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Summer Targets - choose 4 - You are the Manager.

We're not gonna attract players of the quality to replace Bale and Modric without being in the Champion's League.
Its a waste of time selling them. And neither are really gonna cause that much fuss.
As immediate replacements correct, but we signed both Bale and Modric and Berbatov and Ade on loan without champions league football. We have to look better.
 
Luka has 4 years left on his contract. He's going nowhere.

look, he's done 4 years at Spurs, won fcuk all, one CL campaign, let the ratface go and do his thing at a bigger club. Yes he could have done more to help us achieve more, but that is one of the reasons why id let him go now for big money. I think we will be fine
 
The summer that decides mediocrity or a top 4 team.

Almost a certainty Modric will be gone. Only good think is that Levy will leech every last penny and see that he will go for a mint. Then it is up to Redknapp to invest - which is the dodgy part. (Benayoun anyone?)


Rafa van der Vaart and Bale may stay. The latter perhaps may go. Again Levy's dealings will play a part.


The two above would bring in at least 50-60mill; adequate funds to bring in decent to quality players. Only problem is that yet again our wages are pitiful compared to Arabland and Levy's prime goal is seemingly the new stadium.

Goalkeeper is a major issue, but often shadowed.
Gomes - might be let go on a free. Personally am sad, and would really hope that he stays. He is the closest we have ever got to quality since the Norseman.
Brad and Cudicini - their ages add up to 3 quarters of a decade. Says enough really.

Defenders appears fine - but our injury woes may destroy that.
Emergence of Steven Caulker makes up for Ledley King. However we have an injury prone Dawson, a weak Gallas which leaves us with Caulker and Kaboul. Anyone know what Adam Smith is like?

Personally I think our midfield is fine, however with Modric gone and Bale leaving we must upgrade our wings and a central midfielder. Hoilett perhaps. We need at least two. Joe Allen seems suitable for a Modric replacement judging on this year's performance.

Strikers - well oh well, haven't we sorted this out years ago? No, the problem persists. Defoe is an impact sub - nothing more. With Ade gone we have another crisis yet again. Pav and Keane are gone. Gio will go. We only have Defoe and Saha, who are turning ancient.


This summer will make or break.
 
look, he's done 4 years at Spurs, won fcuk all, one CL campaign, let the ratface go and do his thing at a bigger club. Yes he could have done more to help us achieve more, but that is one of the reasons why id let him go now for big money. I think we will be fine


is that really called for?
 
----------------- Courtois ----------------

Walker --- Kaboul --- Vertonghen --- Ekotto

----------- Sandro ------ Sahin ------------

Lennon ----------------------------- Afellay

------------Ade ------ Damiao -------------

Manager - R. Martinez
 
Goalkeepers: Friedel, Cudicini
Defenders: Walker, Naughton, Caulker, Kaboul, Dawson, Assou-Ekotto
Midfield: Lennon, Sandro, Huddlestone, Parker
Forwards: Van Der Vaart.

I've put the worst case scenario there of selling Bale and Modric but on the plus side it will give us more money to spend to actually rebuild. That squad needs a centre back, a back up left back, a squad right winger, a central midfielder, 2 left sided options, and 3 forwards to have 2 good players in each position and therefore giving us enough cover to compete for the top 4. That's 9 players. If we sell Modric, Bale, Defoe, Dos Santos, Krancjar, Pienaar, Rose, and release Saha and Nelsen we should have the best part of ?ú100 million to spend and rebuilding. That's well over ?ú10 million per player that we need. Some may cost ?ú15M, some may cost ?ú5M, but that should be roughly enough to do it.

