My stab at Fantasy Sormaz... I expect 2 out of the current 3 midfielders to be sold. Some players have a shelf life and both Philips and Connell feel they've reached theirs though I can see Connell staying if we get a better offer for Russell. I'm not too concerned at the thought of this as they don't seem to operate well as a 3 and I'd like to see us get better balance especially from a defensive perspective. Both Philips and Russell have goals in them and I can see them generating better fees than some expect. I fully expect DKD and Jalo to both be here next season unless we get stupid money for either. Both are under long term contracts and I believe there is more to come from both so it makes sense to hold for another season (at least). I don't envisage keeping any of the out of contract players. I wouldn't keep Humphries, but I can see us taking his extra year, as they'll be significant changes afoot and it might be wise to keep him another season but I'll trust the head coach on that one. I also feel we need to make the playing squad a little leaner and move on some under performing players (if possible). I'd like to see O'Keeffe moved on and possibly de Givigney and both may be surplus if - as I suspect - we continue with the current formation. In addition, I don't for the life of me see how Nwakali can play in a midfield 3 that wants to press and although his range of passing is on occasion delightful, his all round game is limited. I'd also offload Watters (if possible). Team without any additions: Smith Lofthouse --- Roberts --- Shepherd --- Earl Bland --- Connell --- Yoganathan Jalo --- DKD --- Humphries Flavell Cotter Lopata Barratt Gent/McCann Farrugia Shopping List 2 x Forwards (at least one who plays centrally) 2 x Midfielders (ideally a #8 and #6) 1 x Right Back 1 x Goalkeeper
Jackson Smith in net. Bland in. Roberts & Shepherd if playing 4. Roberts Shepherd & MDG if a 3. Lopata to be sold/released too - folk forget how slow he is. Very short memories!
My preferred team for next year 433 Flavell Cotter Roberts(c) Shepherd Bland Nwakali Ben Pearson Russell DKD Wareham Humphrys 2 good signings from Stoke and Reading, shouldn't break the bank. Hopefully a good defender to come in too and Jalo to become a regular
So do I. It's one thing doing it in league 2 for a club that's underachieved for years. It's a different matter in league 1for a side expected to challenge for promotion. If he gets Bradford promoted other clubs could bump his price up.
I can see clubs coming in for both Russell and Phillips this summer both got 9 goals each from midfield would both take some replacing.
Selling Shepherd would be insane, even for our standards. We’re losing at least 2 CB’s who are out of contract, we need better defenders to come in and replace them. Our ideal candidate for a new signing is someone who is the one of the better performers for a team near the top end of league 2 - the great news is we have one of those on the books. The better news he is from non league so will be on peanuts, the even better news is he signed a contract extension before going on loan. It would be NUTS to sell him, unless we got £4m+, which won’t happen.