LCFCJohn

I have never met the guy I just get tired of negative hyperbole. I will call things as they are. He’s a bang average championship player. Good enough for where we want to be? No. Typical of where we are going. Unfortunately yes. As I said, to say he is league 1 or relegation fodder indicates there are 20 odd lefts backs in this league right now, who would get into our side. That itself is a very worrying yet delusional thought. He absolutely needs upgrading with someone better and more suited to our needs and style. But we can say this without shitting all over the guy.

No, he hasn’t had any minutes for 2 months or so. It’d be disastrous to bring him in from the cold like that.

I’d much rather Mavididi yes. I think Monga is more effective anyway and was keen for Mavididi to continue until he was injured anyway.

I agree for many fans yes, others are sick of the same old. Likewise you get a minority of fans that want to cram a team a teenagers. Remember that if the senior players were performing, this conversation would be much reduced. There might be debate about a couple on the bench say. Had we signed a Kone or Ivanovic and there were a goal threat, nobody would be mentioning Evans. Really, it’s becoming a big thing due to poor performances from individuals in areas of the pitches we have particularly talented young players, so Thomas-Aluko and the striker situation. I’m one for giving players so many chances, it’s taken me so long for example to accept Daka and Thomas will never offer more than they have to date. So it really looks (unless Carranza surprises us) that our strikers offer zero goal threat. So for example Evans, can he offer less than zero is the question? Same as Thomas and Aluko.

Disagree. Many fans care about the future and the big picture. Playing the ‘experienced’ players who are the culprits week in week out currently is the excuse that is getting tired.

Not because you expect that when blooding youth. It shows long term thinking and that is acceptable. When playing senior players, you expect strong performances and results so we are stuck a bit in no mans land at the moment.

Faes only has 18 months left come January so it’s more likely someone can come in and meet a valuation that covers PSR. He will likely still have admirers in Europe. Ayew I don’t know. As I say, my justification for thinking with 6 months left, he might get an offer is that his international standing and reputation is good. Again, minimal fee. Will he be on massive wages? Probably more than we would like but he has come in since we started to be more mindful let’s say. Nelson my reason is covered on other threads. He needs to play and isn’t getting near our side. Contract running out and I don’t think we could afford to let him go for free. To clarify, I can’t stand Vestergaard and Faes and building the defence around Nelson was what I was looking reallt forward to, but it just hasn’t happened that way.

You know Nelson has a say in his future too? And you call it nose of to spite our faces. I call it short term pain for long term benefit of exposing Aiyawatt and Rudkin. And of course Souttar isn’t more likely to move. He’ll barely be back involved after a year out. Who is going to sign him? Compared to a young player with a high ceiling who hasn’t long on his contract left. Like it or not, Nelson’s situation is ripe for a PL side to take advantage of. Even if he is on board with this (lack of) development plan, if a Palace, Bournemouth or Brighton came in and gave him a loan and half a season of football in the Championship with the view to integrating him into their side the next season (Palace for example will be losing Guehi in the summer), take your blue tinted specs off, that is a much more appealing route for a young player looking at their career.

That figure was chucked in out of frustration although I do believe the principle of the point I am making here without putting any figures on. How long did McAteer have on his contract though? That’s the sticking point with Nelson. See my post above, there’s also a big element of me wanting us to lose him on the cheap, him to do really well and for it to expose the club ‘leadership’ for what they are. Losing Nelson cheaply seems like acceptable collateral to accept if that happens.

And how many years is it since good business applies to us? I’m not saying what you describe is good business. I’m just saying we can’t keep losing assets for free. If he signed a new contract and was put in the starting line up, it’d be different. Still be the problem of our supporter not giving him a chance mind but business wise we’d be covered. Honestly, it is also the case I want to see him leave cheaply and go on to smash it elsewhere to really expose the club leadership for what they are. But I’m not sure it would even do that.

I’m not arguing we need to replace him, see my post. I just think if I have seen something from a player at times, why couldn’t it have been more often. Obviously it’s not as simply as that clearly. I actually think Thomas’s limitations have come more from mentality and not developing that side. But yeah, sometimes you just know it’s time.

