Ex-Player Thread Mark Sykes

Mark Sykes' turnaround in fortunes this season has been remarkable. I think we all thought we'd seen the last of him after the Swindon debacle. But he's come in and been an essential part of our end-of-season good form, and has put in a number of MOTM performances. Looks great in a midfield three with Henry and CB, too. He's still a bit naive (silly fouls in silly situations) and lacks a bit of end product, but his tenacity and ability on the ball are up there with the best in the squad.
 
When he’s really on form, and in midfield, he seems to have the ability to drift into pockets of space, sort of like what Kelly tries to do when he plays further forwards, but can’t do nearly as well. If he keeps playing like he is then he’s a nailed on starter for one of the midfield spots, he likes to press as well and has good energy. Just can’t finish (at the moment)
 
werthersoriginal said:
Surely we need to be working on new longer contracts for both of them, or they can talk to others at Christmas
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The fact that we haven't speaks volumes. They are clearly seen as ok players for League 1 but if the takeover goes through I believe we will be aiming higher. At the moment, we have triggered a one year extension in both of their contracts which aren't high earning ones so we have some stability in the squad. If we gain promotion, I can see them both being loaned out to L1 or L2 clubs next year (Sykes certainly, Gorrin might be needed given we'd be defending a lot!), if we stay in L1, we have them as an option but again if we can do better they can be loaned out.
 
Wallop said:
The fact that we haven't speaks volumes. They are clearly seen as ok players for League 1 but if the takeover goes through I believe we will be aiming higher. At the moment, we have triggered a one year extension in both of their contracts which aren't high earning ones so we have some stability in the squad. If we gain promotion, I can see them both being loaned out to L1 or L2 clubs next year (Sykes certainly, Gorrin might be needed given we'd be defending a lot!), if we stay in L1, we have them as an option but again if we can do better they can be loaned out.
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That doesn't make a great deal of sense though does it?

if we got up this season they're are not considered good enough? if we (that other thing) they're not good enough for a promotion ambitious club?

why would you re-sign players that you don't consider good enough just to loan them out?
 
I'm particularly glad Sykes has been offered the extension - as pointed out above, since the Swindon debacle he's taken his punishment and his opportunity. I don't think he's the finished article by any means, but he's looking stronger, fitter, tracking back and contributing more. Now, if he could just start putting some chances away....
 
Wallop said:
The fact that we haven't speaks volumes. They are clearly seen as ok players for League 1 but if the takeover goes through I believe we will be aiming higher. At the moment, we have triggered a one year extension in both of their contracts which aren't high earning ones so we have some stability in the squad. If we gain promotion, I can see them both being loaned out to L1 or L2 clubs next year (Sykes certainly, Gorrin might be needed given we'd be defending a lot!), if we stay in L1, we have them as an option but again if we can do better they can be loaned out.
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If the takeover happens we will still need Sykes and Gorrin! We won't start signing half of the Premier league.
 
horseman said:
That doesn't make a great deal of sense though does it?

if we got up this season they're are not considered good enough? if we (that other thing) they're not good enough for a promotion ambitious club?

why would you re-sign players that you don't consider good enough just to loan them out?
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1) There are a number of players that we would need to improve on if we did get promoted if we want to survive so just because they were part of a (not automatic) promotion winning squad and even then not that regular a player in Sykes' case - that doesn't mean they are good enough for the Championship.
2) If we remain in League One, then there may be more money coming in or there may not - see other threads on takeover possibilities. If it happens with the consortium's ££s, we may well be aiming higher and there could be a loan arrangement for them, if it doesn't happen there could be a squad or starting place for Sykes depending on what the squad looks like with Tiger's lesser ££s
3) Retaining them for a year on current deals is a cheap option - so minimal financial risk
4) I suspect (but don't know for sure) that an imminent date was looming by when we had to trigger the clause or lose that right - why else do it now rather than in close season if we had that option
5) By triggering the year extension, we retain resale value if one of them is sought by another club over the summer or in January
 
Osleroad said:
But they still have to agree too I suppose and might encourage others to see us a good option.
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That's not usually the case (them having to agree).
 
werthersoriginal said:
If the takeover happens we will still need Sykes and Gorrin! We won't start signing half of the Premier league.
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No but we might start signing better players than we have at present - if what you say is true, why haven't we sought to offer them longer deals as the earlier poster suggested?
 
Wallop said:
No but we might start signing better players than we have at present - if what you say is true, why haven't we sought to offer them longer deals as the earlier poster suggested?
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Dunno, I'm not ITK. Sykes I can see as being still slightly under review, but Gorrin has proved his worth.
 
Wallop said:
1) There are a number of players that we would need to improve on if we did get promoted if we want to survive so just because they were part of a (not automatic) promotion winning squad and even then not that regular a player in Sykes' case - that doesn't mean they are good enough for the Championship.
2) If we remain in League One, then there may be more money coming in or there may not - see other threads on takeover possibilities. If it happens with the consortium's ££s, we may well be aiming higher and there could be a loan arrangement for them, if it doesn't happen there could be a squad or starting place for Sykes depending on what the squad looks like with Tiger's lesser ££s
3) Retaining them for a year on current deals is a cheap option - so minimal financial risk
4) I suspect (but don't know for sure) that an imminent date was looming by when we had to trigger the clause or lose that right - why else do it now rather than in close season if we had that option
5) By triggering the year extension, we retain resale value if one of them is sought by another club over the summer or in January
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Except of course we would get diddly squit because come January they would be free to agree a pre contract? if the thinking was sale value we would offer a 2nd year would we not?