Centre back: Vertonghen. ?ú10 million. Done.
Back up left back: There must be an experienced left back out there willing to back up Benny - something for the scouting network to find. ?ú2.5M.
Sqaud right winger: Hoilett. Nominal tribunal fee. ?ú2.5M? Simple. Done. No brainer since we need width and he can provide it for good value.
Central midfielder: Sigurdsson. More goal-threat than Modric while being clever a footballer in his own right and able to fit into a passing team. ?ú10M
Left winger: Adam Johnson. Must surely be moving on from City especially if they recruit more, and who better than us would take him? Liverpool could possibly offer more money, but he is quality. Can swap wings and give us the width we need. ?ú10M.
Left sided option: Another for the scouting network to find. Doesn't need to be a world beater. Someone willing to be part of the squad and can come in and provide the width we need so our shape doesn't go to brick when we have injuries. If I have to give a name, maybe Scott Sinclair or Nathan Dyer. Maybe Victor Moses, but I guess he'd expect to start more games. ?ú6M Or if there is no-one like that, give Townsend a place in the squad and trust him, as Hoilett, Lennon and Johnson could cover the wings.
Forwards: Adebayor. Damiao. And Dembele. I know he's been playing central midfield for Fulham but he could play the Rafa role with us. ?ú40M.

That leaves us with 2 good players in each position to carry on playing 4-4-1-1 with the width that has served us so well over the first part of the season just gone, and although we lose 2 key players we replace them and also use the money they generate to strengthen other weaknesses of the team that let us down this year. That squad should see us get 4th I'd say.

It may be slightly unrealistic as some players may not be willing to come as back-ups/rotation options (Sinclair, Dembele) but the point was to show that we can rebuild and it doesn't have to be the summer of disaster the media is painting it out to be. We spend ?ú80 million there, and some of those values may be over-estimated so it may be more like ?ú75M. I don't think carving off ?ú50M for the stadium is good use of the money generated from the sales because they will leave glaring holes in a squad that already needs strengthening in certain areas to maintain it's position in the league when the other teams will be improving. Hopefully we will be able to send ?ú25M the stadiums way, improve the squad and make a push for top 4 next season.
 
With regards to sigurdson,as i live in swansea,is that swansea chairman,has gone over to germany and put a bid in of ?ú7 mill plus already so a deal could be made in the next week or so and the player states he's quite happy to stay in swansea.

it would be nice now that the levy comes out now by the end of the week to say if harry been given a new contract and if modric is staying,all of this up in the air feeling has been around far too long,we need stability for feck sake.
 
Last edited:
Goalkeepers: Friedel, Cudicini
Defenders: Walker, Naughton, Caulker, Kaboul, Dawson, Assou-Ekotto
Midfield: Lennon, Sandro, Huddlestone, Parker
Forwards: Van Der Vaart.

I've put the worst case scenario there of selling Bale and Modric but on the plus side it will give us more money to spend to actually rebuild. That squad needs a centre back, a back up left back, a squad right winger, a central midfielder, 2 left sided options, and 3 forwards to have 2 good players in each position and therefore giving us enough cover to compete for the top 4. That's 9 players. If we sell Modric, Bale, Defoe, Dos Santos, Krancjar, Pienaar, Rose, and release Saha and Nelsen we should have the best part of ?ú100 million to spend and rebuilding. That's well over ?ú10 million per player that we need. Some may cost ?ú15M, some may cost ?ú5M, but that should be roughly enough to do it.

Centre back: Vertonghen. ?ú10 million. Done.
Back up left back: There must be an experienced left back out there willing to back up Benny - something for the scouting network to find. ?ú2.5M.
Sqaud right winger: Hoilett. Nominal tribunal fee. ?ú2.5M? Simple. Done. No brainer since we need width and he can provide it for good value.
Central midfielder: Sigurdsson. More goal-threat than Modric while being clever a footballer in his own right and able to fit into a passing team. ?ú10M
Left winger: Adam Johnson. Must surely be moving on from City especially if they recruit more, and who better than us would take him? Liverpool could possibly offer more money, but he is quality. Can swap wings and give us the width we need. ?ú10M.
Left sided option: Another for the scouting network to find. Doesn't need to be a world beater. Someone willing to be part of the squad and can come in and provide the width we need so our shape doesn't go to brick when we have injuries. If I have to give a name, maybe Scott Sinclair or Nathan Dyer. Maybe Victor Moses, but I guess he'd expect to start more games. ?ú6M Or if there is no-one like that, give Townsend a place in the squad and trust him, as Hoilett, Lennon and Johnson could cover the wings.
Forwards: Adebayor. Damiao. And Dembele. I know he's been playing central midfield for Fulham but he could play the Rafa role with us. ?ú40M.

