An experienced centre-half

[Coneys Knee 940]

I just want us to sign one of these. An experienced, decent, no frills, strong centre half that doesn''t mind sticking their head in where it hurts, who can take control and organise us defensively. Someone that isn''t for the future, or needs and extended period to settle in. Why is this so hard?

Just this, would make me happy.

[Lessingham Canary 99]

Ryan Shotton ?

[morty 0]

I think this is more likely to happen in the summer.Turner, Bennett and Bassong all out of contract at the end of the season.Unless we, unexpectedly, shift one or two of those this window, but not so sure its likely.

[Lessingham Canary 99]

Seems crazy that there does not seem to be a sniff for either of these 3 or Lafferty, must be a club somewhere desperate for the services of the like of any of them.

[Coneys Knee 940]

I was thinking more along the lines of someone like James Collins at West Ham though he''s probably still a bit too involved around their first team at the moment. There have to be some decent experienced centre halves available though

[Van wink 2,994]

If they can afford the wages....I hear someone say.

None of us actually know what sort of money their on do we?

[morty 0]

[quote user="Lessingham Canary"]Seems crazy that there does not seem to be a sniff for either of these 3 or Lafferty, must be a club somewhere desperate for the services of the like of any of them.[/quote]Lafferty, seriously?Hopefully the recent time he has had on the pitch has put the nonsense to bed that he can be effective at this level.I could see Bassong going to a lower Championship club, and Turner maybe to league one.And although we can only speculate about the wages, we do pay pretty well for this division.

[Coneys Knee 940]

This is very true. I just feel like we need somebody in this position with real know how and leadership to put an end to the sloppy, disjointed setup we seem to have had for a few seasons

[Darth Canary1 91]

I suspect and this is just me in all likelihood, but why would clubs bid for players like Turner etc they get them free in the summer when they out of contract and we release them?

[Lessingham Canary 99]

Morty wrote;

Lafferty, seriously?

Hopefully the recent time he has had on the pitch has put the nonsense to bed that he can be effective at this level.

I could see Bassong going to a lower Championship club, and Turner maybe to league one.

And although we can only speculate about the wages, we do pay pretty well for this division.

Not saying that Lafferty can be anything at this level, saying crazy that there isn''t a club sniffing, could be in Scotland, Greece anywhere, same with the others wasn''t really expecting a top 6 champs or lower prem to come knocking any time soon. Seriously!

[Van wink 2,994]

It really is a top priority, but as has been said can''t see someone else coming until we shift some of the others

[morty 0]

[quote user="Lessingham Canary"]Morty wrote;

Lafferty, seriously?

Hopefully the recent time he has had on the pitch has put the nonsense to bed that he can be effective at this level.

I could see Bassong going to a lower Championship club, and Turner maybe to league one.

And although we can only speculate about the wages, we do pay pretty well for this division.

Not saying that Lafferty can be anything at this level, saying crazy that there isn''t a club sniffing, could be in Scotland, Greece anywhere, same with the others wasn''t really expecting a top 6 champs or lower prem to come knocking any time soon. Seriously![/quote]He has been in the absolute wilderness since we signed him, and he has a reputation of being a bit of an idiot.Am pretty sure we have been trying to offload him for the last 2 or 3 windows.Someone will take him as a free agent, when he''s out of contract, but I think he''s quite happy here, for now, just taking the money. If he genuinely wanted football he would have gone long ago.

[morty 0]

[quote user="Darth Canary1"]I suspect and this is just me in all likelihood, but why would clubs bid for players like Turner etc they get them free in the summer when they out of contract and we release them?[/quote]To be honest, I think we would let Bassong or Turner go for nothing, just to get their wages off the books.

[Darth Canary1 91]

Can''t disagree Morty, and I also agree about Lafferty. I wouldn''t give up top notch wages either

[The gut 0]

What I find strange is how low people seem to rate Bassong. He has had some great games for us and at times shown himself to be quite a classy player. I am quite aware of some of his errors and shortcomings but in all seriousness how bad is he in comparison to Klose? I would guesstimate that Timm is getting paid more than Seb but is he showing that he is a class above him? He might be but he has not shown me that he is yet. In my opinion there is not much to choose between Bassong and Klose at the moment.

