The idiots of Twitter thread

[From Despair To Where?]

I think new ownership brings new expectations which aren't necessarily realistic. We started pre season wth 5 contracted players and whilst I think we definitely need another striker, we've got a solid squad. I don't think we'll do as well as last season because it's easier to play like it's your last ever game when it genuinely could be your last ever game, but I think they're doing the right thing in getting the club infrastructure sorted out first. Couhig's already said that establishing ourselves back in the Championship is a 5 year plan. I don't expect promotion this season but I do expect us to be comfortably safe.

[hughsies no.1]

He only says what most of us are thinking privately, difference is we are not tweeting about it hourly.

Sounds like you may also need to seek help if you feel the same as hin.

Do you think 10 days out from the start of the season our summer transfer business has been good? We are still ridiculously short in attacking areas with the uncertainty on Kelvin's contract situation just weird. Pre season is about building fitness and cohesion and we are only costing ourselves.

We all knew Couhig wasn't going to spend transfer fees which is fine, but aside from the Lincoln CB we haven't been able to land any real sought after free agent targets which I think we can reasonably aggrieved about.

If we get Kelvin and Bowler signed that will make us much stronger, I really expect Knibbs to leave but with I still think Elliott/ Savage/ Wing is one of the strongest midfields in the league - does leave us lacking depth their though.

Would assume the priorities as a minimum now are -
- 2x wingers (Kelvin/ Bowler)
- 1x CF
- 1x CM/ #10

[windermereROYAL]

I think new ownership brings new expectations which aren't necessarily realistic. We started pre season wth 5 contracted players and whilst I think we definitely need another striker, we've got a solid squad. I don't think we'll do as well as last season because it's easier to play like it's your last ever game when it genuinely could be your last ever game, but I think they're doing the right thing in getting the club infrastructure sorted out first. Couhig's already said that establishing ourselves back in the Championship is a 5 year plan. I don't expect promotion this season but I do expect us to be comfortably safe.

That`ll upset a few people.

[From Despair To Where?]

Like I give a fcuk what the Twitter Twats think.

They're only on X because their brains can't cope with more than 280 characters in one thought.

[Snowflake Royal]

Like I give a fcuk what the Twitter Twats think.

They're only on X because their brains can't cope with more than 280 characters in one thought.

[MartinRdg]

Like I give a fcuk what the Twitter Twats think.

They're only on X because their brains can't cope with more than 280 characters in one thought.

[rabidbee]

The transfer window lasts until the end of August, no? Still plenty of time to bring in a couple of players if we need to, even if it isn’t in time for the start of the season.

At least if we lose Knibbs, it’s more on our terms - we don’t have to sell, we don’t have to accept low-ball offers, we can make sure we have replacements in place before he leaves.

[WestYorksRoyal]

The transfer window lasts until the end of August, no? Still plenty of time to bring in a couple of players if we need to, even if it isn’t in time for the start of the season.

At least if we lose Knibbs, it’s more on our terms - we don’t have to sell, we don’t have to accept low-ball offers, we can make sure we have replacements in place before he leaves.

I get the window doesn't close until the end of August, but I think it's fair to be concerned about the opening fixtures. We have 6 fixtures before TDD and with our current attacking options I don't see where the wins are coming from, and then you're looking for late signings to bed in quickly and turn around a bad start.

Strengthening in time for Lincoln matters and let's not kid ourselves otherwise.

[From Despair To Where?]

But that goes back to my point about expectations. Yes we have new owners but in the short term that just means that we're no longer digging the hole we're in any deeper.

A month ago we had 5 players contracted beyond the end of the month, it's as much about getting the right players in and not every player we approach will want to come or will come on the money we're offering.

If someone like Bowler is suddenly asking for £1500 or £2k a week more then we should be weighing up whether he's the right player. He's reportedly on £30k a week at Forest.

[Snowflake Royal]

The transfer window lasts until the end of August, no? Still plenty of time to bring in a couple of players if we need to, even if it isn’t in time for the start of the season.

At least if we lose Knibbs, it’s more on our terms - we don’t have to sell, we don’t have to accept low-ball offers, we can make sure we have replacements in place before he leaves.

I get the window doesn't close until the end of August, but I think it's fair to be concerned about the opening fixtures. We have 6 fixtures before TDD and with our current attacking options I don't see where the wins are coming from, and then you're looking for late signings to bed in quickly and turn around a bad start.

Strengthening in time for Lincoln matters and let's not kid ourselves otherwise.

