England > Antepost > BlueSQ Bet Prem 2012/13

[HastGill1]

Re: England > Antepost > BlueSQ Bet Prem 2012/13

Good first signing for Buckle getting a League 1 player in.

Luton must be offering a hell of a lot wages wise for him to drop to this level! Played 40 odd games for Stevenage in League One and gets offered a new deal but chooses to drop to the Conference? I don't imagine Stevenage are the biggest payers but it looks a surprising move..good news for Luton mind.

[kevshat]

Re: England > Antepost > BlueSQ Bet Prem 2012/13 I understand it's about the challenge rather than the money. I wouldn't think he's taken a pay cut or anything like that but I have been told that certainly Preston offered him more money and one or two other clubs as well. Being local and living just up the road probably helped. That's signing one all sorted. Signing two will be announced either today or tomorrow, a player who I imagine Hastgill will have seen quite a bit of.

[HastGill1]

Re: England > Antepost > BlueSQ Bet Prem 2012/13

I understand it's about the challenge rather than the money. I wouldn't think he's taken a pay cut or anything like that but I have been told that certainly Preston offered him more money and one or two other clubs as well. Being local and living just up the road probably helped. That's signing one all sorted. Signing two will be announced either today or tomorrow, a player who I imagine Hastgill will have seen quite a bit of.

Lol, indeed ;)..Spiller was the only one of the initial players we released I was surprised about, the fact is he was injured too much last season to earn a new deal but never stood out as a bad player and I think he will do a good job for you. He won't run the midfield but will always keep running and was one of the better set piece deliverer's at the club, probably our first choice actually when he played. He was liked by the fans (no mean feat at Gillingham) and I think everyone will wish him well, hope he does a good job for you, the key will be if he can stay out of the treatment room..

[Darran]

Re: England > Antepost > BlueSQ Bet Prem 2012/13 I know nothing about Spiller, but from what I have read it sounds like he is a Chris Hargreaves type player and he was a massive part of Buckle's Torquay side.

[Darran]

Re: England > Antepost > BlueSQ Bet Prem 2012/13 I thought the news of Henry coming might mean Pilkington was on his way out and it seems he is off to Mansfield along with Poku.

[kevshat]

Re: England > Antepost > BlueSQ Bet Prem 2012/13

I thought the news of Henry coming might mean Pilkington was on his way out and it seems he is off to Mansfield along with Poku.

Don't they play completely different positions?

[Darran]

Re: England > Antepost > BlueSQ Bet Prem 2012/13 Thought Henry was a central defender getting mixed up. In which case its surprising he has gone especially to another BSP club in my view.

[kevshat]

Re: England > Antepost > BlueSQ Bet Prem 2012/13

Thought Henry was a central defender getting mixed up. In which case its surprising he has gone especially to another BSP club in my view.

30 years old, probably only one contract left in the game on his terms so he's going where he's getting more money. Can't blame him for that. Fair play to him and good luck to him. Left a bit of a sour taste in the mouth that he couldn't even be bothered to inform us that he wasn't accepting our contract offer before he signed for them but that's footballers and agents for you in this day and age I guess. AMS has also gone too.

[Darran]

Re: England > Antepost > BlueSQ Bet Prem 2012/13 Yes just seen AMS has gone as well. Just seen it tweeted that Pilkington phoned up Buckle and explained it to him, but like you say it sounds like that was after it was all signed. Mansfield must be really splashing the cash if they offered him more money than you. Im still surprised he has gone to another BSP club though and he obviously also thinks he has a better chance of winning the league at Mansfield.

[Darran]

Re: England > Antepost > BlueSQ Bet Prem 2012/13 Ive taken the 4/1 on Luton as it looks an e/w bet to nothing in my view. With the Shaw signing it isnt going to be around for much longer and I cant see 4/1 being on offer again before the season starts.

[Darran]

Re: England > Antepost > BlueSQ Bet Prem 2012/13 So another ex Gillingham player for Luton. Is he a good signing HastGill?

