It is no surprise to see another striker of ours depart. Our lack of a serious goal threat was one of the main reasons we performed so poorly last season. It is the striking department that we need to address most of all. Goals win games, and without them, we will always lose points.
Today we learned that Oliver Hawkins has moved to pastures new. The Blues have sold striker Hawkins to League Two club Mansfield Town for an undisclosed fee. I would not expect it to have been very much, and this is perhaps the reason why it remains a secret.
Hawkins was a trier, of this there is little doubt. In the end, though, he was more ‘trying’ than anything else, and apart from his obvious aerial strengths, he offered very little going forward. The 29-year-old joined Ipswich on a free transfer last summer but was always in and out of the side. He has never been a prolific goalscorer, and I don’t expect that to change. The Stags might be the perfect fit for a player with good intentions and yet very little else. He has done his fair share of defending too as a professional footballer. His versatility will appeal to his new boss Nigel Clough.
So far we have seen Luke Chambers, Cole Skuse, Alan Judge, and Freddie Sears all move to Colchester United on free transfers. Andre Dozzell moved to QPR for around one million quid but Gwion Edwards left for Wigan on a free. Player of the Year James Wilson went to Plymouth the same way. Welsh keeper David Cornell had his contract terminated and Stephen Ward and Emyr Huws did not have their contracts renewed. Oh, and Mark McGuinness, Luke Matheson, Josh Harrop, Keanan Bennetts, Luke Thomas and Troy Parrott have seen their loan deals expire.
I make that sixteen players who have left the club and so far and just two new incumbents. They are attacking midfielder Wes Burns from Fleetwood Town for an undisclosed fee and Lee Evans on a freebie from Wigan Athletic. Now, I know our squad was a bit top-heavy and badly needed pruning but we do need a handful of others if we are going to strengthen before the new season starts.
The fact that so many of our squad have gone for nothing tells you everything. We were underperforming in all departments, and now we need a big rebuild. It is about getting back to basics. We need a good keeper. We need a couple of good strikers. We need a group of players who want to wear the shirt with pride. I am a bit concerned that shifting players out seems a lot easier than bringing players in but with the notable exception of Andre Dozzell, the rest don’t have much of a future in the game. They are either past it or never found it in the first place.
Next to go will probably be Flynn Downes. It has gone a bit quiet in Barnsley these days, so I am hoping he might just stick around. Of all the players who were considered to be surplus to requirements, he was one player I would prefer us to keep. Tomas Holy will be the next one out, just as soon as we get Benjamin Siegrist (hopefully) from Dundee United.
