Morepork

I like the notion that everyone has a shitversion of themselves!! of course, some are that version.

Haha, seems the threshold between a large squad and a small one was passed somewhere in the 5 players we let go, maybe he'd hoped for 2 in then we'd be just right.....seriously though I don't think they are lining up the next excuse, it wouldn't wash.

Lots of opinions, lots of speculation. Only thing I’m certain about is the need to move on from this and back two of the best the young keepers in this league.

That is the standard line for please offer me a new deal, not I will stay for free.

14:00 We face the real prospect of losing Hooper, Joao and Bannan who are all saleable assets because we are not permitted to renew contracts. So, if the EFL has imposed this particular sanction on us why have we not sought to sell Bannan and Joao in the last window, surely there would have be suitors for them.

Don't spoil it for me I'm only a minute in!!! So you're saying there's no happy ending?

Damn you....I was just about to stick my head in the sand, now I have to make myself listen to this.

Just September to look forward to then!!

I thought the issue was people feeling it better to develop a young player rather than persevere with a poor or even average one. I think if Westwood had gone and we’d banked some cash then people would move on. To have him still at the club and now third choice is weird and frankly something we may well regret later. Many people (I’ll include myself) see him as our best keeper. Obviously, we can all speculate as to why he’s not getting picked and that doesn’t help either.

We’re itching to see their quality! Let’s start today and get this show on the road.

Are you an adult?

I think you answered your own question there. He’s clearly the best keeper at the club, current international and the club act like he’s invisible. If that’s not alienating him then I don’t know what is.

I agree @theowlsman although I have to say I’d be amazed if it happens. Our strategy is crystal clear when it comes to KW. Firstly we have sought to alienate and diminish his status in the hope that the player and his agent will force a move. Either in the transfer window which has now failed or next by way of a loan with a future fee tied to it. The latter seems unlikely but big clubs do like plenty of quality keeper cover and obviously have the financial resources. Its not really what I’d call a strategy more a knee jerk reaction from the club. We’ve backed ourselves into a corner with this one again, picking Westwood now after the events of the last few weeks will cause a loss of face and ultimately make us look more foolish than we already do. I was not against a KW sale, but this looks messy and amateurish. His presence in the side could save us half a dozen goals over the course of a season IMO.

We dared to dream....now let’s just revert to type and get back to doing what we’ve done so well over the last 20 years. It’s a simple concept OP, let’s hope it can catch on.

Values aside, I know this. We need to sell any player who’s outstanding contract duration is 24mths or under, if - A) We can’t afford to renew. B) They don’t or won’t want to renew. C) We aspire to better in that position. Forrestieri is a prime example where I’d say with a degree of certainty that A and B are both true. Bannan is looking like an A. Its simple, but due to the nature of the issues we are seeing with the management of the club I don’t believe anyone has a comprehensive handle on this. If you get in the position we are with FFP then one of two things has happened. You either ignored it or you didn’t understand it. As DC has banged on about FFP since day one we are clearly the latter. All clubs are selling clubs in the sense that they would part with their best individual for the benefit of a stronger team. The owner must not fear selling his best players, he should fear not having a replacement lined up. Our poor player judgement has paralysed us in more ways than financial. If we reach a situation where we loose a player or players with significant value as a result of this folly then many of us will find it impossible to forgive. DC essentially inherited a blank canvas, it lost annually what we now loose every 2-3 months. Wages were under control, many of the players we had then are the same. We finished mid table, we had a well respected coach. There is a lot of work to be done to get us back to the starting position. I think lots of us are conflicted about DC, we still see a likeable bloke with good intentions. What he desperately needs to show us now is that he is also a bloke that can learn from his mistakes, take us forward and do it in a professional manner. Because we deserve that as a minimum.