Who Stays and Who goes

[Dave]

How exactly do people suggest we go about getting rid of Given? And Ireland for that matter.

Why would they choose to leave?

Given chose to leave man city and took a drop in wages to do so

In real terms, he didn't though did he?

We offered him a longer contract to make up for a lower amount each month so he didn't financially lose out by choosing to move to us.

[paul_e]

Lichaj and Dunne are out of contract and don't deserve to have them renewed (Dunne because he's broken, Lichaj because he's not good enough, unfortunately as he seems like a genuinely nice guy).

Hutton needs to go, I pray Mallorca have seen something to encourage them to give us 50p and a toblerone for him.

If Ireland, Bent and Given can generate some interest then we should get rid, none of them are contributing enough given their wages.

If Makoun still hasn't learned any English we should take what we can get.

That's potentially 7 off the books, which is enough for now as far as I'm concerned, everyone left has shown glimpses of being good enough and/or deserves the chance at another season to see if they can make the step up (KEA, Holman, Bennett, Bowery all sit here).

Then we need:

Backup keeper (unless we trust Seigrist to step-up, is he ready?)
Right-back as competition for Lowton
Right-sided centre back
Left winger
Right winger
Attacking midfielder

That gives us the depth we need in the squad, but there is still question marks in left back and defensive midfield, but do we give:

LB: Bennett and Stevens another Summer (both were injured this summer so haven't had the chance to build up the level of fitness required) and look at things near the end of the window?

DM: Sylla, Delph, KEA, Bannan(although I think he should be playing further forward) and Westwood the chance to show they can form an effective group of options there?

I'm very tempted to say yes to both.  I know a lot of people think Bennett isn't good enough but I think he's shown glimpses of being capable of stepping up, just needs to get his awareness up and get his fitness right.  I think Delph, Westwood and Sylla have all shown a lot of potential in recent weeks (which coincides with results taking us to 5th in the form table) and KEA looked like a fantastic prospect in the summer but just hasn't adjusted to the pace of the game.

We need to be careful not to 'throw the baby out with the bathwater' this summer as this season will have had a big effect on a lot of these younger players and we need to see how they react in the summer before making big decisions on them.

I've listed 7 players above who have between them done virtually nothing for the team this year (except Lichaj who I really wanted to do well but I just don't think the quality is there) they're the ones to get rid of first.  The idea of getting rid of more terrifies me as we really need to start to get a bit of consistency in the squad.

[Ron Manager]

Leave it to the end of the season you might see a different picture.

Weimann hasnt signed a new contract ,unless you havent noticed, and reputedly is not happy with the terms offered him. He would be stupid not to keep his options open. Benteke will be much sort after and dont rule out any of the moneybags clubs watching Guzan's form with interest as the season concludes.

Both Darren Bent and Barry Bannan and Shay Given might well be needed next season. Dont write them off just because we have won two games on the trot.

Lets wait and see what happens in the next couple of months.

[john e]

its a bit of a no brainer to say lets get shut of Given, Hutton, Dunne, Albrighton, Ireland, Macoun, Bent and Delfonso

as they may well as not be here anyway,
apart from the crippling wages we are paying them, they are about as collectively as effective as i am on the pitch at the moment

[tomd2103]

How exactly do people suggest we go about getting rid of Given? And Ireland for that matter.

Why would they choose to leave?

I would offer Ireland a pay off just to get him out of the club or even offer to contribute to his wages at another club.

[nigel]

Given, Ireland, Dunne, Hutton, Bent and a couple of fringe players, who won't be figuring at all, would release a huge amount from the wage bill and also bring in around £15m-£20m
I would probably keep it at that, though.

Release to many and we're back to square one, with players needing to settle in.
 
One 'Big' signing and 2 or 3 quality 'Up and coming' signings would see us to mid table, ready to kick on again.

[curiousorange]

I think it's kind of obvious who Lambert wants to stay and who he wants to push out. Basically, if you're fit and you've got in the team or near the bench in 2013, you're in. If you haven't, never darken our doors again.

