Great to get the insight from Swisdom thanks for sharing
I would be devastated if we sold Alfie as I just don’t see how we would replace that level of goals for the same fee and feel he is a real heartbeat of the club
When you look at someone like Jamie Vardy we could potentially get 4/5 years out of him and he’d definitely be a championship level player
I think the panic on here is a little misplaced at the moment. Let's look at the facts
Yes we had a shocking season last year. Inescapable fact it wasn't good enough.
But let's look at how we performed once Nathan was in place. Look at the difference in the team at the end of the season. We went on a crazy unbeaten run in a really short space of time. We looked physically stronger and harder to bully and to beat and we got some excellent results. That was with new faces and a new style. Square pegs in round holes you could say
We had multiple new faces come in and do a good job. So we ended the season MUCH stronger than the preceding months. Now we have improved the goalkeeping department (one more to come I believe), we've signed one of the better central defenders in the division last season (to the annoyance of a lot of Millwall fans), we've signed a midfielder who was last seen scoring in the Premier League last season We have an even stronger Miles Leaburn on his way back into the team and added strength to the left hand side. We are not done yet but the spine of the team arguable already is stronger and will get stronger still. We've got Campbell committed to us for a couple more years and it was clear Nathan has played a part in his mini resurgence at the end of the season so hopefully he can build on that this year and show us what he is capable of more consistently - he needed an arm around the shoulder and I think Nathan is perfect for that.
We've released many of the players who were not good enough or who did not fit in with Nathan's way of playing and I dare say there will be a few more leaving us.
Nathan wanted his squad in place in place for pre season "barring one or two" so let's see what they can pull out of the hat this week but we are already continuing in the right direction.
The obvious elephants in the room are Dobbo and May. Dobbo made the decision to move on so we need to learn to live with that. Rightly or wrongly it turned out that way. As for May - we still don't know what the latest update is but it's all gone quiet on that front. My guess is he won't be seen in a Charlton shirt again and it's a big shame but if the gaffer wants to go in a different direction AND we can double or treble our money on him then I'm afraid we probably have to get used to that fact. We need to comply with financial fair play so we can't realistically just get the owner to plough money into the club - it doesn't work that way any more. So if a good offer comes in for ANY player then it's only right that we listen.
For what it's worth I still think Alfie has a lot to offer us and I would love him to stay but from my last conversation with him he told me he needs to be playing and earning as much as possible given the short length of a football career. Who is to say he didn't get tapped up a while ago and get unsettled? We just don't know and likely never will.
I just want the new season to start so we can start actually supporting the team rather than sitting on here sniping and picking apart every word uttered.
As I've said many many times now - it's never easy being an Addick....but I wouldn't change it for the world. It always has been and always will be my team. OUR TEAM. We as fans have a part to play in supporting the club, the players and recognising the MASSIVE progress going on behind the scenes. We are getting our ducks lined up in a nice row - now it's just the hard part to do....winning games.
COYA
Can I ask what you refer to by this?
Im not challenging you just not sure what things you are referring to which I might not know about or have forgotten.
Looking to be enthused I guess.
Things like safe standing (should be a good atmosphere) a new fan zone Brand new hybrid pitch drainage works at Sparrows lane new pitches at sparrows lane a more structured medical team - with improved pre season fitness monitoring numerous new coaches in the academy
thats a lot of money invested in the infrastructure
There will be a whole new ethos around the club. More professionalism off the pitch which will hopefully be reflected on the pitch too. Some of the stuff we may not necessarily see - but it’s happening
i hope that clarifies a bit
Thank you.
It was the ‘behind the scenes’ reference that made me ask I.e. perhaps the less obvious.
I disagree completely. And I suspect its a big part of the reason why we're listening to offers.
One of the things I've really enjoyed about 'Where's the money gone?' is Methven's insights into how the club operates. There is a clear plan to sign players that are either capable of stepping up to the Championship or at least have the potential to. They don't want the club to go up only to come straight back down. Some might consider it 'running before you can walk', but whether you agree with it or not, it is at least a clear thought process.
In my book May is a very good league 1 striker, that probably wont be successful in the Championship (a theory I'd suggest is supported by the fact no Championship club has ever taken a punt on him).
IF we were to get promoted next season, Alfie would be 32 before even playing a Championship game. Obviously there are exceptions to the rule, but by and large strikers at 32 have their best days behind them. So if someone were to offer us over £1m for a player not deemed indispensable by Jones, and we were able to find suitable replacements. Would it be that crazy to sell him?
I disagree completely. And I suspect its a big part of the reason why we're listening to offers.
