That's what we're saying to him now anyway. I think he'd only be desperate to leave if he thought he wouldnt play again for another 2 years but if we say see out these 9 months, play 15 games across all competitions and then either we give you a new contract in the Champ or you leave with our blessing if we're in the Prem then what has he got to lose? Other than 9 months, obvs but it's not like he'll play zero games.
Maybe we should make a league 3 in a hope to bridge that gap between the championship and premier, hopefully that will bump the championship up a bit.
You could have said the same for Meyler, Elmo, Bruce, Boyd and Chester before the start of last season, but they got a chance and proved what they could do. Quinn never really got that chance and was only ever used as a bit part player.
It won't be worth our while in any way to let him go for a million. We aren't in division 2 anymore we're in the top tier. Just one place higher in this division could get the club more than a million more. Players half-assing it towards the end of last season probably cost us several million, this is one reason why having a squad and having the guts to use it will be important.
Stephen Quinn is good enough for the premier league I am 100% confident he is. He was our best player in the 12/13 season and his performances against Man United away and in the FA Cup final I believe showed everyone he has what it takes. Even against Stuttgart the other day he was class. He is a fabulous footballer who is top draw in possession and aggressive and hard working off it. He only started 4 games last season in the league and rarely as a CM either.
He's not going to oust Huddlestone and Livermore in the middle, and Snodgrass has been signed as a starter playing in front of those two in the middle. Left wing back will be Brady/Robertson. Unfortunately for Quinn he's only likely to be on the bench for league and European games, and be brought in to start for early cup games. Same thing with Boyd. Bruce could rotate Quinn and Boyd into league matches as starters, dropping one of the above to the bench, but that would arguably weaken the team. May occasionally happen if we play in the league 2-3 after a long European trip, but even then Meyler will be ahead of Quinn for the deeper position. Quinn will mostly be bench cover, and occasional starts if we have injuries/fitness issues. He's a great player to have for that but you could fully understand the frustration of not playing - he didn't play much last season and now we signed a bunch of new players.
If one of Livermore or Huddlestone are injured/suspended then Meyler will come in. If both are out together I suspect we'd see Meyler and Snodgrass paired, with Ince/Aluko/Brady all options to play behind the forwards if Snodgrass drops deeper. Quinn barely featured in the middle last season when we had even fewer players, he's clearly seen as too lightweight to play in central midfield against top level opposition. He'd need us to have probably 3 injuries/suspensions to central players before featuring there. That leaves the spot behind the forwards, which as mentioned seems to be Snodgrass to start and Ince, Aluko and Brady all capable - and likely ahead of Quinn - there, plus Boyd probably more in line for that advanced midfield role if there are injuries. Again, would need a number of injuries. If Quinn stays I'm sure he will play occasionally, but see that being FA Cup or League Cup games when the first team is rested. I can only really see him starting league games if we have a really bad run of injuries or if we have a long midweek European travel and Bruce decides to rest some regulars. May occur a couple of times, not often. As I say, Quinn is a useful little player... nippy, agile and plays like a terrier. I'd love for him to stay as part of the squad. Unfortunately I can only see a handful of opportunities for him to play, and he seems to know it. He either has to settle for that handful of games, mostly in the domestic cups, and spend the rest of the season either on the bench or missing the bench entirely (as we saw in Zilina), or move on to a team where he'll play 30+ first team games. That would likely mean dropping to the Championship. He's ideal to have in case we get 3-4 key injuries/suspensions at the same time as midweek games add to tiredness but I don't think he'll be happy with that. Fryatt made the choice to move on and may have played more games than Quinn had he stayed.
The Premier league is all about settled squads and squad rotation. With injuries, resting players and lack of form Quinn must be in SB plans to play some part this season. Stay at City Quinny ..you know it makes sense....
Quinn played 511 minutes in the league last season, that's 5 and a half games worth of total time. That was in a season with no Snodgrass or Ince for competition, where Brady was injured for the vast majority (along with Aluko) and when we only had Long and Jelavic from January so the squad was spread thinner the first few months. Boyd got 1209 minutes in the league, 13 and a half games worth. He was preferred ahead of Quinn when needed for advanced midfield roles last season and that's likely the same now, except both have more players in line ahead of them now. Even if we switch to playing 442 regularly that wouldn't change his chances of playing much as Ince, Brady and Boyd would probably all be ahead of him to start at left midfield, plus we saw before he chose to use Sagbo there. Aluko another option left wing too.
