First Signing of the season.
Really like this one. If we have him on a 3 year contract then we can definitely expect to get a nice fee for him in the future. He didn’t play in the games where we stuck 8 past them so that adds to his credentials
Now hopefully we can get Effiong and Lawless wrapped up. That’s now only 10 players signed for next season. A lot of work still to do.

Now hopefully we can get Effiong and Lawless wrapped up. That’s now only 10 players signed for next season. A lot of work still to do.
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Interesting trio through the door.
Oscar Rutherford, at just 20, has enormous capacity to develop but also an impressive amount of appearances under his belt already. The kind of signing we like to see, whose versatility will be an asset given it's unlikely he takes Ling's right-back slot. By all accounts was quite highly rated by Eastleigh fans, who were largely surprised to see him go.
Another young defender in Trent Rendell, who slotted into Braintree's backline at the back end of last season and played every minute of the three play--off games that all ended after extra time. Not a clue about him but that experience will serve him well, albeit this a step up, and he didn't seem to do too great on loan at Eastleigh.
Then Josh Umerah, a striker very much in the Effiong mould, but hopefully not a direct replacement. Seemed to lose his way at Hartlepool last season after being very good for them in League Two with twelve goals. Remember him being very good against us for Wealdstone a couple of years back. Hopefully we can get him back firing.
Certainly a lot of positions where we remain weaker than the side that finished the season, so some quality additions needed over the coming weeks.
Oscar Rutherford, at just 20, has enormous capacity to develop but also an impressive amount of appearances under his belt already. The kind of signing we like to see, whose versatility will be an asset given it's unlikely he takes Ling's right-back slot. By all accounts was quite highly rated by Eastleigh fans, who were largely surprised to see him go.
Another young defender in Trent Rendell, who slotted into Braintree's backline at the back end of last season and played every minute of the three play--off games that all ended after extra time. Not a clue about him but that experience will serve him well, albeit this a step up, and he didn't seem to do too great on loan at Eastleigh.
Then Josh Umerah, a striker very much in the Effiong mould, but hopefully not a direct replacement. Seemed to lose his way at Hartlepool last season after being very good for them in League Two with twelve goals. Remember him being very good against us for Wealdstone a couple of years back. Hopefully we can get him back firing.
Certainly a lot of positions where we remain weaker than the side that finished the season, so some quality additions needed over the coming weeks.
I suppose there's a possibility Strevs sees Rutherford as a winger. Which could therefore mean conceivably 9 of our starting 11 is now settled with a CDM and CB still required.
I would have thought Rendall is going to start the season on the bench, probably as 4th choice, but one for us to develop.
Expect a left back in if Johnson doesn't sign, and more reinforcements in forward areas and CM.
I would have thought Rendall is going to start the season on the bench, probably as 4th choice, but one for us to develop.
Expect a left back in if Johnson doesn't sign, and more reinforcements in forward areas and CM.
Agree about Rutherford. When I have seen him play he looks more like a wing back than a full back. He will definitely bring a lot of energy to wherever he plays and he is young enough to improve.
Rendall also has a lot of potential and would seem to be a replacement for Longe-King in the squad. Longe-King was a decent squad player but he was of an age that I could not see him improving greatly whereas Rendall could be a good player with proper coaching and would learn a lot from Eastman (although all of our defenders could do with that).
Umerah is an interesting signing. A few seasons ago Hartlepool would never have considered letting him go and wonder what has happened to him since then. If we can get him playing like he did early on for Hartlepool we could have a proven goalscorer. At least he would be better than anything we had last season as back up to Inih.
Therefore so far it seems that the incoming players are improving the squad quite a bit. A replacement for Appiah-Forson would be handy but that will be difficult as his type and standard of player is not readily available.
Rendall also has a lot of potential and would seem to be a replacement for Longe-King in the squad. Longe-King was a decent squad player but he was of an age that I could not see him improving greatly whereas Rendall could be a good player with proper coaching and would learn a lot from Eastman (although all of our defenders could do with that).
Umerah is an interesting signing. A few seasons ago Hartlepool would never have considered letting him go and wonder what has happened to him since then. If we can get him playing like he did early on for Hartlepool we could have a proven goalscorer. At least he would be better than anything we had last season as back up to Inih.
Therefore so far it seems that the incoming players are improving the squad quite a bit. A replacement for Appiah-Forson would be handy but that will be difficult as his type and standard of player is not readily available.
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A couple young players is nice to see, our squad that was left had a very old age to it. Jury is out for me on Umerah, was very good in a spell but has suffered with injuries of late, has the potential to be a very good signing but big ifs so I would hope another quality striker comes in.
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I like the first 3 signings!
A mix of youth and experience across various levels.
My concern is the lack of information about players who were offered new deals like Inih!
A mix of youth and experience across various levels.
My concern is the lack of information about players who were offered new deals like Inih!
I'm hoping that we get good news on that because to lose Inih would be a big loss.WelshDagger15 wrote: ↑Sat Jun 01, 2024 10:58 am I like the first 3 signings!
A mix of youth and experience across various levels.
My concern is the lack of information about players who were offered new deals like Inih!
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Inih won’t be signing, would have done so by now if he wanted to stay with the terms offered.