HazzaJet

If a player with no PL experience was worth £25m back in 2018 (Maddison), then a first team regular in the PL this season is worth £50m

Pukki got off to a flying start this season then he completely fell apart. Hopefully he’ll get back into form next season but if he doesn’t I think we might have to think about selling him or signing someone else in January. I don’t think he’ll be quite as good as the Pukki of last season though - yes I think he should still score quite a few goals, but no I don’t think he’ll be the top scorer in the Championship.

As I’ve said many times, the board has said that we have no need to sell players this summer. As our objective next season will almost certainly be to bounce straight back up, we will need to keep as strong a squad as possible so we are going to want as much money as possible for our first team regulars in order to replace them.

I can only say I totally agree with you there MNC. Although I’m not bothered about Bournemouth, for months on end I have been desperate for Villa to join us in the Championship next season as I don’t think they deserve to stay up because of their poor league position in comparison to the amount they’ve spent on players - about £150m in total if I’m correct? Sheffield Utd thoroughly deserve to stay up IMO, yes I thought they spent about £75m, but they’ve looked for proven players and their league position considering they are a newly promoted side I feel is outstanding Villa are 4 points adrift of safety, although they have a game in hand to Watford but Watford have a superior gd. To be honest I’m more than happy to take defeat to West Ham on Saturday to make things harder for Villa, who host Manure on Thursday evening. Personally I’d like to see Bournemouth, West Ham and Watford all do well for the rest of the season in order to minimise Villa’s chance of survival

Can’t see us selling any first team regular for that price now. 2 years ago we sold Maddison to Leicester for £25m when he hadn’t even played a minute of PL football. Cantwell has been a first team regular for us this season and already got 7 goals to his name so if you ask me I reckon we should ask for at least £30m for him

Loads of players I can think of including: Derveld de Waard Yves de Blasiis Luciano Becchio - surprised no one has mentioned him yet. Did brilliantly for Leeds, we signed him and the only goal he scored for us was in a pre-season friendly! I reckon Brian McGovern, Carl Robinson, and Andy Hughes all deserve a shout. Possibly van Wolfswinkel, although there has been a lot of question over the years that Hughton’s defensive style of play didn’t suit him Think it’s a bit harsh to criticise Theoklitos as he was only starting to get used to UK football and never got to make another first team appearance for us. Also think he probably wasn’t to blame for every goal we conceded in that record defeat to Colchester, surely the defence was at fault for some?

Agree with you there BP - Webber has stated that we will only sell players if necessary, we want to keep as strong a squad as possible to boost our chances of going straight back up next season, and I think the lockdown has had an affect on the financial side of things with football clubs

I’m very interested to see what happens to our squad this summer. Webber has said that we will only sell players if necessary as we want to keep as strong a squad as possible in order to try and go straight back up but if we get a big enough offer I think we will take it. If we do sell any of our best players though I hope it will be very few and for a minimum of £30 - £40m each. I’m not usually very sure about the likelihood of players leaving, mainly because of what Webber says about us selling, here are my general thoughts about some of our players (not necessarily the likelihood of their departures): McGovern/Tettey - contracts expire next summer, both in their mid 30s, can only see them staying with us for the rest of their career Krul - talk about him getting called up for Holland just before the lockdown and I’m sure he would love to play in the Euros. Can’t see where else he would be first choice though - possibly Sheffield Utd as I don’t think they’ll manage to get Henderson on a permanent deal. There were rumours Schalke were thinking about signing him at the end of the season Klose - although I’ve always admired him and regarded him as our best CB, I have mixed views on him. If we happened to get a decent offer for him I don’t think I would mind him going, as he’s very injury prone. Am also happy for him to stay though Aarons/Lewis/Godfrey/Cantwell - been a lot of talk about them all throughout the season. They are still very young though and need to get more experience, so if they do go I think it should only be a small PL club otherwise I think they could wreck their careers. Can’t see us selling them all Buendia - were rumours recently about Leeds signing him. Did brilliantly goal wise last season but hasn’t found the net once this season, although not done bad assist wise. May go Pukki - brilliant start to the season and there were a lot of rumours then about him going for about £50m this summer. However, his form then has declined throughout the season and I can’t see why anyone else would want to sign him. Convinced he will stay Drmic - originally thought he was a good signing, although I’ve changed my mind now as he’s very injury prone and the PL clearly isn’t his level. Although he was a free agent and we have some players with relegation clauses in their contracts, I reckon he’s on high wages and I can’t see who else would want him. Am more than happy for him to go - might do better next season though McClean/Trybull/Vrancic/Stiepermann/Hernandez/Hanley/Leitner/Rupp/Zimbo - not been big names for us this season and reckon they’ll all stay Byram - clearly rather injury prone, but I feel he has done quite well for us at times. Can’t see him going as we’ve only signed him last summer. If Aarons does go I think he’ll replace him though. As I’ve said I’m very interested to see what happens this summer transfer wise after what Webber has stated, and am hoping that very few of key players will go

