[Archived] Should I Stay Or Should I Go Now...?

[Hughesy]

Bunn seems most likely to command a decent transfer fee after spending the season at Sheff Utd.

Hopefully a decision is made on Judge too as he cant have too long left on his contract.

[XLM]

How about we get rid of everyone and start a fresh eh?

Jesus.

We have trouble attracting players as it is.

Rigters can go, surely if he was ever going to play he would be by now.

Zurab isn't fancied so we might as well offload him for his sake, he is a cracking defender who deserves to be playing first team football somewhere.

I'd like to see Reid back in a Rovers shirt, I thought he looked good when he came back, just lacking a bit of match practice. And he certainly seems to have made an impression at WBA. It all depends on how Linganzi is progressing though I suppose.

One of Brown or Bunn should go, there is no need to have both. No idea how good Bunn is, so I can't comment.

Same goes for Jacobsen and Chimbonda. Not seen much of Jacobsen, seemed solid and uninspiring. Chimbonda the exact opposite.

Jason Roberts is the ideal striker for our playing style, he is strong, quick and holds the ball up as well as anyone in the premier league. If we continue to play like we do then he has to stay.

Our strikers aren't the problem it's the fact our midfield is devoid of creativity, it's unfair to expect a player to chase a hoofed ball for 90 mins, beat the whole defence and score all our goals. Di Santo was the main victim of our style, he would chase all day long and he was only given the opportunity to do that. Then when he missed his 1 chance every 2 games he was slated.

Next season if we want to progress we either need a younger David Dunn or to play 4-4-2 in games we look to win with no Dunn in the midfield and play 4-5-1 in our tougher games with Dunn in behind Roberts.

[67splitscreen]

We have seen what Brown has to offer a Premier league side, most views on here, not good enough.

Bunn no experience so to speak but potential.

Brown a good option for some team with promotion in mind next season.

Browns stock surely higher than Bunn on that basis.

Browns wages higher most definitely.

Brown out for me.

[Brfcrule1]

I can't believe some of you get rid of Basturk before we have even seen him play?. Have some people lost the plot?. We should judge after he has played some games to see if he can make an impact for us. By all accounts he has done well in his reserve team games so should be nearly ready for the first team. Same goes for Linganzi we can't judge before he has played a 1st team game. Has done well for the reserves.

[Eddie]

I think the point is that he hasn't been able to force his way into his team and should be let go. It's a fair enough view. Our central midfield is weak enough as it is, why waste some of our budget on a player who's probably no better and who is also injury prone?

[Exiled in Toronto]

I don;t know why everyone thinks we'll sell Grella. Who would buy him with that injury record? And Sam seems to play him most times when he's fit, unlike, say, Emerton, who I think is much more likely to be out the door.

[RoyRover]

BROWN..................He actually did ok in the games he has played, but he isn't good enough overall.

ROBINSON...............Definitely keep him. He's had a good season, prone to the odd mistake, but I have confidence in him.

BUNN...................I think he should be the second choice.

CHIMBONDA..............Liked him at first, but he is just a squad player now. We could get a decent fee for him.

JACOBSEN...............I like him and he did well until his injury. I doubt that Salgado will be able to play every game and he will be good cover.

SALGADO................He's work his way into the team and has done well. Not a long term player, but can do a good job.

SAMBA..................An absolute rock.

NELSEN.................Givet and Jones should be played a head of him, but he would be a good squad player.

JONES..................A great prospect, who will only get better. He must stay.

GIVET..................Good signing, can play in a few positions. Another one we must keep.

KHISH..................I always thought that he was a good squad player and never let us down. Deserves to play 1st team football and use his wages.

OlSSON.................He has really developed this season and is better going forward than in defence. Hope he improves further next season.

EMERTON................I like him and think he is another good squad player. Hopefully he will recapture his form next season.

ANDREWS................We should look to sell him. God love him, he tries, but no where near good enough. Again, his wages could be used elsewhere.