One of the things I've really enjoyed about 'Where's the money gone?' is Methven's insights into how the club operates. There is a clear plan to sign players that are either capable of stepping up to the Championship or at least have the potential to. They don't want the club to go up only to come straight back down. Some might consider it 'running before you can walk', but whether you agree with it or not, it is at least a clear thought process.
In my book May is a very good league 1 striker, that probably wont be successful in the Championship (a theory I'd suggest is supported by the fact no Championship club has ever taken a punt on him).
IF we were to get promoted next season, Alfie would be 32 before even playing a Championship game. Obviously there are exceptions to the rule, but by and large strikers at 32 have their best days behind them. So if someone were to offer us over £1m for a player not deemed indispensable by Jones, and we were able to find suitable replacements. Would it be that crazy to sell him?
You have to get to the Championship first though, & a 20+ goal a season striker is not easy to come by.
May signed a 2 year contract with a year option.
Keep him, bolster the team/squad behind him, to give us the best chance of promotion. If we do go up, & he isn't deemed quality enough, or is seen as too old for the 2nd tier, by the head honchos, simply don't exercise the option.
Personally, I think selling him would weaken us greatly. Whatever it takes to get us up is most important, & I'd rather have Alfie in the tent pissing out, than outside pissing in.
Get up to the Championship & then we are a far greater proposition for potentially better players.
I disagree completely. And I suspect its a big part of the reason why we're listening to offers.
One of the things I've really enjoyed about 'Where's the money gone?' is Methven's insights into how the club operates. There is a clear plan to sign players that are either capable of stepping up to the Championship or at least have the potential to. They don't want the club to go up only to come straight back down. Some might consider it 'running before you can walk', but whether you agree with it or not, it is at least a clear thought process.
In my book May is a very good league 1 striker, that probably wont be successful in the Championship (a theory I'd suggest is supported by the fact no Championship club has ever taken a punt on him).
IF we were to get promoted next season, Alfie would be 32 before even playing a Championship game. Obviously there are exceptions to the rule, but by and large strikers at 32 have their best days behind them. So if someone were to offer us over £1m for a player not deemed indispensable by Jones, and we were able to find suitable replacements. Would it be that crazy to sell him?
Sounds great. How many of the players signed so far by the SMT are capable of playing in the Championship?
Not including the 8 woeful loan signings from last season....
Penney, Thomas, Hector, Kane, LuaLua, Wickham, Edun, REG, Gillesphy, Ward, T Watson, Isted, Walker, Jones, Taylor, Coventry, May, Small, Ramsey.
From what I have seen Small is the only clear cut one with maybe Ramsey purely as I haven't seen him enough as the second.
We either need a different plan, different Director of Football or different budget. Let's hope this summer's transfers prove more successful. They need to as we have removed the base of our squad so if they prove as bad as previous ones we will be relegated l.
This is the risk vs reward that Jones (and presumably the SMT) will have to weigh up - May has come off the back of a third successive high scoring season BUT the possibility remains that he will start to decline, or get injured, or even that promotion actually decreases his importance/value to us.
So the gamble is on cashing in now while his stock is high and betting on Jones getting enough of a tune out of a rejigged squad to get by without him or keeping him as a known quality but basically tying the entire team to him as he only really flourishes in certain styles and formations.
Plus there's the question of if you DO sell him then another team who does play that style is guaranteed goals instead.
If it were me I'd be looking to keep him if possible but I don't think it's quite as binary as some people would have it.
Maybe it’s a cunning plan by Alfie and Nathan, has anyone thought about that?
Alfie joins Huddersfield, then amazingly loses form completely and doesn’t score a goal all season and so eliminates one of the better sides and a competitor. Enabling us to have a better chance of going up!
I disagree completely. And I suspect its a big part of the reason why we're listening to offers.
One of the things I've really enjoyed about 'Where's the money gone?' is Methven's insights into how the club operates. There is a clear plan to sign players that are either capable of stepping up to the Championship or at least have the potential to. They don't want the club to go up only to come straight back down. Some might consider it 'running before you can walk', but whether you agree with it or not, it is at least a clear thought process.
In my book May is a very good league 1 striker, that probably wont be successful in the Championship (a theory I'd suggest is supported by the fact no Championship club has ever taken a punt on him).
IF we were to get promoted next season, Alfie would be 32 before even playing a Championship game. Obviously there are exceptions to the rule, but by and large strikers at 32 have their best days behind them. So if someone were to offer us over £1m for a player not deemed indispensable by Jones, and we were able to find suitable replacements. Would it be that crazy to sell him?
Why not go the whole hog & get rid of all the players because none of them are good enough for the Premier league.
