Howson wants out

[lake district canary 4,531]

[quote user="KeiranShikari"]We''ve seen glimpses of both but would you really be happy if we sold Howson and then left the space in the squad to Thompson and Godfrey? I assume you don''t see Maddison as a replacement.[/quote]At a push - and if we are going down the 4-1-4-1 route, as has been suggested we will, a midfield four without Howson, could be -  Jacob  Maddison Pritchard  Josh/WildschuttNot forgetting we will be getting new players in as well, as well as having the likes of Godfrey and Thomplson, both of whom could well be in the mix, not to mention Wes and Naismith if they stay.   

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 1,557]

Don''t read too much into the supposed 4-1-4-1 that Farke is reported (on one website) to prefer.

I saw Dortmund II a couple of times last season as I am regular over in that part of the world. In the two games I saw they played with a 3 at the back - this though was apparently down to the first team using a 3 at the back at the time and the club wanted the reserve team to play the same way in order to facilitate the easier movement of players through the club.

It will be interesting the see how Farke sets up a team when he has complete freedom, rather than fitting into the culture of a club. If he like possession football then a 4-1-4-1 probably won''t be how he goes as that is often the preferred formation of teams who press hard and enact quick transitions - something that isn''t compatible with a team looking to hold on to the ball.

As for Howson, I imagine that there will be a very large turnover of playing staff and anyone over the age of 28 will be particularly likely to be moved on should the right offer arrive. I expect a very different team to on the pitch in September than the one that finished the season just gone.

[hogesar 9,611]

[quote user="lake district canary"][quote user="KeiranShikari"]We''ve seen glimpses of both but would you really be happy if we sold Howson and then left the space in the squad to Thompson and Godfrey? I assume you don''t see Maddison as a replacement.[/quote]At a push - and if we are going down the 4-1-4-1 route, as has been suggested we will, a midfield four without Howson, could be -  Jacob  Maddison Pritchard  Josh/Wildschutt[/quote]

If we want to get raped every week then that''s a brilliant suggestion.

[Woodman 92]

Bethnal - the large turnover of staff is a concept that many supporters will find difficult to come to terms with. I think the majority are expecting some continuity, but its entirely possible that the new team will be without Ruddy, Klose, Dijks, Tettey, Howson, Dorrans, Naismith. The ''remainers'' (hmmm, is that a phrase I dare use?) could only be Martin, Pinto, Wes, Murphyx2 and Pritchard.

[Yorkshire Canary 118]

I said several weeks ago that we need to prepare ourselves for player departures that most of us would not like. We need defenders we have no cash and need to sell to buy and actually we do not have that many players that will command a decent fee. As for howson always one of the first names on the team sheet for me and a terrific servant to the club. I wish him all the best if he does go but with two years left on his contract he must only go for a good price. One of the few players at the club that can cut it in the premiership though

[Rudolph Hucker 0]

Omelettes and eggs springs to mind.

JH has to consider his personal future and that of his family and NCFC needs to change the character of a side who thrill and fail bi-weely. In doing so we would do well to earn some fees for players.

How about we just remember some fantastic strikes and, for a change, wish a player well rather than rubbish him.

[Coq au vin 0]

Err... Don''t really see the problem? He''s got 2 years left and he''s at his peak arguably over it. So if we''re supposedly needing to sell (?) then to do so now then so be it.

Maybe that sounds a bit cold but ultimately, whether he''s a fans favourite or not, he''ll be on a fair wedge of a wage and the sale of the individual can be put towards new recruits fitting to our new head coaches team not a team made up of past recruitment and Alex Neil purchases.

[CDMullins 436]

I''m undecided with this one,

Hes a model pro, always tries hard and on his day is a very very classy midfielder. I genuinely thought at one point he may have forced his way into a England squad.

But too often games pass him by with him having little or no influence on it.

I said at the end of the season i wouldn''t be disappointed if anyone left (other than the Murphys and only because they are academy products) so i''ll stick by that. Though it would be frustrating if he went to a promotion rival, or even back to Leeds and rekindle his form.

[Van wink 2,994]

Judgement of selling our best players is influenced by your level of blind faith in the new regime.

For me selling someone like Howson is a very bad move that I can''t square with blind faith.

[TIL 1010 4,717]

Just read the article and the headline is misleading saying Howson wants out when it is in fact his agent merely saying he will not sign a contract extension offered to him which in itself surely shows the club have a desire to keep him rather than generate some cash ?The quote attributed to Webber i am sure is a previous generalisation with regard to finance and not specifically aimed at Howson. My view is it is Archant trying for a change to create a story rather than copy a story from some other source which is their norm.

