Lets just say...

[Phil 6]

...Nolan, Barton, Jonas and Enrique are sold.

 

Presuming we get figures of around 4mil for Nolan, 4mil for Barton, 8mil for Enrique and 8mil for Jonas. Aye the team spirit that was forged may well be dispanded but in terms of qualit on the pitch who realistically would you be happy with that we got in as replacements?

 

Enrique: M'Bengue 6mil OR Warnock 3mil to go into the 1st team and Neil Taylor as back up 1mil

 

Barton: Cabaye 4.5mil

 

Nolan: Gardner 5mil

 

Jonas: N'Zogbia 10mil

 

That there is pretty much replacing each for the same amount as we'd get for all of them.

 

Leaving the 35mil to still be spent on ADDITIONS...STx2 and a RW.

 

The players I would want are unlikely to come to us, realistic targets could be;

 

Realistically I'd go for;

 

Enrique: van aanholt 6mReally? £6M? or Ryan Bertrand 4m

 

Barton: Keep him, it's simply not worth selling and he clearly wants to stay.

 

Nolan: Ireland 4milSo spend the Nolan money on a waster who wont get 1/3 of his goals?

 

Jonas: Bentley or SWP 6m Far overpriced for the pair of them, especially Bentley. I'd rather Jonas, to be honest.

 

The prices are just guesses.

 

I've seen Bentley and Ireland play quite a bit and they are both very good players having tough times at their club. Both had good patches only to be dropped for no reason.

[Kitman 2207]

I'm dubious that wholesale change is going to translate into instant success on the pitch. In real life if you replace 4 or 5 players from a team it takes time for them to gel and get used to playing together. If the replacements are foreign and have never played in the PL, it's even harder. I know that's what pre-seasons are for but it's different when the real matches kick off.

 

Sorry if I'm stating the obvious.

[Christmas Tree 4858]

I'm dubious that wholesale change is going to translate into instant success on the pitch. In real life if you replace 4 or 5 players from a team it takes time for them to gel and get used to playing together. If the replacements are foreign and have never played in the PL, it's even harder. I know that's what pre-seasons are for but it's different when the real matches kick off.

 

Sorry if I'm stating the obvious.

 

Good post and nail on the head. Will they or won't they gel.

[Craig 6700]

If we can bring in younger players of good quality on cheaper wages then why not?

 

Last time we employed that ethic Ossie was manager and it very nearly got us dumped into Division 3. The underlying driving force in both examples was a short-sighted board that wanted to recoup money rather than invest. At least back then their strategy was backed up by the fact they had fuck all money to play with.

 

You can sum up your points as follows for me:

 

Younger - yes

Cheaper wages - obviously it's the primary remit of the board

Good quality - questionable

Adaptable to the Premier League - no one knows.

Better than what we've got - who knows but if they're not we'll not have Barton & Nolan to fall back on as they'll already have been flogged off.

 

And the point that keeps being mentioned by many but overlooked is who's the next captain seeing as the club have seemingly decided to sell the captain and alienate his vice-captain?

 

Very narrow-minded view from those supporting this action. The longer he goes on btw, the more plausible I think it is that CT is a plant by the club. Maybe that's why he's a taxi driver who is drawing £50k a year?

[toonotl 3120]

I don't how this thread is even relevant. How many of the players mentioned are signed?

[Guest alex]

Not being funny, but cabaye has already came out and said he's been asked to play infront of the back 4... how can people keep saying this is Nolan's replacement, did he ever play as a deep laying midfield playmaker?

If we're going to play that way, i.e. with him there and Tiote as the box-to-box man then Ben Arfa could (arguably) be Nolan's ready-made replacement. Like a new signing tbh

[Craig 6700]

Not being funny, but cabaye has already came out and said he's been asked to play infront of the back 4... how can people keep saying this is Nolan's replacement, did he ever play as a deep laying midfield playmaker?

If we're going to play that way, i.e. with him there and Tiote as the box-to-box man then Ben Arfa could (arguably) be Nolan's ready-made replacement. Like a new signing tbh

 

ahh but isn't Ben Arfa going to play left wing / striker / attacking midfielder / tea lady / etc. probably all at the same time?

[Kevin S. Assilleekunt 1]

Cabaye is the box-to-box man, at least that was his role for Lille.