Newcastle are the latest Premier League club to be linked with Mings and they have been quoted £8 Million as a starting price leading up to £10 Million with all the add ons. I reckon we would be crazy not to sell at that price as is he hasn't shown that sort of quality especially during the second half of the campaign. The sloppy play from him that directly led to Berra's sending off against the Budgies just underlines his season imo. On his day he can be a very good footballer but he can also be just as lousy and clumsy akin to Bambi on Ice! He has huge potential but we need consistency at Left Back and too often he just does not seem to provide it with his lapses in concentration. We have a ready made replacement in Parr who is much better and far more accomplished at Left Back. Take the £8 Million so long as we get the investment back into the squad that we desperately need! http://www.twtd.co.uk/ipswich-town-news/27560/newcastle-make-mings-enquiry-claims
I agree, as I've said before when we say he's looks like a PL player I can never tell if we mean Premier League or Pub League!! I've seen him play a few games where he has been outstanding but others he has been a complete liability. He's certainly not in the same bracket as Cresswell. If we're offered that much we'd be silly not to take it IMO just like we were when we got offered it for McGoldrick (should have taken it)!!!
I have to say I've never been his biggest fan. Yes he has potential, yes he has looked good in games, yes he is young and English, and yes it's a stupid amount of money quoted, but it really all depends if we re-invest the funds into bringing quality players into our squad. We got 8m for Wickham and around 3-4m for Cresswell, with none of the funds directly bringing in quality players. I'd like to think that both Evans and MM have seen we are close to being promoted, and dig deep to strengthen our squad.
£8m for a Championship LB who looks great but is somewhat error-prone? Take them money and hit warp factor 9 Mr Sulu. That sort of cash if invested wisely by MM will give you a couple of quality champ players in key positions and definitely increase your chances of going up. MM needs some funds to strengthen just to keep the current squad on their toes and get a bit of momentum pre-season. The effect on the squad if they feel their best players are being sold on and not replaced will suck away all the feel good factor they will have off the back of a pretty good season in 14/15.
Ideally, I'd like to keep hold of the player. I'll probably get a bit of stick, but it's obvious that he has a lot of potential, and I think he'll get better. Hopefully with us, rather than elsewhere, which is what usually happens when we sell our best players. However, with Mings, I do think it's a classic case of the hype outweighing actual form, at this moment in time. Regarding the player's strengths, I think he's our best defender at getting forward and opening up defences. If we're playing 4-3-3, which many people on here think is our best formation, then we need a player who can combine defensive skills with an attacking outlet, and Mings has that. I also think he's a composed defender, when he's on his best form. Yes, his form dipped in the second half of the season (as was the case with most of our players, in my opinion), but I think he received a lot more of the ball. Our defensive plan was pass the ball to Mings or Chambers and either press forward or hoof the ball up-field. In that respect, Mings has a better distribution and was more of a threat. I just think we have to be wary selling our best players. As I've mentioned, we have a habit of selling players when they hit consistent form. Yes, £8-10m is a good price range, especially in today's inflated market, but I think we could push for a bit more. If Mings goes, we do have Parr in support, who is an adequate replacement, but that money would have to get reinvested. If Mings goes, that's us short of another defender, in an area where we're already woefully short of options.
Not fussed either way. There's always player movement in football but so long as we get the right deal out of it then I'd wish him the best if he does go. I'd rather make huge profit off a player than be how we were before and let contracts run down to the point where our assets are worth nothing or they walk for free. Southampton is obviously the best model to look at for that. They spent a few years continually selling academy products for big money and it did them no harm in the long run.
Hes a very inexperienced player who was our only source of attack minded wide play. He has mistakes in him but also the pace to rectify the majority of them. Whilst we continue to play with ineffective wide midfielders and a CB at RB I think I would prefer him in the team than gone. Having said that £8m is mad to reject and would give us money to add a bit of quality to the hard working squad we have.
I'd prefer we kept him,let's build up a squad of younger hungry players who can progress with Town rather than keep plugging gaps with rejects from elsewhere.
