Farman is going to be on his way by the looks of it which is a shame. Norman doesn’t look too bad though.

When you say he’s on his way by the looks of it, what do you mean?

Have you been told something by someone in the know or is it a bit of guesswork?

Just a hunch with him putting Norman in the other night. Beech has probably been told he can't have both with the young lad being the number two next season.

Norman's signed up til 2022 so it's hardly rocket science.

It literally outrages me in cafes and stuff when they say 'do you want beans or tomatoes on your breakfast' and I say a bit of both and they look at me like I have just brought dogshit into their establishment on my shoe and then insulted their mother, once they stop stuttering at my insubordination they either tell me that I can't because that particular breakfast doesn't come with both (they grin whilst telling you this as well) I like to tell them that we can put people on the moon but you are unable to put those two components on a plate or they try and put me off by telling me that it will be 60p extra for a 'smidge' of beans, I would pay a fiver just to wipe the smirk off their faces - and don't get me started on 'do you want egg OR pineapple with your gammon sir'.

Sorry, regarding Farman and Norman - a long way round of putting it but can't we have both?

Bennett when fully fit is a proven league 1 defender, he needs to be allowed time to regain his fitness, he would be my first choice partner for Hayden. Feeney has potential, when the injury gods begin to give him a break. When fit and with a season under his belt he could potentially be up to Championship level, so possibly worth a gamble.

If Bennett wants to stay it will probably mean Anderton will have to move on so as to balance the wage bill. McDonald I believe is a steady backup at CB, but if he wants game time he might be prepared to move, which would allow Feeney a slot on the bench.

My biggest worry is that someone will take Hayden from us.

McDonald seems to have gone up in some people's estimation, he was getting pelters every game a couple of weeks ago.

Several similar Threads now merged into one!

Bennett when fully fit is a proven league 1 defender, he needs to be allowed time to regain his fitness, he would be my first choice partner for Hayden. Feeney has potential, when the injury gods begin to give him a break. When fit and with a season under his belt he could potentially be up to Championship level, so possibly worth a gamble.

If Bennett wants to stay it will probably mean Anderton will have to move on so as to balance the wage bill. McDonald I believe is a steady backup at CB, but if he wants game time he might be prepared to move, which would allow Feeney a slot on the bench.

My biggest worry is that someone will take Hayden from us.

Anderton isn't a centre back......

I think Feeney is a massive gamble tbh
Highly rated yes but he's been plagued by injuries

I would think every team in the bottom 2 divisions is looking to get the wage bill down. With our transfer windfall I'm not sure why we are looking at players like Feeney who, I would guess, is on barely more than minimum wage. Why can't we be more ambitious than that?
Pablo Martinez is due to be released at Bristol R, he was being touted as one for the future not long ago.

First Year Pro’s Armstrong, Barnes, Birch, Lightfoot and Wilson all released at the end of the Season:

Beech was raving about Armstrong in pre season too.

Beech was raving about Armstrong in pre season too.

Unfortunately another youngster held back by injury, Dixon must have a lot to offer as he's been blighted by injuries and still given an extended chance. With all our young defenders released it looks like Feeney might be staying.

All the best to the lads released, just hope they keep their heads up and get a second chance.

Nixon admitted that he and his fellow owners, who have been at the helm since 2008, have “run out of cash” to keep the club running.

He said to supporters in the Sunset Suite: “You've been extremely patient with us. We've run out of cash. We don't have any more to spend.

I like how he says "we've " It's Jenkins money .

Feeney is definitely staying if you read Skeltons remarks from yesterday's match rates him highly, and why not he's only played 60 min since been signed, he was one for the future will have to prove himself next season.
To many writing of players without giving then a chance

As I’ve already said, shades of Riley signing last Summer.

Feeney is 22yo and will want to kick on and make his career, if he was fit he’d be nowhere near Brunton Park!

Did not know how good he is...was. So potentially another Tanner, Armer, Riley signing.

Stephen Dobbie has left Queens. He’s only 38 and could be within our budget!

Stephen Dobbie has left Queens. He’s only 38 and could be within our budget!

He's ready made for Man Utd age wise.....

Isn’t he retiring.

Still a few to be sorted, guess we’ll hear in the next week...

Still a few to be sorted, guess we’ll hear in the next week...

Who do you think will get offered a new deal?

One of the strangest goings on was when they had Keith Curle deciding who stayed or went - even though they knew that he was leaving.

Who do you think will get offered a new deal?

I hope it does not happen but Anderton.

Farman could be a interesting one.

With being on the lower 6 teams for budget who knows.

CCU.

Feeney is 22yo and will want to kick on and make his career, if he was fit he’d be nowhere near Brunton Park

How good is he, how did he do in his 60 mins in the Central Cup. Strong and confident statement there CCU

Each club gets a budget league table after the season finishes. Just the budgets not any club names so you can work out where you are in relation to others. I don’t think they’ll know this seasons figures yet.

Is that 6th bottom from last season?

