IB the story so far ......

[laddo]

Really good post Pedro.

Agree about lacking a regular killer instinct at present which is obviously costly.

Interesting to hear a valuation of Rùben of circa £200K (I'd be hoping for more even at this level) . If he does indeed prove to be the first of hopefully many radar successes as TSANHO rightly says how they spend the money will be very interesting. Agree with a lot of that follow up post.

[ncfcog]

My big question is what will happen when Rodrigues leaves? He could well be the first product of the football radar system, where we sell on for a profit. Will the owners use that money to seriously strengthen in buying a proven ‘Luke Rodgers’ type to play alongside Wootton, or will it be another prospect? The magpie circle posdcast speculated we could get about 200k for him. Whilst losing him would be a blow it would at least give us some serious clout in getting a replacement…or even two.

It’s important we keep in touch with the top two, so when it all clicks we don’t have a serious mountain to climb. Fingers crossed 爛

Transfermarkt currently have Ruben at £405k and although it's not necessarily always bang on with valuations it's often not far out. Also, that £405k was last updated in June 2020!

If we were to let him go in January then £500k has to be the absolute minimum in the current market. With regards to replacing him that's where the moneyball approach steps in. I would put my house on it that the club are already working on finding the next Ruben or Roberts in readiness for their departure as and when it should happen.

[sidders]

[Hi Pedro, I've had a very quick go at amateur sub-editing that for you for readability, hope you don't mind!]

It all began on March 25th 2021 where IB was appointed head coach and took over an underperforming, faltering team with an insipid negative style of play that had been driven into and forced upon them. He took over a team coated with expectations of mediocrity where 'the point' was to be adored and worshipped like a deity.

Several games later IB had sounded out his squad and got a team to play attacking winning football which ultimately took them to the play offs. As we all know, fate can be cruel, as can be match officials and an unfortunate defeat left us yet again in one of the lower basements of the Football World full of want to bes, never will bes and has beens.

The season ends in disappointment and the squad is partially dismantled with some star players leaving the club for more money elsewhere and some players leaving to play football in the football league proper. IB is tasked with rebuilding a team and squad with what most would reasonably and sensibly believe is a reduced budget. A squad is assembled and a team is developed with a football identity that is far more attacking minded than what had gone before under the former incumbent.

The season begins in spectacular style with a large convincing away win and steadily progresses with wins and draws with a mixture of good, bad and ugly performances but still leave us unbeaten after 7 games and handily placed in the table. So far so good but then the Football Gods play a cruel trick upon us and we lose the spine of our team. The goalkeeper, our captain and arguably our most formidable centre back signed to combat those pesky teams that show no desire to play football on the grass but choose to play Hoof Ball and bully defenders in their own box . Possibly an issue in its own right but then to rub salt into the wounds the natural replacement for this conundrum is also injured, limp forward Connell Rawlinson and then the next natural replacement, Alex Lacey, also become a victim of the Football Gods and their tricks ! IB still cobbles together a competitive team that although dominating some games for 70 minutes and possibly more go on to lose their unbeaten start and lose 3 games on the bounce and calamity ensues. The final nail in the coffin is a one all home draw in a game we could have won if we had taken our chances.

So where does this leave us? As far as I'm concerned this season is still a learning curve for IB and I would expect him to get us into a play off spot, where we are again in the hands of fate (and match officials) and fortune be it good or bad. For me next season is the season of reckoning for IB. He will have had time to develop his squad and improve his desired style of play. My assessment of things is IB and the team are not far off being the finished article and maybe one or two shrewd signings might just complete the team he is trying to create. That could be as this season progresses or, if not, hopefully next season.

There is only one God, Swale. The rest are gods!

[magpie_mania]

An interesting thread, and obviously it is all about opinions.

A little biased towards IB and against NA in the opening paragraph. Yes it was time to make a change though.

Is IB system the way to get out of this league? I am still not sure on that. Play-offs is imo an absolute minimum for this season, we still need a couple of players - as so many say, a tough midfielder and a good forward. I was really hoping that Lewis Knight might have been that player, but who knows what is happening there. I also feel that we need good competition for SS in goal.

Really interesting season though with some of the 'big boys' e.g. Wrexham and Stockport not finding it so easy as I think they thought it would be.

I agree with the point made earlier that it should be all about this season with so many games to go. If we can beat Grimsby then 7 points from the last 3 games will be a very good return.

[SwalePie]

There is only one God, Swale. The rest are gods!

Yes that's correct, hence I initially 'corrected' it but then I decided that Pedro had most probably meant the entire term 'Football Gods' as a proper noun so reverted to the capital G and capitalised his F to match. Great that we both spotted the same thing but made differing decisions though.

[BanjoPie]

Rodders for 200k !!! You must be joking - if he carries on improving he should command at least £500k at the end of the season. (After we have got promoted of course)

[Killerkline]

However at the start of the season you would have thought we could generate enough goals from Rodders Wootton and Roberts to do the job. Not entirely sure that is still the case.

What’s changed re the 3? Between them, they’ve scored 16 in 13 games and limited appearances from Roberts.

Of course, if we sell one that will impact on the goals return.

[Killerkline]

I agree with the point made earlier that it should be all about this season with so many games to go. If we can beat Grimsby then 7 points from the last 3 games will be a very good return.

10 points from the last 4 league games.

[TSANHO]

Rodders for 200k !!! You must be joking - if he carries on improving he should command at least £500k at the end of the season. (After we have got promoted of course)

I thought it was a little measly to be fair but their argument was due to COVID teams aren’t spending as much etc. I was hoping it would be more around the 500k mark but let’s be honest, in the time he’s been here he’s been good for maybe 50% of the time. I think it helps he still has 18 months left in his contract so that would help in any fee negotiations….250-300 would be my prediction.

[Rez1862]

He's only got 18 months left on this contract and not proven at a level higher than tier 5 in England. I think somewhere between 150-300k plus performance based bonuses and sell on clauses would be reasonable.