Next season’s Spine IF RELEGATED

[jdrobbo]

1 from:
Muric/ Trafford


2 from:
O’Shea/Esteve/Beyer/ Ekdal


2 from:
Cullen/Berge/ Brownhill


1 from:
Foster




We can go on all day about the need to keep Koleosho, Odobert, Zaroury, Benson, etc…

But wingers make you decent money and new wingers can be sourced.

Keep the vast majority of this spine and we’ll be successful again. Rip it up and….

[Boss Hogg]

Good spine and I think at least one of the wingers will be sold. Odobert probably has the most value right now but the likes of Odobert and Koleosho could tear up the league below. We know what Benson can do in that league so would keep him. I would prefer we sold the likes of Amdouni Trafford ( and Tresor if we have to buy him)!) but they won’t make us much.

[NL Claret]

3 new full backs required, cannot watch another season of Taylor towing his caravan up and down the left flank usually ending up in a cul de sac.

2 centre forwards required, no real back up for Foster this season, like the look of the lad at Cov, Simms, doubt we’d get him though.

[Pickles]

Odobert, Koleosho, Berge and Foster will be the ones recieving the most attention and any bids will need to be considered. That's the model.

Never been convinced Benson and Zaroury will be with us next season, regardless of division. Just can't see Benson especially wanting another season in the Championship when he's been there and done it.

Same applies for Berge, who I would be more disappointed in losing.

Would be flabbergasted if Kompany doesn't make left back a priority. Taylor has been good of late and has been a brilliant servant but he isn't Kompany's idea of a left back and we've seen recently how limited he can be.

Foster is an odd one. Before his time out of the side, he looked a real handful and on that basis I'd say he'd be worth a lower end Premier League side taking a punt on him. On recent form and fitness though he'd be better off having a storming season in the Championship which I think he's capable of having. Regardless, we probably need two new strikers.

[Goliath]

I think there's as much chance of me playing in midfield for us next season as there is of Berge spending another season in the Championship.

[jdrobbo]

Agree about the left back position being a priority, but it’s not part of the spine…hence the thread.

[Pickles]

Agree about the left back position being a priority, but it’s not part of the spine…hence the thread.

Yes, I rambled and deviated!

[Quicknick]

Odobert, Koleosho, Berge and Foster will be the ones recieving the most attention and any bids will need to be considered. That's the model.

Never been convinced Benson and Zaroury will be with us next season, regardless of division. Just can't see Benson especially wanting another season in the Championship when he's been there and done it.

Same applies for Berge, who I would be more disappointed in losing.

Would be flabbergasted if Kompany doesn't make left back a priority. Taylor has been good of late and has been a brilliant servant but he isn't Kompany's idea of a left back and we've seen recently how limited he can be.

Foster is an odd one. Before his time out of the side, he looked a real handful and on that basis I'd say he'd be worth a lower end Premier League side taking a punt on him. On recent form and fitness though he'd be better off having a storming season in the Championship which I think he's capable of having. Regardless, we probably need two new strikers.

Who'd buy Foster with his problems?

[kenyon6923]

Who'd buy Foster with his problems?

I agree - in the world of football you cannot take chances on strikers who could be missing for potential off field issues as well as the normal on field niggles/injuries. We have to sell Brownhill as with cover about be a waste for him to walk away for free in 12 months.
Are we going to go down the route (or we might have no choice) of playing players for the large part of a championship season who are not going to be good enough if promoted again and are we going to learn by not getting in loan players that we have no chance of signing and then missing then badly if promoted !!!

[SirBob]

I can’t see us selling Odobert in the summer we’d be lucky to get 20 million, he could be worth twice if not more in a couple of years. Also Koleosho probably won’t be fit until October.

I’d say it’s time to get rid of Brownhill, hopefully we can get 10m and lose his wage, we’ve desperately needed an upgrade, Massenko might thrive in the championship?! There’s a lot of trimming to do to this squad that could potentially raise another 10m+ by selling fringe players not to mention wages saved.