I 100% agree with you there. I want us to keep Farke for next season as our current squad now know him and his style of play well. He also did a really good job in the championship last season. However, I’m also not happy with his zonal marking and late substitution tactics

Just about everyone seems to think that we are going to lose our best players this summer. I know it can’t be guaranteed but I do have quite strong belief that the we stand a good chance of keeping most of them, possibly even all. What is our objective going to be next season? - If you ask me, I would say it will almost certainly be to go straight back up. What is required for promotion? - A very strong squad Webber has also said we will only sell players if necessary, although I do believe that if we get a big enough offer we might just be too tempted to accept it. However, if any go I don’t think we will let them go cheaply, as we will need a lot of money in order to replace them. The coronavirus lockdown has also had an affect on the financial situation regarding football clubs, and I think that a lot of them will either try to keep who they currently have, or look for free agents If we do allow other clubs to hold talks with our players the player themselves also need to think carefully. A lot of our players are quite young and still have a lot more experience to obtain. Some of them, despite being young, are getting regular first team football with us like Aarons, Godfrey and Cantwell - exactly what they require. If they did get offered a contract by a bigger club they need think whether it would be a wise idea to accept it. Yes they would almost certainly get higher wages, but would they still get the experience that they are currently getting with us? They could end up wrecking their career if they’re not careful. As I said, it can’t be guaranteed that we will keep them all but I do believe that we stand quite a good chance of retaining a fair amount of our key players for next season, we’ll just have to wait and see

I saw a post about this topic once in the past. From what I seen over the years regarding dismissals it seems to me like: 2nd Yellow = 1 Professional Foul or Deliberate Handball = 1 Violent Conduct, Serious Foul Play, or Foul and Abusive Language = 3 If the player has already been suspended during the season I also believe they carry an extra match - when players pick up their 10th yellow of the season they seem to get suspended for 2 matches, and I’ve seen players who have already been suspended during the season sent off offences that usually carry a 1 match ban suspended for longer (had Godfrey committed the offence I think he would have been suspended for 2 matches or had Klose already been been suspended twice this season I think he would have been suspended for 3 matches)

How we do next season will depend entirely on who we manage to keep this summer. The board has said that they don’t think we will need to sell, although I’m still convinced we will end up selling some of our best players but if we manage to keep the majority of the first team I do believe we should do quite well. Once we are officially relegated I would like Farke to use any remaining fixtures to try out new tactics, so if we do go straight back up he might have some ideas of how to play in the PL

I have to say I totally agree with there mate. Considering when he arrived with a poor squad in his hands and barely any money to spend what he’s achieved so far has been amazing. I would certainly like to see him try some new tactics though - scrap zonal marking. Lets also remember that this poor season wasn’t all down to Farke. When asked why we weren’t spending much on players last summer Farke said it was because “We’re still paying for sins in the past in PL transfer trading”. Our season has also been plagued by injuries. Personally I can only say that if we manage to go straight back up next season, we need to be debt free so we can spend a bit more on players. Pity the current owners don’t have the consideration to sell the club to someone richer - that could turn things round for us. I want keep Farke until at least Christmas. If we sack him now I think we would need to find someone who has PL experience as his replacement, and I’m crossing all the managers who “park the bus” off the list

Although I’m totally against his zonal marking system I certainly wouldn’t sack him. Despite conceding a lot of goals I still feel he did brilliantly last season, and if we manage to keep enough talent I do believe he could take us back up next season. Let’s also remember that the reason why we have had such a poor season isn’t just down to poor management by Farke, it’s also down to a season plagued by injuries and being unable to invest in players much due to debts. Sacking the manager after relegation isn’t always the answer either - a few years back Wolves sacked McCarthy after relegation to the Championship and the following season they found themselves in League One, I believe that’s also been the case with Sunderland. Maybe consider sacking him around December/January if it looks like we don’t stand a chance of going back up

