toontownman

5m was quoted in all the papers. 1m would be decent business.

Why does that matter though? As of now we're not in the Premiership. If we do manage to get back up we can consider what to do about our strikers then. Absolutely, if he is good enough to do the job in the Championship and helps us go back up it doesnt matter whether he will make it in the prem or not. Our coaches will know by then, and presumably he would have done well enough that we could easily sell him on to another championship side or fleece a gormless prem team into taking him (hopefully at a profit!)

If he really wants to stay we would be insane to let him leave, regardless of the price (which we will not receive a penny more than a million with his age and coming into the last year of his contract) As previously mentioned keeping Beye/Taylor/Enrique would be huge, somehow add Bassong into that equation then even better. I dont think its outrageous thinking either, bar Bassong Im confident the rest would be willing to stick it out at least until January.

I really have seen nothing of him although I know he has a big reputation. Is he really different to the likes of Lee Trundel? who was prolific in the lower leagues. Would he be capable of making the step up, he is 25 now right? So best time to start blossoming. Would he bring us anything different to what we will have (hopefully goals)?

Was going to write about us getting him in about a week ago. Unfortunately as mentioned its wildly ambitious a signing, even at his age I think wages would be a stumbling block and he could easily live the last days of his career in the premiership for more pennies. He would be the type of experienced CB we need though.

His experience in the championship (as mentioned) will be invaluable, as will his brothers if the reports are true. Add in Carvers experience and Rob Lee's apparent tactical nouse (I dont know where this assumption has come from but it sounded good) and the coaching should have very decent depth and quality.

I guess that depends if he goes to a club with a quality manager and set of coaches that can knock some intelligence into him. I know where you coming from, we wont be losing out greatly with him gone, but he is with alot of players that have gone backwards and will never improve here. I think a big waste of money is a bit far fetched. His goal return wasnt really that shabby and we might have already been in the championship without his goals under a limp Roeder team (whether that means much now I dont know!), i'd not return the memories of his goals at Bolton/Blackburn away or especially Spurs amongst others for anything.

Didnt some report today say July 1st for players reporting back? seems a bit late.

Not really what everyone wants to consider right now I'm sure, but it did pop into my mind when contemplating following Martins next year possibly in another Premier League team. Will you be supporting any sides in the Premier League next year? A surreal and quite ironic scenario given the lovely time period when this thread was created (by the looks of it we were just as suicidal then to be fair). Personally I dont know if I could cope with watching the premier league to begin with, I might just try and ignore it?

What if Kinnear decideds to leave and Shearer declines to take over? Who do you want? Who would come? Sorry to start another potential downer with every other depressing scenario becoming apparent. I think we would still attract alot of names, possibly a few that might even be as good if not a better bet than Shearer. Do the people that fancied Bruce still think he would entertain the possibility now we actually are relegated? I think he should be number 1 priority if Shearer does decline, although I doubt there would be much point asking seeing as he and Shearer would demand similar things. Martinez would be amoung the top of the pops for up and comers.

Regardless of how well he did for us, it will hurt seeing him playing for someone else, especially if its an english club. Wish him all the best though, one of the few exiting players i will look out for in the future.

We definitely need some sort of brick shithouse (or, alternatively, someone who is capable of defending) in the midfield... but i mean, wouldn't signing a load of cloggers - like you've suggested - simply be succumbing to the league we're in? I know i'm in danger of contradicting my previous post, but surely it's a bit of flair and 'magic' that shoots teams up the Championship? A la Swansea (i think ). It's a physically tough league and our pampered little fannies would get rolled over every week. Gutierrez et al will get kicked to bits every week and we need to be strong and organised just to compete, let alone push on up the league. An extra 8 games this season and no room for passengers mean the emphasis is on graft over guile. Completely, we need a new killer kilcline, we really havent had one since. Barton takes the role too seriously.

The likes of Doyle, Hunt and Andre Bikey at Reading might be worth taking a look at. I think they would all do as squad players in the Prem too. Surely not a return for Gary Speed? He would still proably to better than Butt.

Havent you been watching man? We can't pass!

What a load of tosh, wildly exaggerated wages surely! Harsh on Enrique aswell, all the better if he is hard to shift I'd keep him in a heartbeat. He will have no shortage of buyer IMO, granted we wont recoup 6m for him though. Think its reality Nicky Butt will stay with us unfortunatley. Still I'd hope we at least give him a wage slash or leave ultimatum. I'd think he would be a good pro to have around the younger players next year and would be a solid player in the championship, unfortunatley I have been watching him play which contradicts that notion.

