Squad for the Championship

[BKLFox]

4 minutes ago, ClaphamFox said:

We probably wouldn’t make a profit on Bilal, so there’s no real financial incentive to sell him. 

Would certainly love to keep him 👍 

[Chelmofox]

58 minutes ago, Paninistickers said:

We really do, this time, have an opportunity for a reset. 

 

Immediately, I'd make Coady, Ayew, Vesty (who I kinda like, but that's not the point) and BdCR all unavailable for selection to a manager 

 

They'd all be invited to discuss a settlement with us or welcome to train individually at Belvoir Drive in the afternoons when the girls are finished. No training available at Seagrave. 

 

Ward, Vards, Luke Thomas out. Hamza loaned out. 

 

We'd fetch money for the great man Wilf (who has a clause, mentioned when those Monaco rumours came up), Soumare, Bilal, Mads and at a push Winks & Faes..

 

The core of the phoenix squad will be based around JJ, Okoli, VK, Skipp, Abdul, Stephy, Daka, Stolarcyk, Souttar, Coulibaly, Ricky, Ben Nelson, McAteer plus any kids that have potential (tho I'm far from convinced of alves, braybrooke etc) . Add 3 X PL loans and a couple of free agents. 

 

My captain out of that lot would be, yup, JJ. Never hides..Speaks well. Great attitude. And a very good championship player. 

 

 

Have Ayew / BDCR really done much wrong? They aren't the profile of players i want to see at the club but they've both scored important goals for us and their ages and limitation aren't their own faults. They should be used differently, but at the same time Mavadidi and Facundo's form has fallen off a cliff. The sensible thing to do would be to utilise them appropriately next season (unless there is an unlikely buyer), but don't extend their contracts. You would assume relegation clauses will definitely be in their contracts.

 

Agree with Coady and would love to see a buyer for Vesty. We should get something for Wilf and surely someone will take Winks. Soumare im not sure as you would hope the positives from him this season would be enough for someone to take him. 

 

Vards isn't getting loaned out! He was on a 1 year deal. Its either have a another stab at the EPL or go do something else for him. I don't he wears out blue shirt next year.

 

I can't see us making a profit on BEK, and would think a season in the Championship whipping great balls to Abdul would do him the world of good.

[Paninistickers]

4 minutes ago, Chelmofox said:

BEK, and would think a season in the Championship w

I'd be amazed if he doesn't have a relegation clause. Even if only for a loan deal with, say, wages + 3m loan fee. 

 

I'd be amazed he signed - with the points deduction looming - without any backstop 

 

 

[JimJams]

Ok so here's next seasons squad sponsored by Yoyo Sushi...

 

Getting almost anybody we can get some money for and/or only having a year left on their contracts, as well as bringing in a few players.

So Ward and Iversen are out.  I've put Epolo from St.Liege in there cos his contract runs out, but they have an option on him so might not be a go, but whatever, it's GK depth...

At fullback Thomas and JJ both have 1 year left, so get them out the door if possible.  VK sell or loan again.  Just get him out.  Amass on a loan.  Williams is free, so cheap cover. Which is the name of the game in this squad.

Centreback.  Faes. Out.  Don't care if it's for 10pence, even that's a bonus.  Souttar, whilst he's done well in the champ this season, personally feel that he'll end up a similar story to our current centrebacks.  Decent in the champ, not good enough above.  If Sheff Utd want to throw some money our way I'd definitely take it.  Mbemba is out of contract. We've shown interest in January.  We should get him if we can.  Vesty we won't be able to shift.  Okoli, still haven't given up on him, but he's got no real market value like Souttar has now, so we'll probably keep him.  Don't mind keeping either of Souttar or Okoli, but probably not both, unless we play a back 3.  Otherwise you've got a defender sitting on the bench worth about £10mill, so it's a waste.

