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BroadstairsR

If we stay up,

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and I am clinging on to that hope by quite a thin thread now, where will we stand and move on with regards to squad personnel?

This very much takes into account the vastly increased funding from Sky etc.

Ruddy would, I assume, still be number one choice for number one, although there have rumours indicating that we are seeking another top class ''keeper. If we do, I should imagine JR might move on and perhaps back to a leading Championship side. Or do we sell Rudd?

Are Russell Martin''s and Sebastien Bassong''s days numbered? Martin would remain as a useful squad member and for his personality, but surely we would now need an upgrade on Seb. to go alongside Klose? Same outcome for him as with JR? Ryan Bennett? Don''t know, perhaps retained for the squad.

I would hope to hang on to Olsson, whilst Pinto remains if only because he has just arrived. Whittaker''s days seem numbered.

In midfield do we have to accomodate the combined talents of Dorrans, Voo, O'' Neill and Mulumbu (as he has become?) We surely will need better than these four. Vardis might be worth keeping, if only to keep the medical staff on their toes.

Tettey remains, I would hope, but as second fiddle to a new attacking mid-fielder.

Howson seems a fixture, although I''m not entirely convinced and if we get better he may not be as automatic as he is now.

Has Hoolahan another full season in him? I doubt it. He does seem to blossom with age on occasions though.

Redmond and Brady one would hope remain, but the newly signed Jarvis has shown little of late. Strange signing and not cheap.

Forwards? Well we would need a complete strike-force it would seem. Neither Jerome nor Lafferty are likely to be prolific all of a sudden, although the former has attributes that make sense of retaining him. Somebody surely wants Kyle.

Have I missed anybody out?

In sum, a lot of new talent will be needed, a veritable spending bonanza will be the order of the Summer days.

Full back, centre back, attacking and holding midfielder, wide player and probably three decent strikers, AT THE VERY LEAST. Multi millions in fact.

We do have a host of youngsters on the fringes now. Will any of these be ready? I suspect Toffolo to step up and, may be the kid from Coventry will get a look in. The others might remain in the ''prospect'' category, although it would be nice if either of the Murphys were to step forward and also the Swindon boy might be ready.

If we stay up it will be an eventful summer. I would hope AN and the scouting staff (and perhaps McN) have learnt from some of their mistakes that have been apparent thus far.

NEXT INSTALMENT: "If We Go Down."

(But we are not quite ready for that. may be we will be after the Newcastle and Sunderland encounters.)

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I missed Naismith out.

Perhaps that''s indicative of his lack of impact of late.

He would hopefully remain and return next season refreshed and ready to justify his tag as our most expensive signing (up till the Summer in hand that is.)

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If we stay up (we wont) the squad needs a total overhaul we have a squad where you could easily play spot the Premiership class footballer and not come up with a name . Bigger worry is next season in the Championship have we really got a squad to come back up ? far too many that have been here way too long or are way past their best and lack any sort of fight or will to win . Up or down a good 75% of this squad needs chucking out and starting again , i expect next season we will look like a Scotland B side .

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[quote user="CanaryOne"]If we stay up (we wont) the squad needs a total overhaul we have a squad where you could easily play spot the Premiership class footballer and not come up with a name . Bigger worry is next season in the Championship have we really got a squad to come back up ? far too many that have been here way too long or are way past their best and lack any sort of fight or will to win . Up or down a good 75% of this squad needs chucking out and starting again , i expect next season we will look like a Scotland B side .[/quote]
Do you just pretend to be stupid? I get you''re an Ipswich fan and all but i''ve at least had vague conversations with substance with one of them occasionally.
Have we got a squad to come back up? Well we got promoted last season didn''t we?
Far too many lack any sort of fight or will to win? Well we got promoted last season didn''t we?
75%? So a team that got promoted out of the Championship last season should only retain 25% of that squad if we go down and need to come back up again?

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The whole squad would need overhauling. We would need a powerful, pacy, commanding centre back to play alongside Klose, a powerhouse in midfield, goalscoring box to box midfielder, a playmaker, a winger who can play either side, a marquee striker and a centre forward who can lead the line, two full backs and a CAPTAIN.

That''s just for starters. Happy to keep Ruddy and Rudd though!

If we are to stay up then the new signings would have to be a step up in class from what we have now and walk straight into the team.

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This post actually got me thinking, and indeed worrying, that the players might be having the same sort of thoughts.

The likes of Bassong, Bennett, Jarvis, MBokani, Olsson, Dorrans, Mulumbu, O''Neil, Martin, Jerome etc Must be thinking christ IF we do stay up they''re bound to sign someone better than me and I''ll be stuck on the bench or worse still in the youth team.

They might even think, even with the pay cut, that they are better off being in the Championship where they will at least look like better players.

