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English Franchise League Season 2015/16

Timmo

By Timmo
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Baring

Baring

Posted
Posted

Lee Tomlin left Boro! Bit random that.

I thought he was class last season, but at least he's getting a crack at the prem with Bournemouth. Probably a canny pay rise also even if it's for one season.

On his Twitter he said the club didn't want him and he could leave, seems a bit odd.

Good luck to him anyway.

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Steely

Steely

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Aye shame that, he offered something different.

I saw the same games as you and I thought he was class but apparently he did blow cold the majority of the time according to other fans. I wonder who will play on the left now...Fabrini? Carayol?

Raising money for a bigger Rhodes offer?

I really hope the figures flying around aren't true!

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BitterToad

BitterToad

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Looks like Mitroglou's off to join benfica then. Has to go up there as one of the worst singings of all time. Signs for Fulham for a record 11 million, plays 3 times over 2 years and then sods off on loan. I never figured we'd see him again but as he appeared in the pre season it would have been nice to watch him tear up the championship again.

Still, we've got old Boss McScoremack up front and rumours of Dwight Gayle incoming on loan. We need all the strikers we can get after letting in 5 more times than I'd care to remember last year.

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Plissken

Plissken

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Posted
Burnley FC


Out


Danny Ings (Liverpool - tribunal), Kieron Trippier (Spurs - £3.5m), Jason Shackell (Derby - £3m), Ross Wallace, Cameron Howieson, Alex Cisak, Richard Eckersley (all released)


In


Jelle Vossen (Genk - £2.5m), Chris Long (Everton - Free), Tendayi Darikwa (Chesterfield - £550,000), Matthew Lowton (Aston Villa - £1m)


Clarets start their season for the 13th time in the last 15 years accompanied by something new - expectation. Despite relegation from the land of milk and money, a small squad didn't disgrace themselves. Indeed, points against three of the top four showed that Sean Dyche and his band of happy scrappers could cut it in unfamiliar territory. So, back in the Championship, keeping hold of the manager, everything should look rosy, right?


To be honest, if all goes well, then Burnley should be there or thereabouts for the season. The losses of Danny Ings and Kieron Trippier were to be expected. The departure of Jason Shackell is remarkable not only for the money paid for him - and to him - by Derby but for the acrimony surrounding it. Unlike his compatriots, there is no official "thank you" video on the Clarets website and he is likely to get a hostile reception from the Turf Moor faithful. Which is a shame, considering he was a solid centre back for three years, and scored two goals in t'Classicos.


In comes some astute signings. Jelle Vossen played for a Boro side that just missed out on promotion and is a proven scorer in the Championship. Matt Lowton is looking to get his career back on track after making an impact for Villa and then fading away. Tendayi Darikwa was Chesterfields Player of the Year in a campaign that saw the Spireites miss out to Preston in the League One playoffs. PNE were trying to sign him only for Burnley to use their greater financial muscle (a phrase that you'll very rarely hear) to snatch him away.


Add in a returning Sam Vokes, still regaining fitness, George Boyd, a real favourite, Matt Taylor back after a season out with injury, new contracts for key players like England goalkeeper Tom Heaton (another phrase you won't hear often) and David Jones and it looks good.


Except.


Burnley have bought players and acted like they have some semblance of seriousness in the transfer market for the first time in a long time. But the squad is still painfully thin. It looks like we go to the opener at Leeds on Saturday with one recognised central midfielder in David Jones. Dean Marney is still out with a cruciate injury, so Scott Arfield could be pressed into service and his flaws were exposed horribly in the second half of the Premier League season. Burnley last paid money for a centre midfielder in the summer of 2012.


Shackell is gone and there is some doubt about the defence. Michael Duff signed a new one year contract taking him up to his 103rd birthday. His partner could be Michael Keane - a 21 year old who still looks raw (and has some severe problems with crosses). Or it could be Ben Mee, who has been the left back for the last three seasons. With Kevin Long the only other centreback at the club and he is out long term with a cruciate injury. How Dyche will fit Mee, Keane, Duff, Darikwa and Lowton into a back four will be interesting.


