So who’s out of contract this Summer?
I make it the following.... (not sure who or if I’ve got any wrong..!)
Scott Brown
Yves
JJ
El Abd
Sido
De Hav
Bean (surely will call it a day)
Any I’ve missed or included who have already signed?
And who do you keep/let go..?
Comments
I thought El-Abd had a two year contract. Would keep Yves and JJ. I Would have kept Beano if he wasn't retiring.
strictly speaking Muller too, I believe but no prizes for guessing his fate.
major surprise if JJ doesn't stay and WDH go. Bean gets to choose I would think.
Sido a probable yes, brown perhaps the least clearcut.
Every chance I’m wrong on El Abd
I’d keep Brown but think we should be ambitious in the off season and go grab a gk on loan from the championship.
Think we should go after Moore & Scarr on permanent deals too for depth.
Must keep JJ for time being but think we need to look for a long term replacement very soon.
Keeping Sido's a no-brainer for me. He may not necessarily make everyone's first choice starting eleven - although the way his partnership with El-Abd finished the season he wouldn't be far off - but he does offer a pretty decent options in both full back positions and in the middle. In a small squad that's always going to be vital.
People keep putting El Abd on the out of contract list, not sure why!
What a turn around for the chap though. Gone from looking absolutely dire, and seemingly unable to win a header, to being a calming ball playing colossus.
Would still like a Pierre type next to him though, which hopefully will be Stewart next season!
Would be amazed if JJ doesn't stay on, and am hopeful Jombati stays on too.
The rest no worries.
We desperately need cover for JJ, don't we? I mean, there's literally no-one qualified for the job if he gets crocked.
I think Sido has been a liability at times, love him as a person. A great pro and he certainly focuses more at CB because he has to and El Abd won’t have any rubbish going on next to him!
If the team is fully fit though, Sido is nowhere near the starting back 4 and I think you can possibly attract better now. If he’s happy to be a squad player and you can manage his expectations then keep him, but if he’s wanting more money and his role won’t reflect it then try and use his salary to attract a better player and add a little to that salary to do so if needed
The worry for Sido is that he wasn't always starting with Harriman and Stewart out for long long spells.
Based on sheer perception I get the feeling he's a top part of the behind the scenes spirit, as well as being a pretty solid squad player. He surely won't be asking too high money, so I hope we can find a way to keep him.
It's been very quiet on both him and JJ so far though. Unless we're staggering the announcements to give each player their moment in the sun?
What do you class as too high money for Sido? 1k a week? 1.5k?
He’ll easily be around 1200-1500 now I reckon. Would you pay that for him for another year or use part of that to pay JJ more and keep him l, and put the rest of it to help fund bringing back someone like Scarr..?
I would sign Moore and Scarr if available and let Sido go sadly.
It's funny, because I'm nowhere near interested in signing Scarr who, to me, was no better than replacement-level L2 stuff. I could go for Moore if the money was right - can see a bit more potential there, though, again, he's some way short of Harriman-level at the moment, to my mind.
Sido, although he makes mistakes, is a far better all round player than Scarr. We will need better than Scarr to survive in the division next year.
That's an interesting question, and a tough one to respond to.
First of all we'd need to know what the relative level of wage was in our squad. What's the top end? £2k? A couple of years ago, I'd heard a rumour that Hayes/Thompson were on a couple of hundred a week less than that.
Where would Jombati rank currently? Surely wouldn't be top end with Bayo, Tyson, Paris, El Abd, CMS, Saunders.
Gape and Harriman are young, but came from much higher levels.
O Nien signed up as a key player with a 3 year deal.
Maybe Brown/Bean/Bloomfield levels? Maybe less than all 3?
Could we cover what Jombati does for the squad as effectively for the same wage or cheaper, is one question.
Presumably now we've been promoted players will ask a little more, but I wouldn't think JJ would be too greedy. This club suits him with his studying and personal life, and he seems to love it here.
I’d keep JJ & Sido from that list. As mentioned already, El Abd has another year on his contract yet keeps appearing on these lists.
Of the others I’d be happy if Bean stayed on, whilst I’m not convinced on Brown continuing as number one. We’ve been spoilt the past few years with top quality loan ‘keepers and I’d be tempted to go that way again.
From the on loan contingent I think Moore is the only one who has done enough to be offered something.
With so many of the existing squad still here next season the few players we do bring in need to be of a level where they are in, or very close to being in, our first choice XI.
Surely Bloomfield must be in the top bracket? He’s signed about a dozen contracts with us.
Sido is a cult hero. He must stay.
@HCblue, @mooneyman , Scarr is an odd one. Birmingham saw enough to pluck him from non league, but then left him languishing in their development team.
We saw that he has some potential, but certainly doesn't stand out in league 2, so league 1 would be an ask.
El Abd and Stewart should be a good combo, but Stewart has had a few of these injuries that drag on, so we definitely need a quality defender in there too.
Sido may be good cover, but probably not for long spells.
Scarr/McGinleytypes, i'd worry might be the league 1 WDH!
As for Moore, he peaked in that first game! I thought he looked sensational. Didn't get anywhere near that level again
Moore would be playing now if he hadn't got injured with Harriman benched.
I disagree.
Harriman is better than Moore by some margin
So do I, Harriman had to play when Moore got injured and he was playing very well at the time so he would have kept the shirt.
I agree with that, I was saying Moore had the shirt and was playing well and Harri had been out for 6 months.
Brown gets little respect on here but he has pulled out some great saves to win us points. With the handicap of THAT jersey!
I don’t think anyone would deny he’s pulled of some great saves. It would be worrying if a goalkeeper couldn’t do that. What he can’t do well enough is come off his line and help his defenders out.
And he'll always have Luton away
On Moore's first game I did wonder if Harriman would get back in.
But not things have settled, Harriman is the clear better player right now.
He must have some slightly mixed feelings. Our glory season, and he's only played a couple of months of it.
Am sure, like Stewart he'll be chomping at the bit to have a big pre season and be ready to go.
Not with you @eric_plant. Not like me!
I think Eric is referring to Brownie's superb performance at Kenilworth Road, especially that save at the end.
Has Dan Scarr not done ok, given that it's his first half season in professional football, he's still only 23 and he's been playing in a team that has shipped plenty, with or without him in it? I think he'd be worth a punt for a year on the cheap, should such an option be available. Give him a full pre-season, let him continue learning his trade alongside El-Abd. Certainly not at the expense of getting a new first choice centre back though.
exactly. It was a performance that I will never forget so I'm sure he won't
Thanks for the clarification, guys. One of the drawbacks of not going to away games.