The financial crisis is still looming for many clubs so bargain hunting is going to be the nature of the game. And Uche will be a bargain for a Championship club no doubt. Flip side of this is that out of contract players might have to take a more realistic outlook at wages and in 3 weeks time that outlook is gonna get a bit more real for some.
So if Uche goes I will be disappointed, we never got to see him for a start and he only just got going. But there will be other Uche’s out there. I trust the Rolodex in GA and Dobbo’s office will come up trumps again. Let’s face it 13 months ago I was scratching my head as to why we just signed the striker from one of the worst teams in Scotland’s elite level.
If we are going go look for another striker, I'd like to see Af. Released by Coventry and similar to Uche - pacey, strong, powerful> @Malone said:
We'd certainly desperately need a new striker, and from having quite a few options we'd be very light all of a sudden if Uche follows Fred out.
A 39 year old Bayo, Kashket and Samuel all have their distinct strengths but none of them have enough to be our main striker next year.
If we are going go look for another striker, I'd like to see Amadou Bakayoko in the quarters for us. Released by Coventry and similar to Uche - pacey, strong, powerful - could be a viable replacement?
Shrewsbury paying £7m for a player certainly sounds crazy and does nothing to alleviate the feeling of unease about our prospects of a swift return to the Championship. Having said that, I would be very happy to watch the kind of scintillating football we were playing at the end of last season and stabilising in the top half of League One.
@micra said:
Shrewsbury paying £7m for a player certainly sounds crazy and does nothing to alleviate the feeling of unease about our prospects of a swift return to the Championship. Having said that, I would be very happy to watch the kind of scintillating football we were playing at the end of last season and stabilising in the top half of League One.
Don't worry too much, sounds like a load of old crap
@OxfordBlue said:
Uche did an interview earlier in the year where he seemed to have a huge debt of gratitude to Ainsworth and Wycombe. I know money talks a lot of the time but I have a feeling he isn't going anywhere.
Yeah but when you’ve probably lost out on around £52k a year in wages (plus whatever he’s have got extra in year 2 of his contract) through getting relegated then all of a sudden a move to a club like Cardiff is a sound move…
As much as Gareth Ainsworth loves this club, he must wonder what he could achieve at a club where he's able to sign who he likes instead of having to mould sides out of the leftovers every year only to watch his best players get poached once he's resurrected their careers.
@Vital welcome to the world of football management outside of the top six premiership clubs. It's been pointed out time and again that our business model has to be Brentford. Scout, sign, develop, sell, repeat. Each time you get more cash you can tweak the quality you sign. It's not an overnight solution but it's a sustainable one.
@Vital said:
As much as Gareth Ainsworth loves this club, he must wonder what he could achieve at a club where he's able to sign who he likes instead of having to mould sides out of the leftovers every year only to watch his best players get poached once he's resurrected their careers.
I get the impression Gareth quite enjoys it @Vital . I suppose Fred might fit into your theory but which other players has GA 'resurrected' who have been poached? Not disputing, just cannot really think of one.
@Vital said:
As much as Gareth Ainsworth loves this club, he must wonder what he could achieve at a club where he's able to sign who he likes instead of having to mould sides out of the leftovers every year only to watch his best players get poached once he's resurrected their careers.
I get the impression Gareth quite enjoys it @Vital . I suppose Fred might fit into your theory but which other players has GA 'resurrected' who have been poached? Not disputing, just cannot really think of one.
Paris, Scowen to some extent, Jase, O'Nein, Bryn & Randell in their own way. Not all fit the ressurected and poached angle but the basics are there in that we aren't necessarily getting the first choice of available players , we develope players and don't seem to have much if any way of retaining ones wanted elsewhere.
There are advantages of course and he's talked about managers at a higher level not even getting any development time with players as the expectations are high and they get the boot before they've been able to lay out their plans.
If we loose Uche then we must get at least two good forwards in. We cannot depend on Bayo (although he has been fantastic for us), Kashket (who is very much hot and cold) and Samuel who is not exactly a regular goal scorer.
It does look like the challenge is making sure we have enough goals in us - the defence looks absolutely awesome (touching wood for injuries).
I do think if we persist with the system we finished with, we will give teams absolute fits. McCarthy especially was so hard to handle at Championship level, let alone L1.
Though our promotion season was seen as a miracle, I would still back the same players to be very strong, especially with the likes of McLeary, Mehmeti and Taffs in there too. Hopefully we can find a way to replace Admiral and Uche if needed, and have something at least approximating our second tier promotion form at the end of the last season.