[kingiam]

Re: England > Antepost > BlueSQ Bet Prem 2012/13 Luton made some signings: - A longish read fellow punters but worthwhile. Little Bit On Spiller Spiller signed on non-contract terms with Wycombe Wanderers for a month during August 2009,before leaving the club to sign for Welling United on 4 September 2009.After making one appearance and spending 6 days with Welling, Spiller joined League Two side Dagenham & Redbridge on a contract until January 2010.His debut for Dagenham & Redbridge came on 12 September when he came on as a substitute for Danny Green in a 2–1 home win against Chesterfield. When Andy Hessenthaler re-joined Gillingham as manager, he brought Spiller in on trial,and signed him on a five-month contract.He made his second debut for Gillingham in a 1–1 home draw against Cheltenham Town on 7 August 2010, and the contract was extended for a further year and a half in December 2010. Spiller, 30, was limited to 15 League Two games last season and has concluded his second spell with the Gills. Little Bit on Henry In January 2005, Henry joined Hertfordshire side Stevenage until the end of the club's 2004–05 campaign. He was part of the side that made the Conference National play–off final in 2005, falling one game short of promotion to the Football League. The following season, he was made captain, and was part of the Stevenage side that won the FA Trophy in the first ever competitive final at Wembley Stadium; ultimately becoming the first ever player to lift a competitive trophy at the new stadium in May 2007. He enjoyed FA Trophy success once more in 2009, before being an instrumental part of the side that earned promotion to the Football League the following season. Henry also played a key part during the club's 2010–11 campaign, helping Stevenage earn promotion to League One. In May 2012, Henry left Stevenage after seven years with the club. He has also played four times for the England C team. Little Bit on Shaw On 29 May 2010, Shaw rejoined fellow Conference National side Gateshead on a 2 year deal.He made his first appearance of the season against Cambridge United on 4 September 2010.Shaw scored his first goal for Gateshead on 11 September 2010 in a 2–0 home victory over Altrincham. On 15 January 2011, Shaw scored a hat-trick in Gateshead's 6–0 victory at home to Hampton & Richmond Borough.On 19 February 2011, Shaw scored his second hat-trick for Gateshead in a 7–2 victory against Wrexham at the Racecourse Ground.He was named Blue Square Bet Premier Player of the Month for February 2011, after scoring six goals in five league games that month.He was also named Blue Square Bet Premier Player of the Month for August 2011, after scoring in each of the six league games during the opening month of the 2011–12 season.Shaw scored back-to-back hat-tricks, his third and fourth hat-tricks for Gateshead, on 24 September 2011 against Hayes & Yeading United and the following game on 27 September against York City, both games ending as 3–2 victories for Gateshead.[On 28 January 2012, Shaw scored his 50th Gateshead goal in only his 80th appearance, his 40th league goal in 67 league games for the club. At the end of the season, Shaw rejected a new contract offered by Gateshead. The 28-year-old, scored 28 goals in the Blue Square Bet Premier last season, taking his tally to 45 in two years. Little Bit on Rendell In June 2010 Rendell signed for an undisclosed fee for League Two side Wycombe Wanderers.In his first season as a Wycombe player he was top of the goalscoring charts at the club, with a return of 19 goals, 9 of which were penalties, six more than he scored for Torquay the previous season. Wycombe won promotion and he found himself on loan to Bristol Rovers the following season.On 31 January 2012 Rendell signed on loan for Oxford United. Opinion Odds @ 7/2 with skybet for the Town to win the conference after the 4 signing above - specifially Shaw a long term target - 28 League Goals last season - repeat that 28 League goals for a team finishing 8th? Henry for some beef & expereince (League experience) The hatters quality, strength has increase & odds increase? - Rendell can score a few as well. Am I happy? Very happy firepower for the hatters has increased massively and odds increased to 7/2 or drifted to 7/2 whichever way you wish to look at it. If you fancy this to be the Town's season @ last then odds of 7/2 is value. Gets better - my earlier post a few weeks back stated Luton needed some beef and expereince and as finishing typing this up Luton Town have agreed a deal to sign Garry Richards on a two-year deal from 1 July. Hatters boss Paul Buckle said: "I'm after winners, and Garry is a winner." Buckle continued: "With both Colchester and Gillingham he has had the experience of winning promotion. "He's a leader too, and has a real presence in defence. He is strong and powerful." Luton have lacked experience, 'beef in defence' and prolific goals scorers & Mr Buckle is filling all the gaps nicely. Obvioulsy each supporter in the conference will be slighly swayed by their own teams signings but with my team being Luton and wanting to take some money from our Friends the bookies I really feel that Luton are building something that can retrun profits to us punters. I Hope you find the info and opinion above helpful, Enjoy the rest of the Euros & good luck on any bets. Cheers.