That leaves us with 2 good players in each position to carry on playing 4-4-1-1 with the width that has served us so well over the first part of the season just gone, and although we lose 2 key players we replace them and also use the money they generate to strengthen other weaknesses of the team that let us down this year. That squad should see us get 4th I'd say.

It may be slightly unrealistic as some players may not be willing to come as back-ups/rotation options (Sinclair, Dembele) but the point was to show that we can rebuild and it doesn't have to be the summer of disaster the media is painting it out to be. We spend ?ú80 million there, and some of those values may be over-estimated so it may be more like ?ú75M. I don't think carving off ?ú50M for the stadium is good use of the money generated from the sales because they will leave glaring holes in a squad that already needs strengthening in certain areas to maintain it's position in the league when the other teams will be improving. Hopefully we will be able to send ?ú25M the stadiums way, improve the squad and make a push for top 4 next season.

Dembele has been doing really well as a central midfielder, so you would bring him in to play in the VdV position? Meanwhile Sigurdsson has done really well in the VdV role so you would bring him in as a central midfielder?

We would be short two quality players. Johnson is nowhere near Bale's quality, he's not even as good as Lennon. Sigurdsson and Dembele are both good, I would prefer bringing in Dembele if we do lose Modric, but either way it will be a step down for us.

That would mean that other players would have to fill that gap in quality, will Damiao and Vertonghen be good enough in their first seasons to not only make up for the quality lost in the players leaving, but also push on to improve us? Massive gamble that could just as well swing the other way.
 
Dembele has been doing really well as a central midfielder, so you would bring him in to play in the VdV position? Meanwhile Sigurdsson has done really well in the VdV role so you would bring him in as a central midfielder?

We would be short two quality players. Johnson is nowhere near Bale's quality, he's not even as good as Lennon. Sigurdsson and Dembele are both good, I would prefer bringing in Dembele if we do lose Modric, but either way it will be a step down for us.

That would mean that other players would have to fill that gap in quality, will Damiao and Vertonghen be good enough in their first seasons to not only make up for the quality lost in the players leaving, but also push on to improve us? Massive gamble that could just as well swing the other way.

Wasn't really supposed to be too much thought going into the tactical side of it. I don't think Siggurdsson has really been playing the Rafa role because Swansea play a different system to us, and I'm sure Dembele started as a more advanced player. I don't mind if they are swapped around really!

But the thread is about what we would do with the cash should we sell Modric and Bale. Therefore we will be short of quality, but that's kind of the point. We chould choose to go and spend the same amount of money to try and replace Modric and Bale with players who are just as good, but that is nigh on impossible because if those players are out there, they wouldn't be coming to us, the clubs with all the money would be buying them. And anyone that is going to cost ?ú30M plus is going to want wages that we can't afford to pay. So I chose to take this hypothetical scenario as an opportunity to invest right through the squad, so we have a good spread of quality right the way through, rather than it being concentrated in these 2 players - who have shown that they can't exactly prevent a slide down to 4th from clear in 3rd in any case. I see our problem as being one of balance, where injuries meant that we wouldn't be able to play the same system that we had success with and that's part of the reason it cost us.

We are always going to be short on quality if we lose Modric and Bale because we will be losing players that can play for any team in the world. That's just going to happen.
 
I see that from the gossip this morning Modruc is deciding whether to put in a transfer request......

I feel that the time has come for everybody at the club to state their intentions at a meeting involving Levy, anybody on the board with money to spend, Harry and his management team, and all the first team squad.

Levy should tell everybody how much money there is to spend before we start selling existing players.

Anybody on the board with money should say how much they will put in or not if that is the case.

The new ground should also be discussed - all these promises of a bigger income etc. is de-stabilising the club.

Harry then needs to make it clear who he wants to keep and who he wants to let go and what his realistic objectives are given the amount of money he will have to spend.

The players should then be asked who wants to stay and fight for the club and who wants to go.

If the better high profile players choose to go then sell them now, get good money and find replacements well before the season starts. Don't leave it until 2 weeks before like usual.

If we are not going to pay top four prices it will be very hard to compete for top four again next season - so lets lower expectations and try and win the Europa/ FA/ League cup. We can't keep telling everybody we are a top club but then behave like Fulham.