[barrysleftfoot]

  For me....keep GK    Guzan

                        Defenders...Baker, Vlaar, Lowton, Bennett,
                        Midfield.....Delph, Gardener, Westwood, Sylla
                        Attack....Benteke, Weimann, Charlie, Bowery

 Let go........Given, Hutton, Warnock, Dunne, KEA, Holman, Bannan, Ireland, Bent.

 Not bothered if they go....Stevens, Gabby, Clark, Delf, Albrighton.

 Imperative we get a sbig strong Centre Half, and central midfielder, a more creative wide player, and a more experience RB and LB.

 The guy from Wigan, the LB, who is on a free, would do for one.Apart from that, look abroad.Sissokho did look very impressive yday.Sinclair/Ince might be worth a thought as well.Distin on a 2 year contract?, maybe Douglas, on a free this summer~?

[curiousorange]

I'm still mystified as to why so many people want Gabby to be dumped. Even if he wasn't a Villa fan, don't others think he's a decent option to have in the squad?

[barrysleftfoot]

 If he3's on £60k a week, as reported co, then i don't think his performances/abilities are worth that.

 Benteke and Weimann deserve increased contracts, Baker and Westwood look like they could be future stars, Delph is starting to show he has something.Charlie for me offers something we don't have, Vlaar is just steady.

 The others i suggested, for me, either don't add any quality to the squad, or are'nt worth what they are paid.We have a good youth system, and alongside 2 or 3 free experienced freebies, and 2 or 3 quality young players on good wages, we will not be far off.

[paul_e]

  For me....keep GK    Guzan

                        Defenders...Baker, Vlaar, Lowton, Bennett,
                        Midfield.....Delph, Gardener, Westwood, Sylla
                        Attack....Benteke, Weimann, Charlie, Bowery

 Let go........Given, Hutton, Warnock, Dunne, KEA, Holman, Bannan, Ireland, Bent.

 Not bothered if they go....Stevens, Gabby, Clark, Delf, Albrighton.

 Imperative we get a sbig strong Centre Half, and central midfielder, a more creative wide player, and a more experience RB and LB.

 The guy from Wigan, the LB, who is on a free, would do for one.Apart from that, look abroad.Sissokho did look very impressive yday.Sinclair/Ince might be worth a thought as well.Distin on a 2 year contract?, maybe Douglas, on a free this summer~?

The problem I have with this is that you're talking about having a squad of 13 as the base and buying from there.  To me that's far too many changes in one summer.  Even the 7 I've suggested worries me but at least it's all players who aren't around the squad (other than Given).  To gut the squad and buying in half a new squad is just going to cause another year of transition as they start to get used to each other again.  I'd rather keep a core of 18-20 and fill up around them, and then do the same in 2014 if some of the guys are still not providing enough.

[curiousorange]

I agree. We've had far too much movement over the past three summers and I fear Benteke will need to be immediately replaced, and Bent will probably be moved on to pastures new. So I'd rather keep who we have if we can, not including players such as Warnock, Hutton and Fonz who have clearly been noted as surplus to requirements.

[KevinGage]

Given, Ireland, Dunne, Hutton, Bent and a couple of fringe players, who won't be figuring at all, would release a huge amount from the wage bill and also bring in around £15m-£20m
I would probably keep it at that, though.

Release to many and we're back to square one, with players needing to settle in.
 
One 'Big' signing and 2 or 3 quality 'Up and coming' signings would see us to mid table, ready to kick on again.

Football never works like that, though. 

You get bids on the players you want to keep, and generally find it hard to move on players who are surplus to requirements -unless it's at a big loss. 

Bent might attract a decent bid from Turkey or some such -and by decent, I'd say £6-8 million, seeing as he is no longer an England international and isn't even first choice for a struggling club. With the deals that Hutton, Ireland and Given are on, I think we'd find it hard to get any sort of fee for them at all -and will most likely have to pay a decent percentage of their wage to move them on.

[richardhubbard]

Warnock left in jan for leeds

[Grande Pablo]

I think Lambert may have some tough decisions on his own investments in KEA & Bennett.  He's done his best to stand by them, but the fact that he's gone out & bought Sylla to do KEA's job is evidence itself.

If we can add the meat to the pretty beefy sandwich at each end of the pitch, we'll do better next year.