With Malky's first signing being Conway a much mentioned target of ours, it would appear that Malky is still fishing at the moment in the same pools as us. Much has been written about the need to rebuild at Cardiff so it got me thinking that as many managers go back to their old club who might Malky come back for from us knowing our financial plight and looking for bargain buys. If he wants experience/ leadership then John Eustace perhaps and Don Cowie maybe?. But what about our younger players, do you see any of them fitting into Malky's team that he expects to be pushing into the higher end of the league and competing for the Premiership.
I reckon he might wait to see how we do till December then try to get Eustace/Cowie as they are out of contract next summer. Unless they really want to join Malky.
dont give him any ideas! ,as mentioned before , I really hope that a clause was inserted in the deal with Cardiff banning him from poaching our lads! Although he tryed to poach SD
The number of players we have with a year left on their contracts isn't too bad. It's standard practise for a club like ours to have around 40-45% with one year to go, 40-45% with two years to go, and the odd one with longer. What's worrying is that Eustace, Cowie and Taylor are three of them. I believe Taylor will stay here. I believe that Eustace is only likely to consider a move to Cardiff. I'm worried about Cowie, but firmly believe that the possibility of him leaving on a free next summer is a risk worth taking. He would be far harder to replace than Buckley, even Graham.
I think SD will have talked to them, and convinced them to stay. Especially Taylor and Eustace. I imagine (and of course, i don't know...) that he has a good relationship with them, and that they will be behind him all the way. I could have read that wrong, but i just have a hunch. Cowie is a different matter...i can imagine he could be drawn away from us, but hopefully not yet...if he goes though, i don't think it'd be to Cardiff, unless they come in with big bucks...
If Cowie isn't sold this summer it is because he wants to go on a free next year. I'm certain he has no intention of signing another contract. If I'm wrong I will come on here and eat my hat!
I'd suggest Malky is under some pression to hit the ground running, so will go for names he already knows... be it Watford players or targets Watford have identified. We can't really avoid him going for external players, but if he does come in for Watford players, then we need to either tell him where to go, or puch a extremely high premium on those players. I'm more confident players staying with Dyche in charge as they will know him, and hopefully they enjoy working for him, so want to put in a shift for him! I think that will mainly apply to the likes Eustace, Taylor, Doyley and the youngsters - someone like Cowie I am a bit more worried about and you get the feeling he may want to 'step up' as quickly as possible. If he isn;t willing to sign a contract, I would much rather we try and get a decent amount for him (£2-3m) and try and get a replacement for him
He's in a new job and he's not that experienced. He's bound to look at what he knows and would no doubt like a few more familiar faces around him. That said, I don't know that Cowie, Eustace and Taylor will necessarily be on his radar. All three are good, solid players...sure to help you stay safe in the Championship. Expectations at Cardiff may be for more than that. If he does come knocking it seems the policy will be don't sell unless the offer is too good to refuse.
Reading the wobby article about forsyth ,it seems he might be a cowie replacement! so we still ideally need an experienced striker and a left back as bare minimum!
I don't like the notion, which I've seen in a few places, that Cowie would be doing anything wrong if he leaves us on a free. He signed a contract, and unless he does a Mike Williamson or we accept an offer for him, he will honour it. I don't know what sort of person he is. But if he's here in September and disappointed not to have left, I know enough to be sure that he will never give anything less than his best. He's just that sort of player.
