New Board/Owners

Well said sir

 

Of course players will be sold. Some through necessity, some through choice. Andersen is never signing a new contract for us, and only has one year left. Plus I suspect there was probably an agreement to let him leave, after he's given us another year when other couldn't get out quickly enough.

I don't think Williams will be signing a new deal, so likely have to be sold. Not sure about Collins, purely based on the fact that I don't know how many clubs are in the market for paying a fee for a keeper. Connell will provide a dilemma, we have two years left on his deal but he's another who I don't think will ever sign an extension. Basically, once a player is seen as one of our best, they're not extending because Champ clubs play silly money even for squad players.

The key is how we replace them. We cannot replace 25 year old Mads Andersen with another equivalent of 20 year old Mads Andersen. And I'm not convinced by Cotter as a RWB, but if he's given a run of games he could very well prove me wrong.

What I'd like to see is extensions (if possible) for likes of Cadden and Kane. We missed the boat with Williams, as we could've extended his deal after the Ismael season, while he was still somewhat under the radar. We need to get extensions to players who may not be the best players now, but have potential to be, like we did with Kitching.

As many have said, Duff is the most important one to retain. If a top Championship club / relegated PL club pays the compo and Duff thinks it's a good fit for him, then there's nothing we can do. But it will be bitterly disappointing if we lose him to someone like Huddersfield, Cardiff or Swansea. The board have to present the club as the best option for him, until something truly bigger and better comes around.

 

Spectemur Agendo

 

Agree with this 100%.

One of the fun aspects of this has been JAQ's presence, both on Twitter and at several games. Whatever the reasons behind her initial decision to invest, she now has the emotional investment too and, to her credit, isn't afraid to call out issues with how the game is being run by the football authorities.

I've said this previously, but the financial intervention they've made in the last 12 months or so has been as critical for the club's survival as that made by Patrick Cryne when he took over.

We'll have to sell some of our key assets as part of the overall strategy (as has always been the case) but they've at least recognised that maximising on-field performance is the best way to create saleable assets and, hopefully, get full value for them.

 

Don't see why we couldn't, the whole point is that if someone is sold in July we have up to the window end to find a viable replacement. If we sell someone at the end of the window, we don't

 

I have every faith in the new board to make the right decisions. There will be tough decisions to make, but the past season puts us in a better position in my book than we were 12 months ago.

 

They would already have been talking with targets and have agreements in place.
It’s exactly the same as buying a house in a chain.

 

It doesn't seem to work in our favour. Players get poached at the end of the window and we have no time to replace them. If players want to leave then if they are here at the start of the season, just hanging around while possible replacements get snapped up by other clubs. If we want someone there's a good chance someone else does. We've been messed around by a few players having will they won't they dramas. Moore springs to mind. Sold too near deadline at which time other clubs and agents can smell our desperation