Duffy.....

[Mally]

...has signed.

I don't feel happy about this signing particularly with the wages cap meaning it takes away funds for other players.

Lets hope that either:

a. He finds his feet at this level and proves some of his doubters (including me) wrong, or

b. We quickly sign a proven experienced goalscorer and use Duffy as back up.

[Mooro]

I cannot comment on Duffy himself, but a lot depends on where we are with the Wage Cap - a detail that noone seems to be able to establish it seems.

If we are right up against the limit, then is Duffy a good use of our last few pennies?
If we had just enough to convince an experienced striker to drop down, has it been wise to spend some of it on getting Duffy (and Day for that matter)?
If we have loads to spare before we hit the limit, is Duffy a decent backup?

Most worrying, are the club aware of what the limit is and bearing it in mind when it comes to making offers to players?

[Resurrection Ox]

I cannot comment on Duffy himself, but a lot depends on where we are with the Wage Cap - a detail that noone seems to be able to establish it seems.

If we are right up against the limit, then is Duffy a good use of our last few pennies?
If we had just enough to convince an experienced striker to drop down, has it been wise to spend some of it on getting Duffy (and Day for that matter)?
If we have loads to spare before we hit the limit, is Duffy a decent backup?

Most worrying, are the club aware of what the limit is and bearing it in mind when it comes to making offers to players?

Of course they are.

[Resurrection Ox]

...has signed.

I don't feel happy about this signing particularly with the wages cap meaning it takes away funds for other players.

Lets hope that either:

a. He finds his feet at this level and proves some of his doubters (including me) wrong, or

b. We quickly sign a proven experienced goalscorer and use Duffy as back up.

We need another striker. With physical presence.

[Baboo]

I've not seen Duffy play (so any comment is very unfair) - but I feel very pessimistic about the coming season at this point in time.

With the wage cap - why not scrap the reserve side and have a better quality smaller first team squad? Discuss.

[Myles Francis]

With the wage cap - why not scrap the reserve side and have a better quality smaller first team squad? Discuss.

I think that would be a counter-productive move and would make little difference to the cap. We don't really have a reserve side as such - the teams tend to be made up of experienced youths and first teamers returning from injury and/or in need of match fitness.

As I understand it, players on less than £100/week are excluded from the squad budget (not a wage cap, as the figure includes transfer fees etc as well as wages!).

[GodalmingYellow]

I've not seen Duffy play (so any comment is very unfair) - but I feel very pessimistic about the coming season at this point in time.

With the wage cap - why not scrap the reserve side and have a better quality smaller first team squad? Discuss.

If you scrap the reserves, you have nowhere for players to play who are part of the first team squad but are either not currently being selected or are returning from injury. So you end up with an unfit squad.

[Mooro]

I think structured reserve league football may become a thing of the past in the fairly near future, as more clubs are looking to arrange ad hoc friendlies against local sides when it suits both parties, rather than having to head off to the deep blue yonder during busy first team periods because the reserve fixture list says so.

As for OUFC, there are not many players in the squad who are only reserve level, except those making the transition from the youth team and perhaps the two trialists that have now signed (who I suspect are all not massively paid), so I dont think it is really needlessly eating up budget that could be spent elsewhere.

As for Duffy, I havent seen him play yet, but am I to understand he is a bigger build than Billy, Bash and the Yemster so may be useful as an alternative option, particularly while we are still searching for a more experienced frontman willing to drop out of the league to play for us.

[Baboo]

, particularly while we are still searching for a more experienced frontman willing to drop out of the league to play for us.

Are we really still searching for a more experienced frontman?
How long have we got to achieve this goal?
Does the transfer window apply at Conference level? (And lower down the structure too?)

[boris]

Does the transfer window apply at Conference level? (And lower down the structure too?)

Yes. As far as I'm aware the transfer window applies to all FA-affiliated leagues*

*on the other hand I might be talking out of my arse.

[Mooro]

Pretty sure it does not work all the way down the ladder but I'm not sure where it ceases to become valid....I'll see if I can find out