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The AfCon gamble

T

TikaTakaTico

Midfield
One of our recruiting techniques last summer was to target African players whose value/desirability (in terms of clubs wanting to own their registrations, I know it's a funny way to talk about people) specifically because the AfCon competition was on in the middle of the season which meant that for a month the players might be unavailable.

We knew it was a gamble to focus on such players becasue it's the period with the most intense schedule in English football, meaning many of our big signings would be absent for these games. The ficture schedule played into this a bit since we were focussing on the early period of the season where we had a lot of targettable fixtures.

Obviously it has turned ou fantasticaly for us, since these players turned out to be generally fantastic (Adringa was a bit of a dissapointment, which is suprising given he was the mot known quantity- but also becasue a number of players (step forward O'Nien) ended up coning into the team and doing really well.

the fact we had caah to spend and we were less timid regarding the Afcon than other teams meant we were able to bring these players in- and we know how muhc value they added to our team, how they have increased in value etc.

The other aspect of this is that 2025 was the last (northern) winter AfCon- with the 2027 edition being held in June.

I think that along with another of our key decisions- the AfCon gamble has been an incredible success- and perhaps one of our real keys to success that other club won't be able to replicate- since African international players are no longer such a gamble in this regard.
 

JD73 said:
Might sound daft . But we were flying just before African cup of nations. And if we hadn't have lost players could have finished even higher in league. But still fantastic season. With added bonus mags are complete shambles...
Click to expand...
I agree, we did start to struggle a bit- and it was a gamble- if we hadn't picked up as many points earlier on it could have back fired- and diarra getting injured quite early was a bit of a blow too- but it worked out well.
 
JD73 said:
Might sound daft . But we were flying just before African cup of nations. And if we hadn't have lost players could have finished even higher in league. But still fantastic season. With added bonus mags are complete shambles...
Click to expand...
I think where we finished was fair in the end. We’d come to a little of a halt pre-AFCON. We didn’t have enough goals in the team to finish any higher than 7th imo.
 
TikaTakaTico said:
One of our recruiting techniques last summer was to target African players whose value/desirability (in terms of clubs wanting to own their registrations, I know it's a funny way to talk about people) specifically because the AfCon competition was on in the middle of the season which meant that for a month the players might be unavailable.

We knew it was a gamble to focus on such players becasue it's the period with the most intense schedule in English football, meaning many of our big signings would be absent for these games. The ficture schedule played into this a bit since we were focussing on the early period of the season where we had a lot of targettable fixtures.

Obviously it has turned ou fantasticaly for us, since these players turned out to be generally fantastic (Adringa was a bit of a dissapointment, which is suprising given he was the mot known quantity- but also becasue a number of players (step forward O'Nien) ended up coning into the team and doing really well.

the fact we had caah to spend and we were less timid regarding the Afcon than other teams meant we were able to bring these players in- and we know how muhc value they added to our team, how they have increased in value etc.

The other aspect of this is that 2025 was the last (northern) winter AfCon- with the 2027 edition being held in June.

I think that along with another of our key decisions- the AfCon gamble has been an incredible success- and perhaps one of our real keys to success that other club won't be able to replicate- since African international players are no longer such a gamble in this regard.
Click to expand...
The only real miss was Sadiki.
We averaged à point of game for the 6 games which was excellent
 
Safc98 said:
I think where we finished was fair in the end. We’d come to a little of a halt pre-AFCON. We didn’t have enough goals in the team to finish any higher than 7th imo.
Click to expand...
yeah, I mean we can't complain- but the loss against Brentford, draws against brighton leeds and spurs. I do think having some of the AfCon players available would have made things quite different (though what was important is that we kept picking up points).
We finished 6 points off liverpool so that period could have been transformational.

but like I said- I think we are were we are becasue of the AfCon gamble. If we'd gone for other players for the same price, I don't think we'd be where we are now- it was a master stroke of recruitment.
contrarian said:
The only real miss was Sadiki.
We averaged à point of game for the 6 games which was excellent
Click to expand...
Talbi as well- He would have likely got one or two more goals in the period (considering the amount of draws, that's key
 
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TikaTakaTico said:
yeah, I mean we can't complain- but the loss against Brentford, draws against brighton leeds and spurs. I do think having some of the AfCon players available would have made things quite different (though what was important is that we kept picking up points).
We finished 6 points off liverpool so that period could have been transformational.

but like I said- I think we are were we are becasue of the AfCon gamble. If we'd gone for other players for the same price, I don't think we'd be where we are now- it was a master stroke of recruitment.

