I know it was only a friendly but I am delighted that Tom popped a couple of reminders in on saturday that he is a natural goalscorer , not only he is he a goalscorer ,he is a goalscorer of championship class & he is contracted to BFC who will be playing in division one next season , therefore we have a player of championship quality playing for us next year & to think of selling him would be madness . We would not be able to replace him with a player of the same class otherwise that said player would also be playing at a level above . If Tom does the business then his value will not have diminished come january , in fact knowing how desperate teams become in that window , it is conceivable his stock will have risen & a decision on his future can be made then , so I implore the powers that be, to hang on to one of our best assets to help us return to the championship at the first attempt .
And if we're bottom half of division 1, and his heart hasn't been quite in it because we've blocked a move that would double his salary and he's only got 3 goals, or he's been injured and hardly played, or his manager doesn't really like him as a player.... If we don't sell him now, and not saying we should, but you either have to get him on a new contract (and he's had champ offers so why would the player want to play at a lesser level?) and get him to sign it... hard with FFP in league 1 with a salary cap or accept he's going for free in the summer when he not only gets an inflated salary, but a huge signing on fee as his buying club hasn't to find a transfer fee.
If the reds keep hold of Bradshaw and by January are well into the hunt for promotion then we surely would then be able to resist any offers for any of our key players Promotion is the key issue rather than keeping Bradshaw behond next season
And herein lies the problem...."If" Nobody knows. The only thing we can choose at any time is whether we are happy to lose the transfer fee in the worst case scenario. Which is not getting promotion (or worse) and the player being out of contract. I doubt he'll be here by the time the transfer window closes.
If Tom is wanting a move then it is in interests to perform to the best of his ability to keep him in the shop window , therefore I would be hopeful of a decent goal return from him . If the manager does not fancy him thus limiting his appearances then I think he will have already made his mind up & he will be sold in the next couple of weeks . I would not talk contracts with him until january when we will have a clearer picture of how the season is going for both club & player . I still think the key thing for us is not to sell any more of our assets , if we have several players of championship quality then we have an advantage over most of our rivals , get rid of these players & we lose that advantage because the replacements will simply not be of the same quality
Its in Toms best interests to look after himself. Why start a season in League 1 when you've had multiple bids from championship clubs on more money? As we've seen, players previously disengaged with the club when contracts weren't forthcoming at a certain point. So if we hedge out bets and Bradshaw has to wait just a few months, he'll do so, just like Watkins and Scowen. We saw Yiadom hold out to be a free agent for a year after having his move fall through. A contract means little now. as does loyalty, the moment a bid is acceptable, he's gone. I'd say it helps us more by selling players now, rather than the day before the window closes so we can at least replace them. I'd agree with your stance completely, if it were pre Bosman and if we were still in the Championship. But it isn't.
If we have to sell him just sell him for more than he is worth. It’s what all the other clubs do these days. We have to make a statement, if you want him you will have to pay.
My response is simple , any player we sell now to a championship club is a championship quality player , any replacement we get will not be of the same class thus weakening our chances of a return . Wigan proved it last year when they refused to sell there star players & consequently got there reward , we have to stand firm & give our club the best chance of getting back.
That may or may not be true. If it is then it would seem a strange decision to bother playing him in a pre season friendly.
Exactly , Doncaster turn down £750 k for an average division one striker & we are considering selling a proven Championship for a similar amount , if the going rate for Marquis is an example of division one players ,then it would cost more to replace Bradshaw than we receive for him & no doubt the replacement will be of inferior ability , its madness pure madness
Personally I hope he stays as I think he will get goals in league one. However this talk of him as a proven Championship player I don't get. He has made 79 championship appearances for us and scored 17 goals. Now I understand some of that was in a poor team. He may well go on to prove himself at championship level but as of right now i would hardly call him proven.
Do Market forces consider that we are circa £5 million down for dropping a league & it is vital we use all our assets to make a quick return , keeping our better players might be a financial gamble but surely the club owe it to the loyal fans to take risks & go for it
Of course. We are £6m worse off, and will have players on levels of salary which are little uncomfortable for us and inhibit signings and squad redevelopment under a new manager with new tactics and systems. If you're content with Bradshaw leaving for free in the summer, that's fine... but if he were to do so after we've failed to get promotion, you can't then bellyache he should've been sold. That's the risk reward evaluation. You're basically going to the bookies and gambling his transfer fee that he'll be the difference of promotion. At this moment in time I'd say he isn't and we need far more change than we realise.
I'd like to see him stay in the sense that I think he would do well in league one. That's not taking into account any of the financial side of things the club have to. If we choose to sell him I wouldn't be too upset either.
Did we sign him for 600k? If getting a league one player for that and after two seasons at a higher level, we are only getting a few hundred grand more that would be very poor. Especially as Mamadou Nill isn't likely to step up and fill the void.
Will Grigg didn’t exactly set the championship ‘On Fire’ scoring 7 in 33 appearances, but he found the net 26 times last season at league 1 level. A similar return from Bradshaw would provide the platform for a promotion season
