Squad after possible relegation (god forbid)

[LoveItIfWeBeatU]

Notice how Ameobi hasn't even been on the bench since the Stoke game. I doubt Shearer would bother with him in the Championship either.

[Dave]

Beckford's not as young as I thought tbf. 26 this year.

[tmonkey]

No way would Jonas be playing in the Championship when it's a World Cup year, not unless Maradona specifically tells him that it'll be alright for him to play at a lower level for an entire year.

[Teasy]

Can't say I agree with that article like.  Not just the idea of going down not being a disaster but some of the player he suggests to let go/keep and some of his info is way off (wages, and thinking Gonzales will still be here for instance).

[Mr Logic]

..and that we'd still be a sellout every week.

[oldtype]

Load of hogwash that article. No way Jonas plays in the Championship, period. Same for Bassong and Enrique. I'm relatively sure Steven Taylor would leave as well if someone hands him a sizable contract and whispers in his ear that he could make the England squad if he plays consistently in the Premiership next season.

 

The reality is going down to the Championship will leave us with the absolute worst of the current squad (Ameobi, Butt, Duff, Smith, Geremi) along with the reserves. There will be a whole lot of holes where bodies will have to come in and limited funds to fill them. Barring some skillful wheeling and dealing in the market (and when's the last time we've ever done that ) we'd not only fail to come back up but potential disaster could be right around the corner.

[Guest TheKingOfNewcastle]

 

Certain leavers: Coloccini, Owen, Oba, Jonas (someone will have noticed his performances), Løvenkrands (contract runs out, and he is not interested in the Championship)

 

Aye, I'm sure loads of clubs are in need of a non goalscoring, non chance creating midfielder.

[relámpago blanco]

 

Certain leavers: Coloccini, Owen, Oba, Jonas (someone will have noticed his performances), Løvenkrands (contract runs out, and he is not interested in the Championship)

 

Aye, I'm sure loads of clubs are in need of a non goalscoring, non chance creating midfielder.

HE may not create much but what he does do is create space and worries defenders, that is just as important.  It's like Oba if he doesn't score his game by your definition would be bollocks but he scares the living hell out of defenders making them drop off and leaving other players free and nearer the box.

[Guest TheKingOfNewcastle]

[quote author=The Gambling Gorilla

HE may not create much but what he does do is create space and worries defenders, that is just as important.  It's like Oba if he doesn't score his game by your definition would be bollocks but he scares the living hell out of defenders making them drop off and leaving other players free and nearer the box.

 

I don't think he does.

[9]

only a couple of players id be sorry to see go, people like bassong,Enrique,Jonas would surely be best loaned out somewere for the season, save on wages and IF we get right back up there available again.

[relámpago blanco]

[quote author=The Gambling Gorilla

HE may not create much but what he does do is create space and worries defenders, that is just as important.  It's like Oba if he doesn't score his game by your definition would be bollocks but he scares the living hell out of defenders making them drop off and leaving other players free and nearer the box.

 

I don't think he does.

Of course he does, he has pace, could do anything not even he knows half the time and can score from pretty much anywhere, he just doesn't do it enough.  Doesn't mean it doesn't scare defenders though.

[Ronaldo]

seems happier for Edgar to be in the back 5 than Enrique, always been a f***ing idiot that Marcotti

 

[toontownman]

seems happier for Edgar to be in the back 5 than Enrique, always been a f***ing idiot that Marcotti

 

 

Edgar might look distinctly average in the championship, which is at least a step up.

[Guest Heneage]

I'd sign Skejlbred up asap.

[toontownman]

Can we change the title and merge all the identical pointless threads into this one?

[Dave]

Bumping this one just threw another into the mix.

[toontownman]

Or people could just look at the other threads on the board instead of making identical ones? 

[LoveItIfWeBeatU]

It will be a busy Summer with comings and I imagine, plenty of goings. What is the clubs scouting network like now that Dennis Wise and his Shite Hawk mates have gone? Are we geared up to find players for the Championship? Will we be able to sign enough players to fill the gaps that will be created by players leaving?

 

If Shearer stays, hopefully his name will persuade the likes of Man U and Arsenal to loan us a few up and coming players for a season (It worked for Roy Keane).

 

Why does anyone think Ranger and Carroll will be our strike force? Neither is proven in first team football. They may turn out to be great or they may not.

[Oakie Doke]

I can imagine Carroll doing well in Championship from what I've seen from him.

[Yorkie]

I can imagine Carroll doing well in Championship from what I've seen from him.

 

Nolan soon set that straight.

[oldtype]

Alright, it's officially time to have this conversation now.

 

GK: Harper. Next.

 

....alright, not quite. There's obviously the issue of what we do with Krul. Hopefully we can get him to agree to being a number two and competing for the shirt, put him in cup games to prove his ability. By all indications he's a real prospect and it would be a shame to lose him. Forster should go out on loan to league 1 or 2.