In reality, I cant see many of them finding another premiership team interested in them. Also other championship teams probably wont even meet the reduced wages we have negotiated in their contracts.

Whilst all us fans want the players to be fighting for their places and for the club to remain in the premier league. Perhaps some of the players we are reliant on actually see the better long term career option for them personally being relegation!!!

A scary thought!

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And don''t forget Ricky Van Wolfswinkel still has one more year left on his contract...

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[quote user="hogesar"][quote user="CanaryOne"]If we stay up (we wont) the squad needs a total overhaul we have a squad where you could easily play spot the Premiership class footballer and not come up with a name . Bigger worry is next season in the Championship have we really got a squad to come back up ? far too many that have been here way too long or are way past their best and lack any sort of fight or will to win . Up or down a good 75% of this squad needs chucking out and starting again , i expect next season we will look like a Scotland B side .[/quote]
Do you just pretend to be stupid? I get you''re an Ipswich fan and all but i''ve at least had vague conversations with substance with one of them occasionally.
Have we got a squad to come back up? Well we got promoted last season didn''t we?
Far too many lack any sort of fight or will to win? Well we got promoted last season didn''t we?
75%? So a team that got promoted out of the Championship last season should only retain 25% of that squad if we go down and need to come back up again?
[/quote] If you think the squad we have here now would come back up you are very mistaken , the good players like Redmond and Brady will not stay then you have the utter crap like Martin, Whittaker , Bassong , Dorrans, Mulumbu ,Jarvis etc etc then the over the hill brigade Hoolahan , O'' Neil , Jerome will need to go hes utter shite Lafferty is unwanted thats no strikers at the club .Add to that a part time manager who looks as if park football is his top limit and i would say things look pretty gloomy .

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It is a great debate.

There is no question either way we need to change a few stale players. There is not enough quality for this league and in the championship we need a few more in that are capable if producing in the prem. that would have to be the goal and again I is tougher getting Promotion than staying up.

Centre back is needed, left back is needed, two Central midfielders, strikers... That is what is needed as a minimum. Most def a captain but the work at Colney is going to be key.

Also potentially new coaches, we have Been found wanting and improvements there are needed too.

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If we get relegated, Klose, Redmond, Naismith and Brady will be off.In fact, they''re more than likely having exploraty discussions with their agents right now..Mbokani, Bamford and Wisdom will go back to their parent clubs.Lafferty will definitely want out at the end of the season & probably Rudd too.My perception is that Hoolahan, Martin, Bassong, O''Neil, Whittaker, Andreu and possibly Olsson are reaching their sell by date and I can see O''Neil, Whittaker, Andreu leaving.Out of Dorrans, Mulumbu and Jarvis I think Mulumbu looks the most likely to go.So from the current first team squad I think the basis of our squad will be - Ruddy, Pinto, Martin, Bennett, Bassong, Olsson, Howson, Ofoe, Dorrans, Tettey, Jarvis, Hoolahan, JeromeIt will then be up to our young players who are currently out on loan to step up to the plate and repay the investment that has been made in them.Murphy''s. Toffolo, Loza, McGrandles etc.Even though we have a fair amount of talent there we would still need to buy at least 3 or 4 good players who would challenge for a first team place from the word go.Priorities would be - a good CB and a good striker

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Relegation or not the squad is due for a major clear out, which division we are in determines if our youngsters get a chance and who we sign. If we stay up we need different and better strikers, the midfield looks a bit weak particularly with Wes one of our better players getting on and the good old defense probably needs another couple plus a better goal keeper. We will not have the cash to do more than half of the above. If we go down there will be player sales and we will have a good spine and we should still be good enough to attract the better league players. Add to this some of our youngsters on loan may start to break through. Provided we do not appoint a complete prat as a manager i would be pretty optimistic as to our chances with either AN or a credible AN other

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Totally agree with that Yorkshire canary. Whatever league we are in we need a few out and a few in.

Striker wise, bamford and mbokani to go back. Rvw and Lafferty don''t have a future at norwich.

Look at the prices strikers are going for in the championship, Rhodes, andre gray, mccormack.

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For me, we''re short competition in goal, short a centre back still at this level and short a proper, all action striker or one with pace and one with strength, both of which would need to be good at finishing/ working hard to chase/win the ball.

They are the main shortfalls.

Past that, we could do with improvements in every other position if we''re to be a sustained premiership side.

Therefore i''d want at least 4 signings and probably another 4 more.

Leaving would be Whittaker, Dorrans, Lafferty, Andreu and the other non-youths out on loan.

I''d be tempted to ship Bassong or Bennett off too but I don''t want to see Russell Martin at CB ever again for us. As an option at right back, i''m happy to see him compete with Pinto though. I think it''s either time to let Rudd go cement himself at a championship side if we''re not there or time to let Ruddy go. He''s gone a bit stale at us but has been a bit more like his old self recently.

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