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Comment | Tuanzebe Out of DR Congo Squad
at 07:13:02
A genuine Premier League class player that we have in our squad, at this moment, so I would be very slow to let him go, if we can do anything about it.
If you take out the freak accident with his thumb, & the post 'harsh' sending off ban he got, his availability wasn't bad in the season just gone, so I wouldn't be throwing the 'sick note' tag at him; similarly, in the Championship season, once we got him up & running after Christmas, he was an ever present feature of the team.
We have to try & sign players now, that we think/know will be able to step up to the PL, assuming that our tag of primotion favourites is justified; the first part of that process should be to ensure that as many of those players already at the club, as possible, are retained.
How much would it cost us to try & sign someone of Axel's quality this time next year?
This injury, presuming it os relatively minor, may actually be a blessing in disguise for us, as it may put off a PL club considering Axel as a very tempting out of contract signing. |
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Comment | Premier League Trio Linked With O'Shea
at 14:20:24
He didn't want to come to us initially, as he (justifiably) saw us as likely relegation contenders, having just come up, especially given his previous spells with WBA & Burnley. For that reason, I don't think he'll be rushing to Leeds or Burnley, as he's likely to be back next season with us, as captain.
Wolves would be a different mattdr, although they made good defensive acquisitions in the January window, so wouldn't really be looking for a first choice centre half, I would have thought ? |
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Comment | Delap Chelsea Medical Set For Monday
at 16:29:02
From our perspective, Chelsea are probably the worst club he could be going to. Assuming that Ashton isn't creating a misleading position re: a sell on, we'll be hoping that he'll continue to improve & move on again for, say £100m, thus gaining us a further (20% of the £70m profit) £14m from the sale.
If we were selling to Everton or Newcastle, there is every chance he would continue to stand out & a 'bigger', richer club, such as Chelsea, would come in for him & be prepared to pay 'mad money'.
But there are few clubs, worldwide, that can compete with Chelsea, for fees & wages, or force them to sell a player by offering money they can't turn down.
On top of that, Chelsea have been a bit of a basket case club in recent years, where some talented young players have gotten lost in a ridiculouslty sized squad of international superstars brought in for huge fees. There is undoubtedly a chance that Delap will suffer for minutes in that environment, and Chelsea could bring in another big signing striker or two over this & the next couple of windows. We wouldn't want to see him offloaded to Newcastle or Everton in a couple of years, for £35m. |
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Comment | Morsy: My Favourite Midfielder I've Played With
at 08:11:17
Sam uses the words 'partnership' & 'complementary' above, when describing Massimo's impact on him, and that's 100% how I think of them.
Obviously the demands at Premier League levels are exceptional, but their performances at L1 & the Championship, as a midfield duo, were better than any of us could have expected, because they worked so well together. It was one of those cases where the whole of their partnership vastly exceeded the sum of their individual parts, notwithstanding the fact that they are very decent players on an individual basis. |
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Comment | Fulham Linked With Johnson
at 21:41:44
What is meant by no relegation clause though?
Maybe there's no agreed value, that once met we'd be obliged to sell, as per Delap's contract, but will he remain on his Premier League weekly wage when playing in the Championship?
If we have players that we could not get to agree salary reductions upon relegation clauses, we may well be open to letting them go. |
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Comment | Newcastle United 1-0 Ipswich Town - Half-Time
at 16:31:36
TimmyH - I understand what you're saying & thought it looked a bit theatrical too on first view; but looking at the way Burn's leg came out, I'm less convinced. I think it's one of those that you just wave on; no foul, no simulation to be called. |
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Comment | McKenna: Certainly a Possibility Delap Will Be an Ipswich Player Next Season
at 19:22:35
As ITFC Singapore says, Delap & his representatives negotiated a release clause, in the event of relegation, into his contract with us. They did that to protect him, and that was before he proved himself as a quality Premier League centre forward, coveted by most of the top sides in that league. |
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Comment | Promoted Pair Linked With Hirst
at 14:40:43
I'm astounded by some of the responses here around what the value of Hirst is now, and in particular what his value is to us ahead of the new season, with Delap almost certainly leaving. |
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Comment | Clarke: I'm Better Equipped Than I Was at the Start of the Season
at 07:13:06
He has definitely improved as the season went on & I hope we keep hold of him for the next season in the Championship, because he will be a massive threat for us at that level & far better prepared for another crack at the PL come August 2026.
I think there will be interest in him from other sides, but it would be a shame to lose him before we've seen the best of him, particularly when so much work has gone in to adapt & mature his game.
At worst, maybe a season long loan, with options should we fail to get promoted, could be considered I guess. |
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Comment | Johnson: We've Done the Club Proud
at 14:27:34
It will be interesting to see where Johnson fits in the team for next season; we'll presumably have Ogbene & Burns back for that right sided up & down wing roll. He's more likely to be played as a right full back, steppng into a back three when required, particularly so of Tuanzebe gets a good contract offer from a PL side.
He clearly has quality & should be a standout player at Championship level, even if he is prone to getting caught on the break & loses possession too often with underhit passes or a poor first touch, against good players. |
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Comment | Delap Release Clause £30m
at 19:33:57
It's hard for clubs, CEOs & managers to win sometimes. Delap is one of the signings of the season; other clubs were in for him, but we got him, & he signed on a full contract for us despite being with Manchester City.
