[Dancingwilldoit]

It's the silly season for rumours and double rumours. Kane Drummond looks like a good signing but the one big rumour is Paddy Madden. Now that one sends a chill down my spine but not in excitement. Am sure we can do better than him. It's a good job they keep raising the pension age or else our 2 main forwards would be close to qualifying.

Joking aside it's a big no from me.
Sorry to see non of the youngsters retained. Presume we have reasons but as they wouldn't count in the squad number I don't get it.

[SaltergateBorn]

I`m with you on both of those, Dancing.

If we`re going to offload our youngsters without giving them chance to develop fully and replace them with players who, with all due respect, are getting dangerously close to their mid-life crisis, that sounds like short-termism in the extreme to me. What`s the point in having an academy? I`m not impressed either, as you can probably gather. What`s more, the fact that Paddy Madden and Stockport couldn`t agree terms suggests that he has certain expectations as regards wages and that he won`t come cheap. At 34, is he really a good investment?

Also, I watched Loz Maguire have an excellent game for Crawley on the telly last night; apparently, he`s had a few of those since he went there. It seems strange that we release Clements, who didn`t do at all badly for us last season at the same time that Freckleton goes back to the Blades and we release Maguire, which leaves us with no cover for Horton. What happened between Loz and the management, I wonder?

I can currently be contacted at confused.com at any time of the day or night.

[Devongone]

Loz's face never seemed to fit did it? He played well at left back, centre back and Dancing and I both liked him as a defensive midfielder. He has done very well at Crawley, who have been doing well a division higher than us.

Kane Drummond has the right profile for us to sign. Paddy Madden's profile is decidedly wizened. He can play and score, but have I ever liked him? Answers limited to two adjoining letters which precede P in the alphabet. Like you I want to look to the future and I was thinking further than the middle of October. An experienced player or two in the middle of the park can be useful as several of our players proved last season, but with Grigg and Quigley on the books do we need more age up front?

We have a strong tendency to loan young players to Matlock, who then turn them into decent non-league players and not much more. We desperately need a place to develop players beyond the age of 18 and a better loans strategy. Why keep players on contract for a season if a Matlock-loan is to be their entire future?

If Horton is our best left back then we can look forward to seeing the National League again ......... both Maguire and Clements are simply better than him for a start.

Obviously something went very wrong with relations with Jeff King. He WAS our best back four player. What happened?

Suppose Freckleton has to go back to the Blades due to the loan, but surely if they don't want him, we can't be so daft as to miss the opportunity? At left back or centre back he easily makes our team at the moment. And he is young.

[Dancingwilldoit]

Oh shit. Looks like I'm going to have to eat my own words. Paddy Madden is now official.

[Devongone]

OMG!

I really, really don't want him.

There's a reason his form dropped off this season at Stockport. There's a reason they don't want to fight to keep him. They COULD afford to keep him IF THEY WANTED.

He'll get a few goals and I think Dobra will like playing with him.

I don't want to be shallow, but with his shortage of hair and ravaged looks he would make a good understudy for Martin Freeman in The Responder. Trouble is Freeman, good actor that he is, is 50.

[SaltergateBorn]

Well, there you go. I suppose that if he bangs in 30 goals for us next season I for one would be prepared to eat a portion of humble pie (with or without cream). I s`pose I could live with that.

[Dancingwilldoit]

2 year contract. I just wish we'd have spent our wage money more sensibly. We could probably have had 2 or 3 up and coming lower division players.
Thought we'd learned our lesson with the likes of OGrady and Ebanks Blake. I hope to God I'm proven wrong but why?

[Devongone]

Something tells me Salts that you will always be keen to deal effectively with any form of pie, with or without the very improbable cream of 30 goals in a season.

Cookie has never given us an O'Grady or an Ebanks Blake. Let's hope our history is a lesson he doesn't wish to repeat.

But like you I don't like us blowing a large portion of our wage budget on a retirement fund for a striker who sees both his own powers and the market for them declining. I can see why Madden wants to come. I'm surprised we are so keen.

[spireitematt]

Rumours we are linked with Kyle McFadzean.

[Dancingwilldoit]

Akinola signed for a year. That's a bit better. He certainly had something whilst here last time. Let's hope we can make him a team player and improve his consistency. He was excellent when he came on as a sub but seemed lacking when he started games. I'm happier with this one.