Time to start rebuilding now!

[DesWalker]

Personally I think it’s time to move on from the likes of Hooper & Lee. They contributed nothing the past 18 months and there is no guarantee they will get back to a 2016/17 level.  

 

Of course fantastic players for us in the past, but we really do need to move on. 

 

Bruce needs as much wiggle room as possible and letting players go who are out of contract will help with this. 

 

The only 2 i’d expect him to try and keep are Westwood and Palmer (as back up). 

 

The rest can go for me. 

 

Huge summer for us, Bruce knows what he is doing. I have upmost trust in him to get it right. 

[gurujuan]

I think we need to be careful here, not to give ourselves too much to do There will already be a lot of changes, with the out of contract players leaving, and the current loanees returning to their parent clubs Of course we will need to address key areas, but we don’t want unneccesary upheaval (look what happened to Fulham) We will also have limited resources, so I really don’t think we should be looking to bring in any more than say, half a dozen players 

I would look to keep the back 4 (or 6 with Westwood and Hutch) as intact as we can, and concentrate on the attacking part of the game If we can somehow secure Hector, and add a new left back, we already have a solid back 4, with Iorfa, Thorniley and Penney offering back up. Another three players across the middle, 2 central, and one wide, would give us more midfield options. Finally, the key signing, a more mobile centre forward. So 6 new players would do it, unless we lost any key personnel 

[gurujuan]

1 minute ago, DesWalker said:

Personally I think it’s time to move on from the likes of Hooper & Lee. They contributed nothing the past 18 months and there is no guarantee they will get back to a 2016/17 level.  

 

Of course fantastic players for us in the past, but we really do need to move on. 

 

Bruce needs as much wiggle room as possible and letting players go who are out of contract will help with this. 

 

The only 2 i’d expect him to try and keep are Westwood and Palmer (as back up). 

 

The rest can go for me. 

 

Huge summer for us, Bruce knows what he is doing. I have upmost trust in him to get it right. 

Probably right, though Palmer would now be one of the first names on the team sheet for me

[Lord Snooty]

4 minutes ago, Birley Owl 1867 said:

But they could easily fail when the championship is too big a step up for them.

 

I'm not sure but how many lower league signings does Bruce usually make?

 

Some might fail. That's the same for all transfers. But if it's low fee Lowe wages you aren't stuck wih them and can usually offload them again.

 

If we take Rhodes and Winnall. Well never recoup the Rhodes fee. Probably not a fraction of it. With Winnall, despite his injury we could probably break even as he's not high end wages and at a million isn't out of anyone's reach.  Someone would take a plunge on him.

 

I think that's a road we'll seriously have to consider. 

Bruce has already mentioned last month that he's brought in several people and built a transfer and scouting network so I wouldn't be surprised if they already have some targets in mind.

[Dunkstar]

8 minutes ago, gurujuan said:

Finally, the key signing, a more mobile centre forward. So 6 new players would do it, unless we lost any key personnel 

What do you class as a mobile centre forward? Obviously Nuhiu is definitely not mobile,  but you seem to be aiming this at Fletcher who I would argue is pretty mobile, he's been top class since Bruce came in imo. I don't think a lack of mobility is the issue for our forward line, more a lack of raw pace.

 

 

Edited April 14, 2019 by Dunkstar

[Belfast Owl 2]

6 hours ago, james o connor said:

It’s not sniping , it’s an opinion . I have watched him yes . He’s still tidy on the ball , but is too slow and immobile to effect games against the big teams , which is why we fall short . One or two of the old lot are fine but they need mixing in with younger , more mobile faster players if we are to be top 6 . As hooper is out of contract and has an awful injury record , he should be one to make way . 

 

Just because i dont live in 2015 when hooper , lee and forestieri (another who needs to go) were bossing it , doesn’t mean I’m not a fan . Thinking a player should be released also doesn’t make me a ‘bad fan’ or whatever rubbish you were spouting . Sorry my opinion differs to yours . 

 

He bossed it v Villa who are hardly small fry and only a brillant tackle denied him yestersday.

 

His intelligence awareness and movement are his areas. He was never quick

 

 

Edited April 14, 2019 by Belfast Owl 2

[stanningtonowl]

11 hours ago, NYowl said:

The need for more athletic players was evident today.

 

At times Leeds looked like they had an extra man on the pitch, Norwich will be the same.

 

 

They did. We had Boyd 

[stanningtonowl]

9 hours ago, WelshOwl74 said:

anyone can go for me

needs freshening up

this squad should have been took a part seasons ago

Agree. And I also like your use of have" and not the commonly used "of".

[daleblue]

11 hours ago, Birley Owl 1867 said:

Hope we aren't signing poo from league 2.

 

Need to be looking at good players who know this league, with a smattering of young, hungry loans from premier league clubs.

 

Not lower league risks.

 

If,( BIG ) if, getting a gem from league 2 would be the way to go as long as he can hit the ground running, NOT another to play in the U23's in the 

hope we can bring them on.

I agree with your Premier league loans,

good players from this league are going to have a cost which we may not be able to pay.

[A E Neuman NYowl]

2 minutes ago, Belfast Owl 2 said:

 

He bossed it v Villa who are hardly small fry and only a brillant tackle denied him yestersday.

 

His intelligence awareness and movement are his areas. He was never quick

 

 

If you can, watch the chance again.

 

Hooper was ahead of the defender and a poor first touch and lack of pace denied him the chance yesterday.

 

We have scored 1 in 3 in his starts recently, Fletcher looks isolated and lost playing alongside.

