General What needs to change?

[OX14]

Liam Kelly and Jamie Hanson must be consuming a fair amount of our wage budget alone which is a crazy thought. Not renewing Kellys loan is easy but finding somewhere new for Hanson could be tricky. If we can offload these two that would give us some money to play with straight away!

Difference next year is the wage cap isn't in force. So Hanson's wage won't count if he is dropped out of the 20 man squad all together.

 

[WuTang]

Difference next year is the wage cap isn't in force. So Hanson's wage won't count if he is dropped out of the 20 man squad all together.

We still have our own limited wage cap we need to work with though, we aren't Man City!

 

[WRox]

Difference next year is the wage cap isn't in force. So Hanson's wage won't count if he is dropped out of the 20 man squad all together.

That is a lot of money for nothing. Hopefully we can cut our losses a bit and find someone to loan him to in League Two. You’d like to think he’d be keen to secure his future beyond one season.

 

[TailsWeWin]

A less intransigent manager (whether it’s this one or someone else).

 

[Oxymoron]

We don't need to change a lot, but we do need be better at what we do.

 

[OX14]

That is a lot of money for nothing. Hopefully we can cut our losses a bit and find someone to loan him to in League Two. You’d like to think he’d be keen to secure his future beyond one season.

We could always go the way of buying him out of his contract if we can't find a loan for him. Derek Osei in a similar position.

 

[OX14]

We still have our own limited wage cap we need to work with though, we aren't Man City!

I was going with what the topic said (board being more ambitious in the transfer market) surely if the new consortium come in we will have more funds to add to the playing squad.

 

[m]

I was going with what the topic said (board being more ambitious in the transfer market) surely if the new consortium come in we will have more funds to add to the playing squad.

Why?

 

[Paul Cannell]

They is fairy godmothers, innit.

 

[OX14]

Why?

Why wouldn't they? How are they going to grow the Oxford brand with us in League 1.

 

[WRox]

We could always go the way of buying him out of his contract if we can't find a loan for him. Derek Osei in a similar position.

What’s his annual salary do you reckon? 4k a week, not quite a year, £160k? £100k to buy him out? More?

I’m sure as a percentage of available budget this summer, that’d be a decent chunk.

 

[brassmonkey]

Good cover for LB and RB. player(s) that can really push for a starting place,

One more CB to cover - depending upon how good that Irish lad is.

2 new Centre Midfielders. Players that are strong and can play a bit. Wouldnt mind a bit of height in the middle of the park as well.

Two wide players, assuming we cant keep BB. Players that are pacy, strong and can beat a man regulalry. Players like Whyte, Browne.

A strong tall CF to mix it up a bit. Someone like Piggot or Yates. Think Taylor and Winnall are too similar.

Let Hall, Hanson, Sykes, Forde, Clare, Kelly, Shodipo, Yaw go.

 

[OX14]

What’s his annual salary do you reckon? 4k a week, not quite a year, £160k? £100k to buy him out? More?

I’m sure as a percentage of available budget this summer, that’d be a decent chunk.

A buyout of his contract doesn't necessarily mean we pay him a years salary. He may think it's time to find a new club while he still has chance, otherwise he will be out of contract next summer and may have to drop in to the conference to find employment.

 

[OX14]

Good cover for LB and RB. player(s) that can really push for a starting place,

One more CB to cover - depending upon how good that Irish lad is.

2 new Centre Midfielders. Players that are strong and can play a bit. Wouldnt mind a bit of height in the middle of the park as well.

Two wide players, assuming we cant keep BB. Players that are pacy, strong and can beat a man regulalry. Players like Whyte, Browne.

A strong tall CF to mix it up a bit. Someone like Piggot or Yates. Think Taylor and Winnall are too similar.

Let Hall, Hanson, Sykes, Forde, Clare, Kelly, Shodipo, Yaw go.

Need more then 2 midfielders if sykes, forde, Hanson, Kelly are all leaving. 3 minimum.