I’d keep Benson and Zaroury

Twine, McNally and Martins could potentially bring in decent fees.

Then the wages freed up by Jay Rod, Taylor, Cork, Larsen, JBG and Redmond would all add up to a small fortune.

Of course these players would need to be replaced, I’d imagine we’ll be using loans again heavily next season but hopefully with options so we don’t have to rebuild again.

[Boss Hogg]

Agree about the left back position being a priority, but it’s not part of the spine…hence the thread.

Yet wingers were discussed in the initial post.

[bumba]

I can’t see us selling Odobert in the summer we’d be lucky to get 20 million, he could be worth twice if not more in a couple of years. Also Koleosho probably won’t be fit until October.

I’d say it’s time to get rid of Brownhill, hopefully we can get 10m and lose his wage, we’ve desperately needed an upgrade, Massenko might thrive in the championship?! There’s a lot of trimming to do to this squad that could potentially raise another 10m+ by selling fringe players not to mention wages saved.

I’d keep Benson and Zaroury

Twine, McNally and Martins could potentially bring in decent fees.

Then the wages freed up by Jay Rod, Taylor, Cork, Larsen, JBG and Redmond would all add up to a small fortune.

Of course these players would need to be replaced, I’d imagine we’ll be using loans again heavily next season but hopefully with options so we don’t have to rebuild again.

Twine and McNally won't bring in much, who's Martin's?
Benson and Zaroury are both likely to want out after this season so I'd be hoping to keep Larsson.
Absolutely no chance of anything close to £10 million for Brownhill he's out of contract unless we take the extra year which I doubt we will if relegated.
How do you know Koleosho is out until October? They was hopeful he'd return this season.
£20 million offer for Odobert and he's gone we won't be in a position to wait a couple of years for bigger offers

[bumba]

1 from:
Muric/ Trafford


2 from:
O’Shea/Esteve/Beyer/ Ekdal


2 from:
Cullen/Berge/ Brownhill


1 from:
Foster




We can go on all day about the need to keep Koleosho, Odobert, Zaroury, Benson, etc…

But wingers make you decent money and new wingers can be sourced.

Keep the vast majority of this spine and we’ll be successful again. Rip it up and….

Would love to see a 3-4-3/5-2-3 in the championship next season.

Muric

O'Shea Beyer Esteve
Vitinho new LWB
Cullen Berge
Larsson Foster Koleosho

[jrgbfc]

I'd be amazed if nobody came in for Berge. At 15 million he'd be a bargain for any mid-lower bottom half side.

[Quickenthetempo]

Can someone tell me why people rate Berge so high?
He was top of the man of the match votes last night when I voted.
He's a neat short passer but he receives the ball in decent central areas where you can affect play but often just gives it out wide or to less threatening areas.

He doesn't get anywhere near enough goals or assists.

[Pickles]

Can someone tell me why people rate Berge so high?
He was top of the man of the match votes last night when I voted.
He's a neat short passer but he receives the ball in decent central areas where you can affect play but often just gives it out wide or to less threatening areas.

He doesn't get anywhere near enough goals or assists.

He and Aït-Nouri were the two best players on the pitch last night.

Berge's positioning was excellent, he picked up so many loose balls and he knitted things together very nicely. I don't think his game should be measured on goals and assists, he's more the sort of player who'll assist the assist. Will be very surprised if he's still in a Burnley shirt next season.

[NewClaret]

I'd be amazed if nobody came in for Berge. At 15 million he'd be a bargain for any mid-lower bottom half side.

Me too. He was fantastic last night again.

Losing him would be the saddest part of relegation for me and I’d go as far to say that if Pace is really set on us becoming a premier league side again we need to do what it takes to keep him else it’s just another player we have to replace.

He has 3 years left on his contract in summer though… I would not be selling him for £15m. Thats what we paid for him and I don’t think we’re in the business of selling players for what we bought them for after being our best player most of the season.

[Vegas Claret]

I think there's as much chance of me playing in midfield for us next season as there is of Berge spending another season in the Championship.

