contracts update and latest

Quoted from rancido

I must admit that if this is the way that RS is looking to building a " promotion winning " squad then I think we will be disappointed next season and Slade will continue to be " the nearly man "!

Quoted from mariner91

Because of one player from a squad that will be about 22/23 strong? Bit of an over-reaction. Besides, he hasn't even signed anything yet. He's still in negotiations and my bet is that he's being offered considerably reduced terms.

It's always good to have a few older and experienced heads around. We've still got Vernon but right now we don't know if we'll keep Collins. I think in an ideal world RS would have liked to have kept Disley around but he's a victim of the poor centre mid recruitment from PH at the start of the season, handing out two year contracts to very mediocre players. As it stands we will have Berrett, Summerfield, McAllister, Osborne, Clements, Sam Jones and Clifton and I would be very surprised if RS doesn't want someone with more athleticism on top of that which would leave us with 8 central midfielders. If we'd kept Disley it would have been 9. Even if you're playing with a midfield three you'd still have at least three of them out of the match day squad each game. I wouldn't be at all surprised if Berrett and Summerfield have been told they are free to look elsewhere but until or if they find somewhere else it would be a risky use of the budget to re-sign another centre midfielder, particularly one who is unlikely to be playing week in and week out. So as sad as it is, it makes sense from a pragmatic point of view.

Ben Davies has a lot of experience and has experience at a higher level than anyone else in the squad other than Collins who may or may not be here next season. I may imagine that RS probably sees this experience as valuable for a squad that is relatively young and inexperienced in the FL and with the pragmatic reasons for releasing Disley and Collins future uncertain that leaves Vernon and Davies as experienced veterans. He's also not a bad player. He started the season well but got injured and was then left exposed at wing back by Bignot's lack of tactical nous. He's also unlikely to be starting ahead of Mills and how many L2 squads have a back up right back who is significantly better than Ben Davies? Not many if any. As previously stated, he's also not signed anything yet and I'd be amazed if he hasn't been offered reduced terms to free up more budget.

To suggest that the re-signing of one player who actually isn't too bad when fit and is most likely just experienced cover is indicative of next season being a failure is ridiculous. We came fourth in 2006 with a squad that included such greats as Glen Downey, Terry Barwick and Tony Crane so I hardly see Ben Davies as reason enough on his own to suggest we'll fail to go up.

Quoted from rancido

I think it would be a bad move if we retained Ben Davies. He may have a lot of experience but I think he's too old to be a potent force at right back. It makes even less sense with the release of Dizzy who would be more of an asset than Davies.

With regards to Mills , surely he is still contracted to us for another season so Shrewsbury would need to be given permission to talk to him and a few would be required. I would rather get rid of Davies and offer Mills a revised contract to keep him with us for at least another season beyond his existing contract. Mills is the future and Davies is the past.

I must admit that if this is the way that RS is looking to building a " promotion winning " squad then I think we will be disappointed next season and Slade will continue to be " the nearly man "!

Quoted from mariner91

Because of one player from a squad that will be about 22/23 strong? Bit of an over-reaction. Besides, he hasn't even signed anything yet. He's still in negotiations and my bet is that he's being offered considerably reduced terms.

It's always good to have a few older and experienced heads around. We've still got Vernon but right now we don't know if we'll keep Collins. I think in an ideal world RS would have liked to have kept Disley around but he's a victim of the poor centre mid recruitment from PH at the start of the season, handing out two year contracts to very mediocre players. As it stands we will have Berrett, Summerfield, McAllister, Osborne, Clements, Sam Jones and Clifton and I would be very surprised if RS doesn't want someone with more athleticism on top of that which would leave us with 8 central midfielders. If we'd kept Disley it would have been 9. Even if you're playing with a midfield three you'd still have at least three of them out of the match day squad each game. I wouldn't be at all surprised if Berrett and Summerfield have been told they are free to look elsewhere but until or if they find somewhere else it would be a risky use of the budget to re-sign another centre midfielder, particularly one who is unlikely to be playing week in and week out. So as sad as it is, it makes sense from a pragmatic point of view.

Ben Davies has a lot of experience and has experience at a higher level than anyone else in the squad other than Collins who may or may not be here next season. I imagine that RS probably sees this experience as valuable for a squad that is relatively young and inexperienced in the FL and with the pragmatic reasons for releasing Disley and Collins future uncertain that leaves Vernon and Davies as experienced veterans. He's also not a bad player. He started the season well but got injured and was then left exposed at wing back by Bignot's lack of tactical nous. He's also unlikely to be starting ahead of Mills and how many L2 squads have a back up right back who is significantly better than Ben Davies? Not many if any. As previously stated, he's also not signed anything yet and I'd be amazed if he hasn't been offered reduced terms to free up more budget.

To suggest that the re-signing of one player who actually isn't too bad when fit and is most likely just experienced cover is indicative of next season being a failure is ridiculous. We came fourth in 2006 with a squad that included such greats as Glen Downey, Terry Barwick and Tony Crane so I hardly see Ben Davies as reason enough on his own to suggest we'll fail to go up.

Quoted from Cloudy

Anyone else hearing Dembele signed a couple of weeks ago??