This season and beyond

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BiggerBladeThanThou said:
Woke up feeling like we took a major step to promotion last night, unconvincing at times but we’ve been like that in a few games and bagged the all important 3points - not a bad habit to form in this league/any league.

Looking ahead, I’m worried. Our squad (minus the two City boys) is ageing and quite surprisingly still consisting of some of the original Wilder boys in the starting 11. It’s surprising to me we are where we are as I tipped us to scrape Playoffs this season.

If we go up…let’s face it…we’re fucked. We don’t have the momentum and underdog gung-ho spirit of the previous promotion campaign. We need a proper clear out and an owner who’s willing to spend a decent chunk of the circa £200m promotion pot we’re likely to receive in all.

Out the door:

Basham
Fleck
Norwood
Lowe
McBurnie
Sharp (unless he stays as staff)
Jebbison
Clark or Robbo
Baldock or Bogle
Davies becomes 3rd choice

Keep:
Berge (better suited to Prem and a season in champ will have done him good)
Ndiaye
Anel
Wes
RND (can see him becoming a Robertson type player)
Mcatee (loan extension)
Doyle (sign him up)
Egan (just)
Robinson (just)
Osula (loan out Champ)
Arblaster (loan out Champ)
Brooks (loan out Champ)

We need:

2 decent, proven strikers who can get double figures whilst being able to play with and compliment Ndiaye / not talking about MGW either, we need an out an out goal scorer.

A back up keeper to Wes.

A decent RB with Baldock / Bogle as back up.

A decent proven playmaker MF if we can’t get the city boys back.

Another LCB to play in the 3.

I’m sure there’s more….
Click to expand...

Keeping 7 players and hoping we can sign 18 to make up a 25 man squad is a questionable strategy. Especially for a club with no money.

I don't think we'll see many out the door to be honest, except for a handful who are out of contract and don't appear to be at the required level any more (e.g. Stevens, Fleck, O'Connell).
 
Hamandcheese said:
This sort of thing is surely reasonable to achieve and would leave us competitive

Loan/Free
Baldock - Anel - Egan - RND/JLT - Loan
Free/Loan/8m - Doyle 8m - McAtee loan
Ndiaye - 15m

Bench: Wes, RND/JLT, Bogle, Norwood, Free/Loan, McBurnie, Jebbison
Click to expand...
If you get Doyle for 8 million then I will be tapping you up for financial advice
 
blade too long said:
no momentum ,,,, my arse

Championship Form Table

The 2024-2025 Championship Form Table showing a mini table of the latest football results for every team in the division
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Click to expand...
Yep. And at the time of the season when it really matters & character comes to the fore as well. I am so proud of this team since the Luton game.
 
BiggerBladeThanThou said:
Woke up feeling like we took a major step to promotion last night, unconvincing at times but we’ve been like that in a few games and bagged the all important 3points - not a bad habit to form in this league/any league.

Looking ahead, I’m worried. Our squad (minus the two City boys) is ageing and quite surprisingly still consisting of some of the original Wilder boys in the starting 11. It’s surprising to me we are where we are as I tipped us to scrape Playoffs this season.

If we go up…let’s face it…we’re fucked. We don’t have the momentum and underdog gung-ho spirit of the previous promotion campaign. We need a proper clear out and an owner who’s willing to spend a decent chunk of the circa £200m promotion pot we’re likely to receive in all.

Out the door:

Basham
Fleck
Norwood
Lowe
McBurnie
Sharp (unless he stays as staff)
Jebbison
Clark or Robbo
Baldock or Bogle
Davies becomes 3rd choice

Keep:
Berge (better suited to Prem and a season in champ will have done him good)
Ndiaye
Anel
Wes
RND (can see him becoming a Robertson type player)
Mcatee (loan extension)
Doyle (sign him up)
Egan (just)
Robinson (just)
Osula (loan out Champ)
Arblaster (loan out Champ)
Brooks (loan out Champ)

We need:

2 decent, proven strikers who can get double figures whilst being able to play with and compliment Ndiaye / not talking about MGW either, we need an out an out goal scorer.

A back up keeper to Wes.

A decent RB with Baldock / Bogle as back up.

A decent proven playmaker MF if we can’t get the city boys back.

