SQUADWATCH - Summer 2026

[Marcel]

Interesting anecdote I have received recently. Last Summer they went into the transfer market with a list of top free agents that were willing to come to the club. They were all lined up and as per usual they wanted to negotiate terms. (Bowler etc).
Couhig was unwilling and Paudie was the only one willing to come on the terms originally offered.
They then went to there plan b list but most of them had either agreed terms at other clubs by then or we were slow again on negotiating. Went back to plan a list with better offers but same scenario. Moved on by that point or pissed off with lack of initial response.

We then ended up paying over the odds for wages for loan players (Burns and others) to fill gaps which were wages that could have been better used on free transfers originally.

Went then had to be inventive with the small amount of money Knibbs brought in with Marriott and Lane. And ended up having to pull in what we could from what was left free out there quite late in the window which meant the players had no time to gel.

What I hope from this window is we get our business done early so the players get a preseason together. Those also that want to leave get them gone early so money can be reinvested. And for god sake pursue free transfers properly and get the players you want even if it does mean paying a bit more in wages there is no fee. It has been proven it does not work in the long run and usually costs more. Sustainability is important but also building a team is just as important that is competitive and getting the players in you and the manager want to be competitive.

Pretty much what i heard. Noel was livid at the transfer dealings in the summer, he'd identified clear targets and the club didn't deliver which left him a slap dash recruitment plan b and players he didn't want. underprepared going to into the start of the season due to not getting targets early in the summer.

Yeah Noel was set up to fail last summer. Dreadful treatment for a loyal player and coach.

[Clyde1998]

I seem to recall a video the club put out with Hunt and Jacobson after the transfer window where Noel looked pissed off during it and had to pretend it was a good window.

Hopefully this season we've got enough players in the squad where we're able to have a coherent strategy to improve our weak areas without having to simply sign anyone vaguely of League One standard to ensure we have a squad.

[blythspartan]

I seem to recall a video the club put out with Hunt and Jacobson after the transfer window where Noel looked pissed off during it and had to pretend it was a good window.

Hopefully this season we've got enough players in the squad where we're able to have a coherent strategy to improve our weak areas without having to simply sign anyone vaguely of League One standard to ensure we have a squad.

Obviously, we don’t have to recruit so many players, but from what I’ve heard recruitment will be rinse repeat of last summer. We’ve lined up decent free agents etc. but Rob doesn’t want to pay the money.

I am all for not being held to ransom by players and their agents, but it means you’ll miss out on your first choices.

[fred sharpes nose]

Interesting anecdote I have received recently. Last Summer they went into the transfer market with a list of top free agents that were willing to come to the club. They were all lined up and as per usual they wanted to negotiate terms. (Bowler etc).
Couhig was unwilling and Paudie was the only one willing to come on the terms originally offered.
They then went to there plan b list but most of them had either agreed terms at other clubs by then or we were slow again on negotiating. Went back to plan a list with better offers but same scenario. Moved on by that point or pissed off with lack of initial response.

We then ended up paying over the odds for wages for loan players (Burns and others) to fill gaps which were wages that could have been better used on free transfers originally.

Went then had to be inventive with the small amount of money Knibbs brought in with Marriott and Lane. And ended up having to pull in what we could from what was left free out there quite late in the window which meant the players had no time to gel.

What I hope from this window is we get our business done early so the players get a preseason together. Those also that want to leave get them gone early so money can be reinvested. And for god sake pursue free transfers properly and get the players you want even if it does mean paying a bit more in wages there is no fee. It has been proven it does not work in the long run and usually costs more. Sustainability is important but also building a team is just as important that is competitive and getting the players in you and the manager want to be competitive.

I find this particular comment very disturbing.

Noel set up to be the patsy.

Couhig ("art of the deal" LOL) / Jacobsen screwing things up nickel and diming - inexperience ???

While at the same time bigging everything up - ok understandable but Rob talks well and his regular engagement is welcomed, but I do hope he is not as two faced as this assessment suggests to me he is.

In my eyes his credibility and honesty has been compromised by these insights. Maybe would have been better to show up with some humility and said he got it wrong (at this level of detail) to an accepting mature audience he'd get much better buy in.

