Clarets confident on Mee Deal

LongsideClaret · Post by **LongsideClaret** » Thu Jul 05, 2018 5:05 pm

Can’t see a thread about this but the Burnley Express are reporting that we are still confident of agreeing a new contract with Ben Mee.

Lancashire Telegraph also reporting that talks are ongoing. Perhaps we have had a rethink over how much we are prepared to offer him having seen how much the Dawson deal would cost us?

Very encouraging news after hearing a few reports that there had been no talks for a while.

https://www.burnleyexpress.net/sport/fo ... -1-9236574

Dark Cloud · Post by **Dark Cloud** » Thu Jul 05, 2018 5:11 pm

I think we have to careful tbh. We all know that Ben Mee has been and is a massive player for us and we should be trying very hard to keep him, BUT if he is holding us to ransom or if we throw our common sense wage structure out of the window for him we could be on a slippery slope as it opens the door for lots of others to follow. We have walked away from other deals if demands become too excessive, be it from our own players negotiating new contracts or those possibly coming in on transfers and that policy has stood us in good stead.

karatekid · Post by **karatekid** » Thu Jul 05, 2018 5:34 pm

I totally agree dark cloud but I am sure the wage structure will still be in tact and secure. Ben will come to his senses eventually and sign a deal that makes common Burnley sense.

Erasmus · Post by **Erasmus** » Thu Jul 05, 2018 5:44 pm

I think it really depends on whether or not his agent has been able to negotiate a better deal with another club. If not then it will be in his best interest to stay. He is at that stage in his career when he probably has only one or two contracts left to win, so it is a very important decision for him and I am not surprised that he is hoping for one last step up. If there is nothing too tasty on offer, then I think he will resign at Burnley.

starting_11 · Post by **starting_11** » Thu Jul 05, 2018 5:47 pm

He might get a quick payday somewhere else but it'll ruin his career.

Shame because I thought he was more sensible than that.

summitclaret · Post by **summitclaret** » Thu Jul 05, 2018 5:53 pm

Sounds like a ploy to passify people like me that will not accept less than 4 proper cbs.

Claretmatt4 · Post by **Claretmatt4** » Thu Jul 05, 2018 6:05 pm

No quote in the article. Anyone could have written that.

Must have been a slow day after all the labia jokes dried up.

jrgbfc · Post by **jrgbfc** » Thu Jul 05, 2018 6:08 pm

Think that basically means the local rag haven't got a clue what's going on with the Ben Mee situation!

mkmel · Post by **mkmel** » Thu Jul 05, 2018 6:08 pm

Maybe it's the length of the contract offered and not the wages

jojomk1 · Post by **jojomk1** » Thu Jul 05, 2018 6:11 pm

The fact that so called talks have been going on for months now suggests that unless the club budge on their offer no new deal is anywhere near going through
If we manage to get Dawson in then he could play RB but we cannot let the Mee situation go on to the Jan window

Vegas Claret · Post by **Vegas Claret** » Thu Jul 05, 2018 6:34 pm

jojomk1 wrote:The fact that so called talks have been going on for months now suggests that unless the club budge on their offer no new deal is anywhere near going through
If we manage to get Dawson in then he could play RB but we cannot let the Mee situation go on to the Jan window

Everybody thought Fellani was gonna leave Man Utd after his contract talks went on for a year. Ben will stay I reckon

IanMcL · Post by **IanMcL** » Thu Jul 05, 2018 6:35 pm

Some things just take time. No issue for me.

KRBFC · Post by **KRBFC** » Thu Jul 05, 2018 6:39 pm

Dark Cloud wrote:I think we have to careful tbh. We all know that Ben Mee has been and is a massive player for us and we should be trying very hard to keep him, BUT if he is holding us to ransom or if we throw our common sense wage structure out of the window for him we could be on a slippery slope as it opens the door for lots of others to follow. We have walked away from other deals if demands become too excessive, be it from our own players negotiating new contracts or those possibly coming in on transfers and that policy has stood us in good stead.

