Summer Rebuild

[Coppelled_Streets]

Do you think we may be able to offload Blackman and Akpan to Adkins at Sheffield he was always an admirer of the pair might even get some money for them, 2 million for the pair would be gd, go towards a decent striker

Blackman came from Sheff United didn't he...I think this could happen, and I'd fully support it too

Their fans couldn't believe he went for seven figures.. Nor can ours now!

[mambo3]

He didn't rate Akpan at all.

He didn't rate Samuel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aC3kj_mpxBk

[Ian Royal]

Do you think we may be able to offload Blackman and Akpan to Adkins at Sheffield he was always an admirer of the pair might even get some money for them, 2 million for the pair would be gd, go towards a decent striker

Was he?! He frequently over-looked both. I think you're thinking of McDermott.

[SCIAG]

OK HES THE NEXT STEVEN GERRARD OR IS THAT RACIST TO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, against Scousers.

[genome]

OK HES THE NEXT STEVEN GERRARD OR IS THAT RACIST TO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Nameless]

Surely it's you making baseless assertions. You have no facts to back up your personal view.
I know, as a result of a conversation with someone at the club who was involved in the POTS process that Mackie was ahead in the votes but after the Wembley game Feds picked up enough to win the award.
It probably meant it went to the right person, but unfortunately for you there is a difference between a 'fact' and the opinion of Mr Ian Royal. That may be a tough one for you to deal with....

I thought you might say that. You're the one offering an assertion about something where the available facts are that Federici won. Even if, and I don't really believe you, there was a surge in votes after the semi, that doesn't not mean causation. I would expect more votes to be cast towards the end of the competition voting period anyway, so it would be natural for many people who were going to vote Federici to simply do so later, coinciding with being after the semi.

I'm simply saying you have no evidence for that and on the basis of a lack of evidence we should go with the status quo, which is that Federici won because he'd done enough to gain people's votes throughout the season. I've then backed that up by saying he was getting my vote, even though I don't like like him much, regardless of what happened. And that he was clear favourite on both the polls on here (including the circa halfway one around February).

So no, I'm not making a baseless assertion, I'm rejecting yours.

Ian, it's a side issue.
But whether you accept it or not (and I respect your right not to), it is true that Mackie would have been POTS based on votes cast before Wembley. I know that is a fact, and that is enough for me. You are wrong that I have no evidence, I've seen the numbers !
Let's park it though, we're not going to agree.
The original point was a conversation about losing our POTS, which we have done whether you look at the ACTUAL winner (Feds) or the person who would have won without the FA cup sympathy factor.

[Woodcote Royal]

Can the thread be retitled Summer Demolition?

I'd prefer "Much Needed Reality Check"

The sooner we off load these over rated and highly over paid players, the sooner this club can get back on an even keel.

Even at his best, Federici wasn't fit to lace Hahnemann's boots while the number of centre halves we've had who were better than Pearce reaches well into double figures. Most of those players could only have dreamt of earning the kind of wages Pearce would have declined before looking elsewhere.

If waving goodbye to two "Nothing Specials" in Pearce and Federici saves us 40k-45k a week, that's a great start to the summer in my book.

It really doesnt matter how Federici stacks up against Hannahman - its what he leaves behind that matters - because that is who we have left to play. Remember when Shaka left? (and, also remember we got a really good fee for him). We took ages to replace him and got relegated that season having played a sh1tload of keepers. And all the time, whilst we were shouting at Mick and Jim to buy a keeper, they couldnt because they had other spaces to fill. Thats the problem with clear outs - you either fill in the gaps or you pay the price. My real fear is that we have shown nothing in the recent past to suggest that we are going to bring anybody decent and reliable in. There may be reasons for this (and there are), but when times are tough, you choose the devil you know. We're on the brink of losing our POTS and our Team Captain within a few weeks of each other. THIS. IS. NOT. GOOD. NEWS.

I probably dont need to remind you that the season after we got relegated to pay for the stadium that we pretty much replaced the entire team overnight because it wasnt worth keeping. Now, I KNOW you were there, and I KNOW you know how bad it was - anti-football if you like - we just have to get out of this funk of thinking we must save every penny that is available to us. I agree we have financial problems, but our solutions are so utterly staid.

Gosh, selling McCarthy was a bad, bad, move.

Whilst I agree the worst case scenario would be that we end up replacing our current keeper and captain with cheaper and inferior versions, we are not going to dig ourselves out of this hole by paying 250k a week in wages to a starting 11 of Pearce and Federici's, none of them being good enough to have broken into the 106, all of whom played at this level for comparative chicken feed.

What got us from rock bottom post Elm Park to 8th place in the top flight was the much maligned Reading way and definitely not paying mega bucks wages to mediocre players for fear of not being able to replace like for over priced like

Furthermore, back then we didn't have the likes of Obita and Hector coming through the ranks.................................if the latter is currently inferior to Pearce (and I'm far from convinced he is) I'll put my small flat on that not being the case in 12 months time.

In fact, I'd also risk the roof over my head in predicting half the current starting 11 will be replaced in the same way.

For this reason, McCarthy's departure made me weep, too.

I'd love Karacan to be the man to lead us out of the wilderness but it would appear Clarke doesn't rate him as highly as much of the fan base.

