nufcjmc

I think home grown with value while we still navigate the PSR shite will always come about prospect of selling. Howe himself said regards Anderson albeit paraphrasing here clubs are rewarded financially from selling the local academy products. Ultimately he may struggle here to break through to get the minutes needed to push his development and ultimately be sold. However we aren't there yet surely out of the "extra" squad in midfield we have longstaff and willock are first to go. Depending on injuries later in his career big Joe could also be sold down the line plenty of opportunity yet. The biggest downside of no Europe and a very good first 11 means we struggle to give meaningful minutes to our good enough to play but not good enough to take the starting spot. Hoping that if we do get Europe next year (I know we have conference but its qualifier only, I believe) we mange to get Europe again come the end of the following season. Extra games are a drain on a smaller squad but season on season Europe is how clubs status and finances start to keep pace with ambition. Plus gives squad members meaningful minutes. Right now it's a win win he's young and developing if it works out it has the potential to save us 40/50/60m in the future recruitment if it fails the prices of young players with potential could still get us 20/30m in the future of pure profit to invest again.

It's an issue when most what he does is sub par its not about not seeing the good it's the lack of it present. To be fair I appreciated the pass out to the wing but other than that it was alot of mistimed,misplaced akward moments on the ball. He's seen his boyhood club lift a trophy and he contributed to it. Hope he moves on as we as a team already have.

I brought Dummett and Ritchie up as rumour was howe wanted them to stay the loyalty is lovely but sentiment means you never let people go and evolve and develop as a side. Great 40k spanked on the wall to be emergency backup 5th choice rather let him go and get someone young and up and coming with no pressure to start the back line is aging out badly. We are going to have to bite the bullet eventually kraft, BDB and Schar are already staying that's enough of the older lot sticking around for me.

I don't want him getting regular mins and have doubts he will come back and do a job with such a long lay off he's had and his age. He's an older pro and can do a job if needed that's it to me. He is in the leadership group and was allowed to keep the word captain against his name but what he did to get us here I cannot say as I don't know. But works both ways I also cannot say he played a great deal into it either. I want to upgrade the first 11 and ideally see players who don't sell become our squad the issue at centre half is that all these players are aging out. Keep schar and BDB yes played loads now and maybe playing less will extend their careers but would rather not extend every old player to kick the issue of recruitment down the road. Hence why ideally lascells gets let go and Howe gets a young under 23 under no pressure to start and use his magic hall give him a year to integrate but they are in and around the first team. It felt like a good time to see him lift a trophy get fit and be let go. We all know in a non PSR world alot of the old regime players would have been cycled out by now.

Totally get that squad rebuild already has a shopping list and I don't follow our youth sides to know if any can fill that gap. However on the flip side next summer we could be talking about needed a schar, burn, Trips, kraft and lascelles replacements on one fell swoop if they all stay this year and go the next this will be hard to do financially but also at risk of breaking up the defensive unit in one fell swoop. Letting Lascelles go now may add a shopping item to this summer but would give a chance to maybe sign a young player and give them 12 months on the fringe to wait for their chance to step up.

We will have to agree to disagree then my main issue was the assumption from the post I originally replied to I needed reminding that he adds value and in real life players hang around. While I agree we will get fringe players we have Kraft for that as a low wage low appearance does a job when called upo pro my issue is I don't want a pile of them. Going back to last summer the rumour was Howe would be allowed to keep Dummett and Ritchie would have stuck around for the season if we had of gotten european football. Jamaal, Trips, Schar and BDB are all over 30 and need to improve and letting some old players go on frees may force the club to invest in the back line in phases unless we offering one years to them all again next summer. I don't want them all to walk away next summer for instance and all need replacing. My point of Gillespie is he has a squad number been here 5 years for 10k a week and offered nothing on the pitch he's possibly stopped a youth prospect being that "training keeper" we saw in his last appearance he's sub par i don't care if he poses good for the social media stuff I want my squad numbers to go to players I can see us offering minutes to. 25 man squad yes and filler players are in all of the prem sides squads but we have maybe 15 players to call upon regularly we need to raise the bar for the other squad players so they can realistically offer something tangible on the pitch. Lascelles may still be able to offer something but injured for a year 31 years old and clearly struggling to come back we have no clue what sort of player we are going to be getting back.

