Ward May be not as good as whitbread but the future is Bennett and Ayala And whoever lambert brings in to replace zac
Both been great for us, think Zak would have stayed if he was willing to take less money but with his injury record it maybe a wise decision. Wish them both all the best
I think we'll see both Ward and Barnett stay now, with Russell ahead of them in the rankings. I imagine the club will be looking to buy another centre-back, probably a young one who's a decent prospect to understudy Ayala and Bennett. We're also probably going to be in the market for a striker too now. Please let it be Rhodes!! I saw him play in the play-offs and he was quality, doesn't rely on pace and crap defending at League 1 level- I really think he can make the step up. I know we'll be competing with Fulham (don't we always seem to be now) and some others, but I think Rhodes will be worth it.
lets not worry about ward. i think he's able back up, so long as that is all he is, back up. he can do a job - he has his limitations but then so did whitbread. at least if he's keen to stay that makes him a better bet than whitbread who wanted to get away for more money. what this DOES mean is that we are definitely in the market for another centre half cos i'm pretty sure he won't want to rely on ward, martin and barnett as back up. new striker too!
Saying Ayala and Bennett are first choice is all very well, but with the injury record Ayala has he surely isn't going to play much more than half the season and I don't think we can afford to think "this guy isn't first choice so we can let him go". Ayala will have to do a lot yet to convince me he's better than Whitbread as well because at the moment I'd have a fit Zak ahead of him any day of the week. Lambert would definitely have wanted to keep him so this must purely be about money which is disappointing. Hopefully the fact we can't pay the wages of certain player won't have any bearing on whether or not Lambert sees his immediate furture with us.
Ayala has been unlucky but he is quality, I can see him and Bennett being a right good pair End of the day, we shipped too many goals this season. We need to tighten up and that means new defensive personel, I'd be tempted to ditch ward and Barnett if they aren't favoured and getting new personel in. Although that might be a tad rash
munky, i think whitbread had indicated quite a while back that he was basically off. the fact he's not even been near the team would also suggest that he has something else lined up as for those who remain, i think ayala and bennett were always likely to be the ideal first choice next season, but injuries have hampered ayala so far, but then whitbread wasn't exactly fit all the time! i suspect we will now see at least one more centre back come in, maybe even two
we'll need to replace Zak for sure as cover for ayala and bennett also - don't forget we're completely DOOMED now! manager is rumoured to be going and now one of best defenders has been released. Where's mikey for a FACT?
Oh I respectfully disagree, I think Ayala is much more talented than Whitbread- he has it all, a great touch, good in the tackle, much less prone to making mistakes on the ball. The only footballing worry with Ayala is his tackling, he was lucky not to get a red card for a couple of two-footers iirc. Obviously, the recurrent injuries are a worry too. I would not be at all surprised to see Ward released as well, in which case I think they'll already have lined up a new centre back or two for us. It does seem odd that they haven't dealt with Fox, Ward, Drury, Korey Smith, Tom Adeyemi and George Francomb, who are all out of contract now too. I guess this suggests there are negotiations going on still. We need to do our best to hold onto Fox imo, I think it's worth offering Drury another year long deal too. Korey Smith had rave reviews for his early form for Barnsley, but I've not heard much since- has anyone? As for Adeyemi and Francomb- they're playing at a high enough level I think the club will offer them another year and see how it goes.
Think we may see Lambert go in for a slightly more experienced CB now. Someone to help alongside Ayala and Bennett, and organise the back 4. Unless he now sees Martin as a CB as he does that job very well.
agree with rob about ayala. much better player than whitbread, although i was a fan of his! anyone remember i said we'd go after roger johnson...? makes even more sense now - as long as he gets his head right! http://www.clubcall.com/norwich-city/norwich-in-wolves-star-link-1430102.html?
This our defence needs to be sorted out! Unless I'm missing something here, who is making these decisions? Dare I suggest it's our manager? Maybe making long term plans for the team?? ILD OTBC
to be fair ILD, he has to carry on regardless and plan for next season with norwich. imagine if he didn't get offered any of the jobs and then got in a mess next season with us cos he hadn't planned properly! he's doing the right thing, targeting our weak spots. hopefully we'll get a new defensive midfielder too. i just hope its not at the expense of david fox
I'm a little concerned about the link with Roger Johnson actually. Good player, but after all his antics over the season and really not producing the goods for Wolves, to end it with squaring up to his own keeper was just bad form. I'd rather we bought a defender who was a little bit worse, a lot younger and had a much better head on them. He won't be on £40k a week now though. Despite that article there'll have been a clause in the contract for relegation- at most he'll be on £25k. It was only the arrogance of clubs like Newcastle that led them not to have relegation clauses. Otherwise some lawyers would be getting there arses handed to them!
Hope 2 of Ayala, R bennett and R martin stay fit next season then! Not sure if we're going to bring in any more CB's
