Ben Mee Future

[warksclaret]

Whats the feeling about Ben. He has dragged out the process of signing a contract since the start of the season. I suspect the great majority of fans would hate him to move, me included. However with the increasing threat of relegation, a likely reduced wage if that happens, do you think he will decide to leave now. For me its becoming a bit of a Jeff Hendrick situation. I believe he is already the highest wage earner on our books and suspect Alan Pace will not be too charitable if we go down with Bens package

[Woodleyclaret]

Also Ben seems to run-out of steam and miss the last few games of the season with injuries so maybe it's time for us to part company

[DCWat]

This season and last he’s been out, has it happened before? Perhaps more coincidence than something to warrant parting company.

We don’t know that Mee has been dragging out his agreeing to a new contract. In fact, I’ve seen a couple of comments from Mee on the subject, one stating that he is hoping to stay with us, the other that discussions were ongoing but now is not the time. This could be interpreted as waiting to see which division we are in or equally, him wishing to focus on the task at hand.

I’ve said it before, I still think he will stay. Fingers crossed!!

[Chester Perry]

Whats the feeling about Ben. He has dragged out the process of signing a contract since the start of the season. I suspect the great majority of fans would hate him to move, me included. However with the increasing threat of relegation, a likely reduced wage if that happens, do you think he will decide to leave now. For me its becoming a bit of a Jeff Hendrick situation. I believe he is already the highest wage earner on our books and suspect Alan Pace will not be too charitable if we go down with Bens package

Where is the information that 'Ben Mee' has dragged out new contract talks coming from or are you speculating that the delay is from his side and not the club's

[Vino blanco]

As much as I admire Ben Mee, at his age and injury record he would struggle to find interest with another PL club were he not out out of contract. I really hope he stays next season.

[ClaretTony]

He has dragged out the process of signing a contract since the start of the season

Has he really? Wasn't that long ago that Ben confirmed there had been no talks with the club. It's not Ben dragging anything out.

[ClaretTony]

Also Ben seems to run-out of steam and miss the last few games of the season with injuries so maybe it's time for us to part company

Played right to the end last season but in previous season picked up that bad injury that even saw him miss the start of the next season. I have never seen any evidence of him ever having run out of steam.

[boatshed bill]

As much as I admire Ben Mee, at his age and injury record he would struggle to find interest with another PL club were he not out out of contract. I really hope he stays next season.

I've heard different, apparently wanted by other PL clubs.

[Indecisive]

I’d imagine he’d be seen as a very very good acquisition by maybe 7/8 current premier league teams and any team going up this year. Especially on a free. He’s at least a season, maybe two, left in him at this level.

[Vino blanco]

I've heard different, apparently wanted by other PL clubs.

I obviously don’t have your ears.

[boatshed bill]

I obviously don’t have your ears.

You can borrow them if you want

[NewClaret]

He’ll have PL offers for sure.

Personally I would hope he repays some of the faith and commitment we have shown him over the past ten years and signs another deal.

[Claretitus]

He’ll have PL offers for sure.

Personally I would hope he repays some of the faith and commitment we have shown him over the past ten years and signs another deal.

He has also shown us faith and commitment, I know he’s on more than a decent wage, but if he did leave, it would be with a huge “ thanks Ben “, from me, and I dare say, plenty of other Burnley supporters.

[ClaretTony]

He’ll have PL offers for sure.

Personally I would hope he repays some of the faith and commitment we have shown him over the past ten years and signs another deal.

Maybe he will if he's offered a deal

[ClaretTony]

He has also shown us faith and commitment, I know he’s on more than a decent wage, but if he did leave, it would be with a huge “ thanks Ben “, from me, and I dare say, plenty of other Burnley supporters.

Totally agree

[Newcastleclaret93]

Maybe he will if he's offered a deal

Be a real shame if he isn’t offered a new deal.

Could see him ending up back at the club in some capacity later in his career

[RVclaret]

Maybe he will if he's offered a deal

Would be incredibly bizarre if the club have not even spoken to the club captain about a potential deal. I’d be amazed in fact. I read an Athletic article stating contract talks with Pope had started so why not the captain, especially when it’s guaranteed the other centre half is leaving.

[BurnleyFC]

All of the promoted teams (and probably the top 10 Premier League teams down) would be improved by having Ben Mee in their squad.

I really hope he stays.

[Row Z]

Maybe he will if he's offered a deal

Do we not have an option of a further year?

If so, surely we’d trigger and negotiate a full extension this summer?

[warksclaret]

Where is the information that 'Ben Mee' has dragged out new contract talks coming from or are you speculating that the delay is from his side and not the club's

Rightly or wrongly I felt the contract was with him (which SD has stated on at least one occasion), but he has not signed .What makes you think otherwise ?

