Looking to the future....

[SoccerHQ]

I'll call it now, Gabby to Stoke with Cameron Jerome in a swop.

I think Jerome is awful at premier league level but he does have a proven record in the championship. Him, Weimann and a physical striker in the mix.

[Greg N'Ash]

It will be a total fire sale. The eventual new manager will be buying solid journeymen championship or lower players with a fraction of the proceeds from benteke, Westwood, Weimann etc in the hope we'll get up on the cheap. Any of the big earners will scare off possible buyers so they'll still be there crippling us with their wages and the reduced turnover. Even if there is interest in the likes of N'Zog or Bent, they're not going to swap 60+k a week here for 30k a week at the likes of Swansea or similar.


Basically we're f**ked.

[Californian Villain]

It will be a total fire sale. The eventual new manager will be buying solid journeymen championship or lower players with a fraction of the proceeds from benteke, Westwood, Weimann etc in the hope we'll get up on the cheap. Any of the big earners will scare off possible buyers so they'll still be there crippling us with their wages and the reduced turnover. Even if there is interest in the likes of N'Zog or Bent, they're not going to swap 60+k a week here for 30k a week at the likes of Swansea or similar.


Basically we're f**ked.

hard to argue with that.

[richtheholtender]

The funny thing is we have adjusted to this "passing" style of football, and we have seen from our performance against lower prem/division teams that it hasnt worked. We may have to revert back and change the team completely to get out of the division.

[adrenachrome]

I think a lot of people will be astonished at how low our gates will drop if we get relegated.

[danno]

I can understand that we'll have offers for Bent Benteke and N'zogbia.

But I think we'll have real trouble shifting Shay Given and Steven Ireland.

Unless of course they're prepared to take a drop in wages, rather than suffer
the indignity of warming benches in the championship.
I think Given took a pay cut to come here, So unless Celtic decide to go
batshit with their champions league money, I think we're stuck with him.

and Ireland? well like Dunne there were rumours about New York Red Bulls.
But, considering Houllier is involved there, I'd say that was probably a non starter.
Gerrard Houllier knows how to hold a grudge, ask Daveeed Ginola!

[tomd2103]

I can understand that we'll have offers for Bent Benteke and N'zogbia.

But I think we'll have real trouble shifting Shay Given and Steven Ireland.

One of the first things I would be looking to do in the summer would be to try and reach a settlement with him to pay him off.  I think it would be worth it just to have him out of the club. 

I don't have a problem with Given, I just think that age and injuries have caught up with him.  He is on too much to only be a back up though and also needs to go, whatever league we are in next season.   

[danno]

I can understand that we'll have offers for Bent Benteke and N'zogbia.

But I think we'll have real trouble shifting Shay Given and Steven Ireland.

One of the first things I would be looking to do in the summer would be to try and reach a settlement with him to pay him off.  I think it would be worth it just to have him out of the club. 

I don't have a problem with Given, I just think that age and injuries have caught up with him.  He is on too much to only be a back up though and also needs to go, whatever league we are in next season.

Yep I'd go along with that.
Have no problem with Given, and I like the fact he hasn't been making noises about being dropped.
Think he'd be a good pro to have around, if his contract wasn't so ridiculous.
When I've seen him this season, he's tried his best to help organise a very young defence.

[eamonn]

Our home record has been a disgrace for a long time now. One thing's for certain we have no chance of staying up without some home wins between now and the end and I can't suddenly see us turning 2 home wins all season into say 4 home wins from our last 6.

It wasn't much better under MON tbh but at least we were drawing the games instead of losing them.

The fans at VP have been shortchanged for a long time now so with 23 home games in the championship you'd hope to win a few more.

Actually it was a lot better. The difference between three consecutive sixth places and the bottom three is not just a few draws!

Of course but that was based on our outstanding away form. For a top six team our home form for O'Neill's last two seasons was very average.

[ROBBO]

Benteke maybe but what other clubs are going to be offering the likes of Ireland 65.000 a week. Nzogbia would be in the same position, they will never get more money than villa pay them.

[tomd2103]

Benteke maybe but what other clubs are going to be offering the likes of Ireland 65.000 a week. Nzogbia would be in the same position, they will never get more money than villa pay them.

The inability to get rid of those big earners is one of my biggest concerns if we do go down.  As other clubs have found out in the past, getting relegated to the Championship with a number of high earners can lead to serious financial trouble.  The fact that they were still having to reputedly pay the likes of Kanu £70,000pw in the Championship is one of the main reasons Portsmouth are in such dire straits. 

[peter w]

Those that will stay will be

Guzan
Lowton
Clark
Vlaar
Baker
Bennett
Stevens
Herd
Westwood
Delph
Holman
Weimann
Gabby

I think we'll sell NZog, Benteke, Bent, Bannan (due to him being not good enough), Lichaj, Given, Ireland, Dunne (retired or US), Hutton, KEA.

That will be re-invested for us to buy cloggers which will be needed. We will be the biggest name down under so we can start looking to cherry pick the best of the rest in the Championship to fill in the gaps and go for promotion. get it wrong and we could be stuck for a long time.

[OzVilla]

We won't shift Ireland unless we pay him off, absolutely no one would touch him with a barge pole and quite rightly so.  If he's not going to play in the first team at any stage now then i can't think of another way out.  We just cannot let someone like that bankrupt us.

Probably the worst signing we've ever made as he's disrupted, offered fuck all on the pitch, been disrespectful and could easily financially cripple us in the Championship.

I really can't stand the fucker.

[peter w]

I agree but I reckon his agent will be touting his name around for a summer move. Even if we paid 50% of his wages I'd take the hit just to get the waste of space out of the club. As much as we can blame Lerner and Lambert you can also point your finger and wasters like Ireland who just have not performed since they arrived.

[Mr Diggles]

Don't forget we also have Gardener to come back into the midfield - a pity he has been injured this season as I think he might have made a bit of a difference.

Anyway, if we do go down the big earners will go - like bent. Benteke will definitely be snapped up by someone, and together that should bring in around £15-20m.

Then build the team round guzan, clark, Westwood, gardener, Delphi, Ireland and weimann.

I think that's a decent team at that level, and when they come back up again, the players and the club could be better for it.