Nobody could have expected him to have done this well, this quickly, but nearly everyone in football was aware of his talent, potential & particularly coveted style of play. It was a coup getting him to sign for a club that was playing in League 1 just 15 months earlier, & were favourites for relegation. In those circumstances, we were not in the strongest negotiating position, regardless of Ashton's tough businessman reputation & McKenna's skills for developing players, not to mention our legendary training facilities.
Plenty of posters, myself included to a point, have been critical of the club's failure to land another senior striker during both the summer & January windows. We were prepared to sign Broja on loan with an OBLIGATION to buy in the event we stayed up, right up to the last minute when the medical showed up an issue that we felt required amending the deal for. Everton and/or Broja rejected our new proposed terms & the move collapsed, leaving us scrambling late on, and ultimately with only one fit striker (Delap) going into a Premier League season.
You can see how clubs end up doing some deals that they wouldn't necessarily have wanted to when the transfer window open. |
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Comment | Burgess Linked With La Liga Move
at 01:32:22
Would be a great move for him, at this stage of his career. He has been good for us, and we've been good for him too, so hamdshakes all around & best of luck to him.
Greaves will be a major asset for us back in the Championship, & will have learned a lot from his experience against top Premier League forwards. He'll come good again & the ceiling is still hgh for him as a centre half; he's only 24. Mr Burgess was still playing League 1 football for Accrington at that age. |
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Comment | Wolves Win to Open Up 12-Point Gap
at 08:09:47
Dissboy
Are you seriously suggesting that it is "rubbish" to recognise the reality of our situation? If we fail to win tonight & get beaten by Wolves on Saturday, we will still not be mathematically relegated; would it be 'rubbish white flag raising' to concede defeat in staying up then?
I'm all for taking the positives of our Premier League season, wanting us to finish as well as we can, & held out hope when it was looking bad, but was still realistic, however to not acknowledge the significance of last night's result for Wolves, along with their current form, is bad enough, without berating fans & questioning their attitude for merely noting the obvious. |
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Comment | Wolves Win to Open Up 12-Point Gap
at 07:21:10
It is what it is; we're 12 points behind Wolves in 17th, but we're 17 behind West Ham in 16th, so like it or not, we are well off the pace of what is required to be a sustainable Premier League club at the minute.
Wolves had a bad start, morale was low & O'Neill seemes to lose the dressing room, but just like Crystal Palace, the quality was there to get their act together on go on a decent run - they have 13 points from their last 7 league games, which includes a 1 goal loss away to Liverpool. Can we honestly say that we ever felt we could do that, at any point of this season, especially now at this stage when the chips are really down?
Unfortunately, the gap to 17th is only likely to get wider before the end of the season, although I wouldn't rule out a result on Saturday.
But we did brilliantly in getting promoted last season, and give hope, not only to ourselves in bouncing back, but to other clubs, thinking that they can break the 3 up/3 down yo-yo stranglehold on access to the Premier League.
We will be stronger & better prepared next time, just like Bournemouth & Fulham were following their first season up relegations in recent years; this has been a tough experience, but certainly not a waste. I can't get on board with the 'Can''t wait to go back down to a proper league' mentality, we have to have the mindset of 'Can't wait to get back up & have another go at proving ourselves at this level'.
Also, getting promoted has been a very useful achievement financially, and in putting the structure of the club well ahead of the timescale envisioned. The money already received, what is even to come from (probably) finishing 18th & the parachute payment next year, all give us a massive advantage over most of the Championship sides, especially if Sheffield Utd, Burnley & Leeds go up. This season has not been a negative for the club.
Plus I got to see the new Spurs stadium & have a pint of lager filled up from the bottom of the glass - what a time to be alive. |
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Comment | Delap Left Out of England Squad
at 11:01:35
With Watkins out injured, we were justified in having some expectation that Delap would get a call up, however Rashford has been far more impressive for Villa over the past couple of months, than Delap has been. It's not a like for like comparison, but ultimately they were competing against each other for a squad place in an attacking role. |
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Comment | O'Shea: Important to Learn From United Game
at 09:32:11
O'Shea has been great for us; definitely our most consistent player, if not our player of the season. Even early on, when he was playing with that back injury, and the new players were trying to gel, incl. with a new keeper, O'Shea looked a very good signing. I think he suffered unfairly with some fans, who understandably felt loyal to Woolfenden, who had started the season very well himself.
The biggest compliment we can give to O'Shea, and Woolfie tbf, is to recognise how good a player Tuanzebe has been for us, and yet not feel like we are in serious trouble now that he is out injured again. O'Shea to the right & Woofenden in the middle has been a very solid replacement when needed this season.
We go to Crystal Palace tomorrow, with no real additional fear of getting rolled by their attacking options. |
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Comment | Delap: Culture Here is Excellent
at 14:16:20
"
“It was difficult at City because of the talent they have and it is hard to get minutes and break through. That’s the most important thing that I had in the back of my mind that I wanted to go and be somewhere that I can play and show my quality.”
- Doesn't sound like he'd be rushing to sign another contract with them, to be Haaland's back up for 9 years, if City look to exercise their buy back options!!! |
| | Len_Brennan
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