[agreenwood]

Ben Mee epitomises our last 10 years. He’s wrung out every last ounce of ability he has to make us successful.

[bfcjg]

A genuine Claret legend and Ben owes us nothing, he has more than earned his wages and as for running out of steam,bull he has cracked a bone FFS he is almost but not quite superhuman.

[warksclaret]

Sounds like my assumptions (and I suspect assumptions of many others) that I was wrong. If he has not been offered a new contract I am really surprised. I suspect if thats the case with our CAPTAIN INVINCIBLE then I suspect all the other OOC's will be leaving at the end of the season

[Belgianclaret]

Ben Mee is already a legend for what he has done in the past years for us.
He should be one of the first to be offered a new deal to get us back up, but it appears the club is hesitant to do so.
Our loss if you ask me

[CnBtruntru]

Hope he stays, whichever league we are in. And I have never seen him run out of steam

[Conroy92]

Should imagine he'll be rejoining Howe, Tripps, Wood and Hendrick at Newcastle! I wouldn't begrudge him, he's been fantastic for us!

[Jamesy]

I’d imagine he’d be seen as a very very good acquisition by maybe 7/8 current premier league teams and any team going up this year. Especially on a free. He’s at least a season, maybe two, left in him at this level.

100% agree with you. He would be a great asset to many Premier League squads.

[ClaretMov]

The best defender I've seen in a Burnley shirt ever

[Jamesy]

The best defender I've seen in a Burnley shirt ever

Not the best one I have seen but he is well up there. An exemplary professional.

[MACCA]

I was informed NO OOC players have been offered a deals and will not be until our future has been decided one way or another.

Regards Ben Mee it's his last chance for a big pay day, he won't get that at Burnley in the championship, he will however being a free agent and moving to the Premier league.

Just hope we get to say a thank you and goodbye to all the layers who have been true professionals, and it isn't spoilt by anyone taking out their frustrations of relegation.

[KRBFC]

I was informed NO OOC players have been offered a deals and will not be until our future has been decided one way or another.

Regards Ben Mee it's his last chance for a big pay day, he won't get that at Burnley in the championship, he will however being a free agent and moving to the Premier league.

Just hope we get to say a thank you and goodbye to all the layers who have been true professionals, and it isn't spoilt by anyone taking out their frustrations of relegation.

What a strange way to fight relegation, the club want full commitment from players on the pitch without showing any commitment to them. I said it was weird all along, the uncertainty with 10 players can't be good for us in our need for a settled squad. I'd be amazed if Mee hasn't been offered a new contract yet.

[jrgbfc]

Should imagine he'll be rejoining Howe, Tripps, Wood and Hendrick at Newcastle! I wouldn't begrudge him, he's been fantastic for us!

I think Newcastle will be setting their sights a bit higher than Ben Mee tbh.

[Burnley1989]

There really no rush, he could sign a new contract once the season finishes, fans do get a bit paranoid

[ecc]

Fans might get paranoid, and I include myself in that, but a partnership of Nathan Collins and Ben Mee would make me very confident if we do drop.

[Taffy on the wing]

Whats the feeling about Ben. He has dragged out the process of signing a contract since the start of the season. I suspect the great majority of fans would hate him to move, me included. However with the increasing threat of relegation, a likely reduced wage if that happens, do you think he will decide to leave now. For me its becoming a bit of a Jeff Hendrick situation. I believe he is already the highest wage earner on our books and suspect Alan Pace will not be too charitable if we go down with Bens package

Whatever he decides to do is ok by me...........he owes us nothing.
His status as a club legend is set in stone!

[tiger76]

Of all the OOC players Ben is the one we really need to tie down, it can't have escaped people's notice that in the recent period where he's been side lined we've been leaking goals, whereas prior to his injury we were proving tougher to score against, and much harder to beat.

Assuming Tarks leave, which seems a reasonable assumption, then we face the prospect of losing both our 1st choice centre backs, plus possibly Nick Pope, that's not an ideal start to our rebuild is it, and we'd also then need to find a new captain to boot.

[Bosscat]

Fans might get paranoid, and I include myself in that, but a partnership of Nathan Collins and Ben Mee would make me very confident if we do drop.

Or stay up

[Elbarad]

Maybe we want to see where we are playing before we offer him a deal. If we're relegated, and here's hoping we're not, it might make sense to not offer an older player a wage up to PL standards to play in the championship. And maybe he'd want to stay in the PL if we went down. If he does leave, I'll wish him well and never forget what an absolute giant he has been for the club.