Although I do believe that Leeds are finally going to get promoted this season, it’s not over yet and we’ve all seen the number of times they’ve slumped in the past. Although the board have said they believe we won’t need to sell this summer, I think we will end up selling some of our talent but if we do I don’t think we will sell it cheaply. Emi said recently he was happy to be at the club and if Leeds want him so badly ask for £40m+ for him

Personally I can only see it as a defeat, probably 2-0. If this is how it does turn out though I think we can only say that it’s season over for us now, as after our defeat to Southampton this game is a must win. Hopefully we will get 3 points out of it though

Personally I can only see us playing in the 2nd tier next season. I know survival isn’t impossible, it’s just we’re currently 6 points adrift of safety (effectively 7 when you look at our gd), with 9 games remaining. In order to stay up I feel we will have to win at least 4, lose no more than 2, and hope that all the teams around us are dropping points. As I said, we might stay up - there have been some surprising comebacks over the years, it’s just I see it very unlikely. My main hope at the moment is that we finish above Villa, then at least it’s guaranteed that we won’t be playing in a lower league to them next season. Anyway, OTBC! I’m hoping for the best, it’s just I’m afraid I’m someone who tends to fear the worst

Don’t come very often as I live quite far away although came twice last season. Of what I can remember from the times I have been these will have to be: 5-0 win v Huddersfield (think it was 1997), including Neil Adams spot kick 3-1 win v Rotherham, when Cantwell scored his first goal for us 4-0 win v QPR although despite scoring for us first half I thought Buendia was a disgrace, and the ref was totally right to send him off

Thanks for this KC - really miss that “name that team” game where you put the player’s surname in a box and if it was correct it would light up. Had a look at it and the only players I couldn’t get were the wingers, Llewelyn and Henderson

If the season doesn’t get completed then I think that there should be no champions, promotion, or relegation as no teams are officially champions, promoted, or relegated yet - anything is possible and we might have stayed up. I also feel that a lot of our autumn results were down to injury - had Klose/Zimbo been fit when Amadou was playing I think we could have done better. Also ban all clubs from signing players who aren’t out of contract so teams can restart next season with how their squad would have looked in case they’d received no offers for players

Am desperate for Villa to go down with us - they don’t deserve to stay up in my opinion. They are supposed to have spent over £150m on players and when you compare that to how much we’ve spent and the difference between how us and Villa have done this season it’s completely ridiculous. When I look at how us, Sheff Utd and Villa did last season and how much we each spent last summer I feel realistically that really we should be in a relegation battle, the Blades should probably be challenging for a top half finish, and Villa should be challenging for Europe (i.e. looking to do what their West Midland rivals did last season)

I see what everyone is saying by his injuries now - I don’t think I knew he’s been quite that injury prone. Only started this thread to see what the rest of you thought about him. At least he’s only cost us his wages in case he does turn out to be a failure - unlike Naismith who I believe is supposed to have cost us somewhere in the region of £10m and where Thirsty Lizard mentioned Joelinton in an earlier post - it’s believed he cost Newcastle £40m

Would go with pretty much the same formation Ron - would just drop a centre-back as we would be playing 11 a-side football, not 12 a-side!

I don’t know what the rest of you think about Drmic, but would you think he should be getting more game time? I have to say that I feel rather sorry for him this season as I was looking forward to seeing him play, although he’s not played much due to injury and being confined to Farke’s late subs bench He’s said that he came to play and feels fit and determined to help us. Personally I want to see him play more as I thought he would be a good signing and the last thing I want to happen is him handing in a transfer request at the end of the season due to lack of game time. Would love to see Farke playing 2 up the top with him and Pukki starting.

I agree it’s time for a new formation as 4-2-3-1 just doesn’t seem to be working for us. When Lambert arrived he started playing a 4-4-2 with a diamond midfield and straight away we were a completely different side Although I have belief in Farke and don’t want to see him go, I still feel he needs to find a variety of different formations/tactics he can use as he may need them in case of injuries or to break down the other team’s style of play