It must be frustrating at times for GA, but he is such a positive person, and he is the type who looks back to Torquay or to the pre-Couhig budget cuts, and will realize that we are still on a very good trajectory. He is not the type to be unrealistic about our ability to retain talent.
I must admit, even given the big man's end of season form, I am surprised that teams like Cardiff, Forest and Derby are coming in. If I was a fan of one of those sides with their resources, I would be quite disappointed, but I suppose buying a striker on the strength of a good season in Scotland and half a season in the Championship might explain why they are where they are. (Of course, with the better quality of service Uche would probably bag a decent haul...) For fans of 'big' clubs reading this...he is a far better fit for us!
Hopefully a positive omen is Uche's Instagram having him doing some pre-pre-season training in his Wycombe training shirt. Either that or it's laundry day and we've been relegated to nothing else to wear kit.
@niebieski said:
Hopefully a positive omen is Uche's Instagram having him doing some pre-pre-season training in his Wycombe training shirt. Either that or it's laundry day and we've been relegated to nothing else to wear kit.
Couhig said last night he doesn't think he'll leave and it would take a truckload of cash so it sounds like the clause isn't as reported.
Possibly. However, saying he doesn't think he'll leave doesn't really mean anything. There is a chance he likes it at Wycombe and feels some loyalty to the club for taking him to the Championship and helping him through a difficult time with injuries and COVID. Equally, there is a chance he'll want another crack at the Championship straight away. A "truckload of cash" could also mean anything. £500k would certainly be a truckload of cash to me, and going back two years it would to Wycombe Wanderers too.
@YorkExile said:
Possibly. However, saying he doesn't think he'll leave doesn't really mean anything. There is a chance he likes it at Wycombe and feels some loyalty to the club for taking him to the Championship and helping him through a difficult time with injuries and COVID. Equally, there is a chance he'll want another crack at the Championship straight away. A "truckload of cash" could also mean anything. £500k would certainly be a truckload of cash to me, and going back two years it would to Wycombe Wanderers too.
All true. He didn't mention the clause so didn't deny it. There was a question about more info on Fred and Uche but only the Uche bit got addressed to Rob.
Key part for me was that Rob mentioned 'considering' a big enough offer. If Uche had a release clause, there wouldn't be anything to consider. Admittedly I may be reading far too much into that.
Managing expectations? Rob was hardly likely to tell the Trust “yeh Uche’s effectively gone, just like Fred, Championship wages we couldn’t compete, no we haven’t got anyone lined up as replacements ‘cause we have to wait till the window is closing so we can pick up a remainder bargain or two. But on a positive note Nick Freeman is very much in our plans” now was he.
It’s quite calming being in a small minority of people not fussed if Uche leaves for a fee. Quite happy to see him stay but I just don’t see where his key player status has come from in others.
Comments
The financial crisis is still looming for many clubs so bargain hunting is going to be the nature of the game. And Uche will be a bargain for a Championship club no doubt. Flip side of this is that out of contract players might have to take a more realistic outlook at wages and in 3 weeks time that outlook is gonna get a bit more real for some.
So if Uche goes I will be disappointed, we never got to see him for a start and he only just got going. But there will be other Uche’s out there. I trust the Rolodex in GA and Dobbo’s office will come up trumps again. Let’s face it 13 months ago I was scratching my head as to why we just signed the striker from one of the worst teams in Scotland’s elite level.
If we are going go look for another striker, I'd like to see Af. Released by Coventry and similar to Uche - pacey, strong, powerful> @Malone said:
If we are going go look for another striker, I'd like to see Amadou Bakayoko in the quarters for us. Released by Coventry and similar to Uche - pacey, strong, powerful - could be a viable replacement?
It’s still crazy season out there. Vidra reportedly off to Shrewsbury for £7 million! Agent hype?
Shrewsbury paying £7m for a player certainly sounds crazy and does nothing to alleviate the feeling of unease about our prospects of a swift return to the Championship. Having said that, I would be very happy to watch the kind of scintillating football we were playing at the end of last season and stabilising in the top half of League One.
Don't worry too much, sounds like a load of old crap
I think you may have fallen for one of those twitter bots that randomly links random players to random clubs for random amounts.
Sam Vokes is being linked with a loan move to the Shrews, they can't afford to buy him for that much.
https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/stoke-shrewsbury-transfer-sam-vokes-5539019 fair to say his move to Stoke didn't pan out well, would be a great shout for us with the right delivery but even a fraction of his wages would be a lot and Cotterill has the Stoke links.