I probably agree BUT what do you think we would sell him for, we paid (from memory) roughly 12 million for him, I would imagine we would want at least 22 for him and is anyone likely to pay that ?

I hope we can persuade him to stay, superb player. I'm another that would rather sell Amdouni, Trafford, Weghorst (30p) etc

[Goliath]

From what we saw last time we went down. We seem to be willing slightly lower fees in order to get people out of the door quickly. So probably between 20 and 25 mill.
If we stay up I doubt we'd accept anything below 30 or 35

[Quickenthetempo]

He and Aït-Nouri were the two best players on the pitch last night.

Berge's positioning was excellent, he picked up so many loose balls and he knitted things together very nicely. I don't think his game should be measured on goals and assists, he's more the sort of player who'll assist the assist. Will be very surprised if he's still in a Burnley shirt next season.

Having them sort of players is handy, but they're not man of the match performers.
We need more from him.

[morninbob]

I think there's as much chance of me playing in midfield for us next season as there is of Berge spending another season in the Championship.

I thought that until I heard him saying about buying into kompany's long term project of developing younger players.

[FCBurnley]

Muric
Esteve
Berge
Foster if healthy

[Lord_Bob]

If the fire sale is on, Berge, Brownhill, Cork may all be gone. So we might be looking at a midfield 3 of:

Cullen, Massengo, Ramsey.

It might work but looks a little lightweight.

[Goliath]

I thought that until I heard him saying about buying into kompany's long term project of developing younger players.

I'm sure he does buy into it but surely not at the expense of his own career. I imagine he would also buy into Brighton's long term project as well just as an example.

[morninbob]

I'm sure he does buy into it but surely not at the expense of his own career. I imagine he would also buy into Brighton's long term project as well just as an example.

I think he would stay if there aren't any atractive offers for him.

[SirBob]

Twine and McNally won't bring in much, who's Martin's?
Benson and Zaroury are both likely to want out after this season so I'd be hoping to keep Larsson.
Absolutely no chance of anything close to £10 million for Brownhill he's out of contract unless we take the extra year which I doubt we will if relegated.
How do you know Koleosho is out until October? They was hopeful he'd return this season.
£20 million offer for Odobert and he's gone we won't be in a position to wait a couple of years for bigger offers

Obafemi Martin.. although I’d be happy for him to be back up. I can’t see them not activating Brownhills extension is we can get a few quid for him, he’d be handy back up in the championship I just wouldn’t want him to get more than a year. Koleosho is just an educated guess, hence the word probably, I don’t think it would be wise to rush him back and also who would take the risk on him without him proving some kind of recovery. How do you know Benson and Zaroury want out? They’re under contract so it’s not entirely up to them either. I don’t think we’d get much for Twine mcnally or Martins either maybe a couple of million each, but it soon starts to add up, there are others too that I’d be willing to let go, Ekdal for example

[123EasyasBFC]

Ideally

Muric

O’Shea, beyer and esteve

Vitinho

Cullen and Berge

Koleosho and Odobert

Larsen and foster

Those are who we desperately need to keep and if those are still at the club by the close of the summer window I’d be confident of a good season

[Pickles]

Obafemi Martin

Not sure if Obafemi Martins fits into the philosophy of youth - he's thirty-nine! Michael Obafemi.

[Carlos the Great]

I can’t think anyone would prefer Trafford to Muric .. i just hope that after Muric has been snubbed this season .. he doesn’t snub us and move on in the summer

[SirBob]

Not sure if Obafemi Martins fits into the philosophy of youth - he's thirty-nine! Michael Obafemi.

The squad list I used had him down as Michael Obafemi Martin, my bad

[nyclaret]

I can’t think anyone would prefer Trafford to Muric .. i just hope that after Muric has been snubbed this season .. he doesn’t snub us and move on in the summer

I think Muric is in the shop window now to then be sold in the summer.

