Firstly, I think everyone needs to take a deep breath. I certainly have had to, but I think it is important after the initial reaction to be rational. At this stage we still don’t know anything. It seems pretty nailed on Sam has gone but all we know is that someone has tabled a bid for Conor – hardly surprising, he is a brilliant footballer. Virtually all clubs are selling clubs. If they go, we will do the same to someone else with less financial clout. And in our case our strategy is explicitly to bring in and develop talent, sell and reinvest. We’re in a fairly unique situation for us in that people want our players because for the first time in a long time we’re actually very good. However. I don’t think the strategy can work if you sell people who are vital to you in January. Unless the money is ridiculous, or you are in desperate need for the money (which for once we are not), selling players should be a summer past time. I do wonder whether Winnall may have a release clause that’s been triggered? We will see. But if the loss of his goals derails us it will burst the goodwill bubble and momentum we have. And if someone does try to force a move, call their bluff. Their stock would certainly have dropped if they aren’t in our team and playing well. And ultimately Hourihane is vital. I don’t think we should accept any offer for him. Everything we do is based around his all round quality and brilliance. It is this that allows us to play with a 4 man midfield. There are very few players that have his range of game that we could afford, or bring in now, to keep playing as we are and in this formation. We need to hold on to him for now, accept he will leave (and with our blessing) in the summer for nothing, and be prepared to spend all that summer building a new team without him. As for the players, no-one can be blamed for taking a 4 times salary increase. But Connor – if we do accept a bid for you, turn the move down. You’ll have your pick of clubs in the summer, on megabucks, and be able to make an informed choice on which division the club you chose will be in, who the manager is etc. Stay with us, take us up, leave a legend. Or even wait for the chance of a premier league wage with us, a club that loves you.
I hope you're not trying to imply that there tends to be an overreaction on here are you? sorry I'm not having that :-D
To be fair I was angry last night, but refrained from posting and considered it again today. Sometimes the best thing to do. I still think, as I did in the summer, that we should keep both for the duration of the final year of their contract as their worth is so great to us, and that we can't afford to lose the momentum we have in a poor second half of the season. I have concerns there are echoes of 2011/12, but lets see. And whatever happens we have Hecky who as always spoke excellently this morning.
How much of a bid would you consider to be a tipping point to deem the sale of CH acceptable ? And hypothetically would your opinion change if the bid was from Wednesday or even worse Leeds ?
Tough question but it's hard to see him as anything other than irreplaceable. As we're seeing with Morsy it's hard to even encourage players on a League One contract to join due to wage structure. So £5m might buy you a good player but they aren't going to sign unless you break the wage structure. I suppose you could say player sales can finance better wages but there's an inherent risk to basing the club's entire wage structure on sales income. It wouldn't take long without flogging someone for debt to build up. So what use is money in the bank at this point in time given the cash windfalls from the summer? Added to which we have an outside chance of making the play offs which might never happen again. And I just can't see how we could play 4-4-2 without him. And what impact on the main revenue of season ticket sales if we go on a slump to the end of the season? I suppose who's bidding has to come in your it too. Why would you sell to a direct competitor in any business unless it was for a massively inflated price?
5 million and not a penny less! Best centre mid in division demands a high asking fee regardless of contract length Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk