In my opinion we should keep belaid akpan and amoo and dont see why we would get rid of cairney and mclean just needs time to prove himself
That doesn't leave a lot. Whilst I generally agree with your assessments, I think we will fall a long way short of that. The important ones are of course the high earners; Bullard, Olofinjana, McShane, Ghilas and Kilbane. I can see Bullard going to DQPR, but if he doesn't the only thing we will get is 20k off his pay to Ipswich, but even that is unlikely given the statements of the Allams recently. Barnsley might take a part of McShane, and I think Oli will go on loan again as I think Cardiff are a spent force and won't even make it to Wembley. So Bullards on 47k, Oli 28k, Macca 20k, Ghilas 20k, Kilbane 10k. We wil lose 20k from Bullard, 14k fron Oli, 8k from Macca, 5k from Ghilas and 5k from Killer. So out of 125k a week we will lose around 52k. Crikey that's still paying 75k a week for no players!!!! No wonder the Allams are upset!! Also we will not be losing Harper and McLean as they are Nige's signings and he would lose face to get rid of them (particulary McLean who cost a laughable ã1.3m ). Cairney has made no progress since the Prem in my view, in fact he's gone backwards, but his main problem will never be remedied, he has no pace. Cullen I have no idea about, maybe in a few years, but you have to wonder about a lad that cannot even impress at a very poor Bradford City side. I really hope Koren stays. Yes, he's inconsistent, yes he doesn't tackle, yes he often looks disinterested. But he is one player that has genuine talent. Here's wher we currently are assuming you need 2 players to cover every position (apart from GK where you need 3): ........................................GK (Oxley 1? 2?) Rosenior / 1? ............Chester / 1?.........1? / 2? ..............Dudgeon / Dawson Stewart / 1?............Evans / 1?..........Harper / Cairney...........Koren/ 1? ....................Fryatt / McLean....Simpson / 1? That's: 2 Gloakeepers 3 Centrebacks 1 Rightback 1 Ballwinning midfielder 1 WideRight Midfielder 1 WideLeft Midfielder 1 Centre Forward That's 10 players, either permanent or on loan. Here's what I reckon we should get: 2 Gloakeepers: Eilhoff (perm) and Mannone (season loan) 3 Centrebacks: Hobbs (perm) Ayala (season loan) Gerrard (perm if Cardiff don't go up, loan if not) 1 Rightback: Don't know yet, not a loan as he would definitely be second to Rosenior. 1 Ballwinning midfielder: Greening for me as he ticks all the boxes BUT wages? 1 WideRight Midfielder: O'Connor (permanent) 1 WideLeft Midfielder: Ward from Bolton or Rose from Spurs (season loans) 1 Centre Forward: Jay Emmanuel Thomas (season loan) or James Beattie (permanent)
I wouldn't argue with the majority of that Strovolos, I don't expect Harper or Mclean will go, I was just suggesting they probably should. I think the three potential signings have all blown it, the four out of contract players mentioned won't be offered a deal and we'll definitely try and shift the five high earners, so that's twelve who are definitely on the 'to get rid of' list. I'm slightly less pessimistic than you on the high earners, I think Bullard is worth ã3m and ã20k a week, letting him leave on a free would effectively give the buying club the same deal. If Oli interests any Premier League clubs, then his wage shouldn't be an issue, particularly if we let him leave for no fee. Macca and Killer both want to play and are both decent blokes, I think there's a decent chance of a deal being agreed for both. Ghilas is a write off, he's on at least twice what he's worth and I can see no way out of that one, other than paying him off. We've a lot to do in the summer, but the business we managed to do this season, suggests to me that we have a management team capable of pulling rabbits out of hats. Time will tell.
Bullard, Macca, Killer, Oli should all go, even if the latter is only going back on loan. I agree with you about Ghilas, he hasn't really done anything out on loan. However, if he's not going to go how about playing him. He's not an awful player after all?
I was at most of the pre-seasons last summer, when he had a new manager to impress and he didn't look remotely interested. I think he's not figuring in our plans at all, he was terrible pre-season, he was terrible for the reserves, other than the Bolton game, he's looked poor in the first team too. He's on a ridiculous deal that was only done to increase the bank balance on someone's offshore account, I think we'll do whatever is required to get rid. If Brownie had stuck with him after the Bolton game, when Altidore and Ghilas seemed to link up quite well, then things might have been different, but I doubt it, I think it was a fluke, rather than a sign of any real potential.
He's been linked with a move back to Oz several times in the past year(TigerRoo can probably knows more than me on that front), he's an Oz international, so if he does decide to go back, I suspect there'd be plenty of clubs interested.
Ghilas has only managed one goal in the French Ligue 1 this season albeit for a shoddy team.. they're getting relegated and won't be able to afford Ghilas but I doubt they'd even want him if they had the cash. His match reviews in L'Equipe have been generally poor. Not a player anyone is going to drool over. So I think we'll pay him off.
Would be a potentially good deal, though given his wages i can see him heading to the Drama Queens or Cardiff if they go up. His wages may put him out of reach of a lot of Championship sides, though with your financial backing it could be worth a punt if a player like Oli is what you're looking for.
Damn you John! You stole my idea. Should I shave or let it grow? If it grows there will be trouble, but if I shave there will be stubble. So come on and let me know, should I shave or let it grow? Copyright: Someone posted that, but I came up with it first, I swear.
For those interested in new signings, I've just seen on the FL show that Danny Ayala gave away a penalty!
There have been some negotiations with Richard but I believe he has been offered a year extension to his current contract at Hull City. There are others like Lucas Neill, Marc Schwarzer and Harry Kewell who have also declared their intentions to finish their career's in Oz to give somnething back to the game that has made them very rich people. We have a 'salary cap' here supplemented with what we call a "Marquis Player" allowing a Club to bring in one player over the cap - Robbie Fowler is a typical example who has adapted to the Australian lifestyle and loves it here.
