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Just now, JonDolman said:

It's interesting to see what we will do at centre back in the summer.

Baker and Mariappa will likely be let go imo. 

Mawson only on loan. 

3 new centre backs needed next season.

Genuinely I think we’ve missed our best shots at promotion now. Might as well accept mid table for a few years. God that’s depressing. 

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It's gotta be a decision for the medical team surely. If they can say for certain these injuries he's had this season won't be a recurring problem going into the next then I'd hate to see us let a decent champ defender like him go for free. I can see him getting snapped up by another champ side. 

So far we'd be entering next season with just Kalas / Moore / Vyner. 

And if we're going to shop for a player within Baker's caliber how expensive would that be? 

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1 minute ago, Robbored said:

Is it tho?    

It’s not as if we’ve missed him that much. City have Mawson, Mariappa,, Moore, Vyner all capable CBs 

I think so. Mawson is the only one comfortable at left CB and we all hold our breath every time he goes in for a challenge in case his knee goes again. Bakes gives us another option and saves us having to play Taylor Moore or Tommy Rowe there if Mawson is injured. He`s still our player and we`re still paying him so a fit NB can only be a good thing can`t it?

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4 minutes ago, Sturny said:

It's gotta be a decision for the medical team surely. If they can say for certain these injuries he's had this season won't be a recurring problem going into the next then I'd hate to see us let a decent champ defender like him go for free. I can see him getting snapped up by another champ side. 

So far we'd be entering next season with just Kalas / Moore / Vyner. 

And if we're going to shop for a player within Baker's caliber how expensive would that be? 

Swansea seem to be good at keeping our ex players fit.

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Baker is pretty much done then. By the time he's back in training, then fit enough to play we're pretty much going to either be wanting to bed in next seasons players, or be pushing for a playoff spot with a settled team (hopefully).

If he's OOC in the summer, unless it's on reduced terms and has appearance clauses in it for him, then I'd be disappointed if we offered him a new contract. Great defender when fit, but even when he is fit, you always feel there is a knock in him that will remove him from the team for a few games at  least.

On another (similar) subject which has been done to death, once again the number of injuries in the past few seasons is worrying, especially when it's something picked up on the return from an injury.

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8 minutes ago, JonDolman said:

I think ideally we would want a good 5th option. As otherwise with 4 we are just 2 injuries away from a crisis and needing to bring in an emergency free transfer. 

Vyner could be an ideal 5th option. Not meaning he is 5th best, but a player that can play midfield, right back or centre back. 

Kalas, Moore and one other with Vyner would be a bit light imo.

Even when we had Webster, Kalas, Baker and Wright and playing a back 4, we also had Kelly and Pisano.

Kelly had a superb game at centre back when coming on early for Baker away at Brentford. 

Pisano, even as 6th choice was needed at centre back away at QPR, where he was very good.

That’s why I say 4 senior plus a youngster....I should’ve qualified better though.  What you must have (imho) is 4 CBs you feel comfy playing any two.  This year you could imagine Dean worrying if it was just Moore and Vyner, as neither are senior in a typical definition.  Vyner has probably become senior throughout this season, but even so, pairing him with Moore doesn’t look as strong as with Mawson or Kalas.  Moore hadn’t quite kicked on as I’d hoped.

So yes you’re right, you’d need one more (in a back 4).  What we’ve ended up (at least short term) is the reverse versatility I wanted in the summer before we signed J.Williams.  I quite fancied an Ampadu/Vaulks-type, a CM comfy at CB.  As it stands we have Vyner doing the reverse, which takes one away from the number of CBs.

Yes, right again re Webster, Baker, Kalas and Wright....4 senior CBs.  LJ would have no qualms about pairing any two...and then had Kelly (and Pisano) too as the youngster.  Kelly played Assombalonga brilliantly at AG in 18/19.

But this is where we should be well prepared going into the summer recruitment.  None of this is rocket science....as we’ve just proved.

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5 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

That’s why I say 4 senior plus a youngster....I should’ve qualified better though.  What you must have (imho) is 4 CBs you feel comfy playing any two.  This year you could imagine Dean worrying if it was just Moore and Vyner, as neither are senior in a typical definition.  Vyner has probably become senior throughout this season, but even so, pairing him with Moore doesn’t look as strong as with Mawson or Kalas.  Moore hadn’t quite kicked on as I’d hoped.

