Ex-Player Curtis Nelson

[LondonRoader]

No one seems to want to talk about Curtis and most people presume we won't see him after this season.
I think he's now getting over his injury and with a more settled team he looks a commanding CB, as good as we have had for a long time.
As far as anyone knows CN has not sighed a new contract and you have to respect that decision and he's playing his contract out properly and giving it his all, I would like to see the club make an effort to keep CN because hes such a vital player for us on and off the pitch, he's a leader and players react to strong players around them.
All the talk of 2 new full backs to booster the back line is pish if we lose Curtis and we need 3 new players at the back, back to square one.
If Curtis does go then I expect all the fans will respect his decision to leave as it's been done the proper way, I would just like to see a bit of effort put in to keep hold of him from the club and fans alike.

 

[horseman]

what do you suggest a list of potential Wow signings?

 

[AbbeyOx]

No one seems to want to talk about Curtis and most people presume we won't see him after this season.
I think he's now getting over his injury and with a more settled team he looks a commanding CB, as good as we have had for a long time.
As far as anyone knows CN has not sighed a new contract and you have to respect that decision and he's playing his contract out properly and giving it his all, I would like to see the club make an effort to keep CN because hes such a vital player for us on and off the pitch, he's a leader and players react to strong players around them.
All the talk of 2 new full backs to booster the back line is pish if we lose Curtis and we need 3 new players at the back, back to square one.
If Curtis does go then I expect all the fans will respect his decision to leave as it's been done the proper way, I would just like to see a bit of effort put in to keep hold of him from the club and fans alike.

who knows, perhaps he wants to stay but has his agent banging on in his ear. would love to see him stay and maybe he's been holding out to see where we would be playing next season
If he is going you cant knock his commitment to us. top player

 

[Foley]

My guess is that Nelson has agreed to go somewhere else and has decided that he wants to play in the Championship and get a huge pay rise.
I reckon he could do well in the Championship. So the club may well have done everything that they could but the salary gap is so huge between the Championship and League 1 that if we are realistic he is almost certainly off.

 

[Big Ronaldo]

Of course it would be great if he stayed, but the club have offered him a new deal which he has turned down.
He probably has something lined up already but credit where it is due, he has never let his work rate slide in this run down to the end of the season.
We will undoubtedly miss a player with his ability as he is a class act and to buy a player like him as replacement will certainly be as expensive as it will be hard to find.
The club could up the offer but as others have commented, I suspect he is looking to play championship football next season. QPR perhaps if Appleton gets the job!!

 

[Foley]

All the talk of 2 new full backs to booster the back line is pish if we lose Curtis and we need 3 new players at the back, back to square one.

It seems to me that the majority are happy with the full backs but there are a minority who think that the full backs are simply utility players and are not attacking enough.
So maybe we need one more full back to give competition to what we already have?

My bigger concern is that with Nelson almost certain to be off, when does Dickies contract expire?

 

[AbbeyOx]

will be gutted if/when he goes. wasn't there several decent centre backs on that free agent list that was on here recently?

 

[IsleofWightYellow]

On a free transfer as well, if a Championship club knows they don't have to pay a fee they will obviously offer him higher wages, or a signing on bonus etc. Can't really blame him if he's earning an extra £2k a week with a £10k lump sum.

The real crime is how he wasn't offered another contract when he had 18 months remaining, or sold when he clearly wasn't going to sign again. I always find it baffling when clubs let expensive assets run down their contracts and leave, what other business would do that? I seem to remember the club exercising an option they had for an extra year for him, this often seems to lull us into a false sense of security, what we should have done is signed him up to an extra 2 years say then, with an option for an extra one, and keep going like that.

 

[AbbeyOx]

On a free transfer as well, if a Championship club knows they don't have to pay a fee they will obviously offer him higher wages, or a signing on bonus etc. Can't really blame him if he's earning an extra £2k a week with a £10k lump sum.

The real crime is how he wasn't offered another contract when he had 18 months remaining, or sold when he clearly wasn't going to sign again. I always find it baffling when clubs let expensive assets run down their contracts and leave, what other business would do that? I seem to remember the club exercising an option they had for an extra year for him, this often seems to lull us into a false sense of security, what we should have done is signed him up to an extra 2 years say then, with an option for an extra one, and keep going like that.

do you sell in January knowing if he goes in the summer you get nothing, or keep a strong centre back in a team that was in a relegation battle? I think they made the right decision but still gutting he wouldn't sign new contract (if he does go)

 

[RyanioBirdio]

On a free transfer as well, if a Championship club knows they don't have to pay a fee they will obviously offer him higher wages, or a signing on bonus etc. Can't really blame him if he's earning an extra £2k a week with a £10k lump sum.

He’ll get a bigger pay rise than 2k a week and a far bigger signing on fee than 10k. Joe Rothwell got more than that so there’s no way Curtis Nelson won’t.

The guy is totally irreplaceable but at his age he needs to kick on to the next level. It’s not even about finances, he needs to step up to a higher division while he can. I still think he’s Sunderland bound, but only if they get promoted.

 

[MarkG]

When Nelson joined (July 2016) all the talk was of a play-off challenging squad, playing attractive football in L1 under Appleton, and a good stepping stone for players wanting to showcase a move up to a higher level.

2 1/2 years later we have finally got some form together, but if Nelson wants to play at a higher level, he needs to move to a different club as I doubt we will be promoted next season.

