Who do you think is our best and most valuable player? We need to strengthen - if a few players like Edwards go we have got absolutely no chance in League One.
Anyone Evans can get a price for will go, probably under the guise of " we've a talented 4 year old in the academy and keeping Edwards would hamper his development " . Check the history, Murphy joined for nothing and sold for £ 3M + and replaced 5 months later by Moore from Forest Green Rovers reserves for £ 20,000 later to be sold for £ 8oo,ooo, that's just one example but that's the Club we've become.
I am getting increasingly concerned that all the PR of the last six months is just hot air. If it’s actually business as usual then we’re really in trouble. It doesn’t even make financial sense to do that because we lose so much money on loan wages and players we release.
I'd say our best player is currently Alan Judge, easily the first name on the team sheet. As for our most valuable players, I don't think many of our players will fetch more than £3m, other than the academy lads and that's only if they step up. If tabloids are to be believed, Andre Dozzell is continously linked to Premier League and Championship clubs, and will have the reputation, attributes, and age where we can ask for a decent transfer fee. He might get sold for over £3m. Edwards, as mercurial as he's been this season, is injury-prone, largely unproven at Championship level for his age, had an inconsistent season, and was signed for only £750,000. Given Hull's recent transfer spend, I think a fee of £1m to £1.5m is much more realistic. Double our money. We could sell him for £3m, if a club wants him that badly (especially in this market), but we won't be getting that money from Hull and the big boys in the Championship won't be interested in Edwards on the back of this season.
I can't really see why a Championship Club would be interested in him, he has some skills that's for sure but woefully inconsistent, has a few bright spots in a game but anonymous for the greater part, and lightweight and injury prone, coupled to the fact that he hardly shone in a very poor team. If he goes I think we all know that he wont be replaced by a better player and so the spiral continues, I think a good name for this effect would be The Evans Syndrome, take a reasonably performing second tier Club and deteriorate and diminish it by degrees over a period of time until its flat on its arse.
He’s a very talented player. Players are at their best and shine in good teams with great managers, rarely awful ones. Midfielders and wingers who score goals are gold dust. Had he played most of the matches he’d have comfortably got into double figures even playing in the worst side with the worst form in our history.
Unquestionably he has got a lot to prove still by the way, but £1m would really, really be shooting ourselves in the foot. As you point out field, the squad would go even further backwards.
As I’ve said before, anyone with half a brain cell would have taken more drastic action to avoid us ending up where we are already!So why expect him to change now?
I don’t think we’re going to be seeing any lavish spending for sure. But we must have a core of half decent players because, over the course of the season in a very tough league, we were relegated and offered very little creatively or in goals BUT we never got thrashed. Which gives me hope we can compete in L1 for promotion with cutting out the dross, adding in some more Judge type players who are decent but not making it at their club and building a side with identity. I don’t want to see too many loans at all. We’ve relied on them too much and once it goes wrong and they aren’t adequately replaced we’re in trouble. It also fails to build and develop a squad if there’s an annual revolving door. No one successful has used that method of squad development. Again I refer to that lot up the road...hate to admit it but they have got their sh1t together over the last few years. Hopefully, given me won’t spend much PL can fashion together a squad that’s at least capable in all positions and develop it over time. That can’t be done if you’re losing your best players every year from loans. Judge is the key to our creativity and if Huws is fit and up for it we have depth. We need a finisher though, clearly all agree in that. And some robust defenders to go with wolfie. I think we’ll do alright if we start building a squad contracted to Ipswich town and not reliant on one season wonder loans.
Conor Hourihane, one those who took a step down to take a step up, has scored a goal that might help take Villa back into the Premier League. Of all the players to never make an impact at Town and go onto better things he must be near the top of the list. Certainly if Villa go up. So as a club we really need to stop being so arrogant and shortsighted about players. If the form is poor then in the present era it’s more likely to be the club than the player. About to watch the National League play off - the other Danny Row has 139 goals in 94 league games for Fylde. Definitely the kind of player we should be looking at if we don’t want to spend millions - rather than these forwards who don’t have a decent record at all.
There was a couple of decent looking players on show last night, Mills the left full back of Forest Green and Norwood the Tranmere striker both could be the answer to our defensive and goal scoring problems, if neither get promoted I hope we could do a deal and offload some of the dross Hurst brought into the bargain.
Norwood has been strongly linked to us in recent months, I believe. While he’s mostly spent his career in the Conference and non league, he has adapted to League Two very well this season and looks a capable striker. I’d take him.
There are loads of decent, established players. Just getting round pegs in round holes in the full back positions would be a step forward.
Evans is 174th in the latest Times Rich list with a fortune of £800 Million plus! It's about time ITFC had a good slice of that. But then again pigs will fly!
I honestly think Edwards and Judge are ****.....in actual fact, the whole squad is ****. Not one current player would have been good enough to get into Roy Keanes Town side, not one FFS!!
yup, well i have a lot of sympathy with that and basically agree. shame we didn't have PL in charge back then. he was too busy sorting Norwich out i think...they are all pretty crap, thats why were bottom with not a single stand out player. And Judge cant be all that otherwise we wouldn't have been able to buy him given we were destined for the drop when he signed. but he's bettter than what we had and at L1 level should be enough to get us playing better going forward. long term he's not the answer to our prayers. none of them are and that i entirely agree with.
