Having watched on in dispair at the obvious retirement from the FA cup we are now left with a straight relegation scrap. Almost a mini league of 12/13 games. Now the players have had 2 weeks of distractions, cup finals FA cup capitulation but there minds have been off the premier league. They should be coming back to it fresh. Also coming to a close is an era of Steve Bruce signing. Yes I know they are mingled with lones and de fanti disasters. The main stay of the side has come to it's end. These players have underachieved whoever has been in charge. Yes they come good for a couple of months under a new manager but have never push on, rather fallen back to bad old ways. You would say staying up is normally paramount to keeping your best players. Is that the case with us? Our best players are loan players. . Only Colback out of those whose contracts are up I would keep, perhaps bardsley. So who would go if we were relegated rather than staying up? For me we haven't had a proper squad since Bruce. He has left this club in an awful state. That followed by MON who splashed big cash on two underperforming players. He allowed the likes of Meyler and Campbell to go for buttons both of who would offer better options than some of our current players. Our buying and selling policy for 5 years I would say has been pretty horrendous and th club has wasted millions on wages and fees. We clearly need a person at the club who can do these things properly.
out: dossena larsson gards altidore fletcher keep the rest, esp loanees borini, ki, alonso defensive replacements needed next year, as old boys tire out also need new striker and AM
Its going to be another overhaul no matter which league we are in. We could have a dozen players leave due to contract end and loan ending. Westwood Cuellar Dossena Vergini Celustka Alonso Gardner Larsson Ki Colback Borini Could all be gone, not that i rate all that lot but its going to cost millions just to stand still.never mind improve the squad. Shambles year after year really.
If we stay in the premier league, I'm pretty certain we'll see Alonso, Colback and Verginin stay. Ki is a possibilty. Borini will be gone imo, and I dont think Gardner, Larsson, Celustka or Dossena will be offered new contracts. No idea about Cuellar and Westwood. If we drop out of the premier league, I dont think any of them will be staying
After the loan players go back and the out of contract players are released we'll have barely anyone left.
The positives of having players nearing the ends of their contracts (the idea they will try harder etc) only really count if a) you want to keep hold of them and b) they want to stay. With some of those players neither seems to be the case and sadly the ones who you would really want (Alonso, Borini and Ki) are the ones which you are least likely to be able to retain. I think Colback and Westwood should be with you next season regardless of what happens but are you actually going to miss the likes of Cuellar, Dossena, Celustka, Gardner and Larsson? Poyet has got a very very busy summer ahead.
Wow. From Wembley highs to doom and gloom. It's still all in our hands lads. We are 8th or 9th in the league form table, or were last time I looked at it. 4 wins from 12 games and a couple of draws will give us 38 points. Next 2-3 games could have us up to 13-15th.
We should not be rebuilding if we survive we have a premiership team so only need to add extra quality. People think we are a bigger club than we are . We need to grow slowly and one day the magic carpet ride will reach its destination an Nial will be right Things can only get better
we rebuilt last summer and look at us, whether we like it or not we will have to retain some of those players as part of a team capable of keeping our PL status. More worryingly, if we survive it will be down mainly to Gus, and that will not go unnoticed by clubs here and Europe.
I hear what you're saying Newton but I would have thought this season alone shows the naivety of buying in half a squad for a season and expecting good results. There are a lot of gaps which would need to be filled - just doesn't feel like there is a consistent plan coming from the top. I think they need to back Poyet with £20m+ and a good contract in the summer just to stay comfortable. No short term fixes please.
Really fella? As it stands this will be our squad before the next window opens Goalkeepers Mannone Defenders Brown O'Shea Roberge Modibo Diakité Midfielders Johnson Ba Giaccherini Bridcutt Cattermole Mavrias David Moberg Karlsson Alfred N'Diaye Cabral Forwards Fletcher Altidore Scocco Connor Wickham Danny Graham Is that good enough? I think it's dreadful. There aren't many who can play the way Poyet wants to play there so I think a rebuild is inevitable.
If we hadn't we wouldn't have had a squad capable of getting through the season. For example, before the last summer window opened we had 3 fit senior defenders at the club JoS, Cuellar and Bardo. We were in no position to rely on Wes being fit most of the season. We needed numbers. It's taken seasons to undo what Bruce did to the squad and there's still a lot of work to do. Low Numbers and a distinct lack of quality forced us into mass recruitment this season, and we'll need to do it again this summer. Hopefully there will be a few more permanent signings.
Oh I understand the necessity but you have to wonder why there is so little stickability with players (not meant as a swipe). Of the 19 players in that list for the end of the season something like 11 of them have been at the club less than a year so far. Of the 8 others, 3 are on loan away from the club (Graham, N'Diaye and Whickam) and Catts was almost sold in January. There seems to be a distinct lack of senior players (and I don't necessarily mean old there, just people who have been at the club a while) and I think that's a problem in its own right as they help set a tone. Unpopular though this may seem is it not worth holding onto some players (Bardsley, Larsson, etc) to just maintain some continuity?