Bang on, i'd keep him and let him walk for free in a years time providing he's prepared to stay here without a new deal. The worst thing to do would be to completely blow open our policy to suit one player and set an example for other players to potentially follow and hold us to ransom. Not one man is bigger than the club, I don't care if they're the greatest player ever, footballers and football moves on, the fans remain.

taio · Post by **taio** » Thu Jul 05, 2018 6:54 pm

No we shouldn't be blowing our wage structure to keep Mee. We should offer offer him a contract that broadly aligns with the highest earners. And we shouldn't wait to lose him for nothing next year either.

CFS · Post by **CFS** » Thu Jul 05, 2018 7:09 pm

jojomk1 wrote:The fact that so called talks have been going on for months now suggests that unless the club budge on their offer no new deal is anywhere near going through
If we manage to get Dawson in then he could play RB but we cannot let the Mee situation go on to the Jan window

Unless lowton and Bardsley are injured then yes but other than that he will be nowhere near the RB position.

happyclaret17 · Post by **happyclaret17** » Thu Jul 05, 2018 8:07 pm

Dark Cloud wrote:I think we have to careful tbh. We all know that Ben Mee has been and is a massive player for us and we should be trying very hard to keep him, BUT if he is holding us to ransom or if we throw our common sense wage structure out of the window for him we could be on a slippery slope as it opens the door for lots of others to follow. We have walked away from other deals if demands become too excessive, be it from our own players negotiating new contracts or those possibly coming in on transfers and that policy has stood us in good stead.

Personally I think the club have handled this poorly ( unless I am missing something )....there is no way that any player in our club should be on more than Ben Mee.......I dont think many reading this would appreciate their emplyoyer bringing in a worker who are doing same job for double the money or whatever the difference is....as an employer myself I first of all look after my long standing loyal staff.....the new employees have it to prove.....of course football is different but in the instance of Ben Mee the club should have made sure that when the likes of wood etc were coming in then they werent going to be significantly better paid than Ben.....he deserves to be top of the wages tree for me for his efforts over a long period.

Walton · Post by **Walton** » Thu Jul 05, 2018 8:15 pm

The lad's just had a baby, I can't see him being desperate to be moving. I'm confident he'll stay for at least a year.

boatshed bill · Post by **boatshed bill** » Thu Jul 05, 2018 8:17 pm

Walton wrote:The lad's just had a baby, I can't see him being desperate to be moving. I'm confident he'll stay for at least a year.

Then he's unlikely to be fit for the start of the season

elwaclaret · Post by **elwaclaret** » Thu Jul 05, 2018 8:18 pm

Think its only natural that he'd be interested in what level of interest and at what money others see him being worth. I suspect after giving the "dream" clubs a chance of showing interest and which of the rest are interested....and the hold up now being talked about could be on any number/combinations of money, break fee, contract length, even hours on the pitch.... far too many variants to even hazard a guess, or indeed offer a judgement on .

Walton · Post by **Walton** » Thu Jul 05, 2018 8:19 pm

boatshed bill wrote:Then he's unlikely to be fit for the start of the season

Why do you think he missed the end of the season?

Can't run that off!

jojomk1 · Post by **jojomk1** » Thu Jul 05, 2018 8:21 pm

CFS wrote:Unless lowton and Bardsley are injured then yes but other than that he will be nowhere near the RB position.