GRELLA.................If he could stay fit, then I would like to keep him. Makes it difficult to want him to stay, if he's continually injured.

PEDERSEN...............How anybody would want a guy who has done nothing for the last three years to resign a big new contract is beyond.

DIOUF..................I'm not a fan. He tries hard and does some good work. But I don't think he does much more and is on big money.

DORAN..................We should be looking to loan him out again.

BASTURK................I was excited when he arrived, but if he hasn't played yet I doubt he will be signed. Would have liked to see if he still had it.

DUNN...................Started the season well. As usual injury struck and he hasn't been as good since coming back.

REID...................I would probably let him go now. But if WBA are willing to offer him a contract to play next year, he must have done ok.

LINGANZI...............One for the future by all accounts. Hope to see him next year.

HOILLETT...............Another promising youngster who I would like to see more of. I think that players like Diouf are getting in his way.

JUDGE..................I honestly don't know what he's been like while on loan, but he could be the next Paul Gallagher. I'd be inclined to sell.

RIGTERS................He should be release and let him go find a new club. The guy should want to play first team football.

ROBERTS................He works hard, puts himself about and gets the odd goal. I would sell him, if we we able to get two strikers in the window.

KALINIC................I think he could be a very good player. We need to give him the right service and support for him to be more effective.

DI SANTO...............Had high hopes for him. Not sure if he would be worth taking back on loan? Maybe if Roberts were to leave.

In terms of players that need bought in, a left back would be welcome (I would like Armand Traore from Arsenal on loan if possible), a creative midfielder and two strikers. I would like to think that by letting a number of players go, we would look to bring in some free transfers to make us stronger. God knows there's enough good ones out there. I feel that there is too much deadwood in the team, that is draining the clubs resources and aren't good enough for us.

[joey_big_nose]

After many summers of upheaval we need a relatively settled one this year, history shows that settled teams do the best. I think we'll have more outs than ins.

Out: Brown, Zurab, Chimbonda, Andrews or Grella, Reid, Basturk, Rigters, Di Santo, Pedersen

In: Cheapo left back (maybe young loan), quality deep playing play maker, goal scoring wide player with pace, goal scoring striker

Four arrivals should be enough, maybe room for one more 'wildcard' signing like Salgado if they become available.

Anyway, that leaves:

GK: Robinson, Bunn, Fielding

DF: Salgado, Jacobsen, Samba, Nelsen, Jones, Givet, [new]

MF: [new], Hoilett, Emerton, N'Zonzi, [new], Grella/Andrews, Dunn, Diouf, Olsson

FC: Kalinic, [new], Roberts

I agree with this, but I thinik it will be one extra striker and one fewer midfielder.

IN:- Dinande, Lewadowski/Boselli, young left back, experienced midfield general (Guti?)

OUT:- Brown, Chimbonda, Kishi, Di Santo, Andrews, Reid, Basturk, Rigters

WE COULD LET GO FOR DECENT MONEY:- Emerton, Diouf, Nelsen, Robert, Grella

[Amo]

I've broken it into three categories:

Red - Sell/Lose at the first opportunity.

Blue - Sell if the money's worth it, otherwise keep.

Black - None of the above.

* Perhaps worth another look.

There are quite a few first-teamers I still have reservations about, but I appreciate the club will avoid sweeping changes. So bear in mind this isn't an ideal list.

Goalkeepers - Robinson, Brown, Bunn, Fielding.

Defenders - Jacobsen, Samba, Givet, Nelsen, Khizanishvilli, Salgado, Jones, Chimbonda.

Midfielders - Emerton, Dunn, Grella, Pedersen, Linganzi, Nzonzi, Reid, Andrews, Diouf, Doran, *Basturk, Olsson, Judge.

Forwards - Roberts, Kalinic, Hoilett, *Di Santo, Rigters.