For all of the folks worried about our wage bill next year if we're in the championship, we might be able to bring in 3 or more younger players with an eye toward developing them for the price of one player at Ben's projected pay packet.

[The Enclosure]

Ben must stay, he is our leader.Not the same without him in the team.

[Wokingclaret]

Ben must stay, he is our leader.Not the same without him in the team.

What will Mee will Mee

[GodIsADeeJay81]

Ben must stay, he is our leader.Not the same without him in the team.

Whilst I agree we aren't the same without him, he's also 32 and we have to start planning for life without him.

[DCWat]

Whilst I agree we aren't the same without him, he's also 32 and we have to start planning for life without him.

We do, but if I had the option, it’d be to give him a three year deal (assuming he’s deemed to have that in his tank) and bring in his replacement to learn the ropes.

Offering him a deal should be a no brainer. Obviously there are a lot of variables in that, on both sides.

[boatshed bill]

We do, but if I had the option, it’d be to give him a three year deal (assuming he’s deemed to have that in his tank) and bring in his replacement to learn the ropes.

Offering him a deal should be a no brainer. Obviously there are a lot of variables in that, on both sides.

We'd get 3 decent Championship players for his wage alone.

[DCWat]

We'd get 3 decent Championship players for his wage alone.

Really? It’d surely be a much reduced contract (should he be willing to accept). If we were to bring in three players instead of Mee, on a combined wage to mirror what Mee would have been on, what would we have purchased them with?

[spt_claret]

I think Newcastle will be setting their sights a bit higher than Ben Mee tbh.

Michael Dawson doesn't.

I think Ben Mee is a magnificent player. There's some interesting stats out there, in particular on sofascore and FBRef, which show some very unexpected things- namely that this season he's actually a significantly more accurate passer than Tarkowski for everything but long balls (marginally worse) and accounting for minutes played has similar progressive passes, and based on heat-maps tends to push up further forwads and wider left- in other words, that he's more of a ball player joining to midfield while Tarks is the one playing it long. Similarly, his defensive stats have dropped this season compared to others (and perhaps most interestingly, the 2018-19 season where he was 'out of form' had his highest successful percentages and totals of blocks, tackles, and stopping 1-on-1 dribbles.).
The long and short of the data suggests to me that he's been playing differently this season- less limited & direct, more ball-playing- and even if he's better than you'd think at it, it's not working for us as a team and is impacting his defensive output- meanwhile Tarkowski has been playing more like Mee this year and as a result done better defensively but not as good with his passing play. No real point to this other than it's interesting how statistics and common wisdom can paint a different picture to each other, and that our defence would probably improve if he limited his game more/ our defence is struggling this season because he's been absent or underperforming compared to his previous excellence.

All in all, I'd do our best to re-sign him whatever league we're in, but depending on his wage demands, if we drop that could be a financial hurdle we either can't, or don't want, to overcome. Personally, if we can I would. I think he's invaluable to our team.

[boatshed bill]

Really? It’d surely be a much reduced contract (should he be willing to accept). If we were to bring in three players instead of Mee, on a combined wage to mirror what Mee would have been on, what would we have purchased them with?

Money from the sale of Pope and one other?

And why do you think he'd stay on a reduced contract?

[DCWat]

Money from the sale of Pope and one other?

And why do you think he'd stay on a reduced contract?

So we’re selling Pope and one other plus letting Mee leave (we may not have a choice in this admittedly). With the other OOC players, we’re making a big rebuild even bigger.

If he wants to stay id be keeping him and at least trying to maintain some continuity in the team, during a period that requires a big overhaul.

[boatshed bill]

So we’re selling Pope and one other plus letting Mee leave (we may not have a choice in this admittedly). With the other OOC players, we’re making a big rebuild even bigger.

If he wants to stay id be keeping him and at least trying to maintain some continuity in the team, during a period that requires a big overhaul.

I'm obviously assuming we will be relegated.
We owe it to Pope to let him go if we get a decent offer. Also possibly McNeil.
There is also the possibility that Weghorst and Cornet may want to get sold.

[GodIsADeeJay81]

We do, but if I had the option, it’d be to give him a three year deal (assuming he’s deemed to have that in his tank) and bring in his replacement to learn the ropes.

Offering him a deal should be a no brainer. Obviously there are a lot of variables in that, on both sides.

I'd go with 2 and the option of a 3rd tbh, that takes him to 34/35
By then I'd expect him to be more of a back up CB with his replacement firmly in place

[DCWat]

I'm obviously assuming we will be relegated.
We owe it to Pope to let him go if we get a decent offer. Also possibly McNeil.
There is also the possibility that Weghorst and Cornet may want to get sold.

I’m 100% assuming we will be relegated