[Woodman 92]

I think Turner is out for the season with a torn groin muscle, so he won''t be going anywhere. That mean we need Bennett and Bassong as cover, assuming Klose stays.

Lafferty, who knows, no ones showing any signs of wanting him, so he''ll drift on to the end of the season. That''s when we''ll see the benefit of their wages off the payroll.

[morty 0]

[quote user="Woodman"]I think Turner is out for the season with a torn groin muscle, so he won''t be going anywhere. That mean we need Bennett and Bassong as cover, assuming Klose stays.

Lafferty, who knows, no ones showing any signs of wanting him, so he''ll drift on to the end of the season. That''s when we''ll see the benefit of their wages off the payroll.[/quote]Is Lafferty out of contract at the end of the season?

[Greavsy 2,412]

Yes

[morty 0]

[quote user="Woodman"]I think Turner is out for the season with a torn groin muscle, so he won''t be going anywhere. That mean we need Bennett and Bassong as cover, assuming Klose stays.

Lafferty, who knows, no ones showing any signs of wanting him, so he''ll drift on to the end of the season. That''s when we''ll see the benefit of their wages off the payroll.[/quote]Answered my own question, it was any extras I wasn''t sure about. There is a one year option on the end of his contract, I''m guessing we won''t take it up.

[Webbo118 0]

[quote user="The gut"]What I find strange is how low people seem to rate Bassong. He has had some great games for us and at times shown himself to be quite a classy player. I am quite aware of some of his errors and shortcomings but in all seriousness how bad is he in comparison to Klose? I would guesstimate that Timm is getting paid more than Seb but is he showing that he is a class above him? He might be but he has not shown me that he is yet. In my opinion there is not much to choose between Bassong and Klose at the moment.[/quote]

With regard to the last sentence, I assume that you are joking.

[The gut 0]

No joke webbo. I''m not buying this Klose is so superior business. Not yet anyway. At the moment or up until now Klose has not shown to be a big improvement on Bassong in my opinion.

[Coneys Knee 940]

I agree with the gut to an extent. I really like klose. Likeable guy, clearly cares, but I think he''s been inconsistent since the day he arrived. I want him to be brilliant, become a legend, but he needs to show more I think.

That said, he''s my first choice centre back at the club, which tells its own story of the quality (lack of) that we have in that position.

[Yellowbeagle 0]

Our current centre backs have plenty of experience. I don''t care what level of experience they have aslong as they do the basics right.

[westcoastcanary 0]

You guys are fretting about plugging a hole in the dyke when the problem is water flooding over the top, due in part to the government''s refusal to close the flood barrier.

[Indy_Bones 441]

We have experienced centre halves, what we need is a no-nonsense centre half who isn''t prone to switching off or making a bad error each game that ends up costing us...

[ZLF 271]

Turner''s contract does finish this season, but we know Bennett has a +1 yr extension. Does seb also, it seems to be our standard contract approach

As such we may yet be stuck with very high wage players for another season with an even smaller income should we not go up.

It''s the same with the others we need to move on this summer, how many extensions will be activated when we would be better getting them and the wages out of the club?

[Thirsty Lizard 3,154]

Not sure if I''m understanding you right ZLF, but the +1 year extensions the club negotiates are one way options only. The club can trigger them - the player can''t.

[SwindonCanary 455]

An experienced centre-half ?   Duncan Forbes !

[morty 0]

[quote user="Thirsty Lizard"]Not sure if I''m understanding you right ZLF, but the +1 year extensions the club negotiates are one way options only. The club can trigger them - the player can''t.[/quote]Thats the way I understand it, I hope we are correct.Imagine Lafferty saying "Actually I like it here, I''ll stay another season".

[ZLF 271]

I would love that to be right but I am not certain. Did we choose turner''s?