honeybradger

You say that like he didn't score 9 PL goals and assist 4 last season in a terrible team. Yes he missed some sitters but that also shows that he still has the ability to be one step ahead of PL level defenders, let alone championship ones. Vardy being one of the top scorers in the championship next season if he came back would be a realistic expectation. He's still one of the best options in the market for us. I wouldnt be surprised if he goes elsewhere and does well whilst our new striker is written off by Christmas.

Who else would we get? Danny Ings? Evan Ferguson on loan? I've seen suggestions of Agmeyang on here (not good) or Kroupi Jr on loan (not happening). Realistically one more year of Vardy might still be our best option if we were to sign someone, although im happy with Evans as our starter and Ayew, Daka or a false 9 as backup.

So you agree that the ideal situation is to sack them off, at least we can agree on that. Let's not be condescending, what i am proposing is not only acheivable in a video game, we currently have plenty of chances to reshape our squad into a young exciting team that can gain promotion AND look to establish ourselves in the PL further down the line. No 18 year old Brazilian wonderkids needed. For reference the last time we were in the championship we missed a massive opportunity playing Faes, Vestergaard and Coady ahead of Nelson and paid the price wasting another year with those 3 at the back whilst Nelson had to go on loan to gain the experience he should've had the season before with us. Hopefully we don't make that same mistake again. Here's my solution: rather than giving the old tossers 'clean sheets' and letting them back into the fold like nothing ever happened we should at the very least keep these players at arms length. We should give players like Nelson, Aluko and Okoli opportunities to stake their place as first choice defenders ahead of Vestergaard, Faes, Coady (ideally with the number of centrebacks we have we can just leave vestergaard at home). We're lighter in midfield so it will be harder to keep Winks out but let's at least give Page a fair chance to stake his claim as one of our first choice midfielders. Persisting with these sorts of players for too long is exactly what has gotten us into this mess whilst the likes of Brentford, Brighton and Bournemouth have looked to the continent for younger players on cheaper wages with less experience and reaped the reward. Yes we might get a short term payoff playing the safe game trying to gain promotion with known quantities but in the long term we are just going to keep falling further and further behind. If youre Monga, Page, Aluko, Evans, Alves, Nelson youre going to be looking at this championship season coming up and thinking 'if we're not not breaking through here now when will we ever?' and move on elsewhere for opportunities. Personally I value these players more for our long term prospects than I do promotion.

Look you've clearly made that Championship winning side your Roman Empire, which is fine I guess but you cannot ignore how those same players let us down last season and in particular the terrible performance of those two. They are both on good PL wages but are clearly only good enough for a championship promotion push. It would be fine if they were earning lower wages appropriate for their level as players but they're not. For example Maxime Lopez who is identical to Winks as a player is on £10k a week at Paris FC, for reference winks is on £70k a week. You also cannot ignore the fact that those two were frozen out by our manager last season, say what you want about Van Nistelrooy as a manager but he was elite as a player and knows when players have the right mentality and Winks and Vestergaard did not fit into that standard.

We got massively burned last season by giving Vestergaard and Faes a clean sheet under Maresca. We cannot make that mistake again, that Everton game last season should be the last competitive game that Winks and Vestergaard have in this shirt, disgraceful performance from the both of them. Two very highly paid experienced players completely switched off in an important game. Edit: in summary we will die a slow death if we keep giving poor players on extortionate wages clean sheets. If they havent performed in the past they're unlikely to perform for us in the future, shift them at any opportunity and rebuild with younger players on lower wages that hopefully will not keep letting us down like our current lot do.

How Ayew has earned a reputation as a player with good holdup play i have no idea. He usually slows down play looking for the foul or passes backwards killing the move. Would much rather Jake Evans in that position, against Pourtsmouth he was very good at collecting the ball deeper and looking to distribute it to the wings. Very underrated player on here.

Winks the same player who hasnt looked bothered since we lost Enzo? Not the kind of personality we want to platform within the club.

Championship is terrible quality wise if you compare it to top flights in other countries. The best teams in that league are pushovers in the PL and midtable and lower championship sides are pushovers for the teams at the top. The best teams in Eredivisie and Primiera league give top 6 teams a run for their money and the top 4/5 in the Belgian league are midtable PL quality. Also have we not just seen Winks, Mavididi and even Fatawu struggle significantly at PL level? I dont think on the basis of their performances last year that you could argue they belong at that level.

Bobby Reid played in a dominant Fulham side and averaged 7 goals a season. His only 20 g+a season in the championship was 8 years ago.

Definitely not! Just saying that we would be happy if we had spent money on these players and £5mil is the typical sum to buy a good championship defender. In the context of the market £15mil on Faes and Vestergaard each was ludicrous and is not the norm!

Selling Skipp for £10mil would meaning 6 mil less we can spend this year but we get £10mil of PSR headroom for the years after.

I definitely am calling for them to be in and around the starting XI. We need to play our best players irrespective of their age. Monga is arguably our best player despite being 16 and we were crying out for a centreback with Aluko's pace and reading of the game all of last season (and since Fofana and Soyuncu left in general). We were also calling out for a midfielder with technical ability plus physicality which we now have in Page. Evans is also our best striker in my opinion and has looked very mature in his appearances so far. Seriously, if these academy players were all new signings and playing this way in pre season we would have no question of whether they should be competing for the first choice positions. We would also be saying this is one of the best transfer windows we've had in a while. It's only because our fans innately do not trust academy players that they are being written off as not ready.

