TT BLOG

Sam Jones – @samuellejones

Sam reflects on the last five summer transfer windows.

Well, what a few months it has been for the Gulls. From administration and saying goodbye to Osborne and Johnson, to the Bryn Consortium saving us and appointing a proper manager, the only thing missing are some players. As of time of writing, we have one player on the books so maybe the club need to look into that. In the meantime, here is a look back at the last five summers of transfer activity.

SUMMER 2019

Manager: Gary Johnson

Notable Incomings: Lucas Covolan, Jake Andrews (Permanent), CLE (loan), Armani Little, Joe Lewis (loan), Matt Buse

Notable Outgoings: George Essuman, Jamie Sendles-White

It was a summer of keeping hold together the title winners from the previous campaign, and it proved very successful. The NLS quality fringe players departed and three of the key Bristol City loan quartet returned. It was a season which was cut short in March due to the pandemic, but the signings brought in would go on to make great strides in a yellow shirt.

Verdict: B – Looking at that list, it’s riddled with real quality. Cov eventually took over as number One and scored that memorable goal the next year. Lewis, Little & CLE proved very astute signings from GJ and have gone on to have good careers in the Football League. The sort of quality we never replaced.

Opening day starting line-up – Boreham Wood (H) 2-1: MacDonald, Wynter, Cameron, Niate, Vincent, Andrews, Little, Hall, Kalala, Reid, Duku

Subs:  Lemonheigh-Evans, Edwards, Keating, Covolan, Lewis

SUMMER 2020

Manager: Gary Johnson

Notable Incomings: Sam Sherring (loan), Adam Randell (loan), Danny Wright, Josh Umerah, CLE (Permanent), Dean Moxey

Notable Outgoings: Jamie Reid, Ryan Dickson, Kalvin Kalala

The Gulls took to an empty Plainmoor to defeat Stockport in October in the opening game, and went from strength to strength. Summer activity proved on point, with the loan additions of Adam Randell and Sam Sherring who were integral to the squad. Jamie Reid found a move to the EFL with Mansfield and has gone but Wright proved to be an inspired signing. Captain Hall took leadership to a new level and took his goal tally to double figures, whilst Moxey’s experience was invaluable. 

Verdict: A+ – The season we had can be traced to the business we had done over that extended COVID summer break. The loss of Reid was sure to be felt, but GJ found real quality once more, and it was oh-so-near for the Gulls. God I miss those days.

Opening day starting line-up – Stockport (H) 1-0: Covolan, Wynter, Cameron, Sherring, Andrews, Whitfield, CLE, Buse, Nemane, Wright, Umerah

Subs:  MacDonald, Hall, Koszela, Randell, Britton

SUMMER 2021

Manager: Gary Johnson

Notable Incomings: Mark Halstead, Ali Omar, Dan Martin, Tom Lapslie, Klaidi Lolos

Notable Outgoings: Kyle Cameron, Aaron Nemane, Billy Waters, Ben Whitfield

A summer of activity that will go down as one of the least memorable. A play-off defeat in Late June meant pre-season was a matter of a few weeks, and recruitment was rushed. ‘Manic Monday’ saw no fewer than 7 new signings, with key men such as Cameron and Whitfield moving to NL opposition. I still maintain that Manic Monday was the greatest thing the club has ever done. Will we see a return of it this year?

Verdict: D – The recruitment was very rushed, and so it showed. The start of the season was very poor and it took some time, and mid-season re-enforcements, for the team the to gel. None of the players who were brought in will live long in the memory, apart from Lolos who is now playing in League One.

Opening day starting line-up – Altrincham (H) 1-3: Halstead, Wynter, Lewis, Omar, Moxey, O’Connell, Little, Lapslie, Rogers, Wright, Holman

Subs:  Johnson, Hall, Lolos, Martin, Brzozowski

SUMMER 2022

Manager: Gary Johnson

Notable Incomings: Brett McGavin, Ross Marshall, Shaun Donellan, Ben Wyatt, Aaron Jarvis, Corie Andrews, Dylan Crowe, Ollie Tomlinson, Kieron Evans (loan), Will Goodwin (Loan)

Notable Outgoings: Armani Little, Ben Wynter, Shaun MacDonald, Joe Lewis, Danny Wright, CLE, Klaidi Lolos

Well, we thought the 2021 summer recruitment was poor. But the summer 2022 took that to a whole new meaning. Gary basically assembled a squad that was only ever going to get relegated. Apart from a couple of standouts (Aaron Jarvis and Will Goodwin) the rest of the squad was never National League level, or even NLS level. Ollie Tomlinson is the one I’m holding out hope for, as he does seem to have something about him. There will probably never be a larger gap between the players we lost and the players we brought in.

Verdict: F – Utterly dreadful recruitment. Our marquee signing in Corie Andrews played about 20 minutes of football before being shipped off, and most of the other looked like they won a competition. It’s pretty telling that most of them were shipped off to rapturous applause from the Yellow Army.

Opening day starting line-up – Oldham (H) 0-0: Halstead, Wyatt, Marshall, Omar, Moxey, McGavin, Hanson, Crowe, Evans, Goodwin, Andrews

Subs:  Lovett, Hall, Koszela, Tomlinson, Nathaniel-George

SUMMER 2023

Manager: Gary Johnson

Notable Incomings: Lewis Collins (Permanent), Dillon De Silva (Permanent), Finley Craske, Kevin Dawson (Permanent), Jack Stobbs (Permanent), Bradley Ash, William Jenkins Davies.

Notable Outgoings: Frank Nouble, Ali Omar, Ben Wyatt, Olaf Koszela

After a strong end to the season before, a lot of the players who were on loan were made permanent, with Lewis Collins and Kevin Dawson being the big names. Also brought in was Bradley Ash, who had a cracking season with Weymouth the year before. Despite that, the signings never really made much impact and they sort of become irrelevant as the club was put into administration.

Verdict: F – On paper, not a bad summer but in reality it turned out awful again. None of the signings really made any impact and most of them will be moved on this summer. Lets hope Wotton can improve this year, it can’t be much worse!

Opening day starting line-up – Dover (A) 2-2: Halstead, Craske, Tomlinson, Donellan, Lapslie, Hall, McGavin, Jenkins Davies, Collins, Jarvis, Ash

Subs:  Lovett, De Silva, Martin, Moxey, De Silva

COYY – SAM

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