 

 

[stanningtonowl]

3 hours ago, the monk said:

Anyone mentioned hungry players yet?

 

Well I think we need young hungry players

 

Not sure what it means but it gets said a lot so thought I'd join in 

And don't forget a good pre-season. Always important those. Turns a bad player into a world beater.

[stanningtonowl]

2 hours ago, Bouncing Owl said:

 

I agree. It will be very difficult. We may be able to get Rhodes out on loan for a year and Jos may come back for Joey. 

I doubt this. He's seen him play, the same as the rest of us. He didn't like Joey. He just didn't like Hutch. Jealous of his hair and good looks. 

[stanningtonowl]

1 hour ago, handworth52 said:

if villa want him id snap there hands off for 5 million ,too lightweight , pretty appalling dead ball specialist ,cant cross from a corner ,and averages 1 goal a season from central midfield ,we have won a few games this season without him .I know a lot wont agree but I think he is 1 of the most overrated Wednesday players ever. 

And loves a back pass.

[TrickyTrev]

First thing’s first, Bruce needs to have a bit of a clear out.

 

In an ideal world I wouldn’t mind seeing any of the below leave although I’m aware not all are out of contract...

 

Abdi

Jones

Pudil

Matias

Boyd

Lee

Forestieri (accept anything north of £6m)

Pelupessey (take any offer for him)

Winnall (it’s just not worked out for him here and it doesn’t look like Bruce is a huge fan either, take anything north of £3m for him)

Nuhiu (take anything north of £2m for him)

Van Aken (take anything for him)

 

With regards to Hooper and Rhodes I’d only keep one of these 2. Hooper is the better player but his injury record leaves me thinking it’d be a gamble giving him a new deal and when Rhodes was here he played under 2 very negative managers. I just think given the fact that we get the ball forward a lot quicker now, perhaps under Bruce he might score a few goals as he has done his whole career.

 

We also need to tie down Palmer and Westwood to new deals and it’s be good to get the loan players back (apart from Onomah).

[handworth52]

20 minutes ago, Lord Snooty said:

 

Some might fail. That's the same for all transfers. But if it's low fee Lowe wages you aren't stuck wih them and can usually offload them again.

 

If we take Rhodes and Winnall. Well never recoup the Rhodes fee. Probably not a fraction of it. With Winnall, despite his injury we could probably break even as he's not high end wages and at a million isn't out of anyone's reach.  Someone would take a plunge on him.

 

I think that's a road we'll seriously have to consider. 

Bruce has already mentioned last month that he's brought in several people and built a transfer and scouting network so I wouldn't be surprised if they already have some targets in mind.

anyone signing winnall for a million would be laughing if he can recreate his form prior to us signing him , he was the 3rd highest scorer in league football in the previous 2 and a half years . id like us to give a run till the end of the season to see if he is of any use to us for next season. it might also add some value to him if he scores and plays well , its almost pointless now playing players who you wont be giving new contracts to , I think matias ,hooper and maybe nuhiu wont be here next season , id like joao,winnall and forestieri to be pushed to the front as they all need to find form and prove to bruce that they should be in his plans for next season. just cant see hooper staying on his huge wages and shocking injury record. 

[Lord Snooty]

I'm thinking Bruce might have already made his mind up about Winnall.

 

[ozzieowl]

11 hours ago, FreshOwl said:

Would be perfect but probably wishful thinking 

11 out of contract and some may be sold. 

Think Bruce will do whatever he wants. 

May already have possible deal for Lazaar n Aarons in place 

so why not. Big changes will happen imo. 

[gurujuan]

39 minutes ago, Dunkstar said:

What do you class as a mobile centre forward? Obviously Nuhiu is definitely not mobile,  but you seem to be aiming this at Fletcher who I would argue is pretty mobile, he's been top class since Bruce came in imo. I don't think a lack of mobility is the issue for our forward line, more a lack of raw pace.

 

 

Someone like Abraham, who offers movement, hold up and can run in behind. My suggestion in another thread, was a loan deal for Brewster if possible. Fletcher, for all his virtues, is too limiting, especially if we are only playing one up front. Absolutely agree, Fletcher has done a sterling job since Bruce came in, and you’d never knock his effort, but I can’t help feeling, this would be as good as it gets attacking wise. Perhaps we should use Fletcher, as Utd use Madine, to offer something different from the bench. Bruce seems to favour a single mobile striker leading the line, think Abraham, Hernandez etc

[Animis]

Watching them yesterday was like deja vu - a replay of so many 'big' games against decent championship teams who just have more than us. We've stagnated for three years and watched others around us move on. We're ok - that's about it - defensively and have a few technically gifted players. With the same players, we'd probably finish around 10th next season - that's about where we are at.

 

It's the end of an era, and one where we will look back and see it as a missed opportunity with the money that's been spent. At least now we seem to have an experienced manager who hopefully will have a plan to take us to the next level.

[dorian gray]

46 minutes ago, Dunkstar said:

What do you class as a mobile centre forward? Obviously Nuhiu is definitely not mobile,  but you seem to be aiming this at Fletcher who I would argue is pretty mobile, he's been top class since Bruce came in imo. I don't think a lack of mobility is the issue for our forward line, more a lack of raw pace.

 

 

fletcher needs a bannister/curran type player off him, pace and a finish.

if the new forward has pace to burn (vardyesque) and one of the wide m/f has the same and doubles up as a winger, then vastly more often than not you'll push the opposition backline nearer to their goal, that'll create space for our m/f to work in, something l**ds high energy game denied us yesterday.