[Archived] Who Should We Look To Offload This Summer?

['arrod rover]

at 24, Rigters is older than Derbyshire and Bentley - cant imagine him suddenly coming good but you never know...

[LeChuck]

Rovers have played the least amount of players this season in the premiership, and thats when we HAD european football!

That still doesn't explain why we need a bigger squad to play less games?

It's not the size of the squad that held us back this season, we were never, ever close to being thread-bare in any department at any point in the season. We simply do not need two players in every position to play a domestic season. José Mourinho always used to go on about having a squad of 21 to compete in four competitions, so why do we need the same? It would just needlessly eat in to our already over-stretched wage budget.

[den]

at 24, Rigters is older than Derbyshire and Bentley - cant imagine him suddenly coming good but you never know...

Precisely 'arrod.

[philipl]

Sorry lechuck but you are way wide of the mark on this one. Besides which Rovers would need to get to the last 32 of the UEFA Cup before that competition even made a 5% difference to the club's turnover.

[LeChuck]

Sorry lechuck but you are way wide of the mark on this one. Besides which Rovers would need to get to the last 32 of the UEFA Cup before that competition even made a 5% difference to the club's turnover.

I wasn't on about turnover, I was on about the number of matches played. If you're playing Saturday-Thursday-Sunday a lot of weeks then you obviously need to rotate your squad a little. I really don't see the need for us to do that, especially as it's quite obvious that Hughes likes a settled eleven to play every week.

Players like Henchoz, Mokoena and Berner have just eaten in to the wage budget this year, we could have easily done without them. 18-20 is a very generous number given that teams in Europe build sides of 21.

[joey_big_nose]

It's not the size of the squad that held us back this season, we were never, ever close to being thread-bare in any department at any point in the season. We simply do not need two players in every position to play a domestic season. José Mourinho always used to go on about having a squad of 21 to compete in four competitions, so why do we need the same? It would just needlessly eat in to our already over-stretched wage budget.

Um. Central midfield all season, right back now, left wing when Pedersen was utterly useless.

You can make a reasonably poor argument for keeping the same squad size and improving whats available by selling and replacing. It would still possess the smallest squad in the league though and if we fared worse in terms of injuries than this season then we would be in trouble.

There is absolutely no grounds for reducing the squad size though, it would be lunacy. We do need 2 players for every position, every Premier League club does.

[philipl]

Rovers and Villa used the lowest number of players in EPL games; 22.

In a nutshell, any EPL squad needs the following senior pros:

3 keepers

4 full backs

5 central defenders

8 midfielders

4 forwards

...and then the promising kids plus 4 or 5 out on loan who can be called back to do a job.

as a minimum.

West Ham slimming down from 30 this summer makes sense but Rovers are already at the bare minimum.

[b12_simon]

I wasn't on about turnover, I was on about the number of matches played. If you're playing Saturday-Thursday-Sunday a lot of weeks then you obviously need to rotate your squad a little. I really don't see the need for us to do that, especially as it's quite obvious that Hughes likes a settled eleven to play every week.

Players like Henchoz, Mokoena and Berner have just eaten in to the wage budget this year, we could have easily done without them. 18-20 is a very generous number given that teams in Europe build sides of 21.

18 is a first 11 plus a 7-man bench from next season. That would leave us with no cover whatsoever when Dunn gets a knock, Samba gets suspended, etc.

[benlloninho]

In a nutshell, any EPL squad needs the following senior pros:

3 keepers

4 full backs

5 central defenders

8 midfielders

4 forwards

I agree.

Keepers - Friedel, Brown, youngster? I think it's alright. Enckleman gone.

Fullbacks - Emerton, Warnock, Olsson - We need another right back IMO. Goodbye Bruno.

Center halves - Samba, Nelsen, Zurab, Ooijer - I think this is okay. Adieu, Stephane.

Midfielders - Bentley, Pedersen, Vogel, Dunn, Reid. Goodbye Sir Tugs, Mokoena. But Emerton can provide cover, so I think (ideally) we need two new midfielders, center and left wing to give Pedersen some competition.

Forwards - RSC, Benni, Roberts, Derbyshire

So I make it that we need 3 new players, and replace anybody else who leaves other than Enckleman, Berner, Henchoz, Tugay, Mokoena. I suppose depending on the money we have, the 2 midfielders we need should be starters. Of our current midfielders, I fear that only Bentley is of the quality we need if we're to be challenging for Europe. Vogel has shown promise, but it's too soon to know for sure and we may have to change our system in order to accommodate him. I don't think Dunn, Reid or Pedersen are good (or in Ped's case, consistent) enough to be anything other than squad members. If Bentley leaves we would lose our best player, but I am optimistic and think that Hughes could improve the squad with that money. It would be a huge gamble.