Another LCB to play in the 3.

I’m sure there’s more….
Click to expand...
I cannot see much of that happening. You are right that many are not up to the task next season, but we cannot get rid of as many as you suggest and replace them with better in less than three windows.
We will almost certainly get relegated but must use the money to better the squad for a return in 2025
 
BiggerBladeThanThou said:
Woke up feeling like we took a major step to promotion last night, unconvincing at times but we’ve been like that in a few games and bagged the all important 3points - not a bad habit to form in this league/any league.

Looking ahead, I’m worried. Our squad (minus the two City boys) is ageing and quite surprisingly still consisting of some of the original Wilder boys in the starting 11. It’s surprising to me we are where we are as I tipped us to scrape Playoffs this season.

If we go up…let’s face it…we’re fucked. We don’t have the momentum and underdog gung-ho spirit of the previous promotion campaign. We need a proper clear out and an owner who’s willing to spend a decent chunk of the circa £200m promotion pot we’re likely to receive in all.

Out the door:

Basham
Fleck
Norwood
Lowe
McBurnie
Sharp (unless he stays as staff)
Jebbison
Clark or Robbo
Baldock or Bogle
Davies becomes 3rd choice

Keep:
Berge (better suited to Prem and a season in champ will have done him good)
Ndiaye
Anel
Wes
RND (can see him becoming a Robertson type player)
Mcatee (loan extension)
Doyle (sign him up)
Egan (just)
Robinson (just)
Osula (loan out Champ)
Arblaster (loan out Champ)
Brooks (loan out Champ)

We need:

2 decent, proven strikers who can get double figures whilst being able to play with and compliment Ndiaye / not talking about MGW either, we need an out an out goal scorer.

A back up keeper to Wes.

A decent RB with Baldock / Bogle as back up.

A decent proven playmaker MF if we can’t get the city boys back.

Another LCB to play in the 3.

I’m sure there’s more….
Click to expand...
This thread lost all credibility when you said Egan just, he's been one of our most consistent players.
 
BiggerBladeThanThou said:
We need:

2 decent, proven strikers who can get double figures whilst being able to play with and compliment Ndiaye / not talking about MGW either, we need an out an out goal scorer.
Click to expand...

Do you have any idea how much it would cost for one striker who's proven as a double figure goalscorer at PL level, let alone two? Notwithstanding that over half the teams in the league would be after them as well.
 
Brownieblade said:
If you get Doyle for 8 million then I will be tapping you up for financial advice
Click to expand...
8-10m with certain clauses will be around the mark IMO. We can be guilty of recency bias. He's not been doing this all season. And from his point of view a move here would be perfect. Can't ask for more than a regular start at PL level
 
so much depends on this takeover and recruiting this summer no major investment and we come straight back down no doubt about that we need a minimum of 8 new players to have any chance of staying in the premier league
 
Brian Blessed said:
Do you have any idea how much it would cost for one striker who's proven as a double figure goalscorer at PL level, let alone two? Notwithstanding that over half the teams in the league would be after them as well.
Click to expand...
we would have to be looking at top end championship strikers and maybe abroad for bargains gyorkeres akpom archer and morris are the types likely to be within our budget having said that wilder went down that route with brewster and mcburnie that turned out well 😳🙄
 
Hamandcheese said:
8-10m with certain clauses will be around the mark IMO. We can be guilty of recency bias. He's not been doing this all season. And from his point of view a move here would be perfect. Can't ask for more than a regular start at PL level
Click to expand...
I don’t think you get him for less than 11 and even then I’m going cautious there, someone will over pay and also his CV for helping us get up will increase that
 
Basham gets a contract for life. Can't underestimate the impact that sort of character has on the squad. Look at what happened when we got rid of Kozzy. Look at City keeping Scott Carson on as a 15th-choice GK.

Don't remove your characters unless you really have to.
 
Beans said:
Cheer up OP, imagine what it'd be like if we weren't going up.
Click to expand...

Still feels like some people haven't grasped the situation we're in. If we don't go up this season, there's a strong chance that we end up in League One pretty soon after.

