Rage Online

We have the basis of a decent team in my view but neeed 3-4 quality additions.

I would let go:

Brown
Tonkin
Worley (makes too many mistakes)
Leven - sell too inconsistent and would be better at a higher level)
Constable- sell for £100K?
Heslop
Smalley


Morgan
Monella
Rendell

Unsure about Craddock- I reckon if he had been fit all season he could have scored 15 or so.

I have some concerns that there could be offers for Clarke as well.
Thoughts?

Who is monella?

£100K for Beano? I'd take £100 quid at this point! PDC probably can't believe what a lucky escape he had. Doubt we'd get close to £100K for him now.

Free Nelson Monella

Supporters who seem desperate to sell Beano for next to nothing really make me laugh.

&quotWe have the basis of a decent team in my view but neeed 3-4 quality additions.

I would let go:

Brown
Tonkin
Worley (makes too many mistakes)
Leven - sell too inconsistent and would be better at a higher level)
Constable- sell for £100K?
Heslop
Smalley&quot

What a silly thing to say. Brown has done well in the part that he has played. He is starting his coaching badges and will therefore probably end up being a good asset for us in coaching terms.
Worley just needs some game time, good cover at the moment. He is also still pretty young. Potential I think.
Leven? He has been a game changer for us. He got injured and struggled for form which is understandable. He will come good next season for sure.
Dispite Beanos form this year, he was still our top goalscorer and was better than any other striker we had apart from Robbie Hall.
Heslop and Smalley, I'd probably agree with that.

Very hard to follow this thread - hard to believe you think we've the basis of a decent team, when five have already been released and you're advocating letting half of the rest of them go too!

Who's left that isn't on loan? We're not keeping on any trainees.

Duberry has a season left only, Capaldi can't be judged.

By my reckoning there's only Clarke, Wright, Potter, Capaldi, Chapman, Whing, Duberry, Davis, Batt then Craddock, Constable...my memory is appreciably lousy and I'll prob have forgotten three...but that's PALTRY and paper thin, and I would suggest a major overhaul would be necessary for a genuine assault on the title.

Don't get me wrong, I don't totally disagree with who you'd keep - but do think there isn't too much of a spine left.

Definitely - more under contract next year, fewer loanees, and a shift in the balance of the squad at least four who can play genuine centre back, at least three strikers who might score 15, fewer nondescript journeyman midfielders.

I know those players I've described are few and far between on the wages we can offer, but they CAN be found, and ain't that the beauty of scouting/management?

&quotBillytheOx&quot wrote:&quotWe have the basis of a decent team in my view but neeed 3-4 quality additions.

I would let go:

Brown
Tonkin
Worley (makes too many mistakes)
Leven - sell too inconsistent and would be better at a higher level)
Constable- sell for £100K?
Heslop
Smalley&quot

What a silly thing to say. Brown has done well in the part that he has played. He is starting his coaching badges and will therefore probably end up being a good asset for us in coaching terms.
Worley just needs some game time, good cover at the moment. He is also still pretty young. Potential I think.
Leven? He has been a game changer for us. He got injured and struggled for form which is understandable. He will come good next season for sure.
Dispite Beanos form this year, he was still our top goalscorer and was better than any other striker we had apart from Robbie Hall.
Heslop and Smalley, I'd probably agree with that.

Silly thing to say? We are all entitled to our opinions I guess.

Brown? I would use the YT goalkeeper as back up if he is considered good enough to et a professional contract. Now that Brown is coach, that is fair enough
Worley= in my view he makes far too many mistakes and we look far weaker with him in the side than Duberry. I dont think he is good enough
Leven- for sure? I love watcing him on song but he flattered to deceive in my view, he is sure to be a high earner and in my view aain would be better in a higher Division
Beano= a poor season overall. Sure our highest goalscorer but still not good enough

&quotPaul Cooper&quot wrote:

&quotBillytheOx&quot wrote:&quotWe have the basis of a decent team in my view but neeed 3-4 quality additions.

I would let go:

Brown
Tonkin
Worley (makes too many mistakes)
Leven - sell too inconsistent and would be better at a higher level)
Constable- sell for £100K?
Heslop
Smalley&quot

What a silly thing to say. Brown has done well in the part that he has played. He is starting his coaching badges and will therefore probably end up being a good asset for us in coaching terms.
Worley just needs some game time, good cover at the moment. He is also still pretty young. Potential I think.
Leven? He has been a game changer for us. He got injured and struggled for form which is understandable. He will come good next season for sure.
Dispite Beanos form this year, he was still our top goalscorer and was better than any other striker we had apart from Robbie Hall.
Heslop and Smalley, I'd probably agree with that.

Silly thing to say? We are all entitled to our opinions I guess.

