How do Weymouth’s new signings rate? Let’s judge! (P.S. “New signings = players who did not feature last season)
Key: Name, Age, Positions, Height, pyramid level played in last 5 seasons(2022/23 last – 5=conference national, 6=conference south), previous club
1. BROOKS, Calvin 29y, CB, RB, RW, CDM, 6ft 1. 76557, Salisbury
We know all about Calvin as he was a Terra for 8 seasons until his departure 12 months ago, although he only played 9 times in his last season with the club citing work commitments as an estate agent as to why he wanted to drop down to the 7th tier with Salisbury. Perhaps the decision to switch back from daytime to evening training has meant he is very keen to return?
In the southern league days for Weymouth he averaged a goal in every four games and also an assist at the same rate but this production dropped back to around 1in10 higher up the pyramid. Famously he was most effective as a RWB or RW for the club although he admitted once in an interview he actually much preferred staying back. Lastly he is of course also remembered for scoring one of the fastest ever WFC goals!
CONCLUSION: A player who will no doubt wear the shirt with pride and provide endeavour and I hope he can prove he can provide at this level used in a versatile way.
2. CHESHIRE, Anthony 21y, CB, RB, CDM, 6ft 1, XXX88, Bracknell
On paper a direct rival for Calvin’s part of the pitch if slightly more central and defensive. Having spent the last two seasons at Bracknell where gaffer Bobby was his a manger he is clearly someone he was keen to bring to the south coast.
Antony has played the vast majority of his fledgling career two steps below conference south level but he can point towards a grounding with the Swindon Town youth set up as a highlight of his CV and an impressive performance for Bracknell v Ipswich in the FA Cup.
CONCLUSION: In Bobby we trust! Will this be a great young player Wilkinson believes can cope with the cut and thrust of conference south football? We shall see!
3. CLARKE, Tyrique 21y, CM, CDMRB, CDM, 5ft 9, X7777, King’s Langley
Another young signing with little or no experience at this level having plied his trade in the Southern league and parallel Isthmian league premier divisions apart from a short spell at conference south Welling when he didn’t really get a sniff.
Like Cheshire he spent his younger years on the books of a football league team’s youth system – on this occasion some team that play in green and white near Sherborne so presumably a local lad.
CONCLUSION: More trust required here! We’ve seen plenty of unknowns do well as the club in the past – will this Clarke turn into a superman?
UPDATE 4th August: Sadly Tyrique has not featured at all in pre-season due to an injury but he is in the manager’s plans for the forthcoming season we are told!
4. GOODSHIP, Brandon 28y, CF, 6ft, 73457, Salisbury.
It was the worst kept secret but yes 🚢 is back in port for his third stint at the club. We all know his first spell was nothing short of record-breaking as the Poole man smashed in 75 goals in 83 league appearances, the best stats at the club in a generation or more. However that was in the southern league during a perfect storm of management and team cohesion. On his return he struggled to score just 5 in 35 in the conference national. However after a “re-set” with Southern league Salisbury can he re-discover the magic from a few years ago? We can but hope!
CONCLUSION: He loves the club and we love him! Can he find his shooting boots again to re-boot his career? I’m backing him.
5. HAMBLIN, Leo 20y, CB LB, 5ft 11, XX75-77, Carshalton.
Leo was on the books at Conference national Woking but did not garner many minutes at all at that level before commencing a tour of teams in the local London area. He does have a slight advantage over his aforementioned young newbies with some decent game time for Hampton & Richmond at this level last season but he since dropped back to Southern league level with Isthmian league Carshalton in the season just gone. (From 3:43 in the video link).
CONCLUSION: Again very difficult to tell how this young lad will do. Is 5ft 11 short for a centre back these days? Perhaps what he lacks in stature he will make up for in other ways.
6, ROBERTS, Dan 25y, CF, 5ft 11, X75-65-65-6, Dartford.
Always a great sign when a player joins you from a club who finished well above you in the league table and their fans are on social media saying they are really sorry to see them go!
However on the flip side he has struggled to maintain a position in the squad at the Kent side despite positive performances in the last couple of years, with lengthy loan spells out to Hungerford and then Slough where he was last seen as anywhere near “prolific” back when he was a permanent squad member at Arbour Park in 2019/20 with 13 goals.
