Summer transfer thread

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If we did get promoted this season, I think we have enough talent to form the basis of a team to stay up - with a few good additions. I believe that if a team is good enough to win promotion to any league it must be a good team and doesn’t need a lot of changing. There are lots of instances (no, I’m not going to name them) where a team has been promoted and the club have torn the side apart and signed loads of new players only to immediately struggle.
 
If we were in a position where our season was resting on the shoulders of this lad, under someone like Lee Johnson, I'd be concerned.

But this is a fantastic imaginitive signing at a time when we have Stewart and Simms scoring goals and winning games under a manager who'll use him at the right time. We're signing someone our young supporters can watch in the World Cup and get excited about ...

... and we can all look forward to someone who's bound to create a buzz when he first steps onto the pitch.

Haway the Lads :emoticon-0103-cool:<party>
If our season rested on his shoulders with Alex Neil in charge I would still be concerned TBH. It is imaginative, and we have 4 years to see the fruits of this one, not one season.
 
Brilliant mate. Street football yes, couldnt agree more.

We have to find a way to make football free again, and for everyone. I could share some costs associated with running a single grassroots kids team for a season, and the mind boggling time volunteers need to commit to satisfy our FA. It is horrendous. I would love to find a way to get involved nationally in sorting out what I think is a bloody criminal cost of kids playing our national game.

The challenge now is kids dont get chance to learn for themselves. There is no 20 v 20 on the rec anymore, because there are no safe recs anymore and parents dont want kids outdoors. No SPOT because no ball games signs are everywhere. Etc etc. All of that was free. The only cost we ever had as kids was boots and a ball, and then they lasted.

It breaks my heart when I see kids now wanting to play but cant afford it. It is a real thing too, and getting worse not better. I am more involved in adults football now, but still have my own little soccer school on a Saturday morning for 4 and 5 year olds to come along and hopefully start their love affair. Nothing fancy, just every kids has a ball and we play. I have PE pupils from the local school come and get work experience. I have a couple of local sponsors who help me out. I am forever giving kids footballs to take home to practice with.

In terms of participation we are turning it into a game for those who can afford to play. Very sad.

I admire your drive and determination. I can imagine it being really difficult for coaches nowadays who want to motivate kids into meeting at parks or other venues to train and play in group situations. It doesn't matter if the kids don't make the grade, instead the primary objective is for kids to firstly enjoy themselves whilst meeting new friends on a weekly basis. These days, I look around and I rarely see kids in groups playning football anywhere.
Coaches certainly have it tough now in encouraging participation...