Interestingly humility is also not a word in Leams dicstionary..............

My season ticket renewal moves further and further into the distance

[WestYorksRoyal]

It's the start of June. Let's wait and see how the next 6 weeks go before losing our heads

[Vision]

Interesting anecdote I have received recently. Last Summer they went into the transfer market with a list of top free agents that were willing to come to the club. They were all lined up and as per usual they wanted to negotiate terms. (Bowler etc).
Couhig was unwilling and Paudie was the only one willing to come on the terms originally offered.
They then went to there plan b list but most of them had either agreed terms at other clubs by then or we were slow again on negotiating. Went back to plan a list with better offers but same scenario. Moved on by that point or pissed off with lack of initial response.

We then ended up paying over the odds for wages for loan players (Burns and others) to fill gaps which were wages that could have been better used on free transfers originally.

Went then had to be inventive with the small amount of money Knibbs brought in with Marriott and Lane. And ended up having to pull in what we could from what was left free out there quite late in the window which meant the players had no time to gel.

What I hope from this window is we get our business done early so the players get a preseason together. Those also that want to leave get them gone early so money can be reinvested. And for god sake pursue free transfers properly and get the players you want even if it does mean paying a bit more in wages there is no fee. It has been proven it does not work in the long run and usually costs more. Sustainability is important but also building a team is just as important that is competitive and getting the players in you and the manager want to be competitive.

I find this particular comment very disturbing.

Noel set up to be the patsy.

Couhig ("art of the deal" LOL) / Jacobsen screwing things up nickel and diming - inexperience ???

While at the same time bigging everything up - ok understandable but Rob talks well and his regular engagement is welcomed, but I do hope he is not as two faced as this assessment suggests to me he is.

In my eyes his credibility and honesty has been compromised by these insights. Maybe would have been better to show up with some humility and said he got it wrong (at this level of detail) to an accepting mature audience he'd get much better buy in.

Interestingly humility is also not a word in Leams dicstionary..............

My season ticket renewal moves further and further into the distance

None of this particularly new information is it? Couhig and JJ were banging on about the 3 levels of transfer window bullshit, thinking they were somehow gaming the system, all through the summer. And it was common knowledge that Bowler kept moving the goal[posts wage wise.

Hopefully they've learned from that but time will tell. The permanent signings weren't too bad on the whole (injuries notwithstanding), it was the loanees who underwhelmed really in both windows.

The "Noel was a patsy" theme is a bit tiresome too. Particularly when it comes from the same people who think LR is the devil incarnate even though he had to work with predominantly the same players as Noel.

I think Noel was treated pretty harshly given the summer window and the early fixture list and should have been given more time to work with the squad once tardily assembled. For the same reason LR should also be given some time and a little leeway in doing the same with whoever comes into the club in the summer.

[linkenholtroyal]

It's the start of June. Let's wait and see how the next 6 weeks go before losing our heads

I do get what you say but thought it was best to let you all know why it was a screw up last year and fingers crossed they will learn from there mistakes. As a side note not all signings last year were terrible.
O Conner
R Williams
Ward
Marriott
Lane (who I think will still come good)
Kyerewaa
Rinhomota

We’re all good signings and on the money, I am sure I have missed someone. But it could have been so much better if they had pursued the original targets properly and communicated better.
As said yes it is June so fingers crossed they get it right and we are not rooting around in the clearance section in September.

[Sutekh]

It's the start of June. Let's wait and see how the next 6 weeks go before losing our heads

I do get what you say but thought it was best to let you all know why it was a screw up last year and fingers crossed they will learn from there mistakes. As a side note not all signings last year were terrible.
O Conner
R Williams
Ward
Marriott
Lane (who I think will still come good)
Kyerewaa
Rinhomota

We’re all good signings and on the money, I am sure I have missed someone. But it could have been so much better if they had pursued the original targets properly and communicated better.
As said yes it is June so fingers crossed they get it right and we are not rooting around in the clearance section in September.