If I was a Tractor Boy, this is how I would be thinking. Other than a couple of errors, which we are well accustomed to from Bassong and Rusty at times, I like what I have seen from Mings. He's a big unit, very physical at times and has the potential to become a very, very good player though I would have thought with his height he could be used in to a a more central role.
There is nothing special about Mings. Flog him to West Brom, Pulis will spend a fortune and you can get 3 players who can pass a ball better. Ooops, forgot, your lot don't like that sort of thing.
" We got 8m for Wickham and around 3-4m for Cresswell " The Cresswell fee is rising to £7 mill plus 20% sell on so that's a bit inaccurate. Re Mings take the £££££ all day.
Yeah,far better we just keep selling on our better young players and let ME bolster his balance sheet!
Why people feel the need for us to spend £1/£2/£3 mill on players to show " ambition " is quite beyond me. We went down that route with Keane/ Jewell, and guffed bucket loads down the toilet. Just off the top of my head - * Around £1.5 mill for Priskin * £3.75 mill for Edwards/Leadbitter * Roughly £2 mill for Lee Martin * 1.5 mill for Taylor Factor in agents, sign on fees, and ontop of £8.75 mill for five players, that's one hell of a lot of £££££ down the toilet. Compare that to * Berra/ McGoldrick/ Murphy/ Skuse/ Chambers all on free transfers. What equated to more success, bucket loads spent or careful logical selection of players/character assessments/ drive to want to play for us? Also, should Mings go for £8 mill - that's us through another year FFP no problem and we can reinvest a good %%%% in the squad. It's not a case of " we've sold a player for £8 mill, we should have at least £6 mill to spend on players " - it doesn't work like that. Most transfer deals, including Bale/Ronaldo etc are paid over staged payments of 2/3/4 years. So we may well receive £2 mill upfront, with £6 mill to come. As for other clubs that have spent £££££, how have they faired? Nottingham Forest guffed £5 mill rising to £8 mill for Assombalonga - okay, he's been a success story but now he's out for 12 months. Look at the transfer fee/ relate to wages and he's likely to be on £20,000 plus for the next year without getting onto the pitch - is he going to be a success story? Fulham spent £11 mill on Ross McCormack - decent season for him, however, what did Fulham do? It's been revealed Scotty Parker is costing them £75,000 p/w. Good player is Scott, good job they have one more year left of parachute payments. I think they will be Bolton the second before long. Blackburn the same on Jordan Rhodes - on a reported £40,000 a week plus there. Are Blackburn really close to going up? Derby were top in January if I recall rightly, got three on paper quality loanees in Ince/ Bent and Lindgaard in. That's going to be £100,000 p/w going out of their bank, did that secure them top spot? I could go on all day. FFP has come in, and while it's still an absolute joke, the next 2/3/4 years some clubs will face transfer bans/ points deductions will happen. Bolton are still paying their premier league days. Brighton have got their spend nicely down, but have plumitted down the table. Reading have Pavel Pog on £55k a week it was reported. I'm interested in us getting what we need irrespective of cost. Sure, if we go and blow £600k on a player we need ( that is a lot of ££££ for us..... ) then fine. Likewise, say Mings goes and we get a large fee, and we spend £2-3 mill on someone and they improve us by that %%%, great. If we go down the free transfer route again for hungry players who have some desire about their career instead of having a wag on their arm, a ferrari, getting hammered and a nice easy life ( I'd pick this option any day of the week to be honest ! ) then so be it. From what I can see, should we retain the entire squad, we plain as day need - a rb. If the front 3 are fit all season long, then it's 4-3-3. Therefore the need for a winger subsides. Should we go 4-4-2, that's one of the front 3 on the bench ( I didn't get a C GCSE for no reason ) and it's fair to say depending how Henshall/Stewart/Donnolly do over the summer we require 1/2/ 3 wingers. Possibly a CM and possibly a keeper. I see no logical reason for us to do poorly next season and I think we'll have a good crack at it. I'm fully behind Mick McCarthy, he's done a fantastic job for us in 2.5 years, I have every faith in him finishing it with us in the prem.
You can see where I'm coming from though?We sell on our best players and replace them with someone cheaper and not as good.It's a wonder we compete as well as we do when we are running to stand still!
