Cherries: Dale loan deal suits striker Symes (From Thisisdorset)

Pandasfromhell wrote:
Tom Mitchell begs Crawley to keep mum about the tubbs transfer fee then comes out and says *its all way of the mark " And there is one of Afcb problems . Afcb is not seen as a "nice" friendly club anymore The floating fans dont want to know because of cost and the Mitchell clan running the club . Signing a 2nd division player like Tubbs will not bring people back The damage has all been done and NO amount of PR can change that !!

Pandasfromhell wrote:
Tom Mitchell begs Crawley to keep mum about the tubbs transfer fee then comes out and says *its all way of the mark "
And there is one of Afcb problems .
Afcb is not seen as a "nice" friendly club anymore
The floating fans dont want to know because of cost and the Mitchell clan running the club .
Signing a 2nd division player like Tubbs will not bring people back
The damage has all been done and NO amount of PR can change that !!

N Smith wrote:

Pandasfromhell wrote:
Tom Mitchell begs Crawley to keep mum about the tubbs transfer fee then comes out and says *its all way of the mark "
And there is one of Afcb problems .
Afcb is not seen as a "nice" friendly club anymore
The floating fans dont want to know because of cost and the Mitchell clan running the club .
Signing a 2nd division player like Tubbs will not bring people back
The damage has all been done and NO amount of PR can change that !!

For Gods sake get of Mitchells case , you will never be happy . They are trying to take the club forward and all you can do is knock and moan at them. Good luck Symes hopefully you will be back and win your place back.

Yorkie Cherry wrote:
Symes is a talented player there is no doubt about that, but he is injury prone and is very lazy. He does not put in a 'shift' like the other players around him. When he was up front in his favoured position he did not exactly set the world on light. Best of luck to him though at Rochdale.

Pandasfromhell wrote:
Tom Mitchell begs Crawley to keep mum about the tubbs transfer fee then comes out and says *its all way of the mark "
And there is one of Afcb problems .
Afcb is not seen as a "nice" friendly club anymore
The floating fans dont want to know because of cost and the Mitchell clan running the club .
Signing a 2nd division player like Tubbs will not bring people back
The damage has all been done and NO amount of PR can change that !!

DansAFCB wrote:

N Smith wrote:

Pandasfromhell wrote:
Tom Mitchell begs Crawley to keep mum about the tubbs transfer fee then comes out and says *its all way of the mark "
And there is one of Afcb problems .
Afcb is not seen as a "nice" friendly club anymore
The floating fans dont want to know because of cost and the Mitchell clan running the club .
Signing a 2nd division player like Tubbs will not bring people back
The damage has all been done and NO amount of PR can change that !!

For Gods sake get of Mitchells case , you will never be happy . They are trying to take the club forward and all you can do is knock and moan at them. Good luck Symes hopefully you will be back and win your place back.

I have not posted for a while as got fed up with the EM bashers going on all the time! But this post has riled me! When will you see that the Mitchell's have achieved what they set out to do!? He never lied and from.the start said he would run this club like a business, wouldn't put any money in but would seek investment, isn't this what has happened??
Get off their backs now hold your hands up (all you EM bashers) and now enjoy the moment. AFCB is going places!
Thanks to the Mitchell's again for saving this precious football club!
UTCIAD

Noel. wrote:

DansAFCB wrote:

N Smith wrote:

Pandasfromhell wrote:
Tom Mitchell begs Crawley to keep mum about the tubbs transfer fee then comes out and says *its all way of the mark "
And there is one of Afcb problems .
Afcb is not seen as a "nice" friendly club anymore
The floating fans dont want to know because of cost and the Mitchell clan running the club .
Signing a 2nd division player like Tubbs will not bring people back
The damage has all been done and NO amount of PR can change that !!

For Gods sake get of Mitchells case , you will never be happy . They are trying to take the club forward and all you can do is knock and moan at them. Good luck Symes hopefully you will be back and win your place back.

