Bradley was again superb against Rochdale he was everywhere.He was the main reason we won. How long can we keep him on this form?How much is he worth? Think there will be a host of clubs trying to buy him in January. Hopefully we can resist until the summer when if we don t make championship then we will have to sell.If he continues on current form and gets 20 goals from midfield £2 million must be a realistic fee.
To have a realistic chance of remaining in the top 6 until the end of season, we need to keep hold of Dack. If we receive an offer in January that we cannot refuse, I will bet that us fans will be told the fee is 'undisclosed.' - but I would hope that there will be a healthy 'sell - on' clause. If we do get promoted, Dack's price will 'rocket' - and we might need to take the money to fund new players. ( and I would still hope for a good 'sell-on' percentage.) It will be interesting when the time comes for Dack to be sold - as buyers and sellers will place very different values on commodities. Scally is quite shrewd. He has shown that quality with the 'add-ons' that we have received for a number of players in recent years If we remain in L1, Dack needs to go to progress his career - and we will have to accept a smaller amount - certainly not enough to go out and 'buy' another Bradley Dack..
If we don't get at least two mill for Dack, then we are off our trolley, i think Scally will have a figure lined up for at least that.
If he does, I believe that we can kiss any chance of a top 6 place goodbye. After the Burton game I now reckon a top 10 is the best we can achieve. A miserable result, and if the stats are to be believed...no fight either.
I've been saying it all season WINDYROG and a lot of Gills supporters just will not accept it, Cody is not our answer going forward. Injuries sometimes are a blessing in disguise, I only have to use Gazza as an example of that, and Dack has stepped up in the same manner, hence why i was always protective of our youth v experience. It's not just about how many goals Cody scores or how many saves Nelson makes, it is what you contribute as a team, because it is only as a team you will get promoted. You are right WINDYROG, we can practically kiss our chances of promotion goodbye once Dack goes, unless the year of the lottery is in our favour. However, the sum for Dack is going to be substantial, off load Cody too and well maybe Dack going might have more benefits than we realise although at this moment in time I struggle to see how. And before people get defensive with me about Cody, we are supposed to be looking to make the step up, so if Norwich & Coventry couldn't bring him to bear fruit, why should we even contemplate it?
brb why blame Cody. It was not his fault we lost yesterday. Put all blame on Loft not only for this game but he has been far worse than Cody all season. Cody needs service he had none.
gioblues - just as a point of interest more than anything, you participate in the player points thread that has been running all season, the one where members select their top three players each game. Now I know alwaysright thinks i would make a good referee because their eyesight is about as good has mine, but unless i need to renew my optician's subscription, Cody has not even featured on the player board yet, so despite people's love of the guy and to that i would not argue, however, it also indicates with a festive tone that during winter a snowman can stand there with a bright orange carrot on his nose but eventually he will melt, unless he goes out in search of ice himself.
Not saying he is at his best but not singled out. He was playing with an injury for most of the season. How many goals have the other strikers got.donnelly had a purple patch but since then zero. Norris same as cody 3 samuel 1 in 5.
Looking back i never actually blamed Cody for yesterday's defeat but i did say that when Dack goes we might as well release Cody too. He's like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole under JE. I never really understand why people are so defensive of Cody, he's paid to score goals, the supporters give him a status that does not fit a style. I know what you are saying about the other players but you yourself highlight that Norris and Samuel are not better, so what makes Cody an exception? Would you insist on keeping Norris, i doubt it, therefore i treat Cody with the same measure as the others. He seems to get placed ahead of the others, hence gets my attention more than the others.
Dack. Runs further, tackles harder, scores more, assists more, than any other player, if he goes we become a lower half of the table team.
grumpygit - that reality is going to kick in come January i believe - i so hope i'm wrong, I'm also glad you use that description of ability, which cannot be applied to Cody or any other striker we have! Hence why i've always believed we cannot make the Championship again, the club needs the money, it depends whether our Chairman is prepared to resist temptation for the longer term pot of gold, sadly an instant bank balance keeps everything afloat, for another season for another pound of sterling. Which is why i always laugh at the thought of a new stadium, we cannot even hold on to what we do have, let alone create what we don't have. There is a lot of Gills fans that need to take their heads out of the clouds....Oooo controversial.