So yes you’re right, you’d need one more (in a back 4).  What we’ve ended up (at least short term) is the reverse versatility I wanted in the summer before we signed J.Williams.  I quite fancied an Ampadu/Vaulks-type, a CM comfy at CB.  As it stands we have Vyner doing the reverse, which takes one away from the number of CBs.

Yes, right again re Webster, Baker, Kalas and Wright....4 senior CBs.  LJ would have no qualms about pairing any two...and then had Kelly (and Pisano) too as the youngster.  Kelly played Assombalonga b rilliantly at AG in 18/19.

But this is where we should be well prepared going into the summer recruitment.  None of this is rocket science....as we’ve just proved.

To me there are 4 phases you can use when considering a player's career and when you think about the make up of a squad.  They obviously have to be good enough.

Promising - have shown glimpses of talent both in 1st team games but also on loan.  At the moment I put Massengo, Morton, Edwards brothers and Pring in this category.   Massengo is still a teenager.

Progressive - Clearly on the pathway from being promising to the next stage.  Semenyo, Bakinson, Vyner.

Proven - Established Championship players who should form the backbone of the side. Kalas, Mawson, Williams, Diedhou Dasilva

Past their best - Experienced and still useful to have if not starting all games.  Hunt, Martin & Baker spring to mind.  

To my mind we have improved this year because a number of those who were promising have become progressive.  The negatives are the ones going the other way who to me seem too highly paid for what they produce. Honoruable exception is Rowe who seems like he could carry on playing till late 30s.

There's a few I've not mentioned because I don't want to be too negative!

 

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4 minutes ago, The Bard said:

To me there are 4 phases you can use when considering a player's career and when you think about the make up of a squad.  They obviously have to be good enough.

Promising - have shown glimpses of talent both in 1st team games but also on loan.  At the moment I put Massengo, Morton, Edwards brothers and Pring in this category.   Massengo is still a teenager.

Progressive - Clearly on the pathway from being promising to the next stage.  Semenyo, Bakinson, Vyner.

Proven - Established Championship players who should form the backbone of the side. Kalas, Mawson, Williams, Diedhou Dasilva

Past their best - Experienced and still useful to have if not starting all games.  Hunt, Martin & Baker spring to mind.  

To my mind we have improved this year because a number of those who were promising have become progressive.  The negatives are the ones going the other way who to me seem too highly paid for what they produce. Honoruable exception is Rowe who seems like he could carry on playing till late 30s.

There's a few I've not mentioned because I don't want to be too negative!

 

Proven is a better word than my senior.  Vyner moving towards proven.

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7 minutes ago, Mark barton said:

Well could actually pay him up early as he is out of contract. I doubt we would offer him a new deal as recent injuries have really put him way down the pecking order. It would allow that 20k a week to be reinvested in the squad.

Surely Baker would have to agree to receiving a lesser amount? If not you're giving him the amount now that he'd be earning over the course of 5 months, not helpful from a finance perspective for that much to go out if you're just going to add another 20k a week

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2 hours ago, Sturny said:

It's gotta be a decision for the medical team surely. If they can say for certain these injuries he's had this season won't be a recurring problem going into the next then I'd hate to see us let a decent champ defender like him go for free. I can see him getting snapped up by another champ side. 

So far we'd be entering next season with just Kalas / Moore / Vyner. 

And if we're going to shop for a player within Baker's caliber how expensive would that be? 

Really ?

It may all be down to bad luck but I’m not sure I’d trust them with a headache

 

As for Baker, a career constantly interrupted by injury 

No Better than ok (Can be ‘decent’) IMHO

On decent wages 

I’d let him go

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47 minutes ago, Mark barton said:

Well could actually pay him up early as he is out of contract. I doubt we would offer him a new deal as recent injuries have really put him way down the pecking order. It would allow that 20k a week to be reinvested in the squad.

Your a bit like my wife who thinks we can spend money and still have it in the bank.

If we pay his contract up then that money's gone and we can't reinvest it in the squad

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43 minutes ago, Barry Sheene said:

Your a bit like my wife who thinks we can spend money and still have it in the bank.

If we pay his contract up then that money's gone and we can't reinvest it in the squad

stick him on ssp,see how quick he mends then, and the rest of them. might shorten the sick list rather quickly

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3 hours ago, Mark barton said:

Well could actually pay him up early as he is out of contract. I doubt we would offer him a new deal as recent injuries have really put him way down the pecking order. It would allow that 20k a week to be reinvested in the squad.

You do realise we have lost a massive chunk of our income? That means we, like every other club, will have to get the most out of what we have whilst we have it and then have to cut costs in the future. His £20k a week will not be reinvested.  It will be a decent chunk of the £100 to £200k a week we will cut from our wage bill.

