Darlo Uncovered

Donawa, Heaton, Bell and Omar all signed up, we’re just awaiting international and FA clearance.

Well done Alun! Excellent pre season recruitment that has left us with a solid 20 man squad on a lower budget than TW’s!

Darlo_CR wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 30, 2019 9:00 pm

Donawa, Heaton, Bell and Omar all signed up, we’re just awaiting international and FA clearance.

Well done Alun! Excellent pre season recruitment that has left us with a solid 20 man squad on a lower budget than TW’s!

And Glover gone left by mutual consent. Shame that TW and AW could not develop him. Signed for nothing and left for nothing so we broke even!

Superb news, absolutely superb. By my reckoning that means the squad must look like the following:

Elliott/Hall
Trotman/Laing/Galbraith/Heaton/Watson/Liddle
Atkinson/Hatfield/Holness/Wheatley/Bascombe
Thompson/Rivers/Holmes/Donawa/Bell
Campbell/O’Neill

With Burn the odd man out. Frankly speaking I’d have snapped your hand off for that squad going into the opening game given the team that finished last season. Granted most fans of all clubs get swept away with optimism and rose tinted views on new signings at this time of year but I don’t think anyone can argue that the quality and depth of our squad is so much improved. Couple this with the fact there’s no real pressure on the lads as such (i.e. expectations of promotion with play-offs largely considered a bonus) and I think we have plenty of grounds to be quietly optimistic for the coming season. I’ll happily go on record and say I think we may well surprise a few of the more fancied teams. Bring it on!!!

Fantastic depth in almost all positions in that squad. How much were we overpaying players last season to have ended up with 5 youth teamers on the bench when we have that kind of cover now?

Feel like running down to the bookies to put a bet on for a top 3 finish. Any winnings will go on Beat the budget 2020!

bga wrote:

Darlo_CR wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 30, 2019 9:00 pm

Donawa, Heaton, Bell and Omar all signed up, we’re just awaiting international and FA clearance.

Well done Alun! Excellent pre season recruitment that has left us with a solid 20 man squad on a lower budget than TW’s!

And Glover gone left by mutual consent. Shame that TW and AW could not develop him. Signed for nothing and left for nothing so we broke even!

Harsh to say he's not been developed - he's still only 18, probably way ahead of most others his age at this level.

The squad looks well balanced for the first time in ages. Plenty of options and cover in all positions - great work and I look forward to seeing how we get on this season. Hopefully Campbell gets in to some early goals and we can kick on from there.

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bga wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 30, 2019 9:21 pm

Darlo_CR wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 30, 2019 9:00 pm

Donawa, Heaton, Bell and Omar all signed up, we’re just awaiting international and FA clearance.

Well done Alun! Excellent pre season recruitment that has left us with a solid 20 man squad on a lower budget than TW’s!

And Glover gone left by mutual consent. Shame that TW and AW could not develop him. Signed for nothing and left for nothing so we broke even!

let us see if TW signs him?

Of course he will.

Wijnhard's_Schlong wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 30, 2019 9:42 pm

Elliott/Hall
Trotman/Laing/Galbraith/Heaton/Watson/Liddle
Atkinson/Hatfield/Holness/Wheatley/Bascombe
Thompson/Rivers/Holmes/Donawa/Bell
Campbell/O’Neill

Considering the squad we had last season, coupled with a budget cut - I'm astounded we've managed to get a squad which looks that deep and seemingly with good quality too. There's a couple of question marks, and a few unknowns, but it looks a well balanced squad with the potential to do well. Assuming we are in budget (and I've no reason to doubt we aren't) then Armstrong has done a remarkable job, and it also raises serious questions as to how much we were overpaying some players last season!

From my understanding Watson, Liddle and Holmes combined wage is roughly the same as Ainge’s last season. Speaks volumes!

Very happy looking at that squad. We’re in a much better position now than 12 months ago. Can’t wait for it to start now!


