January Transfer window

[Tommylad]

That wierd obsession with shite former players happening again

[saltcellar]

Barrow boss Michael Jolley beat the clock on deadline night of the January transfer window to complete the permanent signing of exciting forward Mikael Ndjoli from Bournemouth.

Work was going on behind the scenes up to the 11pm deadline and beyond on Monday evening and paperwork was successfully submitted, meaning Ndjoli is now a Bluebird - subject to EFL and FA approval.

The 23-year-old front man has been with The Cherries since 2016 having previously been on the books at Spurs, Watford, Brentford and Millwall during his youth.

His blistering pace attracted the attention of several clubs as he fired 20 goals in 24 games for Millwall’s Youth Team during the 2015/16 campaign, but it was Bournemouth who won the race for his signature.

Most comfortable in a central attacking role but also capable of performing as a winger, Ndjoli gained valuable senior experience with a loan spell at Kilmarnock in 2018/19, scoring five goals as Killie finished third in the Scottish Premiership.

His promise and progress earned him a new deal at The Vitality Stadium in the summer of 2019 and enjoyed more senior football last term when he spent time on loan with Gillingham and then Motherwell before the pandemic brought an early end to the season.

Ndjoli came to an agreement with Bournemouth to cancel his contract there by mutual consent on Monday in order for him to secure his move to The Progression Solicitors Stadium.

[Tommylad]

https://youtu.be/1kGRDoOKDBE

Mostly playing kids football in these highlights but gives an idea on what hes about.

[PerthBluebird]

1 more coming soooon

[GazzaT]

Well the board could have done no more in backing the manager in this transfer window so its now down to him and this group of players to perform on and off the pitch for the second half of the season. I had a feeling once Dunn had gone we may finish the season with basically a completely new team.

[Jim]

I was worried that we were short of options up front and so I am much happier now that we have added Ndjoli. We certainly have a lot of options in midfield and defence, so the squad looks much stronger. Michael Jolley and the Board have done the business. The squad of 2019-20 has been dismantled, which is sad, but it had to happen. Now we need the new lads to show us they can do the business on the pitch.

[blue nige]

Michael Jolley has told us he is delighted with the business he has been able to do during the January transfer window after concluding deals for Mikael Ndjoli and Mace Goodridge.

The Bluebirds boss was keen to add a couple of new faces following the departures of Dior Angus and Harrison Biggins on Monday and his perseverance was rewarded late on Deadline Day.

Work went on late in to the night but the paperwork was all submitted in time and Ndjoli’s permanent switch from Bournemouth and Goodridge’s loan from Burnley both went through, subject to the usual approvals from the football authorities.




Ndjoli arrives from The Cherries having previously spent time out on loan at Kilmarnock, Gillingham and Motherwell, and Jolley thinks those experiences can help him hit the ground running in Barrow.

“He’s an exciting young striker,” Jolley told us.

“It’s good that it’s not his first loan; he’s been out and has experience in EFL football and SPL football before now as well as a good pedigree in coming from Bournemouth.

“He’s got good attributes of pace and physicality which I think will help the squad and he also brings more competition for places.

“We have tried to add some speed where we can. We already have players with good pace but in Mikael I think we have someone who can run in behind and work on the shoulder.

“He’s a different kind of striker to the ones we already have and we know there is still some development and growth to come from him so playing games in the EFL will help with that.

“Hopefully we can be the beneficiaries of that once he gets back playing football regularly.”

Meanwhile, the Bluebirds chief is just as excited about being able to bring Goodridge to The Progression Solicitors Stadium and feels that he could really take the eye during his loan spell.

“I think it’s a good move for us,” he explained.

“We were disappointed to lose Harrison Biggins so, once that happened, we were keen to find someone who could bring a lot of energy to the squad and I think we’ve found that in Mace.

“He’s got a great deal of energy and athleticism and he’s a box-to-box midfielder with a good pedigree, having been at more than one Premier League club.

“You don’t get as far as the bench in the Premier League unless you’ve got plenty about you and he’s a lad who is very enthusiastic to be here and wants to kickstart his career in the Football League.

“I know that he’s very highly thought of at Burnley and I trust the guys there so we’re happy that they trust us with their players.

“We’re really happy to give him the platform to come in, compete for a place and then show everyone what he can do.”

Although Jolley was happy with the deals struck on Deadline Day, he was even more pleased that the Club had acted decisively to get the majority of their business done earlier in the month.

Now he’s looking forward to being able to throw his entire focus in to work on the training ground as he looks to put preparations in place for a hectic upcoming schedule.

“There were lots of possible outcomes for us on Monday,” he admitted.

“Overall, we wanted to get the bulk of our business done before the end of the window and I think we managed to do that, so we weren’t sitting there panicking on the last day.

“We just had a couple of little bits we wanted to finish off and I think with Mace and Mikael we’ve done a decent job in the window, so now we can breathe out a little bit and really start to work with the squad.”

[Middleton Nick]

Looking forward to saturday and the new look Barrow AFC, weather permitting.

[CH BAFC]

Fresh start, credit and fantastic from the board and jolley in the market, excited to see where we go from here

[Reginald]

Its Looking good!.

[HenneysKnee]

We needed a pacy striker, and then a midfielder once Biggins was recalled. We got both.
The early transfer window business was fantastic and these two additions mean we actually have options off the bench as well
The David Dunn experiment was a disaster but you can’t say the board haven’t done all they can to try and rectify it

[mickmike wilson]

Happy with the business Jolley & our BoD have done here, We have to remember we are a small fish in a pond full of much bigger fish so recruitment is always more difficult for us in that respect, Let’s hope we continue to grow as a club bit by bit.

These lads seem great on paper & hopefully settle in & gel quick.

Decent spread of gnarly older experienced League players & some young hungry rough diamonds but from solid league clubs backgrounds & the benefits of their training structures etc.

Surely we will have enough to survive & kick on again next term.

[RedWeb]

Usually new managers (think of someone like Steve Evans) whine about the squad they inherit until the summer and a rebuild comes around. The Barrow board have removed that excuse by fronting up big time. Pretty remarkable to sign so many players in the window. Pressure is now on the manager to deliver. This is now his team, not Dunn's. Good luck to him and thanks to the Board.

[Cubbins Paratrooper]

Tremendous effort all round. Now we need the manager and players to repay the outstanding support provided by the best Board of Directors in my lifetime.....all we need now are some games of football.

[PerthBluebird]

Happy with the business Jolley & our BoD have done here, We have to remember we are a small fish in a pond full of much bigger fish so recruitment is always more difficult for us in that respect, Let’s hope we continue to grow as a club bit by bit.

These lads seem great on paper & hopefully settle in & gel quick.

Decent spread of gnarly older experienced League players & some young hungry rough diamonds but from solid league clubs backgrounds & the benefits of their training structures etc.

Surely we will have enough to survive & kick on again next term.

Morecambe and accy stanley proving this to massively untrue.