We ended last season with almost no squad.

Besides, where will the wins / goals come from? Much the same places they came from back end of last season.

Knibbs. Wing. Savage. Ehibhatiomhan. And now also Kyerewaa and O'Mahoney.

It's not like we've actually lost many goals from the side. Smith went in January. Wareham and Campbell were hardly prolific.

[From Despair To Where?]

The median wage in League 1 is about £6k a week. That's £6¼m a year for a squad of 20 players.

Revenue is about £10m a year so on median wages, that's 62% of our revenue on players' wages. The Academy costs £3-5m a year so when Couhig talks about finding additional investment or additional revenue streams, that's the reason in a nutshell.

The Academy has been out saviour over the last couple of years, not just in players on the pitch but in revenue from transfers and in an ideal world it will provide a steady stream of players for the first team but in League 1, we have to accept that it is effectively Academy or transfer fees so we have to be smart about whoever we bring in.

[RG30]

The transfer window lasts until the end of August, no? Still plenty of time to bring in a couple of players if we need to, even if it isn’t in time for the start of the season.

At least if we lose Knibbs, it’s more on our terms - we don’t have to sell, we don’t have to accept low-ball offers, we can make sure we have replacements in place before he leaves.

I get the window doesn't close until the end of August, but I think it's fair to be concerned about the opening fixtures. We have 6 fixtures before TDD and with our current attacking options I don't see where the wins are coming from, and then you're looking for late signings to bed in quickly and turn around a bad start.

Strengthening in time for Lincoln matters and let's not kid ourselves otherwise.

Spot on. We are due to have played 6 league matches by the end of the window including matches against 3 teams (Huddersfield, Bolton, Wycombe) who will in all likelihood will finish higher than us. It’s a tough start and having to bed in players so close can’t be a good thing.

[Hound]

The absolute last thing I want to do is throw away what we’ve learned over the last two years - that the academy lads are good enough to come in and start.

Osho scores plenty in u21, Okine Peters is not young and must have something about him for us to re-sign, Tuma has potential. Then we have Garcia, Kelvin, O’Mahony

Give them a go imo. Yes we need another experienced head or two but I’d not be upset if we didn’t sign another striker before the first game (assuming Kelvin does re-sign)

[tidus_mi2]

The absolute last thing I want to do is throw away what we’ve learned over the last two years - that the academy lads are good enough to come in and start.

Osho scores plenty in u21, Okine Peters is not young and must have something about him for us to re-sign, Tuma has potential. Then we have Garcia, Kelvin, O’Mahony

Give them a go imo. Yes we need another experienced head or two but I’d not be upset if we didn’t sign another striker before the first game (assuming Kelvin does re-sign)

Absolutely, especially if we're going to look to maintain a cat 1 academy outside the Premier League and at our club size, we need to keep a clear pathway to the first team for youth players and core with that is to keep the squad size at a reasonable level as a bloated squad is a big blocker to youth player opportunities.

I'd also hope most fans understand the financial limitations we have to operate under and don't get upset when we're not splashing the cash like some clubs do, wealthy owners coming in and throwing cash for a quick rise is a strategy that can work but obviously not everyone can or should do it.

[Snowflake Royal]

The absolute last thing I want to do is throw away what we’ve learned over the last two years - that the academy lads are good enough to come in and start.

Osho scores plenty in u21, Okine Peters is not young and must have something about him for us to re-sign, Tuma has potential. Then we have Garcia, Kelvin, O’Mahony

Give them a go imo. Yes we need another experienced head or two but I’d not be upset if we didn’t sign another striker before the first game (assuming Kelvin does re-sign)

Absolutely, especially if we're going to look to maintain a cat 1 academy outside the Premier League and at our club size, we need to keep a clear pathway to the first team for youth players and core with that is to keep the squad size at a reasonable level as a bloated squad is a big blocker to youth player opportunities.

I'd also hope most fans understand the financial limitations we have to operate under and don't get upset when we're not splashing the cash like some clubs do, wealthy owners coming in and throwing cash for a quick rise is a strategy that can work but obviously not everyone can or should do it.

It does look like we're giving our copious young fullbacks and forwards the space to develop.

Forwards are expensive, so it makes sense to conserve money and see how Osho, Garcia, Camara, Okine-Peters, Tuma et al do, seeing as we've probably got a bit too much rebuilding to do to be aiming for realistic promotion this season.