[Coq au vin 0]

@Van Wink - it''s not blind faith, it''s just business sense if it''s true we need to sell to buy.

I''m also in the mindset that we''re in the Champ for a season at least whilst the reform takes place. It''s impractical to think the wholesale changes will happen over night with outs and recruited players all gelling and getting along straight away under a head coach who obviously has no exp. of the Championship.

In my view it''s better to have tried to change things and attempt something new than go along with the previous setup that frustrated so many.

[Stone 0]

Firstly, this article appears to be the club leaning on Archant to circulate his availability in what is a bit of a non-story seeing as Howson has two years to run on his current deal. Given the restructuring required I guess we''re looking to cash in on him before he hits 30 and before his stock falls too much.

I have really mixed feelings... I like Howson, he appears a model pro, but I think he struggles to fit into the modern style of play whereby central midfielders tend to be either creative and attacking OR defensive with an aim to break up play. He doesn''t fit into either category and is more of an old fashioned box to box midfielder you''d find in a 442 set up. Games do sometimes appear to pass him by, but we sometimes miss his composure and industry when he''s not in the side.

All in all I guess it''s a case of how we''ll set up in the future. My guess is he''d probably be replaced by a holding/defensive player who would help accommodate Pritchard / Maddison.

[norfolkngood 1,086]

if we sell howson say 5 million ( example ) and Dorrans for 1.5 million ( example )

that means we have to replace 2 CM PLUS the others that have left already Ruddy Bennett bassong whits etc all for 6.5 million

now the above are not world beaters we know that but they are players with championship / premiership experience

i am worried now that we have to replace more than half the team for 6.5 million

but not only that the players we sign will have to be on lower wages tan the ones we have released / sold

so to replace those lot with free players or players with small fees who only command half the wages of a bassong bennett is a very big ask

i know some younger players are going to fill in but are we really going to get the quality we need with the wages on offer and only 6.5 million to spend ??

all fees and wages are guessing of course

[TIL 1010 4,717]

Just under a year ago i got jumped on for starting a thread '' The wallet is Empty '' in which i said we will have to sell before we could buy. Posters claimed that we had money sitting in the bank due to our Premiership season. Here we are yet again scrabbling around to raise cash and reduce wages. Thinking back to that January transfer window when we were in the Premiership some serious errors of judgement have been made both at Colney and the CEO''s office since then so let us hope the ship is being turned around at last.

[Indy 3,283]

At present we''ve let 7 out of contract player go, the rest are still here with press speculation only.

The sceptic in me sees the clubs major change in direction coupled with a huge wage with the clubs income down to around 60 million this season and only getting much smaller next season.

Given we had an 8 million gap to make up in December, I''m pretty sure there will be much like this year if not bigger to find.

Back in 2009 Delia said that they would not be putting any further funds into the club and we have been pretty much self sufficient including paying back debts and loans along with spending huge sums on three very poor players last season in Klose, Naismith and Wilds.

Are the club beng sensible, bought in a young coach from Germany with Webber used to working on low budgets and now slowly looking to offload the potential crippling high earners in favour of younger players with lower wage structure for long term sustainability.

As Beth said it''s going to be very interesting to put the starting 11 from our first game this season to that which started against Blackburn last year, could well be 8 or more changes.

Howson is key to our team, when he played we tend to perform better and get results, there are arguments to keep all the aging players but to me Howson is the one stand out player, Wes in my opinion is also of great respect but we have Maddison & Pritchard to come in for this role and who''s to say we will play with a no.10 it might be we play with two forwards and two wingers!

[norfolkngood 1,086]

Til i remember it well the flak you and i received at the time

i also told you that we had players lined up by scouts but no money to buy them at the same time and we confirmed each others findings but Nobody believed us !!

but i have to say it seems the wallet is even worse than then as the Firesale has started

[Keith Scott 243]

If we can get a decent price get rid. Massively overrated by many. The odd excellent game and wonder strike but so often anonymous. He is supposed to be a captain, in the middle of the pitch, yet how many times has he taken a game by the scruff when needed? Almost never. No great loss.

[shefcanary 2,377]

Yes this is Archant lazy journalism / story as clickbait.

Tilly is overstating the "not a penny in the bank syndrome". Basically the club are still being really prudent (read that as "tight") on cash, but to say we are penniless and without options is pushing it a bit. Like the business I work in at the moment the opportunity to negotiate working capital coverage is there but it is costly so let''s avoid giving money to the nasty horrible tory bankers - the club (i.e. Smith & Jones) just do not want to give succour to them.