He played the majority of last season at RB and was one of their most consistent players although that's not hard to achieve I know (but far better than Bardsley)

The only issue I have with the possible signing of Dawson is that he is clearly right sided as is Tarks so still no cover for Mee (if Mee stays or not)

piston broke · Post by **piston broke** » Thu Jul 05, 2018 8:36 pm

I've posted before they should give him the captaincy and the bonus that goes with it.
Make Toms salary up to what it was as captain.
This isn't a one out one in situation. This guy is a rock and will take some replacing when/if he goes.

boatshed bill · Post by **boatshed bill** » Thu Jul 05, 2018 8:41 pm

piston broke wrote:I've posted before they should give him the captaincy and the bonus that goes with it.
Make Toms salary up to what it was as captain.
This isn't a one out one in situation. This guy is a rock and will take some replacing when/if he goes.

he certainly will take some replacing, and at enormous cost. We could spend £20m on Dawson.

happyclaret17 · Post by **happyclaret17** » Thu Jul 05, 2018 8:42 pm

piston broke wrote:I've posted before they should give him the captaincy and the bonus that goes with it.
Make Toms salary up to what it was as captain.
This isn't a one out one in situation. This guy is a rock and will take some replacing when/if he goes.

agree....and if anyone wants to complain then they need to match his consistency and effort...week after week after week....the club should have used common sense and nipped it in the bud before it became an issue......they have shot themself in the foot with this.

slw · Post by **slw** » Thu Jul 05, 2018 9:22 pm

struggling to read that article - burnley slowpress is an appaling website. why dont they just plaster the whole site with f'g adverts, does my head in,.

Devils_Advocate · Post by **Devils_Advocate** » Thu Jul 05, 2018 9:29 pm

Mee's probably looking at Tripps in the world cup and thinking apart from the money what he could achieve at a big club with a progressive coach......on the other hand he could look at his old partner Keane

mdd2 · Post by **mdd2** » Thu Jul 05, 2018 10:07 pm

Devils_Advocate wrote:Mee's probably looking at Tripps in the world cup and thinking apart from the money what he could achieve at a big club with a progressive coach......on the other hand he could look at his old partner Keane

and Shackell and Ings and Gray and Barton and until last season Grant before Mee Robbie Blake and Chadwick the other Gray (andy) Tripps must be the only player for many a year who has ended up at a better club and had success; maybe Austin.

dsr · Post by **dsr** » Thu Jul 05, 2018 10:34 pm

happyclaret17 wrote:agree....and if anyone wants to complain then they need to match his consistency and effort...week after week after week....the club should have used common sense and nipped it in the bud before it became an issue......they have shot themself in the foot with this.

You clearly have inside information. What's the issue, other than a bit of space-filling press speculation?

Crewe claret · Post by **Crewe claret** » Thu Jul 05, 2018 10:38 pm

Shackell now on a trial at Wigan, how the mighty have fallen,also Ross Wallace is there

piston broke · Post by **piston broke** » Thu Jul 05, 2018 11:18 pm

Not fallen at all. Shackell is 34 and Wallace is 33 and they are still playing for Championship contracts.

happyclaret17 · Post by **happyclaret17** » Thu Jul 05, 2018 11:41 pm

dsr wrote:You clearly have inside information. What's the issue, other than a bit of space-filling press speculation?

......
not sure why you think its inside info dsr....just putting 2 and 2 together and assuming that the likes of wood are on a lot more than ben......definitely not advocating a free for all....just saying that the club should have pre empted how the likes of ben would feel given the situation....the club has been very very well managed but this could and should have been sorted out without all the speculation as it now gives some of the other players food for thought and it could unsettle some of them.

DCWat · Post by **DCWat** » Thu Jul 05, 2018 11:59 pm

It could only have been sorted sooner if both parties were in agreement. Ben may we’ll have wanted to keep his options open which would mean that sorting it sooner may well not have been a possibility.

Rumbletonk · Post by **Rumbletonk** » Fri Jul 06, 2018 12:12 am

5 year deal thats in line with the rest of the squad in terms of the weekly wage with a 5 or 10 mill loyalty/resign bonus (possibly spread over the length of the contract). Keeps him happy, encourages others to stay and works for us as it would prob cost more to replace him.

tiger76 · Post by **tiger76** » Fri Jul 06, 2018 12:27 am

Rumbletonk wrote:5 year deal thats in line with the rest of the squad in terms of the weekly wage with a 5 or 10 mill loyalty/resign bonus (possibly spread over the length of the contract). Keeps him happy, encourages others to stay and works for us as it would prob cost more to replace him.