Develop Abrefa, Ryan, Ahmed, Garcia, Clarke, Stickland, Kanu, Spencer, Borgnis, Sackey, Osho, Camara, Okine-Peters, Tuma this season. A few of them step up and we can use them to build on the hopeful success of O'Connor, Kyerewaa, Fraser etc, then fill in the remaining gaps with a bit of quality next summer, and go for the title.

[Hound]

The absolute last thing I want to do is throw away what we’ve learned over the last two years - that the academy lads are good enough to come in and start.

Osho scores plenty in u21, Okine Peters is not young and must have something about him for us to re-sign, Tuma has potential. Then we have Garcia, Kelvin, O’Mahony

Give them a go imo. Yes we need another experienced head or two but I’d not be upset if we didn’t sign another striker before the first game (assuming Kelvin does re-sign)

Absolutely, especially if we're going to look to maintain a cat 1 academy outside the Premier League and at our club size, we need to keep a clear pathway to the first team for youth players and core with that is to keep the squad size at a reasonable level as a bloated squad is a big blocker to youth player opportunities.

I'd also hope most fans understand the financial limitations we have to operate under and don't get upset when we're not splashing the cash like some clubs do, wealthy owners coming in and throwing cash for a quick rise is a strategy that can work but obviously not everyone can or should do it.

It does look like we're giving our copious young fullbacks and forwards the space to develop.

Forwards are expensive, so it makes sense to conserve money and see how Osho, Garcia, Camara, Okine-Peters, Tuma et al do, seeing as we've probably got a bit too much rebuilding to do to be aiming for realistic promotion this season.

Develop Abrefa, Ryan, Ahmed, Garcia, Clarke, Stickland, Kanu, Spencer, Borgnis, Sackey, Osho, Camara, Okine-Peters, Tuma this season. A few of them step up and we can use them to build on the hopeful success of O'Connor, Kyerewaa, Fraser etc, then fill in the remaining gaps with a bit of quality next summer, and go for the title.

Exactly that. Priority for me this year is identify which of the academy lads will ‘make it’ and tie them down to longer contracts and build from there. Nice to see Ahmed got 2 years. Need to do the same with the best of the others

For all of his bluster Couhig has never really claimed anything other than building for the longer term. I’m on board with that

[tidus_mi2]

Yep, hopefully this will be the last time we don't have the majority of the squad contracted going into the Summer so we can plan better for the coming season.

[WestYorksRoyal]

On balance, I agree this is a long term project and it would be better to statt the season with the squad as it is and giving academy players a chance than sign the wrong option on a 2 year deal or longer.

But I don't think disagreeing with this makes you a bed wetter or idiot. It's natural to want your team to start the season well, and our attack is weak. We're top 6 standard in GK, defence and midfield and relegation battle standard on the wings and up front. We're two or three signings away from a good season. For what it's worth, I think we'll see some more arrivals before Lincoln, but it'll still be a slow start as they won't have had pre season to gel.

[Snowflake Royal]

On balance, I agree this is a long term project and it would be better to statt the season with the squad as it is and giving academy players a chance than sign the wrong option on a 2 year deal or longer.

But I don't think disagreeing with this makes you a bed wetter or idiot. It's natural to want your team to start the season well, and our attack is weak. We're top 6 standard in GK, defence and midfield and relegation battle standard on the wings and up front. We're two or three signings away from a good season. For what it's worth, I think we'll see some more arrivals before Lincoln, but it'll still be a slow start as they won't have had pre season to gel.

I think what makes one an idiot is having unrealistic expectations and having learnt precisely nothing from the last ten years, whilst also ignoring everything the club, Couhig et al have been saying.

Also, still being on twitter and tweeting.

[WestYorksRoyal]

On balance, I agree this is a long term project and it would be better to statt the season with the squad as it is and giving academy players a chance than sign the wrong option on a 2 year deal or longer.

But I don't think disagreeing with this makes you a bed wetter or idiot. It's natural to want your team to start the season well, and our attack is weak. We're top 6 standard in GK, defence and midfield and relegation battle standard on the wings and up front. We're two or three signings away from a good season. For what it's worth, I think we'll see some more arrivals before Lincoln, but it'll still be a slow start as they won't have had pre season to gel.

I think what makes one an idiot is having unrealistic expectations and having learnt precisely nothing from the last ten years, whilst also ignoring everything the club, Couhig et al have been saying.

Also, still being on twitter and tweeting.

Couhig et al have been extremely ballsy about what our transfer business will look like.