The rebuild.

[Andy_Faber]

EXACTLY! I was just about to start a new thread suggesting that a 'style of play' should come first

we've seen with Martin and Vydra amongst others that there aren't just good players, there are good players for a style of play/system

I've liked the more positive moments of our 'new' system, love seeing wingbacks do their work (WHEN they actually produce an end product), also love seeing disciplined defending like the first leg, with Davies doing the intercepts and Huddlestone sweeping up the mess, but there has to be a greater balance towards attack and a bit of actual excitement to report on after a game.

[ramAnag]

EXACTLY! I was just about to start a new thread suggesting that a 'style of play' should come first

we've seen with Martin and Vydra amongst others that there aren't just good players, there are good players for a style of play/system

I've liked the more positive moments of our 'new' system, love seeing wingbacks do their work (WHEN they actually produce an end product), also love seeing disciplined defending like the first leg, with Davies doing the intercepts and Huddlestone sweeping up the mess, but there has to be a greater balance towards attack and a bit of actual excitement to report on after a game.

That’s all well and good Andy but the point of the original post is that we have to deal with what we’ve got.
There seems general agreement about who’s worth keeping and who isn’t...Bryson, Anya and Baird, along with keeping or cashing in on Vydra, being the greatest source of debate.

Beyond that Martin, Butterfield and possibly Bryson are the problem. They cost us a fortune but are of relatively little value. If I recognise that you can bet every other club/agent in the country will have a clearer understanding...so, taking into account FFP as well,
how do we move forward?

I agree with much of your retain/release list...I even agree about Bryson although he is approaching ‘elderly’ now for a box to box midfielder whose game was built on energy and mobility...but how do we ship out Martin and Butterfield, both of whom I believe to have ‘burned their bridges’, without taking an unaffordable loss?

[Andy_Faber]

That’s all well and good Andy but the point of the original post is that we have to deal with what we’ve got.
There seems general agreement about who’s worth keeping and who isn’t...Bryson, Anya and Baird, along with keeping or cashing in on Vydra, being the greatest source of debate.

Beyond that Martin, Butterfield and possibly Bryson are the problem. They cost us a fortune but are of relatively little value. If I recognise that you can bet every other club/agent in the country will have a clearer understanding...so, taking into account FFP as well,
how do we move forward?

I agree with much of your retain/release list...I even agree about Bryson although he is approaching ‘elderly’ now for a box to box midfielder whose game was built on energy and mobility...but how do we ship out Martin and Butterfield, both of whom I believe to have ‘burned their bridges’, without taking an unaffordable loss?

I'm a forgiving bloke, if I was GR and couldn't offload Butterfield early doors, I'd 'coach' him to be of use to us, point him towards the (partial) resurgence of BJ, it might come to nothing, but it might result in our £5m original investment actually helping us avoid a £5m-plus investment in a new signing who might also be a crock of ****. If he runs out for the first game of the season, he'll have deserved the recall and I'll applaud him along with the rest. We aren't talking 'Claude Davies' bad here, ther HAS to be something GR can work with

[ramAnag]

I'm a forgiving bloke, if I was GR and couldn't offload Butterfield early doors, I'd 'coach' him to be of use to us, point him towards the (partial) resurgence of BJ, it might come to nothing, but it might result in our £5m original investment actually helping us avoid a £5m-plus investment in a new signing who might also be a crock of ****. If he runs out for the first game of the season, he'll have deserved the recall and I'll applaud him along with the rest. We aren't talking 'Claude Davies' bad here, ther HAS to be something GR can work with

Can see where you’re coming from and I wish you could be right.
Unfortunately I don’t believe you can ‘coach’ attitude...not at their age...and that’s what I believe to be wrong with Butterfield and Martin (Shackell too but he’s irrelevant). They’ve got no hunger any more imo.
Whatever else the likes of Keogh and Davies might lack...they go out each week with the right mindset.