duffer
Well-Known Member
Did the club offer him a contract before the end of the season? Or did our "trying to keep him" not quite go that far?
Waggot and Pressley both said after he left that we tried to keep him
Further proof that there are some idiots who are happy to accept a mediocre League 1 squad,
I would guess Baker going made the funds for Tudgay to sign available.
I know which i would rather have.
Yep, that other stuff the other money i never thought about i just assumed it had gone towards fixing global warming, theres a huge hole at the end of the world needs filling.I see your point, but wouldn't Wilson or Clarke going free up funds for Tudgay (and a bit besides). Really he's replacing one of them, rather than Baker, no?
Fact is, in signing O'Brien, Swanson and Coulibaly Pressley had deemed Baker surplus to requirements. He's 31, past his best which was evident as last season went on and it gets a 'high earner' off the wage bill.
Fact is, in signing O'Brien, Swanson and Coulibaly Pressley had deemed Baker surplus to requirements. He's 31, past his best which was evident as last season went on and it gets a 'high earner' off the wage bill.
And fans criticise players for showing no loyalty.......
From Baker's Facebook:
Update for the fans.
First of all thanks for all your messages much appreciated and still so loyal. Obviously as my future is not certain at Cov I have spoken to other clubs and had to work out my best options for me and my family, but at this moment in time all deals are off so remain a Cov player as always I will try my best to keep u updated as and when I can.
He is only loyal to the bank balance. Clearly clubs have seen whys he is on and it's thanks but no thanks.
I'm sorry, but that's not quite right. Murphy came out and said quite clearly that he wanted to get something sorted before the end of the season, and understood he might need to take a pay cut. In response, the club didn't even make him an offer before the end of the season. He hardly had his head turned by better offers prior to then, and it seems reasonable to assume he might have stayed had the club offered him something *before* last season had finished.
Baker, whether you rate him or not, played 43 times and scored 10 goals last season, and 55 times and 15 goals the season before. I think we'd be quite excited if we were signing a midfielder with those stats, or a goalkeeper with Murphy's pedigree at this level.
As I see it, letting Baker and Murphy go is far more about cutting costs than improving the team. I can sort of live with that, except for the nagging doubt that if we were playing in front of bigger crowds at the Ricoh we might not have had to have cut wages quite so drastically.
Baker is saying all deals are off still a Coventry player
Baker is saying all deals are off still a Coventry player
Where is your source for Murphy saying he was willing to take a pay cut and wanted to get something sorted before the end of the season? If you can provide one then fair enough but the only article I can see where Murphy talks about taking a pay cut are dated May 4th which was a day after the season finished
CET said:As for Murphy’s situation, the goalkeeper said: “I had a word with the gaffer last November just to see whether I had a future here because last year a lot of the lads found out after the last game of the season.“I’m 32 now, not 18, and I needed to know if there is anything here for me, so we sat down and had a chat and he said yes and that we’d sit down before the end of the season and speak again.
“Things could have changed, I don’t know, regarding how he feels about me but for me it’s about playing football.
And fans criticise players for showing no loyalty.......
Footballers aren't loyal on the whole, they make decisions that are best for them. I want what's best for the club. Baker had one brilliant season for us (12/13 in which he got 15 goals and 14 assists). Last year he started off well, but faded and was dropped on numerous occasions by Elvis. His replacement Jim O'Brien has played more games at a higher level, including a season with Motherwell in which he was selected in the PFA team of the season (A good achievement considering that Rangers and Celtic usually dominate those teams). For me Baker peaked in that season at the age of 29, O'Brien is 26 and his best days are obviously ahead of him. Tbh if you search the forum you'll find threads titled 'Isn't Baker/Christie/Moussa/Murphy/Clarke shit'. My point being that all these players have taken a lot of stick and yet are being seen as Gods now that they've left, which is ludicrous.
As it stands we'll start the season like this
Allsop
Phillips/Willis
Webster
Johnson
Pugh
O'Brien
Thomas
Fleck
Swanson
Miller
Tudgay
Bench
Burge
Clarke
Seabourne
Coulibaly
Phillips/Willis
Maddison
Thomas
For me that team is good enough to make the play-offs (Judging on what I've seen of League 1 over the past two years, and what is required to achieve success in it)
Add in a few more signings (two strikers and a centre midfielder) and we should be challenging for automatic promotion.
The only clubs to fear this season are:
Bristol City (Although I have doubts as to whether Steve Cotterill is a good enough manager to take them up)
Sheffield United (Need a new forward, but besides should be at the top from the start)
Orient (Bit more money to spend now that Hearn has sold up, they showed last year how a team of not particularly talented footballers can go very far in this league)
The likes of Preston, Posh and MK will as it stands be with us challenging for the playoffs.
The rest are rather average sides.
When you say that team is good enough to make the play offs
Please can you tell me more about Maddison and Thomas. If the players in their positions get injured they are in.
Also I could ask you the same about three other players you are unlikely to know about until you see them play?
We need about three more proven at this level signings before we can discuss the play offs
Not explicit in this article from March, but very clear it's not about the money and he does say he had agreed with Pressley to sit down before the end of th season:
http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/sp...-news/coventry-citys-joe-murphy-wants-6872917
And Elvis has said on numerous occasions more signings are incoming, plus we've yet to utilise the loan market which inevitably will happen imo.
And Elvis has said on numerous occasions more signings are incoming, plus we've yet to utilise the loan market which inevitably will happen imo.
So Murphy didn't say he was willing to take a pay cut before the end of the season as the other poster claimed. He doesn't actually say he wanted/would have signed a new deal at the time either.
It looks to me he just wanted to know if he was going to get a contract offer from the club, presumably so he could weigh up all his options and see what deal would be best for him.
The fact is we tried to keep him but he signed a better deal elsewhere, people want to believe we let him go and didn't try to keep him then that is up to them.
We'll have to agree to disagree. To me that article shows a player who is perfectly happy to play out his career here.
In fact the only ones who didn't were when Dulieu was here!
We'll have to agree to disagree. To me that article shows a player who is perfectly happy to play out his career here.
So why is he at Huddersfield then?
So why is he at Huddersfield then?
So why is he at Huddersfield then?
Because we are at Northampton so we can't afford the going rate for someone of his ability.
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