Upfront there will be a reliance on somebody stepping up to the plate to replace Ings. Vokes hasn't looked like he has recovered properly from his cruciate injury, Ashley Barnes is gone for the season after doing his anterior and medial cruciate. Lukas Jutkiewicz keeps up his remarkable goalscoring record, in 10 pre-season matches he has 12 goals and never troubled the scoresheet in a game that actually counted. Marvin Sordell is unlikely to get a chance (rumours had it Huddersfield were interested in him). Chris Long is an unknown, though 4 in 11 for Brentford last season is hopeful. A lot rides on the shoulders of Jelle Vossen, though maybe Boyd, Michael Kightly and Taylor can contribute from midfield.


We're financially secure, have a great manager and on paper, can put out a first eleven that can hold their own. The problem is we're not underdogs. Clubs will not came at the Clarets and enable us to hit on the break. The squad is thin and, to be honest, a little slow. The strikers are, at best, unproven. And the Turf crowd can be hugely unforgiving. A bad start to the campaign is not going to go down well, even if the fans should be aware of how tight the Championship can be.


Prediction: An acceptable season is to be in the playoffs for the full season. Too many Clarets fans are banging on about automatic promotion, but that is doing some other clubs (Derby, Boro) a disservice. Plus the usual wildcards come through in the madness of the division. For me, a place in the top six and four points from two matches against them would be a good return.

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Rsdio

Rsdio

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Pretty deflating to see the first team sheet and have three of your more dangerous players out but I can't say I expected us to get a lot at Hull today anyway, on paper they look really strong for this division since they don't seem to have lost too many players over the summer.

I've been waiting to do our write-up since how optimistic I am really depended on what we brought in in defence - we've needed a really good centre-back to partner Joel Lynch for years and everyone assumed it'd be our number one priority this summer, especially having conceded 75 last time around. As yet, no dice though.

Notable outs:

Conor Coady (Wolves, £2m) - This was a disappointing one but the way the club is run (ie well, compared with most) means we have to make a decent sale every now and again and Coady's been the sacrificial lamb this summer. £2m is a good fee for us for the player he is now but could also prove to be a bargain for Wolves in the long run considering his potential.

Oscar Gobern (released, now at QPR) - Has shown quality at times during his three years here, but nothing like enough to justify another contract really. Injured constantly and even when he plays he tends to be blowing out of his arse after an hour. Potential to come good and be another Scott Arfield but really it was right for everybody that he got a new start.

Martin Paterson (released, now at Orlando City) - Thought he was a shite signing from the off, wish I hadn't been proved right!

Anthony Gerrard (released) - Has been OK (at times) on the pitch but well-known to be a total bell-end off it, so well rid really.

Jon Stead (released, now at Notts County) - Things rarely work out second time around I guess.

Ins:

Jason Davidson (free after release by West Brom) - Obviously didn't work out for him in the Premiership but experienced for his age, in various leagues and at the World Cup. Will have to go some to be an improvement on our left-back loans last season (Jack Robinson and Reece James) but has the pedigree. Also has a topknot so naturally loads of our fans think he's gay (sigh).

Dean Whitehead (free from Middlesbrough) - In theory should offer leadership and protection in midfield but we have a great knack of signing experienced players right at the moment their legs go so I'm not convinced about this one yet.

Jordy Hiwula (undisclosed from Man City) - The sort of signing I like us to make and we've done pretty well from Man City's academy cast-offs in recent years. Can play up front or on the wing, pacey and with a bit of height too. A punt with lots of potential.

Kyle Dempsey (£300k from Carlisle) - As with Hiwula, the sort of signing to get me excited. Got a fair few goals and assists for Carlisle last season and seems to love a tackle, so a bit of everything really. Their fans liken him to Gazza which certainly won't be bad sort of player to have if he can adapt the higher division.

Martin Cranie (free after release from Barnsley) - A ball-playing centre-back but it's fair to say this wasn't the defensive signing most were hoping for. Despite that, he should be a useful squad player since he can play in a few positions.

