I dont get why we want/need Nelsen to stay? His pace makes Dawson look fast and if we had those two at centre back like the other week we would be destroyed by most of the PL imo. Keep King as a player/coach but Gallas and Nelsen gotta go. I know Harry likes experience for off the pitch etc but we can't have King, Gallas and Nelsen next year. Plus Dawson and Kaboul have been at the club long enough now to be classed as experienced.
Nelsen should stay because he's a good CB, who is happy to be a squad player. Pace is just one element of being a good CB, Bobby Moore was slow but got away with it. Caulker Dawson Nelsen Gallas and Kabul represents a good mix for me. If King can make another year then fine, that may present a problem, but Caulker may count as 'under age/squad trained, etc.' If Dawson doesn't recover fully, then we'll probably need to buy. I leave the niceties of UEFA/Prem squad rules to others, but I rate Nelsen and think he should and will stay.
Dawson will be on the shelf until October at the earliest, and that's before getting back to full fitness and conditioning in training, so Caulker will (at the very least) get a couple of Carling Cup matches under his belt, plus he'd likely be on the bench for games where Ledders is rested in this time. A first-choice pairing of Kaboul and Vertonghen, with King stepping in, Caulker as back-up, plus Gallas and Nelsen in reserve and Dawson to come back seems a decent spread. It's worth noting that, along with the probability of Vertonghen joining in the summer, we've been linked to Independiente's Julian Velazquez, plus we've got the option on Bruno Uvini. If we did sign the pair, given their ages (21 and 20), plus their fees are low risk (£4m and £3m), I wouldn't be surprised if they were loaned out in January.
That's got to be too many centre-halves, Croydon. I don't think that Caulker would count towards our squad limit, but the other 6 would.
Forward thinking: Four centre backs guaranteed game time (Vertonghen, Kaboul, Dawson, Caulker) plus three to rotate in and out (King, Gallas, Nelsen) and two to loan out (Uvini, Velazquez) for next season, and at the end of next season it's likely that two of King, Gallas and Nelsen will move on/retire, whilst Uvini and Velazquez have gained experience and move into the main squad.
It's not overkill in the regard of us having seven centre backs on our books right now (King, Kaboul, Dawson, Gallas, Nelsen, Caulker, Bassong), so there isn't much difference - except in terms of fulfilling criteria for Financial fair Play. Caulker's wages for next season will be lower than Bassong's currently are, and Uvini/Velazquez will be on lower wages than King and Gallas, and probably Nelsen as well. Their wages can be increased when it comes to contract negotiations, and with the new stadium going up the increased revenue means this can be done organically and within FFP criteria instead of advertising the club in the Lonely Hearts column of Russian/Arab/Chinese billionaires. There's also the possibility of Uvini/Velazquez being in our reserve squad next season, which would also keep them from cluttering our 25-man squad.
Swansea boss Brendan Rodgers says he's spoken to Tottenham about bringing central defender Steven Caulker back to the Liberty Stadium next season. "He has made a massive jump in his career through playing games here," said Rodgers. "It's down to where they see him fitting in there next season." On the BBC website this evening. I for one am hoping that he is with us next year.....
I think Carroll and Swansea would be perfect for each other, providing he can be guaranteed fairly regular games.
I second both - Caulker in our squad, with Carroll getting some experience with Swansea. Hopefully he gets some game time, unlike perpetual bench-warmer Josh McEachran has.
