Lifted from: thisisbristol.co.uk |
Ward seems happy with the way the squad is coming together, even though it appears like nothing is happening from the outside. While the signings of Broghammer and Goodard won't excite Gasheads we should take solace from the fact our manager believes they're worth keeping. Sure, there are many better players out there but if our greatly experienced coach can see potential in them then who are we to argue?
In regards to O'Toole the message hasn't changed. It's the same speech but regurgitated into a new form basically confirming what we already know; O'Toole remains in talks with the club but it's going to take time to convince him to relocate to Bristol permanently. Ward reiterated that he has other targets should a deal not materialise but didn't disclose how long he'd be willing to wait for O'Toole's decision. I can't imagine he'd wait beyond June 20th, the beginning of pre-season training, for a decision because he'll want his new senior central midfielder to be in place for the whole of the summer. Having said that, the longer he waits the more likely it may be that he's able to get a positive outcome - he wouldn't waste his time chasing him unless he was under the impression there was a chance we could land him. At the moment there doesn't appear any real change in the situation, despite rumours surfacing yesterday that a deal could be imminent. Either Ward knows more than he's letting on or the rumours are premature. I know which is more likely!
Ward went on to suggest that our only other additions would come after pre-season had begun via the loan market. This doesn't fill me with much confidence because I believe we could do with signing a new right winger permanently to replace Joe Anyinsah and a striker to fill the void left by Tom Hitchcock and Oumare Tounkara. However, Ward ruled out making an immediate move for Fleetwood Town striker Steven Gillespie, although he did admit to liking the player having worked with him before at Colchester. I don't think I'm the only one who feels we could do with adding another striker to our ranks so my hope is that Ward is buying himself time with his statement today. He'll know we lack a genuine goalscorer and, if he's able to, I'm sure he'll sign someone who could rectify that. In terms of a winger I'm not sure who we could be targeting but perhaps Crystal Palace's Jason Banton could be an option; he's young, shown plenty of ability in a recent loan spell with Plymouth Argyle and would receive first team football if he joined us. Palace, managed by Ian Holloway, would surely be open to a move that would benefit their starlet and Ollie will surely want to help out the club he supports. I'm merely speculating but he'd be exactly the sort of winger I'd like to see join us.
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