 

Backline: Ryan Taylor, Steven Taylor, David Edgar, Tamas Kadar

 

Coloccini will get the move he's been wanting since Christmas. Bassong will be sold on first offer. As much as Beye loves the club, he's only got a couple more years of top-class football left in him and will surely want to move. Enrique I think will be in very high demand, and while he's a decent bloke, he's got no reason to stay.

 

Hopefully Taylor wasn't talking out of his arse when he said he wants to stay, somehow I think a year in the

Championship might do him a world of good.

 

Ryan Taylor is allegedly a great Championship player. He'll get to prove that.

 

Edgar has shown flashes of decency over the years and there's no reason for us to let him go now that we're playing in what's probably his level. Hopefully he'll rise to the occasion and prove himself, although it would probably be a good idea to find a more experienced head to occupy this position.

 

Ditto for Kadar. I think he just might cut it at Championship level but there would be no harm done in buying some more experienced competition for him.

 

Overall we'll be in need of some bodies to make up the numbers, but there's at least the skeleton of a workable backline here. The biggest mistake we could make is to not buy sufficient cover and force ourselves into rotating in the likes of Tozer/Tavenier/Grieve when the inevitable injury crisis come.

 

midfield: go buy a f***ing new one

 

Seriously. We might be able to keep Nolan or Guthrie but just because we're going down a division doesn't mean that the fundamental problems in our midfield cease to exist. The players we have simply do not work with each other. We'll need a new DM to finally replace Butt and also a more mobile creative player to play with said new DM.

Perhaps that's a part that Guthrie will be able to play but I'm still not sold on him. Nolan, as far as I can tell, is simply incapable of being effective in a standard 4-4-2.

 

I don't mind Guthrie continuing to be deployed at right wing in the (very, very) poor man's "Beckham" role, but still, we need more wingers.  Jonas is gone and Lovenkrands should not be played in this position under any circumstance. I envision Duff being semi-effective in the Championship and LuaLua being a useful squad player,  but we'll still need two more wingers just to have a viable squad size going.

 

So two wingers and two CMs, there's an entire new midfield we need to buy. Good luck with that.

 

PS: Barton and Butt can go die in a fire

 

Forwards: Carrol, Lovenkrands

 

Those two and Shola is realistically who we're left with. It's simply delusional to assume we'll keep any of the others and the likes of Ranger should be at least a couple of years away from being effective even at Championship level.

 

Hopefully we'll tie Lovenkrands down to an extended contract because his pace and finishing could make him one of the deadliest strikers in the Championship. If he agrees to stay I can see him banging in 20 goals next season.

 

Carroll's improved in leaps and bounds this year and hopefully he'll do better than he did the last time he was in the division. While I highly doubt he'll be dominant, his physicality will be an extremely useful tool to have in the squad at least.

 

As for Shola, fair enough he could prove me wrong and turn out to be an awesome Championship player, but I simply don't think he has the fitness or attitude to succeed at any level of professional football. He's nailed on to be injured for at least half the season already.

 

To round out our strikeforce we could probably use a honest, hard-working Championship goalscorer in the mold of Michael Chopra (but hopefully not the man himself!)

 

So overall we're looking at about 6~7 new signings, which isn't bad at all considering the amount of playing staff we have leaving. Of course, it's our ability to identify players who aren't s***/past it/injured/c***s and buy them which will inevitably fail us.

[Dave]

I keep forgetting about Barton. I'd wanted him gone but ironically if nobody will buy him he could prove a very important player for us in the Championship. We'll not be able to attract anyone of his ability and he might cope a bit better being out of the media spotlight down there.

[LooneyToonArmy]

Bassong is gone in all liklihood as of course is Jonas.....hope we can do something similar to what Juve did and just loan them out for a season (touch wood) until we get back up.

 

Enrique and Colo will probably go to the like of Atletico Madrid or similar.

 

Should be looking at season long loanees.

 

Barazite, Wilshere, Simpson, Manucho, Campbell, Eckersley, Macheda, Cathcart, Plessis for example.

 

Wouldn't cost anything aside from small wages and would be miles better than what we will be left with.

 

agreed. Some other potential players could be Mancienne, Vela, Scott Sinclair ,Insua(?), Shorey.....might be worth trying for at least.....

 

 

Those that will go

 

Owen

Martins

Colo

Bassong

Jonas

Viduka

Enrique

Beye

Duff

Lovenkrands

S.Taylor

 

Those who are likely to stay

 

Butt

Nolan

R.Taylor

Shola

Carroll

Smith

 

nobody mentioned the forgotton man Geremi yet

[Mowen]

I'm a no in terms of loans to get us up. Too much of a short term fix, we'll be fucked when we get back up if we've been relying on loans.

[Ridman]

Why does everyone assume Bassong will leave? He has just arrived, is young on relatively low wages and has been our best player this season, why the hell should we sell him? I don't care if he wants out or not, Barry wanted to leave last summer but Villa's refusal to sell him didn't stop him form having a decent season. Don't want to see this end up like the Faye transfer when we sold him for peanuts then only to replace him with a more expensive and worse player.