Brown? I would use the YT goalkeeper as back up if he is considered good enough to et a professional contract. Now that Brown is coach, that is fair enough
Worley= in my view he makes far too many mistakes and we look far weaker with him in the side than Duberry. I dont think he is good enough
Leven- for sure? I love watcing him on song but he flattered to deceive in my view, he is sure to be a high earner and in my view aain would be better in a higher Division
Beano= a poor season overall. Sure our highest goalscorer but still not good enough

The problem with Beno's reduced tally was that Wilder lost faith in him and stopped playing him, and then tried to sell him to anyone who would throw tuppence ha'penny in the direction of the club. It's hardly surprising that his performances suffered. Even given all that, Beano still scored 1 goal in every three games, which is hardly horrific. If he had played the full season at that rate he would have scored 15 or 16 goals. And all this in a formation and set of tactics so rigid and predictable that even the worst teams in the division were able to stop us creatng scoring chances. The reality is that Beano missed very little, he just didn't have enough chances to score due to lack of match time and lack of creativity in the side.

I note that Gillingham have released former Oxford scholar Simon King.
He came back from a serious injury part way through last season (which might be a worry) but prior to that has consistently been regarded as one of the best defenders in whichever division he has played (Leagues 1 &amp 2) for many years. I dont know the exact extent of any hangover from the injury, but I do know that he was back in the Gills side for the run-in.
One player I would love to see back (fitness allowing), as he is so well regarded, but also because he was particularly ill-treated by the U's manager when here (Mr Atkins I believe).

All gone a bit quiet on this front - wouldnt normally be so much of an issue, but in previous years hasnt Wilder tried to get much of his business completed very quickly?

&quotMooro&quot wrote:All gone a bit quiet on this front - wouldnt normally be so much of an issue, but in previous years hasnt Wilder tried to get much of his business completed very quickly?

I was thinking the same thing myself earlier. I fear this might be the summer where the quality of our signings takes a nose-dive compared with recent seasons. Maybe Wilder's waiting for the Beano situation to be resolved so he can see how much spare cash he ahs to spend but I fear that might be clutcing at straws on my part (plus I'd still keep Beano, warts and all, given that we have absolutely no-one else who can find the net with any consistency).

The radio silence regarding Chapman is also intruiging - I would have expected him to repay the club's faith and patience by signing pretty soon. The only thing I can imagine is that we've tried to pull a fast one by offering reduced terms.

On the points BillyTheOx makes above, I totally agree re: Worley who strikes me as a liability every time he plays.

&quotJoey's Toe&quot wrote:The radio silence regarding Chapman is also intruiging - I would have expected him to repay the club's faith and patience by signing pretty soon. The only thing I can imagine is that we've tried to pull a fast one by offering reduced terms.

Or perhaps Chapman is hoping to get a deal elsewhere for a fresh start? Must be difficult trying to carry on as you were prior to the jail term.

&quottheox&quot wrote:

&quotJoey's Toe&quot wrote:The radio silence regarding Chapman is also intruiging - I would have expected him to repay the club's faith and patience by signing pretty soon. The only thing I can imagine is that we've tried to pull a fast one by offering reduced terms.

Or perhaps Chapman is hoping to get a deal elsewhere for a fresh start? Must be difficult trying to carry on as you were prior to the jail term.

Maybe. But it'd be strange logic. Oxford fans and staff have been extraordinarily understanding of what happened, and really got behind him during his long road back into the team. We're now all willing him to re-sign and kick on to the next level with us. If he moved, he'd have to win over a new set of fans who would be aware of his past but might be more sceptical about it than we are. Given the choice, I'd say re-signing for us would be a much shrewder move - and I do think that he owes us some loyalty, given how things turned out it would have been very easy for the club to have ripped up his contract, but they (rightly, IMHO) stuck by him.

&quotJoey's Toe&quot wrote:

&quottheox&quot wrote:

&quotJoey's Toe&quot wrote:The radio silence regarding Chapman is also intruiging - I would have expected him to repay the club's faith and patience by signing pretty soon. The only thing I can imagine is that we've tried to pull a fast one by offering reduced terms.

Or perhaps Chapman is hoping to get a deal elsewhere for a fresh start? Must be difficult trying to carry on as you were prior to the jail term.

Maybe. But it'd be strange logic. Oxford fans and staff have been extraordinarily understanding of what happened, and really got behind him during his long road back into the team. We're now all willing him to re-sign and kick on to the next level with us. If he moved, he'd have to win over a new set of fans who would be aware of his past but might be more sceptical about it than we are. Given the choice, I'd say re-signing for us would be a much shrewder move - and I do think that he owes us some loyalty, given how things turned out it would have been very easy for the club to have ripped up his contract, but they (rightly, IMHO) stuck by him.

Exactly how I see it.