Think we need 3 x wingers aswell if shodipo, Barker and Cooper all leave.

Spot on with the rest of what's needed though.

 

[Oxford84]

fans expectation and ability to handle a defeat.

 

[IsleofWightYellow]

I don’t think we’ve been unlucky with injuries. Everyone gets injuries. Most clubs employ more than one right back, one left back etc on this basis.

That shouldn’t be a significant issue to address with a good number of fringe players out of contract and a great chance of keeping our better ones. KR has to do better in this space but there’s less risk in finding competition than building a quality first eleven.

Every club gets injuries, yes, but there absolutely must be an average amount of injuries for clubs in your league that season, which also means therefore that some clubs will be unlucky with injuries in a season, and some will be lucky. I’m not saying we have been one or the other this season, I’m just saying that it’s wrong to say ‘you can’t be unlucky with injuries as all teams get players injured’.

 

[ZeroTheHero]

Good cover for LB and RB. player(s) that can really push for a starting place,

One more CB to cover - depending upon how good that Irish lad is.

2 new Centre Midfielders. Players that are strong and can play a bit. Wouldnt mind a bit of height in the middle of the park as well.

Two wide players, assuming we cant keep BB. Players that are pacy, strong and can beat a man regulalry. Players like Whyte, Browne.

A strong tall CF to mix it up a bit. Someone like Piggot or Yates. Think Taylor and Winnall are too similar.

Let Hall, Hanson, Sykes, Forde, Clare, Kelly, Shodipo, Yaw go.

Agree with most of that.

There are a couple I might differ on.

Forde. As a genuine utility player I think he might be useful to keep (depending on his wages/our budget/who else is in the squad of course!)
Clare. He was utterly useless as a right back, but I did like what I saw from him when he played right midfield - a bit of pace and some good passes/crosses into dangerous areas.

I think it's potentially more about those we can keep. If we have the two keepers, the regular back four, Brannagan and 'Please book me ref' Gorrin with Taylor up front that is a decent spine to the team and a bit of continuity. With our forward thinking full backs we need some decent wide players who understand about filling in behind them...

 

[Manorlounger]

To my mind the most important component will be the summer recruitment. Targets and positions clearly identified. Others have said it and it needs to be reiterated, get those positions filled before pre-season. If that means giving ultimatums and deadlines to prospects, so be it. Clear message to agents, no more hanging on and being messed about. If there is a reason why someone won't sign then sod 'em. Move on, get that position filled.
If the money men have a clear concept of what they are prepared to spend and what they wish to achieve, then that should give the recruitment team (and KR) clear and precise limits and budget.
This last season will be remembered for the calamitous start and the lack of defensive cover, later on the lack of midfield cover. Everybody has injury problems but, when you have to start pushing square pegs into round holes just to fill the starting line up, it all goes pear shaped.
I would also like to see the academy finding some more talent and, that talent getting a chance with the first team. We don't appear, on the face of things, to have many options this season? Strange that so much has gone into building up the academy with, apparently, little return.

Finally, can someone please temper the outpourings from KR? Announcing every transfer window that targets have been identified and business will be early has become a bit of a joke.

 

[m]

Why wouldn't they? How are they going to grow the Oxford brand with us in League 1.

They might not significantly increase the budget because they are here to make money rather than spend it.

I'm not sure their ultimate aim is to grow brand Oxford.

 

[Paul Cannell]

Every club gets injuries, yes, but there absolutely must be an average amount of injuries for clubs in your league that season, which also means therefore that some clubs will be unlucky with injuries in a season, and some will be lucky.

This may be true but it's insufficient, speaking from the logical point of view. Some teams invite injuries by recruiting knackered players (e.g. Thorne, Holmes, Winnall, Mousinho etc) and by playing injured players or recovering players too soon. Some clubs are less unlucky than they appear. Yes, I'm talking about Oxford United.