I have not posted for a while as got fed up with the EM bashers going on all the time! But this post has riled me! When will you see that the Mitchell's have achieved what they set out to do!? He never lied and from.the start said he would run this club like a business, wouldn't put any money in but would seek investment, isn't this what has happened??
Get off their backs now hold your hands up (all you EM bashers) and now enjoy the moment. AFCB is going places!
Thanks to the Mitchell's again for saving this precious football club!
UTCIAD

The guy that has actually turned this club around is Demin.

Remember the Mitchels were still running up debt and had to flog last season's team to pay it off.

The report that Demin has put some kind of covenant on board decisions to prevent the Mitchels making the kind of spending decisions they have in the past says a lot for the 'business' like running of this club in the last couple of years.

AFCBade wrote:
I like Sykes but its hard to contribute to the team and get match fit so loan deal makes sense. Think a month though would be better since an injury to Tubbs or wes would be a problem despite the number of strikers on the books

bmb wrote:
Good Luck Symsey. Nice lad, decent player on his day. Didn't seem to be able to fully regain match fitness after the spell of injuries, probably because of lack of playing minutes. Despite not being back at his best & playing out of position he still managed 3 assists and a goal in the last few games, yet certain sections of our fanbase still get on his case! I don't think we will see him in a Cherries shirt again though so good luck for the future Symsey, I for one wish you well.

afcbournemouth wrote:
I bet Fletcher instigated this move ! Joke ! Good luck scouse man , players move on its part of football and for Symes to be aloud on loan to another club and his contract due to expire this looks like Symes could be shown the door , roll on Saturday I just hope the snow stays away that's predicted for that day utciad

devon fan wrote:

afcbournemouth wrote:
I bet Fletcher instigated this move ! Joke ! Good luck scouse man , players move on its part of football and for Symes to be aloud on loan to another club and his contract due to expire this looks like Symes could be shown the door , roll on Saturday I just hope the snow stays away that's predicted for that day utciad

I do not know about the snow, but I see on the club website they are asking for volunteers to report to the ground to assist in laying straw on the pitch in an attempt to beat the frost, I thought we had invested in some covers last season what has happened to them, I would have thought pitch should have been covered before now

The Renegade Master wrote:
I don't think we ever saw the best of Michael and I think it's unlikely now that he will return. I'm sure he will do well for Rochdale and earn a contract there in the summer. Good luck to him.

Regarding Tom Mitchell moaning about the transfer fee bandied about in the press regarding the cost of Tubbs, if he won't disclose what the club actually paid the Echo and their "sources" are going to speculate! If he doesn't like that, he could try being straight with us instead!

devon fan wrote:

afcbournemouth wrote:
I bet Fletcher instigated this move ! Joke ! Good luck scouse man , players move on its part of football and for Symes to be aloud on loan to another club and his contract due to expire this looks like Symes could be shown the door , roll on Saturday I just hope the snow stays away that's predicted for that day utciad

I do not know about the snow, but I see on the club website they are asking for volunteers to report to the ground to assist in laying straw on the pitch in an attempt to beat the frost, I thought we had invested in some covers last season what has happened to them, I would have thought pitch should have been covered before now

Deejaycee wrote:

The Renegade Master wrote:
I don't think we ever saw the best of Michael and I think it's unlikely now that he will return. I'm sure he will do well for Rochdale and earn a contract there in the summer. Good luck to him.

Regarding Tom Mitchell moaning about the transfer fee bandied about in the press regarding the cost of Tubbs, if he won't disclose what the club actually paid the Echo and their "sources" are going to speculate! If he doesn't like that, he could try being straight with us instead!

If TM doesn't want to disclose how much the club paid for Tubbs, then that is their business. The Echo, like everyone else should accept that and move on.
Quite frankly, if the club are happy with how much they paid, then that is all that matters.

The Renegade Master wrote:

Deejaycee wrote:

The Renegade Master wrote: I don't think we ever saw the best of Michael and I think it's unlikely now that he will return. I'm sure he will do well for Rochdale and earn a contract there in the summer. Good luck to him. Regarding Tom Mitchell moaning about the transfer fee bandied about in the press regarding the cost of Tubbs, if he won't disclose what the club actually paid the Echo and their "sources" are going to speculate! If he doesn't like that, he could try being straight with us instead!

