This summer we’ll find out what club we are

Brentford didn’t sell all of their best players in one go though did they? More like one big name every summer, at least it felt like that.

Just checking now, Maupay in 2019, then Watkins in 2020. Suppose they sold Konsa in 2019 as well.
 
Willow said:
I think Chuba needs to be sold if we are serious about the model. He's 28 next season. If he signed a new contract that would take him into his 30s. Well never get a bigger fee for him than we will this summer. He needs to take his chance of a prem move while it's on the table. If he turns palace down then we fail again next season he might never get another chance. It's good business all round.
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He’s 28 next season.. Jamie Vardy is 36, James Milner is 37..

One more season in the Championship with boro under Carrick and he will be going into the Premier League aged 29.. we could offer a 3 year deal without even blinking!

Danny Ings moved aged 30 for £15m
 
Interesting thread this, what the club might have planned vs what the individual poster would like.
Personally I'd be trying to keep a lot of the first team and sign or get all our loan players back barring Mowatt. Move on those on the fringes and try and upgrade them.
Of course, that's all being done without any encroachment of financial reality which might mean that we'll sell someone I'd rather we kept.
Whatever happens, I'll be hopeful that we'll get it right.
 
newyddion said:
Fry doesn’t want to leave, Hackney is better of here.. Akpom deserves a move or an improved contract, he owes us nothing.. hopefully Carrick can convince him to stay.

a few fringe players I can see moving on for game time.. Dijksteel, Bola, Crooks, McNair..
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Akpom owes Carrick a great deal actually for taking him to where he is now!
It’s a real dilemma for akpom I think. Get an improved deal here and go for the premier league with boro and Carrick or chance his arm with a bigger contract elsewhere running the risk of not clicking with the new team and his career stalling again.
I think, because of Carrick he’ll stay with us
 
dooderooni said:
Interesting thread this, what the club might have planned vs what the individual poster would like.
Personally I'd be trying to keep a lot of the first team and sign or get all our loan players back barring Mowatt. Move on those on the fringes and try and upgrade them.
Of course, that's all being done without any encroachment of financial reality which might mean that we'll sell someone I'd rather we kept.
Whatever happens, I'll be hopeful that we'll get it right.
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Nobody gets it. ‘Right’ though. You just need to get enough right to be right in there for a top two spot

The biggest tactical challenge next season is how to maintain control of games such as the Coventry formation 4-5-1 because with our style of football we will encounter a lot of teams playing defensive against us.
And key to that is akpom dropping in and a dynamic paced full back or two joining into midfield whilst remaining ready for any counter attacks
 
While we probably are hoping to copy the Brentford model to an extent that doesn't mean we'll be actively to looking to sell our best players every near (and I don't think that's necessarily what Brentford did).

We already need a high number of incomings due to loans ending, I don't see us welcoming bids for key players at all.

We might attract silly offers we can't turn down, but that's a different matter altogether.

As said above, we sold Tav and Spence for £20m+ last year and barely reinvested it. There's no urgent need to sell at this point. I think this year we'll be more focussed on who we can bring in than who we can flog to the highest bidder.
 
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It'll be an interesting summer.

Not particularly confident right now, but I wasn't last summer either and we had more hits than misses then.

That was under Wilder who was already at loggerheads with the club too.

Lots of signings needed yet again, which is a shame, but that's the issue with loans.
 
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Sheriff_John_Bunnell_ret said:
There is no scenario where losing chuba is good business for us.
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Surely him scoring 5 all season and leaving for nothing is worse for the club than a lower PL club or two bidding and us getting in say £15 million and getting a replacement?

Would you sell him if it guaranteed we sign Archer on a permanent?
 
It is far from being about just replacing the 6 loanees and 3 contracted players from the squad, given we have McNair, Fry, Crooks, Bola, Akpom, Roberts, Howson all out of contract in June 2024. We have a small crisis on our hands. Not only do we need to replace the relative quality within the first team itself, but the squad too and risk losing players worth potentially upwards of £30M or so for nothing. We will probably be looking to sell some of those player whose contracts are up next year rather than lose them for nothing. Their importance to the squad is mixed, but nevertheless important.

Some of those players, if leaving in 2024, may be less inclined to give their all come the business end of the year too. Anyone thinking we are in a good place currently and the future is rosy has their heads in the sand. New signings are always a gamble, how quickly they gel into their role, buy into a project is open to debate. We have generally been lucky with the quality of loanees this season past, they all generally offered improvement in what we had.

The task has to be to improve further on that quality, as lets not forget, the quality was still not good enough to get us over the line. In numbers alone we have lost 6 loanees and 3 contracted players as far as i recall then there is the risk with the other 7 whose contracts are up next season, some of whom will likely be sold. That could see us looking to bring in upwards of 10-15 players just to stand still in terms of numbers, add in the level of quality needed to mount a serious promotion push in a season where you are seeing big reputation teams being relegated from the Premier League and promoted from league one, never mind the opportunities those relegated previously with the parachute monies available to outbid us when chasing the same players.

Our Head Coach is a pull, our performance last season will be noted over say WBA, Norwich, Watford etc, but that only goes so far, money talks, the size and shape of the squad as it stands counts too. I genuinely think there is a mountain to climb before we can even begin to tread water, let alone swim to the finish line ahead of the others that we need to. This summers window is imho, the most difficult and most complex we have ever faced. Right now, I am looking forward to see the quality and calibre of the backroom staff we have and their ability to deliver the quality and numbers of players we need within the limited funds that will be available. Right now, we are at a fork in the road and I don’t know where we are heading. I just hope it works out as we all hope it will.
 
They`l be a raft of players and options ready and on the move before pre-season commences.
Whilst we speculate, there will be contracts being drawn up and potential players in liaison with the right people. No worries.

By the way: did anyone realise that Tony Mowbray`s brother, Darren Mowbray, is head of recruitment at Aberdeen?
 
Brentfords model was always have a striker that scored loads then sell them on for a massive fee, buy an unoroven gem and do it all again until they get promoted!
 
I just hope we don't have a close season like former years where players are linked with us all summer. Just to turn us down at the last minute, Greaves of Hull comes to mind as an example. With Chuba surely he signs a new contract or goes that's just business.
 
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