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Wijnhard's_Schlong wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 30, 2019 9:42 pm

Superb news, absolutely superb. By my reckoning that means the squad must look like the following:

Elliott/Hall
Trotman/Laing/Galbraith/Heaton/Watson/Liddle
Atkinson/Hatfield/Holness/Wheatley/Bascombe
Thompson/Rivers/Holmes/Donawa/Bell
Campbell/O’Neill

With Burn the odd man out. Frankly speaking I’d have snapped your hand off for that squad going into the opening game given the team that finished last season. Granted most fans of all clubs get swept away with optimism and rose tinted views on new signings at this time of year but I don’t think anyone can argue that the quality and depth of our squad is so much improved. Couple this with the fact there’s no real pressure on the lads as such (i.e. expectations of promotion with play-offs largely considered a bonus) and I think we have plenty of grounds to be quietly optimistic for the coming season. I’ll happily go on record and say I think we may well surprise a few of the more fancied teams. Bring it on!!!

Agree with this with the emphasis on not getting too far ahead of ourselves by over selling anything that can be achieved with what looks like a very capable squad. It was probably fair to say that last year also began with great optimism based on the finish to the previous year, the money generated from the sale of Heaton, and the Marathonbet cash, which resulted in what looked like quality signings such as Ainge. And we still had Styche as a regular goalscorer. When we beat Brackley early on after almost beating Spennymoor, it was probably fair to say that we thought TW had found the formula for a playoff finish. Then it all fell apart. It was clear that Styche and Ainge were difficult to play together as they had different needs to be effective. The midfield were lacking as Wheatley wasn't well and Hughes wasn't capable, and we had defenders and a goalkeeper who never seemed to play to their potential as early season errors knocked their confidence.

Armstrong has the benefit of starting from a lesser position. He is the new man, so has no baggage to queer his pitch and will have a lot more understanding from the fans if it takes a bit of time to get things right. He probably has had less money to spend, so has had to be more circumspect about his planning and signings. But the benefit has been to cool expectation and be prepared to give the team a chance. It has also seen a much more measured approach to signing players. Whilst a good number have come from Blyth with known qualities, the rest of the team has been assembled rather more thoughtfully than last season with signings being brought in where there was an identifiable hole in the squad. Last season felt a bit like a person who had just won the lottery and was out on a spending spree buying up many bejewelled items without thinking what use they would be and where we would put them, and, as it turned out, quite a few of these trinkets were made of paste.

If we can get through that first intense month or so with a even or slightly better record then all will be well, and it seems that we have enough capacity in the squad to face this initial period with the confidence that we can rotate the squad and still have a more than capable set of players on the field.

on paper that squad is looking very good. lets see how it does on the pitch.

delighted and surprised to see Josh Heaton back - hope for him and us he's just as good as when he left us...

Jonny Madison has signed for Port Vale.. Hope he proves the Darlo doom mongers wrong

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Wijnhard's_Schlong wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 30, 2019 9:42 pm

Superb news, absolutely superb. By my reckoning that means the squad must look like the following:

Elliott/Hall
Trotman/Laing/Galbraith/Heaton/Watson/Liddle
Atkinson/Hatfield/Holness/Wheatley/Bascombe
Thompson/Rivers/Holmes/Donawa/Bell
Campbell/O’Neill

Have you not missed off young Holliday as I'm sure he was on the squad photo.

quakerste wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 31, 2019 4:29 pm

Wijnhard's_Schlong wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 30, 2019 9:42 pm

Superb news, absolutely superb. By my reckoning that means the squad must look like the following:

Elliott/Hall
Trotman/Laing/Galbraith/Heaton/Watson/Liddle
Atkinson/Hatfield/Holness/Wheatley/Bascombe
Thompson/Rivers/Holmes/Donawa/Bell
Campbell/O’Neill

Have you not missed off young Holliday as I'm sure he was on the squad photo.

Yep he was. Probably be on dual registration I guess this season. But is the right back if anything happens to Trots