Alfie Jones
Another day, another Gillingham signing. I recall reading a quote somewhere that suggested Steve Evans would be taking it a little slower in the market this season.
Jones is a defender who joins on loan from Southampton and he was pictured at Priestfield smiling away as he held aloft a well-worn scarf. It’s seen more action than some of mine did as a child, it’s waved more often than the Queen’s delicately gloved hand.
Thus far they’ve signed Connor Ogilvie, Matty Willock, Stuart O’Keefe, Ousse Cisse, Nathan Thomas, Jack Bonham, Lee Hodson and Mikael Ndjoli.
That’s taking it easy in the book of Evans.
Ryan Hardie
Blackpool are a club in decent shape these days. They got rid of Owen Oyston, entered administration in order to change hands properly and have come out free of a points deduction (and rightly so) and with a lifelong fan in charge.
Simon Sadler said last night he had started talks with Terry McPhillips over his current contract, looking to give him something a little less wishy-washy than the one-year rolling deal he had.
They’re also in the hunt for Ryan Hardie. I like the look of this transfer. Hardie is 22-years-old and has come through the ranks with Glasgow Rangers. He’s struggled for game time there and has had loan spells with St Mirren, Raith Rovers and most recently Livingston. I stayed in Livingston once, didn’t rate it.
Anyway, it was good for Hardie as he bagged 14 goals in 32 outings across two loan spells. That’s got Blackpool interested as they hunt a partner for Armand Gnanduillet (seriously lads, my spell checker is on overtime here).
Sunderland
I’m beginning to wonder if maybe, just maybe, Sunderland’s problems might begin again this season. They’ve let Lee Cattermole leave for free, despite him being under contract. In addition to that, the takeover hasn’t happened as yet, Stewart Donald has deleted his Twitter account and their only signing is a defender released by Millwall.
It might be a case of putting two and two together and getting five. Still, releasing Cattermole is a pretty big thing. He’s been with the club ten years and has always served them diligently. He never spat his dummy out during their collapse and had a decent season in 2018/19.
Plus, they play a 4-2-3-1 formation and Cattermole is perfect to captain the side from one of the holding midfield roles. There is a train of thought they might hand the captaincy to George Honeyman, a player I quite liked but who is not in favour with supporters on Wearside.
To make matters worse they’ve offered Elliot Embleton a two-year deal and as yet, he’s refusing to sign it. he’s got a taste for first team football at Grimsby and wants assurances over his future.
I think this takeover needs to happen quickly.
Next Page – All League One Transfers This Weekend