Wouldn't surprise me if we see a few decent players sitting around til the last minute. He along with others would be hoping to get near Championship wages as that's were he's just come from.League 1 clubs will just play the waiting game until wage demands/agent fees are reduced imho
We won't be signing Maddison imo. We've got Gooch, Maguire, O'Brian and Diamond to play out wide so it's not a priority position. And I wouldn't want to see Diamond pushed further down the pecking order as we need to give match time to him for his development.
And all 4 are right footed. We never have balance. We haven’t had balance since Johnston/Summerbee. You gain so much from the balance of left and right footed players, options to switch sides and cut in or go outside, better balance for overlaps. That’s even without the fact Maddison is a better player than those listed. I agree though, we won’t sign him, more likely he goes to one of our rivals and we facepalm as he scores or assists against us. It’s the Sunderland way
Gooch is left footed like. And Diamond and O'Brian have played most of their careers out on the left so not like we're sticking square pegs in round holes. Apart from Diamond, all those players listed have a lot more appearances at a higher level than him so not too convinced that he's that much better than what we already have, if at all. I can't help but think that there's something putting clubs off him. He's deffo talented for this level yet not one League 1 club going for promotion has gone in for him.
Gooch plays on right though, right sided I should have said. Diamond is a kid and O’Brien I believe signed as a striker. In the same way McGeady was slowing games down so does a wrong footed striker having to cut inside to cross. I agree though there must be a reason he’s without a club, it’s more likely money than anything else with the wage cap fiasco, surely they need to sort that out like now. Clubs could be handicapped and players out of work for something that becomes non existent if it is indeed unlawful? That review should have happened already, surely? Literally players sat in limbo because of it, and a lot of these aren’t young millionaires like the PL.
They might have just not offered what he wants. Looks to me like he wanted a move to the Championship but no one seems interested There are probably a number of League one clubs who would have him but are now constrained by the Salary Cap He's not the only one seems to be a few good players (Garbut, Fraser) are in limbo at the moment. I think its a waiting game to see if the Salary cap is challenged Unfortunately with the window not closing until October things could drag on.
As i said before, some pf these players are going to find that they have to consider a wage cut or their agent will need to take a lesser fee as agent fees count as well. The real winners from the salary cap will be talented U21's as their services will be at a premium.
Agree with this completely. Some good talented players still without clubs and normally I'd expect the likes of Maddison to get offers early doors. Hopefully we've got tabs on some youngsters that at the minute wouldn't be prepared to play League 1 but may well change their mind if they haven't got a club last week of the window.
Absolutely, they can ask 10k a week if they like but when the offers don't come i'm fairly certain they'll reduce them or sack off their agents.
Double whammy for a lot of players. Covid was going to lead to belt tightening from the majority of clubs and the salary cap at this level has given clubs the excuse to pull back even further. I know we have a bit of an advantage in that we could offer promotion bonuses or a new contract on a higher wage in the event of promotion but it becomes absoloutely essential that the only players getting a contract like that have the potential to make the step up.
Absolutely. Hopefully this forces Parkinson's hand and the likes of Dan Neil are given a chance this season The lad looks a real talent to me. Stand out player of pre season for me If we had bought him for a couple of Million this summer people would be raving about him
He'll have dips in form but you're right he has that forward pass that non of our other midfielders seem to be able to see Big ask but he might even get the best out of Grigg We started 2 seasons ago with a raw 19 year old in Maja hopefully Neil can do similar and be big player for us this season
Hopefully so mate. We always seem to have a young lad or 2 look the part in preseason then barely get a kick, but him and Diamond look more than useful and be great to see them both getting games.
A wage cap shouldn't be an issue for a free agent. A big signing on fee can cover any lost wages due to the cap. There must be something else in it, unless signing on fees are considered in the wage cap, and I find that unlikely.
In that case, it won't be the wages holding us back from signing him or anyone else in fact. Wether Donald has enough money to stump up signing on fees is another matter.
Signing on fees are included in the cap. Along with agents fees, image rights etc. https://www.efl.com/news/2020/august/squad-salary-caps-introduced-in-league-one-and-league-two/
