Is he coming home?

It's just a rumour for now, but if it's true his signing would be welcome. He seems to be over his injury woes.

I can’t see it happening, when we first switched to a back 3 we started to struggle to find a place in the side for him. We basically built the side around Ruben and he got shifted all over the place. He did play in the attacking midfield role but that was in the National League, League 1 is another level, and he's definitely more suited to playing as a winger.

I like Cal but if it’s true, I’d start to question Richard Montague's obsession is with signing wingers when we play a formation without wingers.

If we were still L2 it'd make perfect sense. @menzinho you make good points about the formation.

If it was announced I'd be happy, but fear it was a mistake...

To replace Maz? Re the question of wingers, Jodi is a winger , not a wing back! Roberts / Bennetts as reserve wide players for next season?

It's semantics really. We have promotion seasons now with Nemane and JJ playing key roles. They're wingers - but remember Nemane's block v Boreham Wood? And JJ does his best to get back and defend under orders from MP. Another example was Calvin Miller, who was on fire for us as winger/wing-back for a short time.

Fans can label them what they want. The important thing IMO is that there's cover behind them. The LCB and the whole team is designed to slide over to cover attacks on that side. But if that wing-back/winger doesn't attack down that side? There's nobody to 'cover' that. That's why LW had to transform Chicksen and he got 11 goals in that promotion season.

If you look at the video of Cal's best goals for Scunthorpe they mainly seem to come from the No.10 position. In Scunny's system he was r-side attack in a 4-3-3.

If he comes back there's no way in the world he'd play left-winger or LWB unless we're chasing games at home. JJ can just about manage the defensive duties but Cal showed us that he really can't. In our system he'd be right side No.10 I think, but that'd mean we need a Iorpenda-type player (with more goals) on the other side. And Cal returning would probably mean we're not keeping Tangan?

It'll be interesting to see what happens over the next few days.

Edited May 27May 27 by theAnticlough

I'd suspect it'll be a League 2 team, offering him a starting position at somewhere like Crewe/Grimsby/Chesterfield. I don't think he perfectly maps into our gameplan, and as much as I thought I wouldn't say this, but given that he's gonna be a squad/bench player, I'd much see that given to Grant, given what he offers in pressing/gameplans.

I'm a bit in two minds about this. At the time, Roberts felt like a ridiculous player to have in the National League, he's far too good for that level. However, his best days were as part of a 4-2-3-1 formation, where he still had defensive duties but not to the same extent as a wing back. I'd expect him to fill one of the number 10 positions.

Another question is how well suited he would be to MP's system in which attacking midfielders are expected to act as a first line of defence. And of course how he'd handle the step up to League One, although the Cal Roberts we'd be signing now is older and hopefully wiser. There are many question marks, but the idea of having him back and firing on all cylinders is exciting.

There's something akin to a mass outpouring of grief on Scunny's social media. The club has put out a statement confirming he's leaving, including the following (slightly garbled) lines. Doesn't sound like he's heading to Rochdale to me.

"With the club tabling an offer for Callum in a bid for him to remain for a fourth season, the Iron understand Roberts turned down a number of offers for his services following the end of the season, despite a number of which being much more lucrative than we could offer, however this latest offer was one too good of an opportunity for the outgoing attacker to turn down, and he departs with our well wishes, an abundance of memories and a fantastic legacy in claret and blue."

As much as I love Cal Roberts, we need to find players who are as good as him but who are not injury prone. There's a lot of interest around him which various places are picking up on. I heard before the season ended that he was attracting interest from a League One club that we might not be happy if he signed for.

Rumours are nothing until the manager, or club acknowledges them.

My personal stance is I wouldn't be against him coming back, but he needs to fit our system and we need to have depth for injuries. Him and Jodi in League One could have a hard time staying fit if teams decide to target them.

Is this confirmation?

I think so, ignore my "I can't see it happening comment" my track record with signing predictions is shocking 😅

On the Magpie Circle Paul practically confirmed it, he'll look daft if it doesn't happen now.

I can only see Cal playing as No.10 for us, unless we are changing formation slightly? We are in new league now, who knows? I'm just not sure if we are going to totally be playing to his strengths. We tried to play JJ as No.10 early this season and it never clicked. This is my fear with Cal. I hope he proves me wrong though.

