Robbie Cundy - thoughts

[Davefevs]

Today we got to see a bit more of Robbie Cundy….a full 45+5 mins of him.

What did we all think?

[City oz]

Hi Dave,

 

I see you rated Cundy a 6 so I assume he performed one of the best compared to others. Not sure what the rating should be as most of the others from the limited access I watched performed below par.

[Port Said Red]

4 hours ago, Davefevs said:

Today we got to see a bit more of Robbie Cundy….a full 45+5 mins of him.

What did we all think?

I thought he effectively shut down the threat from the highly rated Davis, he looked strong, assured and his passing both short and long was good.

To be honest, every time I have seen him he looks a player, so his performance yesterday was no surprise.

[Gimme Shelton]

I was impressed with his physicality,gave away nothing in that department. Certainly showed up Kalas who had a dreadful second half.

[Port Said Red]

7 minutes ago, Gimme Shelton said:

I was impressed with his physicality,gave away nothing in that department. Certainly showed up Kalas who had a dreadful second half.

I was also surprised at Klose who seemed to think that being "left of a 3" meant playing somewhere in behind the left wing back. Between them we lost our ahape completely.

[JoeAman08]

I like him. Money is tight but I’d try to get a new deal sorted for him. Idk what type of offers he’d get in the summer but a 1+1 could be good for both parties. Would like to see a back 4 of Tanner Cundy Atkinson and Pring at somepoint. Just to see how they get on. More of a preseason thing but if we are safe with 5-6 games to go could be a good time to experiment a bit. 

[1960maaan]

Apart from a terrible mistake, which turned out to be Kalas (I didn't have my glasses on) 

I thought he looked calm and assured , looked strong. Thought it was a promising game . Forest were good and we were poor, plenty of pressure on him. Plus the change in shape didn't help us keep the ball.

Kalas to RB ?

[GrahamC]

If as we mainly believe, we are safe already, surely worth a good look at him now?

Baker isn’t going to play for us again & Vyner appears to be out of favour, so time for a run of games to see if he’s worth a new deal, surely?

[GrahamC]

18 minutes ago, JonDolman said:

I can't see how we keep Kalas. I know I am repeating myself here but this is how I see things.

It's different to Weimann and Baker. They would not have had top clubs at this level offering them contracts when their contracts expired.

So we could let their contracts run down and offer them half of what they were on. And no other club were willing to offer more than that.

We surely won't wait and hope Kalas agrees a new deal at the end of next season.

So imo we will sell him in the summer. It might be we have Klose, Atkinson and Cundy here next season. Meaning we would just need to replace Kalas.

If Cundy looks decent at this level then that will be fantastic, as he should continue to get better and will likely be on less than average wages.

Signing a new centre back to compete with those 3 should be quite simple. Or it might be Baker is returning, and if so then we might not even need to replace Kalas.

On Cundy it is still far too early for me to judge. But I have always said a huge centre back playing as well as he did at Gillingham at just 23, making huge improvements from his Torquay loan in the National League. It showed he is improving at a quick rate, and if he keeps improving then it looks on paper like he should be a championship player.

To me he looks like he should physically dominate most strikers. He did so against Clarke Harris last season against Peterborough, and he's a very strong aggressive striker.

He's competent with the ball at his feet. He looks like he knows how to defend. Really hope he gets a start. But then I don't see why centre back is a problem right now when we have Kalas and Klose playing if we go with a back 4. They're both very good at this level. Atkinson returning fairly soon I think too.

Far easier to say “we sell Kalas” than find a buyer.

Plus what if someone settled in the area with a partner from here refuses to go?

My hunch is he is still here in August.

 

[KegCity]

24 minutes ago, JonDolman said:

 

So imo we will sell him in the summer. It might be we have Klose, Atkinson and Cundy here next season. Meaning we would just need to replace Kalas.

 

For all the talk of shifting Wells and Palmer, I'd be open to offers for Kalas. Certainly a quality player on his day but he's had some poor outings in the last two seasons and has struggled to hit the individual heights he did when partnered with Webster. We'd certainly miss him, but he doesn't justify the significant outlay he brings.

[Davefevs]

59 minutes ago, JonDolman said:

I can't see how we keep Kalas. I know I am repeating myself here but this is how I see things.

It's different to Weimann and Baker. They would not have had top clubs at this level offering them contracts when their contracts expired.

So we could let their contracts run down and offer them half of what they were on. And no other club were willing to offer more than that.

