Assuming Bruce departs (Lord hear my prayer!!) and we lose in the playoffs to Derby, I'd agree that our list of departures will look very much like Sterling posted in #1 on this thread (see below) leaving us with some decent players, primarily at the back, adequate to maintain a mid-table spot in the Championship. A top-6 spot will thus largely depend on who we bring in as the new Manager and who he is able to bring in to score goals. Outgoings Diame (3 mill) Robertson (12 mill) Dawson* (2.5 mill) Snodgrass* Huddlestone Livermore* Hernandez (10 mill) Powell (loan ended)be first Hayden (loan ended) Akpom (loan ended) Elmo Bruce Jnr Aluko - Contract expired Taylor - Contract expired CJM - Contract expired * might stay. With Dawson (?) and Bruce Jnr gone I'd expect Maguire to stay and be first choice CH with Davies. So we could line up in August with... McGregor Odubajo Maguire Davies Tymom Snodgrass Meyler Livermore Clucas/Maloney Diomande ANOther Player sales could bring in over 30 mill (primarily Robertson and Hernandez), enough for a couple of decent strikers and strengthening of center midfield/defense.
I'd agree with most of what you say and unfortunately agree with the fact that we will not make it back to the Premier League this season and that Bruce will leave. We should still have a formidable, above average Championship defence for next season. Our dysfunctional mid-field continually moving sideways (the basis of the name change to "Hull Crabs") has to be totally thrown in the 'hot-cold' washing cycle, tumble-dried and left at a Salvation Army re-cycling outlet. A completely new midfield under a new 'forward thinking' (forgive the pun) Manager should be the next priority. This should be closely followed by a thorough search for 3 strikers who have got some semblance of pace, heading ability, first touch and presence (the ability to shake off their marker and find that empty space). It won't be easy as we seem to still be carrying that horrible (and unfair) stigma of "Hull Who"? "Thanks but No Thanks"! The 'loan-in' options are a pre-requisite at this level in the shape of 'utility' players who can play in more than one position and 'impact' subs who can make their presence felt as soon as they come on. I cannot agree that we have 30 million quids worth of prospective transfers and would put this nearer 12 million. Hope that's enough to secure what we need.
Apologies....corrected Elmo and Hudds...I was described as "senile" on here a few years ago. Guess they were right
Nobody will match what Bruce's on with us, so unless he has a clause that says he has to leave with his dad, he'll be going nowhere.
Agreed, but his defence needs a lot of work. He probably will fetch £15m in years to come but atm IMO we would not expect to get anywhere near £15m. Time will tell as always. The best bet though is get promotion and we keep him
The link came from HITC, who are less reliable than a taxi-driving dog, I doubt Bruce has even heard of him.
Why do we also go abroad anyway...is it the cheaper wages/fees? You get what you pay for in my world. Buy cheap....buy ****.
Haha, I nearly choked on my bacon sarnie. Imagine the convos with a taxi driving dog; "Been busy"........"no its been a bit woof lately". "Could you take me to Barking and the Isle of Dogs"......."are you taking the piss". "The weathers been awful lately hasn't it".........."that lighting electrocuted my balls when I was pissing up a tree the other day". "Been busy"........"I've only just got my licence back cause the cops felt my collar"
Define abroad, Robertson? N'Doye was pretty cheap and scored 5 in 15 for us. I don't think the issue is buying from abroad per se, it's that so often Bruce admits to having not seen the player play before. Which combines for not actually knowing if they're good enough, and not knowing how to play to their strengths.
Nick Blackman was one of the top scorers in the first half of the season and went for what, £2.5m? Hernandez's performances haven't been good enough across the season and other clubs will see that. They won't just look at the goals scored column and offer massive fees for anyone near the top.
20 goals in the Championship isn't an overly impressive feat these days. Considering there are 46 games, the top scorers of the top 6-8 clubs all ought to have at least one.
As was Kante. Saying we shouldn't buy from abroad is ridiculous. The players are good, it's what we do with them that ****s them up. I mean, why does it seem to work so well for everybody else EXCEPT us in he last few years? We take players that have great careers in other countries, buy them, play them in a system that doesn't suit them and then moan that they're **** and aren't hitting the ground running, while other clubs get similar players and are heralded as master strokes. It's not ****ing rocket science, coach them properly and they come good. Plonk them in a team and expect them to just magically do well based on what they've previously done and of course they will fail.
