I'm not sure they will, they've lost Kieftenbeld and Jed Wallace, which were two of their key players. They've signed Flemming from Fortuna Sittard, who is a handy player, but I'm not sure they'll do as well this season. I wasn't particularly impressed with them when they played us.
Team spirit is something that can’t be bought, and we’ve already lost a lot of the bigger characters. Whether George would play as much this season is another question but I personally think it’s a risk not keeping him around.
We apparently doubled his wages but the issue hinges on playing time, which we can't guarantee because of the new lads. FWIW, Traore runs for days, he doesn't get tired and he'll bring the energy, I just don't know if he's as charismatic as George is and if he'll have the same impact on the dressing room. I agree we don't want to be losing him, otherwise it's another person to replace (before we even get to the impact he has on our squad).
I also think it's about us trying to sell at the right time. Compared to 12 months ago, many of our squad are worth less than they were. We'd have got 7 figures for Wilks easy, now we're only getting £200k, Doch would be pushing 7 figures, now we'll be lucky to get our money back, Elder would've been worth a bit too but unlikely now. None of those have really cut it at Championship level and we'd have been far better of selling them all and reinvesting (embargo aside). I'd keep Honeyman and want him to sign a new deal but it wouldn't surprise me if he didn't play a tonne next year
Well, I imagine that plays into it too, but it's a similar situation to Tom Eaves whereby he was offered the chance to stay on higher wages but decided against it. If he ultimately decides to go (which by the sounds of it, he has), he'll be replaced. Acun really, really wants to get promoted, he's really putting a lot into doing that in the near future, so he's not going to have any hang ups about shipping out lads that can't agree contracts or who don't want to be here. What impact that will have on the dressing room remains to be seen, but I have the feeling that a better chance at being Premier League players will have more sway over them than having their mates around.
I've been pleasantly shocked by how much work Acun is putting into us. He's clearly on the charm offensive with players and says he's on the phone 7 hours a day. He seems to be loving every minute of it too. We had a lot of **** with the Allams but by god, Acun has been worth the wait so far. I've got real faith in him doing something extraordinary with us
It certainly does feel very different, the excitement among the fans and indeed the staff is clear to see. A few I've spoken to have said that it feels like the first season under Steve Bruce. We're targeting senior, international players with plenty of winning experience and building around our younger, talented lads. It's a winning combination. All we need to do now is fill out the stadium.
Yes, but is he worth more than 12 months ago? (Ignore the contract side) I'd say similar at best, and I don't think I could make an argument that he's worth more than this time last year. He was phenomenal in L1
According to this, yes. https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/george-honeyman/profil/spieler/218140 Bought for a couple of hundred thou now worth 1.35m, though we appear to be targeting players in the 3-4m category which is a different level all told. That said some on here deride the notion that he may not have confidence to compete for the shirt with the incomings as Toasty suggests is the case.
I reckon it's £600-800k But if we get £1m+ for him then that's a good deal. In a nostalgic way, it's pretty sad to see the L1 winning squad get completely broken up. I do wonder if they released the Tufan news yesterday as they thought this might break and send supporters into a frenzy
I hope we get at least 1m, otherwise i'm not sure it's worth selling. Would rather keep for a little bit of continuity and let him go on a free.