If TM doesn't want to disclose how much the club paid for Tubbs, then that is their business. The Echo, like everyone else should accept that and move on. Quite frankly, if the club are happy with how much they paid, then that is all that matters.

You're right that it's their business and it's up to them what they disclose to the press. However, the Echo are only interested in selling newspapers and if they quote £800k it's a bigger story than saying £400k! The simple fact remains this: if the club don't like speculation about their business they should be more open with the press and the fans.

molbol wrote:

The Renegade Master wrote:

Deejaycee wrote:

The Renegade Master wrote: I don't think we ever saw the best of Michael and I think it's unlikely now that he will return. I'm sure he will do well for Rochdale and earn a contract there in the summer. Good luck to him. Regarding Tom Mitchell moaning about the transfer fee bandied about in the press regarding the cost of Tubbs, if he won't disclose what the club actually paid the Echo and their "sources" are going to speculate! If he doesn't like that, he could try being straight with us instead!

If TM doesn't want to disclose how much the club paid for Tubbs, then that is their business. The Echo, like everyone else should accept that and move on. Quite frankly, if the club are happy with how much they paid, then that is all that matters.

You're right that it's their business and it's up to them what they disclose to the press. However, the Echo are only interested in selling newspapers and if they quote £800k it's a bigger story than saying £400k! The simple fact remains this: if the club don't like speculation about their business they should be more open with the press and the fans.

In my view this has nothing to do with our Board being particularly secretive. The fact of the matter is that nearly all transfers these days are 'undisclosed'; reason being mainly that clubs do not want to alert other clubs to their spending habits. As has been mooted by others, since Max finally came on board, everyone seems to think we are awash with money now.

Afcbpete wrote:

molbol wrote:

The Renegade Master wrote:

Deejaycee wrote:

The Renegade Master wrote: I don't think we ever saw the best of Michael and I think it's unlikely now that he will return. I'm sure he will do well for Rochdale and earn a contract there in the summer. Good luck to him. Regarding Tom Mitchell moaning about the transfer fee bandied about in the press regarding the cost of Tubbs, if he won't disclose what the club actually paid the Echo and their "sources" are going to speculate! If he doesn't like that, he could try being straight with us instead!

If TM doesn't want to disclose how much the club paid for Tubbs, then that is their business. The Echo, like everyone else should accept that and move on. Quite frankly, if the club are happy with how much they paid, then that is all that matters.

You're right that it's their business and it's up to them what they disclose to the press. However, the Echo are only interested in selling newspapers and if they quote £800k it's a bigger story than saying £400k! The simple fact remains this: if the club don't like speculation about their business they should be more open with the press and the fans.

In my view this has nothing to do with our Board being particularly secretive. The fact of the matter is that nearly all transfers these days are 'undisclosed'; reason being mainly that clubs do not want to alert other clubs to their spending habits. As has been mooted by others, since Max finally came on board, everyone seems to think we are awash with money now.

This is absolutely right, other clubs will just think we have money to burn and double what a player is worth. surely that's only common sense!!!

The Renegade Master wrote:

Afcbpete wrote:

molbol wrote:

The Renegade Master wrote:

Deejaycee wrote:

The Renegade Master wrote: I don't think we ever saw the best of Michael and I think it's unlikely now that he will return. I'm sure he will do well for Rochdale and earn a contract there in the summer. Good luck to him. Regarding Tom Mitchell moaning about the transfer fee bandied about in the press regarding the cost of Tubbs, if he won't disclose what the club actually paid the Echo and their "sources" are going to speculate! If he doesn't like that, he could try being straight with us instead!

If TM doesn't want to disclose how much the club paid for Tubbs, then that is their business. The Echo, like everyone else should accept that and move on. Quite frankly, if the club are happy with how much they paid, then that is all that matters.

You're right that it's their business and it's up to them what they disclose to the press. However, the Echo are only interested in selling newspapers and if they quote £800k it's a bigger story than saying £400k! The simple fact remains this: if the club don't like speculation about their business they should be more open with the press and the fans.

