Who do we need (Summer 2026)

[Ric Flair]

31 minutes ago, Les-TA-Jon said:

I'm not being facetious here - do we have any faith that our recruitment system has any real knowledge of League One level players or how to operate in this market? 

Categorically not

[kingpowerout]

35 minutes ago, Les-TA-Jon said:

I'm not being facetious here - do we have any faith that our recruitment system has any real knowledge of League One level players or how to operate in this market? 

If I were them I’d be studying Wrexham’s squad and seeing what type of players they brought in, 1 to gain promotion from League One and 2 to challenge within the Championship

 

but I’m fairly sure they will think they know better

[LVFox]

James Tavernier is leaving Rangers on a free. We could do with an experienced full back to help bring Aluko through. Chris Powell style 

[LeePhilpottsBaldSpot]

2 minutes ago, LVFox said:

James Tavernier is leaving Rangers on a free. We could do with an experienced full back to help bring Aluko through. Chris Powell style 

I'm all for squads balanced with youth, peak and experience but he's 35 this year.

 

Not seen him play to be fair but we'd probably do just as well keeping Ricardo Pereira (which we shouldn't!).

[LVFox]

49 minutes ago, LeePhilpottsBaldSpot said:

I'm all for squads balanced with youth, peak and experience but he's 35 this year.

 

Not seen him play to be fair but we'd probably do just as well keeping Ricardo Pereira (which we shouldn't!).

I’ve got no problem with a 2 or 3 33+ year olds being around the squad as we focus on our young players.

 

[LCFCCKEANO]

1 hour ago, LVFox said:

James Tavernier is leaving Rangers on a free. We could do with an experienced full back to help bring Aluko through. Chris Powell style 

Also have Jayden Joseph who has been very good in L2 and is 19

[josh]

2 hours ago, kingpowerout said:

If I were them I’d be studying Wrexham’s squad and seeing what type of players they brought in, 1 to gain promotion from League One and 2 to challenge within the Championship

 

but I’m fairly sure they will think they know better

Like Danny Ward and Connor Coady?...

[South Shire Fox]

Imagine there will be some free agents from Championship clubs and lots of loans 

[JimJams]

We don't have to go for League one players.  There's plenty of shit players at foreign clubs too.

[woznotwos]

Jack Marriott is the signing of the season in League One. 16 goals in 23 games across the campaign for Reading 

[Lambert09]

 

sounds about right. Probably wouldn’t say no tbf 

Edited 23 April by Lambert09

[marketharboroughfox]

Wrexham took the piss and spent loads on veteran players, it’s not something we can afford to be doing. I would focus on cheap and promising players with a point to prove, with some older heads around them to help

To be clear though, not a single one of this season’s shower should be involved.

[EastAnglianFox]

Callum Wilson and Chris Wood to fire us back to Championship plodders

 

Christ, I actually wouldn't put it past our lot

[Tuna]

1 hour ago, marketharboroughfox said:

Wrexham took the piss and spent loads on veteran players, it’s not something we can afford to be doing. I would focus on cheap and promising players with a point to prove, with some older heads around them to help

To be clear though, not a single one of this season’s shower should be involved.

Who are these veteran players other than Coady and Rodriguez?

[RowlattsFox]

Can't believe it's come to this but does anyone have a list of free transfers from championship clubs?  (not Daka or Ayew)

[kingfox]

Ricardo Santos - Swansea

 

Has barely played for them, experienced, knows League 1, made the League 1 PFA Team of the Year three times in a row while at Bolton. 

[slymunn]

3 hours ago, Tuna said:

Who are these veteran players other than Coady and Rodriguez?

James McClean, Steven Fletcher, Ben Foster, Matty James, Keiffer Moore?

[South Shire Fox]

When Pearson was here he signed players already in the EFL like Jack Hobbs, Lloyd Dyer and Michael Morrison. The top scorer in League one is 22 year old Dominic Ballard who plays for Leyton Orient and has scored 22. Theres a young winger called Reyes Cleary for Barnsley who has 19 goal contributions this season. Peterborough always sign good young players (Toney, Ronnie Edwards, Smodicz, Mason Clark). Sort of areas to look at if we had any money to spend. Combined with a few talented young players on loan from the Prem

[Dan]

On 22/04/2026 at 12:46, Les-TA-Jon said:

I'm not being facetious here - do we have any faith that our recruitment system has any real knowledge of League One level players or how to operate in this market? 

After January's window and the subsequent agent fee announcement I'm now about 95% convinced we don't actually do any scouting and just let agents do everything for us. It's why we never actually address weaknesses in the team and just seem to get a lucky dip of players arrive in deadline day. They're so, so pig-headed to reality and just think everything magically fixes itself. X club fixed itself, so we will fix ourselves, failing to take into account why X club actually fixed themselves.

