Jamie Maclaren

An absolute nightmere to play against.

And for that reason, I'm in.

 

Selling fringe players will mean we'll have to replace fringe players or we'll be left with no squad depth. The TV deal isn't paid in one lump sum at the start of the season and I highly doubt any sponsorship deal will be done in the same way. I'm sure I read somewhere recently that we had £20m in the bank at the moment (maybe from the At Your Place things). Which means such an investment is unlikely on one player at the moment. Particularly on one so unproven and expensive.

 

In the same manner, I don't think transfer fees are paid in one go either

 

lul wut? 25 mill? This isn't Football Manager, it's real life, no way in hell will we be spending £25 mill anytime soon.

 

They aren't (transfer amortisation), but if we're buying lots of players over a short spell - which we have been doing over the past few seasons - then these outgoings very quickly add up and could cause ruin if we go down in the next 3-4 years.

 

Very true, wasn't disagreeing or agreeing either way to be honest, just adding that point in.

FWIW I think we're a long way off spending £25M on one player, especially an unproven youngster.

 

A Mere £25 mil, you say...

 

Alot of people suggesting him as a signing for us and it looks like he will be looking for a new club.

Arsenal have announced the signing of a new LB

http://www.skysports.com/football/n...arsenal-when-schalke-contract-is-up-on-july-1

 

http://www.wfcforums.com/index.php?threads/kieran-gibbs.52371/

 

I tried searching for a Gibbs thread before posting but nothing came up. Even clicking on the link you sent, doesn't work.

By all means though merge them if you have access to do that mate

 

I'd be happy with him signing.

 

I'd be more than happy to see us sign a decent Arsenal player. However I don't think left back is where we are weakest atm because Holebas is one of the more consistent and hard working individuals in our current average team. Once we've purchased a good forward and some solid center backs, then we can focus on areas such as LB

 

It's an area where we need depth. What would happen if Holebas broke his leg on the first day of the season? We'd be left ridiculously short. He's also not getting any younger (33 in the summer), and plays in a position where you have to do the most running. It'd be foolish not to get a good LB in over the summer.

 

Good point

 

I agree Holebas is a very good player, but we need more than one left sided wingback mate, Competition for places is a good thing.

 

Holebas turns 33 next month and he's prone to suspensions. It would be suicidal to not bring in another LB even if it was just for cover but I'd be more than happy with Gibbs.

 

Signed for Bundesliga side Darmstadt (who have just been relegated). Be interesting to see how he gets on in Europe next season!

 

Interesting....ish

 

I'll re-phrase, interesting for me haha

 

http://the72.co.uk/81467/brighton-keeper-nixes-new-deal-free-agency-looming/

Another decent HG GK possibly up for grabs, what do you think?

 

We should save the money and put it towards the £30m for Pickford.

 

He was better in Whitesnake.

 

I think there are better options available. Apparently Udinese have an abundance of good young goalkeepers. Clearly they can't all play if they stay there, so as an affiliated club, I think we must be favourite to receive one of them?
As far as 'keepers already plying their trade over here:
- I think Vito Mannone will be available cheaply, will be used to the area from his time at Arsenal, and may count as HG.
- Tim Krul from Newcastle may also count as HG, and didn't seem to be playing much. Injured?
- Wojciech Szeszny isn't fancied by Arsenal, and may also count as HG.
- David Ospina isn't fancied by Arsenal either.
- Michel Vorm is wasted on the bench at Spurs, although pretty old now

 

I know it's useless as the club ain't exactly going to be looking on the forum for suggestions, but just for our sake and a bit of debate, Wolfsburg are now in the Bundesliga relegation play-off against Eintracht Braunschweig to try and stay in the top flight. It's kinda amazing they're in this position in the first place given that last year they finished 8th and were in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. They've got a some really good individuals in that squad. Surely we could maybe pilfer one of them? @reids @Godfather (I'm tagging you two in this as you seem to have a good knowledge of German football

 

Was on loan an at Ajax as second choice, came to us for a medical in Jan but failed then spent the rest of the season on loan at AZ.

