07 Feb 2016 19:09:49
I have a feeling people expectations here for a massive clear-out in the summer are unrealistic.
I think that interest from other teams in buying players from us will be mainly in players like Sturridge and Couts, not Mings, Moreno, Benteke or Lallana. If teams would want these players it will be for considerably less than what we paid. I will be surprised if anyoen will offer more than 20M for Benteke. Maybe not even that. And I don't think the owners will want to sell players for cheap. I mean if the rumur is true that we were offered 20M for Markovich and declined, for me this shows we are not quick to sell players, not first team players anyway.
07 Feb 2016 19:32:38
I agree with you. I just hope that we don't increase our number of senior players.
If there are no transfers, I won't be unhappy. The club needs to be run responsibly.
07 Feb 2016 19:51:32
Oh god don't say that mate. We need rid of them have faith.
07 Feb 2016 20:37:19
It depends on what people expect from a "clear-out".
There are a lot of senior players who really don't have first team prospects and I'd be amazed if any more than one or two of them stayed: Enrique, Illori, Teixeira, Bogdan, Balotelli, Yesil, Alberto. That's 7 players. Toure and Sinclar are leaving at the end of their contracts. 9. Coutinho will probably want to leave if a club attractive to him are interested. 10. I expect we'll have a hard time persuading Markovic to stay on. That's 11 I'd consider likely to leave before we've looked at the current first team and said "okay, this bloke ain't up to it". Although out of that 11, we'll really only need to replace Coutinho - as Ed002 says, the squad is bloated.
That's the clear-out I'm expecting. A lot more players out than in. I reckon 15-16 out (and quite a few for buttons as well, but what can we do? ) and 5 or 6 in is going to be the nature of things.
I'm not expecting a mass exodus from the current first choice players and 10-12 signings in to replace them. Some will move on - Migs and Benteke for example, but not a mass exodus. And to be honest, even if by some miracle we could afford to gut the current first team, it'd be massively disruptive and would write off next season. So I'd just as soon not see that happen.
07 Feb 2016 21:36:50
I think we desperately need a spine to the team a commanding GK a CB (a leader I don't think sakho has got what it takes unfortunately) , MD (someone who can keep hold of the ball and dictate play) and a 20+ goals ST that's going to be fit every week, And then build around that spine maybe 2/ 3 more in the transfer windows that follow.
07 Feb 2016 22:23:04
Think I'd agree Something Red. Many of the fringe players you mentioned I can see moving on, perhaps 1 or 2 of the others, depending on what bids come in. Perhaps 2-3 solid first teamers coming the other way. Much less an overhaul to the first team, more of a tweaking, with the outgoing fringe players being replaced by U-21s and younger players. At least that's what I hope happens versus the +10 we had every summer lately. I've always been of the belief that a well-thought out passionate team in terms of recruitment to desired play style can and will often trump expensively assembled sides that are perhaps less well-planned. At the very least, it'll be interesting to see how it goes.
07 Feb 2016 23:37:38
When Sakho first came I doubted him and people slated me. Ed's included, then he got much better and I swallowed some humble pie. However, now he looks really shaky. At times he looks great and then at times he looks a liability, overall I'd say he is very inconsistent, but then again, the form of the team is the same.
08 Feb 2016 00:37:05
The problem is you can't just find a spine.
Those players are often made not bought, and often made in favourable conditions with respected players already around them.
I can't see brannagan stepping up to be a core player under the guidance of james milner tbh.
08 Feb 2016 09:44:18
The main person I'd like to see moved on is Ian Ayre. His constant 'spin' and nonsense is becoming ridiculous and his handling of our transfers has led to us being called out in the media as 'idiots' more often than not. The rest of the world knows that we are a club in fairly heavy debt but Ayre has been constantly spouting how our model is now leading us to profit (although that was last year http://goo.gl/sg4yzL) . I know I'd rather take Ed002's word for it than Ian Ayre's.