Talbi as well- He would have likely got one or two more goals in the period (considering the amount of draws, that's key
Click to expand...
My point was more that Sadiki was the only one getting a regular start. I too rate Talbi but then as of after he has never been more than bench. It was a shame Diarra got injured so early because he got off to such a good start. We probably may have got a few more points pre AFCOn were it not for his injury
À lot of what ifs I suppose
 
JD73 said:
Might sound daft . But we were flying just before African cup of nations. And if we hadn't have lost players could have finished even higher in league. But still fantastic season. With added bonus mags are complete shambles...
Click to expand...
If we avoided signing African players we'd have struggled. Players like Sadiki, Diarra, Reinildo, Talbi would be sort after more it wasn't an AFCON. It was a smart bit of business. I mentioned it on the homegrown players threads. I reckon we will look to sign English players playing aboard. We've been linked with Archie Brown of Fenerbache. Better value than signing English players playing in England.
 
contrarian said:
My point was more that Sadiki was the only one getting a regular start. I too rate Talbi but then as of after he has never been more than bench. It was a shame Diarra got injured so early because he got off to such a good start. We probably may have got a few more points pre AFCOn were it not for his injury
À lot of what ifs I suppose
Click to expand...
I agree, my point is that the margins ended up being quite tight (but we still massively overachieved despite the AfCon)

It was a real gamble to go for these players as our big signings, and it paid off big time.
 
Adingra being a disappointment wasn't a surprise, IMO.

The exact same issues that were constantly flagged by Brighton fans were the exact same issues that saw him quickly become surplus to requirements here.

Pity, as he's very talented.
 
Durham-Mackem41-Rem said:
Not an issue now thankfully end if the season also after 2028 its failing in line with out major tournaments and only every 4 days.
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I think you mean every 4 years! :)

However, while that is true, they've announced a new competition to run every year in between, so that African fans can see their best players playing in Africa every year!
 
Stack the points high at the start and then ride the crest of a wave all the way to Europe baby! Worked a treat. Trailblazers! 😂😂😂
 
TikaTakaTico said:
One of our recruiting techniques last summer was to target African players whose value/desirability (in terms of clubs wanting to own their registrations, I know it's a funny way to talk about people) specifically because the AfCon competition was on in the middle of the season which meant that for a month the players might be unavailable.

We knew it was a gamble to focus on such players becasue it's the period with the most intense schedule in English football, meaning many of our big signings would be absent for these games. The ficture schedule played into this a bit since we were focussing on the early period of the season where we had a lot of targettable fixtures.

Obviously it has turned ou fantasticaly for us, since these players turned out to be generally fantastic (Adringa was a bit of a dissapointment, which is suprising given he was the mot known quantity- but also becasue a number of players (step forward O'Nien) ended up coning into the team and doing really well.

the fact we had caah to spend and we were less timid regarding the Afcon than other teams meant we were able to bring these players in- and we know how muhc value they added to our team, how they have increased in value etc.

The other aspect of this is that 2025 was the last (northern) winter AfCon- with the 2027 edition being held in June.

I think that along with another of our key decisions- the AfCon gamble has been an incredible success- and perhaps one of our real keys to success that other club won't be able to replicate- since African international players are no longer such a gamble in this regard.
Click to expand...
Online played less than 10 minutes and in 1 game during Afcon.
 
As I understand it, our recruitment team went in with their eyes open as regards AFCON.
Less competition for African players because of it, and therefore better bargains.
So management would have factored in a possible slump during that tournament.

Gutsy, if so, and it paid off eventually.
 
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