 

And henceforth we shall be known as Watburg or Wolfsford.

 

The objective of German football is to invade the opponents half. Not sure they would be any use in Blighty rules.

 

I'd take Ntep and Bruma, other than that all the players I like will be going to far better clubs than us if they go down

 

I'll have a Watburger & and a large fries please. Oh, and a diet Coke.

 

It'll be a huge shock if they go down as they're a very good/rich side! Gustavo (cm) and Rodriguez (lb)are the pick of the bunch for me

 

Oh ok, thanks for the update.

 

Indeed it will. VW's own team, Bundesliga champions 08/09, runners up & cup winners 14/15. A very established Bundesliga side. I think they've got enough to beat Braunschweig though. There is a big gulf between Bundesliga 1 & 2, more so than the EPL and the Championship in my opinion.

 

So now that the dust is settling from our dismal end of the season, what do we need to do to ensure that next season goes more smoothly?

Obviously our first priority is finding a new head coach. There have been lot of names mentioned in the media, who do we think would be most appropriate for our club? Sometimes the most obvious name is not the best choice, and I remain to be convinced over Silva.

We also have to seriously rebuild the squad. There is a lot of deadwood lying around, and we need to shift a decent number of players out this summer. Can we afford to do this? Do the Pozzo's have the funds for this? Who do we need to leave, and who should we be trying to bring in?

Finally we need to try to improve the relationship between the staff, players and fans again. Over the last couple of years I think the relationship has deteriorated quite a bit. Deeney has become heavily involved in communicating with the fans, perhaps sometimes to his detriment. At times I have never felt further away from the club than I have this season. I think we need to remember our community club roots, and its important we get that back. I honestly think that with a new man at the helm this should hopefully resolve fairly quickly once performances improve and we can start to build some relationships with the players.

 

CURRENT SQUAD

Goalkeepers
- Gomes (Keep)
- Pantilimon (Sell)
- Arlauskis (Sell/Release)
- Gilmartin (Renew Contract)

Central Defenders
- Britos (Sell)
- Kaboul (Sell)
- Prodl (Keep)
- Mariappa (Keep)
- Cathcart (Keep)
- Kabasele (Keep)
- Hoban (Keep)

Full-backs/Wing-backs
- Holebas (Keep)
- Zuniga (Don't renew loan)
- Janmaat (Keep)
- DjeDje (Sell)
- Mason (Keep)
- Eletheriou (Keep/Loan Out)

Midfielders
- Amrabat (Sell)
- Cleverley (Keep)
- Behrami (Sell/Release)
- Capoue (Sell)
- Doucoure (Keep)
- Watson (Sell/Release)
- Pereyra (Keep)
- Periera (Keep/Loan Out)

Forwards
- Deeney (Keep)
- Okaka (Keep)
- Success (Keep)
- Sinclair (Keep/Loan Out)
- Zarate (Keep)
- Niang (Don't take up purchase offer)

Don't think Ive missed anyone?

 

Personally I think Mancini is the best choice for us out there, followed by Silva. I don't want Ranieri but I honestly think this is who we will end up with.

Agree with you that there is a lot of deadwood to ship out. I think the Pozzo's can afford it, it's just a matter of are we an attractive options to players. This is where I think we have lost some pull because of this season. Newcastle will attract better players than us and our Prem rivals (from 9th to 16th) have all had better seasons than us, obviously. Do players really want to be a part of the "project" that has seen us regress from last season. Look at Swansea for example, they finished one place above but Clement since taking over has a 47% win rate. Players know that next season under him, Swansea should/will have a much better season than this one. Can we say that about us? Not yet and it all depends on who we get in. Mancini and Silva will attract players, Slutsky, Prandelli, Pioli and Ranieri won't. It was all over the media how Ranieri lost the dressing room of the champions and players revolted, do people want to play for him? I don't know.

We do have the likes of Agbo, Kums, Penaranda (if eligible) coming back to us so that's a plus.

However I personally think it is going to take a huge amount of financial investing from the Pozzo's to get us away from the bottom 3 next season.

Next season is really all about who they get in as manager and making sure he is in before pre-season even starts.