[Darran]

Re: England > Antepost > BlueSQ Bet Prem 2012/13 Blue Square have added markets for promtion, a top 5 finish and a bottom 4 finish. Was looking forward to the bottom 4 finish market but hard to see there being much value at the moment.

[Shipsupstreets]

Re: England > Antepost > BlueSQ Bet Prem 2012/13 First day match prices out at BlueSQ. Nothing to get too excited about just yet - I'll post a thread as soon as Odds-comparison go live with them.

[NewPunter]

Re: England > Antepost > BlueSQ Bet Prem 2012/13 This year looks to finally be the year Luton win it, have made some excellent signings

[Bobby Woodruff]

Re: England > Antepost > BlueSQ Bet Prem 2012/13 I don't think FGR will stay 8's for long if they take advantage of their reasonable start, I think that they are play off material but the point made earlier about team spirit in a larger squad is a very good one. Hockaday has done well recently but has a volatile relationship with the fans and expectations are higher than they have been for sometime. Will wait for the handicaps on this.

[HastGill1]

Re: England > Antepost > BlueSQ Bet Prem 2012/13

So another ex Gillingham player for Luton. Is he a good signing HastGill?

Sorry, only just seen this. He is a good defender yes, he was in and out of our team over the whole time he was with us, mainly due to his poor distribution, he has one setting and that is hoooof. I don't know what Lutons options are like at centre back but if he is playing alongside a good ball player and the manager can stop him knocking it long all the time he will be fine. His advantages are his physical size - really big lad, he won't be knocked off the ball by anyone. He is superb in the air in both boxes, and has a lot of courage will put his head in where the boots are flying, he is also quite young and is still learning the game something our fans often forgot. Who he plays with and giving him options to pass to in the defensive midfield area will be important. To anyone thinking of doing an antepost bet on Luton (and I'm probably one of them), Richards and Spiller are decent players, certainly not the worst we had on our books last season and should strengthen Luton.

[Darran]

Re: England > Antepost > BlueSQ Bet Prem 2012/13

Sorry, only just seen this. He is a good defender yes, he was in and out of our team over the whole time he was with us, mainly due to his poor distribution, he has one setting and that is hoooof. I don't know what Lutons options are like at centre back but if he is playing alongside a good ball player and the manager can stop him knocking it long all the time he will be fine. His advantages are his physical size - really big lad, he won't be knocked off the ball by anyone. He is superb in the air in both boxes, and has a lot of courage will put his head in where the boots are flying, he is also quite young and is still learning the game something our fans often forgot. Who he plays with and giving him options to pass to in the defensive midfield area will be important. To anyone thinking of doing an antepost bet on Luton (and I'm probably one of them), Richards and Spiller are decent players, certainly not the worst we had on our books last season and should strengthen Luton.

Sounds to me just the sort of player you need in the BSP.

[Shipsupstreets]

Re: England > Antepost > BlueSQ Bet Prem 2012/13 BlueSQ Bet have top goalscorer markets out. Not a market I usually get involved with as you have to 2nd guess who'll be where they started in August. Leaders are Shaw 8s, Gray 9s, Green 10s, Hearn 10s and Speight 11s. Always fun to look at the big prices. Reece Styche at 66s looks a potential EW play - fit, on contract, though vulnerable to a move up the food chain.