In my view this has nothing to do with our Board being particularly secretive. The fact of the matter is that nearly all transfers these days are 'undisclosed'; reason being mainly that clubs do not want to alert other clubs to their spending habits. As has been mooted by others, since Max finally came on board, everyone seems to think we are awash with money now.

This is absolutely right, other clubs will just think we have money to burn and double what a player is worth. surely that's only common sense!!!

molbol and Afcbpete....
You're probably right, but in which case Tom Mitchell shouldn't be complaining about the speculation about fees paid out! It's part and parcel of being in football that the press will speculate about transfer targets and the amounts paid for players. It sells papers which is all they care about!

jontee wrote:
From being a long time supporter of LB as manager, I now have to admit that the doubters were right all along. He has proved this in his transfer window dealings.
.
Whatever the real figure for Tubbs, it was obviously way over the odds, and after EM had said 'no more offers'. I think he is over rated and do not think he is the right type of player for us.
.
Why sign McDermott ? We needed a ball winner, not another forward. And does his reappearance mean a repeat of last season's mistake when he kept Pugh out of the team ? And gets booked too often. Still at least we didn't shell out more huge dosh for Ritchie.
.
And then Symes ! Why take a player who has been starting regularly and send him out on loan ? Bradders obviously has decided to get rid, otherwise Symes wouldn't have wanted to go. And we are short on strikers if injuries occurr.

DansAFCB wrote:

N Smith wrote:

Pandasfromhell wrote:
Tom Mitchell begs Crawley to keep mum about the tubbs transfer fee then comes out and says *its all way of the mark "
And there is one of Afcb problems .
Afcb is not seen as a "nice" friendly club anymore
The floating fans dont want to know because of cost and the Mitchell clan running the club .
Signing a 2nd division player like Tubbs will not bring people back
The damage has all been done and NO amount of PR can change that !!

For Gods sake get of Mitchells case , you will never be happy . They are trying to take the club forward and all you can do is knock and moan at them. Good luck Symes hopefully you will be back and win your place back.

I have not posted for a while as got fed up with the EM bashers going on all the time! But this post has riled me! When will you see that the Mitchell's have achieved what they set out to do!? He never lied and from.the start said he would run this club like a business, wouldn't put any money in but would seek investment, isn't this what has happened??
Get off their backs now hold your hands up (all you EM bashers) and now enjoy the moment. AFCB is going places!
Thanks to the Mitchell's again for saving this precious football club!
UTCIAD

Afcbpete wrote:

jontee wrote: From being a long time supporter of LB as manager, I now have to admit that the doubters were right all along. He has proved this in his transfer window dealings. . Whatever the real figure for Tubbs, it was obviously way over the odds, and after EM had said 'no more offers'. I think he is over rated and do not think he is the right type of player for us. . Why sign McDermott ? We needed a ball winner, not another forward. And does his reappearance mean a repeat of last season's mistake when he kept Pugh out of the team ? And gets booked too often. Still at least we didn't shell out more huge dosh for Ritchie. . And then Symes ! Why take a player who has been starting regularly and send him out on loan ? Bradders obviously has decided to get rid, otherwise Symes wouldn't have wanted to go. And we are short on strikers if injuries occurr.

As a doubter, I feel having had so much turmoil through the season, new players in/many injuries, I'm seeing how things develop through the rest of the season. I'm delighted with his signings, although my main concern is where will Malone play as I REALLY rate him. Will find it intereresting to see how Lee has them lining up. We still have Fletch, Jayden, Lyle to fall back on, and if push comes to a shove, maybe we can re-call Symes. Can't wait till Saturday, certainly hope it's not called off.

ASM wrote:

DansAFCB wrote:

N Smith wrote:

Pandasfromhell wrote:
Tom Mitchell begs Crawley to keep mum about the tubbs transfer fee then comes out and says *its all way of the mark "
And there is one of Afcb problems .
Afcb is not seen as a "nice" friendly club anymore
The floating fans dont want to know because of cost and the Mitchell clan running the club .
Signing a 2nd division player like Tubbs will not bring people back
The damage has all been done and NO amount of PR can change that !!

