Ash was one of the best defenders in the premiership last season and it is a no brainer we were not going to let him go. You don't get teams like Arsenal,Naples and others wanting him just for his good looks do you.
If we stay up next season then I think it will be the parting of the ways ,I can't see Ash having a future with us as coach as he'll want to continue to play as long a he can ( he did get into the game fairly late ) .There's nothing wrong in theory in keeping ex players within the as long as it's beneficial to the club ,although the bigger we grow then I can see that thats more likely to happen now with all the back round staff required .I like to think there will be a slow introduction of a new partnership between Amat.Chico and Bartley over the coming season where we see Ash becoming less important which is as it should be ,this of course will depend on if he signs a new contract and the length of it .
Williams didn't have the best of seasons last term, but he wasn't bad and certainly not as risky as Chico turned out to be, and he is not our captain for nothing, I think he still has a good few season's left in him, glad we are keeping him...............
Anyone for selling Ash for circa £5m and buying Caulker for £8m or £9m? A net outlay of £3m or £4m.
It looks as though Caulker is on his way to QPR - http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/qpr-agree-fee-cardiff-city-7367627
Ash had a few patchy games and was prone to a few bad mistakes this season. That said, I'd rather he was playing for us than another side trying to stay up. He has a 'body on the line' attitude and that simply can't be taught. I happen to like Chico (for the most part) and I can't quite see why some people are making an Ash vs Chico argument. I think Chico has some decent feet, but he's a bit nuts. Ash has biblical strength, but he's panicked a few times this season. Maybe normal service will be resumed when we aren't flying to Russia on a Thursday night.