He will stay till the end of his contract.  Then it will be thanks and good luck.

I can see him packing in playing - he always struck me as the type who likes being a footballer but doesn't particularly seem to like playing football.  He won't get a contract worth much more than £4k a week next season wherever he ends up.

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8 minutes ago, The Constant Rabbit said:

Baker will be offered 50% of his current wages - he will accept too - who else will pay 20K a week for a player who is often injured?

Baker knows this, the club certainly know it.

He'll stay, but on a huge wage reduction.

Does slashing his wages in half provide him with motivation to succeed here though? If I were the club I would still reluctantly get rid of him and concentrate on using the funds on someone with a much better injury record. I love Baker when he’s fit, he’s a great player at this level imho, but he’s just injured far too much to reinvest what seem to be very finite funds atm. 

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11 minutes ago, The Constant Rabbit said:

Baker will be offered 50% of his current wages - he will accept too - who else will pay 20K a week for a player who is often injured?

Baker knows this, the club certainly know it.

He'll stay, but on a huge wage reduction.

He has played 84 games for us in 3 and a half seasons since signing permanently.  That is not worth £5k a week let alone £10k a week.

We apparently paid £3.9 million for him and have paid him £20k a week.  That's £8 million or over £95k per game including the ones where he went off with mysterious injuries or got himself sent off needlessly.

 

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6 minutes ago, lenred said:

Does slashing his wages in half provide him with motivation to succeed here though? If I were the club I would still reluctantly get rid of him and concentrate on using the funds on someone with a much better injury record. I love Baker when he’s fit, he’s a great player at this level imho, but he’s just injured far too much to reinvest what seem to be very finite funds atm. 

At his age, I think Baker is well aware his best days are gone.He has no chance of a cereer in the Prem anymore, so if you were him - why would you not agree to 10K?

2-3 yrs ago we were a 'destination club' - seen as a strong chance to become an established Premier League team-in-waiting.

We have regressed so far back - no-body see's City as a forward move currently.

Thats why we could only attract Brunt and Martin and a 'potentially' good player like Joe Williams on the cheap from a club heading for insolvency.

If Williams had a great season this year - he would be off for greener pastures.

We have gone so far backwards, it's unreal.

 

Lansdown has other things on his mind - hence saving as much as possible on his 'spending' on BCFC

2 minutes ago, The Bard said:

He has played 84 games for us in 3 and a half seasons since signing permanently.  That is not worth £5k a week let alone £10k a week.

We apparently paid £3.9 million for him and have paid him £20k a week.  That's £8 million or over £95k per game including the ones where he went off with mysterious injuries or got himself sent off needlessly.

 

Agree with everything you have said.

Where else could life be so cushy?

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1 minute ago, The Constant Rabbit said:

At his age, I think Baker is well aware his best days are gone.He has no chance of a cereer in the Prem anymore, so if you were him - why would you not agree to 10K?

2-3 yrs ago we were a 'destination club' - seen as a strong chance to become an established Premier League team-in-waiting.

We have regressed so far back - no-body see's City as a forward move currently.

Thats why we could only attract Brunt and Martin and a 'potentially' good player like Joe Williams on the cheap from a club heading for insolvency.

If Williams had a great season this year - he would be off for greener pastures.

We have gone so far backwards, it's unreal.

 

Lansdown has other things on his mind - hence saving as much as possible on his 'spending' on BCFC

I’m not saying that he wouldn’t accept, but what I am saying is that I think that 10k could possibly be used to help fund a replacement of a similar standard and with a much better availability record.  

 

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1 minute ago, lenred said:

I’m not saying that he wouldn’t accept, but what I am saying is that I think that 10k could possibly be used to help fund a replacement of a similar standard and with a much better availability record.  

 

Again - I agree.

But who would want to come here on a modest transfer fee and average wages with the club being in such a mess.

They will have seen us on TV - it ain't pretty.

The grapevine will be buzzing about our injuries, and Ashton / Lansdowns total control of the club.

Put it this way - if you were Webster and we were like this a couple of years back, would you have any confidence that you could improve yourself, and stay fit enough to earn a huge Prem deal on big money?

 

The answer is surely no.

 

Why would any other up-and-comer want to transfer in to us.

 

Do you think Benkovich would come back with our terrible style of play and the club being a shambles, if he wanted to improve his prospects?

The fact that he went to Oud-Heverlee Leuven rather than have another year here says it all.

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