Ref Gordon The way I look at it is that the wage budget is finite. So if there are plans to bring in a couple of high pedigree figures then perhaps the overall wage budget needs pruning. High earners who have not been value for money will be encouraged to leave.
Yeah sad to see him go, if everything goes right for him he will be a top goalkeeper for years to come.....but as suggested must be a big wage saved for another outfield playes surely.
I think this is spot on. Well done. MON was a fan of Gordon five yrs ago, and tried to get him for Villa - so the fact MON has let him go tells us something. I was always a fan of Gordon, but that was the previous Gordon before the injuries. IMO Westwood should get the no1 spot. He commands his box really well and could be the best keeper we have had at the club.
Sunderland defender Titus Bramble is expected to lead the exodus of players who are deemed surplus to requirements by Black Cats manager Martin O’Neill at the Stadium of Light this summer. O’Neill has warned his players that there will be wholesale changes when the summer transfer window opens next month, and that Bramble is expected to move on along with midfielder Craig Gardner and Egyptian winger Ahmed Elmohamady. Scotland goalkeeper Craig Gordon has already been told his contract will not be renewed and Connor Wickham is set to follow the former Ipswich Town, Newcastle and Wigan centre-back Bramble out of the exit door on loan. Danish international striker Nicklas Bendtner has already returned to Arsenal following a season on loan at Sunderland, and O’Neill has been tipped to make a move for Norwich City centre-forward Grant Holt, who has had a transfer request rejected by the Carrow Road board of directors. “O’Neill has told them that a lot of them won’t be around when the new season starts, which shows that he means business,” “Titus will be off because he’s just not Martin O’Neill’s sort of player. He just doesn’t rate him that highly and he won’t stand in his way if there is a move on the cards. “A few others will be on their way as well. Craig Gardner and David Vaughan will probably go and Elmohamady will too, and Wickham will probably be loaned out in the hope that he can regain a bit of confidence because they don’t want to give up on him.” The 30-year-old Bramble – who has 10 England Under-21 caps to his credit - was brought to Sunderland by former Wigan boss Steve Bruce in the summer of 2010 when he signed a three-year contract. But tellingly, he has played just once since the turn of the year - in last weekend’s 1-0 defeat by Manchester United. Wickham joined Sunderland on a four-year deal from Ipswich last summer in an £8 million move, but the 19-year-old has looked out of his depth and a return to Portman Road for a season seems likely as he attempts to reinvigorate a career that has stalled on Wearside. The England Under-21 player has figured just 15 times for Sunderland and has scored a solitary goal since he headed to Wearside from Suffolk last year. Sunderland owner Ellis Short is expected to back O’Neill to the hilt in the transfer market this summer after the squad’s weaknesses were exposed in the latter stages of the season. A decline in form saw the club slip to 13th in the Premier League table following a run of just two wins in 15 outings.
As I said last month there will be major changes in the squad and I can see a lot of players leaving. I have always stated that a CM needs revamping, and I can see Vaughan and Gardner leaving. That would leave us with Catts and Colback. I can see these players being sold or loaned: Bramble - 500K Elmo - 1.5 mill Garnder - 5 mill Vaughan - 1-2 mill Richo - 2-3 mill McCartney - 500k Meyler - loan Wickham - loan Ji - loan Gyan - 6-8 million (so about 13 million in total) I reckon that from all those players we could get about 20-25 million.
Must admit i find it strange that people on here didnt think there would be a massive change in players and pinpoint the mass changes made by Bruce as one of the reasons we failed. I dont this was a factor at all as good players play well together, Bruce just couldnt get the players to play, MON did that for a few months. But looking through the squad i really wouldnt be surprised if the first 11 changes by up to around 7 or 8 players. It will probably be a little less but i certainly wouldnt be surprised at that figure.