I don't know about Rigters, Gally or Peter. Or any of the other younger players. Or anything at all, really.

[American]

Precisely 'arrod.

Players have come good at older ages, especially strikers (for example, many thought that RSC was crap because he hadn't done anything by age 26). Don't expect him to be a world beater, but it's too early to give up on him becoming a useful squad player once he gets used to the English game. Again, it isn't like a lot has been invested in him and there is absolutely no harm in sending him out on loan for at least the first half of the season, if not the entire season.

Don't think he was a great buy (one of many who has been overvalued because of one good international tournament), but don't think there is any downside to seeing what he can do.

[den]

Wrong American.

Strikers come good at an earlier age than say, defenders. It's one position where coaching can only do so much because it's mainly down to technique, whereas defenders learn with age. To use Santa Cruz as someone who was crap until he came to Ewood is ridiculous. He was playing for Bayern and Paraguay as a teenager.

[bubblerrovers]

In the Telegraph today says Sunderland will have £50million to spend in the summer, Where have they got that sort of money??? compaired to our 5 million no doubt, If Bents wants out we need to have an auction 20 million will do however i bet we get 10 million.

[RoyRover]

Sunderland have all this money from the couple of very rich Irish men who own the club. I am surprised that they do have this sort of cash to spend this summer, especially as they spent £40 million last summer. Imagine what Hughes could do with that sort of money.

As for players leaving the club, I think that next season is the last chance saloon for some of the them. David Dunn has looked good when he has played, but his injury problems persist, which isn't his fault, but we can't afford to have any deadwood in the team. If he can stay fit then he could be a good player for us. Steven Reid needs to rediscover his form next season or he could be on his way out. Two seasons ago, he was arguably the most improved midfielder in the league and was one of my favourite players He was positive going forward, was a goal threat, could run all day and could put in a tackle - he was a poor man's Steven Gerrard. However since he came back from injury he has been a shadow of his former self. Granted he has been played out of position for a number of games, but there must be a reason for this. I feel sorry for him, because he had become one of our key players and was getting better all the time. Hopefully a full pre-season under his belt and a fresh start will help him recapture his old form. If not, then he too could be moved on. Mark Hughes has some big decisions to make. Should he stick with players like Dunn and Reid and hope that they can get back to what they were, or should he go out and get someone new? Either way, I think we need something different in midfield, whether or not these guys were on the top of their game.

[den]

Sunderland have all this money from the couple of very rich Irish men who own the club. I am surprised that they do have this sort of cash to spend this summer, especially as they spent £40 million last summer. Imagine what Hughes could do with that sort of money.

As for players leaving the club, I think that next season is the last chance saloon for some of the them. David Dunn has looked good when he has played, but his injury problems persist, which isn't his fault, but we can't afford to have any deadwood in the team. If he can stay fit then he could be a good player for us.

TBH RoyRover, I see that differently. I think he's exceeded expectations fitness wise, while I think his performances have been "inconsistent". Can't see us getting any more out of Dunny in the future, than we have now. I would let him go if we got the right offer.

[JAL]

TBH RoyRover, I see that differently. I think he's exceeded expectations fitness wise, while I think his performances have been "inconsistent". Can't see us getting any more out of Dunny in the future, than we have now. I would let him go if we got the right offer.

Too true 'den', Dunny is rubbish no pace, no backbone, hes rarely available, totally annoymous when Rovers dont have possession of the ball - hes a must sell player, Dunny has got to go for me we need physically fitter players than Dunny.

[Oklahoma]

My list would be this:

Released:

Tugay

Henchoz

Transfer listed:

Bentley (if he doesn't sign a new contract)

Jason Roberts

Steven Reid

Aaron Mokoena

Maceo Rigters

Paul Gallagher

Sergio Peter

Bruno Berner

[gumboots]

My list would be this:

Released:

Tugay

Henchoz

Transfer listed:

Bentley (if he doesn't sign a new contract)

Jason Roberts

Steven Reid

Aaron Mokoena

Maceo Rigters

Paul Gallagher

Sergio Peter

Bruno Berner

Why get rid of Bentley just cos he doesn't sign a new contract? we don't actually need him to as he's got a fairly long time left on the current one. don't think that's the way Mark hughes works.

[Oklahoma]

One good reason is that the longer his contract is, more money we'll get for him.

Second is that he will spend the whole season wanting to get out. So, in January, it will be more of the same. And his price will always go down.

I also think that if we sell Bentley and Roberts, plus the money we already have, we will be able to get 4 or 5 players for our team that might actually make a diference.