isrodger wrote:PhoenixUnited wrote:bedfordwhites wrote:Keep Phillips at all costs, if we are serious about promotion got to keep our best players, offer him new contract, tie him down for whatever it takes, build the side around him, along with Shackleton, Clarke, the future is looking good. Bielsa got the team playing lovely football this season, mainly attributed to the way Phillips fitted in to the system. keep most of the squad from this season, add probably another winger, forward, central defender & goalkeeper. MOT.
Every player has a price and also a value - elements that are not necessarily the same thing. Also, there is a point where the player decides that the grass is greener somewhere else in which case it becomes a pointless exercise in trying to hold on to him; best thing to do in these circumstances is to get the best deal possible. Some of us will remember the Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink sale to Atletico Madrid. There can never be a "no way, no how" senario.
Personally, I think no player is bigger than the club no matter good they are and also any player will be here today and gone tomorrow. So on that basis if a bid comes in for Phillips that is on balance beneficial for LUFC then we have to move on and do the business. I can accept there is a need for stability and for the Club to grow but this is where the Owners and Head Coach earn their corn and where they should be judged on their decision making.
The good thing is that we have the essence of stability and not in the fire sale or asset stripping mindset of recent times.
2 points
Firstly, If we could sell the likes of Clarke & Philips for 20m and could bring in replacements close direct replacements say Harry Wilson & Reece James for £10m. Those players probably wouldn't want to play for Leeds in the championship & would want salaries 3 to 5 times the incumbents presently get.
Secondly, maybe we should expect our owner to show the ambition the likes of Morris, Lansdown, Gibson even Hoyle showed and support the club financially by injecting capital to maximum permitted to ensure the club has the optimum chance of competing in the division and gaining promotion. Instead of trading players of premiership quality and replacing them with players of inferior quality and using the balance to fund operating costs.
To answer your first point :
As I said in my post on this, you sell for £20m and you replace for £10m with canny recruitment.
Don't just pick a loanee from the EPL, look for a hungry talent from another Championship club, lower league or abroad.
I actually like John suggestion of nicking Norwich or Brentford's DoF rather than relying on Orta, though the jury's still out on him.
For the second :
If history has taught us anything, it's don't spend a lot of money on goldfish.
I don't want us to spend to the maximum : I don't think we need to under Bielsa and I just think it's immoral to been seen to do that or else we can't compete.
Plenty of businesses around the world do things differently and succeed. I'd rather be one of them than just throw money at everything ..
It doesn't mean Radrizzani is any less ambitious, just a bit more prudent.
In fact, to take it even further, Steve Landsdown is rolling in it but he hasn't gone mental with City but prefers to play the long game to promotion.