Fair play. Quite a few gone through the revolving door, but my bad I had genuinely forgotten about both of those.
*I still remain hopeful that we can either get promoted or Norwich deem Sam not to be what they need and we still get him back at some point, a bit like an upgraded Richard Duffy
And there's nothing to say he'd have done so well with us he'd have got a contract more than he has now at the end of it.
Looking objectively, some of the ones who've left:
McNulty - would he *really* have got a contract with a Prem team if he'd stayed with us? (only way to beat his Reading one, I suspect);
George Thomas is playing at our level, and probably on more money than he'd have got with us;
Ben Stevenson is playing at the level we sold him, and he couldn't even get in our side at the end of his time with us, so he's probably earned more than he otherwise would for the privilege of his move to Wolves;
Bayliss may be, objectively, a better player than Shipley, but his form at the tail end with us was on-off. He was arguably being played in not quite the right position, so that wasn't helping him look as good as he maybe could... but I'm not convinced he'd have been the answer to this division for us if he'd stayed. We see with the likes of Shipley that a move up a league can be a challenge for a player, even if they stick in comfortable surroundings. The only thing I would say is that Preston probably wasn't the right kind of team playing the right kind of style for Bayliss, so it's not the move up levels that's wrong as such, but more picking the right team for that move up a level.;
Cian Harries had barely played for us, and is now playing at the level we sold him at. In the meantime, he's had a decent contract beyond what he'd have probably got with us.
Most of those are still of an age where they can get a decent move again if they excel, too.
There's little to say, really, that players moving from us stunt their careers particularly by doing so. And surely the appeal of better facilities, testing yourself in training against better players, and being able to put yourself in the shop window at a higher level than otherwise is one that, if you're at all confident in your ability as a player, you have to take?
That’s the wrong way of looking at it because the point is that the players stunted their development by leaving to clubs way above their level.
For the younger players on this list, they went from playing men’s football to development level. That was never realistically going to improve a player. With the exception of Bayliss, the younger players traded almost guaranteed first team football for U23s. Bayliss has had a rough time in Preston but I believe he was signed with the intention of playing first team football.
As for the likes of McNulty, we were the only club and setuphe had sustained success in. Personally, the jump from L2 to Championship is too much in one go. There’s no reason why he couldn’t have got to the championship with or without after playing well in League 1.
Fully appreciate he’s out to earn as much as possible in a short career. However, like many footballers, they end up taking short term money and stifling their development and stagnating/regressing as a player.
Had we sold someone like Maddison to one of the various big clubs ‘linked’ with him earlier on, would Maddison be a Prem player for a top half club? Probably not and he’s undoubtedly earned more money by taking the incremental approach to development.
Alternatively, they looked good at a lower level, so got a move to clubs beyond their level. Thomas played plenty of games at our level when on loan at Scunthorpe, so wasn't being denied first team development, while Stevenson and Harries were struggling to get in our side, so were trading reserve football at a lower level for reserve football at a higher level... and then got sent out on loan for first team football.
As Bayliss and Stevenson were regressing with us in terms of impact, why would they necessarily have become stars with us, and not followed the career trajectory of Hiwula?
Are we, therefore, assuming that Reid would be a superstar by now if he'd stayed with Ross County?
After our first season in League 1 we lost five players who went to Championship clubs. Bright, Sterling, Luke Thomas, Chaplin and Bayliss. Not one of thems career has kicked on. For the record I thought we were in for a long season after losing so much talent and having a limited budget. I still can't quite work out how Robins assembled a team to win League 1. Before the late additions of Walsh, Godden and O'Hare I was convinced we were a pretty average League 1 team.
I think the answer is probably 1 for some players and 1 for another. For some it's better being at a PL club with their facilities and wages and others do better baing grounded and going through the slog of lower league football
Had we sold someone like Maddison to one of the various big clubs ‘linked’ with him earlier on, would Maddison be a Prem player for a top half club? Probably not and he’s undoubtedly earned more money by taking the incremental approach to development.
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Yes he would….because he is very talented and talent rises to the top, he regularly performs against the best in our division. That only happens if you are good enough.