I don't think that's fair I don't need reminding the leadership group has done things to drive the culture change from the "just go out and play lads" approach. However we need to eventually move on 40/50k sitting on the sidelines clapping is not healthy for the club who need to progress. He's played his part from the treatment table but if we can't keep standards up with full internationals in the side then I would be worried at this stage. Getting Europe this season should be a call to push on and progress not keep Gillespie, Jamaal and such a cushy extension with the justification to keep the group together.

Was looking forward to clearing out dead wood a fresh start hope the 12 months like longstaff is a way of getting a small fee.

Haven't been watching them do they try and play and just do it badly or is this going to be another frustrating low block game?

Howe confirmed in his mini interview published on nufc after the game was out through "illness" bless him may have caught the sniffles standing on the open top bus 🤣

12months left on contract come summer although may have an option to extend a year is our only hope of getting anything cut price unless they want a player off us to lessen the outlay. But agreed prem proven prime age from a non relegated side it's going to be 50m+.

I think what we can achieve is very much in the balance part of me thinks the mental fortitude and relief winning something will either make the players relax and play their best football securing 5th spot and champions league or we are in party mode jobs done and the season just ends in us staying in the Conference comp. Won't be disappointed if this is all we achieve but feel like right it's in our hands

Hope the limping was cramp or something not worse need him for this final push let's upgrade this conference league to a champions league place

We had to beat the best two sides of the league to win this no fluke about it absolutely amazing

It will bite us in the arse if it results in 5 or 7 mins extra time

If Dunk can get England caps why can't our BDB such a consistent performer this season not perfect but always available and willing to work hard for the team.

Cant quite agree with you when you use brilliant to describe him. Agree we need a squad, we need an option from the bench etc. In a non PSR world I would say great age, behind others so don't need him to show up week on week and would suit certain games etc. The lack of europe and how good the others are at staying fit have meant we can't offer these players the run of games they maybe need. The side are also evolving and you need to step up or be left behind as longstaff has found this season. Biggest issue for me is 30m sitting on the bench week in week out who spends alot of time out on the treatment table. For that "investment " he's not been good value and if we could get 25m for him i would snap your hands off. All very what if really. While Eddie clearly has his favs and persists with them the likes of Barnes and willock are simply not doing enough to make the decision harder. When everyone is fit the team right now picks itself I feel. Looking forward to futher in the journey when there are tougher calls to make.

So other than Birmingham in the cup has he done a great deal to be pushing for more time than cameo appearances? I had him in my list of players to go to allow reinvestment despite being less injured this season he's showing me nothing to warrant a run in the side. Might have been different for a few of our fringe players with Europe and the need to rotate more but just not seeing the player from the Champions league qualifying season.

I love him and he's been great this season but no idea what this being the most advanced player chasing down players on the wing is all about. That clumsy challenge where they got a free kick just seemed to be inviting pressure to begin with him staying so high up following a corner then to allow them to loft it forward from a free kick when he committed a foul. I know we want our players to do a bit of everything but stick to defending and if there is a ball to chase the attackers should be doing this.

I am clinging to the lack of quality in front of him, how young he is and the fact he missed a full year of football through injury means he's still learning and can develop.

Not sure if this has been posted yet? https://youtu.be/azC7o4tcsJA?si=JvG3Iov4rCve6b_g

Him playing on his preferred side might help his chances of performing better he's here for 3 games at least. As others have said if he's rotated with willock or joelinton it doesn't bode well for him staying beyond the summer.

I think that's a good point added to the fact a sprinkling of B+/B players in a few areas drag up our D and C rated players as a collective. I find when you have arguments about which player would get into other squads and vice versa the element of how "these" players work well collectively can be missed. Makes the task over the next 2 or 3 years that much harder as we look to let players move on and integrate new with the same "this set of lads" type ethos.

If your good your good but for Joelinton specifically you have to bump him up for his versatility which is an asset for us which may not be as needed in the context of league. Doing a job falling into the back line, middle, left and right boosts him "on his day" to a easy B. If I only thought him in the middle of a 3 and only that it might be a C+ instead.

Obviously not my debate to be sticking my two penneth worth in but not all variables have stayed the same while we may no longer be punching above our weight other teams have signed players/changed managers so what we are doing now is in a much harder landscape. Coupled with that the lack of squad freshness for us and players aging out i still hope we can refresh and come again next season and take the league conundrum from a different angle the Howe style has worked but he surely knows it won't forever. Still think under the circumstances Howe is doing great the inconsistency is what worries me most we can't have a good 90 we have good spells and sometimes play like it's a completely different 11 from one half to the next never mind game to game.