For Gods sake get of Mitchells case , you will never be happy . They are trying to take the club forward and all you can do is knock and moan at them. Good luck Symes hopefully you will be back and win your place back.

I have not posted for a while as got fed up with the EM bashers going on all the time! But this post has riled me! When will you see that the Mitchell's have achieved what they set out to do!? He never lied and from.the start said he would run this club like a business, wouldn't put any money in but would seek investment, isn't this what has happened??
Get off their backs now hold your hands up (all you EM bashers) and now enjoy the moment. AFCB is going places!
Thanks to the Mitchell's again for saving this precious football club!
UTCIAD

i'm one of the biggest mitchell bashers around - but how can you criticize the huge progress we are now making, in the last 3 months EM has done everything right and HIS backing of LB is paying off and proving most of LB's critics wrong. The club is really going places now so STFU and get behind the team, we've got some brilliant players now and we didn't sell Pugh. I hope we buy the ground back and we get 6th spot but it's not all going to happen overnight. (all this coming from a fan previously banned on numerous occasions from both vital and echo website). I also have to say I like the way Tom Mitchell goes about his business, I think Eddie, as he has been doing should let Tom handle the media and fans

dc addict wrote:

Afcbpete wrote:

jontee wrote: From being a long time supporter of LB as manager, I now have to admit that the doubters were right all along. He has proved this in his transfer window dealings. . Whatever the real figure for Tubbs, it was obviously way over the odds, and after EM had said 'no more offers'. I think he is over rated and do not think he is the right type of player for us. . Why sign McDermott ? We needed a ball winner, not another forward. And does his reappearance mean a repeat of last season's mistake when he kept Pugh out of the team ? And gets booked too often. Still at least we didn't shell out more huge dosh for Ritchie. . And then Symes ! Why take a player who has been starting regularly and send him out on loan ? Bradders obviously has decided to get rid, otherwise Symes wouldn't have wanted to go. And we are short on strikers if injuries occurr.

As a doubter, I feel having had so much turmoil through the season, new players in/many injuries, I'm seeing how things develop through the rest of the season. I'm delighted with his signings, although my main concern is where will Malone play as I REALLY rate him. Will find it intereresting to see how Lee has them lining up. We still have Fletch, Jayden, Lyle to fall back on, and if push comes to a shove, maybe we can re-call Symes. Can't wait till Saturday, certainly hope it's not called off.

Pete, don't worry about Pugh or Malone. Pugh on right, McDermott in middle, Malone on left. Shaun McDonald in front of the defence. Wes Thomas and Matt Tubbs up front. The men who should worry are Harry Arter and Mark Moseley.The only thing about McDermott is that he tended last season not to track back when caught in possession thus necessitating a holding player but IMHO he is absolute class and was instrumental in getting us through to the play-offs last season. Jontee, I agree that Symes is a loss, particularly in the air. I have defended him often on here. However, as Marc Pugh said long ago, we need a 20 goal a season man and LB has identified MT as that man. We wait and see. UTCIAD

jontee wrote:
From being a long time supporter of LB as manager, I now have to admit that the doubters were right all along. He has proved this in his transfer window dealings.
.
Whatever the real figure for Tubbs, it was obviously way over the odds, and after EM had said 'no more offers'. I think he is over rated and do not think he is the right type of player for us.
.
Why sign McDermott ? We needed a ball winner, not another forward. And does his reappearance mean a repeat of last season's mistake when he kept Pugh out of the team ? And gets booked too often. Still at least we didn't shell out more huge dosh for Ritchie.
.
And then Symes ! Why take a player who has been starting regularly and send him out on loan ? Bradders obviously has decided to get rid, otherwise Symes wouldn't have wanted to go. And we are short on strikers if injuries occurr.

wookj1 wrote:

dc addict wrote:

Afcbpete wrote:

jontee wrote: From being a long time supporter of LB as manager, I now have to admit that the doubters were right all along. He has proved this in his transfer window dealings. . Whatever the real figure for Tubbs, it was obviously way over the odds, and after EM had said 'no more offers'. I think he is over rated and do not think he is the right type of player for us. . Why sign McDermott ? We needed a ball winner, not another forward. And does his reappearance mean a repeat of last season's mistake when he kept Pugh out of the team ? And gets booked too often. Still at least we didn't shell out more huge dosh for Ritchie. . And then Symes ! Why take a player who has been starting regularly and send him out on loan ? Bradders obviously has decided to get rid, otherwise Symes wouldn't have wanted to go. And we are short on strikers if injuries occurr.

