For me, and many others, he was our player of the season in our promotion season. When played last season, he looked better than Huddlestone, Livermore, Meyler and Ramirez. So for over £15 million and over £150,000 a week in wages Bruce couldn't find someone as good as him, what makes you think he'll be easily replaced now? Worth pointing out, if Quinn is average, then the vast majority of our squad are also either average or below average, which doesn't bode well.
You can't really compare him to our other midfielders they've all got different rolls in the team! Quinn brings energy but very little else, as I've said many times on here he doesn't shoot enough! He can run around all day without an end product. When he's in the team he plays further forward and is (in my view) expected to open teams up with little one twos! But I've never really walked away from a game saying "Quinn had a great game" but it's all about opinions.
So much for the PL football he was after, another observation , Long, McShane and Quinn apart from the obvious they all Irish, they all appear to be moving(or have moved) to the same area of the country, with Quinn I'm sure if McShane had been offered a new contract ,he would have stayed too appears that SB has pissed him off by getting rid of his mate, my biggest concern now is not Quinn going but how Brady view's what's going on with the other lads, and what's been said to him while he's away with the ROI squad.
So much for the PL football he was after, another observation , Long, McShane and Quinn apart from the obvious they all Irish, they all appear to be moving(or have moved) to the same area of the country, with Quinn I'm sure if McShane had been offered a new contract ,he would have stayed too appears that SB has pissed him off by getting rid of his mate, my biggest concern now is not Quinn going but how Brady view's what's going on with the other lads, and what's been said to him while he's away with the ROI squad. sorry re double post.
All I can see from the players we have released or look like leaving is that we will certainly have a mid table Championship squad
There is still a strong spine to the team, we haven't started buying anyone yet and Bruce is usually good in the loan market as well. I'd be suprised if we weren't in the top 4 by Christmas
He's been more lively, passed better, played with more urgency and looked more like making something happen than any of the others; that is the type of thing I look for. You fail to acknowledge just how good he was in our promotion season, if you don't think he was then say so, but I suspect everyone who watched us that season knows he was a huge factor in our promotion. Off the top of my head I can think of at least 10 games where I would have said that, certainly more than I could for or other midfielders. You're fully entitled to your opinion. Personally I think we've let two very good Championship players go for nothing and we're about to add a third, whilst we retain those who consistently under-performed and looked like they couldn't give a ****, and that worries me.
Is there a strong spine? Bare in mind all 3 strikers are likely to leave, who is the spine of our midfield and attack? I'd say we look pretty spineless if anything, barring the heart of the defence, and even that could change should Chester go.
You've obviously been watching a different team to me, we've been the epitome of spineless for the past eighteen months.
I'm in the pro-Quinn camp. His ability may not be as good as others in the squad, but when others in midfield have their heads down, Quinn is the one who keeps his head up and looks to do something - usually positive, while the rest look for sideways or backwards passing - scared to try anything. Quinn rarely looses the ball and usually picks a pass. Quinn's corners got us 2 up in an FA Cup final as well - which is why this season we decided to persist with Huddlestone and Brady hitting the first man.
But that's without players coming in, which there obviously will be. The Allams, for all their faults, need us back in the Premier League for their insane marketing bullshit to have any chance of working, so expect a few new faces this Summer. Even so a side of: ---------------McGregor----------- Elmo----Dawson---Chester--Robertson Snodgrass -----Thudd-----Diame----Ince -----------------Aluko--------- -----------------New Striker------- would be pretty decent, it's certainly not a mid table side. For once, the only area we'll really need to strengthen is the forward line and then after that, it's any like for like replacements for those that leave.
Well until he actually does go, he's here. Derby are making all kinds of transfer movements and Ince hasn't been one of them, in fact they haven't even bid for him as far as we're aware.
It will be 3-5-2, undoubtedly. Ince will most likely leave, Chester and Huddlestone most likely will as well and Diame certainly isn't happy and will be desperate to leave in January. You're actually looking at something like this: --------------------------McGregor ----------Dawson-------Bruce--------Maguire --Elmo-----Meyler----New CM---New CM----Brady (if he stays) --------------------Aluko---------New ST Given my optimism over Bruce in the transfer market, I'd say that was fairly midtable. Most likely struggle to score goals once more and be very predictable.
Well alright then, they haven't taken up the fixed price thingy. Which, given the rumoured agreed price, I'd have thought they'd have done already before bringing in all those new faces in.
But until any/ all of them leave we have a strong team, you've missed the likes of Robertson and Snodgrass out of your post, so looking at the formation you've put and the players that are still ours, it could look like this: --------------------------McGregor ----------Dawson-------Chester--------Maguire --Elmo-----Meyler----Thudd---Diame----Brady/ Robertson/ Ince --------------------Snodgrass---------New ST
Yeah, I would've thought if the fixed price option on Ince was there, they would've already taken it. Of course, the transfer window doesn't end until September, but you would think they would want him there permanently ASAP.
It depends on the terms of the agreement, but I'd have thought there's a deadline on the fixed price option, it's usually until the end of the season, which is technically May 31st.
Why let that run out if they are still supposedly after him? It could be until the end of June though, as the transfer window doesn't 'officially' open until July 1st.
