Stickied League 2 Transfer Rumours/Confirmed Transfers 2023/24

[loz]

i;m guessing his signing is why they didn't try harder to keep Vernam?

Vernam was always going home. Wish him all the best. If he replicates the form he showed since Mark Hughes came, Lincoln have done well.

 

[PuB]

Some very good signings around today.

Congratulations and well done everyone.

 

[Huntsman94]

Moneybags Stockport giving it a right good go. Fair play. Some cracking signings.

 

[Ellis]

Moneybags Stockport giving it a right good go. Fair play. Some cracking signings.

Not signed a single player with real league experience this window so not sure how the moneybags title fits just yet!

 

[PuB]

Not signed a single player with real league experience this window so not sure how the moneybags title fits just yet!

Very good signings though, and you can’t deny they would have had interest from other league clubs.

Exciting times to be a County fan if you ask me.

 

[Ellis]

Very good signings though, and you can’t deny they would have had interest from other league clubs.

Exciting times to be a County fan if you ask me.

Yeah just a bit tongue in cheek, the best part of these signings is that you can see there is a real squad building process going on. Our recruitment team and Challinor have identified our weaknesses from last season and are plugging the gaps. We’ve moved away from “kid in a Candy shop” to signing players who add to our already very good squad.

It is exciting, after nearly a decade of pain I am just enjoying the ride. Our director of football has stated in his latest interview we want to get promoted this season - for me personally I am still pinching myself that we’re finally an EFL club after the doldrum era of part time football. We could have a season of mid table obscurity next year and I’ll be happy like a pig in shit.

 

[Crewelad87]

Signed Harry Chapman.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1537849805766107136

Good player but he's a horrible little Sh!t. Always gets alot of stick at Crewe. Got abit of hand with all the pro thrown at him at Burton last season.

 

[WilsdenBantam]

Good player but he's a horrible little Sh!t. Always gets alot of stick at Crewe. Got abit of hand with all the pro thrown at him at Burton last season.

My kind of player tbh, when I look at the likes of McKirdy I think that’s what we’re missing a bit of shithousery. Our team has been meek for years now and we’ve sleep walked down the league. More of the same please, when we got to the league 1 play off final we had the likes of Vincelot and McMahon not fancy players but naughty.

 

[GTFCfish]

My kind of player tbh, when I look at the likes of McKirdy I think that’s what we’re missing a bit of shithousery. Our team has been meek for years now and we’ve sleep walked down the league. More of the same please, when we got to the league 1 play off final we had the likes of Vincelot and McMahon not fancy players but naughty.

If you like a shithouse just wait until John McAtee rocks up at your gaff.
If he scores against you then you’ll get what I mean.

 

[LordJord]

McAtee? You got a spare 700k?

Surely would have been no where near that figure if you had not gone up?

 

[Sestonpoolie]

Signed Harry Chapman.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1537849805766107136

Great signing.
Another Hartlepool lad we've missed out on.

 

[Chief Rocka]

Great signing.
Another Hartlepool lad we've missed out on.

Lee's brother again on Twitter reckoned it was a 'done deal' before Lee got the chop, Lee had tapped up half the players on the EFL database for next season!

That Geordie winger rocked up at Gateshead as well this week.

 

[WilsdenBantam]

If you like a shithouse just wait until John McAtee rocks up at your gaff.
If he scores against you then you’ll get what I mean.

I like them for us not against us, I’m sure I’ll be on here salty if he scores your winner

 

[DearneValleyRover]

McAtee? You got a spare 700k?

Good luck with that value

 

[Chief Rocka]

Good luck with that value

Aye silly season has truly begun!

 

[Casey]

Listened to a wagmi twitter talk earlier. As with all these things it was a lot of how well we are doing/aren't we great but a few things of note.

We have been talking to a player at a top league 2 club and he was very impressed with our new manager. It seems they laid out a specific training programme just for him on top of the general training regime. He said his present club didn't have any schedules for any players.

Talking to a 21 year old player at a league 1 club and he has said he is happy with the deal (words to that effect) so I'm presuming it's whether he wants to step down to league 2.

We have joined "Transfer Room". Seems we were one of only 3 English clubs of the 92 not to be in it. They had a meeting in Madrid and had productive chats with lots of clubs and named dropped a few that are no good to us at all really.

We have appointed a few more coaches. They are going to get around to announcing them shortly.

Ashley Nadersan has been on honeymoon but we somehow got hold of him in the passport queue to offer him a new deal...I'm really not sure whether to laugh or cry at that.