Because a depreciating asset becomes less and less valuable. And whilst he is nowhere near first team football and his contract is ticking down, until either or both of those things change, he is a depreciating asset. It’s business. True about the wages. But it depends who we can shift. If we can’t and need to strengthen, we might not have a choice. It is both about funds to strengthen and creating squad places as well as the wages issue. If we can’t shift the high earners, we still need to create funds and squad places.

Anything we get for him is profit though. And anything we get is better than losing him for free in 2027. We have lost too many for free like the summer Tielemans and Soyuncu left. They were very good players who should have fitted the sell on method previously used but ended up walking for free. At least Nelson didn’t cost us anything but the same principle applies. It wouldn’t surprise me if a PL side didn’t see this as an opportunity to strike cheaply, bring him in and loan him elsewhere in the Championship for the second half of the season. It’d be good business sense.

It was the one thing I was looking forward to seeing in the summer, the defence built around Nelson. But I am firmly now believing we have moved past that point and just need to profit and move on.

We have to. If he is not deemed good enough now, with the shower that is Faes and Vestergaard, he never will be and his contract situation. January will be the last real opportunity to make some profit and put it back into the areas that need strengthening. He was the future but he isn’t now sadly.

The real frustrating thing is, I think he could be capable of being a more old school, overlapping full back. We have seen in spell, particularly in his early games for us, he can deliver a call in. He’s also had flashes of being able to hold his own against top players like Salah on more than one occasion. Mentality? Instructions? Liabilities at centre back not helping? I don’t dislike him. I do think we need to bring a new starter in January and hopefully sell VK to fund it. But I just wonder what could have been if we had a good solid centre back partnership and Thomas had been developed to bomb on and support the winger rather than just constantly playing it back.

We need a new starter. For me, January, sell Faes and Nelson if possible. Fund a new starting centre back and have Vestergaard Okoli Souttar New I’m not sure we need 5 anyway and in a crisis could dip into the academy.

We have both funding signings and getting costs down further and a bloated squad to consider, so outgoings are as important. Our weak areas are LB, CB and strikers. Some players we will not shift like Thomas and Skipp. Ayew has a good reputation on the international stage so maybe he might get interest? CB - try and sell Faes and Nelson. Hopefully to fund a new starter. LB - try and sell VK to directly fund and open a squad space for a new starting LB and Thomas becomes back up. CM - Winks and James look a good partnership but a real issue with contracts running out. Try and sell Soumare to at least get something. St - Carranza is here for the season. We won’t have more than 3 strikers in the squad. Getting rid of Ayew or Daka (I wouldn’t say no to both) and bringing a competent starter in is a must. This gives a sell list of; Faes Nelson VK Soumare Daka/Ayew Bring in; CB LB St Hopefully a not unrealistic list…. If we could get those 3 key positions in, I’d look at the longer term such as centre midfield.

Why are you persisting with Faes and Vestergaard? Genuinely intrigued to know what anyone sees in them! Souttar isn’t the answer coming back from a year out injured either.

Not in a way that I would wish it on any player but I get why you mean in that it would at least force MC’s hand. Clearly I’d rather he just dropped him and he moved on January.

Page was thrown in to start and did just fine. It at least coincided with some better results (I am not saying he was the reason before any anti-academy nuts pile on). Now we have Ramsey who looks good, if he can’t manage a full 90, Page is an obvious choice to bring on in his place. Ayew actually might be a good option if we are holding a lead, but as soon as Ayew and Soumare came on at 1-1, I gave up on it as best case scenario became the draw but I knew we’d just be holding on.

Probably be Stolarcryk Choudhury - Ricky doesn’t tend to start twice as quick Faes Vestergaard Thomas James Winks Fatawu Ramsey BDR - can’t see Monga starting twice in 4 days either Daka Begovic Ricky Okoli Skipp Soumare Monga Ayew Carranza Silko Thomas? Assuming Mavididi is injured And I think our unbeaten at least, run will come to an end. 2-1 Hull.

Close this thread now and move on. It’s not happening.

And with those changes is time to call it a night on this one!

Only one team in it now.