Good catch @Fan of Big Tone, this is what you might call a badly kept secret 😂

I can only imagine the club are holding off announcing it because they want to do the retained list first? This is a very intriguing signing and maybe an exciting one too.

Listened to the Magpie Circle tonight with Paul and Stall, & Paul reckons via reliable sauces that it's a done deal. We are just waiting for official confirmation.

'A club I'm familiar with' is a bit of a give away.

Patto will make him run 🏃‍♀️

Is this also confirmation we'll only see Iorpenda and Luker in opposition colours at The Lane next season 🤔

From right side attack in a 4-3-3 to Inside-Right for us won't be a difficult transition

His return appeals the more you think about it - entertainment with the skill level (a left foot to rival Jodi's) + loads of goals & assists

Guess who's back...

We need to be careful with Cal, but I am delighted he's back. I just hope that we don't over use him, as we did rely on him Iike a get out of jail free card when he was last here. Not denying his talent, but I want to ensure we avoid injuries that become set backs.

Some fans already complain we have a injury prone squad, but with care and proper cover, Cal could be such an influential part of establishing ourselves in League One.

Welcome home Callum, I’m really excited at seeing him play again.

Great to have him back now. He must be buzzing to go up 2 levels, but he earned it.

Might boost season tickets even more - most fans want to see skill, and Cal certainly provides that.

Hope the next 2 years are as healthy as the last two at Scunny. If so, he'll realise himself as an top EFL player

Edited May 29May 29 by theAnticlough

?What a day this is turning out to be. We were expecting Cal but to have two quality signings in a matter of a couple of hours is showing Notts's intent.

We are going to get a better rounded version of Cal on his return. Has well as being a great winger, he is now an accomplished attacking midfielder.

Could he emulate Ruben & Dan? It's a big ask, but Cal can score loads of goals too. It's going to be exciting times at the Lane once the new season gets underway.

He's been a virtual ever present the last couple of seasons @Chris , so I don't think we need to wrap him in cotton wool.

It's very clear that he's far too good for the National League, so he deserves his chance. However, this is a big step up for him, so I hope we aren't putting all our eggs in the Roberts basket. I think he'll do well.

Also, it's great that we're getting the summer signings in early! It would be a big advantage to start pre-season with more or less a full squad.

Good point, last pre-season was a bit of a shambles. Bonding on a foreign trip is all very well but when you've made 11 signings and have a new coaching team, maybe not so clever. Will be interesting to see what sort of pre-season they go for this year. Feeling even more optimistic anyway, don;t normally bother with pre-season but can't wait now.

19 minutes ago, StarkMallard said:

Also, it's great that we're getting the summer signings in early! It would be a big advantage to start pre-season with more or less a full squad.

Delighted to see Cal back. He’s proved his fitness and resilience at Aberdeen & now Scunny. Absolute class act, cultured footballer, easily good enough for L1.

He is more robust and tougher than Jones, capable of playing as an attacking midfielder - what’s not to like. He was cut above before, a game changing player who scores goals out of nothing.

This is a quality signing, make no mistake about that.

5 hours ago, StarkMallard said:

He's been a virtual ever present the last couple of seasons @Chris , so I don't think we need to wrap him in cotton wool.

That's not the point, the cocern about injuries for any player is something we have to ensure we can cope from but of Cal is to play as a wing back his past injuries only increases when we already have concerns about Jodi (amongst others). This doesn't mean any player requires cotton wool, it just means we need to be smart and protect them to the best of our ability.

Roberts re-joins us with a much stronger squad, so I doubt we will be dependant on him or as a means to drag results through but any player can suffer setbacks, and when you have a squad that has a fair amount of serious injuries you do need to valuate it when building a squad. Two seasons ago, our season was derailed with the loss of Matt Palmer, previous to that certain injuries hindered us and it wasn't that long ago fans feared Roberts wouldn't be able to continue playing due to a nasty injury.

I was gutted to see him leave, but I felt it was the right time to cash in. I hope he picks up from last season, and slots straight back into the squad. Yet, I do have real concerns about potential injuries, which is why I feel disappointed Keanan Bennetts is leaving because I felt he was growing. Roberts and Bennetts would primarily cover the wide areas for me, what with Jodi and Nick Tsaroulla.