[JohnMac]

A few shouts for Laarsen but he is a loanee

[ksrclaret]

Muric

Beyer -- O'Shea -- Esteve

Berge -- Cullen

Foster


That would be the ideal spine of the team next season, supplemented around the sides with Redmond, Koleosho, Larsen and a new left back. I'd feel confident going into the season, especially if we can keep shaking off the horrible feeling we've had for most of this year with continued better performances.

The big worry though is that our financial situation means that we never get to see it.

[morninbob]

A few shouts for Laarsen but he is a loanee

5m euro option, we'd be mad not to do a swap deal involving weghorst.
https://sportwitness.co.uk/waiting-righ ... re-player/

[jdrobbo]

A few shouts for Laarsen but he is a loanee

Indeed, but again, he does not form part of the spine. I think we have an obligation to buy though.

[Carlos the Great]

I think Muric is in the shop window now to then be sold in the summer.

Be a big blow for us trying to get promoted if we lose Muric … not sure why we don’t try cut our losses with Trafford

[Goliath]

Indeed, but again, he does not form part of the spine. I think we have an obligation to buy though.

He will bag 15 in the Champ no problem. He's the Tella replacement, constantly looking to get in behind and is brilliant at getting himself in goalscoring positions. Just like Tella and Cornet have done in the seasons prior.
If we go into the season with Odobert, Koleosho and Larsen then hopefully we won't need to spunk millions on wingers again and we can focus on other positions that might be more of a priority.

[Tricky Trevor]

Foster has had a lot of love through his personal situation and he did start the season well but I don’t see him as a 20 goal man, even in the Championship.

Personal opinion I know many will disagree with.

[Superjohnnyfrancis]

I think Muric is in the shop window now to then be sold in the summer.

We will really struggle if we don’t keep Muric even in the championship.

[LlandennyClaret]

I’d imagine the current owners will sell anything with a valued pulse this summer, so who’s knows what the squad will be come August!

[CoolClaret]

We will really struggle if we don’t keep Muric even in the championship.

We certainly will

Won't be able to pass teams to death and score all them late goals after the opposition had been chasing shadows all game.

[NewClaret]

We will really struggle if we don’t keep Muric even in the championship.

I hope what has become apparent to everyone watching in recent weeks is just how critical Muric is to how we play. So hopefully his return has at least served that purpose.

If we sell Muric after working out how vital he is to us, frankly we deserve to never return to the Premier League.

[Pickles]

A lot of us recognised the importance of Muric after about five games last season and yet there were threads of ten plus pages debating him throughout.

[BigJay]

Impossible to predict, but:

GK
I fear we will lose Muric. He's already shown he's a top Premier league keeper.

DEF
Think we will see Taylor and Roberts leave. Then it's anyone's guess what happens with centre backs but I suspect we will see Ekdal leave and there's also McNally to come back with a full seasons championship experience. And we HAVE to bring in 2 left backs regardless

MID
Brownhill I think will leave end of season. Cullen and Berge is the spine in CM. The wingers is anyone's guess but I can't see a way back for Zaroury.

ATTACK
Anyones guess again here. Think Jay Rod will go, obviously Fofana is on loan and we won't be signing him for championship football. Then there's all the wide players and sadly I can see Benson being sold with all the other options VK prefers. Also JBG I think will be moved on, while JBL I can see being sold to one of the promoted clubs.

All educated guesses, but the spine of British players (Taylor, Roberts, Brownhill and Jay) I think will all be moved on. The rest is anyone's guess and depend on how desperate we are to sell and whether we get the fees wanted etc..

[bumba]

Obafemi Martin.. although I’d be happy for him to be back up. I can’t see them not activating Brownhills extension is we can get a few quid for him, he’d be handy back up in the championship I just wouldn’t want him to get more than a year. Koleosho is just an educated guess, hence the word probably, I don’t think it would be wise to rush him back and also who would take the risk on him without him proving some kind of recovery. How do you know Benson and Zaroury want out? They’re under contract so it’s not entirely up to them either. I don’t think we’d get much for Twine mcnally or Martins either maybe a couple of million each, but it soon starts to add up, there are others too that I’d be willing to let go, Ekdal for example

Ekdal, McNally and Twine would go for peanuts.
Zaroury is out on loan he won't want to stay after this season neither will Benson and if there unhappy we need shut anyway.
Extending Brownhills contract will depend on his wages if he's a top earner and we're in the championship I think we'll let him go.

