Who would you let go?

[swaledale]

It’s difficult to respond without seeming unduly negative…however, as you’ve reasonably brought the matter up, from the list above, I’d suggest that Joe Wildsmith and Korey Smith are the two standouts for retention.
I also think Sibley has proved himself at Championship level and is sufficiently versatile to be able to perform in at least three roles so should be kept.
Be very reluctant not to offer Fozzy another year…again his versatility could be invaluable and I feel as if we owe him. Gayle I’m not certain about…he has been the real deal but maybe age and injury make him too much of a risk now.
The rest, along with some of last summer’s recruits, I wish well but fear the Championship may be too great an ask.

To be fair I was resurrecting MA's post so we don't get a duplicate.

I'm not sure why you would think your comments negative, Warne himself has admitted that one of the sad things abut promotion is that the team has to be "ripped up" as he puts it, so clearly he is under no illusion that there is some hard decisions to be made and some sensible recruitment required.

I think all are agreed that to survive in the championship there needs to be some quality additions, not necessarily big fees paid, but the acquisition of players who ahve the quality to play in the championship - no doubt there are some players at those teams who fail to get promotion from League 1 who could step up.

Like you I wonder whether Fozzy is deserving of a new contract, but then at the end of the day there is a budget to be complied with and if his wages prevent another better player being added to the squad it might be better to end on a high.

[Ramshank72]

These players are effectively our trading chips, I don't expect many to be offered a new contract, we shall see! They will all be expecting a better deal than they had, so I don't think that they are necessarily low cost options, particularly those with previous championship experience.
He might keep Hourihane for experience, Wildsmith for consistency, and maybe Collins as we're light on strikers and they're not cheap, otherwise I'd expect them all to be traded.

[ramAnag]

To be fair I was resurrecting MA's post so we don't get a duplicate.

I'm not sure why you would think your comments negative, Warne himself has admitted that one of the sad things abut promotion is that the team has to be "ripped up" as he puts it, so clearly he is under no illusion that there is some hard decisions to be made and some sensible recruitment required.

I think all are agreed that to survive in the championship there needs to be some quality additions, not necessarily big fees paid, but the acquisition of players who ahve the quality to play in the championship - no doubt there are some players at those teams who fail to get promotion from League 1 who could step up.

Like you I wonder whether Fozzy is deserving of a new contract, but then at the end of the day there is a budget to be complied with and if his wages prevent another better player being added to the squad it might be better to end on a high.

It’s just difficult to not appear ‘negative’ when even positive comments about those one would keep are, by implication, negative about others.

I’ve said who I’d hope to build around elsewhere. There are some obvious ‘keeps’ and then there are the likes of Hourihane, Ward, Wilson and Vickers. The first might be one of those rare things…a player who has been disappointing in L1 but might be more suited to the more cultured and less frenetic atmosphere of the Championship. Ward and Wilson have both looked good at times but still have much to prove, while we’ll always need a back up ‘keeper and Vickers has done nothing wrong at a particularly difficult time

Funnily enough we are kind of where we were last season…the greatest need for strengthening remains, imo, leadership, midfield and attack, only at an obviously higher level. We didn’t really address any of those issues until the last minute of the January ‘window’ last time around. I doubt we’ll have that luxury next season.

[swaledale]

It’s just difficult to not appear ‘negative’ when even positive comments about those one would keep are, by implication, negative about others.

I’ve said who I’d hope to build around elsewhere. There are some obvious ‘keeps’ and then there are the likes of Hourihane, Ward, Wilson and Vickers. The first might be one of those rare things…a player who has been disappointing in L1 but might be more suited to the more cultured and less frenetic atmosphere of the Championship. Ward and Wilson have both looked good at times but still have much to prove, while we’ll always need a back up ‘keeper and Vickers has done nothing wrong at a particularly difficult time

Funnily enough we are kind of where we were last season…the greatest need for strengthening remains, imo, leadership, midfield and attack, only at an obviously higher level. We didn’t really address any of those issues until the last minute of the January ‘window’ last time around. I doubt we’ll have that luxury next season.

I get what you mean, but viewing a player from L1 as not being good enough for the champ is just being honest!

Mm we didn't address any of those issues yet finished 2nd the best GD and with a record of away wins? Something must have been OK! In fact IF, we hadn't suffered the injuries we did, I don't think there would have been an issue.

I'd agree, that its a different story in the championship, Adams could be a key signing IF we get him.

[ramAnag]

I get what you mean, but viewing a player from L1 as not being good enough for the champ is just being honest!

Mm we didn't address any of those issues yet finished 2nd the best GD and with a record of away wins? Something must have been OK! In fact IF, we hadn't suffered the injuries we did, I don't think there would have been an issue.

I'd agree, that its a different story in the championship, Adams could be a key signing IF we get him.

Tbf, I didn’t say ‘we didn’t address any of those issues’, I said we didn’t address them till the last minute. We tried to patch midfield up in late summer and failed. The signing of Adams was, imo, a game/season changer but he only appeared for three, crucial, months of the season having made his debut in early Feb.

As you say, there are IFs around Adams. IF we can sign him - seen a rumour that says we’ve offered £250k but Cardiff want twice that - and IF he can carry his L2/L1 form into the Championship. Hope so.

[MadAmster]

The Adams £250K offer is fiction. Nothing has been done yet. Source: Cardiff City. I do, however, expect him to be the first bit of business we attempt.

It is my understanding that Hourihane will be full time coaching at Villa next season.

I also expect moves for some young PL loanees, between 2 and 4 of them. Whether we get them remains to be seen.

Who else? I have no idea who we'll go for.

While we're talking of young uns... we have the likes of Brown, Fapetu and Weston who might be able to make the step up. We shall see.

[swaledale]

Tbf, I didn’t say ‘we didn’t address any of those issues’, I said we didn’t address them till the last minute. We tried to patch midfield up in late summer and failed. The signing of Adams was, imo, a game/season changer but he only appeared for three, crucial, months of the season having made his debut in early Feb.

As you say, there are IFs around Adams. IF we can sign him - seen a rumour that says we’ve offered £250k but Cardiff want twice that - and IF he can carry his L2/L1 form into the Championship. Hope so.

Thats true and the fact that he was only available due being out of the side after a long term injury, shows just what fine margins there are in player recruitment and is one example where signing a player available because he has been injured works out.!

[MadAmster]

According to his most recent RamsTV video, PW and Richie barker are coming to Holland to look at some players