Ex Player Rob Dickie



back to Reading, or Middlesbrough or Fulham?

and Danny Cowley has his say too

Even in present circumstances, I seriously doubt we'd sell for £600k as suggested in the HITC article.
 

Unfortunately Dickie only having 1 year left will more than half his actual value to us, Matt Clarke went from Portsmouth for 3.25M (in L1 team of the season last year & I can see Dickie being in this season TOTS) but think had 2 years or 1+1 add on left on his contract as that would of been a bench mark figure we should of been looking to get.

Hopefully the more clubs which are interested like Southampton, Burnley on top of that we could still get a decent price if it goes to a bidding war

No, as I've said often on this thread and similar - Matt Clarke was in exactly the same situation as Dickie. Coming into the final year of his contract, about the same age, about the same quality. So he was the perfect benchmark for what we could have gotten pre-Covid.

But now? Who knows.
Even Premier League teams are going to be more cash-strapped than they have been. Much more so if they have to pay back some of the TV money.
Transfer fees are going to be severely depressed. It's another reason why a bunch of lower league clubs are going to go to the wall unless the current extraordinary events lead the Football League to introduce a hard salary cap that similarly depress player wages.
 
I personally think he will go in the summer to Boro - a swap for Browne (and maybe Marvin Johnson if the stakes get high)
Would make sense especially with sell on deals for all 3 parties
 
We can’t keep selling 2-3 of our best players every season, we will never progress

Sorry, what?

The general model, since 2014/15, has been to sell a couple of players each year. And we’re a division higher and were challenging to go up again before lockdown.

I hope we continue with this model and build sustainably if possible in the new world - probably more so given all of the uncertainties.
 
Its a win win scenario for OUFC. Since our well discussed model of buying quality, increasing their value and selling them for good bucks, the club has only gone one way - UP.

OUFC is now a club that players want to join, so fear not fellow yellows. Selling Fosu and Baps gave us the room to do real damage in L1...and we were doing just that before Covid. I try to be a little philosophical about things. I like to think the likes of Lundstrum, Baldock, Roofe, Ledson, Nelson, Taylor, Brannigan and Dickie had/have a genuine soft spot fo the club and the fans - like I had a soft spot for them. But they made no secret of wanting to play as high as possible. That desire and ambition has given me Wembley visits, giant killings, spectacular football and has heightened the reputation of the club I love.

Make no mistake - if we are not in the second tier next season then players will be sold. It simply has to work like this, but we already have a good idea of who their replacements will be. And something tells me that they will improve us once more.
 
You might interpret the headline "unfinished business" as meaning he wants to go back and play for them, but actually he is talking about playing against them for Oxford in the Championship.
---
TL;DR
“It would be incredible,” Dickie says when asked about the possibility of the fixture taking place. “I’d love to be part of that. I watched so much football at Reading through the years, and I never really saw that close derby atmosphere. Reading and Oxford are obviously very close to each other, so it would be amazing.

“I’ve always felt that I would like to show the Reading fans what I can do, and see some old faces as well. I guess I’ve always felt like there’s unfinished business at Reading.”



 
Its a win win scenario for OUFC. Since our well discussed model of buying quality, increasing their value and selling them for good bucks, the club has only gone one way - UP.

OUFC is now a club that players want to join, so fear not fellow yellows. Selling Fosu and Baps gave us the room to do real damage in L1...and we were doing just that before Covid. I try to be a little philosophical about things. I like to think the likes of Lundstrum, Baldock, Roofe, Ledson, Nelson, Taylor, Brannigan and Dickie had/have a genuine soft spot fo the club and the fans - like I had a soft spot for them. But they made no secret of wanting to play as high as possible. That desire and ambition has given me Wembley visits, giant killings, spectacular football and has heightened the reputation of the club I love.

Make no mistake - if we are not in the second tier next season then players will be sold. It simply has to work like this, but we already have a good idea of who their replacements will be. And something tells me that they will improve us once more.
100% agree, as frustrating as it is seeing so many good players come and go so frequently, for a club in our current situation to have any success, there really is no other way.

So far, it's been a recruitment model that works very well for us, long may it continue.
 
Plenty of clever clubs about but they are the minority. Loads of clubs in Scotland have clever recruitment!

If clubs don’t use Covid to get smart then there’s no hope.

We have players with resale value....absolutely the right strategy. Just have to enjoy the players whilst they are with us. It’s a win win all round
 
And while it may seem counter-intuitive, allowing our better players to move on to improve their careers higher in the pyramid is actually good for more than our bank balance.

It is good for success on the pitch too, because it means that good, ambitious players who are in demand are likely to look at those players who have gone on and choose to come to Oxford over other clubs who determinedly hang on the players by hook or crook. So we end up with better players albeit for a shorter time.

The sales help keep the club afloat, the club gets a good reputation with players (including potential loanees) and we get to see a whole load of exciting talent. Of course that *does* make the manager job a lot more difficult as he is always rebuilding, but the higher we get in the leagues the more likely we are to see them play for us for longer. If those players give their all when wearing the yellow shirt and then get a decent move, I find it very hard to criticise them.

But yes, it's a bit frustrating sometimes!
 
I might add that everyone is a selling club when the price is right, and there is a food chain.

In the past we have been a little anxious and upset when the likes of Lunny, Lego, Roofe and COD were moved on. But its imperative that this happens for the right money.

I have been guilty of thinking that we were the passive party in the respective moves and we were helpless and just waiting for our inevitable fall from grace following their departure. On the contrary, our progression hinges on saying goodbye to the players mentioned, and still hinges on saying goodbye to the likes Of CB and RD for a tidy sum.
These players are periodically joining a club who are at a higher level (Leeds, Sheff Utd etc) than we are currently - and for more money. That doesn't make them a better club than us, and I dare say that if we continue in the same vain of the last 2 yrs or so, we could be seeing the likes of Preston, Bristol City, and Leeds pretty soon.
 
And while it may seem counter-intuitive, allowing our better players to move on to improve their careers higher in the pyramid is actually good for more than our bank balance.

It is good for success on the pitch too, because it means that good, ambitious players who are in demand are likely to look at those players who have gone on and choose to come to Oxford over other clubs who determinedly hang on the players by hook or crook. So we end up with better players albeit for a shorter time.

The sales help keep the club afloat, the club gets a good reputation with players (including potential loanees) and we get to see a whole load of exciting talent. Of course that *does* make the manager job a lot more difficult as he is always rebuilding, but the higher we get in the leagues the more likely we are to see them play for us for longer. If those players give their all when wearing the yellow shirt and then get a decent move, I find it very hard to criticise them.

But yes, it's a bit frustrating sometimes!
Totally agree. If I’m looking to move jobs and know someone who works for a prospective employer, the first thing I do is ask that person for an honest view of that employer. Footballers will do the same, look at Whyte and Sykes.
 
It does get frustrating when you’re losing 3 or 4 players a year, but it’s the only way forward, players won’t sign new contracts so you either get money for them or they leave on a free a year down the line And then can’t afford to replace them

We’ve shown it works because we’ve sold Whyte, Fosu, Baptiste and lost Nelson but we invested a decent amount in new players and are now higher than when any of those players were here and we still have Brannagan, Dickie, Sykes, Moore etc who hopefully we sell all of them for similar if not more than the first 4 I mentioned, then you trust the management to pick the right players to replace them and you keep doing it and you become sustainable

Add to that the Henry’s/Eastwood/Ruffels/Mousinho’s whose experience keeps it all together when the new players come in then you can sell your best young players and stay competitive
 
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