[bluebruce]

Nearly Inevitable Departures:

Steven Reid (Free) (Circa 20-25k p/w, signed deal when in top form)

Morten Gamst Pedersen (Free) (20-30k p/w)

Elrio Van Heerden (according to Wiki, still owned by us til end of next season, but official board squad list suggests he is gone) (Fee and wages negligible- 5k p/w?)

Brown/Bunn (by the fact Frank Fielding has been promoted to third choice, one of these will go)- (Anywhere from 500k to 1.2 million, preferably with sell-on) (Perhaps 5-10k p/w)

Zurab Khizanishvilli (300k-800k) (10-15k p/w?)

Alan Judge (agitating for a move I seem to recall, now 21 with too much competition to break through here) (200-500k) (1-3k p/w)

Yildiray Basturk (hasn't had chance to prove himself...free, low wage probably performance-based)

Di Santo (returning to Chelsea) (Could be anything from 5-15k p/w, maybe more as he was a very sought-after youth player and Chelski are Chelski)

These are obviously all estimates, and I've tried to leave a wide gap between the minimum and maximum fees and wages to provide margin for error, as you never really know. But these almost inevitables should free up between almost 70k p/w and say around 105k p/w. That's between 3.5 million and 5.25 million a year. It could also net us between 1 million (if we sell them almost desperately) and 2.5 million (if we negotiate well or find plenty of suitors) up front.

These are also players we have little use for...MGP excluded, they have made 31 League appearances for us (22 from Di Santo) and 15 cup appearances, if I've done my maths right.

Other players I'd like to see us shift:

Rigters (We should be so lucky...I'd pay up to 100k to get rid! I once read he was on almost 15k p/w, contract expires Summer 2011)

Vince Grella (Again, we'd probably be lucky, but I'd consider any offers from about 500k to 1 million. Good player, but too injury-prone, and given that we paid 4 million for him, he has to be on anything from 20-30k p/w)

Other players I'd like to see us shift if we can find replacements and/or fair offers:

El Hadji-Diouf (By many accounts, our highest earner but, 3 goals aside, has had a poor season and looks to be losing it. Is also a boil on the balls of humanity. If we lined someone up - Dindane for the right would suit me - I'd be happy to let him go for 500k-1 million if someone would be so kind! Wages must be 30-40k p/w)

Pascal Chimbonda (I haven't seen much of his dip in form due to living quite far and having no money, but I'll believe the consensus that he truly troughed. Three right-backs are unnecessary, and Jacobsen is slightly younger, worse-paid, and more consistent but not remarkable. Might get us between 500k and 1.5 million, big loss on the 2.5 million we paid. Chimbo's wages probably between 18-25k p/w. Due to Salgado's age and Jacobsen's injury troubles, I'd then like to see us make a cheap punt on a young, pacey right-back to serve as understudy)

Keith Andrews (But ONLY if we can sign a decent new injury-free centre midfielder, because Keith has often been invaluable as emergency cover for a very injury-hit area of our squad. Selling just because he isn't especially good would be unwise. Wages must be about 15k p/w, but hopefully no more!)

There are a few more I wouldn't mind being hit on the ass by the exit door if we could get fair deals and replacements for them, but any more than what I've listed would IMO be too unsettling for the team. If we got rid of EVERYONE I've listed, we could free up between 160 k/pw and a whopping 230k p/w, so, 8 million to 11.5 million a year, and we could perhaps expect between 3.5 million and 7.5 million (if we're very lucky!) up front.

From those pretty huge savings, I'd say we would need a dependable centre mid, a right-sided midfielder, a cheap punt youthie right-back, and perhaps a Pedersen replacement (someone who could play left mid and attacking centre would be perfect) in order to cover the gaps left in the squad. More than achievable with those kinds of savings...and we might not even need the cheap right-back, if the glowing reports of Jackson Ramm are to be believed.

Whatever way you look at it though, a massive clearout sale is needed at Ewood this Summer to get rid of, at the least, the players we don't need. There is a lot of fat to trim, and a lot of money to be saved.

[bluebruce]

If the rumours about Gala interest in Grella are true, we can dare to dream of shifting all this other deadwood too!