As for Howson, if Farke really does want to have a high pressing game, then Howson is definitely not a player for this type of game. As is often labelled at him throughout his career, he does go missing for large parts of the game. However he is really capable of rescuing and even turning games when he is on it, just not that often. The likelihood of turning him into a high pressing player at age 29 is slim, but he will no doubt do a good job at another Championship club, or a Premier league club if he is lucky (although can''t see that being Huddersfield for the reasons above).

So, with 2 years on his contract, although the club have now effectively put it out there he is available, I cannot see anything happening with him this window. However if Farke gets his way he will increasingly become a bit part player if a replacement is acquired or Godfrey and Pritchard both step up.

I will always remember some great performances from Johnny but I am struggling to see a place for him in the future - unless he does a Hoolahan rise from the ashes and / or suddenly becomes a 90 minute, three lungs type player.

[GJP 79]

Howson is very hard working, super fit, mobile and pacey. If he can''t press who can?

[norfolkngood 1,086]

keith oh i do agree but when you think the money raised has to maybe buy 2 x CB 1 x LB 2 x CM and maybe a GK maybe a striker

it spreads it very thin when those players have to be as good as Howson

Would be alot easier if we just had to replace howson with the money we received with a replacement CM not 5/ 7 players

[shefcanary 2,377]

[quote user="GJP"]Howson is very hard working, super fit, mobile and pacey. If he can''t press who can?[/quote]

Nah: hard working when he wants, fit for about five minutes every now and then, runs straight up and down the middle of the park but rarely ventures out wide (yes box to box, but so is Tettey etc. and he made his name at Leeds by setting up chances from wide positions - rarely has done that here), and no, he is not that quick, even Hoolahan can beat him in a sprint. I think you have him mixed up with someone else GJP.

[Mike 0]

If you run a business with no capital (overdraft / no debt) you need to sell to buy. We , having got rid of the deadwood out of contract plus Ruddy (big wage), are now in the process of selling our best players of which Howson is clearly one.

The Howson wants out "spin" could run a couple of ways - offer him less than he is on / over him more. I''m pretty sure I know which way they went given our now obvious financial limitations. Force his hand,blame the player.

There is no other way to describe this as a weakening of the team AGAIN. Buy hey debt free kids... well run... good old British owners... repeat ala Theresa May until submission hits home...

Snoddy, Redmond... Howson. Poor really poor.

[Mike 0]

[quote user="Keith Scott"]If we can get a decent price get rid. Massively overrated by many. The odd excellent game and wonder strike but so often anonymous. He is supposed to be a captain, in the middle of the pitch, yet how many times has he taken a game by the scruff when needed? Almost never. No great loss.[/quote]

Are you for real? The most consistant performer in the team for the past three years.

[Mike 0]

[quote user="Jim Smith"]A more accurate headline would be

"Club wants to sell Howson and puts out cynical spin to prepare the fan base."

Unfortunately too many fans buy everything that comes out of our beloved club and is board hook, line and sinker.

I can see arguments either way for selling Howson or keeping him, all dependant of course on what anyone offers for him but our desperation to sell this summer is beginning to really p**s me off. We must not sacrifice our last season of parachute payments in the same pathetic way we wasted last season. We should be having a real go this season and selling anyone on vaguely decent wages to try and copy Huddersfield Town and get promotion on a shoestring is not the way to go about it.[/quote]

Jim, spot on...

[Coq au vin 0]

@ Shef

"if Farke really does want to have a high pressing game, then Howson is definitely not a player for this type of game."

Bang on - it really comes down to what style of play the HC wants to play. Why keep hold of players that won''t fit the footballing ethos Webber keeps banging on about?

I also remember reading somewhere that Webber''s intentions are to set us up as ''stepping stone'' type of club a la Southampton in keeping with the hiring of Farke who''s rep at Dortmund with the U23''s echoes this.

[tricky974 61]

I like Howson and think he is a good player but if any of our players move on then we always have to do what''s best for the club, now we have to get the best deal for us and the money can be used to bring in other players.

[Mike 0]

Do not believe that he has to move on... if we want to keep him we would unless our finances dictate otherwise.

Why less let go of the player of the season in 2016 and runner up this season?

[GJP 79]

Not sure if Shef has ever seen Howson play.

[Woodman 92]

We really missed him last season when he had a month or so out injured. When fit, he''d be one of the first names on the teamsheet for me - good energy, tackles well, passes well good in possession and scores goals.

I prefer to see him getting forward rather than the holding role. Would be a big miss if we do sell, but its all up in the air and depends on how Farke sets up the team.

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 1,557]

At 29 Howson will realise this summer is probably his last chance to get one last big contract under his belt. If he extends at Norwich then that is it for him.

If the club can get Burnley to fork out circa £8m for him then sell him and wave him off at the station with a teary handkie.