That's OK if we remain in the Premier League,in the event of relegation i hope the powers that be have had the nous to insert relegation clauses,the last thing we need in the Championship is ageing high-earners that we can't shift off the wage bill.As West Brom are discovering to their cost.

Weighing up any potential outlay for a replacement it makes sense to keep Ben if possible,he seems a grounded lad and none of the top six have been linked anywhere,so on balance i suspect we'll retain his services,his absence was noticeable in the last few games of the season,and Tarks looks much less composed when partnered with Kev Long.

dsr · Post by **dsr** » Fri Jul 06, 2018 12:33 am

happyclaret17 wrote:......
not sure why you think its inside info dsr....just putting 2 and 2 together and assuming that the likes of wood are on a lot more than ben......definitely not advocating a free for all....just saying that the club should have pre empted how the likes of ben would feel given the situation....the club has been very very well managed but this could and should have been sorted out without all the speculation as it now gives some of the other players food for thought and it could unsettle some of them.

But if you don't know what Wood is on, you don't know what Mee is on, you don't know what Mee has been offered, you don't know what Mee is asking for, and you don't know how Mee feels or why he hasn't signed - then aren't you a bit short of information to categorically say it's the club's fault? That's why I assumed you must have inside information; because the public information is way too scanty to come to any conclusion.

If your opinion is that Mee should have whatever he asks for without reservation, then you have a logical conclusion.

Rumbletonk · Post by **Rumbletonk** » Fri Jul 06, 2018 12:37 am

I think it would work even if we went down. We have to spend more than the loyalty bonus this season to replace him. Obviously we need relagation clauses written in but lets be realistic, we down down and he'd be off.

I think there's more to come from long and Tarks levels also dipped after the call up to the England squad but im sure we wont see that again whomever he's partnered with

happyclaret17 · Post by **happyclaret17** » Fri Jul 06, 2018 7:41 am

dsr wrote:But if you don't know what Wood is on, you don't know what Mee is on, you don't know what Mee has been offered, you don't know what Mee is asking for, and you don't know how Mee feels or why he hasn't signed - then aren't you a bit short of information to categorically say it's the club's fault? That's why I assumed you must have inside information; because the public information is way too scanty to come to any conclusion.

If your opinion is that Mee should have whatever he asks for without reservation, then you have a logical conclusion.

you are right....as ever we have to put the pieces together ourselfs and we can only speculute....heres another speculation....I bet his new deal isnt more than wood is on.....and thats my point.....none of the players should be on more than ben.....obviously Keane moving perhaps got ben thinking and a bit unsettled.....I cannot think of too many players who could replace ben so its important the club pay him what he is worth without him having to go cap in hand.....personally I think he has earned the right to feel a bit special at this club......I think if the money he was asking for was excessive and unrealistic then we would have had to have let him go....I still think with the limited information we have that this has not been handled well.....of course we can only be sure of that once the facts and figures are known but that I feel is the percentage call given the information we have.

jlup1980 · Post by **jlup1980** » Fri Jul 06, 2018 7:54 am

Ben will be 29 in September so he'll know more than anyone that he's at the last chance saloon were a big contract is concerned. If he hangs on 12 months he might be able to get a big contract if there's no transfer fee involved for the relevant club. If he signs another 3, 4, 5 year deal with us he's letting go of that option.

Personally I'm not convinced he's going to leave, I just think he's keeping his options open. If he had no intention of signing a new deal or seeing our his current one he'd be gone by now. Sean doesn't mess around with players who decide they're leaving.

claretonthecoast1882 · Post by **claretonthecoast1882** » Fri Jul 06, 2018 7:59 am

summitclaret wrote:Sounds like a ploy to passify people like me that will not accept less than 4 proper cbs.

