CUJimmy

It is very little to do with how much we might get in by way of transfer fees. If they are still under contract (which means all bar Ward and Iverson) then unless another club matches their wage demands then they are staying with us. Contracts work both ways I am afraid. This is the reality of Rudkin’s incompetence and won’t unwind until all those contracts expire with is another 3 or 4 years in some cases.

Some excellent points here. I think most of us agree that we need a new DoF, Manager, Scouting team and a largely new squad. The problem is this is also the order in which these recruitments need to be made so realistically we are looking at 3 months minimum, even if Rudkin were sacked today, before the new person can start work on appointing a manager. By this time we would be well into pre-season and there is little time to appoint a new manager and give them the opportunity to recruit before it all kicks off again. The first question of course would be who would we trust to appoint a new DoF? I hate to say it but we are fúcked.

Same here. It must be incredibly difficult playing a two man play-off knowing that the overwhelming majority of the crowd want the other guy to win. He is a true gent though so behaved with grace and dignity throughout including the interview afterwards.

It’s hard to disagree with that. The Miracle at Medinah was the only one that was even close but if Europe had lost that we would have shrugged our shoulders, said that we gave it a good go and moved on. If Rory hadn’t won last night I would struggle to believe he was ever going to. The fact that he stuffed up two (for him) incredibly easy shots on 13 and 18 show how much it meant to him and the unbelievable amount of pressure.

Can we please get real here. It is little/nothing to do with the transfer fee we might be able to negotiate even if we agreed to let them go for nothing. If the player is still in contract (which all bar Vardy, Ward and Iveson are) and they can’t agree personal terms then they are not going anywhere until their contract expires. Even after relegation clauses most of the wages will still be far too high for the kind of club that would be interested. The effect of Rudkin’s incompetence is not going to fully unwind for 4 years even if he left today.

Normally at this time of year we are worried about who is going to get poached by a ‘big club’. Different story this time round.

Agree with this. I suspect he wishes he had walked at the end of the transfer window blaming a lack of support from the board and that he had been misled over available funds at interview. Some clubs might be put off employing him because he would have done that twice but not as much as by the shitshow we have seen since.

Agree with the principle but it depends slightly on what the club predicts will be the financial outcome for 24-25. If we can pay him off this season without breaching PSR for the 22-23/23-24/24-25 seasons then we are better off doing all the dirty work before the end of June and getting it out of the system quicker. Given that promotion in the next 3 years is far from certain we need to prepare for a lower allowance.

Much of this depends on whether there is a relegation clause in his contract and none of us knows for sure. If he won the job in a competitive interview against viable candidates then there might be but the if we chased him and persuaded him to join then there almost certainly won’t. I suspect the latter is more likely. This means that if we want to get rid we will have to buy him off. The starting point is the entire value of the rest of his contract but this can be negotiated down. If Ruud insisted on the full amount it makes no difference to us whether he is placed on gardening leave or let go so there is an incentive for him to accept a lower payout if he wants another job. My understanding with Potter is that he received pretty much his full salary for a period of time but this would have been reduced if he had taken another job after leaving Chelsea.

While I agree with the sentiment the sad reality is that, with the exception of Vardy, Ward and Iverson, all the rest are in contract so unless they agree personal terms with another club we are stuck with them. That will be the stumbling block as we have been overpaying on salaries for years. A young player might take a modest cut in exchange for better opportunities and the potential for more further down the line but the likes of BDR and Ayew aren’t going anywhere until their contracts are up. We might be able to unload Vestegard if he was told he wouldn’t get first team football as he wants to play for Denmark but he is probably the only one in that position. Playing the u21 is definitely an option I could get behind provided we can live with a load of overpaid crap on the bench or sat at home while their contracts run down but it is highly unlikely we will be able to afford much in the way of transfer fees or wages to rebuild for a couple of seasons.

The difference is back when I first started going (aged 5) you could change where you wanted to be in the ground on a match by match basis. Dad used to decide for us based on who the opposition was and if there was any trouble expected. I remember one game against Newcastle where it was already getting tasty before kick-off so we went in the stand which you could do by paying the steward at the top of the stairs for an upgrade. Simpler times.

When were you there?

Just completed this for you and circulated it to the rest of the family. My daughter attended UCFB (Business and Marketing) and had a fantastic time.

I watch us play and have no idea what the tactics are. Normally, even when we are losing I can at least see what we are trying to do.

I’m not really sure you could say MON and NGP used the Academy to that great an extent. In many ways they had a similar approach though: - Clear idea how they wanted to play. - Excellent recruitment from places where nobody else was looking. Round pegs into round holes. - An outstanding coaching team who drilled players within an inch of their life. - Motivated players so they loved playing for the club and each other.