Midfield. Keep Bilal.  Get Hackney in from Boro if it's possible.  Good all round midfielder. Predominantly DM but has all the attributes to play all over.  Just what we need.  I've put Golding just cos I want us to get rid of the old lot. Soumare has a year left and so should be sold.  Spurs boys as back up.  Alves can cover multiple attacking positions including Bilal if needed.  Wilf, cash in if you can.  If not, straight back in for Golding.

Fatawu, love him, starts.  Poku for free as cover.

Richard Kone.  Good goals record in League 1. Gamble on him.  Also we've been linked to Djú, but I've no idea what he costs. Put him in.  Daka, 1 year left. Sell if we can bring in those other 2 or players of that ilk.   Mav stays.  Don't think anyone will come in for him and he's decent enough at the level.  If we keep Monga, they can compete for that slot along with Alves.

So free keeper for cover, free LB cover, free RW cover, Amass loan, Hackney bought, Kone bought, Djú bought.  Sold, JJ, Faes, Souttar*, Thomas, Wilf, Soumare, Daka.  VK, Reid, Ayew, Coady, loaned or sold.

Forgot about Kasey.  Sell, loan, keep, not arsed really.

 

 

[Guy]

7 hours ago, JJD_LCFC said:

I do get why there were a couple of comments saying far too early to think about this.

From my perspective we have an owner who does not care, board who are incompetent, a manager with no experience at this level of a league table. Players who are overpaid, pampered and have no passion for our club. And fans who attend without showing any noise or support for a team. 
I felt relegation was pretty much nailed on at the time and thinking about a championship side actually was quite promising . A chance to remove overpaid players who are not good enough and focus on creating a team we can be happy and proud to support again. Maybe it was dreaming to forget reality. It is just incredibly sad to see our club go from one of the best run sides in the world of football, to the shadow of a club that we see before us now. 

Correction : the Brighton draw was a fortnight before you originally posted on 27.12.24 - so in just over two months of league football we've mustered just one win, faaaarkin' hell! Well you're 100% right in what you say - as was your late December hypothesis, probably brought on by "that" Wolves game a week earlier and Ruud's incompetence and lack of knowledge of the club being sharply exposed by his playing Danny Ward in goal for it!
n
Anyway as long as Top and Rudkin are at the wheel, so to speak it will only remain as a downward spiral for the club. Enzo's appointment last season for the Championship was maybe a shrewd one, not a gamble that backfired like Ruud has been but that was all tossed up the wall when  he left for Chelsea and we then made not one but two poor managerial appointments! There's no team unity anymore it seems, Seagrave's luxury training facility has been a bit of a disaster and made players soft, the supporters are deeply divided between them, Ruud's tactics and team formation are the same, week in week out - what's to like at the moment?! The way forward is definitely via the youngsters/academy, blended with the right sort of experienced players next season of course but who that will consist of obviously remains to be seen! I'm like many though, in that I think it will be a long while before we can get back to the Prem. if we go down this season - and even longer if the EFL then sanction us over PSR next season with a points deduction!

[Stuntman_Mike]

14 hours ago, JimJams said:

Ok so here's next seasons squad sponsored by Yoyo Sushi...

 

Getting almost anybody we can get some money for and/or only having a year left on their contracts, as well as bringing in a few players.

So Ward and Iversen are out.  I've put Epolo from St.Liege in there cos his contract runs out, but they have an option on him so might not be a go, but whatever, it's GK depth...

At fullback Thomas and JJ both have 1 year left, so get them out the door if possible.  VK sell or loan again.  Just get him out.  Amass on a loan.  Williams is free, so cheap cover. Which is the name of the game in this squad.

Centreback.  Faes. Out.  Don't care if it's for 10pence, even that's a bonus.  Souttar, whilst he's done well in the champ this season, personally feel that he'll end up a similar story to our current centrebacks.  Decent in the champ, not good enough above.  If Sheff Utd want to throw some money our way I'd definitely take it.  Mbemba is out of contract. We've shown interest in January.  We should get him if we can.  Vesty we won't be able to shift.  Okoli, still haven't given up on him, but he's got no real market value like Souttar has now, so we'll probably keep him.  Don't mind keeping either of Souttar or Okoli, but probably not both, unless we play a back 3.  Otherwise you've got a defender sitting on the bench worth about £10mill, so it's a waste.