[Royal Rother]

I don't think selling McCarthy was a bad bad move as such.

Rather it was an inevitable consequence of being a Championship club.

In this League you can't expect to keep 2 'keepers, who are both clearly capable of playing in the PL, happy for long.

One had to go, and the other would likely follow in due course if promotion wasn't forthcoming.

As for Karacan, not sure there's much evidence to suggest Clarke doesn't rate him... maybe we will be able to make him an improved offer now that Federici and Pearce have gone.

[sandman]

Clarke said at the last fans forum that he wanted to save Karacan for this season because of all the injuries Jem has suffered. Hopefully those negotiating the contracts at RFC give Clarke the opportunity to use Jem more.

[From Despair To Where?]

As for Karacan, not sure there's much evidence to suggest Clarke doesn't rate him... maybe we will be able to make him an improved offer now that Federici and Pearce have gone.

From once he got fully back from injury, he played in 8 of the last 10 league games which would suggest Clarke does rate him.

[CountryRoyal]

Whilst signing quality players is always nice it won't necessarily get results and will usually come with a price tag that we can't afford. Not too vexed about Feds and Pearce going. It gets two of the higher earners off the books with the latter certainly not justifying his presumed pl wages. No one can fault Frederici and yes, he earnt us a lot of points, but tbh he also cost us a fair few most memorably in the Prem.

Keeper is a tricky as we need to replace him with someone of a similar standard which may be hard at this level on our budget, but as for Pearce we just need someone with experience to play alongside hector. The thought of hector starting alongside cooper as our 2 main CBs scare the shit out of me. I'd like to see McShane come in. You don't need to have the best players defenders to defend well. Defending is about the whole team, organisation, discipline, and willingness - and not making stupid mistakes. Gunter is a liability on the right as his defensive qualities aren't brilliant, but he seldom got any help from the wings. I actually rate Obita at LB.

Look at our last season promotion season, yes most would agree we "fluked it" but you can't underestimate confidence, moral and team spirit in this league. If you win a few games on the spin and start to get a bit of a run going anything can happen. Staying injury free is also important, don't know about last season but it's no surprise that the season before Leciester and Burnley who went up auto also used the fewest players in the season. Confidence, consistency...etc etc

I still think we will struggle next season because I don't have the belief Clarke will get anyone adequate up front and we really struggled with creativity.

[Woodcote Royal]

As for Karacan, not sure there's much evidence to suggest Clarke doesn't rate him... maybe we will be able to make him an improved offer now that Federici and Pearce have gone.

From once he got fully back from injury, he played in 8 of the last 10 league games which would suggest Clarke does rate him.

I hope you're right but 26 years olds rated by their manager are generally offered more than a 12 month contract.

I understand the financial reasons for offloading McCarthy but, after 10 years of watching Federici, I knew we were waving goodbye to our only Premiership 'keeper. The latter's transfer to Bournemouth has done nothing to change that view.

[Royal Rother]

I should imagine Jem's injury record had an impact on the deal offered.

And probably why (it appears) no other club has come in for him yet.

[JIM]

another week , no new names , SOS (same old s...t)

[Hoop Blah]

As for Karacan, not sure there's much evidence to suggest Clarke doesn't rate him... maybe we will be able to make him an improved offer now that Federici and Pearce have gone.

From once he got fully back from injury, he played in 8 of the last 10 league games which would suggest Clarke does rate him.

I hope you're right but 26 years olds rated by their manager are generally offered more than a 12 month contract.

I understand the financial reasons for offloading McCarthy but, after 10 years of watching Federici, I knew we were waving goodbye to our only Premiership 'keeper. The latter's transfer to Bournemouth has done nothing to change that view.

It took Karacan at least 6 months longer than expected to get back into contention so I'm not surprised there is still hesitancy around offering him a longer contract.

We've had a number of players who've been sidelined for a long time on big contracts and the club can't afford to get lumbered again.

[West Stand Man]

another week , no new names , SOS (same old s...t)

Absolutely, time to panic now - after all there are only 3 months left of the transfer window!

[Baggie192]

another week , no new names , SOS (same old s...t)

Absolutely, time to panic now - after all there are only 3 months left of the transfer window!

It doesn't offically open until July 1st does it?

[Royal Lady]

When Clarke said he wanted to do his business early then he must have meant getting rid of the players he didn't want and not about bringing players in! Plus if transfer window not open yet, how come Feds has already gone to Bournemouth and Pearce has been in discussions with Derby? And if the answer is, cos they're free agents, why haven't we been looking at free agents too then?

[Royal Lady]

PLUS - even if there are 3 months of the transfer window - wouldn't it better to get any new players in pre-season rather than after the season has started?

[Baggie192]

PLUS - even if there are 3 months of the transfer window - wouldn't it better to get any new players in pre-season rather than after the season has started?

pre contract agreements You can't actually sign anybody until the 1st. Clarke leaves signings late Lukaku was the day before our first home game against Liverpool. The only early signing for us was Anelka the following season. Anichebe, Amfiltano, and Sessegnon were Deadline Day signing. How many players did he release? if it's a lot he will have to get shift on.

It'll be interesting to see how he does as a Manager instead of Head Coach. He was guilty of missing realistic targets while chasing Solomon Kalou