Ha was he? Lad. Whatever happens in the summer we are going to be very busy, so should be interesting. Only player I really want us to keep is Boufal, if Redmond can look decent in this system then am intrigued to see how someone with the talent of Boufal will do
You can be sure that he rates himself a hell of a lot more highly than even you do, Magic. Self confidence and appreciation is ok, but not when it is so badly misplaced.
No manager really gets the best out of every player. They just get the best out of the players they have, and they know to ditch the rest. I think Boufal will get at least a half chance simply because it's unlikely anyone will want him if Celta Vigo doesn't, and Hasenhuttl has not seen him yet so may be willing to give him a clean slate. But my guess is, it's going to be a short leash and he had better have the best month of practice in his life this summer. We need a player at that position, and it's a chance for Hasenhuttl to bring in a player he knows and likes instead of a player he inherited who already wasn't well-liked. Hasenhuttl has pretty much signaled that Hoedt has no future here. The only reason he is on loan is because we couldn't find anyone to buy him. I think maybe the most likely scenario is that Celta Vigo declines their options on one or both players but is amenable to purchasing them at a cheaper price and we will take them up on that.
Now that we are safe, will we see Ralph focusing on players like Slattery (unless he is injured?) who he wants to use more next season, or playing it safe in the hope of nabbing a few more million for places?
If so i would have though he would have had some game time this season. Am I wrong in thinking Derby has been his only involvement?
He's made a few PL appearances, though not for a while. Think he started away at Burnley? Definitely came on against palace too.
Fair enough, certainly hasn't played much. Although I suppose Ralph wasnt in much of a position to experiment all that much
I don't think we'd be selling ourselves too short if we gave one or two players a chance in the final 2 games. Don't see Ralph making wholesale changes because he will want to win both games. But will also be useful to give the likes of Slattery some more game time.
Ralph will want to win the last 2 games...especially after dropping 4 points in the last 2 games alone. Experimenting is for the summer....I can't see him doing other than go all out till the end of the season.
I said just last week that I'd be dropping Austin from the squad for the rest of the season. Even more so now that we're mathematically safe. He's the one player in our squad who I'm certain will be leaving this summer (excluding those out of contract, like Davis). So why select him over someone else who might be here next season? Give them a couple of games. (I'm sure McCarthy is actually injured. But a small part of me wonders if we've come to the conclusion that selling him would be easier than selling Fraser this summer, hence why we're now seeing Fraser on the bench rather than him.)
I heard Alex is indeed injured but wants out as Angus is now no1, would not be surprised to see Norwich make an inquiry.
I'll still be be ****ting myself at the moment if Angus gets injured (God forbid) and big Frase is warming up ready to come on in an important match. He has to overcome so much mentally to make it back here permanently IMO.
Pains me to say it but with Ralph's current style I'd rather have a 34 year old Shane Long than a 34 year old Rickie.
I'd keep McQueen. He was injured so it seems unfairly to get rid of him. Long deserves a year extension. Hoedt can go.
The Scousers cut Rickie's career short by not giving him minutes on the pitch. And don't forget that Rickie was part of the front three that high pressed to great effect under Poch.
To be fair, Rickie was then offloaded to Pool the summer after. If we really wanted to keep hold of Rickie, I imagine we could have fought more than £4m worth of fighting.
It was said at the time that the club didn't want to stand in the way of Ricky getting a move to Liverpool. He'd paid his dues, was not in our long term plans, so we weren't going to be difficult for the sake of a few million. I was proud of the club at the time....he deserved a chance. He knew that he was not going to play regularly for Liverpool...I hope it was worth it to him.
