This doesn't look good

Yes I get that mate, I wouldn't want us to do a Derby, but if he have a player with the calibre Stewart has, who we know can get us to the next level then I think we should everything we can to keep them. Having teams like Swansea and Boro linked to our best players is abit embarrassing really

 

I know where you are coming from mate. I’d really like to keep Stewart as well. Are the rest of the team capable of getting us to the next level though?

 

I think when you look at players contracted to us with the quality of Patto, Ballard, Cirkin, Alese, Clarke, Huggins, Robert's, Stewart and Neil then yes I think we do mate. All quality players that will keep getting better with age.
We just need to add some quality experienced players to play along side them in the mould of Evan's and Batth and then I think we could have a team that could definitely challenge for a top 6 place.

I dont see us being far from the likes of Burnley at all once we have a fully fit squad, the last thing we want to do is lose players like Stewart though and take a step back, because replacing him would cost alot of money and trying to get lucky again in the bargain basement is not the way forward

 

I agreed with the post saying don't leave it till the last minute.
He might be level headed, but he has already said that football is a business and he leaves that kind of stuff to others.
IMO this implies he will go if the money is good enough, the club will definitely take the money as they have stated this is the model they are now following.

 

If we cant match that weekly wage then we are in for a long slog in the championship at best. I get the sustainability model but £16,500 a week for a top striker in the championship isnt big money. If as you stated in your later post we are considering Simms as part of the deal then I am sure he will already be on around the same wage that Ross is after. If he was demanding silly money like 30k plus I would understand the club letting him go but at 16.5k a week he is a great asset that will improve in value.

 

It reads to me that we will match the wages but not the bonus he is after (5k per goal and £5k win bonus)

Which to be honest is understandable imo. A win where he scores 2 costs us an extra £15k that week, which could be used on A N Other player

 

Ok, so let’s say he scores 20 goals, that’s only 100k
Come January we will have 20 games left, even if we win them all that’s a further 100k
In the grand scheme of things that’s 200k which surely would have us in automatic promotion position. That sum is insignificant if we are targeting promotion. The extra gate receipts on the back of his goals and wins would guarantee that ! All conjecture but look at the bigger picture, what he’s asking for is nothing in comparison to what we have to pay for a like for like replacement.

 

Agree with your figures but you need to factor in the other 6 or so players who would want parity

 

That's the problem. It's a ratcheting factor that has driven many a club to the edge of a cliff, and a few over it.

As for goal bonuses. I am profoundly against them.

How can a player not too often, be too selfish, how can he not shoot when pass is the better option when a goal would bring in £X000s?

How can other players doing the spadework, or the creative work not end up being resentful when one man, albeit a striker is carrying off all this extra loot when almost all goals are team goals.

Strikers should get the big bucks if they are producing the goods consistently, I doubt anyone argues with that. But individual goal bonuses are for local Non League football, not professional teams .

 

My argument with that is that Harry Kane is rumoured to be on 8k goal and win bonus. To ask for £5k and not want to budge seems excessive imo.

Add in as, others have said, how it would potentially cause disruption when he's pocketing say £20k extra a game as he scored and we won, yet 4 or 5 of the team get their flat rate despite being just as important

 

Or give him 5 grand for every goal he creates for himself , not sure how fair goal bonuses are, what if Clarke beats 4 players gets to the byline and pulls it back for Stewart to put it in from 4 yards out, he gets 5 grand and Clarke gets nothing.
I know it's part of most strikers pay structure but really that is their job.
Should the keeper not get a bonus for every save he makes, defenders every tackle or goal line clearance.
I probably wouldn't have that much of a problem if it wasn't for the ripple affect it could have throughout the squad.
If I was Clarke, Pritchard or Roberts I would be looking for a bonus for assists whether that already happens I'm not sure.

 

I agree but eventually your better players will need rewarding, with success comes bigger gate money, bigger Sky money etc etc. Players will always be motivated by money, the days of players staying for the majority of their careers are few and far between.

 

If the figures Bob has quoted are true my guess is he wants a higher basic wage, why else would he ask for unrealistic bonuses. I dont think he is worth a 5k goal bonus mind for the record, there will always be a middle ground though. Ross has only a handful of Championship games under his belt and doesnt have much else to bargain with, club knows that and so does his agent.

 

that's KS problem at the min, he knows it's gonna rear it's head

 

.

but remember the model we are working towards, buy in bring em on, sell em.

 

And remain mid-table mediocre!

 

If that is the model with no caveats then we might aswell all find another past time. Cause as soon as we have some players who are enjoyable to watch they will be sold on for us to start again. That type of model its only a matter of time before relegation. Only so many time you can twist!

I have said before and will say again there has to be times when a player isn't for sale, for example if he is probably up there with the very best strikers at our level and it is highly unlikely we are going to replace him for less than we would sell him for because he plays in a position and with a style of play that is very difficult to find!

For me you can sell any of the defender, midfielders and you have a half decent chance of replacing them with a cheaper option that does as well. Less so with Patto and almost impossible with Stewart.

 

Or use the money sensibly and bring in players to make our squad better. The key will always be how we recruit players

 

I look at what Brentford have done as an example of how it can work - signed Maupay, sold him and had Watkins as a replacement then sold him and brought in Toney. Not only did they sell for more than they bought they also used the money to improve the squad

 

There's an arsehile on SMB called Ashley out, the most negative poster ever.
I think he has a stiff on over me, he forgets I told SMB Ross would be off before the press got it.
Some sad makers on that site