I am very proud of what the club has achieved by paying our own way but now is a time for honesty from owners, management, players and us fans.
 
I see that from the gossip this morning Modric is deciding whether to put in a transfer request......

I feel that the time has come for everybody at the club to state their intentions at a meeting involving Levy, anybody on the board with money to spend, Harry and his management team, and all the first team squad.

Levy should tell everybody how much money there is to spend before we start selling existing players.

Anybody on the board with money should say how much they will put in or not if that is the case.

The new ground should also be discussed - all these promises of a bigger income etc. is de-stabilising the club.

Harry then needs to make it clear who he wants to keep and who he wants to let go and what his realistic objectives are given the amount of money he will have to spend.

The players should then be asked who wants to stay and fight for the club and who wants to go.

If the better high profile players choose to go then sell them now, get good money and find replacements well before the season starts. Don't leave it until 2 weeks before like usual.

If we are not going to pay top four prices it will be very hard to compete for top four again next season - so lets lower expectations and try and win the Europa/ FA/ League cup. We can't keep telling everybody we are a top club but then behave like Fulham.

I am very proud of what the club has achieved by paying our own way but now is a time for honesty from owners, management, players and us fans.
 
I see that from the gossip this morning Modric is deciding whether to put in a transfer request......

I feel that the time has come for everybody at the club to state their intentions at a meeting involving Levy, anybody on the board with money to spend, Harry and his management team, and all the first team squad.

Levy should tell everybody how much money there is to spend before we start selling existing players.

Anybody on the board with money should say how much they will put in or not if that is the case.

The new ground should also be discussed - all these promises of a bigger income etc. is de-stabilising the club.

Harry then needs to make it clear who he wants to keep and who he wants to let go and what his realistic objectives are given the amount of money he will have to spend.

The players should then be asked who wants to stay and fight for the club and who wants to go.

If the better high profile players choose to go then sell them now, get good money and find replacements well before the season starts. Don't leave it until 2 weeks before like usual.

If we are not going to pay top four prices it will be very hard to compete for top four again next season - so lets lower expectations and try and win the Europa/ FA/ League cup. We can't keep telling everybody we are a top club but then behave like Fulham.

I am very proud of what the club has achieved by paying our own way but now is a time for honesty from owners, management, players and us fans.

For us to behave like Fulham we'd actually have to take the europa league seriously. :mickey:
 
I see that from the gossip this morning Modric is deciding whether to put in a transfer request......

I feel that the time has come for everybody at the club to state their intentions at a meeting involving Levy, anybody on the board with money to spend, Harry and his management team, and all the first team squad.

Levy should tell everybody how much money there is to spend before we start selling existing players.

Anybody on the board with money should say how much they will put in or not if that is the case.

The new ground should also be discussed - all these promises of a bigger income etc. is de-stabilising the club.

Harry then needs to make it clear who he wants to keep and who he wants to let go and what his realistic objectives are given the amount of money he will have to spend.

The players should then be asked who wants to stay and fight for the club and who wants to go.

If the better high profile players choose to go then sell them now, get good money and find replacements well before the season starts. Don't leave it until 2 weeks before like usual.

If we are not going to pay top four prices it will be very hard to compete for top four again next season - so lets lower expectations and try and win the Europa/ FA/ League cup. We can't keep telling everybody we are a top club but then behave like Fulham.

I am very proud of what the club has achieved by paying our own way but now is a time for honesty from owners, management, players and us fans.

No reason why we can't compete for the top 4 again. A title challenge will be out of reach unless all the luck that has gone against us this season somehow gets transplated into going in our favour next year. And although Chelsea will probably make top 3, I can't see Arsenal pulling that much further ahead of us. Even if we sell Modric and Bale there are players out there that we can get if we invest the money wisely enough, and it can even see us with a more balanced squad come the end of the transfer window.

It doesn't have to all be doom and gloom. It will be a tough summer, we will have to take a few gambles and get a lot of things right, but we should be able to maintain our top 6 position at the very least with some intelligent investment.
 
