I wonder if it's a statement of intent by SB? To keep him ( = "He's ours!") ..... or to showcase him/ jack his price up? I hope he stays...
I'd put money on Koren staying and being Captain. I know he'd like to play in the Prem one last time, but could he win anything whilst playing for a lower Prem team?? Opportunity could be here for him to captain a promotion winning side, he may not get another chance to do that either. It could come down to cash, but winning things is what motivates true pro's.
Great work by Bruce to show him he's wanted, we won't get another of his quality in for a reasonable price so need to do everything to keep him, without his goals last season people really would have had something to moan about
I'd much rather have Koren captain, than Hobbs. Hobbs is a great player and as I've previously stated, lacks the ability to talk to his team mates. Rosenior, Koren or Dawson for me. Koren captained his International Side, so it probably puts him in pole position for it. Mind you, Daws has a good shout at it considering his time with the Club and knowledge from being under Ashbee.
If SB's wheeling and dealing recently doesn't show intent then I don't know what does. He should give us one more year and if we don't go up move...
As we're offering him a new contract we should offer him another 2 years with a 3rd year option like this deal, but instead of a release fee say that if we don't get promoted he can walk for free to a top flight or foreign club if he wants to go. (and at the end of the second year even if we've chosen to take up the option he can walk for free if we're not going to be a PL club the season after, same club restrictions apply) EDIT: Obviously the intention to activate the clause would have to be stated in June so that we could think about finding a replacement.
he's good isn't he this Steve Bruce? and he's expensive, you know! But it's a clever and important statement to give the captaincy to Koren. Of course he should be the captain, he was captain of Slovenia at the WC. It's saying "You're important to us & I want you to stay" for me keepin Robbie is as good as a signing and he'll see the quality coming in and think about what they might achieve.. with the squad we're assembling we could win it.
