Don't expect squad overhaul - O'Driscoll

http://www.bcfc.co.uk/news/article/20130605-odriscollsummer-856202.aspx

Head coach remains patient on new arrivals.



Sean O’Driscoll admits he does not expect the transfer merry-go-round to kick into action until players return to their clubs for the start of pre-season.




The City head coach has already signed 19-year-old midfielder Jordan Wynter from Arsenal and been strongly linked with a move for Swindon Town central defender Aden Flint.




But the boss is also in the hunt for a goalkeeper after Dean Gerken’s contract expired and Tom Heaton departed for Burnley.




“You spend half your time waiting for phone calls,” O’Driscoll told bcfc.co.uk.




“I think it’s going to be difficult to restructure the squad because most of the players are still under contract.




“If we are going to lose people it isn’t going to happen now – it’ll happen later on when everybody’s back in pre-season.




“This is a bit of a dead time really, but we lost two goalkeepers so that’s a priority at this moment in time, and we’ve been looking for a right-sided centre-half for quite some time as well.




“We’ve got a vacancy for a number one which is quite attractive for a lot of people, and it’s an important position for the overall balance of the team.”




“If you’re a goalkeeper you want to play. There might be three central defenders who all have a chance to play at some point, but as a goalkeeper – they’re the ones who play 46 games a season.




“We’re also looking for a new under-21 keeper, and he’ll be the backup keeper for the first team, because we’ll want our number two to still be playing games.




O’Driscoll is already mindful of his budget following relegation, with all League One clubs restricted to spending up to 60 per cent of turnover on wages.




He added: “I’m afraid to keep harping on about it but finance is something we’ve got to manage that with Financial Fair Play and the salary cap – we need to be more mindful of that then we ever were.




“I’ve got 14 players under contract, who will take up a vast majority of the 60 per cent of turnover you’re allowed to spend.




“You can pay X amount on a player, pay double the amount on someone else and yet the difference in quality can be minimal.

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“There’s fewer and fewer clubs at this stage of the season who can afford what players and agents are asking for – I think there’s been a stark contrast this season more than any other in terms of the level of wages players can command and that trend will continue.




“They might have one or two years left of their contracts on a wage that, two years ago was probably the norm, but two years down the line has become the exception.




“It’s not the player’s fault – that’s the industry’s fault. I’m sure we’ve got players who would like to play in the Championship, but a Championship club has got to want them and be able to take their wages on board as well"

 

Like I posted on the rumours site I think S O'D is preparing the fans for the fact that Kilkenny and Fontaine are likely to be with us for another year. Oh Deep Joy.

 

Well if SOD can get the old fontaine back then he will be one of the best defenders in League 1. He had a bad season last year but he might just need someone like Flint next to him to bring him back to his former self, Which if he does will be great for us.

 

And the one before that....

 

It wasn't just last year it's been several years and everyone was on Jamie's back saying it was his fault we were shipping goals I rather think Jamie made Fonts look better than he was because he won most things in the air which made Fonts job that much easier. Jamie's weakness is something he shares with Flint poor on the ground and slow to turn and get back (this from match reports and fans at Swindle) Fontaine has shown in the last few seasons he gets brushed off the ball too easily and is not the best tackler surely those are the very atributes we need for a CB playing along side a big but slow turning CB who wins most of the arial battles.

 

I bet those relegated from the Prem keep their parachute payment for dropping in to the Championship under FFP rules, so as not to penalise them for having higher waged players under contract, yet drop out of the Championship to L1 and in theory you could have 11 players eating up your 60% turnover and its tough titties, so you then have to sell and disrupt the squad which invariably makes it even harder to bounce back, what genius thought this idea up??

 

It's preparing everything for Prem One / Prem Two and regional leagues below.

 

I can understand that the job of being a manager of a football team, particularly one that has just been relegated under your regime, is a difficult one at best. However when I start to see a litany of reasons why it will be difficult to achieve what can be reasonably expected I really get my dander up and wonder what the hell is going on at Ashton Gate. This isn't a new thing for us and the rhetoric sometimes becomes too incredible to bear.

We all know that his job is not going to be easy and perhaps in hindsight a better effort to stay up might have been the best option, although I think the financial mess that we were allowed to get in was the biggest single factor in our downfall. Stop using every excuse under the sun because if you think about it seriously most other teams are in a similar predicament, and if you don't like the hold that players and agents have over the game then you are in the wrong profession. Waiting until the pre-season is totally wrong by my books because you will only find the scrapings at the bottom of the barrel and then using the excuse that the new boys will take time to gel doesn't cut it.

This upcoming season is critical in all aspects of our future and unless we come out of the chute blazing then we could be in more trouble than we care to imagine. Being brutally honest is my way, and if too many of the hangers on from the last few seasons are still here taking wages then our predicament might get a lot worse and I think that is the sentiment of a vast majority on this site.

 

It's because the EPL are not concerned about clubs below them the parachute payments were to stop any big club that hit a bad spell from going to the wall because of relegation. They are and were just looking after themselves.

 

Please help me out here when did Fontaine last have a good season I'm struggling to remember even when Southampton offered good money for him I can't remember that he was playing particularly well, he looked good along side Caulker but how much of that was Caulker and how much Fontaine?

 

Not excuses Mike, a plain fact of life in League One - we have quite a few players who despite the cut in wages, will probably still be on a very decent whack by this divisions standards. Now some of those won't want to stay BUT, AS I HAVE BEEN SAYING FOR A WHILE NOW they have to have someone willing to buy them first and, YOU CAN'T FORCE THEM OUT as SoD has just told us, not much dealing will happen, EITHER IN OR OUT, before the end of June.

There is none of this significant activity you refer to, the signing market will really kick off in July and, when we have offloaded a few of the higher paid, we can conclude our business as well. Clearly we are spending some of the money that we are banking on Albert bringing in and as I have again previously commented, WE ARE PROBABLY CLOSE TO THE SALARY CAP AS WE STAND NOW

I AM REALLY NOT SURE WHY THIS IS SUCH A DIFFICULT CONCEPT TO HANDLE

As for the sentiment being poor on here, I see little evidence of this. I for one am quietly optomistic for next season in a way that I haven't been for 3 or 4 yeas now because I know that regardless of how we actually do, WE WILL AT LEAST BE PLAYING A DECENT BRAND OF FOOTBALL AGAIN (I hope!)

SO come on Mike, take a happy pill and just chill out for a bit and see what develops...