Results under Jones W4, L 2, D 10. So far we have 1 GK and 1 LB as understudies, 1CB next week and 1 31 yo Midfield player. Other than that we have the same players that finished 16th, less all those we released, less Dobson, and apparently less Alfie soon. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to be concerned or wonder why we need players who can play in the Championship, when we are nowhere near that division and unless there are another 6/7 permanent signings it won’t be something that happens next season. I am not panicking, just a realist after supporting this lot since 1968. I hope we get some more signings in, I hope we win the league at a canter, but failing that I also hope we don’t get relegated to league 2, keep a manager for more than 6-8 months and move forward.
Whoever comes in over the summer, if May leaves, we'll be selling the best goalscorer we've had in years (potentially to a promotion contender), and all at a time when much of the rest of the squad have proven that they are pretty shit (at best).
The new owners will appear to have a fairly empty account when it comes to fan favour if May is sold, so unless they want to see taxis and tennis balls reappearing, I hope they can convince the fans ahead of this season starting and the window closing, that progress on the pitch is an absolute banker!
There are pages of these rinse and repeat May posts. I understand the depth of feeling but it might be an idea to see what team starts the season opener before talk of taxis and tennis balls. Just saying.
We need to comply with financial fair play so we can't realistically just get the owner to plough money into the club - it doesn't work that way any more. So if a good offer comes in for ANY player then it's only right that we listen.
I don't think that's actually true though, is it? The owners can pump in as much as they want, as equity, not debt and still comply with the rules.
Now, I accept that isn't realistic, of course the owners will have a budget they want to stick to, but it's their choice, nothing to do with the rules.
Let's not let the club spin a story that simply isn't true.
Whoever comes in over the summer, if May leaves, we'll be selling the best goalscorer we've had in years (potentially to a promotion contender), and all at a time when much of the rest of the squad have proven that they are pretty shit (at best).
The new owners will appear to have a fairly empty account when it comes to fan favour if May is sold, so unless they want to see taxis and tennis balls reappearing, I hope they can convince the fans ahead of this season starting and the window closing, that progress on the pitch is an absolute banker!
Does that all hold true, if, as suggested, May is the one that wants to leave for a bigger payday?
There are pages of these rinse and repeat May posts. I understand the depth of feeling but it might be an idea to see what team starts the season opener before talk of taxis and tennis balls. Just saying.
I think with strikers, it is sometimes best to judge them on paper. When you do this with May, he looks very good. There can be games when he doesn't and you can tell he loves scoring goals so much his game can fall off if it isn't happening for him. But I keep going back to the paper which shows he is a lethal striker and they don't grow on trees. I trust Jones and you can do a lot with £1.5m so I won't be panicking if he does go but I wouldn't want to sell him if I was manager. Clearly I'm not and Jones seems to know what he is doing.
The way to judge if Jones knows what he is doing is if we secure automatic promotion at the end of the coming season. OK if we win the playoffs it will be acceptable. Anything else is failure.
For me, success starts at reaching the playoffs and is maxed out by winning the league.
Remember where we were on the last day of the season.
If we reach the play offs and don't get promoted our owners will have spent something like £30M on a club that remains L1 and hence know they will have another £8-10M outlay the following year. With no assets save for some L1 players and some goodwill. I wonder if they will view that as success or bail out and so we get to spin the wheel again. They certainly wouldn't have reached elite or sustainable.
We won’t get £1.5m for Alfie May. Where has this even come from?
For me the fact that May leaving seems a real possibility suggests there must be genuine interest from a club willing to pay £1m+, as I can’t see us accepting anything less.
Sounded like there’s a sell on % from Cheltenham’s Cawley, so in reality we probably wouldn’t get £1.5m, but if we accept an offer I doubt it’ll be for much less.
Whoever comes in over the summer, if May leaves, we'll be selling the best goalscorer we've had in years (potentially to a promotion contender), and all at a time when much of the rest of the squad have proven that they are pretty shit (at best).
The new owners will appear to have a fairly empty account when it comes to fan favour if May is sold, so unless they want to see taxis and tennis balls reappearing, I hope they can convince the fans ahead of this season starting and the window closing, that progress on the pitch is an absolute banker!
Does that all hold true, if, as suggested, May is the one that wants to leave for a bigger payday?
If May wants more money, can and should the owners afford to up his salary? If they want an 'equally good' goalscorer can they afford to pay for the replacement? If any money made from a sale of May is going to be watered down across the squad rebuild, then all the rhetoric about elite players may be somwhat disingenuous. It is a well used drum, but goalscorers get a team promotion (in combination with a solid defence). We have the forward line almost completed, so to take the most prized and expensive piece of the jigsaw out is a strange move, unless, NJ having knowedge if the actual budget, knows there is no other way!