Yeah but when you’ve probably lost out on around £52k a year in wages (plus whatever he’s have got extra in year 2 of his contract) through getting relegated then all of a sudden a move to a club like Cardiff is a sound move…
As much as Gareth Ainsworth loves this club, he must wonder what he could achieve at a club where he's able to sign who he likes instead of having to mould sides out of the leftovers every year only to watch his best players get poached once he's resurrected their careers.
@Vital welcome to the world of football management outside of the top six premiership clubs. It's been pointed out time and again that our business model has to be Brentford. Scout, sign, develop, sell, repeat. Each time you get more cash you can tweak the quality you sign. It's not an overnight solution but it's a sustainable one.
I get the impression Gareth quite enjoys it @Vital . I suppose Fred might fit into your theory but which other players has GA 'resurrected' who have been poached? Not disputing, just cannot really think of one.
I'm anticipating Uche being the next @Wendoverman
I was hoping he'd be the next Bayo.
Paris, Scowen to some extent, Jase, O'Nein, Bryn & Randell in their own way. Not all fit the ressurected and poached angle but the basics are there in that we aren't necessarily getting the first choice of available players , we develope players and don't seem to have much if any way of retaining ones wanted elsewhere.
There are advantages of course and he's talked about managers at a higher level not even getting any development time with players as the expectations are high and they get the boot before they've been able to lay out their plans.
If we loose Uche then we must get at least two good forwards in. We cannot depend on Bayo (although he has been fantastic for us), Kashket (who is very much hot and cold) and Samuel who is not exactly a regular goal scorer.
It does look like the challenge is making sure we have enough goals in us - the defence looks absolutely awesome (touching wood for injuries).
I do think if we persist with the system we finished with, we will give teams absolute fits. McCarthy especially was so hard to handle at Championship level, let alone L1.
Though our promotion season was seen as a miracle, I would still back the same players to be very strong, especially with the likes of McLeary, Mehmeti and Taffs in there too. Hopefully we can find a way to replace Admiral and Uche if needed, and have something at least approximating our second tier promotion form at the end of the last season.
It must be frustrating at times for GA, but he is such a positive person, and he is the type who looks back to Torquay or to the pre-Couhig budget cuts, and will realize that we are still on a very good trajectory. He is not the type to be unrealistic about our ability to retain talent.
I must admit, even given the big man's end of season form, I am surprised that teams like Cardiff, Forest and Derby are coming in. If I was a fan of one of those sides with their resources, I would be quite disappointed, but I suppose buying a striker on the strength of a good season in Scotland and half a season in the Championship might explain why they are where they are. (Of course, with the better quality of service Uche would probably bag a decent haul...) For fans of 'big' clubs reading this...he is a far better fit for us!
I thought you were a fan of one of those sides
More of a watching brief these days, eric...
Come on son, that's silly.
Hopefully a positive omen is Uche's Instagram having him doing some pre-pre-season training in his Wycombe training shirt. Either that or it's laundry day and we've been relegated to nothing else to wear kit.
Couhig said last night he doesn't think he'll leave and it would take a truckload of cash so it sounds like the clause isn't as reported.
Possibly. However, saying he doesn't think he'll leave doesn't really mean anything. There is a chance he likes it at Wycombe and feels some loyalty to the club for taking him to the Championship and helping him through a difficult time with injuries and COVID. Equally, there is a chance he'll want another crack at the Championship straight away. A "truckload of cash" could also mean anything. £500k would certainly be a truckload of cash to me, and going back two years it would to Wycombe Wanderers too.
All true. He didn't mention the clause so didn't deny it. There was a question about more info on Fred and Uche but only the Uche bit got addressed to Rob.
Key part for me was that Rob mentioned 'considering' a big enough offer. If Uche had a release clause, there wouldn't be anything to consider. Admittedly I may be reading far too much into that.
Managing expectations? Rob was hardly likely to tell the Trust “yeh Uche’s effectively gone, just like Fred, Championship wages we couldn’t compete, no we haven’t got anyone lined up as replacements ‘cause we have to wait till the window is closing so we can pick up a remainder bargain or two. But on a positive note Nick Freeman is very much in our plans” now was he.
Well at least we can guarantee that when Uche moves on the fee will be “undisclosed.”
I assume Uche hasn't gone to Cardiff yet?
It’s quite calming being in a small minority of people not fussed if Uche leaves for a fee. Quite happy to see him stay but I just don’t see where his key player status has come from in others.