To be honest I fear for us a little without that key central defensive signing, Mark Hudson should really have been the player to come in and knit it all together but he's looked well past his best since arriving in January. If we can get someone in before the window shuts I'll be optimistic that we can improve on last year and maybe threaten to trouble the top half.. Without it I think we'll probably be struggling to keep our heads above water again.

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merman

merman

Posted
Posted

New season, same old Ipswich - threw away a two goal lead in the last ten minutes.

I hope we are looking back on it as a good point against a top team, rather than two points dropped.

Good to see Sears having a good game of it.

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Rsdio

Rsdio

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Yeah he started out really well for us last season but faded a lot as the season went on, but that's not really unusual in young players I suppose. We can't really complain at making £1.6m profit (plus potentially more with add-ons) in 12 months but it would've been nice to see him develop here a little bit longer.

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Ork1927

Ork1927

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First half of Cardiff Fulham today was a dreadful 0-0 with both teams looking like it was the last game of the season with nothing to play for.

Excitement not helped that for the first time I can recall on opening day we didn't have a single new player on the pitch.

Second half much more lively with our keeper making a massive mistake for their goal (which isn't good news as he is the understudy to Marshall who is off to West Brom), then various missed chances at both ends , a disallowed goal and then an absolute screamer from Noone to equalise.

I'd be surprised if we didn't have the worst and best goals of today's Championship fixtures.

Probably a fair result.

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ryodi

ryodi

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It's an incoherent clown show. I don't understand why it's so bad, when Channel 5 had the Europa League their coverage was better than what ITV were putting out. This is just embarrassing and Twitter is filled with people longing for Manish Bhasin and Steve Claridge.

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Gabe

Gabe

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I actually didn't mind the Football League Show on the Beeb, I didn't even realise they'd lost the rights until I was flicking through channels earlier and saw it come up. From the 3 minutes I watched it looked terrible. Didn't watch enough to judge if it was worse than ITV's Premiership highlights though.

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Rsdio

Rsdio

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The Football League Show wasn't bad once they got rid of the awkward 'reading out the view from the fans' bit, but it really needed some fresh faces punditry-wise. This new one was a right dog's dinner but I quite like the idea of having a revolving cast of ex-pros.

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Rsdio

Rsdio

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I meant this new show, I know who it was :)

He was poor but to be fair I don't think anyone would've managed to rescue the show. I don't think it's a bad approach to the punditry side of things in theory, they might end up unearthing some fresh talent (who'll then immediately be signed up by one of the better channels, obviously). One show probably isn't enough to judge anyone on though.

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smithstock

smithstock

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Posted

Lee Tomlin left Boro! Bit random that.

I thought he was class last season, but at least he's getting a crack at the prem with Bournemouth. Probably a canny pay rise also even if it's for one season.

On his Twitter he said the club didn't want him and he could leave, seems a bit odd.

Good luck to him anyway.

Aye shame that, he offered something different.

I saw the same games as you and I thought he was class but apparently he did blow cold the majority of the time according to other fans. I wonder who will play on the left now...Fabrini? Carayol?

I really hope the figures flying around aren't true!

I was surprised to see Tomlin go but I can't say I disagree with the decision. Last season he was either the best player on the pitch or he was completely invisible. He was never a left sided player either, his best performances were sat behind the striker. But after seeing Sunday's performance, Fabbrini looks a far better player so I can't complain.

Problem is though; we lose Bamford, Vossen and Tomlin which equate to about 30 goals + assists and we've replaced them with Downing and Fabbrini. I'm still not convinced we are stronger than last season. The word is that we are (finally) getting David Nugent for around £4m after missing out on him for free last year. His best days are long gone but I'm not sure who else is available.

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Rsdio

Rsdio

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I'd take Dwight Gayle at £6m over Nugent for £4m (good player though he's been at this level) or Rhodes for £14m, personally. Apparently that's what Bristol City have had accepted, rising to £8m.

It seemed mental when the clubs coming up from League 1 were spending millions on players (though it worked out alright for Bournemouth especially, in fairness) and now a year or so on those fees are being dwarfed. Burnley's record signing is £3m and they've had two stints in the Premiership. Ours is like £1.3m :lol:. We're doing well to hang in there in this division really.

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