We've got very significant debts, we're in an EFL embargo (or worse, at the start of a lengthy transfer ban), we've got loads of players out of contract, we've got an owner who doesn't have the means (and/or the willingness?) to improve the situation, a prospective owner who for whatever reason can't get a deal over the line and we'd have the trauma of being the team who were 1/200 to get automatic promotion and blew it.

Let's say a pretty negative scenario following promotion is that we clear some of the debts, retain the majority of the players we want to, acquire a few players who will improve our chances of bouncing back if not staying up and go down with 25 points. I prefer that to the not going up scenario and certainly wouldn't see us as being "fucked".
 

cooperblade said:
Still feels like some people haven't grasped the situation we're in. If we don't go up this season, there's a strong chance that we end up in League One pretty soon after.

We've got very significant debts, we're in an EFL embargo (or worse, at the start of a lengthy transfer ban), we've got loads of players out of contract, we've got an owner who doesn't have the means (and/or the willingness?) to improve the situation, a prospective owner who for whatever reason can't get a deal over the line and we'd have the trauma of being the team who were 1/200 to get automatic promotion and blew it.

Let's say a pretty negative scenario following promotion is that we clear some of the debts, retain the majority of the players we want to, acquire a few players who will improve our chances of bouncing back if not staying up and go down with 25 points. I prefer that to the not going up scenario and certainly wouldn't see us as being "fucked".
Click to expand...
Exactly this, Forest policy this season it will not be,more like Norwich last time they went up.The clubs financial position needs steadying primarily along with the ownership and if that means a season of struggle,so be it,this is without going into our recruitment team and their lack of performsnce recently possibly coming back to bite us again when we do come to get players in.
 
If we don't go up and pocket the Premier League money, we're up sh*t's creek without a paddle. So even if we flop next season and come straight back down, we'll still be in a much healthier position as a club. Chin up OP, our players aren't as bad as what a lot of Blades would have you believe.
 
Some pelters 😂

To address:

I’ve said we’d be fucked and then followed that up with what we need (transfers) to lessen the level of fucked IMO. A lot depends on new owner, actual debt etc.

Egan - he’s been solid this season bar the odd game but just don’t see him as a PL CB - willing to be proved wrong as I really like the lad.

Baldock - similar to above. There was a reason he was dropped earlier in the season. His crossing is terrible and when you cite a players biggest addition being because he’s angry and furious then you know you’re reaching.

Momentum - this season’s momentum is nothing like the underdog momentum we experienced under wilder - we were new boys to champ from 6yrs in League one, No one gave us a hint of promotion. This time we’re labelled with big £20m (one player for them is worth more than our club) signings and parachute payments with prem experience. Totally different to before and won’t benefit us as much.
 
Swannyblade said:
If we don't go up and pocket the Premier League money, we're up sh*t's creek without a paddle. So even if we flop next season and come straight back down, we'll still be in a much healthier position as a club. Chin up OP, our players aren't as bad as what a lot of Blades would have you believe.
Click to expand...

It’s totally my opinion after watching every game this season. A lot aren’t good enough for prem, good champ players no doubt but not prem standard for me bar the ones I’ve labelled.
 
Westran said:
Out the door:

Fleck
Norwood
Sharp (unless he stays as staff)
Clark

Keep:
Basham
Lowe
McBurnie
Berge
Ndiaye
Anel
Wes
RND
Baldock
Bogle
Mcatee (loan extension)
Doyle (sign)
Davies
Egan
Robinson
Jebbison (loan out to champ)
Osula (loan out Champ)
Arblaster (loan out Champ)
Brooks (loan out Champ)

Sign:

GK
LWB
LCB
CM
CF

All signings need to be first team players, the players that get displaced become backup
Click to expand...
Why on earth would you want to keep McBurnie? Get him sold
 
cooperblade said:
Still feels like some people haven't grasped the situation we're in. If we don't go up this season, there's a strong chance that we end up in League One pretty soon after.

We've got very significant debts, we're in an EFL embargo (or worse, at the start of a lengthy transfer ban), we've got loads of players out of contract, we've got an owner who doesn't have the means (and/or the willingness?) to improve the situation, a prospective owner who for whatever reason can't get a deal over the line and we'd have the trauma of being the team who were 1/200 to get automatic promotion and blew it.