Shearer , sign him up, Shearer Shearer sign him up Why? Because he's a Newcastle fan? I'd rather take Berbatov if that were the criteria. Or because a) he would come b) he is miles better than anyone we have have in midfield c) his heart is in the club and wont shirk like the majority of the other wasters we have at the club.

This.. Its worrying!

He plays for Espanyol, though. If Espanyol were relegated, it was expected they would keep him as they would be looking to reduce the wage bill by losing some first teamers. They are safe now so its likely they will sell for 1.5 to 3 mill. Wont be returning to the Championship. If someone in the premiership/La Liga doesnt snap him up one of the three promoted clubs will, Celtic are also interested. However we have been watching him, I'd expect us to give it a go, I dont expect us to get him.

“There are too many people here who don't give a f***,” one said. “Too many wasters, too many chancers. There needs to be a clearout, from top to bottom.” Bet it was Viduka. Not a huge fan of Carver but he is well respected by people I do respect and he does love the club. Rob Lee would be good for kicks, god only knows if he would be any good, same goes for Bob Dowie, he was DOF at Palace for a few years but whether he is actually any good is another matter. Hope we manage to keep the Money in the Academy, looks like he is one of the few people actually doing their job.

Krul Forster Carroll Kadar Tozer Ranger Lua Lua Baheng Vukcic Adjei Inman Spear Might well all feature next year, although it might be a touch early for the tail end of that list. Might well give the likes of Danquah, Donaldson, Godsmark, Morris, Lough and even David Edgar another shot when the majority would have been sold on or released had we stayed up.

Can't see why Spurs would want him when they got Bent, Defoe and Keane who are all better then Oba and Man City will be looking for strikers much better than him as well. Type of player Droopy D loves... Bent will be out the door aswell. Defoe/Martins/Keane/Pavlyuchenko gives quite a bit of variety. Villa/Everton might well be other potential destinations in the UK.

So we have 15 players supposedly on wages over 50k/week. (which is total bollocks IMO more like 8 tops) Obviously we need to get rid of them all or cut their contracts in half before we can even think about bringing anyone new in. Sounds daunting but to be honest who are these players? Owen - Off Viduka - Off or getting a lower contract, think the A-League is calling Martins - Off Colo - Off Duff - Potential problem, someone would take him if he doesnt take the cut though. Smith - See above, I think he would stay though if Shearer asked him, easier to get shot maybe? Barton - Pay cut or out, dont think he has a leg to stand on at the minute. Butt - Pay cut or out, although like Duff can see him standing his ground Not even convinced most of them earn more than 50, but here are others maybe around that mark Cacapa - Off on a free Beye - Keep at all costs - will probably leave though, not a problem either way Taylor - Happy to stay, probably wont take a pay cut though. Jonas - Apparently happy to stay, which would be career suicide, will be off imo Geremi - Off Ameobi - If he makes anywhere near that he should be burned alive Xisco - would be suprised if his wage is that high, but would need to take a cut or leave, winners all round R.Taylor - Cut or out, doubt he is on too high a wage Nolan - probably off, wont take a cut imo, doubt he is on wages over 50k though. Enrique - Not close to 50k but will more than likely be off, we might get lucky though. Its all doom and gloom but to be honest I dont think there are too many people we will struggle to shift.

We are f***ed then given our win ratio of the last 8 "cup finals" we just played! We would end up on around 28 bloody points! There is a huge amount of competition though for those 3 spots, its going to be hugely difficult, imo we are going to struggle, especially if we take this superiority complex with us. Whilst its great we might get a couple of decent top flight players staying with us, its no use having them if the stone cold reality hasnt hit them that we went down because they werent good enough. Let hope we have enough of a young hungry element to push us where we want to go.

Suprised by that, although he is looking to get back in the international team. Not a huge loss by any stretch of the imagination but he would have been handy in the championship imo, I thought he would also take the drop for the first team football too. Nice to see some honesty though, you can bet the majority of those gutless wankers will wax lyrical about staying on to help like the heroes they are, whilst their agents will be whoring them out to every club under the sun.

If he wasnt a likeable character he would have been torn apart on here a long time ago. To be fair at times he has been anyway. He has huge potential but like anyone in the academy and reserves will now be realising, it wont ever be realised at this club unless things are turned on its head.