[Darran]

Re: England > Antepost > BlueSQ Bet Prem 2012/13 I was keen on backing Gray for this after the season ended, but now Luton have a lot more strength in that area so he doesnt appeal quite as much as he did. I think Ships makes a good point about Styche and he does look over priced at 66s. I cant see him going anywhere if FGR are in contention and I think he will be FGR's main striker this season.

[maliniok]

Re: England > Antepost > BlueSQ Bet Prem 2012/13 Reading the thread it appears there aren't any other teams than Luton competing. ;) Lee Hendrie, former Aston Villa midfielder, has joined Tamworth and apparently the Lambs' fans aren't too happy because they have some history with him when he was sent off in a friendly against them some 7 years ago. Anyway, it appears as if the guy is a bit of a character and apparently he is bankrupt so I am not too sure if dropping to the Conference will work for him. It could be another 'Campbell to Notts County' scenario.

[Shipsupstreets]

Re: England > Antepost > BlueSQ Bet Prem 2012/13

Lee Hendrie, former Aston Villa midfielder, has joined Tamworth and apparently the Lambs' fans aren't too happy because they have some history with him when he was sent off in a friendly against them some 7 years ago. Anyway, it appears as if the guy is a bit of a character and apparently he is bankrupt so I am not too sure if dropping to the Conference will work for him. It could be another 'Campbell to Notts County' scenario.

Not so much dropping as a step up for him - Hendrie played for Chasetown in the Evo-Stik North in February before signing for Redditch United in the Southern Prem.

[maliniok]

Re: England > Antepost > BlueSQ Bet Prem 2012/13 Thanks Shipps, good to know things like that. I am not thinking of backing Tamworth but am just wondering whether there is value in backing Dartford against tamworth in the first game of the season. Anyway, let's get the thread going. Mansfield should look good again, here are their signings: Left back Andy Owens, former Liverpool trainee who played 40 games for Southport last season. Right back Lee Beevers from Wallsall - he played 40 games in L1 last season and over 300 in the FL. Striker Jake Speight from Wrexham - scored 21 goals in 33 starts last season. Centre half Goerge Pilkingkton from Luton. Midfielder Godfrey Poku from Luton who spent 6 months on loan at Southport last season. Centre half Luke Jones from Kidderminster. Midfielder Jamie Tolley from Wrexham. He had played for Hereford, Macclesfield and Shrewsbury. 22 year old midfielder Chris Clements who scored 17 goals in Northern Premier League for Hednesford Town last season. They have also kept the nucleus of their squad including: Goalkeeper Alan Marriott, 34, defender Ritchie Sutton, 26, midfielders Anthony Howell, 25, Ross Dyer, 24, and Lindon Meikle, 24, and strikers Matt Rhead, 27, Ben Hutchinson, 24. All above info taken from the BBc website. Anyone reckons they could challenge Luton to the title?

[Shipsupstreets]

Re: England > Antepost > BlueSQ Bet Prem 2012/13 Yes, there's no doubt that Mansfield Town are serious challengers this season. They have signed up some decent players in the midfield and forward departments, although I have a question mark over their defensive capabilities. On the whole, though, they look big and strong, and have added a new weapon in Andy Owens's long throws. They are not a side that opposing managers will look forward to playing.

[bartonbank]