Each club gets a budget league table after the season finishes. Just the budgets not any club names so you can work out where you are in relation to others. I don’t think they’ll know this seasons figures yet.

Is that 6th bottom from last season?

Exactly. How would they know for this season. Still think we are operating on a playing budget this year for a million. Next year we will go below this as will other clubs I believe.

I wonder if this will include all coaches in the budget or is just players only.

I wonder who has the smallest budget, Morcambe..

So the lads who have had their 1 year options extended will I guess be on the same T's and C's as this year.

Wonder if the club will then look to extend them again as I guess they could then leave for free and put us back in the same boat at the end of next season where there will be probably more cash around.

Each club gets a budget league table after the season finishes. Just the budgets not any club names so you can work out where you are in relation to others. I don’t think they’ll know this seasons figures yet.

Is that 6th bottom from last season?

Exactly. How would they know for this season. Still think we are operating on a playing budget this year for a million. Next year we will go below this as will other clubs I believe.

I wonder if this will include all coaches in the budget or is just players only.

I wonder who has the smallest budget, Morcambe..

In Curles last season the budget was 2.25m,that was the maximum allowed by the salary cap. When he went the budget was reduced by 20% according to clibbins, so about 1.8m. That's first team squad, not including coaching staff

Jenkins said Pressley had a very similar budget to Keith Curle.

An article from the 2018-19 season about Port Vale and their budget would suggest clubs will have had a list of budgets for this season's already by this time.

https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/port-vale-playing-budget-garlick-2512993


"The chief executive has revealed the figures in answer to accusations that the Valiants have done things 'on the cheap' this season.
He has got his facts from the Football League, who examine every club's spending and then issue each of the League Two clubs with a list of the spending in the division.
Clubs are given a list of the 24 different wage bills, without the names of the clubs.
But Garlick knows Vale's own budget and so can work out from the list that Vale are tenth."

I'm getting fed up with the budget talk now, it's becoming far too repetitive. This season has proved we can push towards the top of the table with a supposedly bottom quarter budget. The article states that Port Vale have a top 10 budget and we've taken 4 points off them, they will probably finish 13th. Budget really means very little as were led to believe Salford have a very high budget but they're only sitting a place above us, Bolton have been doing well recently but they were awful in the first half of the season. It all about using what budget you do have to get the best players you can afford, this season we've gone for a lot of hungry young players with points to prove and quite a few of them have turned out to be very good players. Some of the older pro's have been the poorer performers this season. This budget excuse needs to stop and they need to concentrate on doing the best with what we have rather than going on about the money we don't have. I read an interview with the Accy manager Coleman recently and he said that they take on 3-4 trialists a week, either talented non-league players or guys who've been released by bigger clubs, this seems a good approach to me, you might get 9 who arent good enough but you could get 1 diamond.

I agree with aberdeenblue, talk of budget sizes is just something to hide behind when things go wrong, money spent by the wrong person will not guarantee success, or even improvement. Everton spent almost £390m on their 25 man squad, Burnley spent £82m no way are the squads results £300m different.

I agree with aberdeenblue, talk of budget sizes is just something to hide behind when things go wrong, money spent by the wrong person will not guarantee success, or even improvement. Everton spent almost £390m on their 25 man squad, Burnley spent £82m no way are the squads results £300m different.

Our biggest problem this season in my eyes is the fact our best players are all under the age of 24, for most this was their first full season and some were learning new positions, the problem is they haven't the knowledge or experience to deal with setbacks. Our record when coming from behind is atrocious, we crumble after conceding a goal. This should have been thought about when signing players last season. The senior pros for me aren't leaders, the most vocal on the pitch is often Callum Guy. Bring in two or three leaders who've been there and done it and we'll see improvements. Senior pro's don't have to be the best players or put a dent in the budget, all they need to do is lead.

Is that not what Bennett was brought in for?

Is that not what Bennett was brought in for?

Good player, never convinced me that he's a leader.

I'm getting fed up with the budget talk now, it's becoming far too repetitive. This season has proved we can push towards the top of the table with a supposedly bottom quarter budget. The article states that Port Vale have a top 10 budget and we've taken 4 points off them, they will probably finish 13th. Budget really means very little as were led to believe Salford have a very high budget but they're only sitting a place above us, Bolton have been doing well recently but they were awful in the first half of the season. It all about using what budget you do have to get the best players you can afford, this season we've gone for a lot of hungry young players with points to prove and quite a few of them have turned out to be very good players. Some of the older pro's have been the poorer performers this season. This budget excuse needs to stop and they need to concentrate on doing the best with what we have rather than going on about the money we don't have. I read an interview with the Accy manager Coleman recently and he said that they take on 3-4 trialists a week, either talented non-league players or guys who've been released by bigger clubs, this seems a good approach to me, you might get 9 who arent good enough but you could get 1 diamond.

Port Vale might only finish 13th but what a blistering end of season they have had - they were doing a 'Bolton' until they ran out of time, I would put their failure down to their previous manager, they were 3-0 up against Tranmere and still got beat 3-4.

