If Ndiyae & Berge hadn't been sold do we stay up?

[Bladesman]

We needed to keep Iliman and Tommy Doyle, and then add the likes or Archer, Hamer etc to the group to have a realistic chance. The transfer business irrespective of the iliman departure showed that there was never any ambition to try and stay in the division. That is on the prince.

We were close to getting Illy to sign the new deal and he did a total u-turn on us. He is now getting himself sent off for Marseille.

 

[Swannyblade]

We needed to keep Iliman and Tommy Doyle, and then add the likes or Archer, Hamer etc to the group to have a realistic chance. The transfer business irrespective of the iliman departure showed that there was never any ambition to try and stay in the division. That is on the prince.

I agree with this. Keeping Ndiaye and Berge wouldn't be enough to keep us up on their own, but compliment that with signing Doyle, Hamer, McAtee on loan and I think we'd have had a fighting chance.
A big knock on effect of losing Ndiaye was that it impacted the fans', the players' and (let's be honest) the manager's belief that we had what it takes to stay up. We started the season on a downer instead of riding the wave of optimism and momentum that a promotion winning club should have.

 

[Stretch]

Ndiaye would clearly make us better. I think we upgraded on Berge with Hamer, although I know many disagree.

All academic however as we didn't sufficiently strengthen midfield, nor purchase enough firepower.

 

[Camden Blade]

We are staying up.

 

[RedandWhite]

Winds me the fuck up when I hear this talk on Berge as if we has our best player. He was utterly atrocious for his price. Abysmal signing and barely ever turned up

 

[jt64]

Maintain the position I had preseason. Effectively swapping one year of Berge for 3/4 (can't remember exact contract details or be arsed to look for them) of Hamer was a very good move. The sale of Ndiaye was horrific and cost us more in expected future TV money than what we got from Marseille. We would still be down more often than not regardless but we cost ourselves more of a chance than most think

 

[Fjortoft's Aeroplane]

75% saying No.

As such, IF the Prince does make a decent kitty available for team rebuilding thanks to:
a) TV money ("we've not received it yet" was a regular line trotted out during the last transfer window)
b) Parachute payments

Then I guess there's an argument to be made that the Prince made some hard, unpalatable, but correct calls. I'd be prepared to hold my hands up and retract some of the shit I've said about him in recent months.

However that's a huge IF regarding the team rebuilding kitty. Considering how many contracts are up this Summer, if we don't rebuild well, then I can see things turning really ugly through 2024. Over to you Prince....

 

[Millhousesblade1889]

It's never been about Berge. Ndiaye would have had an effect but not likely to have made such a difference as survival.

Agreed. I don’t see Hamer (when he’s eventually in form) as a drop down from Berge. I see Troare, McAtee & McBurnie - who have been trying to play the 10 role as a drop down from NDiaye.