Afternoon shak Yep, we really have got a head start on it this year. Actually I cant remember a time now when we havent been moaning!
Afternoon All RCDM agree with you mate. Firstly we don't know how much McD has to spend this summer. You lot are expecting us to have nothing. Someone said GFH hasn't invested in the squad, correct me if I'm wrong but didn't Tonge cost us about £700,000 and Warnock must be on some hefty wages for this level. What's everybody's obsession with throwing millions of pounds in to the playing staff. Where has that go us in the past? Look at Ridsdale and O'Leary £120 million on nothing and my goodness there were some bad signing in that lot look at Seth Johnson. You need to sign the right players for the squad and we've had some outstanding players on frees e.g. Becchio and Snodgrass. If McD gets decent signings I don't care if they cos us nothing. What ever happens some people won't be happy. Just to pick on on TC's post from the 1st page Marc-Viven Foe died 10 years ago to day. My god time has flown, I remember finding out like it was yesterday. A truly sad day for football
As it stands it's already more positive than 12 months ago - Bates no longer Chairman/owner and we have a better manager in place, together with a more progressive pricing policy. Hypothetically if we were to sign no more players by the start of the season and just kept the current squad I believe McDermott can get an extra 15 points more out of them than last season. Also with his knack of unearthing up and coming gems, if he can sign a couple of freebie wingers - even better. Plus the fact the youngsters like Poleon are a year further on in their development and things definitely appear more rosy than they were with the dinosaurs Bates and Warnock at the helm.
They've also apparently stabled the club's finances saying thy put 2m into the club. We are also improving the quality of thorp arch again. I think we are improving a lot around the club off the field which will help and may go unseen by many fans. I still have no doubt that we will sign the right amount of player prior to the opening game of the season. If I wasn't convinced of that then I would be worrying but I really don't believe they are that naive. We also know from McD's past that he likes to scout relatively unknown players who have the potential and ability for not only championship level but prem level. In fact, I am quite ambitious about the upcoming season and I'm not even expecting promotion but I really think the club is going forwards and will be in the prem in the next few years at the most. McD is hopefully there for the long haul and we are not looking to just build a team to get us in the prem but build a squad that is capable of evolving and contributing in the prem
If we have to sell some of our better players to make some funds, I would really rather us sell McCormack than Byram... That said though, if we did sell Byram for say, £5-6m, it was all re-invested into the squad and we bought in another 5-6 quality players (CB/RB/CM/WGx2/ST) and we went on to have a really good season and showed some real progress, would anyone be complaining? I somehow doubt it...but then I also doubt we'd be able to use all the money made from his, or anyone else's sale.
If we had signed Lichaj, I really wouldn't have minded selling Byram for a decent fee and using it on the squad wisely. There still is some decent RBs out there but Lichaj on a free for me was way too good an offer and we shoulda gone in for him whether we were keeping Byram or not. And as for selling McCormack, no way. I really do rate him as our most influencial player, does so much more for the team than the average striker does
I still think Wabara would be a decent player at RB, whether or not Byram goes, but Lichaj should've been signed regardless. Quality player. I love McCormack, don't get me wrong. But he's a confidence player, and he needs the team to be built around him. If the team isn't set up to accomodate him he drops deeper and deeper to try and get on the ball and influence things, and he ends up too far away from the opposition goal. If McDermott is prepared to make him the focal point, then great, keep him. But if not, he does seem like an unnecessary luxury.
Give it 5 mins... Personally I'm a wait and see what happens kinda guy, actually I don't really give a bollocks as long as I've a pint in my hand then I'm happy...
Peterborough United director of football Barry Fry claims Leeds United are yet to firm up their interest in Tommy Rowe with a bid. The Whites are known to be keen on the 24-year-old winger, who suffered relegation out of the Championship with the Posh last season. Rowe is believed to be keen on stepping back up into the second tier, with Reading and Millwall also reported to have expressed an interest in his services. Leeds are understood to be his preferred choice, as a switch to Elland Road would allow him to move closer to his Manchester roots. Peterborough, though, are adamant that no official approach has been received for their skipper. Fry told the Yorkshire Evening Post: "Initially, Brian (McDermott) spoke to me and Darren Ferguson, while I have also talked to Shaun Harvey and Ken Bates at a chairman's conference. "But I have had no bid from Leeds United for Tommy. "It's been left up to Leeds to make a bid and discuss it, but it hasn't got over first base, to be honest."
Oh fcuk it all!! Pick half the team from our youth and lets get on with it. At least they'll play their hearts out for the fans.
If we were to sell Byram for £6M, we could do a lot worse than play Peltier at RB (his proper position) with Zac Thompson as cover (who seemed quite comfortable there) As long as all the money was spent on new players
That's the thing. It's not the selling of key players that's annoying, it's the fact we never buy adequate replacements or re-invest the money in the team. I hope Thompson plays a bigger role this season though, I really like him.