We surely won't wait and hope Kalas agrees a new deal at the end of next season.

So imo we will sell him in the summer. It might be we have Klose, Atkinson and Cundy here next season. Meaning we would just need to replace Kalas.

If Cundy looks decent at this level then that will be fantastic, as he should continue to get better and will likely be on less than average wages.

Signing a new centre back to compete with those 3 should be quite simple. Or it might be Baker is returning, and if so then we might not even need to replace Kalas.

On Cundy it is still far too early for me to judge. But I have always said a huge centre back playing as well as he did at Gillingham at just 23, making huge improvements from his Torquay loan in the National League. It showed he is improving at a quick rate, and if he keeps improving then it looks on paper like he should be a championship player.

To me he looks like he should physically dominate most strikers. He did so against Clarke Harris last season against Peterborough, and he's a very strong aggressive striker.

He's competent with the ball at his feet. He looks like he knows how to defend. Really hope he gets a start. But then I don't see why centre back is a problem right now when we have Kalas and Klose playing if we go with a back 4. They're both very good at this level. Atkinson returning fairly soon I think too.

Assuming we can get a buyer for Kalas, possibly from abroad, e.g. Germany, then he would go some way to solving FFP is one go.  £2m amortisation, £1.25m wages, total £3.25m….plus any fee over £2m adds to that boost.

As GrahamC says might not be easy, but if we don’t sell him this summer, then we will never sell him for a fee.  Assumes he extends his contract in that situation, but we’ve sunk £8m in that case.

Cundy certainly didn’t look out of his depth yesterday, but need more time to assess, but encouraging stuff at least.  Last thing you wanted was for him to come in and look like “bambi on ice”.  There’s a good chance he will start next week against Brum I’d think, whether Kalas is fit or not.

[JoeAman08]

48 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

Far easier to say “we sell Kalas” than find a buyer.

Plus what if someone settled in the area with a partner from here refuses to go?

My hunch is he is still here in August.

 

Yes but it is win win imo. If he is settled he would be more likely to sign a contract which helps us. If he doesn’t mind leaving it is a big wage coming off the books and while I think he is still very good you can probably get someone 80-90% of the player for 40-50% of the wage. 

[Davefevs]

Just now, JoeAman08 said:

Yes but it is win win imo. If he is settled he would be more likely to sign a contract which helps us. If he doesn’t mind leaving it is a big wage coming off the books and while I think he is still very good you can probably get someone 80-90% of the player for 40-50% of the wage. 

Yep, which is why I’m not overly worried about FFP.  Surely we don’t keep Massengo and / or Kalas and they leave summer 23 for nothing.

We either sell - FFP solved

We extend contract - FFP part solved (ok it’s not quite as black and white as that, but in this scenario it cuts £2m in total off our costs, possibly more if Kalas’s wage us reduced too).

[Street red]

I think he will be centreback we need a good pre season behind him he should be an excellent addition.. Kalas I'd liked to see dropped for a game to see how much difference it would make he still doesn't strike me as an 8 million pound centre back. Cundy and Atkinson could be a good partnership even though experienced.

[NcnsBcfc]

34 minutes ago, JonDolman said:

Yeah foreign clubs interest is a real possibility.

100%. I don't say sell Kalas because I want to lose him, but it benefits us selling him or him signing a new deal imo.

Completely agree @JonDolman

For me Kalas is a decent centre back, that on his day is one of the top defenders in the division.

In a competant back line he complements the others, and provides a strong defensive unit.

However in my opinion, when he is in a poor backline, he doesn't lead by example; and his own personal performance starts to suffer.

We need an upgrade in both full back postions, plus another CB to probably replace Baker, Moore, Vyner & possibly Klose (Christ possibly 2 needed then).

With Kalas a fixture of the backline, the last two seasons have been abject defensively. Not all his fault of course, but he is cupable at times.

He is a saleable asset, one of our highest earners; and to get him to sign a new contract, it would surely take up a huge percentage of our budget for next season.

We need to completely restructure our back line in reality. Tough decisions ahead for RG, and NP this summer i think. But the balance of high earners at present in the side (Wells, Kalas, Palmer, JD, Bentley) is unbalancing the budget at present.

[ProfitInMyPocket]

Kalas barely won a header in the first half against Davis who pinned him back. 

Cundy came on and towered over Davis and won the first aerial ball in to Davis in the second half. 

It made Forest use the long forward ball less and we weren't leaking chances every time the ball was played into Davis, good for Cundy to get 45+ in the bag and he didn't let anyone down.