It's not that I dont believe them and I know I'm an old stick in the mud but their American optimism grates on me. A few "we tried and never got anywhere" type of responses would make me feel a lot better. I need my pessimistic comfort blanket.

Casey

 

[Son of Cod]

Very happy with the Ben Fox signing. I know fans reviews are hardly the best barometer (Ricky Holmes and Liam Roberts very recent examples of fans not rating them and them being amazing for us) but Grimsby fans seem to have rated him. With McWilliams possibly going we need someone who can break up the play and be a midfield engine and he seems to be very much in that mould, thought he was great in the playoff.

There was a strong rumour we were after John Mcatee, would have obviously preferred him but happy with Fox who we can hopefully develop further. Saw someone on the Grimsby forum suggest we are paying him 7.5k per week which is hilarious, he wont even be on half of that. 7.5k per month is more likely but we are according to someone in the recruitment team we had the 10th biggest budget last season. Surely no one is on that at this level (Matt Smith possibly biggest earner?).

Yeah Fox is very much in the engine mould and while I agree that 7.5k figure is laughable, he'll be on around half that at least I'd have thought. I reckon we'll have offered him around 3k pw.

There was no way you were ever gonna sign McAtee though I don't think. I reckon you'd have been looking at 350-500k if we'd have been in the National League but it's not even on the cards now we're up.

Good luck with that value

Aye silly season has truly begun!

700k easily right now, but that's exactly why nobody in League 2 will be taking him off our hands.

 

[F!RTHY]

Yeah Fox is very much in the engine mould and while I agree that 7.5k figure is laughable, he'll be on around half that at least I'd have thought. I reckon we'll have offered him around 3k pw.

There was no way you were ever gonna sign McAtee though I don't think. I reckon you'd have been looking at 350-500k if we'd have been in the National League but it's not even on the cards now we're up.




700k easily right now, but that's exactly why nobody in League 2 will be taking him off our hands.

£700k?

Is that your valuation or some contract clause?

We’ve paid £350k for Eoin Doyle in recent times, who has achieved far more than what McAtee has in the league.

He might be a great asset for Grimsby, and he’s unquestionably done well last season, but £700k? Hasn’t he got 4 league goals to his name?

Not for me.

 

[WilsdenBantam]

£700k?

Is that your valuation or some contract clause?

We’ve paid £350k for Eoin Doyle in recent times, who has achieved far more than what McAtee has in the league.

He might be a great asset for Grimsby, and he’s unquestionably done well last season, but £700k? Hasn’t he got 4 league goals to his name?

Not for me.

Seem to remember us getting offered(with Blackburn) Bradley Dack in his prime for £750,000, wages being the big stumbling block for us. Think people get carried away(ourselves included) with things like that Transfermarket and think players are worth crazy money. I remember our fans saying we’d get millions for Wyke and he scored 20 league 1 goals over a 46 game period roughly, believe we got around £600,000. Nahki Wells another people said we’d get huge money for, around £1.2M again that was in league 1 banging goals in for fun. The lad may go on the be worth that but he’ll have to do it regularly in the FL first and even then only if a championship club fancies taking a pun with a lot of it done in instalments. Player power is strong these days, if he wanted to leave they’d probably be talking £200,000 or so. He did look a decent player tbf, but the standard was appalling I’d still rather Walker and although his wages are probably a fair bit higher he was a free agent and there’s plenty of decent ones out there.

 

[EricSabin]

Think the Grimsby fans are over inflating Fox’s wages because he just chose to go somewhere else. We haven’t got a lot of money.

 

[pontoonlew]

£700k?

Is that your valuation or some contract clause?

We’ve paid £350k for Eoin Doyle in recent times, who has achieved far more than what McAtee has in the league.

He might be a great asset for Grimsby, and he’s unquestionably done well last season, but £700k? Hasn’t he got 4 league goals to his name?

Not for me.

In the same breath we got around that for Omar Bogle with half a season in the EFL.

McAtee is better than him, we had this last season in the NL forum where fans scoffed at how highly we rated him, now most of them are preparing for Dorking away after watching McAtee rip them to bits.

What is funny though is Northampton thought they might get him despite apparently being skint

 

[Chief Rocka]

In the same breath we got around that for Omar Bogle with half a season in the EFL.

McAtee is better than him, we had this last season in the NL forum where fans scoffed at how highly we rated him, now most of them are preparing for Dorking away after watching McAtee rip them to bits.

What is funny though is Northampton thought they might get him despite apparently being skint

I don't think anyone here has said they don't rate him, it's just a crazy figure to slap on someone who's had one good season under his belt, in the league below.