No reason why we can't compete for the top 4 again. A title challenge will be out of reach unless all the luck that has gone against us this season somehow gets transplated into going in our favour next year. And although Chelsea will probably make top 3, I can't see Arsenal pulling that much further ahead of us. Even if we sell Modric and Bale there are players out there that we can get if we invest the money wisely enough, and it can even see us with a more balanced squad come the end of the transfer window.

It doesn't have to all be doom and gloom. It will be a tough summer, we will have to take a few gambles and get a lot of things right, but we should be able to maintain our top 6 position at the very least with some intelligent investment.

na, this season was our chance, glorious chance to get top 4, which we did. BUt the football gods fcuked us over and we lost it. Next season Pool will have a new manager, City United and Le ar5e will be in top 3, Chelsea will overtake us and Saudi Sportswashing Machine will improve. Maybe, maybe a shot for 4th but most likely 5th or 6th.
 
Wasn't really supposed to be too much thought going into the tactical side of it. I don't think Siggurdsson has really been playing the Rafa role because Swansea play a different system to us, and I'm sure Dembele started as a more advanced player. I don't mind if they are swapped around really!

But the thread is about what we would do with the cash should we sell Modric and Bale. Therefore we will be short of quality, but that's kind of the point. We chould choose to go and spend the same amount of money to try and replace Modric and Bale with players who are just as good, but that is nigh on impossible because if those players are out there, they wouldn't be coming to us, the clubs with all the money would be buying them. And anyone that is going to cost ?ú30M plus is going to want wages that we can't afford to pay. So I chose to take this hypothetical scenario as an opportunity to invest right through the squad, so we have a good spread of quality right the way through, rather than it being concentrated in these 2 players - who have shown that they can't exactly prevent a slide down to 4th from clear in 3rd in any case. I see our problem as being one of balance, where injuries meant that we wouldn't be able to play the same system that we had success with and that's part of the reason it cost us.

We are always going to be short on quality if we lose Modric and Bale because we will be losing players that can play for any team in the world. That's just going to happen.

My point is that although it might not be a summer of disaster should we sell those two players it will be a very risky project at the best of times and those pointing out 5-6 players we should buy to be alright are assuming that those players settle in quickly and that they work out at a high level. We obviously can't buy like for like replacements and will have to be smart should we end up in that predicament, but it will be a real obstacle for the club and management both short and long term.
 
na, this season was our chance, glorious chance to get top 4, which we did. BUt the football gods fcuked us over and we lost it. Next season Pool will have a new manager, City United and Le ar5e will be in top 3, Chelsea will overtake us and Saudi Sportswashing Machine will improve. Maybe, maybe a shot for 4th but most likely 5th or 6th.

Pool can have a new manager all they like, but it isn't going to make that magically better than us. They don't have as good a squad as us and it will take serious investment for them to do. One thing about them is they may be after a lot of similar players to us and may be able to get them by offering more wages, but we'll just have to try our best to get who we need.

Chelsea will overtake us although I'm not sure how much Saudi Sportswashing Machine can improve to get beyond us. They'll be up there but it's not like they are guarenteed to get above us. Arsenal won't be able to get that much further ahead of us, particularly if they lose RVP.

A squad of:

Friedel, Cudicini
Walker, Naughton, Kaboul, Caulker, Dawson, Vertonghen, Assou-Ekotto, Back Up Left back
Lennon, Hoilett, Sandro, Huddlestone, Parker, Dembele, Adam Johnson, Victor Moses
Van Der Vaart, Sigurdsson
Adebayor, Damiao

Would be easily enough to challenge for top 4 again next season. It's always going to be competitive. Even if we got it this season there's no saying it would have cemented a top 4 place for the next 4 years because all the clubs around us will keep improving. But we have a chance to still be up there competing even if we sell our two best players because the good thing is they are assets that will bring in plenty of cash, allowing us to reinvest. Some of that squad may be unrealistic and suffer from Football Manager syndrome of thinking we can sign two good players for each position with one just happy to not be playing each week, but my point is to show that we would have the money to rebuild and bring in players of real quality should we need to.

All is not lost. We don't have to be set back years. You're right, it is a shot at 4th but a good chance of 5th, but that's all we will probably have anyway until our stadium will allow us to pay bigger wages.
 
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