[Jacki]

Cundy looked strong defensively yesterday against a good opponent. He’s a big, strong fella and can more than handle a physical battle.

He’s not great on the ball though and smashed the ball aimlessly long on a number of occasions, albeit under pressure. Jury is out for me but I’d be more than happy to have another look at him. 

[Waconda]

5 hours ago, JonDolman said:

I can't see how we keep Kalas. I know I am repeating myself here but this is how I see things.

It's different to Weimann and Baker. They would not have had top clubs at this level offering them contracts when their contracts expired.

So we could let their contracts run down and offer them half of what they were on. And no other club were willing to offer more than that.

We surely won't wait and hope Kalas agrees a new deal at the end of next season.

So imo we will sell him in the summer. It might be we have Klose, Atkinson and Cundy here next season. Meaning we would just need to replace Kalas.

If Cundy looks decent at this level then that will be fantastic, as he should continue to get better and will likely be on less than average wages.

Signing a new centre back to compete with those 3 should be quite simple. Or it might be Baker is returning, and if so then we might not even need to replace Kalas.

On Cundy it is still far too early for me to judge. But I have always said a huge centre back playing as well as he did at Gillingham at just 23, making huge improvements from his Torquay loan in the National League. It showed he is improving at a quick rate, and if he keeps improving then it looks on paper like he should be a championship player.

To me he looks like he should physically dominate most strikers. He did so against Clarke Harris last season against Peterborough, and he's a very strong aggressive striker.

He's competent with the ball at his feet. He looks like he knows how to defend. Really hope he gets a start. But then I don't see why centre back is a problem right now when we have Kalas and Klose playing if we go with a back 4. They're both very good at this level. Atkinson returning fairly soon I think too.

Kalas will be off.

[Mr Chappers]

Always happy to see an ex Bath City player doing well. Saw him playing for Cambridge last season and he looked a lower division player at best. However, he has clearly been working hard, and whilst it’s far too early to assess him at this level, early signs are promising.

[Mr Popodopolous]

Work with a Gillingham fan, he was quite positive about Cundy's time there when I chatted to him the other week.

Age is on his side, he shouldn't be too expensive to renew if we do so...a run in the side would be good between now and May so we can get a full understanding, and we can experiment like this as probably one or two wins at most from safety. Decent physically, yeah a longer run should give us a better idea either way.

[Coxy27]

2 hours ago, VT05763 said:

Kalas will be off.

Based on what. You have more info than the rest of us, clearly.

[firstdivision]

15 hours ago, Davefevs said:

Today we got to see a bit more of Robbie Cundy….a full 45+5 mins of him.

What did we all think?

I’d like to see more of him before I make a judgement. He was solid enough yesterday. But the game was effectively over soon after he came on, so the pressure on our defence was very different from, say, defending a 1-0 lead or if the game were level going into a tense last twenty. Forest were in cruise control. 

[GrahamC]

8 hours ago, NcnsBcfc said:

Completely agree @JonDolman

 

We need an upgrade in both full back postions, plus another CB to probably replace Baker, Moore, Vyner & possibly Klose (Christ possibly 2 needed then).

With Kalas a fixture of the backline, the last two seasons have been abject defensively. Not all his fault of course, but he is cupable at times.

He is a saleable asset, one of our highest earners; and to get him to sign a new contract, it would surely take up a huge percentage of our budget for next season.

We need to completely restructure our back line in reality. Tough decisions ahead for RG, and NP this summer i think. But the balance of high earners at present in the side (Wells, Kalas, Palmer, JD, Bentley) is unbalancing the budget at present.

I certainly agree we need a significant restructuring of our defence but also think we need to be realistic.

My hunch is Kalas was far more marketable after a season in which he reached the Euro semi than he will be after this one, I just can’t see him going.

Likewise if it was Dasilva who turned down Birmingham on deadline day, not us, then he will be hard to shift.

We do have a little bit of flexibility, Simpson will go & both Klose & Cundy are out of contract. However should we decide to keep them both, we really don’t have too much at all with Moore & Vyner under contract & Baker’s future unclear, as he is still has a deal until ‘23 even if he retires, which makes the next 11 games crucial in terms of whether we feel Klose & Cundy offer us enough to be kept on.

Unless we can arrange deals that sees the likes of Moore or Vyner depart, the maximum number of defenders I can see arriving is only 2, one of which has to be an experienced, natural RB.

Edited February 27, 2022 by GrahamC