It’s nearly that time of the year when the football season closes and fans’ attention turns to rebuilding for the following season. All teams and fans are the same, that wait to see who your club is going to bring in to begin that charge for glory or help stave off the threat of relegation. On the following pages are a series of players who have had varying degrees of experience playing at higher levels, yet now find themselves plying their trade in the third tier of English football All valuations are taken from Transfermarkt and this page on the site. First up is a 34-year-old centre forward valued at £750,000 1) Shola Ameobi – Fleetwood Town Nigerian forward Ameobi came through the ranks of Premier League side Newcastle United, staying with the North East side until a move to Turkish side Gaziantep on a free transfer on August 11 2014 – a short stay, where he scored four in 11 games, that ended with him returning to England on December 29th after mutually agreeing a contract cancellation. After a six-month stay with Crystal Palace, Ameobi signed on at then-Championship strugglers Bolton, scoring two goals and providing one assist in 10 appearances for the Trotters before he was let go due to Bolton being in a transfer embargo and his short-term deal ending. The once-rated frontman found himself signing on with League One side Fleetwood Town where he has scored once in 10 league appearances. Next up is a 28-year-old Irish defensive midfielder with a £750,000 price on his head 2) Chris McCann – Wigan Athletic 28-year-old McCann made 264 appearances for Burnley before a free transfer to Wigan transpired on July 1 2013. After scoring three goals in 39 games for his new club, the Latics defensive midfielder suffered multiple fractures to his right kneecap during a 2-1 FA Cup quarter-final win over Manchester City in March 2014. This season, the cultured midfielder has played 35 games for Wigan, who sit poised at the top of the League One table and could very well be crowned champions this weekend should results go their way. McCann has scored three goals and laid on four assists in Wigan’s charge back towards the Championship and a place in English football’s second tier competition. Next in line is a 34-year-old former England star and attacking midfielder who is worth £750,000 3) Joe Cole – Coventry City Cole is a 56-cap, 10 goal England midfielder who has garnered transfer fees totalling £7.4m over the course of his career, this being the fee that Chelsea paid West Ham for his services in 2003. He spent just shy of seven years at Stamford Bridge before moving to Liverpool in the middle of August 2010, when he was valued as a £15m player. Little over a year later, after 42 appearances and five goals, Cole was loaned to French side Lille before finding his way back to West Ham and then Aston Villa before a three-month loan to Coventry was turned into a permanent move for Cole to the Sky Blues. So far this season for Coventry, the 34-year-old Cole has made 21 appearances, scoring two goals and laying on five assists for the mid-table Sky Blues. Following on from the former Hammer is a 32-year-old centre back valued at £563,000 4) Peter Ramage – Coventry City (on loan at Leyton Orient) Currently on the books of League One Coventry City, Ramage signed on loan for League Two Leyton Orient on March 17 this year, so dropping into the fourth tier of English football in League Two. Ramage came through the ranks at Premier League side Newcastle United, graduating into their first team set up from the Under-21s at the start of July 2004. The defender played five seasons for the Toon before a free transfer to London side Queens Park Rangers. please log in to view this image Before landing at Coventry, and later Leyton Orient, Ramage saw time playing for Crystal Palace, on loan at Barnsley and also a spell for Indian Premier League side Kerala Blasters before a free transfer brought him back to England at the start of 2016 and to the Sky Blues. Ramage has played five games for the Os whilst on loan, completing 90 minutes in each match, picking up two yellow cards. Next up is a centre forward playing for a relegated club and valued at £563,000 5) Marvin Sordell – Colchester United Relegated League One side Colchester signed 25-year-old forward Sordell, an ex-Burnley player, on a one season contract in September 2015 after he was let go by Burnley. In 21 games for Colchester, Sordell, who once cost Bolton around £2.7m, the striker has netted six times (four in the league) and laid on eight assists (three in the league). This wasn’t enough, unfortunately, to stop the Essex-based side sliding out of League One and dropping into the fourth tier of English football, Colchester playing next season in League Two. An operation to remove a bone spur from his ankle has seen the forward miss the last 16 games, with it looking unlikely that he will play again this season. Could any of these be good enough for us to look at, it's that time of the year, just having a chat about it..
No thanks to all of them. I think we were linked with McCann a few years back but not somebody I hope we're looking at. Will be interesting to see if we get Gilbey now.
Haven't seen enough of them to make a strong assessment, but on the face if it I'd say none of them fit with what we're building. Maybe Sordell comes closest to ticking the boxes, but it must be rare for a player in a team relegated from League One to have what it takes to compete in the Championship...
I do not think any of these would enhance our squad .... I would be trying to make sure that all of the present team under 25 are with us for 3 years from the start of next season ..then/well in the meantime signing up new players, at least 4
