Burgess to Swansea - bit out of left field. Maybe they’ve guaranteed him a certain amount of playing time which we couldn’t but it’s a bit of a strange move. Good luck to him - certainly 1 player that’s made the most of his ability
The aim next Season must be to build a squad capable of the step up from Championship and establishing a foothold in the Premier League.Much as Cam and Mass were great guys and did a wonderful job getting us so far I think we've got to move onwards and upwards.The worry is how much of the remainder have potential to be improved.
Why have we let our best and most consistent defender go to a Championship rival? Echoes of the disastrous goalkeeping fiasco last summer.
Cam > Greaves. Mass > Phillips. Broadhead > J. Clarke. H Clarke > Godfrey and so it goes on. Our transfer business over the last twelves months has been an absolute **** show.
To be fair my old gran would have put on a better show in a Town shirt than Phillips and she's been in the ground over 10 years!!
I don’t think it’s as simple as saying we’ve “let him go”. We did offer him a contract, apparently on similar terms with Swansea. It’s a World Cup year though, and he’ll rightly prioritise regular first team football to keep his place in the squad. He’s probably assumed (correctly) he won’t play ahead of Greaves - a £15m signing. As good as Burgess has been for us in the back-to-back seasons, Greaves has the better pedigree and form in the Championship over multiple seasons. It’s a shame Burgess has moved on, as he’d be a key squad member who could potentially break back into the team. But I don’t blame him for choosing first team football to play for his country.
Cam will be missed of course, a decent bloke who often proved to be a rock in our unstable defense, notably his headers out. But at 30 he couldnt expect a regular game with Town and its World cup year too, and he has been a regular choice for Oz. We wish him well. Always a note of sadness wen we see our amazing L1 players leaving after the incredible journey they were very much part of.
This is a real disappointment for me and I think one of those which you could see coming. Burgess had been outstanding for us for 2 seasons then shipped out of the team straight away after a new CB had signed. One which despite all the plaudits often for some great last ditch blocks (what people hadn't clicked onto at that point was there was a reason he needed to do last ditch blocks) for my money was positionally poor. Burgess came back in after Greaves injury and showed superior form last season and probably put in our best CB performances of the season. The Bournemouth game last season he put in one of the best CB performances I've seen at PR. For me this is one of those for the if it isn't broke don't fix it scenarios. And he clearly probably felt a little let down, so I don't blame him for going my surprise is that it's to Swansea....maybe it's because he wants to play at the World Cup and it's the only place he'd be guaranteed 1st choice. Under this new regime there are choices I have questioned but I think the situation with Burgess is probably the first one where I've felt it is stupid how they've managed it...Looks like Greaves will now have to step up to the mark
And we offered Hladky a contract. So then, the club doesn’t know how to communicate and negotiate, which rings true given we’re paying McKenna the wages of a Champions League manager.
My guess would be that the length of contract rather than wages is the stumbling block. I think we probably offered something like a 1 year deal with the option to extend for a further year while Swansea offered a full 3 years (no inside info on this, just a gut feeling). The club seems to want a younger squad with a higher sell on value to keep us sustainable
As Royston says, I’m sure it was reported Hladky was offered two years plus an optional third year by the club. Burnley must've offered him a similar deal, as his contract at Burnley expires next summer. He could've stayed with us and fought for a Premier League starting place, but he choose to sit on the Burnley bench in the Championship all of last season. If Burnley sell Trafford, they will sign a replacement first choice goalkeeper in the Premier League. Burgess has left primarily because he wants guaranteed first team football in a World Cup year. He probably could have gone to Valencia and Rangers - both strongly linked with him - but there’s no guarantee he would start there, despite likely getting a higher weekly wage. He should start regularly at Swansea, a mid-table Championship side. I disagree with the thinking we can’t negotiate as a club. Under Marcus Evans, that criticism rings true - but not under the new ownership. McKenna and the players will have relegation clauses in the salaries, as standard best practice. McKenna will still be paid well - most likely the highest in the Championship - but it won't be anywhere near the levels last season.
