Welcome to the first Posh Weekly of the summer as we look at the latest news coming out of Peterborough United, what their rival teams in League One are up to and general footie news.
Since the season ended for Posh, we’ve seen the retained list announced, a player then added to the transfer list a few days later before the week finished with Chairman Darragh MacAnthony hosting a periscope with co-owners Dr Jason Neale and Steward Thompson, Director of Football Barry Fry and boss Steve Evans.
We’ll touch on those things later but this weekend sees the culmination to the season with the Play-Off Finals.
In League One, Shrewsbury Town, who were leading League One for months only to be caught up in the last couple of months will face Rotherham United who beat Charlton Athletic and Scunthorpe United respectively in the semi-finals.
Before that match takes places at Wembley Stadium, the Championship Final have Aston Villa and Fulham battling against each other for what many say is a £160 million match! Most EFL clubs can only dream of winning just a fraction of that amount!
Finally, on Bank Holiday Monday, we will find out who the last team to make up next seasons League One will be. Former FA Cup winners Coventry City face Exeter City in the League Two final and with Northampton Town and MK Dons going in the opposite direction to the winners, it would be good if the Sky Blues are the victors so we have a side fairly close to replace them.
RETAINED LIST ANNOUNCED
Posh issued their retained list the day after their final League match of the season keeping 11 players with a further five being retained but with plans to loan them out. Those 11 players were then reduced to 10 when MacAnthony revealed he had an agreement with Marcus Maddison to place him on the transfer list if Posh didn’t achieve promotion last season!
With Jack Marriot also not expected to be at the ABAX Stadium next season, that number is really just 9 players so Posh, or rather Barry Fry, has got a very busy summer getting rid of the unwanted players and bringing in virtually half a squad!
POSH SNAP UP FOUR PLAYERS
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- Aaron Chapman
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- Rhys Bennett
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- Colin Daniel
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- Mark O’Hara
We have been very quick off the mark in that big task of replacing the unwanted players with the signing of four players, three of which came on a free transfer.
The battle for the number one shirt will be interesting after we signed the League Two Golden Gloves winner Aaron Chapman who stands at an impressive 6feet 7 inches! Chapman kept 18 clean sheets for his former club Accrington Stanley who won the League Two title. He faces competition from Conor O’Malley who made 13 appearances for Posh last season and is currently away with the Republic of Ireland squad.
Next in the door was 6 foot 3 inch central defender Rhys Bennett from Evans former club Mansfield Town. He “played almost every minute of every game” while Evans was at Mansfield!
Another defender came in third with the capture of Blackpool’s Colin Daniel. He has been signed to provide competition at left-back and left-wing back but he can be best described as a “utility” player! His former club describes him as a midfielder although he played most of last season in the full-back position.
The latest player to come in through the door is another player who has been described as a utility player is Mark O’Hara. A “training compensation package” was agreed between Posh and his former club Dundee to allow the 22-year-old to agree terms on a three-year contract. He is another big lad standing at 6 foot 4 inches and has been pencilled in by Posh as a “box to box” midfielder although he started his career as a right-back.
With three of the four new players all being over 6 feet, it appears one of the criteria Evans has set is for players to be over 6 feet where possible!
Players to have departed or arrived at the club since the end of the season are:
ARRIVALS
Aaron Chapman – Goalkeeper – Accrington Stanley – Free Transfer
Rhys Bennett – Central Defender – Mansfield Town – Free Transfer
Colin Daniel – Left Back / Wing Back – Blackpool – Free Transfer
Mark O’Hara – Midfielder – Dundee – Training Compensation
DEPARTURES
Callum Chettle – Released
Michael Doughty – Mutual Consent
IS BORO STRIKER NEXT ONE IN?
With Posh on the look-out for a few strikers, the first striker we expect to be in-bound is Stevenage forward Matt Godden.
The 26-year-old was expected to discuss terms by the end of this week as Evans has been openly speaking about the striker saying: “He hasn’t played in the best Stevenage teams so that record is not bad. My old player Alex Revell joined Stevenage last season and told me Matt is the real deal on and off the pitch.”
Although no announcement has been made, the former Ebbsfleet striker is surely ABAX-bound unless he prices himself out of any deal!
CLUBS BATTLE FOR FORRESTER
Chairman Darragh MacAnthony has confirmed via Twitter that two clubs are currently locked in a battle to sign transfer listed Chris Forrester.
Forrester has blown hot and cold in his time at the ABAX Stadium and sadly, his form has got worse since his arrival at the club!
One of those clubs confirmed as being interested in not only Forrester but last seasons captain Jack Baldwin is Scottish Premiership side Aberdeen.
Sadly for Posh, the valuations of both players have dropped dramatically in the last year or two. Prior to Baldwin picking up his last serious injury, we had actually sold him to Bournemouth for £2.5 million only for the long term injury to scupper any sale. With regards to Forrester, after his excellent performance against Chelsea in the FA Cup last season, MacAnthony tweeted saying he was worth millions. Unfortunately, both players can now be snapped up for between £100k and £200k each!
RANGERS TRANSFER INTERESTS!
Former Scottish giants Rangers are one of a number of clubs interested in signing striker Jack Marriott and if he does end up at Ibrox, he could find himself playing alongside another former Posh player.
Defender Russell Martin has just returned to parent club Norwich City after completing a 10-match loan spell but Rangers could look to turn the loan into a permanent deal according to the Daily Record.
Martin is out of contract at the Championship club and could be snapped up on a free transfer. Rangers are currently waiting on developments to see if Martin signs a new contract with the Canaries before making any move.
OFFERS ON THE TABLE
Former boss Grant McCann could face Posh next season with the Irishman having three potential job offers on the table.
One of the offers is the Bradford City job but while Mark Warburton was the original bookies favourite, according the GloucestershireLive.co.uk, McCann is now favourite for the Bantams post!