D Williams

[linkenholtroyal]

It's the start of June. Let's wait and see how the next 6 weeks go before losing our heads

I do get what you say but thought it was best to let you all know why it was a screw up last year and fingers crossed they will learn from there mistakes. As a side note not all signings last year were terrible.
O Conner
R Williams
Ward
Marriott
Lane (who I think will still come good)
Kyerewaa
Rinhomota

We’re all good signings and on the money, I am sure I have missed someone. But it could have been so much better if they had pursued the original targets properly and communicated better.
As said yes it is June so fingers crossed they get it right and we are not rooting around in the clearance section in September.

D Williams

See I struggle with Derrick, he is a good player and I wish we signed him 5 years ago but as time goes on he seems to be made of glass in this point in his career. Great to have around the place if he was not on big wages similar to Ritchie.

[Royal Rother]

Maybe Lane WILL come good (sincerely hope so) but he cannot possibly be on a list of signings who were NOT terrible last season.

[stealthpapes]

I do get what you say but thought it was best to let you all know why it was a screw up last year and fingers crossed they will learn from there mistakes. As a side note not all signings last year were terrible.
O Conner
R Williams
Ward
Marriott
Lane (who I think will still come good)
Kyerewaa
Rinhomota

We’re all good signings and on the money, I am sure I have missed someone. But it could have been so much better if they had pursued the original targets properly and communicated better.
As said yes it is June so fingers crossed they get it right and we are not rooting around in the clearance section in September.

D Williams

See I struggle with Derrick, he is a good player and I wish we signed him 5 years ago but as time goes on he seems to be made of glass in this point in his career. Great to have around the place if he was not on big wages similar to Ritchie.

For all his strengths, D Williams does fit the “not quite our first choice” vibes of the anecdote.

[Hound]

Don’t think any of those signings could really be classed as successes either tbh. Ward looks the part but only played a handful of games before an unfortunate injury

DK decent for a free but wasn’t amazing. The others all had huge chunks of time out with various muscle injuries or poor form in Lanes case. Not really what you want

POC was ok but generally a bit of a disappointment

[linkenholtroyal]

Maybe Lane WILL come good (sincerely hope so) but he cannot possibly be on a list of signings who were NOT terrible last season.

Maybe I am looking more at potential point of view with that one. He had an outstanding season at pompey in league 1 so there is a good player in there. And atleast there is a resell value if that is not the case.

[WestYorksRoyal]

It's the start of June. Let's wait and see how the next 6 weeks go before losing our heads

I do get what you say but thought it was best to let you all know why it was a screw up last year and fingers crossed they will learn from there mistakes. As a side note not all signings last year were terrible.
O Conner
R Williams
Ward
Marriott
Lane (who I think will still come good)
Kyerewaa
Rinhomota

We’re all good signings and on the money, I am sure I have missed someone. But it could have been so much better if they had pursued the original targets properly and communicated better.
As said yes it is June so fingers crossed they get it right and we are not rooting around in the clearance section in September.

I just think last summer was difficult for many reasons. Only a handful of players contracted so we needed to recruit a lot. In that context, do you really want to set a precedent for paying higher wages for your first 2 or 3 signings?

Then they barely knew their budget. They released a video about SMCP in August and basically admitted there that they had been figuring out as they went along. And also, the EFL were still micro managing our recruitment activity and we had to work to get them off our back.

Do you really expect them to come in and give out 4 or 5 top L1 contracts in that context?

It's different now. We know our squad, we know our budget. If we're prioritising 5 or 6 signings to improve the starting XI, hopefully we're in a position to offer what it takes.

So back to my initial point. I'll judge them in a couple of months.

The biggest mistake last season was expectations management. Top 6 was always going to be really difficult, but it was our public target from day 1. They probably could have presented last summer as a solid effort with the right messaging.

[MR. CYNICAL]

Don’t think any of those signings could really be classed as successes either tbh. Ward looks the part but only played a handful of games before an unfortunate injury

DK decent for a free but wasn’t amazing. The others all had huge chunks of time out with various muscle injuries or poor form in Lanes case. Not really what you want

POC was ok but generally a bit of a disappointment

Even he managed to get injured before the season started.
Didn't see him for ages.