 

Lascelles was the only signing I could really see the logic in and that was never a sure thing by any means - a risk with his lack of gametime. Hasn't really improved us. Hasn't really played a lot anyway and often when he has we've had to waste a sub because he can't hack 90 minutes. Mukasa looked decent early doors while fresh out of a football club with a winning mentality but has soon become very much a part of the rot - he's been Leicestered and probably wasn't even worth bringing in. Aribo and Richards - predictably both a complete waste of time and money and have somehow offered even less than Soumare and Carranza.

 

But it's OK. It's the same people. The "we'll be fine" mentality is a self-fulfilling nightmare because the further we sink, the less likely they are to take it seriously. They won't think there will be any effort needed to overcome Stevenage or Leyton Orient. They've had their noses bloodied by clubs you would've absolutely ridiculed people for suggesting we could finish below 12 months ago, so I've no idea why more of the same couldn't play out.

 

Rudkin has thrown the towel in. It's remarkable to me how he gets through the day. I have instances where I cock up myself and would at least try and rectify it if I'd fallen behind. This lot just seem to feel further empowered the worse things get.

 

TLDR: No, they will not have a clue and they will turn to the agents as per.

[Tommy Fresh]

1 hour ago, South Shire Fox said:

When Pearson was here he signed players already in the EFL like Jack Hobbs, Lloyd Dyer and Michael Morrison. The top scorer in League one is 22 year old Dominic Ballard who plays for Leyton Orient and has scored 22. Theres a young winger called Reyes Cleary for Barnsley who has 19 goal contributions this season. Peterborough always sign good young players (Toney, Ronnie Edwards, Smodicz, Mason Clark). Sort of areas to look at if we had any money to spend. Combined with a few talented young players on loan from the Prem

Morrison hadn't even played in the EFL which kind of backs your point up

[FosseSpark]

I think we will be 30 to 50% home grown in the squad, 25% experience and 25% punts on League One up and coming. 

 

Goalies: Stolarczyk + someone like Forster or retain Begovic

Experience: Tavernier, Ashley Barnes, James Milner type characters. Potentially keep on Lascelles and Souttar if the latter will take a pay cut

Home grown: Nelson, Aluko,  Page, L.Thomas (eughh), Braybrooke, Briggs, Cartwright, Alves, Evans, Hutchinson, 

New punts: Kone, Jatta, Rush (Borehamwood - literally anystriker

 

we will absolutely get rid of / sell Skipp, Winks, Choudhury, Ricardo, Daka, Vestergaard, Faes, Okoli, BEK, Fatawu, Mavididi, Monga, Ayew, BDR, Mukasa, Ramsey, James, Richards- which is 18 players out the door!

[Lambert09]

8 hours ago, marketharboroughfox said:

Wrexham took the piss and spent loads on veteran players, it’s not something we can afford to be doing. I would focus on cheap and promising players with a point to prove, with some older heads around them to help

To be clear though, not a single one of this season’s shower should be involved.

I know we’ve been severely burnt but if we are going to be successful with the rebuild we will need some experienced professionals. But we need ones with the right personality. 
 

It’s easy to think we should avoid it after ayew, coady etc but if we bring in a real leader/ model professional it will genuinely have a huge impact on what will likely be a squad littered with youth players. 
 

tavernier, Milner or the like might seem classic Leicester on paper but if the attitude is right it works.  Our issue has been the older players we’ve brought in have all been terrible influences and are all coming for the wrong reasons. 
 

we need some strong characters. I would be happy if lascelles signed. I think he seems to have his head screwed on compared to the rest of this lot 

[CornwallFox]

2 hours ago, Lambert09 said:

I know we’ve been severely burnt but if we are going to be successful with the rebuild we will need some experienced professionals. But we need ones with the right personality. 
 

It’s easy to think we should avoid it after ayew, coady etc but if we bring in a real leader/ model professional it will genuinely have a huge impact on what will likely be a squad littered with youth players. 
 

tavernier, Milner or the like might seem classic Leicester on paper but if the attitude is right it works.  Our issue has been the older players we’ve brought in have all been terrible influences and are all coming for the wrong reasons. 
 

we need some strong characters. I would be happy if lascelles signed. I think he seems to have his head screwed on compared to the rest of this lot 

The experienced professionals we should be aiming for should be in the 26-28 age range, not 32+. We need athleticism and power, not wrecked legs

[themightyfin]

On 22/04/2026 at 12:46, Les-TA-Jon said:

I'm not being facetious here - do we have any faith that our recruitment system has any real knowledge of League One level players or how to operate in this market? 

Seems they have bedn selecting league 1 standard and lower for 90% of the transfers in the last 5 years so we should have nothing to worry about. 

[marketharboroughfox]

10 hours ago, RowlattsFox said:

Can't believe it's come to this but does anyone have a list of free transfers from championship clubs?  (not Daka or Ayew)

Might not be a popular suggestion, but Jake Bidwell from Cov. Legs probably gone at Championship level but a very good influence in training and good leadership material by all accounts.