I will only talk about the strikers here and won't get involved in the new stadium malarkey and other unrelated topics. I appreciate the strikers have been a problem recently, Donnelly, Samuel & Cody haven't contributed enough recently however is that 100% their fault? Donnelly showed that he can be untouchable in a 6 week period, Samuel scored loads for Coventry at this level last season and Cody is our best striker with 67 Gills goals to his name. Now having not been at the Burton game I can't comment but we all know to score goals we need to create chances which should be coming from our midfield. Now apart from Dack I'm struggling to see anyone who will create a lot of goals who started on Saturday. Morris is a solid holding player and good passer of the ball but probably not going to get you a lot of assists. Hess runs about a lot and tries to win the ball back but his game has changed since under the days of PT so he doesn't create as much any more. Loft, erm, not particularly sure what he does but whatever it is seems to be more of a hindrance than a help. The coaching staff need to try and find out why they aren't creating the chances that we were earlier in the season and go back to that. Bring back Osadebe who can be a game changer. Not sure why Houghton hasn't played for a month but his ability to change defence into attack very quickly is probably what we're missing at the moment so bring him back in. With the energy of those two, it should allow for more chances to be created. The strikers need to take some responsibility that is true but the midfield needs to stand up and be accounted for also.
PegLeg You were lucky to have missed the Burton game. It was scrappy before Loft got sent off - and afterwards we just couldn't get the ball (often) due to the number disparity. The result might have been different if it 11 ( or 12 in grumpy's formation ) v 11. I am grateful that Coventry lost at Sheffield - it keeps us reasonably comfortable in 4th.......top if we had won ! ) I agree that our midfield can do more to create - or actually score, goals. It happened at the beginning of the season - when it was obvious that we were being set up not to rely on a 'target' figure. Houghton exuded quality. Osadebe looked good. Dack looked great and Wright looked better than Morris or Captain Lunatic. Goals came from all over the team - and I don't see that as a bad thing - but - It might be my imagination - but I don't think we're closing down the opponent quickly enough - and certainly not trying to retrieve possession when not with the ball - all of which was different in the first couple of months of the season - and if you haven't got the ball, you can't expect to score. We're just not as dynamic / positive as we need to be if we're not to gently slide into mediocrity. We've proved we have the quality - but a few rockets need to be inserted.
Always, To err is human to forgive divine. The man who never made a mistake never made anything. Let he who be without sin cast the first stone. What I am trying to say is ....off you old ...ker, but that might incur the ire of the big burb.
Anyway back to the topic in hand, Nelson as good as he is on saves, still doesn't dominate his area, his hesitant attitude toward coming out or staying back must unsettle the defence. Our defence will dominate the aerial battle against most forwards, unfortunately if the ball is kept on the ground they struggle. The midfield are 4 individuals but don't work as a unit, there appears to be no communication, little chasing down or closing of opponents (except Dack) little desire to get forward. when a player is in possession no one makes themselves available for the short pass, if he gets surrounded by players he has nowhere to pass and loses possession. The front line don't make enough effort to stop the defenders playing out from the back, often dropping back to the half way line as soon as possession is lost, their work rate is lower than any other player. I think some of our negative tactics must be coming from the top, we are too worried about losing instead of playing to win.
grumpygit I 'm fairly sure that you're not a shrinking violet or have an overly sensitive nature - I'm fairly sure that you're intelligent enough to realise that the 'teasing' regarding statistics / figures is not malicious - and the faux pas regarding your 12 man team is a new examples where you made an honest mistake -- but it wasn't the type of mistake that required restitution/ punishment etc - hence I did not deem it worthy of expecting you to ask for forgiveness - or for any forgiveness to be necessary. I make mistakes - not all need 'forgiveness' - often just minor errors. I also am the recipient of a lot of 'banter.' Some of it has been so repetitive that I sometimes wonder the intention behind banter / teasing - but [especially] if it's on an anonymous internet forum, I'm certainly not going to take anything to heart. I expect that, when I offer appropriate occasion, that you'll give as good as you get - in fact I'd be disappointed if you didn't - and I might even offer more opportunities for teasing as I will undoubtedly squirm to extricate myself. Merry Christmas
Always, You make me feel as though I might have upset you, I would like to assure you that I took your post in the light hearted way that I'm sure was intended, as I'm sure, you have taken mine in the same manner. Here's wishing you all the best the season has to offer and happiness, health and wealth for the coming year. Now can we stop all this sentimental tosh and get back to the wind-ups.
grumpy - I'm too thick skinned to get upset - except with the Magoo brothers with their whistle and flags ( not even Hi Vizzers come close ) and we're both too old for that nonsense - so no upset here mate - I wish you ( and all in this world ) happiness and health. I too have these in that order -( I'd probably split them 60/60% )