As a doubter, I feel having had so much turmoil through the season, new players in/many injuries, I'm seeing how things develop through the rest of the season. I'm delighted with his signings, although my main concern is where will Malone play as I REALLY rate him. Will find it intereresting to see how Lee has them lining up. We still have Fletch, Jayden, Lyle to fall back on, and if push comes to a shove, maybe we can re-call Symes. Can't wait till Saturday, certainly hope it's not called off.

Pete, don't worry about Pugh or Malone. Pugh on right, McDermott in middle, Malone on left. Shaun McDonald in front of the defence. Wes Thomas and Matt Tubbs up front. The men who should worry are Harry Arter and Mark Moseley.The only thing about McDermott is that he tended last season not to track back when caught in possession thus necessitating a holding player but IMHO he is absolute class and was instrumental in getting us through to the play-offs last season. Jontee, I agree that Symes is a loss, particularly in the air. I have defended him often on here. However, as Marc Pugh said long ago, we need a 20 goal a season man and LB has identified MT as that man. We wait and see. UTCIAD

A well thought out post. My only concern is that when I have seen Macdonald playing for Yeovil it has been as an attacking midfielder, and I believe he scored almost 10 goals for them. At Yeovil four weeks ago Macdonald was played in the hole behind Symes and that combination worked brilliantly. Gregory and Purches acted as dual holding players, with either having the option to break as circumstances allowed. With Tubbs on board I can't see any other option than 4-4-2, in which case if we play Mcdermott and Macdonald in the middle, one will not be in his natural position. Same if we go for 4-4-1-1, with Tubbs in the hole which will reduce his goal threat. If we go 4-3-3 with Tubbs out left, as he played against Hull, Malone will only be able to get in the team as one of a central three, in which case either Mcdermott or Malone will have to play on the right...again not their natural position. Gregory and Purches are the only two in my opinion that are suited to a holding role...and perhaps we should have spent decent money on a top class player in that role.

dc addict wrote:

Afcbpete wrote:

jontee wrote: From being a long time supporter of LB as manager, I now have to admit that the doubters were right all along. He has proved this in his transfer window dealings. . Whatever the real figure for Tubbs, it was obviously way over the odds, and after EM had said 'no more offers'. I think he is over rated and do not think he is the right type of player for us. . Why sign McDermott ? We needed a ball winner, not another forward. And does his reappearance mean a repeat of last season's mistake when he kept Pugh out of the team ? And gets booked too often. Still at least we didn't shell out more huge dosh for Ritchie. . And then Symes ! Why take a player who has been starting regularly and send him out on loan ? Bradders obviously has decided to get rid, otherwise Symes wouldn't have wanted to go. And we are short on strikers if injuries occurr.

As a doubter, I feel having had so much turmoil through the season, new players in/many injuries, I'm seeing how things develop through the rest of the season. I'm delighted with his signings, although my main concern is where will Malone play as I REALLY rate him. Will find it intereresting to see how Lee has them lining up. We still have Fletch, Jayden, Lyle to fall back on, and if push comes to a shove, maybe we can re-call Symes. Can't wait till Saturday, certainly hope it's not called off.

Pete, don't worry about Pugh or Malone. Pugh on right, McDermott in middle, Malone on left. Shaun McDonald in front of the defence. Wes Thomas and Matt Tubbs up front. The men who should worry are Harry Arter and Mark Moseley.The only thing about McDermott is that he tended last season not to track back when caught in possession thus necessitating a holding player but IMHO he is absolute class and was instrumental in getting us through to the play-offs last season. Jontee, I agree that Symes is a loss, particularly in the air. I have defended him often on here. However, as Marc Pugh said long ago, we need a 20 goal a season man and LB has identified MT as that man. We wait and see. UTCIAD

susi.m wrote:
Re Tubbs article (where no comments can be left).
The Crawley local press are saying that Tubbs was sold for around £800K.
So someone somewhere is lying about the figure.