Midfield. Keep Bilal.  Get Hackney in from Boro if it's possible.  Good all round midfielder. Predominantly DM but has all the attributes to play all over.  Just what we need.  I've put Golding just cos I want us to get rid of the old lot. Soumare has a year left and so should be sold.  Spurs boys as back up.  Alves can cover multiple attacking positions including Bilal if needed.  Wilf, cash in if you can.  If not, straight back in for Golding.

Fatawu, love him, starts.  Poku for free as cover.

Richard Kone.  Good goals record in League 1. Gamble on him.  Also we've been linked to Djú, but I've no idea what he costs. Put him in.  Daka, 1 year left. Sell if we can bring in those other 2 or players of that ilk.   Mav stays.  Don't think anyone will come in for him and he's decent enough at the level.  If we keep Monga, they can compete for that slot along with Alves.

So free keeper for cover, free LB cover, free RW cover, Amass loan, Hackney bought, Kone bought, Djú bought.  Sold, JJ, Faes, Souttar*, Thomas, Wilf, Soumare, Daka.  VK, Reid, Ayew, Coady, loaned or sold.

Forgot about Kasey.  Sell, loan, keep, not arsed really.

 

 

It feels exciting just seeing some new faces on a potential line up. 

 

I cannot wait for most of this squad to leave.

[Sol thewall Bamba]

3 minutes ago, Stuntman_Mike said:

It feels exciting just seeing some new faces on a potential line up. 

 

I cannot wait for most of this squad to leave.

I would be excited but until King Power leave things won't change. Until they leave Rudkin remains in post, and we will continue to not shift out dead wood and not give opportunity to youth.

 

If you told me we lined up the first game in the Championship with the same back four that played Thursday I wouldn't be at all surprised.

Edited 3 March by Sol thewall Bamba

[eddylcfc]

Players to keep:

GK

Jakub

RB/LB

JJ

Ricardo

Coulibaly

Thomas

Kristiansen

 

CB

Nelson

Okoli

 

CM

Skipp

Winks

 

CAM

Bilal

Alves

 

Forwards

Mavididi

Fatawu

Monga

Evans

Daka

 

Sell

Mads

Vestegaard - release on free if not sold

Faes - see Vestegaard

Soumare

Ndidi

Ayew

BDR

Coady

McAteer

 

End of contract release

Vardy

Ward

 

Needs based off new squad and realistic (ish) options. 

GK  - Woodman (free) 

2 x CB - Doyle (Loan or Perm), Mbemba (already mentioned)

2 x CM - Shea Charles, Jobe Bellingham (if they don’t go up)

1 x Winger - Doak (loan) 

1 x CF - Phil Harres (likely to get relegated with Kiel)

[Haywood_6]

6 minutes ago, eddylcfc said:

Players to keep:

GK

Jakub

RB/LB

JJ

Ricardo

Coulibaly

Thomas

Kristiansen

 

CB

Nelson

Okoli

 

CM

Skipp

Winks

 

CAM

Bilal

Alves

 

Forwards

Mavididi

Fatawu

Monga

Evans

Daka

 

Sell

Mads

Vestegaard - release on free if not sold

Faes - see Vestegaard

Soumare

Ndidi

Ayew

BDR

Coady

McAteer

 

End of contract release

Vardy

Ward

 

Needs based off new squad and realistic (ish) options. 

