3 more signings

[Clyde1998]

How is one club going to buy up all the talent to keep players from other clubs AND comply with the FFP rules?

How did Birmingham spend more than the entire rest of L1 in transfer fees and comply?

L1 rules allow for owner funding to count towards their SCMP limits (they've been made somewhat more stringent this season) of 60% of turnover being allowed to be spent on squad costs.

Effectively the rules are made redundant at this level should you have an owner who put funding into a club - arguably certain Championship clubs getting relegated would allow them to spend more money on their squad in League One (for a season) than they could in the Championship.

[Stranded]

We've made it through the International Break without any new players and without any new rumours...

Does that mean we're not interested in anyone?

Though I guess the free agent market keeps changing as Freddie Ladapo has just been released, as was Matty Carson yesterday

Can't you only sign free agents if they were already free agents when the window closed?

Correct - although I'm sure someone will challenge that at some point.

To be more accurate, you can sign a player who became a FA between windows however, he cannot be registered for the first team until the first day of the next window.

When a player leaves a club post window then there must be a pretty major issue or they are moving to a league where the window is still open i.e. Turkey or into non-league where the rules are more lax.

[morganb]

Latest sound bite from Noel now makes it sound like we weren't looking at free agents over the IB.

https://x.com/RFCLatest/status/19664513 ... Fqbcw&s=19

Before the IB the Club were planning to get on the phone on the Wednesday and Thursday to the free agents to see who they could get in still

https://x.com/RFCLatest/status/19633610 ... Iy1zw&s=19


Changed their tune slightly...

[Hound]

Tbh I’m pleased we didn’t bring someone else in, though yeah it’s not a very coherent comment from Hunt

If we’d brought in more I’d really wonder if we knew what we were doing. We have a huge squad already with good players not going to get a game but not enough real outstanding quality (and with the poor start to the season) to get promotion I doubt

The Twitter gimps keep crying about a striker - with all the wing options we have 3 inc Kelvin for one spot. I’d be amazed if there is a free agent knocking about as good as those 3 tbh, even if the jury is still out on each of them as real L1 strikers

Marriott certainly wouldn’t have been my choice but if we brought in another big CF as well I’d really start to wonder

[Linden Jones' Tash]

Latest sound bite from Noel now makes it sound like we weren't looking at free agents over the IB.

https://x.com/RFCLatest/status/19664513 ... Fqbcw&s=19

Before the IB the Club were planning to get on the phone on the Wednesday and Thursday to the free agents to see who they could get in still

https://x.com/RFCLatest/status/19633610 ... Iy1zw&s=19


Changed their tune slightly...

A bit like that fast show character...."brilliant"..."rubbish"...

Transparency is great, consistency is better...

[traff]

Latest sound bite from Noel now makes it sound like we weren't looking at free agents over the IB.

https://x.com/RFCLatest/status/19664513 ... Fqbcw&s=19

Before the IB the Club were planning to get on the phone on the Wednesday and Thursday to the free agents to see who they could get in still

https://x.com/RFCLatest/status/19633610 ... Iy1zw&s=19


Changed their tune slightly...

A bit like that fast show character...."brilliant"..."rubbish"...

Transparency is great, consistency is better...

Exactly.
This week we will be mainly signing.....no one

[Clyde1998]

Tbh I’m pleased we didn’t bring someone else in, though yeah it’s not a very coherent comment from Hunt

If we’d brought in more I’d really wonder if we knew what we were doing. We have a huge squad already with good players not going to get a game but not enough real outstanding quality (and with the poor start to the season) to get promotion I doubt

The Twitter gimps keep crying about a striker - with all the wing options we have 3 inc Kelvin for one spot. I’d be amazed if there is a free agent knocking about as good as those 3 tbh, even if the jury is still out on each of them as real L1 strikers

Marriott certainly wouldn’t have been my choice but if we brought in another big CF as well I’d really start to wonder

I'll agree with this. If Kelvin is being viewed as a striking option (not just as a wide man), we've got three first team strikers vying for a single spot in the team.

That would leave our squad as (those in the EFL list, plus U21 players who've been in a league squad this season - listed in italics):

GK - Pereira; Stevens
RB - Aberfa; Ahmed; Yiadom
LB - Dorsett (CB); Garcia (WF); Jacob
CB - Burns; O'Connor; Stickland; Williams
CM - Doyle (WF); Elliott (WF); Fraser; Rushesha (RB); Savage; Wing
WF - Camara; Kyerewaa; Lane; Ritchie
ST - Ehibhatiomhan (WF); Marriott; O'Mahony

This is without considering U21 players like Ryan; Sackey; Spencer and Tuma who will be looking at coming through into the league squad this season on a regular basis.

Unless we can find a striker on a free agent who's somehow first team quality and hasn't been picked up by someone already, there's no point in us signing anyone else to the squad until January when players could be shifted out of the squad - considering the squad size and the EFL's cost limits.

The only free agent I can find who's going to clearly be above our current striking options is Patrick Bamford: he'll likely be too expensive for us under SCMP; is probably in talks with lower Championship-level clubs and had a sizeable injury last season (so his fitness may come under question).

Based on the Brian Carey Q&A, the club aren't going to sign someone for the sake of signing someone. The Twitter mob will remain annoyed until January at the earliest on this.