This is where our blueprint falls apart

I asked Cryne at the qna the exact question of what is happening now (and you can watch on the video 1h in) whether our blueprint breaks down with the likes of winnall and hourihanes etc contracts running down and he said we were happy for them to leave. Roberts is slightly different but we havent done part b which i think we should have (see below).

I think the only way we can improve the situation is as soon as we see or be pretty sure we have uncovered a diamond in the rough we need to get the player on improved contracts (part b). Yes itay cost us more but we HAVE to protect our assets. Had winnall not had only 6month left we could have pulled 5m+ for him. Conor 15m. At least with that money we can go buy a fletcher or isgrove and take the blueprint to the next level. Identify unpolished diamonds in premier league academies, agree a fee for signing when we loan them (if we dont buy) that can be triggered by us at any time so we dont get a morsey situ.

The blueprint and spreadhseet have been a brilliant plan so far but we failed to shore it up when we neded to. We could be in a position of looking forward to the player we could bring in instead of bein scared shitless at losing one.

We livr and learn. Lets hope we can bring in the necessary replacements we need in this window.

 

I think that promotion gets in the way of that though - we had no way in the summer of knowing whether our players, good as they were for half a season, could make the step up. I reckon that once we're settled at a level then the club will start taking those steps.

 

With all due respect mate, we're never gonna pull in £15m for Conor Hourihane. Ever. Ever ever ever. Sam would probably be the more valuable of the two considering he's the goalscorer.

I've no problem with either of them leaving. When you look at it, we brought in Bradshaw in the Summer on a 3 year deal with a view I imagine to replace Winnall & Moncur on a 3 year deal again to replace Hourihane. The plan seems to have been in place - the big thing though is we can't afford/manage to lose such a core of our team in such a short period of time which requires us to stay strong & not sell even under pressure. Easy to say but I imagine difficult to do.

 

The problem we would still have, even in getting the players to sign new/extended contracts, would be that we still cannot compete with the sort of wages they might be offered by any premiership club, or the likes of Wednesday, Newcastle, Villa, Norwich etc in the championship. Extended contracts with permissions to speak to other clubs would be the best we could do, which would at least secure more realistic transfer fees for the club coffers. I think that the model which the club is now running is the right one for this club in its present format and is proving successful. Another problem is shown by the Morsy outcome, that we will have trouble recruiting at the old wages of division one. That will need s re-think, but I still think that we will find it hard to recruit other than players from lower leagues, which, of course, we have done magnificently.

 

Why would arguably the best player in the champ not be worth 15m if he was under contract? I dont think its beyond belief. Infact its this small time mentality that keeps getting us in the ****.

 

Show me another player who's played 30 games at this level that's gone for £15m.

There's small time mentality & an element of realism.

 

Yes but our coaches should be good enough to spot the potential long before they get noticed and have their heads turned and this is where we ought to be getting them on improved deals.

 

I know players will always come and go, we need to get a decent sum in so that we can afford an half decent replacement. That's what beggars belief, how can Rotherham turn down £2million for Danny Ward, who's contract expires in the summer?
We need to do what all the other clubs do ...........and quick. This sends out all the wrong messages to the other clubs and we now have situation where the vultures are circling.

 

Isn't hindsight great. Particularly when you are playing. With another persons money

 

Not seen any reports of a Prem club wanting Connor, also don't Ireland keep sending back. I like Connor as much as anyone, but the over exaggeration by our fans of hjs worth is laughable...

 

how is it hindsight when i raised the issue at the start of the season!? yes, i may have thought about how to maybe we overcome the issues now but thats with the facts we have now.

Although when i think back it was said at the time they had tried to offer new contacts to them but they said they woudl run them down.

Maybe the only way we can stop this happening is keep pulling on the reigns till 1st Feb then let them rip the league up!

 

I agree. Hes good, but nowhere near the best midfielder in the championship.

 

Stats say otherwise. And lots of people are using stats to buy their players.

 

Phil has multiple accounts.

 

His passing and interceptions, his key passes and assists stats are incredible. On that front he's better than Parker and Shelvey. 15m from Fulham would give that club the best midfield pairing in the league. Small price to pay for me.

 

This stats geezer on Twitter I follow reckons he's easily top 5 in the league. He used to work for Brentford on their version of 'The Spreadsheet' so his opinion holds some weight.

 

Jonathan Kodjia and/or Darren Bent to name two.

 

Strikers. Which is my original point.

And I was referring to players who had only played 30 games at this level to then move up rather than went for £15 million and then shifted down divisions.

 

Hourihane could possibly be another Howard type player though, he's our captain, he's at the centre of everything we do and the first name on the team sheet no doubt...he's thriving under that, not sure he's going to get that anywhere else.

You've only got to look at the players the top Prem clubs have brought in from Spain and Germany over the last few years, absolute giants in the leagues they played in, lauded all over the world, then look distinctly average in the Premier League. The ones who have gone on to become stars at Premier League clubs weren't anywhere near as influential at their previous clubs.

Of course this wouldn't matter to Connor, or any player, when they are getting contracts that set them up for life.

 

Oliver Burke, 20 odd appearances, midfielder and 5 goals, he's no Conor though, hence only £13m.