GK  - Woodman (free) 

2 x CB - Doyle (Loan or Perm), Mbemba (already mentioned)

2 x CM - Shea Charles, Jobe Bellingham (if they don’t go up)

1 x Winger - Doak (loan) 

1 x CF - Phil Harres (likely to get relegated with Kiel)

I agree with all of this. I just can't see us finding buyers for Ayew, BDR, or Vesty. Once you bring in that kind of dead wood you're usually stuck with them

[Shane]

4-4-1-1 Formation

 

GK: Stolarczyk, GK, GK

RB: Joseph, Aluko, Coulibaly

CB: Nelson, CB, Okoli, Souttar, Vestergaard

LB: Mirsad Ali, Justin

CM: Winks, DM, Skipp, DM, Ricardo

RW: Fatawu, McAteer, Cordova-Reid

LW: Monga, Mavididi

ST: Alves, Evans

CF: Kone, CF, Daka

 

Out: Hermansen, Faes, Coady, Thomas, VK,

Choudhury, Soumare, Ndidi, El Khannouss, Ayew

 

Released: Iversen, Ward, Vardy

 

[John rayner]

On 25/02/2025 at 11:55, LVFox said:

He isn't going to play in the championship for us, far too good. Loan him out to the continent for the year so we have him should we go up.

I believe that we will sell him 

[Finn Claw II]

3 hours ago, eddylcfc said:

 

 

Sell

Mads

Vestegaard - release on free if not sold

Faes - see Vestegaard

Soumare

Ndidi

Ayew

BDR

Coady

McAteer

 

End of contract release

Vardy

Ward

I agree with most of your squad.  Missed Souttar at CB.

 

just can’t see who buys BDR or Ayew.  We also won’t release Faes and Vesty for free.  It’s the sales that worry me outside of Mads, Ndiddi, possibly McAteer and Soumane.

 

 

Edited 3 March by Finn Claw II

[ClaphamFox]

2 hours ago, John rayner said:

I believe that we will sell him 

What's the point of that? We won't make much of a profit on him at this stage. He's worth far more to us in the squad. 

[Gazza M]

At all costs get rid:

 

Soumare 

Faes

Vestergaard 

Kristiansen 

Winks

Daka

 

 

[Pita]

Before we talk about players we need a recruitment team who know what they are doing and a decent DOF. 

[LCFCJohn]

10 minutes ago, Gazza M said:

At all costs get rid:

 

Soumare 

Faes

Vestergaard 

Kristiansen 

Winks

Daka

 

 

I’d have Coady on that list ahead of VK or even Daka I think.

[Gazza M]

1 hour ago, LCFCJohn said:

I’d have Coady on that list ahead of VK or even Daka I think.

Him aswell!

[cropstonfox]

2 hours ago, Gazza M said:

At all costs get rid:

 

Soumare 

Faes

Vestergaard 

Kristiansen 

Winks

Daka

 

 

No takers for these over paid failures.

Also add coady 

[JJD_LCFC]

On 03/03/2025 at 06:21, Guy said:

Correction : the Brighton draw was a fortnight before you originally posted on 27.12.24 - so in just over two months of league football we've mustered just one win, faaaarkin' hell! Well you're 100% right in what you say - as was your late December hypothesis, probably brought on by "that" Wolves game a week earlier and Ruud's incompetence and lack of knowledge of the club being sharply exposed by his playing Danny Ward in goal for it!
n
Anyway as long as Top and Rudkin are at the wheel, so to speak it will only remain as a downward spiral for the club. Enzo's appointment last season for the Championship was maybe a shrewd one, not a gamble that backfired like Ruud has been but that was all tossed up the wall when  he left for Chelsea and we then made not one but two poor managerial appointments! There's no team unity anymore it seems, Seagrave's luxury training facility has been a bit of a disaster and made players soft, the supporters are deeply divided between them, Ruud's tactics and team formation are the same, week in week out - what's to like at the moment?! The way forward is definitely via the youngsters/academy, blended with the right sort of experienced players next season of course but who that will consist of obviously remains to be seen! I'm like many though, in that I think it will be a long while before we can get back to the Prem. if we go down this season - and even longer if the EFL then sanction us over PSR next season with a points deduction!