[Hound]

It's the start of June. Let's wait and see how the next 6 weeks go before losing our heads

I do get what you say but thought it was best to let you all know why it was a screw up last year and fingers crossed they will learn from there mistakes. As a side note not all signings last year were terrible.
O Conner
R Williams
Ward
Marriott
Lane (who I think will still come good)
Kyerewaa
Rinhomota

We’re all good signings and on the money, I am sure I have missed someone. But it could have been so much better if they had pursued the original targets properly and communicated better.
As said yes it is June so fingers crossed they get it right and we are not rooting around in the clearance section in September.

I just think last summer was difficult for many reasons. Only a handful of players contracted so we needed to recruit a lot. In that context, do you really want to set a precedent for paying higher wages for your first 2 or 3 signings?

Then they barely knew their budget. They released a video about SMCP in August and basically admitted there that they had been figuring out as they went along. And also, the EFL were still micro managing our recruitment activity and we had to work to get them off our back.

Do you really expect them to come in and give out 4 or 5 top L1 contracts in that context?

It's different now. We know our squad, we know our budget. If we're prioritising 5 or 6 signings to improve the starting XI, hopefully we're in a position to offer what it takes.

So back to my initial point. I'll judge them in a couple of months.

The biggest mistake last season was expectations management. Top 6 was always going to be really difficult, but it was our public target from day 1. They probably could have presented last summer as a solid effort with the right messaging.

This is fair

Still I think some of the ‘bigger’ signings didn’t really work out - MoM, Fraser, PoC to an extent, Jacob weren’t as good as we’d hoped

But certainly hope to see a lot better this year

[tidus_mi2]

I do get what you say but thought it was best to let you all know why it was a screw up last year and fingers crossed they will learn from there mistakes. As a side note not all signings last year were terrible.
O Conner
R Williams
Ward
Marriott
Lane (who I think will still come good)
Kyerewaa
Rinhomota

We’re all good signings and on the money, I am sure I have missed someone. But it could have been so much better if they had pursued the original targets properly and communicated better.
As said yes it is June so fingers crossed they get it right and we are not rooting around in the clearance section in September.

I just think last summer was difficult for many reasons. Only a handful of players contracted so we needed to recruit a lot. In that context, do you really want to set a precedent for paying higher wages for your first 2 or 3 signings?

Then they barely knew their budget. They released a video about SMCP in August and basically admitted there that they had been figuring out as they went along. And also, the EFL were still micro managing our recruitment activity and we had to work to get them off our back.

Do you really expect them to come in and give out 4 or 5 top L1 contracts in that context?

It's different now. We know our squad, we know our budget. If we're prioritising 5 or 6 signings to improve the starting XI, hopefully we're in a position to offer what it takes.

So back to my initial point. I'll judge them in a couple of months.

The biggest mistake last season was expectations management. Top 6 was always going to be really difficult, but it was our public target from day 1. They probably could have presented last summer as a solid effort with the right messaging.

This is fair

Still I think some of the ‘bigger’ signings didn’t really work out - MoM, Fraser, PoC to an extent, Jacob weren’t as good as we’d hoped

But certainly hope to see a lot better this year

At the very least, with the bulk of the squad already filled out, it will be a lot more of an organised/focussed transfer window.

[WestYorksRoyal]

It does feel like for as long as I can remember, we've had to prioritise quantity each year as we've had an annual exodus.

This summer, we have a squad who could finish 12th next season without any work. So it's really quality over quantity, which is how it should be.

[MR. CYNICAL]

It does feel like for as long as I can remember, we've had to prioritise quantity each year as we've had an annual exodus.

This summer, we have a squad who could finish 12th next season without any work. So it's really quality over quantity, which is how it should be.

Absolutely. The squad as it stands is bang average, as our league position showed. Richardson ball certainly isn't going to enhance it in any way. Any success next season hinges on who we bring in and With Couhig reluctant to spend anything, I'm not confident those gaps will be filled with the quality needed.
Judging by the apparent poor season uptake, it seems many feel the same.

[morganb]

I assume our overseas contingent is still used up by Fraser and Danny K so unless we get proven Internationals we'll be looking at players from the home nations?