Which players do we need to keep for a Championship challenge

[tiger76]

For me the following are essential to a successful tilt at a swift return, and we should do everything we can to hang onto them within reason naturally.

Pope- We may or may not get suitors this summer, but a top class keeper can easily be worth 15-20 points over the season, so unless he wants to leave, or we get a crazy offer I'd like to see him stay.

Mee- Yes he's getting on in years, but as a captain and a lynchpin he'd be invaluable to spearheading a promotion campaign. so again if he's happy to stay I'd be doing all we can to retain his services.

Brownhill- He's the only member of our central midfield that has the potential to improve, and his energy is vital and in the Championship he's shown he's more than capable of scoring goals.

McNeil- No Dwight hasn't enjoyed the best of seasons, but surely at a lower level he'd shine.

Weghorst- Given we'll probably lose Cornet, we need to keep this guy, he's already shown enough in a handful of games to suggest he'll score at Championship level.

Retain that core and add a few shrewd signings and we should be well placed to mount a decent challenge next season.

I guess the question is can we retain that core?

[Goobs]

These are the players for me we should definitely keep unless we get a silly offer for any of them.

Pope
Roberts Lowton
Mee Collins
Taylor Pieters
Brownhill
McNeil Cornet
Weghorst

[Milltown1882]

Don’t think we’ll lose anyone other than Tarks in the summer. Our players aren’t that appealing. Mee would be the only OOC player I’d be keeping.

[nyclaret]

These are the players for me we should definitely keep unless we get a silly offer for any of them.

Pope
Roberts Lowton
Mee Collins
Taylor Pieters
Brownhill
McNeil Cornet
Weghorst

My thinking exactly but I’d keep Cork as a squad option.

[tiger76]

These are the players for me we should definitely keep unless we get a silly offer for any of them.

Pope
Roberts Lowton
Mee Collins
Taylor Pieters
Brownhill
McNeil Cornet
Weghorst

That would be an incredibly strong line-up in the Championship if we could retain all of them, still lacking a creative CM, and a RW (I don't count JBG) as he's always in the treatment room.

If we didn't have the debt hanging over our heads I'd be reasonably relaxed about dropping, but the worry is we need to sell a few to finance our repayments.

[Vino blanco]

These are the players for me we should definitely keep unless we get a silly offer for any of them.

Pope
Roberts Lowton
Mee Collins
Taylor Pieters
Brownhill
McNeil Cornet
Weghorst

Agree, the rest can go for me.

[MACCA]

Pope
Roberts
Collins
Mee - reduced terms, but doubt he will, will look for 1 last pay day imo.
Taylor
Pieters - reduced terms 1 year deal
Cornet
Brownhill
Westwood
McNeil
Vydra 2 year deal
Weghorst
JBG - bench option

I'd let all the other OOC players leave

[Goobs]

Pope
Roberts
Collins
Mee - reduced terms, but doubt he will, will look for 1 last pay day imo.
Taylor
Pieters - reduced terms 1 year deal
Cornet
Brownhill
Westwood
McNeil
Vydra 2 year deal
Weghorst
JBG - bench option

I'd let all the other OOC players leave

I agree on Vydra however not sure he would re-sign. JBG is one of my favourite players but he can't stay fit so I wouldn't keep him. Westwood is getting passed it and not worth a new contract for me.

[Claretitus]

I also used to like JBG and stood up for him in banter with friends. However, his time is now up, he has to leave, he goes with my thanks, but it’s time to move him on.

[jdrobbo]

Aaron Lennon is out of contract in the summer.

We’d be absolutely bloody nuts not to try and get him to extend his stay for another year, should we drop to the championship. He’s exactly the type of player we need in the division.

[TheFamilyCat]

I agree on Vydra however not sure he would re-sign. JBG is one of my favourite players but he can't stay fit so I wouldn't keep him. Westwood is getting passed it and not worth a new contract for me.

If Westwood and JBG were given new contracts they'd need replacing the following season if we went back up. May as well let them go and replace them in the summer.

[RVclaret]

Aaron Lennon is out of contract in the summer.

We’d be absolutely bloody nuts not to try and get him to extend his stay for another year, should we drop to the championship. He’s exactly the type of player we need in the division.

Agree on keeping Lennon. Not sure he’s ‘exactly’ the type of player we need though and I’d hope we are in for more young, hungry types than him in the window.

[boatshed bill]

Whether we like it or not we are stuck with:
Lowton
JBG
Hennessey
Westwood
Norris
Long.

Not so easy to get rid of these.

[Goobs]

Whether we like it or not we are stuck with:
Lowton
JBG
Hennessey
Westwood
Norris
Long.

Not so easy to get rid of these.

If they all have a further year or more on their contracts then no issue with them staying other than Norris who I could probably replace

[Woodleyclaret]

Why the antipathy towards Jayrod

[boatshed bill]

If they all have a further year or more on their contracts then no issue with them staying other than Norris who I could probably replace

They all have another year, including Norris.
I think Cork and Barnes have one year options, but that may be down to the club rather than the players.

[BabylonClaret]

Why the antipathy towards Jayrod

I suspect because his goals record has been pretty poor last season and this. I think he is still a good player and worth another year if we are in the Championship but we need to be looking for a younger newbie coning in from the lower keagues (forget proven Champ strikers they cost a fortune)

[Goobs]

Why the antipathy towards Jayrod

Don't get me wrong I like Jay and believe he should he starting alongside Wout at the moment but IF we go down then we need to start rebuilding quickly and that means letting the older OOC players go for me.

[DAVETHEVICAR]

Having seen lots of Championship games this season the standard to me is weaker than previous years
If Tarkowski, Pope and MacNeil all leave ( the latter for fees) then we could keep the rest add a couple and imo we would come up as Champions.

[jedi_master]

I’d sell Pope, Cornet and McNeil to pay off the lions share of the MSD debt. I’d try and keep Weghorst for a season if he’s willing, if not, sell to a Bundesliga side for whatever we can get. I’d rather not have Westwood but I believe we have him till 2023, so he will need to be an ‘option’ for us (bench at best for me).

I’d release Rodriguez, Barnes, Stephens, Lennon, Bardsley and Vydra. I’d try to renew Cork, Mee and Pieters on reduced terms, up to them I suppose. Tarkowski will obviously leave.

I’d try and sign some of the following players who are all available on free transfers this summer:

Jed Wallace - Millwall
Nick Powell - Stoke City
John Swift - Reading
Tom Lawrence - Derby County
Darragh Lenihan - Blackburn
Joe Ralls - Cardiff City

Get a couple of loans I can’t think of in, as well as promotion of our best young players to having an active involvement (Richardson, Dodgeson etc).

Something like, maybe:

—————————————Hennessey
—Lowton———-Collins———————Mee—————-Taylor
———————Brownhill——Cork———Swift
———Wallace——————Weghorst————Lawrence

Subs: Peacock-Farrell, Roberts, Pieters, Long, Lenihan, Westwood, Powell, Gudmundsson, Richardson

That was fun, time to go play Football Manager now (hopefully this illustrates how a relatively cost effective bit of wheeling and dealing can be done, with the wage bill MILES lower than it currently is).

[jojomk1]

Ben Mee very unlikely to be here next season if we go down

Pope will want to stay in Prem now he is back in England squad with World Cup next season

[ian]

I'd love Vydra to stay, if he got a full season he'd be player of the season in the Championship

[boatshed bill]

Ben Mee very unlikely to be here next season if we go down

I have heard from footie fans that Ben Mee is more sought after than James Tarkowski.
Can't confirm that it's true, but certainly interesting to hear outside opinion.

[JohnMac]

Dale Stephens