Let's say a pretty negative scenario following promotion is that we clear some of the debts, retain the majority of the players we want to, acquire a few players who will improve our chances of bouncing back if not staying up and go down with 25 points. I prefer that to the not going up scenario and certainly wouldn't see us as being "fucked".
Click to expand...

A lot of different interpretations of “fucked” in the replies. I meant we’d be fucked as in we’d get ruined by teams much better than us every single week. I don’t mean as a club in terms of servicing debt and stabilising operationally.
 
BiggerBladeThanThou said:
A lot of different interpretations of “fucked” in the replies. I meant we’d be fucked as in we’d get ruined by teams much better than us every single week. I don’t mean as a club in terms of servicing debt and stabilising operationally.
Click to expand...

Fair enough. I'd go for saved rather than fucked but take your point.
 
Westran said:
Out the door:

Fleck
Norwood
Sharp (unless he stays as staff)
Clark

Keep:
Basham
Lowe
McBurnie
Berge
Ndiaye
Anel
Wes
RND
Baldock
Bogle
Mcatee (loan extension)
Doyle (sign)
Davies
Egan
Robinson
Jebbison (loan out to champ)
Osula (loan out Champ)
Arblaster (loan out Champ)
Brooks (loan out Champ)

Sign:

GK
LWB
LCB
CM
CF

All signings need to be first team players, the players that get displaced become backup
Click to expand...
I'm very much onboard with this, I think Berge, McB, and Ndaiye will be dependent on new contracts or they may need to be sold?

I would let Wes leave, think we need a new GK and Wes signing a new contract and having Adam Davies is wasting wages?

A lot of young players going out on loan who would be a big bonus if they developed as expected and we had them back IF we were relegated.

That leaves a lot of room for new players, hope we pick up the best in the championship we have see along with some decent free transfers.
 
Almost impossible to make any predictions about how we'll fare in the Prem given the ownership situation. If the Prince is still the owner next season, I imagine we will pocket most of the Prem money and just accept relegation (a la Norwich).

If we get a proper owner in then we might actually invest in the squad and give ourselves a realistic chance of staying up. We're gonna have to make some fecking brilliant signings though.
 
BiggerBladeThanThou said:
Some pelters 😂

To address:

I’ve said we’d be fucked and then followed that up with what we need (transfers) to lessen the level of fucked IMO. A lot depends on new owner, actual debt etc.

Egan - he’s been solid this season bar the odd game but just don’t see him as a PL CB - willing to be proved wrong as I really like the lad.

Baldock - similar to above. There was a reason he was dropped earlier in the season. His crossing is terrible and when you cite a players biggest addition being because he’s angry and furious then you know you’re reaching.

Momentum - this season’s momentum is nothing like the underdog momentum we experienced under wilder - we were new boys to champ from 6yrs in League one, No one gave us a hint of promotion. This time we’re labelled with big £20m (one player for them is worth more than our club) signings and parachute payments with prem experience. Totally different to before and won’t benefit us as much.
Click to expand...
I'd say Baldock and Egan were two of the best defenders in the Prem only four seasons ago.

I'm not convinced they've gone downhill as players. Arguably even better now. No they're not perfect, but last time we went up they were excellent.

Funnily enough I wanted us to upgrade Baldock with Bogle last time we got promoted.
 
Brian Blessed said:
Do you have any idea how much it would cost for one striker who's proven as a double figure goalscorer at PL level, let alone two? Notwithstanding that over half the teams in the league would be after them as well.
Click to expand...

You're quite right, I have no idea why people think that's in any way achievable.

The club should be looking at the other major leagues where we will be able to pick up players relatively cheaply, both for transfer fee and wage.

In Spain alone there are a couple of big lads well suited to English football and McBurnie alternatives in Lucas Boyé from relegated Elche and Rafa Mir, out of favour even at a struggling Sevilla. These only have scoring rates of around 1 in 4, but they'd hold things up and create for others.

Those type of players are the best we can hope to add. If we don't keep Ndiaye, God help us.
 

Nick Jansky said:
Yep. And at the time of the season when it really matters & character comes to the fore as well. I am so proud of this team since the Luton game.
Click to expand...
Clearly that was an aberration of huge proportions but we showed bundles of balls and bounced back brilliantly.
 
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