Brown Nose
Well-Known Member
There will be many factors that will determine how our return to the PL will go. Most obviously, the impending points deduction that we'll face and our inability to throw money about.
But the main person we'll be relying on over the next four months is Martyn Glover. He's now been in post for two years following his shambolic arrival when Southampton refused to allow him to work for us until after the 22/23 summer transfer window. His first signings were Souttar, Kristiansen and Tete. And we all know how they worked out. His relationship with BR didn't seem likely to work from day one as BR finally had his control of recruitment wrestled away.
EM has spoken this week about his relationship with MG. He gave full credit to MG for the identification and signing of Fatawu. Other obvious successes this season are Hermansen and Mavididi. The signing of Winks was hardly an unknown player but a smart signing for the circumstances. The other recruits have made much less of a contribution to our season. The signings of Coady and Cannon just haven't worked out. The loan deals for Akgun, Doyle and Casadei were pretty uninspiring.
So what now?
MG now knows the sort of players EM will need. They've had plenty of time to look around and prepare for this summer. Our problem is a lack of budget and a bloated squad still desperately in need of a major cull.
We have six players out of contract (Vardy, Albrighton, Vestergaard, Praet, Iheanacho and Ndidi). You'd imagine the decision with Iheanacho, Albrighton and Praet are simple enough. They haven't featured much and we'll have to take losses on them. The others all have played their part this season and you can see EM wanting them to stay. Of the loan players, Fatawu will be made permanent but you'd expect Akgun and Doyle to leave.
Then there are the players already on loan (Iversen, Soumare, Kristiansen) who are all surplus to requirements so MG needs to get them sold. And those in the squad but not probably not part of our future (Ward, Coady, Souttar, Daka, Cannon).
The finances appear to be dictating that we raise funds urgently before the end of June. Dewsbury-Hall is the prime candidate for this due to his book value to us and we might also look to sell on people like McAteer to raise a bit. We might have to take offers to players we don't want to lose in order to make other changes. For example, it wouldn't be a surprise to see someone come in for Hermansen. Even someone like Alves could be vulnerable if a richer club sees his potential and we're not able to say no.
All that leaves us with the need for a lot of cheap loans, free transfers and smart signings. And that's where MG really becomes integral to our immediate future. Will we go back for Sensi now he's free? We're going to need a few players in and he's going to need to get a lot of them right for us to have a chance next year.
But the main person we'll be relying on over the next four months is Martyn Glover. He's now been in post for two years following his shambolic arrival when Southampton refused to allow him to work for us until after the 22/23 summer transfer window. His first signings were Souttar, Kristiansen and Tete. And we all know how they worked out. His relationship with BR didn't seem likely to work from day one as BR finally had his control of recruitment wrestled away.
EM has spoken this week about his relationship with MG. He gave full credit to MG for the identification and signing of Fatawu. Other obvious successes this season are Hermansen and Mavididi. The signing of Winks was hardly an unknown player but a smart signing for the circumstances. The other recruits have made much less of a contribution to our season. The signings of Coady and Cannon just haven't worked out. The loan deals for Akgun, Doyle and Casadei were pretty uninspiring.
So what now?
MG now knows the sort of players EM will need. They've had plenty of time to look around and prepare for this summer. Our problem is a lack of budget and a bloated squad still desperately in need of a major cull.
We have six players out of contract (Vardy, Albrighton, Vestergaard, Praet, Iheanacho and Ndidi). You'd imagine the decision with Iheanacho, Albrighton and Praet are simple enough. They haven't featured much and we'll have to take losses on them. The others all have played their part this season and you can see EM wanting them to stay. Of the loan players, Fatawu will be made permanent but you'd expect Akgun and Doyle to leave.
Then there are the players already on loan (Iversen, Soumare, Kristiansen) who are all surplus to requirements so MG needs to get them sold. And those in the squad but not probably not part of our future (Ward, Coady, Souttar, Daka, Cannon).
The finances appear to be dictating that we raise funds urgently before the end of June. Dewsbury-Hall is the prime candidate for this due to his book value to us and we might also look to sell on people like McAteer to raise a bit. We might have to take offers to players we don't want to lose in order to make other changes. For example, it wouldn't be a surprise to see someone come in for Hermansen. Even someone like Alves could be vulnerable if a richer club sees his potential and we're not able to say no.
All that leaves us with the need for a lot of cheap loans, free transfers and smart signings. And that's where MG really becomes integral to our immediate future. Will we go back for Sensi now he's free? We're going to need a few players in and he's going to need to get a lot of them right for us to have a chance next year.
