Players out of contract

Its tough with the four key players that are out of contract (Doyle, McMahon, Dieng & Law). We know that on their day they can be very good L1 players and I don't doubt that they could find a L1 club with ease, or take the Scottish route like Davies & Routis.

With Sattelmaier & Raeder out of contract then ideally we could sign Doyle up and get another in to directly compete with him but you can't see the budget allowing that. McMahon was excellent against Portsmouth but one performance in many months isn't enough - he could fit Grayson's mentality though. Law on the other hand, I can't see how he fits in to Grayson's way but it'd be a shame to lose a talented player on the ball who understands the club.

Dieng is the most difficult one for me. On his day he can look a great all round midfielder and at 26, the best should be to come. But, as with many players at this level, those days haven't happened enough and when he's off it, he is really off it. On the right terms, I'd keep him.

 

Out of the whole squad, I would only keep Doyle, Wyke, Law, Robinson and McGowan. Maybe McCartan and Reeves since we haven't seen enough of them. But get shut of the rest, we need much better quality if we want promotion.

 

If players at our level were more consistent then they wouldn't be playing in League One.

 

If he's only here to be with his buddy then jog on son I would say. We need motivated players for the right reasons not a jolly with their pal.

 

consistently poor yes?

 

If we're on a reduced budget next season, then we need to sort out a decent first eleven, make the bench up with younger cheaper lads. Not pretty, but what choice have we.
If we do the same as last time and let lads go and replace them with poorer options, it'll be a tough season again.

Keep Doyle, Dieng maybe Law and McMahon along with a few of the younger lads. A mass clearout would be suicide. Imagine us looking for 7 to 10 players in late August? :shudders:

 

Problem with just building a good 11 and kids on bench is that if we have injuries like this year we will be screwed again

 

Tim Dieng is a funny one. Has all the attributes to be like a Viera in midfield but is too nice and too SLOW.
I'd go as far as saying if he gets a contract that shows our level of ambition.

 

Tim Dieng , like viera omg .

 

i think hes a good player on his day, but when it isnt his day hes shite. a good squad player though so I would keep him on that basis. Maybe keep Law but I can see both sides of the argument on him. Id get rid of vincelot, although i think hes been a great player hes past it for me now.

 

This is absolutely spot on.

Fecking Edin “I know football” Rahic.

 

Is honestly keep all four of Doyle, McMahon, Deing and Law. I feel they all have something to offer, not all necessarily as first XI.

 

You're assuming that the budget is entirely dependent on season tickets. I think it will be dependent on which manager we have.

In addition, you seem to be under the impression that all our rivals are loaded. They ain't. Sunderland, despite their owner wanting to sell, are. After that the two that come down with them, will be at an advantage, but not huge. Why you think Charlton or Scunthorpe for instance will be far better off than us, to justify your "massive struggle" for us, opinion defies logic. They're must likely to say the same.

And the remaining players aren't so bad. Haven't we just taken 8 points out of 4 matches? So what if we've been lucky - the point is we're not the duff team you seem to think we are. A fully fit Reeves and McGowan would have been an asset and will be back. Maybe McCartan can benefit from his difficult first season. Plenty of other players have, i.e. Vardy at Leicester. Robinson will be better and inevitably there will be some signings but it's crucial they are correct ones

It's simply laughable that this is our worst season in six, we're still in with a chance of the play-off with a week of the season left, yet some of our fans are almost suicidal. It's just been a bad four months. Doesn't dictate the future

Finally, why do we need a huge budget? What's a "decent signing"? The Kieran Agar of two seasons ago, that we sniffed around? That's worked out well for MK Dons hasn't it. Shrewsbury have shown what can be done with one of the lowest in the league. Bury and MK Dons have had two of the biggest and look where they are, i.e. to coin a phrase, "it's the manager, stupid" (not calling you stupid, just re-wording a famous phrase)

Let's please get to through the opening five matches before next season is written off

 

Can't see lightening striking twice. We were incredibly unlucky that we had the the three weakest areas affected for quite a few games, Goalie and the full backs. Reeve's injury situation is an absolute joke - christ knows why the obvious wasn't done in November when McCall was saying he might need an Op. Our bad luck this season with injuries is summed up by McGowan's

 

The development squad is vital. I agree maybe reduce that, but to £100K as opposed to nowt - but we must try and bring some youngsters through, get some gems and sell on

 

And is the budget that much of an issue? Only if you've got a huge one like the Top 2. 3rd place Shrewsbury's wasn't huge and neither is Plymouth's. The fact is that having 10% more than your rivals is still no good if your manager and set up is crap. Of course having 300% makes a difference - but we're not Sunderland, but neither are any other of our rivals

Fact is. If we'd got lucky with injuries we could have been where Rotherham are. It's nonsensical to think that they haven't had a signifcant affect

 

Our development squad consists mainly of picking of scraps on cheap wages and hoping they come good. The chances of us picking up gems then selling them on for large sums under the current policy is very slim. I think we should either properly or not do it at all. 200k is neither here or there.

 

You have a point. I assume the idea was to start somewhere and then progress on the pitch, i.e. another 'nearly' promotion would then lead to more funding

Of course that's out of the window now!!

 

From what i was reading the other day I think Shrewsbury have a bigger budget than us. Hypothetically it shouldn't make a difference but if it didn't nobody would speculate and thats not how it works in football. Doesn't mean it can't be done by spending less but real life tells us you are more likely to be successful if you have a bigger wage budget.

 

You always get the odd expection but generally there's a strong correlation between big budgets and success. It doesn't guarantee it, but it gives you a hell of a chance.