What is your plan of action if we don't sign exactly what you want ?

taio · Post by **taio** » Fri Jul 06, 2018 8:01 am

I don't think it's fair to start with the assumption that the club has handled it poorly. Let's say the starting point is the club was prepared to make Mee one of the top earners, but Mee and his agent were asking for a package that would significantly break our wage cap. Of course that means a protracted contract negotiation that either results in Mee signing a new contract or him leaving the club. I don't think that's an unreasonable hypothesis. The club's financial strategy and prudence of recent years is something that the club should be commended for. They are sticking to their principles whilst steadily making adjustments as our finances go from strength to strength. For example our wage structure will increase - I dont think it'll be long at all before we are paying £50k a week - but that should be managed in a careful and balanced way. Hopefully they will agree a deal that's sensible for the club and at the same time rewards Mee for his achievements.

summitclaret · Post by **summitclaret** » Fri Jul 06, 2018 8:06 am

If we don't have at least 4 proper cbs on the 10 August, then we need to get out of the EL before the group stages. The chances of us being as lucky as last season (i.e having at least 1 of Tarks or Ben available for every single game) are minimal.

Dark Cloud · Post by **Dark Cloud** » Fri Jul 06, 2018 8:24 am

happyclaret17 wrote:Personally I think the club have handled this poorly ( unless I am missing something )....there is no way that any player in our club should be on more than Ben Mee.......I dont think many reading this would appreciate their emplyoyer bringing in a worker who are doing same job for double the money or whatever the difference is....as an employer myself I first of all look after my long standing loyal staff.....the new employees have it to prove.....of course football is different but in the instance of Ben Mee the club should have made sure that when the likes of wood etc were coming in then they werent going to be significantly better paid than Ben.....he deserves to be top of the wages tree for me for his efforts over a long period.

I would be utterly amazed if we weren't offering Ben Mee the equivalent of our other top earners and I'm sure SD and the club recognise his value to us and what he's given us over the years, PLUS there's the issue of us having to recruit a similar player if he leaves and that's not going to be easy and is going to cost a packet. BUT this apparent stand off points to Mee wanting MORE than the rest and believing that the club should be making an exception for him and as an employer you really can't do that because suddenly everybody else believes they're an exception too.

bedfords · Post by **bedfords** » Fri Jul 06, 2018 8:27 am

Dark Cloud wrote:I would be utterly amazed if we weren't offering Ben Mee the equivalent of our other top earners and I'm sure SD and the club recognise his value to us and what he's given us over the years, PLUS there's the issue of us having to recruit a similar player if he leaves and that's not going to be easy and is going to cost a packet. BUT this apparent stand off points to Mee wanting MORE than the rest and believing that the club should be making an exception for him and as an employer you really can't do that because suddenly everybody else believes they're an exception too.

If that was the case, we'd still be paying 5 shillings.

Dark Cloud · Post by **Dark Cloud** » Fri Jul 06, 2018 8:32 am

bedfords wrote:If that was the case, we'd still be paying 5 shillings.

No come on, that's not true. I'm saying Mee is well worth paying top money to in order to keep him, but then again so is Pope, Tarks, Wood, Defour.....etc, etc. IF (and we really don't know) Mee is holding out for something above our top wage and paying it would effectively smash our current strcture, then we have to stand firm or a big part of the "model" which has made us so successful recently starts to unravel. (imo)

happyclaret17 · Post by **happyclaret17** » Fri Jul 06, 2018 8:38 am

I believe the club would and should part company with ben if he is asking for way more than the others......our unity as a club is of paramount importance and we cannot start playing silly beggars with greedy agents and players.....

ClaretTony · Post by **ClaretTony** » Fri Jul 06, 2018 8:50 am

happyclaret17 wrote:I believe the club would and should part company with ben if he is asking for way more than the others

I don't believe he is and Ben himself has rubbished some of the reports regarding his demands. I suspect his agent isn't helping matters here, but when do they ever?