jontee wrote:

wookj1 wrote:

dc addict wrote:

Afcbpete wrote:

jontee wrote: From being a long time supporter of LB as manager, I now have to admit that the doubters were right all along. He has proved this in his transfer window dealings. . Whatever the real figure for Tubbs, it was obviously way over the odds, and after EM had said 'no more offers'. I think he is over rated and do not think he is the right type of player for us. . Why sign McDermott ? We needed a ball winner, not another forward. And does his reappearance mean a repeat of last season's mistake when he kept Pugh out of the team ? And gets booked too often. Still at least we didn't shell out more huge dosh for Ritchie. . And then Symes ! Why take a player who has been starting regularly and send him out on loan ? Bradders obviously has decided to get rid, otherwise Symes wouldn't have wanted to go. And we are short on strikers if injuries occurr.

As a doubter, I feel having had so much turmoil through the season, new players in/many injuries, I'm seeing how things develop through the rest of the season. I'm delighted with his signings, although my main concern is where will Malone play as I REALLY rate him. Will find it intereresting to see how Lee has them lining up. We still have Fletch, Jayden, Lyle to fall back on, and if push comes to a shove, maybe we can re-call Symes. Can't wait till Saturday, certainly hope it's not called off.

Pete, don't worry about Pugh or Malone. Pugh on right, McDermott in middle, Malone on left. Shaun McDonald in front of the defence. Wes Thomas and Matt Tubbs up front. The men who should worry are Harry Arter and Mark Moseley.The only thing about McDermott is that he tended last season not to track back when caught in possession thus necessitating a holding player but IMHO he is absolute class and was instrumental in getting us through to the play-offs last season. Jontee, I agree that Symes is a loss, particularly in the air. I have defended him often on here. However, as Marc Pugh said long ago, we need a 20 goal a season man and LB has identified MT as that man. We wait and see. UTCIAD

A well thought out post. My only concern is that when I have seen Macdonald playing for Yeovil it has been as an attacking midfielder, and I believe he scored almost 10 goals for them. At Yeovil four weeks ago Macdonald was played in the hole behind Symes and that combination worked brilliantly. Gregory and Purches acted as dual holding players, with either having the option to break as circumstances allowed. With Tubbs on board I can't see any other option than 4-4-2, in which case if we play Mcdermott and Macdonald in the middle, one will not be in his natural position. Same if we go for 4-4-1-1, with Tubbs in the hole which will reduce his goal threat. If we go 4-3-3 with Tubbs out left, as he played against Hull, Malone will only be able to get in the team as one of a central three, in which case either Mcdermott or Malone will have to play on the right...again not their natural position. Gregory and Purches are the only two in my opinion that are suited to a holding role...and perhaps we should have spent decent money on a top class player in that role.

An excellent anaylys, Wookj1. . As I and others have said, we cannot afford to play 4-4-2 due to the lack of ball winning capabilities in midfield. These signings do nothing to help that and leave us with 4-4-2 as the only option. Thomas can't be left out and we have not blown £whatever'000 on Tubbs to leave him on the bench.

Pandasfromhell wrote:
Tom Mitchell begs Crawley to keep mum about the tubbs transfer fee then comes out and says *its all way of the mark "
And there is one of Afcb problems .
Afcb is not seen as a "nice" friendly club anymore
The floating fans dont want to know because of cost and the Mitchell clan running the club .
Signing a 2nd division player like Tubbs will not bring people back
The damage has all been done and NO amount of PR can change that !!

cherrychris75 wrote:
Come on then whats the team for Saturday. Bradders has enough to choose from!
Flahavan, Daniels, Francis, Zhubar, Cook, Malone on left (if fit!), Pugh on right, McDermott and McDonald in middle. Tubbs & Thomas up front. Bench. Thomas, Purches, Arter, Fogden & Fletch (Fogden in for Malone if Malone unfit).

