Here is the full squad: The core for next season. Who do you move on. Decision is yours!?

Simply red said:
Britt and Fletcher are out of contract in a year , and with them we are the lowest scoring team in the league , so I can see both going .
4 new forwards at least if they do go .
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Possibly, purely on funds it may make sense to try and extend Fletcher. I'd like to see him play in a two for a season in a team that creates better opportunities for the forwards. I think if he'd been up front all season he'd be on about 15, in a better attacking unit probably a few more. I think that's a decent return. If everyone else is chipping in too we should get by .
 
Why anyone would want to keep Britt and Fletcher after the three years they have given us is bizarre. I suppose its the ‘theres a player in there, somewher’ phenomenon
 
starplayer said:
Why anyone would want to keep Britt and Fletcher after the three years they have given us is bizarre. I suppose its the ‘theres a player in there, somewher’ phenomenon
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Not so much that, it is funding based as much as anything. They both score at a level just below reasonable in a squad utterly devoid of any attacking intent / quality that creates very little for them.

I think if we can get a few pacey creative players in we'd get a bit more from them.

We can't replace the full 25 in one window!

But they have been underwhelming so I totally understand where you're coming from, but one step at a time.
 
Caesium137 said:
Not so much that, it is funding based as much as anything. They both score at a level just below reasonable in a squad utterly devoid of any attacking intent / quality that creates very little for them.

I think if we can get a few pacey creative players in we'd get a bit more from them.

We can't replace the full 25 in one window!

But they have been underwhelming so I totally understand where you're coming from, but one step at a time.
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From a funding point of view we need rid of Britt. His reputed £2m a year salary is 40% of the tv money in the championship and pretty much all of the money in League 1. That leaves Fletcher. He seems a very unintelligent footballer. He has not shown here or at Sunderland an ability to form a partnership up top. He does not impose himself physically and misses some very straightforward chances. Now I respect everyone has a different opinion but at some point players have to deliver. I accept we are not laying gold edge chances on a plate. We haven’t for years, so surely you then have to adapt and change your game as a striker to recognise that. Be more physical, make better runs to make space for midfielders like Tav and Wing. As a pair they are the most expensive top 2 we have had together. People should think about that when they look at what they bring to the table.
 
Strikers are only as good as their providers , so it's not just Britt and Fletcher who are not delivering , it's the players behind them who should create the chances .
 
Simply red said:
Strikers are only as good as their providers , so it's not just Britt and Fletcher who are not delivering , it's the players behind them who should create the chances .
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But when its obvious that the supply isn’t and hasn’t been there for years you put some effort in to change your game to suit the team.Or at least pretend to. Neither of which is happening.
 
Simply red said:
We can't let Britt and Fletcher go for nothing in a years time when we can get £10m for them now .
That is big money in our circumstances .
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Do you think that much? Do you think anyone is going to pay £5-£6 million for Britt and match his £35K a week under the current economic climate?

If we need to be rid of him he'll have to go, but selling him for £4 million or less and God forbid subsidising his wages won't really help. Neither are great and both have obvious weaknesses to their games. But at the moment it doesn't look like we'll have money to strengthen (going off last season anyway), I don't think we can improve on them too much.

The club seems have made a decision that it is happy to let players run their contracts down and walk away for nothing this season, that might continue?
 
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“Do you think anyone is going to pay £5-£6 million for Britt and match his £35K a week under the current economic climate?”

if clubs are that desperate I have a feeling there will always be a Derby or a Bournemouth who will throw that kind of money at him because of his past record. You’re right in that this climate is going to reverse the upward trend of transfer fees and wages in general but also with travel restrictions maybe UK players will be more in demand going forward particularly in the Lower leagues.
 
starplayer said:
But when its obvious that the supply isn’t and hasn’t been there for years you put some effort in to change your game to suit the team.Or at least pretend to. Neither of which is happening.
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Isn't that the primarily the coaches job though? Setting the team up to your players strengths, players in their best / natural positions etc.
 
Zoophonic said:
You’re right in that this climate is going to reverse the upward trend of transfer fees and wages in general but also with travel restrictions maybe UK players will be more in demand going forward particularly in the Lower leagues.
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Actually I hadn't considered quarantine / travel restrictions, that may throw a spanner in the works for medicals approaching transfer deadline, for players from some countries unless footballers and their agents are exempt?

But there is definitely an interesting period coming up, hopefully we are in this league and have a new recruitment department set-up with a little bit of a transfer kitty to play with.

I'm not married to keeping either of the strikers (or any of the squad) to be honest.

As I said above, we need about 11 signings in my opinion, that will require funds other than just wage budget for frees I would think.

So any assets that can be sold most likely will be, and as with Bamford, the club will have to sell who we get offers for, not necessarily who we want to get rid of first.
 
r00fie1 said:
Here`s the current squad.
Your objective is to establish a core of players for next season.
You have a brief to reduce wages and the size of the squad.

No. Position Player
1 GK Tomás Mejías
2 DF Anfernee Dijksteel
3 DF George Friend(captain)
5 DF Ryan Shotton
6 DF Dael Fry
7 MF Marcus Tavernier
8 MF Adam Clayton
9 FW Britt Assombalonga
11 FW Ashley Fletcher
15 MF Ravel Morrison(on loan from Sheffield United)
16 MF Jonny Howson
17 MF Paddy McNair
18 DF Harold Moukoudi(on loan from Saint-Étienne)
19 MF Patrick Roberts(on loan from Manchester City)
20 MF Lukas Nmecha(on loan from Manchester City)
21 MF Marvin Johnson

No. Position Player
22 MF George Saville
25 DF Nathan Wood
26 MF Lewis Wing
27 DF Marc Bola
28 DF Sam Stubbs
29 DF Djed Spence
30 GK Dejan Stojanović
33 DF Hayden Coulson
34 MF Connor Malley
35 FW Tyrone O'Neill
36 FW Stephen Walker
37 DF Ben Liddle
40 GK Zach Hemming
41 FW Rumarn Burrell
42 GK Aynsley Pears
44 MF Hayden Hackney
[/QUOTE
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I am assuming we start next year in League One.
I would keep

Goalkeepers
Pears, Stojanovic, Hemmings

Defenders
Spence & Coulson ( although they may have to be sold to raise money and better than Leauge One.) Djiksteel, Fry, Liddle, Stubbs, Bola and Wood

Midfield
Tav ( similar to Spence and Coulson, May have to be sold ) Howson, McNair, Mallet, Hackney, Marcus Browne

Forwards
Fletcher, Oneill, Walker, Burrell

Sell - Britt, Johnson , Saville and the Shildon Pele

Release Mejias, Friend, Shotton, Clayton.
 
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It is true that Assombolonga and Fletcher are the most expensive pair of striker to play together for Boro in history when combining fees and wages.
I believe they are also amongst the very worst.

I can't wait for Assombolonga to waddle off and Fletcher to shuffle off somewhere else. They are scandalously bad.
 
Just been having a nosey at the table, Brentford have the same goal difference +40 as the amount of goals we've scored.

That's brutal.
 
indeedido said:
It is true that Assombolonga and Fletcher are the most expensive pair of striker to play together for Boro in history when combining fees and wages.
I believe they are also amongst the very worst.

I can't wait for Assombolonga to waddle off and Fletcher to shuffle off somewhere else. They are scandalously bad.
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Agreed.
We need to get some money for them before their contracts run down and they walk away for nothing.
 
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