A total contrast to us - their manager is on the upward trajectory and ours is on the downward.

Now if I were their chairman I would be rubbing my hands together thinking a few tweaks here and there, bit of strengthening and we can go for the title next season, now we all know that this is not how football works.

After last season I am not prepared to let myself get excited about Beech tweaking anything, I have seen his work before - if he were a mechanic he would fix his cars with broken parts.

I'm getting fed up with the budget talk now, it's becoming far too repetitive. This season has proved we can push towards the top of the table with a supposedly bottom quarter budget. The article states that Port Vale have a top 10 budget and we've taken 4 points off them, they will probably finish 13th. Budget really means very little as were led to believe Salford have a very high budget but they're only sitting a place above us, Bolton have been doing well recently but they were awful in the first half of the season. It all about using what budget you do have to get the best players you can afford, this season we've gone for a lot of hungry young players with points to prove and quite a few of them have turned out to be very good players. Some of the older pro's have been the poorer performers this season. This budget excuse needs to stop and they need to concentrate on doing the best with what we have rather than going on about the money we don't have. I read an interview with the Accy manager Coleman recently and he said that they take on 3-4 trialists a week, either talented non-league players or guys who've been released by bigger clubs, this seems a good approach to me, you might get 9 who aren't good enough but you could get 1 diamond.

Port Vale might only finish 13th but what a blistering end of season they have had - they were doing a 'Bolton' until they ran out of time, I would put their failure down to their previous manager, they were 3-0 up against Tranmere and still got beat 3-4.

A total contrast to us - their manager is on the upward trajectory and ours is on the downward.

Now if I were their chairman I would be rubbing my hands together thinking a few tweaks here and there, bit of strengthening and we can go for the title next season, now we all know that this is not how football works.

After last season I am not prepared to let myself get excited about Beech tweaking anything, I have seen his work before - if he were a mechanic he would fix his cars with broken parts.

This is Beech's first job compared to Clarke's fourth. `We'll know by the fourth game of next season if Beech has learnt anything. IMO this is his most important transfer window, get this wrong and he's gone.

We need a voice in defence and midfield, players who people will listen to, and someone who can tell CB what needs changing or isn't working. Due to CB's and Gav's lack of experience it's either that or a Rob Kelly type of assistant.

We need a voice in defence and midfield, players who people will listen to, and someone who can tell CB what needs changing or isn't working. Due to CB's and Gav's lack of experience it's either that or a Rob Kelly type of assistant.

No chance of an experienced assistant, what would happen to Skelton? I do worry that Beech doesn’t want older name presence in the dressing room, I just get that feeling he’d be worried that he would be undermined.

Port Vale finished 8th in 19/20. They were expected to challenge at the top end this season

The best feature of this season has been that our best players are under 24.

I reckon the best feature of this season is that it is nearly over.

I completely forgot about the Cosgrove money.

We have to add that to the dosh received for Hope, Henderson, Branthwaite, Galloway & McCarron.

What's the total of all this?

The £1.1m of Funds received in the 19/20 Figures will account for initial Fees for Branthwaite, McCarron and Galloway, plus a few shekels for Hope.

The notes said that it wasn’t all received at once - That could be the coin from Leeds that took some time to come at a guess.

We won’t know about cash from Cosgrove & Henderson, plus any add-ons from Branthwaite until we see the 20/21 figures, which will be into New Year 2022...

We need a voice in defence and midfield, players who people will listen to, and someone who can tell CB what needs changing or isn't working. Due to CB's and Gav's lack of experience it's either that or a Rob Kelly type of assistant.

But we already have an experienced person in the building.....Holdsworth.... that's what Clibbens told me when I queried why Beech didn't have an experienced assistant.
Don't all laugh at once.

8 of the Squad left we’ve yet to hear about:

Anderton
Bennett
Farman
Furman
Patrick*
Scott
Toure*
Zanzala

* = Option if we wish to extend

Think we’ve got a tough task holding on to Bennett and/or Zanzala. Both will have interest from clubs in league 1, I expect.

I doubt many tier three clubs will be interested in Zanzala after the level of his performances since breaking into the side.

Maybe other tier four clubs.

What was the reason Bennett signed for us in the first place? Has that changed?

I doubt many tier three clubs will be interested in Zanzala after the level of his performances since breaking into the side.

Maybe other tier four clubs.

What was the reason Bennett signed for us in the first place? Has that changed?

I think Bennett signed based on his relationship with beech at Rochdale, early on on in his career

Piglet has called this right...both league two players/lower one standard at best. Wish we’d not spunked so much of the budget on them in Jan, although hindsight is a wonderful thing

A lot of people think Bennett will be off. He is nearly 30. We have seen the best and worst. He has not offered consistency and like others we have seen mixed standards of performance and has carried injuries this season. Had Bennet really played at a higher or consistent level to where he can leave on better terms.

Lets wait and see but I would be happy if he returned next year. If he goes not a disaster given that it will be a buyers market for value.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhys_Bennett