[mattyc2422]

Must Keep

ROBINSON

SALGADO

SAMBA

NELSEN

JONES

HOILETT

OLSSON

KALINIC

HANLEY

GIVET

DUNN

LINGANZI

PEDERSEN (he'll probably go, but he's important)

Handy players

BROWN

BUNN

JACOBSEN

EMERTON

ANDREWS

GRELLA

ROBERTS

DIOUF

Probably gone

CHIMBONDA

ZURAB

DORAN

BASTURK

REID

JUDGE

RIGTERS

DI SANTO

[neekoy]

I love the posts advocating selling half the squad, I can't see why anyone would want to be rid of Emerton, Basturk or Chimbonda whilst also wanting to see the back of Reid and Grella.

Fully fit and running they all have the quality to play in quality european teams and we want to get rid and look for players we don't have money to buy.

[bluebruce]

I love the posts advocating selling half the squad, I can't see why anyone would want to be rid of Emerton, Basturk or Chimbonda whilst also wanting to see the back of Reid and Grella.

Fully fit and running they all have the quality to play in quality european teams and we want to get rid and look for players we don't have money to buy.

I'm not sure if you read my post? We don't have money to buy precisely because of all these players and their rather large wages. The players in question almost never play for us yet cost us quite a bit, and are all getting on. Some of them have chronic injury problems that it has become increasingly obvious they can't shake (Grella and Reid especially). Their being here is hampering our ability to effectively find players in their positions- it's hard to envision the board releasing funds for central mids when we have Grella, Reid, Emerton, Dunn, N'zonzi, Linganzi, Basturk, Pedersen, Andrews etc who can all play there and cost a fortune to keep.

Personally, I didn't exactly "advocate" getting rid of Basturk, I just think Sam looks totally uninterested in keeping him. I feel we should keep Emerton, because his injuries haven't proven to be inescapable just yet, and his sheer versatility is an immense asset. I didn't mention (because I think he will go), but if Reid was willing to sign a cheap contract with us that was highly appearance-based, I'd be fine with keeping him on. But I think West Brom will offer him a real wage and first-team Prem football, so he's gone. We can't afford to offer him another bumper deal, surely you recognise that?

[Bobby G]

Personally I think we will/should get rid of:

One keeper, Zurab, Chimbonda or Jacobsen (former will fetch a fee for sure), Grella, Reid, Basturk, Andrews (for a decent fee close to 2 million), and Roberts. This is not to mention Pedersen who is almost certain to leave.

Replace them with a quality central midfielder, another squad midfielder (if Andrews is sold too) one winger and two strikers.

I dont think thats too far off in doing

[Majiball]

Outs:

Brown - Scares the hell out of me.

Chimbonda - Cannot stop crosses.

Grella - with him in our midfield we lack so much mobility especially when its N'zonzi and Dunn.

Reid - To help reduce the wage budget and because I can't help but think he'll just get injured again.

Kish - Deserves to play somewhere.

Basturk - Why keep if we are chasing another midfielder.

Judge - Has done alright in a ###### poor Plymouth team, but he's not fancied so lets get a few quid for him. Personally I'd keep him with us next year especially if Gamst walks.

Thats it for me the rest can stay as they can do a job, either in the squad or need some more time to develop.

Ins:

Striker 1st team, permanent transfer. Desperately need a 10 goal a season man, depending on Dunn's fitness is a risky business.

Midfielder 1st team, permanent transfer. Until Gamst is sorted what type is another matter. I still feel we need a back-up for Dunn as our system depends on him and he won't play the full season. If gamst goes then he must be replaced so it changes the picture. Someone who can play both as a normal midfielder and double in the hole would be ideal, but they are rare.

Left Back, capable of playing first team but not regularly as Sam likes his full backs like center backs in some games ala Givet.

If there's any dollar left at all, a loan striker and perhaps a couple of hopefuls ala Linguine and N'zonzi, preferably a left footed winger if possible.