’t want to return. Either way, Its really disappointing to me. Our season demonstrably did not come off the tracks when Pavey left. In fact we went on a good run of results, scoring far more goals than before (take a look at the stats). More recently, teams have found out how to get the better of our midfield and word has spread along the grapevine - this has piled pressure on a defence that has been unbalanced throughout the season and, lately, badly affected by lack of continuity due to injuries and illnesses, while our forwards have been forced to feed off scraps. This is fixable, but getting another striker ought not to be the top priority, which is to stop leaking very preventable goals and to get back to providing our forwards with decent service.
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Post by boromike on Jan 12, 2024 13:27:57 GMT
When all is said and done his sale to Woking was the catalyst for our season coming off the tracks and now the opportunity to bring him back has either been passed up or he didn’t want to return. Either way, Its really disappointing to me. Our season demonstrably did not come off the tracks when Pavey left. In fact we went on a good run of results, scoring far more goals than before (take a look at the stats). More recently, teams have found out how to get the better of our midfield and word has spread along the grapevine - this has piled pressure on a defence that has been unbalanced throughout the season and, lately, badly affected by lack of continuity due to injuries and illnesses, while our forwards have been forced to feed off scraps. This is fixable, but getting another striker ought not to be the top priority, which is to stop leaking very preventable goals and to get back to providing our forwards with decent service. Looking at the stats we had a run of 4 good results, (St Albans home, Maidstone away, Tonbridge home, Dover home) I acknowledge that. However, aside from Maidstone the other 3 we were fortunate to play at their lowest ebb of their respective seasons. Those results did give me hope that maybe we could still score enough goals without him, but it was false hope and looking back, in my opinion our season derailed with his sale as I feel is demonstrated by the stats/results aside from that 4 game run. Looking at other results since he left below, I wonder how many additional points we could have got/further rounds in the cups we might have progressed had he not left and continued scoring at the rate he was. 0-1 Weston (cup) 2-2 Welling away 2-1 Chippenham away 1-1 Weymouth home Slough 2-1 away (FA Trophy) Taunton 4-0 away Slough 2-2 away 2-4 Havant home 2-1 St Albans away Every single one of these matches were very much winnable and I believe if we had a free scoring forward we likely would have taken maximum points from at least half of the league matches and would likely be sitting in/around the play offs. Progressing in the cups would have brought in much needed revenue, so for me the stats do show, looking at the bigger picture the season had a downward trajectory after he was sold. I excluded the defeats to Worthing and Yeovil as I don’t think Paveys presence would have likely been enough to alter those results. Other good results in that period were 3-4 at Aveley and 2-2 at home to Bath, as well as the very fortunate and in all honesty undeserved wins at home to Braintree and away at Havant.
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Post by keyseyboro on Jan 12, 2024 15:59:11 GMT
Has Jon page signed for anyone yet ?
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Post by borobob on Jan 12, 2024 16:02:14 GMT
Jon Page is still recovering from a severe injury during pre season, Achilles I believe, so won't have signed for anyone yet! Probably won't make anything this part of the season, late on if anything!
Hope he gets fit for next season.
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Post by psimms50 on Jan 12, 2024 16:43:10 GMT
If as speculated Boro received something in region of 30k when Alfie was transferred to Woking, then Spencer did a good bit of business! I tend to agree with others that having him back on loan is not top of Spencer's priorities at present.
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Post by Tom Bowen on Jan 12, 2024 17:28:50 GMT
We know a right back is coming in on loan, so the next priority is a Deering type holding midfielder.
And someone who can assist with playing the ball along the ground.
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Post by boromike on Jan 12, 2024 21:26:55 GMT
If as speculated Boro received something in region of 30k when Alfie was transferred to Woking, then Spencer did a good bit of business! I tend to agree with others that having him back on loan is not top of Spencer's priorities at present. I agree there are other areas that might take precedence, but I find the notion scoring goals is not a big priority bizarre. Excluding Ghandour (as he’s not our player), our strikers have a paltry 8 league goals to date (Ricky & Selim are not out and out strikers). I’m going to nail my colours to the mast here, if we do not extend Ghandours loan for the rest of the season or bring in a forward that can contribute a minimum of 10 goals between now and the end of the season, we will not finish any higher than we are now (14th).
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Post by antz27 on Jan 13, 2024 0:13:30 GMT
I’m going to nail my colours to the mast here, if we do not extend Ghandours loan for the rest of the season or bring in a forward that can contribute a minimum of 10 goals between now and the end of the season, we will not finish any higher than we are now (14th).
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At this point I honestly feel like this is unfortunately where we should be based on players and funds and I feel like if we finish anywhere between 12th and 16th and consolidate in the league for another season that will be seen as success.
Unless a big pot of money becomes available or finances improve then it’s going to be looking for small increases in position year on year until we’ve built a squad able to challenge.
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