Which players are you talking about? Monga, Evans, Aluko, Jayden Josheph all played at u21 level last season with the first 3 having cameos in the PL. Page had a run at u21 level and went unbeaten then got dropped back down again for no reason. Alves and Nelson were on loan in the championship last season and are definitely ready for that level. So of the players above you can only attribute the performance of the U18s to Page and he proved himself at U21 level which outranks the U18s. If the opposition are just going through the motions then surely our senior professionals should look even better but the reality is that the academy players are simply outperforming them.

We now have 3 academy centre backs who look to be better defenders than Coady. Nelson, Aluko and Wilson Brown all looked very good today, would be very happy if all 3 were new signings bought for £5mil. What value is experience if the player attached to it isnt good? Much rather have the better players starting if you ask me.

I thought we played OK honestly and Monga is simply ridiculous, at 16 he's already our best player. Stolarczyk, Thomas, Nelson, Wilson Brown, Aluko, Page, Monga, Alves, Evans is a ridiculous generation of talent for a club our size. All of them are arguably better than the non academy players in their position. Was sadly disappointed with Baybrooke, think he looked very nervous today and there were quite a few misplaced passes which isn't normal for him.

Aluko and Nelson are starting quality in my opinion. Miles better than Coady or Faes who have started countless times for us. It's between them two and Okoli for the starting places next season if I had to choose. Edit: Just watching the last bit and Wilson brown looks impressive as well, would rather have him starting that Coady, Faes, Vestergaard as well.

Harry W*nks, after that initial run of form he's become an absolute bombscare for us. Get him gone.

Everyone who hits a purple patch is linked to the big 6, it's what sells. Edouard was linked to Arsenal not so long ago as well. Edouard has a goal or assist every 210 minutes in the PL compared to Evan Ferguson's 180, not quite hyperbole to compare them is it? Bobby Reid has a goal or assist everyone 290 minutes and is a winger. Much rather go into next season with Evans up top personally because A. He is actually our player B. He's not shot of confidence like Ferguson and C. He can carry the ball and link up play which Ferguson is not very good at.

Jake Evans > Evan Ferguson. More talented and more well rounded. People just want what they don't already have, if we had Ferguson as our own player we would all still be saying we need a proper first choice striker. He has barely put in a single decent performance in 18 months and has a similar goal threat to the likes of Edouard and Bobby Reid in the PL, no thanks. Also outside of the pitiful goal record what is he good at? Not got good holdup, passing or particularly fast.

I didnt make it up just forgot to factor in Nelson's FA cup minutes and got mixed up between the EFL trophy and EFL cup for Nyoni. I stand corrected though Nelson has more than Nyoni.

Hearing what Guy Branston had to say about Nelson was a bit gutting, just looking for a reason to knock a young player down a peg. 'Doesnt train hard enough' nonsense, how many times has Vestergaard been frozen out by managers yet he gets endless opportunities and is probably still in the pecking order ahead of Nelson. Same goes for Winks and Faes, poor mentality but still preferred due to experience. They dont care about attitude in training, theyre just gutless idiots who are too scared of young players being an unknown so they dont even give them a chance.

Nelson was not on loan in our championship season and was barely utilised, if minutes were given out on merit he would have had more than Coady at least. He should have been considered as an option in our last season as well but we went out and signed Okoli instead and re signed Vestergaard. Alves could have had Cordova Reid's minutes last season and would have likely performed better. Mavididi and Fatawu were injured yet Monga and Evans still barely got minutes. I'm just pointing out that the barrier for entry for our talents has always been too high, the club almost never look at the academy first for players ready to make the step up. When we signed Soumare we had Dewsbury Hall ready to make the step up, Dewsbury Hall only got a chance once Soumare underperformed. Barnes had multiple wingers signed in front of him that needed to flop before he got a chance (Ghezzal, Diabate), Chilwell had to threaten to leave before he got minutes but that is more understandable as he had a club all timer in Fuchs ahead of him. Again why on Earth have we spaffed time and wages on Bobby Reid when we had Alves available? You only need to look at the fact that Trey Nyoni has more minutes for Fing Liverpool than any of of our current academy players has for us to realise that our club doesnt give our academy players enough opportunities.

Yes, definitely excited to watch Alves as well and for the next season in general. Still wary of how the club may mess up the opportunity to bed in an exciting young team though.

I think Monga will displace Mavididi this coming season. Mavididi struggles to beat his man sometimes whereas Monga always looks effortless. Still a big fan of Mavididi though and hopefully they will both have good seasons (at the expense of Reid and Ayew).

Skipp got 1100 minutes, Cordova Reid got 700 minutes, Coady has 1700 minutes for us last season and 700 in the championship season. Meanwhile Nelson has 200 minutes for us total at 21, Alves has 50 minutes, Monga has 70 minutes, Evans has 20 minutes. Our academy players arent given minutes on merit, there is no way that Coady is that much better than Nelson that he deserved 3x as many minutes in our championship season. All it took was one loss against QPR and Nelson barely got another look in that season and wasn't even considered going into last one. Similarly I dont think Cordova Reid is better than Alves so why bring him in in his place and give him first team minutes whilst leaving Alves to rot? Skipp undeniably has an automatic place in the first team based on us paying a transfer fee and high wages for him. He has been so unbelievably awful yet he's still in the mix for us. If I were Page i would be looking at him disappointing in training then still getting on the teamsheet and thinking 'I cant compete with that, this is not fair' and starting to consider my options. He would be stupid not to.