CONCLUSION: Dan was an FA Vase wonderkid at FC Windsor and I suspect with both him and Bobby having strong Berkshire links these two have crossed paths in the past and are keen to link up again. Hopefully the gaffer can unlock his goal scoring potential again!
7, ROLLINSON, Joel 24y, RW/AM, 5ft 9, X4/7666 Hungerford.
Born in Reading but with Aussie roots, Joel was in the youth structure at Reading before moving to League Two Stevenage in 2019. However is dream football league start lasted only two games before he was loaned out to non-league Cray Wanderers. Released at the end of that season he spent a season and a half at Eastbourne in the conference south before a sideways move to Hungerford last summer where he had a purple patch early this calendar year.
(Another new signing Norman Wabo also played at Eastbourne but Rollinson left the Sussex club before Norman arrived at Priory Lane. They have faced each other in different teams though and seem to have a habit of both scoring in those encounters- hopefully a quirk that will continue with them now both in the same shirts!)
CONCLUSION: A former team-mate of Dan Roberts he should fit in well on the right wing and the gaffer certainly thinks he is talented. Could be one to watch!
8, STAGG, Tom 20y, CF/LW, 6ft 1, X74/776/7, Grays Athletic.
Not turning 21 until September, will Tom have the key to unlock Conference South defences?
An Essex lad, born in Harlow, Stagg was with local football league club Colchester for 12 years from the under-8s until being released 12 months ago. During his adult tenure at The U’s he never broke into the senior squad (apart from a few minutes in an end of season league game in 2021) and he spent a lot of his time out on loan at nearby non-league clubs, no less than seven stints and six different clubs over three seasons.
His nomadic lifestyle continued in full-time football with three clubs turned out for in the campaign that has just finished. Cray Wanderers and then Wingate were his home dressing rooms (both one step below the conference south) before he finally moved to Grays in late March (two steps below).
Records may be unreliable but only two senior goals can be found against his name. However, Sunderland obviously saw enough in him to warrant a trial in early 2022 when he played in a premier league reserves game for the Mackems. If you want to know more about Tom you can watch this 60 min long interview!
CONCLUSION: This will be the very first time the young man will have played outside Essex/east London in over a dozen years of playing so a big leap into the unknown for us and him! A Sunderland trial suggests a possible hidden gem?
9, THOMPSON, Jordon 24y, CB, 6ft 2, 3,3/5,3/5,6,6, Cheshunt.
Looks a really decent signing this just a couple of weeks before the season curtain raiser. Although he has spent last season being relegated with Cheshunt and before that at Hereford he has recent pedigree must higher up the pyramid.
Along with playing over a dozen games for league one Coventry City he featured heavily in their youth set up and was frequently loaned out to Conference National sides.
CONCLUSION: Exciting! A tall, strong centre back with experience higher up the pyramid is exactly what the doctor ordered! Of course the only question mark is why he isn’t still being courted by teams in those echelons…
10, WABO, Norman 25y, CF/LW/RW, 6ft 1, 3/5,6/7,6/7,6/7,6 Eastbourne
Full name Fotsing Norman Arthur Pitoula Wabo, this striker is yet another from the academy production line, this time at Southend United. London born, he can boast five league one appearances for the shrimpers where he would not have crossed paths with Goodship as they went in opposite directions in the summer of 2019.
During his two year senior stay at Southend he was loaned out to two national league clubs in the area but upon his release he signed for Dartford in the conference south. Following another couple of moves, including to Isthmian league Margate, he most recently featured for Eastbourne in our division last season.
Norman is one of a quartet who will be vying for a coveted centre forward position with Stagg, Roberts and Goodship but he can also be utilised on either wing but, like Goodship, he can point towards the fact he has already scored at the Bobby Lucas – a late consolation goal for Dartford at the start of the 2019/20 season. Overall he averages a goal every four or five games.
CONCLUSION: Appears more prolific than many of our forward options but his playing record suggests he suffers from injury – including missing over half of last season – so perhaps one to wrap in cotton wool to get the best out of him!
HOW WILL WE LINE UP ON THE OPENING DAY?!
Time to bring the “established” lads back in. Despite the recent signing of Jordon Thompson it still feels we are a bit light at the back and have a wealth of options going forward – I’ve gone for a sort of 4-4-1-1 for now but could a 3-5-2 be on the cards with so many options in the middle of the park?!
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