 

[Millman]

I think Nelson has handled the ending of his contract in an exemplary way. We have had no pressure to force a move and total commitment to the club. It is a breath of fresh air in this day and age. If he goes he will have proved a big part in our survival this season and that could well prove in the medium term more valuable than a fee (which would have invariably ended up in Tigers or DE's pocket to cover our debts).

If he goes we will need a couple of centerbacks one of first team quality the other competition for a place.

 

[unification]

I can’t see us holding onto Nelson. He’s too good a player to be sticking it out at League 1 so I would expect a move to the next tier in the summer.

However, he reminds me somewhat of Dunkley. He’s good enough for that level, but not for a side challenging for the second tier title and playoff positions, in my view. That may limit who may want him as the Championship is becoming an increasingly tough league where promoted sides really have to battle to stay up with ex-PL sides having money galore to spend. Would a team like Fulham or Huddersfield looking for a return want him? I’m not sure. Are Brentford and Wigan – unglamorous sides who can hold their own but unlikely to have much say in the promotion race – much of a step up from some of the bigger sides due in League 1 next year like Ipswich or possibly one of Sunderland, Barnsley and Portsmouth who may not all go up?

I’ll be intrigued as to who takes a punt on him. My feeling is that someone like Ipswich looking for a return to that level may want a seasoned and talented CB to take them up instead.

 

[Colin B]

On a free transfer as well, if a Championship club knows they don't have to pay a fee they will obviously offer him higher wages, or a signing on bonus etc. Can't really blame him if he's earning an extra £2k a week with a £10k lump sum.

The real crime is how he wasn't offered another contract when he had 18 months remaining, or sold when he clearly wasn't going to sign again. I always find it baffling when clubs let expensive assets run down their contracts and leave, what other business would do that? I seem to remember the club exercising an option they had for an extra year for him, this often seems to lull us into a false sense of security, what we should have done is signed him up to an extra 2 years say then, with an option for an extra one, and keep going like that.

Do you not think that the club did offer him a new contract? Of course they did, in fact on more than one occasion. But if Curtis (and/or his agent) has decided to go at the end of his contract there is absolutely nothing the club can do about it. What do you expect them to do, lock him up and torture him until he signs?!?!

I agree with LondonRoader, he'll be sadly missed, but has seen out his contract very professionally. I'd like to see him do a little bit better than Sunderland though!

 

[MarkG]

Looking at the staggering losses posted by almost every club in the Championship, it's obvious that player wages go up a lot compared to L1. With his injury the other season, Nelson has to take the higher wage whilst he can.

 

[BigCrompy]

I can’t see us holding onto Nelson. He’s too good a player to be sticking it out at League 1 so I would expect a move to the next tier in the summer.

However, he reminds me somewhat of Dunkley. He’s good enough for that level, but not for a side challenging for the second tier title and playoff positions, in my view. That may limit who may want him as the Championship is becoming an increasingly tough league where promoted sides really have to battle to stay up with ex-PL sides having money galore to spend. Would a team like Fulham or Huddersfield looking for a return want him? I’m not sure.

Very interesting.

I actually see him as exponentially more reliable than Dunkley (yes, I did see the Walsall goal on Saturday) and think he'll be a very attractive prospect to a club who are looking to push on after several years of stability in Division 2 - the likes of a Derby, Preston or Forest.

The sadness of the modern game is that it barely matters how much game time Nelson would get, it would be a much better existence for him just to sit on a bench and pop up with the odd 15-minute cameo once in a blue moon, a la Ledson, O'Dowda, Rothwell or Lundstram.

 

[Foley]

On a free transfer as well, if a Championship club knows they don't have to pay a fee they will obviously offer him higher wages, or a signing on bonus etc. Can't really blame him if he's earning an extra £2k a week with a £10k lump sum.

The real crime is how he wasn't offered another contract when he had 18 months remaining, or sold when he clearly wasn't going to sign again. I always find it baffling when clubs let expensive assets run down their contracts and leave, what other business would do that? I seem to remember the club exercising an option they had for an extra year for him, this often seems to lull us into a false sense of security, what we should have done is signed him up to an extra 2 years say then, with an option for an extra one, and keep going like that.

Mmm not quite as simple as that.
It seems clear that the club have regularly been trying to get him to sign a new deal.
The difficulty was that he had a nasty injury at the end of last season. I doubt if this helped us get top dollar for him.
There was no way that we could afford to let him go at Christmas as in all likelihood we would have been relegated.

So Dickie. Do we sell him in the summer to get money for him as well as Nelson going if Dickie refuses to sign an extension?

 

[Oufcrealist]

I think he'll sign for a Champ club in the Midlands!

 

[Scotchegg]

I thought Nelson started the season poorly, and having lost the captaincy I wondered if he was going to sulk his way through his last year. To his credit, he has got back to form and been pretty consistent all season. However, the idea that he is irreplaceable is ridiculous. There will be experienced players on the way down and young prospects on the way up who will be able to fill the gap, and it will allow Dickie to take a more senior role (one I think he's proving more than capable of).

The club did all they could, and Nelson has responded in the right way. Unfortunately the reality of modern football is that you risk players leaving at the end of their contract for nothing, cash out with a year to go or risk long term deals like Hanson. None are perfect but that's the business we and pretty much every other team are in.

 

[Victor1986]

There is no way he would go to a relegated Championship side & be playing against us next season. He could well link up with wherever MAPP ends up.