Antman Posted July 16, 2004 Share Posted July 16, 2004 Now then, it strikes me that with Mr Lansdown in charge, we might have had a better control of the loss of assets from the team. Regardless of your opinions of the players who have walked out, they easily could have raised some 250 - 750K for the club if they had been sold. Letting contracts go in the way we have is a very silly game to play if you don't then have the resource to replace them(it can also be argued that even with the resources, letting players go for free, then paying to replace them makes no sense) Either these players were high earners, (probable) and the club took the line that reducing the wage bill was a viable balance against the loss of potential sales income, or the club is assuming we can get by on much more inexperienced players earning a lot less (worrying) I don't argue with a mini-clearout, we've got stale of late, but Renewing contracts then selling the players would have made more sense. The reverse argument is that other clubs wouldn't be interested UNLESS these players were on a free, but then why were WBA offering cash for Aaron? I'm sorry y'all, but it strikes me that this was a gamble that didn't work for Lansdown. I don't think we have been active enough in picking up other out of contract players to bring in either, so the question is... what IS the strategy now Mr Lansdown? If you want to use the academy players more, then tell us so. Don't try and stuff season tickets down our throats (Mr Sexstone) on the vague premise, and assumption of riding on the back of last seasons success. You're clearly changing the team structure both tactically and financially. playing 3-5-2 means we probably have the defenders we need right now. (assume Bell & Murray as wing backs) but injuries to them and then what? I hope to god these youngsters can deliver! but we've seen this before, and often we end up resorting to 4-4-2 because the wingers don't feed the front two quickly enough. 3-5-2 can very easily end up being very defensive if the opponents push up on the flanks. ah, well who knows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsontour Posted July 16, 2004 Share Posted July 16, 2004 Sadly Ant, I am afraid that whilst your views would be favourable to any right thinking fan, let alone business man, the basic fact is no body is buying..full stop...(We can exclude the chelsea's of this world) Name one player who has left that somebody would have paid for. P Reid said himself (of Carey) "He is a player I have been watching since he played at Sunderland" You would have thought he would have paid money out if that were the case!? WBA offered cash for Aaron 4 years ago, since then he hasn't exactly set the orld alight, and despite him being available on a free, nobody is tripping over themselves to have him. The transfer activity for players of 2nd Div (oh, ok..league 1) is zero, nil, nada and none. All we would have succeeded in doing is tying players up on contracts ( something we tried in 1980 which had slight consequences!) As for questioning the sale of season tickets that are being "stuffed" down our throats,what on earth has SL or CS got to do with the tactics you then talk about? I don't believe there has been any tactic of a "mini clearout", I just think we have to be realistic..players failed to get us up, then expected us to provide them with contracts that were better than when they failed..the board have a responsibility to keep the club running, and make it more successful, Tins has been given the last role so let's hope he does it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Red Hat Posted July 16, 2004 Share Posted July 16, 2004 I think the simple fact is that we failed to get promotion, and if my memory serves me well it was stated early on in the season that contracts that expired would be drawn up on the basis of what division we ended up in. Looks to me as if thats whats happening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zookeeper Posted July 16, 2004 Share Posted July 16, 2004 I'm sorry y'all, but it strikes me that this was a gamble that didn't work for Lansdown. I don't think we have been active enough in picking up other out of contract players to bring in either, so the question is... what IS the strategy now Mr Lansdown? ← I think that you have answered your own questions with this statement. It was a gamble to keep players when teams were bidding for them. The gamble was that they would help us get promoted and they didn't. Unfortunately since then a lot has happened in football and money that was once being thrown at us from TV had dried up and players over 24 can leave for nothing. Clubs have drastically reduced the sizes of their squads leaving an abundance of players available. If Steve L had known these factors four years ago I imagine he would have sold Aarron there and then. He didn't, none of us did so can you blame him for this? As for selling season tickets. Fair play to them. If they took a back seat approach and waited for people to come in then they wouldn't sell as many. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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