Yorkie Cherry wrote:
Symes is a talented player there is no doubt about that, but he is injury prone and is very lazy. He does not put in a 'shift' like the other players around him. When he was up front in his favoured position he did not exactly set the world on light. Best of luck to him though at Rochdale.

jontee wrote:

dc addict wrote:

Afcbpete wrote:

jontee wrote: From being a long time supporter of LB as manager, I now have to admit that the doubters were right all along. He has proved this in his transfer window dealings. . Whatever the real figure for Tubbs, it was obviously way over the odds, and after EM had said 'no more offers'. I think he is over rated and do not think he is the right type of player for us. . Why sign McDermott ? We needed a ball winner, not another forward. And does his reappearance mean a repeat of last season's mistake when he kept Pugh out of the team ? And gets booked too often. Still at least we didn't shell out more huge dosh for Ritchie. . And then Symes ! Why take a player who has been starting regularly and send him out on loan ? Bradders obviously has decided to get rid, otherwise Symes wouldn't have wanted to go. And we are short on strikers if injuries occurr.

As a doubter, I feel having had so much turmoil through the season, new players in/many injuries, I'm seeing how things develop through the rest of the season. I'm delighted with his signings, although my main concern is where will Malone play as I REALLY rate him. Will find it intereresting to see how Lee has them lining up. We still have Fletch, Jayden, Lyle to fall back on, and if push comes to a shove, maybe we can re-call Symes. Can't wait till Saturday, certainly hope it's not called off.

Pete, don't worry about Pugh or Malone. Pugh on right, McDermott in middle, Malone on left. Shaun McDonald in front of the defence. Wes Thomas and Matt Tubbs up front. The men who should worry are Harry Arter and Mark Moseley.The only thing about McDermott is that he tended last season not to track back when caught in possession thus necessitating a holding player but IMHO he is absolute class and was instrumental in getting us through to the play-offs last season. Jontee, I agree that Symes is a loss, particularly in the air. I have defended him often on here. However, as Marc Pugh said long ago, we need a 20 goal a season man and LB has identified MT as that man. We wait and see. UTCIAD

Well, I don't see McDonald as a ball winner. Last year we had 3 to chose from with normally 2 in the side. Now we have none.
.
I am a big Harry Arter fan and think it would be crazy to leave him out.
.
I thought we had a 20 goal a season merchant in Wes Thomas.

rednblack37 wrote:

Pandasfromhell wrote:
Tom Mitchell begs Crawley to keep mum about the tubbs transfer fee then comes out and says *its all way of the mark "
And there is one of Afcb problems .
Afcb is not seen as a "nice" friendly club anymore
The floating fans dont want to know because of cost and the Mitchell clan running the club .
Signing a 2nd division player like Tubbs will not bring people back
The damage has all been done and NO amount of PR can change that !!

I agree about the transfer fee, how can Mitchell junior moan that the reported figures are way off the mark when he won't reveal the correct figures? I've never known so many transfers be 'undisclosed', why can't we be told? All it does is mean the Echo estimate a higher figure, which the nationals and obviously Sky Sports picked up (cos they were reporting £800k for Tubbs too) and then other clubs think we're loaded with Russian cash - as shown with what Huddersfield were asking for McDermott originally. All our own boards fault for lack of transparency - again!!!!

rednblack37 wrote:

Pandasfromhell wrote:
Tom Mitchell begs Crawley to keep mum about the tubbs transfer fee then comes out and says *its all way of the mark "
And there is one of Afcb problems .
Afcb is not seen as a "nice" friendly club anymore
The floating fans dont want to know because of cost and the Mitchell clan running the club .
Signing a 2nd division player like Tubbs will not bring people back
The damage has all been done and NO amount of PR can change that !!

I agree about the transfer fee, how can Mitchell junior moan that the reported figures are way off the mark when he won't reveal the correct figures? I've never known so many transfers be 'undisclosed', why can't we be told? All it does is mean the Echo estimate a higher figure, which the nationals and obviously Sky Sports picked up (cos they were reporting £800k for Tubbs too) and then other clubs think we're loaded with Russian cash - as shown with what Huddersfield were asking for McDermott originally. All our own boards fault for lack of transparency - again!!!!