How long do the likes of Davies, Cywka, Mellis and Cranie have left on their contracts? I know Stones is signed up longer term but, as has been mentioned more than a few times on here we surely can't afford to lose three or four of our best players again in January and I would hope the club are working hard at getting longer deals sorted out for players who's contract is up next Summer. I can understand the clubs reluctance to give long term deals given that relegation was (and always is) a real possibility, but surely we are more than capable of a mid-table finish at least based on the evidence of the start to this season and it shouldn't be too much of a gamble for the club to sign these players up longer. Obviously if a player wants to leave it's difficult to stand in their way, but at least with a longer contract it gives us more bargaining power with transfer fees. There's nowt worse than seeing a player who is possibly good enough for the PL go for 500 grand which is obviously a pittance in football terms! But for some small differences in our last few games we could have been sitting in the play-off places now (I know a lot of teams can probably say that) and I'd say the start to this season is more encouraging than last. We seem to have a much better 'team' now, where last year we relied on a moment of magic from Butterfield or Vaz Te to win us a game, this season the quality is spread out much more evenly through the side meaning we can have one or two out and it doesn't make a massive difference although I wouldn't want to lose anyone permanently. It also shows how far we've come when it's difficult to see how O'Brien, Perkins and to some extent McNulty are going to slot back in to the side. The only area where we really lack strength is up front, Davies is turning into a quality striker and he would have been a marked man yesterday after the Birmingham performance so I won't hold that against him, but strikers need to be able to take their chances first and foremost and (as much as he is growing on me) I'm not sure Dagnall is the man to be up there long term. It goes to show what Hill thinks of Harewood when he puts Danny Rose on ahead of him - Rose is a good, skillful player but he's not strong enough yet. Maybe Mido can fill this void but he is a bit of an unknown and I understand he should be fit for the Charlton game - if he looks off the pace after three or four games then it might be time to step up the chase for someone like Chris O'Grady although I obviously hope Mido comes into the side with a point to prove and ends up being a sensation. Veered away from the post title a bit here but these are my thoughts anyway!
As I understand it, Cranie and Cwyka are on one year deals, Davies' contract expires and the seasons end, and Mellis has a 2 year contract.
Well Cranie and Cwyka have more than proved their worth to the team and obviously Davies is turning into the striker we've waited such a long time for so we really need to reward these three for their efforts even though they'll be after a fair increase on their current wages.