I assume they are on revised terms also with Bonus should we get promoted this or next season

The surprise for me is just the 1 year, Gorrin for me is 1st name on the sheet and i would not foresee a problem with him in the Championship
 
horseman said:
That doesn't make a great deal of sense though does it?

if we got up this season they're are not considered good enough? if we (that other thing) they're not good enough for a promotion ambitious club?

why would you re-sign players that you don't consider good enough just to loan them out?
Click to expand...

Probably we had to decide on wether we triggered the extra year option by the end of April. We won't know what league we're going to be in next season by then so it was worth a gamble. Both are decent squad players for league 1, if we do end up going up we could loan them out to another club and recruit championship capable players. Its a win win situation for me.
 
OX14 said:
Probably we had to decide on wether we triggered the extra year option by the end of April. We won't know what league we're going to be in next season by then so it was worth a gamble. Both are decent squad players for league 1, if we do end up going up we could loan them out to another club and recruit championship capable players. Its a win win situation for me.
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I'm not sure how meaningful this idea of 'championship players' is. I haven't done any research but I suspect that several of the teams that go up and survive, such as Luton, keep quite a few of their league 1 squad. Indeed Bournemouth and Sheff Utd kept quite a few of their league 1 squad in the premiership. Maybe the point is more that we don't necessarily have players good enough to storm league 1 - if we did they'd be good enough for the next level.
 
AbbeyOx said:
will score the winner for us on saturday now
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That'll do me - it's about time - 2 goals in about 60 appearances for an attacking midfielder is a concern.
 
werthersoriginal said:
I'm not sure how meaningful this idea of 'championship players' is. I haven't done any research but I suspect that several of the teams that go up and survive, such as Luton, keep quite a few of their league 1 squad. Indeed Bournemouth and Sheff Utd kept quite a few of their league 1 squad in the premiership. Maybe the point is more that we don't necessarily have players good enough to storm league 1 - if we did they'd be good enough for the next level.
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We have players capable of playing in the championship. The reason why we haven't stormed league 1 is we don't have 22 of them in our squad. I have no doubt that of the contracted players (not loanees) Stevens, Ruffles, Atkinson, Moore, Long, Brannagan, Henry, Taylor, Agyei could all play at a higher level when there in form. Sykes and Gorrin fall in the same category as the likes of Eastwood, Winnal, where they could make it to the next level if their performance was consistent.
 
horseman said:
Except of course we would get diddly squit because come January they would be free to agree a pre contract? if the thinking was sale value we would offer a 2nd year would we not?

I assume they are on revised terms also with Bonus should we get promoted this or next season

The surprise for me is just the 1 year, Gorrin for me is 1st name on the sheet and i would not foresee a problem with him in the Championship
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Their contracts have been extended on the exact same terms. This isn't a new contract; we had a club option to extend their current contract by a year.

We could well be looking to offer new contracts to add a second or third year onto it. By activating the option we've secured them for another year whatever league we're in, and if any club wants to come after them in the summer they'll have to stump up a few because they're contracted.

The club has protected itself by guaranteeing that two good players either command a fee, or stick around for at least another year. I'm assuming there was a deadline on the triggering of the extension, so it now gives us another year to negotiate a new contract whilst they continue to do the business on the pitch.
 
Jolteon said:
Their contracts have been extended on the exact same terms. This isn't a new contract; we had a club option to extend their current contract by a year.

We could well be looking to offer new contracts to add a second or third year onto it. By activating the option we've secured them for another year whatever league we're in, and if any club wants to come after them in the summer they'll have to stump up a few because they're contracted.

The club has protected itself by guaranteeing that two good players either command a fee, or stick around for at least another year. I'm assuming there was a deadline on the triggering of the extension, so it now gives us another year to negotiate a new contract whilst they continue to do the business on the pitch.
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As a matter of interest, how do you know their contracts have been extended on the exact same terms? Could not the option to extend for a year include incremental payments in one form or another?
 
In both of these cases they will be out of contract at the end of next season. Presumably the club, player (or both) didn't want to extend the contracts for more than a year.
 
Foley said:
In both of these cases they will be out of contract at the end of next season. Presumably the club, player (or both) didn't want to extend the contracts for more than a year.
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... or perhaps their agents advised not to extend for more than a year ? :unsure:
 
tim lane said:
As a matter of interest, how do you know their contracts have been extended on the exact same terms? Could not the option to extend for a year include incremental payments in one form or another?
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In theory I guess they could, but to my knowledge in general contracts that include a years option they're an extension on the same terms. I have zero knowledge on their contracts, just a bit of an assumption based on what I believe is the norm (I could be wrong).

My point was more that people are questioning why we haven't given them a longer contract, when it's a different situation. There weren't negotiations it was simply us activating a clause. I'd hope/expect there'll be proper contract discussions over the course of this season where we offer longer contracts (assuming they earn them).
 
OX14 said:
We have players capable of playing in the championship. The reason why we haven't stormed league 1 is we don't have 22 of them in our squad. I have no doubt that of the contracted players (not loanees) Stevens, Ruffles, Atkinson, Moore, Long, Brannagan, Henry, Taylor, Agyei could all play at a higher level when there in form. Sykes and Gorrin fall in the same category as the likes of Eastwood, Winnal, where they could make it to the next level if their performance was consistent.
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Would you not say Gorrin is consistent then?

Some fans mention pts dropped at the start of the season but as i've mentioned before we could not name a settled side and for me Gorrin was a major miss.
 
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