Brixham Saint (reading it again) - “We may go for the full cull and shift Long, Yoshida and Elyounissi with young replacements already at club in Obafemi, Jones & Sims??”
Sentiment aside, ain't never going to happen. Are you thinking to put him on show for sale? That may be a mistake. Or because we are going to have to use him next season as we won't shift him, so would like to give him some game time. All this assumes that Ralph has given up on the season...don't see that.
We will definitely get rid of at least 1 of the current CB’s imho. Ralph will definitely want to keep Bednarek and seems to like Vestergaard, so that would mean 1 of either Stephens or Yoshida will make way. To bring one in, RH will not want 5 senior CB’s in the squad, as there needs to be a pathway for the like of Jones and Klarer etc. I would get rid of Stephens personally, but Yoshida only has 1 year left on his contract.
Klarer is only 18, so should probably spend at least another season in the U23’s. No need to rush things with him, I think he’s going to be special, perhaps even Virgil-good. Jones won’t be 22 until October, so potentially has 2 more seasons before he needs to be in the squad or released. So neither needs a big decision made over them for a couple of years, unless they can be fitted into a cup side. Personally I’d ship Stephens out and let Yoshida’s contract run down. Maya is a wise old senior pro, and with all the youngsters in the squad, could be a role model for them, just like Shane Long.
Yeeeeahhhhh... same as Long. He can probably get a longer contract from someone else, and then we shouldn't stand in his way. This is the first summer without a manager change in a while, we need to think about who will be our team in 3-5 years and give them minutes. That's how we get the next Hojbjerg, Redmond, Bednarek etc.
August 2017 - early December 2018 was a period in Saints history that I wish to forget ASAP (only highlights were Swansea away and the FA Cup run).
All this talk about expensive bench warmers makes me think I'll write to Ralph and offer to sit on the bench for a mere £5g a week. If 6 more fans join me we'll save the club a fortune
Lot of you are being well too conservative in what Ralph wants to do. I can see at least 2 out of 4 cbs going and that isn't including Hoedt
No, Admittedly I harbour a soft spot for the guy and, although I may have missed developments, I've assumed that,a once decent keeper, suffered a difficult crisis in confidence. I've also assumed that the club are working on rebuilding that confidence which if successful could make him a better asset to the club again whether he is moved on or not. Unless his confidence is completely shot the Huddersfield game presents a decent opportunity to assist in his rehabilitation and I'd go for the Hammers game as well. And I don't think that Ralph has given up on the season but I do think that he has demonstrated that he is prepared to take risks Of course he sees these guys in training, one reason why I'm so pleased at the improvements in several players especially Long who many people on this forum were baying for him to be excluded just a few months ago. Regarding FF just a personal opinion of mine and, I should inform you that I did manage my village third team for a couple of seasons (although admittedly we weren't very successful!)
