season 2012/2013 (1 Viewer)

[percy]

if we were to stay in this division, realisticly how much would we need to spend in the summer to make sure we dont have another season like this one.
i appreciate that money doesnt guarantee success but we have got some good young players coming through. so taking into account the players that are going, how much would we need for a mid table finish.

 

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[kg82]

Depends who goes. Say McPake, O'Donovan, Eastwood, Clingan and Cranie all leave and then you've lost Nimely and Norwood that's 4 first teamers gone with an already thin squad. Ideally I'd say we'd need 2 more CD's, 2-3 midfielders (ideally pacey) and a striker. So that's 5-6 players. Can't really put a price on it because you don't know if they're goin to be free's, loans or signings. But I'd say around that many players, maybe a few more!

 

[cstring82]

A goalscorer, creative midfielder, and general reinforcements if the youth aren't ready to come into the squad.

I'm liking the idea of an U21 team, if that's still in the pipeline.

 

[WillieStanley]

I think Cranie and/or Clingan will re-sign should we stay up...

 

[Astute]

A goalscorer, creative midfielder, and general reinforcements if the youth aren't ready to come into the squad.

I'm liking the idea of an U21 team, if that's still in the pipeline.

If any more youth players were ready to play for us they would have played for us by now.

Hopefully a more realistic approach to players and their wages will have been taken by more clubs. More decent players available on a free, and lower wages expected from them. Then hopefully AT will be able to put a decent squad together for an amount affordable. This might not happen for another season or two though.

 

[SkyBlue]

It's not about how much you spend, it's about who you buy. Just look at Leicester

 

[Astute]

It's not about how much you spend, it's about who you buy. Just look at Leicester

Or even who you get on loan. Look at us

 

[ohitsaidwalker king power]

It's not about how much you spend, it's about who you buy. Just look at Leicester

:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:....oh sorry misread.. thought you said laugh at Leicester

 

[Astute]

I think Cranie and/or Clingan will re-sign should we stay up...

Would AT want them both? Would they want too much money? No more big paydays at CCFC. Not until we get back into the Prem at least. Div 1 wages in the Championship will become the norm. Unless you play for Pompey that is and get Prem wages in the 1st Div next season

 

[Otis]

I am quite optimistic.

If you recall we blooded a load of kids this season. Those kids now pretty much all have a stack of experience at this level and should be better players for us next season. Clarke, Cameron, Thomas, Bigi and Christie should all come on leaps and bounds now and they know what is required of them. That's if we retain them all that is.

Kids and loans. that'll be the way to go.

 

[Astute]

I am quite optimistic.

If you recall we blooded a load of kids this season. Those kids now pretty much all have a stack of experience at this level and should be better players for us next season. Clarke, Cameron, Thomas, Bigi and Christie should all come on leaps and bounds now and they know what is required of them. That's if we retain them all that is.

Kids and loans. that'll be the way to go.

I agree, but will wait and see who we sell and lose out of contract before the season starts. If we only lose a couple of players and keep/replace the loans then we could have an excellent season. Same as last season then................

 

[TheParsonsHose]

My view......

Wage bill down with a few out the door
We keep Norwood / Nimley fo a season
We loan another player or two
Everybody stays apart from Clingan
We have 3m in a transfer kitty for a couple of half decent signings

10th position maybe??? There are so many if's and buts to this though.......

 

[mark82]

Would love to keep Norwood & Nimley for another year. Not sure if anyone has the foresight to try to do that though.

 

[mark82]

We need to take Palace as an example to follow of how to run on a budget.

 

[rob9872]

Hold what we have (loans inclusive) and add an experienced leader and we will be just fine in mid-table mediocrity. In fact the league is reasonably poor with not much betwen many sides. If we hold our youth and get some momentum then I honestly believe just couple of addititions with the emphasis on quality and we wouldn't be far short of play-off contenders.