Re: England > Antepost > BlueSQ Bet Prem 2012/13 Both Luton and Mansfield should be up there, although I think the root and branch changes at Mansfield will be more unsettling than those at Luton. Wrexham, on the other hand, are not showing any major changes so far. We obviously had the loss of Obeng half way through the season followed by Knight Percival, Tolley, Pogba and Speight at the end. The biggest loss of those five was Obeng as we never quite replaced what he provided and it did piss me off that Swansea did not loan him back. We knew KP was going and it appears Morrell knew Speight was going as well before he went although none of us had a scoobies that he wanted out in January as well. Will we miss his goals? Yes, although it is relevant to note that he has only ever had two good seasons with us having one and the Stags the other!! We have replaced him with Brett Ormerod who, although never prolific above, should do considerably better in the BSP. I did not expect him to drop down to this league and is quite a capture. Pogba could be a real pain to defenders but always looked like Bambi on ice and I never rated him as much as others do. I am not sure he was ready for the step up to L1 yet. Tolley is no loss in the end...a shot and little else, although it was his corker in the FA Cup at Brentford that he will be remembered for and I wish him well. One from last season who I expect to see more of is striker Robert Ogleby, who should some decent touches in his few appearances for us and scored a fine goal at Cambridge last season. Watch out for him. We have, however, got one from Mansfield back today, with defender Martin Riley signing for us. Stags fans thought he had a decent season and he was offered a deal; for various reasons he didn't sign (on holiday, didn't respond, Cox saw arse and signed others). He adds the pace to our backline we have lost with KP leaving. In addition he has played a whole season with Mark "The Beast" Creighton as a centreback pairing at Kidderminster so they should have a decent rapport. Will we challenge? Who knows at present as I think we need a creative midfielder and another striker yet. If we get them then I think we will and, in reality, I struggle to think of five teams who will have improved past us. I don't think we will get 98 points this season, mind, but nor do I think anyone else will either. this will be a tight league this year. Luton are worthy favourites I feel, but they are every season and are still here!! I do wonder about the financial backing of Mansfiled and whether it might go "pop". Forest Green have signed astutely and, in Styche, have a cracking forward. However I am not sure they have all the makings of a successful team yet.

[Darran]

Re: England > Antepost > BlueSQ Bet Prem 2012/13 I will be pretty amazed if Pogba does anything at League and was surprised he went that high. I still dont fancy Wrexham much although I have seen it mentioned on twitter that Mangan might be on his way back which will boost your claims. Do think others have progressed though and dont think Wrexham have.

[bartonbank]

Re: England > Antepost > BlueSQ Bet Prem 2012/13

I will be pretty amazed if Pogba does anything at League and was surprised he went that high. I still dont fancy Wrexham much although I have seen it mentioned on twitter that Mangan might be on his way back which will boost your claims. Do think others have progressed though and dont think Wrexham have.

Pogba may do something at League level but he needed at least another season in the BSP first, although I note he scored within two minutes of coming on for his first game for Crewe! Are we as good as last year? Probably not, but we did get 98 points and I don't see any team matching that this season. Have others improved their squads? Yes. However the question is whether their potential improvement, and our potential depreciation, mean they have improved past us. Unlike other posters (including you I seem to recall :)) I believed we would have a decent season. Although not as bullish presently, one or two more signings (midfielder and forward I would guess) will make me so again. With the squad as it is now I still think we will make the playoffs.

[Darran]

Re: England > Antepost > BlueSQ Bet Prem 2012/13 Yes I was against you last year but if you remember I was pretty quick to change my mind and I backed you pretty early on to win the league at 14s, I think even before August was up. It was clear to me you were a lot better than I had given you credit for and obviously the off the field worries were looking more stable. At this stage I would put Luton, Mansfield and FGR above you.

[bartonbank]

Re: England > Antepost > BlueSQ Bet Prem 2012/13

Yes I was against you last year but if you remember I was pretty quick to change my mind and I backed you pretty early on to win the league at 14s' date=' I think even before August was up. It was clear to me you were a lot better than I had given you credit for and obviously the off the field worries were looking more stable. At this stage I would put Luton, Mansfield and FGR above you.[/quote'] FGR? Despite their signings I really don't see them finishing above us, although I think their financial model is a helluva lot more "honest" than the Mansfield one!

[maliniok]

Re: England > Antepost > BlueSQ Bet Prem 2012/13 What's wrong with Mansfield financial setup? They seem pretty stable especially after they secured the ownership of their ground last season which their owner had admitted had been a real obstacle before they could really 'go for it'.