 

[LordJord]

In the same breath we got around that for Omar Bogle with half a season in the EFL.

McAtee is better than him, we had this last season in the NL forum where fans scoffed at how highly we rated him, now most of them are preparing for Dorking away after watching McAtee rip them to bits.

What is funny though is Northampton thought they might get him despite apparently being skint

We are not skint, but I think its natural to over inflate the value of your own players, which in this case is evident. We have a decent budget at this level, without being near the big hitters.

The fact hes from Burton suggests that location may have played some factor. Also we have been up and down in Leagues 2 and 1 in recent years whilst you guys have obviously bounced between League 2 and the national league.
Despite it being seen as a sideways move I think its more likely he will in a promotion push / potentially playing L1 during his tenure with us than with you guys, for whom im guessing mid table would be a success this season?

 

[Sestonpoolie]

Lee's brother again on Twitter reckoned it was a 'done deal' before Lee got the chop, Lee had tapped up half the players on the EFL database for next season!

That Geordie winger rocked up at Gateshead as well this week.

The lad who gives me the info said it was actually.
Who is the Geordie winger ?
I suggest Lee's brother listens to Hartley & Youngs interviews,he'll then see how lightyears apart they are from Lee & Nelson.

 

[Son of Cod]

£700k?

Is that your valuation or some contract clause?

We’ve paid £350k for Eoin Doyle in recent times, who has achieved far more than what McAtee has in the league.

He might be a great asset for Grimsby, and he’s unquestionably done well last season, but £700k? Hasn’t he got 4 league goals to his name?

Not for me.

I actually initially said we'd be looking at 350-500k in the National League and then that we could probably add another 200k on because of promotion so 700k is right at the top end of that. There's no reason for us to sell him, hence a rather inflated price tag. As Lew said we sold Bogle for close to a million after half a season here when we had a chairman who was desperate to sell players so considering everything I don't think we're being unrealistic. McAtee is probably the best attacking player we've had in the last decade.

Also not really fair to judge him on goals, he's more of a #10 than a goalscorer.

Doyle was also in his 30s when you signed him, whereas McAtee is 22.

 

[Luke Imp]

Building some solid foundations here, can't be many more who played for all three

Did you ever sign Dayle Southwell? He's done Lincoln, Grimsby, Boston.

Jonny Margetts must have been close to completing the set? I don't think Nathan Arnold will have played for you but did us and Grimsby.

 

[Son of Cod]

We are not skint, but I think its natural to over inflate the value of your own players, which in this case is evident. We have a decent budget at this level, without being near the big hitters.

The fact hes from Burton suggests that location may have played some factor. Also we have been up and down in Leagues 2 and 1 in recent years whilst you guys have obviously bounced between League 2 and the national league.
Despite it being seen as a sideways move I think its more likely he will in a promotion push / potentially playing L1 during his tenure with us than with you guys, for whom im guessing mid table would be a success this season?

Location definitely a factor, but there's no doubt you've offered more than we have but like I said further up there's no way it's 7.5k or anywhere near that.

Regarding our expectations for this season, a lot is dependent on our window. I see no reason why we can't have a crack at the playoffs though. Of the players we have signed up so far, none of them are deadwood and we'll have a competitive budget based on crowds alone. We're a different club now, free from the shackles of backward thinking ownership which is undoubtedly what had been holding us back at this level previously.

 

[Stocky]

What I like about the deals we're doing is that we're not handing contracts out, we're handing out dreams aswell. We've seen certain clubs who I'm not going to name going all guns blazing handing out daft contracts on big money to FL players. Certainly not our style.

The four lads we've signed will hopefully improve under Challinor. Challinor definitley sounds like he pushed for Akil Wright.

 

[Chief Rocka]

The lad who gives me the info said it was actually.
Who is the Geordie winger ?
I suggest Lee's brother listens to Hartley & Youngs interviews,he'll then see how lightyears apart they are from Lee & Nelson.

Tom Allan released by the Mags, signed for Gateshead the other day.

 

[chipmunx]

What I like about the deals we're doing is that we're not handing contracts out, we're handing out dreams aswell. We've seen certain clubs who I'm not going to name going all guns blazing handing out daft contracts on big money to FL players. Certainly not our style.

The four lads we've signed will hopefully improve under Challinor. Challinor definitley sounds like he pushed for Akil Wright.

our recruitment so far suggests we are largely going down a similar route - which shouldn't really be a surprise as Wild was at Halifax last season.