Ruud playing Danny ward was a dreadful decision. And I can’t really see or say he has made 1 positive decision in his 15 or so games with us. 
it was a cheap appointment, couldn’t even bring in his own staff to support him. He was linked with Coventry before us and somehow we chose him. Genuinely baffled by the decisions our club makes. I really think any semi competent person will run our club better than top, Susan and Rudkin. 
As you said 2 poor managerial decisions and 3 dreadful signings (Reid, Ayew, Skipp). Okoli for some reason I think has potential. But again we signed another player who didn’t improve our starting 11. 
Ruud is just in a job that he is not qualified for and has no experience in. Constantly looks in shock during interviews. 
We really need a forward thinking manager next season who will be with us for a few seasons. We will have a good side, remove some terrible egos, then we can start looking positive instead of doom and gloom we see every week now.

[ClaphamFox]

12 hours ago, Gazza M said:

At all costs get rid:

 

Soumare 

Faes

Vestergaard 

Kristiansen 

Winks

Daka

 

 

Kristiansen is one of the very few players who actually seems to give it his all at the moment. He’s not a PL quality full back, but he might be alright in the Championship.

[notnow john]

5 hours ago, ClaphamFox said:

Kristiansen is one of the very few players who actually seems to give it his all at the moment. He’s not a PL quality full back, but he might be alright in the Championship.

I agree, but he needs to improve his fitness /get rid of some puppy fat.

[Pliskin]

Raid South America, J league and Scandinavia. 

[Ric Flair]

Hopefully we get a transfer embargo and our priority is getting rid of any player on more than £50k a week and bringing through academy players.

[Guy]

10 hours ago, JJD_LCFC said:

Ruud playing Danny ward was a dreadful decision. And I can’t really see or say he has made 1 positive decision in his 15 or so games with us. 
it was a cheap appointment, couldn’t even bring in his own staff to support him. He was linked with Coventry before us and somehow we chose him. Genuinely baffled by the decisions our club makes. I really think any semi competent person will run our club better than top, Susan and Rudkin. 
As you said 2 poor managerial decisions and 3 dreadful signings (Reid, Ayew, Skipp). Okoli for some reason I think has potential. But again we signed another player who didn’t improve our starting 11. 
Ruud is just in a job that he is not qualified for and has no experience in. Constantly looks in shock during interviews. 
We really need a forward thinking manager next season who will be with us for a few seasons. We will have a good side, remove some terrible egos, then we can start looking positive instead of doom and gloom we see every week now.

I can't really argue with any of the above! The egos need culling out of the club that have become ever present this season for sure, how Faes and Vestergaard are still being picked for their national teams remains a mystery - unless they up their games for Belgium and Denmark. I must admit to never watching either nation in any detail so don't know on that score!

As for the players signed for this season then the aforementioned trio Cooper signed have been at best bit part players, are clearly well past their prime in Ayew's and DC Reid's cases and all three have clearly made us worse, not better - which is surely not why they were signed! Okoli has shown more promise but is at the mercy of the poor players around him so perhaps hasn't been able to shine because of it. Meanwhile the only Ruud signing, Coulibaly is still something of an unknown quantity at this level and going by who we signed him from, a mid-lower league Serie A side, then he is likely to be more at home in the Championship....next season!

 As for the way forward as things stand (assuming of course we're relegated), then I think Ruud will be on his way either before the season's end if things carry on as they are, or certainly in the summer if he takes a compromised pay off perhaps and goes back to being in a role that suits him more as somebody like Ten Hag's no.2 elsewhere. He is obviously way out of his depth in his present role with us as many others keep saying time and again and I think it has taken him by surprise, especially working for a club that has seemingly mislead him to date it seems in terms of empoty promises! I'd be amazed if he's still here in any capacity next season.

 

 

[JJD_LCFC]

20 hours ago, Pita said:

Before we talk about players we need a recruitment team who know what they are doing and a decent DOF. 

Fully understand this. 
 

appointed glover and his signings at Southampton got them relegated.

 

signings with us will get us relegated.

 

Previous club and current club 19th and 20th. 
 

our previous recruitment was Lee Congerton who messed up recruitment in both clubs before joining us. Somehow these people keep getting jobs. Seems a business that really rewards failure