If we have an option on this lad we should consider taking it. We'll lose a few in the summer & we could balance the books on sales & departures. If we don't go up I could see Mowatt, Styles & Helik going. The first would be on a free, but the other two would need to be decent money, i.e. over 5 million. Get a deal in place, as that lad could be 20 million in the long run. Not the finished article, but 12 months more playing championship football & the big fish would be in.
Doubt dike will want to sign for us if we sell styles and Helik as well as losing mowatt. If they’re smart about it, the club could balance the books without dismantling the team, just depends on whether the will is there
If Mowatt leaves the rest will follow. If Mowatt stays there will be a few that say yeah lets give it a crack. I'd be tempted to have a rebuild this summer anyway. Thre are a couple of areas that need strengthening. Central midfield and up front. We need another box to box midfielder as Halme is a defender. Also we need two strikers. At the minute we have Dike (on loan), Frieser, Woodrow and Morris. That's four decent one's. Over the course of the season Adeboyejo and Chaplin might get you an A for effort but not attainment. They need moving on. Try and get in some transfer fee's for the lads returning from their loans if they aren't going to make it under Val.
I think Mowatt already knows who he'll be playing for next season, and it wont be us. The big thing for us is for the club to work with Ismael on what needs to happen in the window. If the coach is happy with the dealings, then I think most of the players would want to stay.
Dunno mate but if I were him I'd be seriously thinking about starting a legal case against Paterson for common assault.
Do you know how mad this statement looks taken in isolation? We're 5th in the league and would need to go on a pretty bad run to not finish in the Playoffs. I know you gave more context, but still, all things considered. I'm not so convinced. I don't think he wants to leave but I also don't think he wants to be part of yet another Summer fire sale. I'm guessing (and it is just that) that we've failed to give him the reassurances he needs that he won't end up being captain of a team struggling for survival again.
The summer will be a big test of what the club wants to be. If they're serious about building a side, they'll repeat the last summer window. One out, a few in and build from there. If they sell two or three as well as losing the captain, then it looks like they just want to build a player factory rather than a club. You'd hope that after the January window they had, they wouldn't plan on just throwing all that away in the next window, so some assurances must have gone to Mowatt. Just not enough though.
Until the end of the season. Something was intimated at the time though that Orlando can recall him in April, however I got the impression from Dane that they would only recall him if they felt he wasn't getting enough game time.
I'd sell Chaplin and accept offers for the lads out on loan, try our best to keep Mowatt but have a replacement lined up. Like I said bring in another midfielder and two strikers. I rate Woodrow and he's our best striker when on song but I'd consider freshening things up like we did when we allowed Payton to go in 1996.
I agree. I can't see him staying if we're still in the Championship. What's your stance on Woodrow mate?
Woodrow's signed until 2023, hasn't he. So unless someone comes in with a £5 Million plus offer, he's staying imho. Which is unlikely with the current finances at various clubs
Would you sell him though to bring a couple more strikers better than Schmidt, Adeboyejo and Chaplin?
If an offer came in, I'd sell Woodrow in the summer. Not because I don't rate him, I very much do. But because we play a style that just doesn't suit him and his style of play. If Dike and Morris are subs, then he has to endure balls over his head or neck high to try and do something with. If Dike and or Morris play, we hit balls at or over them instead so the game bypasses him and his main contribution is then penalties and running around in a very effective press (if Chaplin, Frieser and/or Adeboyejo are playing alongside him) or a completely broken one if Dike and Morris are alongside him. And I was surprised to see him having to take corners, which just seems bizarre. If you aren't going to play to the strengths of your best player, you might as well cash in and use that money for players that do, as much as it pains me.
Not really. We've got a good enough squad at the moment (as we can see with the results since January) and a great motivational coach, just one or two tweaks required (as long as we convince Mowatt to stay)
As DannyWilsonLoveChild has said though we don't play to Woodrow's strengths so wouldn't it be good to replace him with one or two that fit the system better and maybe replace a couple that with all the will in the world aren't big game players?