The way to judge if Jones knows what he is doing is if we secure automatic promotion at the end of the coming season. OK if we win the playoffs it will be acceptable. Anything else is failure.
This doesn’t leave any room for the context of a season though? Birmingham and Huddersfield both have serious cash and will likely be the promoted sides, anything can happen in the playoffs with Posh, Rotherham and Bolton all still being here. I don’t think it’s a case that if we don’t get promoted it has been a failure of a season.
We won’t get £1.5m for Alfie May. Where has this even come from?
Source?
Not going to claim it won't happen but surprised no one bid bid higher than 250k for him last season and now someone is supposedly bidding £1.5m after a great season but realistically a similar season to the 2 before we signed him and with him a year older
Comments
I would be devastated if we sold Alfie as I just don’t see how we would replace that level of goals for the same fee and feel he is a real heartbeat of the club
When you look at someone like Jamie Vardy we could potentially get 4/5 years out of him and he’d definitely be a championship level player
the less obvious.
...Would ya!...🙄
One of the things I've really enjoyed about 'Where's the money gone?' is Methven's insights into how the club operates. There is a clear plan to sign players that are either capable of stepping up to the Championship or at least have the potential to. They don't want the club to go up only to come straight back down. Some might consider it 'running before you can walk', but whether you agree with it or not, it is at least a clear thought process.
In my book May is a very good league 1 striker, that probably wont be successful in the Championship (a theory I'd suggest is supported by the fact no Championship club has ever taken a punt on him).
IF we were to get promoted next season, Alfie would be 32 before even playing a Championship game. Obviously there are exceptions to the rule, but by and large strikers at 32 have their best days behind them. So if someone were to offer us over £1m for a player not deemed indispensable by Jones, and we were able to find suitable replacements. Would it be that crazy to sell him?
May signed a 2 year contract with a year option.
Keep him, bolster the team/squad behind him, to give us the best chance of promotion.
If we do go up, & he isn't deemed quality enough, or is seen as too old for the 2nd tier, by the head honchos, simply don't exercise the option.
Personally, I think selling him would weaken us greatly. Whatever it takes to get us up is most important, & I'd rather have Alfie in the tent pissing out, than outside pissing in.
Get up to the Championship & then we are a far greater proposition for potentially better players.
Sounds great. How many of the players signed so far by the SMT are capable of playing in the Championship?
Not including the 8 woeful loan signings from last season....
Penney, Thomas, Hector, Kane, LuaLua, Wickham, Edun, REG, Gillesphy, Ward, T Watson, Isted, Walker, Jones, Taylor, Coventry, May, Small, Ramsey.
From what I have seen Small is the only clear cut one with maybe Ramsey purely as I haven't seen him enough as the second.
We either need a different plan, different Director of Football or different budget. Let's hope this summer's transfers prove more successful. They need to as we have removed the base of our squad so if they prove as bad as previous ones we will be relegated l.
So the gamble is on cashing in now while his stock is high and betting on Jones getting enough of a tune out of a rejigged squad to get by without him or keeping him as a known quality but basically tying the entire team to him as he only really flourishes in certain styles and formations.
Plus there's the question of if you DO sell him then another team who does play that style is guaranteed goals instead.
If it were me I'd be looking to keep him if possible but I don't think it's quite as binary as some people would have it.
Alfie joins Huddersfield, then amazingly loses form completely and doesn’t score a goal all season and so eliminates one of the better sides and a competitor. Enabling us to have a better chance of going up!
Makes perfect sense to me.
'nuff said.
The new owners will appear to have a fairly empty account when it comes to fan favour if May is sold, so unless they want to see taxis and tennis balls reappearing, I hope they can convince the fans ahead of this season starting and the window closing, that progress on the pitch is an absolute banker!
Now, I accept that isn't realistic, of course the owners will have a budget they want to stick to, but it's their choice, nothing to do with the rules.
Let's not let the club spin a story that simply isn't true.
OK if we win the playoffs it will be acceptable.
Anything else is failure.
Remember where we were on the last day of the season.
If we reach the play offs and don't get promoted our owners will have spent something like £30M on a club that remains L1 and hence know they will have another £8-10M outlay the following year. With no assets save for some L1 players and some goodwill.
I wonder if they will view that as success or bail out and so we get to spin the wheel again. They certainly wouldn't have reached elite or sustainable.
Sounded like there’s a sell on % from Cheltenham’s Cawley, so in reality we probably wouldn’t get £1.5m, but if we accept an offer I doubt it’ll be for much less.