The bottom line is we need to sell players. Seven figures plus a decent sell on clause and I'll have no complaints.
Jon Russell attempted and successfully completed more tackles and interceptions than Luca Connell last season. Just for some context. The fall-off in Luca’s form post-Duff/Wembley/virus has been huge. But I still rate him and he’d be a loss because he offers things that nobody else in the squad does. It’s a skill to land on second balls. He’s tenacious and quick in initial bursts. Having a left foot in there opens up the pitch. He’s still young. And he’s massively respected and uber professional. But like anyone in the squad, I’d not be upset if he moves on as last season was so dire, and the club is skint.
Aye. We lose players that cost us a million quid from Premier League teams and midfield gets worse. Also no coincidence it got worse as we had worse strikers and defenders either innit.
https://www.bucksfreepress.co.uk/hi...hoping-sign-barnsley-midfielder-luca-connell/ Wanted as replacement for Josh Scowen with his ACL injury. 2nd bid expected. If reports are right that we've told them seven figures to entertain a chat about it, I reckon a deal will end up made.
That’s some stretch, He’s also got worse post my retirement but I don’t think either are strong correlations.
Be interesting to see what Doug at Chronicle has to say about it, I expect the club will communicate through him to set expectation on whether this happens or not. If it’s true, one million doesn’t sound enough for our 24 year old club captain who’s still got a few years on his deal and will need replacing. I’d be dissapointed with that.
Forwards shouldn't be captain for me. You've only to look at Harry Kane for England, anywhere except where he should be, up top to score. Think how many more England goals he'd have scored.
Agree, it’s a combination of lots of things. I do think he’s left with an awful lot of work to do when his partners are Russell, Phillips and Nwakali. His illness, the style of football we play and a loss of form are probably all contributing factors. I think he may look at a move as a fresh start and, if the contract on offer is attractive, it could work out well for him.
All very good players with different qualities but the fact is that the club can't afford to keep them all whilst also trying to stop the decline in performances and results. Change has to start somewhere and we shouldn't be afraid of it, We've just got to let Conor get on with it.
Wouldn’t be too sad to see him go, as already said, his form after Wembley has been woeful. It needs a hard reset in the middle of the pitch, I would hope we see offers for Russell & Phillips as well as Connell. But only if a percentage of the money gets reinvested.
I think Bland would be the obvious replacement, should Luca move on. I'm in two minds. It depends what we're offered and what Luca wants too. He could come good under Conor, but may see a new start as a better move and we are going to have to move a few players on.
Not saying it won`t come but I would say that Bland hasn`t showed the tenacity that Connell is capable of.
He's not really had much of a chance in that position. He's potentially a much better player than Luca.
I think folk rate them to a point individually, but when they're all in the same team it just doesn't work. Kane did far more of the dirty work in midfield than Russell did (when he was played deeper-although it was never his ideal position) and as I've mentioned before with Phillips he is a bystander when it comes to the dirty side of the game (Again I appreciate this isn't down as having to be one of his areas to get involved in). Those 3 seem very unbalanced and leave Connell overexposed - if I remember right, Bland played in a Kane type role on the last game of the season , which probably takes a bit of weight off Connells shoulders. I certainly wouldn't sell if the figure wasn't right, but the reality is we need the money and I think he's replaceable based on his last 2 years form. If he was playing as he was under Duff then it would be someone higher up the food chain wanting him. I think the captaincy bit has weighed heavily on him aswell - Roberts or DKD would be a better choice in my opinion
