Eventful week – and now what happens in the next?
THE SIX WHO WEREN’T INVOLVED?
IT’S worth recapping the latest state of play in the summer transfer window for Burton Albion after another eventful week at the Pirelli Stadium.
The week just passed was not so dramatic in terms of the number of arrivals, although, technically, five signings who had been announced officially became Brewers players last Monday when their contracts elsewhere had expired.
The week passed with one new arrival, left-back Dylan Williams, on loan from Chelsea with a view to a permanent transfer and yet he had been, it appears, “in the can” for a while and had been training with the squad.
He brought the number of new signings to 12 for the summer so far.
Later in the week, four scholars, Toby Oakes, Cameron Gilbert, Kamil Dudek and Dylan Scott were announced, although the club press release referred to five, with Will Tamen already under contract since September. It is still an impressive number to come through the ranks.
The biggest happening of the week was the Welcome Event, in which more than 1,000 fans attended the stadium, on a mercifully dry evening, to hear each of the new directors speak, along with former owner Ben Robinson, Fleur Robinson, Ben Robinson junior, head coach Mark Robinson and new first team coach John Brayford, skilfully unveiled to occupy a chair which had been left vacant on the stage. Those who had spotted Brayford was wearing backroom kit rather than playing kit beforehand might have had an inkling.
It was a near-euphoric evening of great promise, in which all the right words were uttered by the staff, while deputy chairman Tom Davidson who, despite that title, is the founder of the Nordic Football Group, made an impassioned speech at the end about getting supporters involved and taking notice of what they have to say.
All good. I have said before that the NFG have not put a foot wrong so far. And yet, on Tuesday, and in the days that followed, I do believe they have stumbled slightly over one matter and I am expressing the hope that they resolve it quickly.
They have not told us what is happening to the six players who are still under contract who were not invited to feature – or declined to feature, we know not – in the welcome event.
They are Tom Hamer, Mason Bennett, Kegs Chauke, Rekeem Harper, Josh Walker and Jasper Moon. There is no escaping the fact that they were conspicuous by their absence.
The players, including the academy graduates, were brought on stage and introduced as “your Burton Albion squad.”
It had been stated ahead of the event that all the new signings would be present and if it had been only the new signings who were introduced, there would not – yet – be any cause to wonder.
But Ryan Sweeney, Max Crocombe and Ciaran Gilligan, senior squad members all under existing contracts, were among the group and are therefore clearly part of the plans.
None of those three are a surprise.
Sweeney was outstanding last season and has known Mark Robinson since he was eight, being coached by him in several age groups. Crocombe is the reigning player of the season and an international goalkeeper with a growing reputation. And Gilligan remains a midfielder of promise, worth nurturing.
Of the absentees, perhaps we might have expected that Chauke, who hardly played at all, Harper, who, although promising at times, really only found himself filling in for others, and Walker, whose move from Dagenham & Redbridge has been seen as an expensive mistake by former manager Dino Maamria for a while, would be asked to move on.
But Hamer has played a key role in 147 appearances since 2021 and, until this season, was never injured.
Moon was a big hit on loan and still has credit in the bank with most supporters despite a hit and miss season in a struggling side since signing permanently.
Bennett, it could be argued, is unable to go long enough without succumbing to injury and does not provide enough end product, in terms of assists or goals, to justify persevering with him – but he was not found wanting for effort and a determination to play through discomfort when the chips were down last season.
Whatever the merits or otherwise of the players, it seems to serve no purpose to let supporters keep guessing about their futures.
Peterborough United for one, although they are admittedly one of few, routinely list players under contract who they do not intend to keep as “available for transfer” at the end of a season. It makes sense.
Now, the chances are that conversations have been had with all six of these players and they know the score; the likelihood is that the new owners do not see them fitting into their vision and that they will be moving on, amicably.
But if NFG are to stick to their avowed intention of transparency in their dealings, this is one matter they should clarify.
OK, with that off my chest, where does the squad sit as we go into what is likely to be another busy week with at least two more signings being rumoured?
If the six are going, along with Josh Gordon and Cole Stockton of the contracted players who have already left, that is eight.
Then there are the seven who were released, six loan players who remained at the end of the season who have returned to parent clubs, and three of the six offered new deals who have turned them down and gone elsewhere: Joe Powell, Sam Hughes and Tom Hewlett. Add John Brayford, who has retired from playing, and I make that a whopping 25 players who have left the playing side of the club since the season’s end.
Who is left? Jakub Niemczyk, who has suffered so unfortunately with injuries, has accepted a six-month offer during which time he will hope to prove his fitness.
The other is Mark Helm, the only one left offered a deal whose future we do not yet know about.
That is why the “in” door is going to be busy a while yet. We have 25 out and 12 in. Don’t turn away!