 

[Paxman II]

Hypothetical of course but i would suggest only a few more to bulk up the squad and perhaps a couple of 'name' players where we need them most that would also add a big kick of extra confidence to the team.
Not an awful lot of dosh surely? We will be in a fair condition even with SISU still at the helm and a two or 3 million input should do the trick.

As Otis alluded to the current young lions have a ton of experience now and should benefit tremendously from this years escapades. The likes of Bigi, Thomas, Christie, Clarke could be tomorrows Championship stars. There's always opportunity for a loan or two only the quality of those loans are what matters.

As OSB also alluded to Leicester or Forest spent big but have not achieved have they? Money alone is not the answer. Plenty of other factors involved. Blackpool proved that.

 

[Astute]

My view......

Wage bill down with a few out the door
We keep Norwood / Nimley fo a season
We loan another player or two
Everybody stays apart from Clingan
We have 3m in a transfer kitty for a couple of half decent signings

10th position maybe??? There are so many if's and buts to this though.......

Sounds like a dream come true for us at the moment.

Staying up, keep the younger players and keep our loan players.........3m to spend

More like 3m to raise by selling players to cover us for the season

 

[Yorkshire SB]

Probably get slated but...

I'd like to see us bring in a couple of premier league has-beens (bare with me). Young squad, with plenty of energy and enthusiasm, I'd like to see us bring in some older heads who have been there and done it, if nothing else to act as a reminder to the young players that football careers don't last forever and they should make the most of it. The main reason though, is that they can issue the orders of the pitch, organise and continue to develop the younger players. Admittedly this system won't bring overwhelming success, but I would hope with the right players we could secure a comfortable position, and then with the younger players maturing and benefiting from working with experienced pros we could push on in two or three years. I know in the past this hasn't worked, with carsley and de zeewu, but Kevin Phillips is a prime example of what can be achieved.

The issue of course would be high wages, older players looking to cash in late on in their careers. However these are also the sort that should be avoided. You want players that love football and are still hungry and the money is just a bonus. Prime example would be Salgado at Blackburn, read his column in fourfourtwo and he's a top bloke, loves football, wanted a new challenge and he's not precious enough to think Blackburn are beneath him.

Example players;
Robbie Blake (36 years old)
Rory Delap (35 years old)

The above I would consider realistic, if personal terms can be agreed.

Some slightly less realistic targets I'd love to get

Akos Buzsaky
Zak Whitbread
Sean Davis

All three available on frees

 

[oldskyblue58]

I think there will be plenty of players looking for teams in the summer. If we stay up then perhaps Clingan & Crainie might stay, but they could both leave along with Wood. McPake still has a year left but I think ROD will be offloaded. I would expect Platt to be offered a one year contract.

Any coming in will be free's or loans I would guess, I do not expect us to be paying 2 or 3 million to bring players in - that doesnt include their wages so where would we get the money from to do it if we are looking to balance the books? You cannot seperate the playing side from trying to get the finances right - having spent a season driving down costs and expenditure why would the Board just spend ? There might be some expenditure but it wont be more than £1m i would guess and I wouldnt bet on that - if we are still making losses they need to be financed so no extra money for players to be bought. Can see us matching this years wages budget if we stay up because we will have room in it following Eastwood going.

The players that come in will have to match AT's blueprint as to how the team plays - so they will have to be comfortable on the ball, they will also need to be better than what we have (AT keeps saying that), he will also be looking at players with some pace i would think. He might bring in an experienced front man and maybe an experienced midfielder (especially if Clingan goes) but anything else will be a straight swap for any leaving from the current squad. We wont have a significantly bigger first team squad in my opinion.

To have a better season AT needs to improve the away form. Even if we had an average home and away record we would be hitting 55 - 60 points. Surely we cant have another season like this away from home with even the squad we have can we. So to me it isnt about spending millions it is more about retaining those we have, bringing in a couple of frees or loans, and getting the players we have to achieve more.

 

[Brighton Sky Blue]

Just read in the paper that FFP is not being enforced next season in the Championship-bugger.