Hecky in the Chronicle.......

Or we could improve many other aspects of the club so we are less dependent on having to piss off our wonderful head coach by dismantling/weakening the squads he builds up to be competitive.

The well of good replacements to replace big money sales has already shown itself this season to be drying up and harder to find with Kpekawa, Elder, Jones, Lee and a few others struggling to impress. If we think we can keep selling assets and find adequate replacements then we are kidding ourselves.

 

Club: "Here sign this contract with a clause saying that if you prove your worth by meeting a series of set targets then we will guarantee you a significant wage rise"
Player: "Nice one"

Club: Here sign this contract for three years but don't worry if we do not meet set targets as a club you can walk away free of charge"
Player: Nice one

 

I think that, unfortunately, this is the case. We simply can't compete with most clubs in the Championship, so once a player has demonstrated that they can perform at this level then we're probably going to lose them at the end of their contract to a club that can double their wages without even blinking.

We get them for two or three years and replace them with an unproven player. Rinse and repeat. It's not mismanagement, it's just the way of the world. I think Southampton are a decent comparator - year after year they build a good team and perform above expectations, but when Liverpool inevitably come calling then there's very little they can do.

 

Yes. The plan relies on the club being brave enough to get top dollar. I get that they went on to be the best players, but at the time of your scenario there was no way of knowing that. Anyway, under the plan I suggested you would still be 2 years out from their contracts running down, so they could have played another season, offered again, if the answer was still 'no' then sell while we stil hold some of the cards.

That said, it's a plan, not an exact science. The reason we ended up where we were in January is because they know how well they would have both performed. In hindsight I think we should have sold them at the start of the season. We only got 1/2 a season anyway (& a lot less cash)