[claretspice]

Loads of people seem to know exactly what VK's relationship is with players who haven't featured much this season, which is pretty remarkable.

We'll have to ship out a number of centre backs and wide/creative players next summer as we have far too many.

If you accept we need 4 out-and-out centre backs, then presumably that is O'Shea and Esteve, plus two from Al Dakhil (who I still think has huge potential), Ekdal and Beyer (who I rate but may be the most saleable of those 3). You'd have to assume McNally will also be moved on (or used as a makeweight). In an ideal world for me we'd be looking for one left back and extending Taylor''s contract because he can provide cover at both left back and centre back at Championship level.

I suspect we'll see some turnover in central midfield, because Berge is the player most likely to turn us an immediate profit this summer and Brownhill has only 12 months left on his deal. I would have thought but for his injury that there is a fair chance Kompany would have envisaged Cullen pairing up with Ramsey in the engine room (they played together in a 2 at Spurs in the cup) and if he can recover fitness, that may still be the plan - but whilst we also have Massengo, you'd imagine we'd be looking for further reinforcements.

Up front we've got Foster who I suspect is likely to be with us again, plus Obafemi and perhaps young Mellon. Think there'd be an argument for retaining Jay as an experienced option from the bench if he's up for it on reduced terms. Amdouni, if he counts as a striker, may also be with us but there's also a decent chance he may be moved on.

Either way, that's a strong spine and we can expect to start next season as favourites for the Championship provided we add to it judiciously. The likes of Brownhill, Beyer, Roberts, Berge, Amdouni, Tresor (if he's ours to sell), plus a couple more (probably Odobert and Amdouni, plus perhaps Trafford) should bring in plenty of cash to balance the books whilst retaining a strong core and allowing Kompany some room to add to the squad as we did last summer. I don't think it's a disastrous picture on relegation nor one that involves a complete re-think of the squad as we've seen in the last two seasons.

[superdimitri]

The thing I'm worried about most is the fact I'm 99% sure we'll keep Trafford which means Muric will probably want out.
We're not going to keep Trafford and keep playing Muric.
I'd like to see us offload Trafford but it's not going to happen.

[Superjohnnyfrancis]

The thing I'm worried about most is the fact I'm 99% sure we'll keep Trafford which means Muric will probably want out.
We're not going to keep Trafford and keep playing Muric.
I'd like to see us offload Trafford but it's not going to happen.

Pace needs to think very carefully if he wants to come straight back up and decide what is the best way to achieve it. If Muric indicates he wants to leave if he’s not playing again I would keep him at all costs and that includes changing the manager cos he has made a right mess of the keeper situation this year.

We can’t afford another season hoping Trafford comes good. That would be ridiculous.

[Superjohnnyfrancis]

The thing I'm worried about most is the fact I'm 99% sure we'll keep Trafford which means Muric will probably want out.
We're not going to keep Trafford and keep playing Muric.
I'd like to see us offload Trafford but it's not going to happen.

If we can get anywhere near our money back we should sell. Really silly mistake buying him in the first place and then we can strengthen the midfield.

[claretspice]

Pace needs to think very carefully if he wants to come straight back up and decide what is the best way to achieve it. If Muric indicates he wants to leave if he’s not playing again I would keep him at all costs and that includes changing the manager cos he has made a right mess of the keeper situation this year.

We can’t afford another season hoping Trafford comes good. That would be ridiculous.

I think either Muric or Trafford would be a huge asset in the Championship. Muric has done very well since he came back in, it was probably overdue because Trafford needed taking out of the firing line, but whilst I'm not sure he was the right signing and I do think he's been thrown in at a level that he wasn't ready for, I think criticism of Trafford has been overdone during the season.

I'm not sure we need to retain both in the Championship, so if we can make a profit on either we should probably take the money and back the other one.