The 2019 Summer Clearout

[Strawberry Avenger]

Unless we can get a substantially better winger magicked out of nowhere...

Then Benny is playing. Had he been playing vs Norwich vs Dias, Forest would be two points closer to the play offs...

Perhaps Appiah will get his chance. But that seems a bit off yet..? Benny is a trusted performer.

Forest have got what we've got.

SA.

[Strawberry Avenger]

Still Osborn and Murphy first to go for me. I must be the only one, but I’m fed up of mediocrity and past it.

And none to mention all the other dead wood draining our resources.

Benny!
The player trusted implicitly by so many managers but despised by so many fans.
This is one that I’ll never understand  :huh:

Quite so.

SA.

[Redgirl]

Makes me chuckle how every single thread has a Benny debate in it at some point!

I’m with Green man definitely sell Murphy, Osborn not sure only if we can get a good replacement, would like to keep him as a sub but don’t think he would accept that.

[Salvatore Matrecano]

Ive said it before but the problem with “definitely sell Murphy” is who the heck is going to pay a fee for a 36 year old striker or even offer to match the wages of what we are paying for the final year of his contract. You can say the same for Guediora and Watson.

People are talking about even cashing in on Grabban but he is the wrong side of 30 and has a recurrent  injury problem, again nobody is going to pay £6M for him. Soudani is another, I really cant judge his ability on the few minutes he has played but if we did want to move him on we will struggle to get our money back. Hefele? We didn’t pay much but even on a free he will want to match his current wages, easier said than done.

I think we will retain a lot of our bloated squad unfortunately but most of those listed above can make some sort of positive contribution, I do believe Watson has definitely shown his worth in recent weeks. If we are going to sell who might we get a fee for? Yep, Benny.

[Paplane]

Ive said it before but the problem with “definitely sell Murphy” is who the heck is going to pay a fee for a 36 year old striker or even offer to match the wages of what we are paying for the final year of his contract. You can say the same for Guediora and Watson.

People are talking about even cashing in on Grabban but he is the wrong side of 30 and has a recurrent  injury problem, again nobody is going to pay £6M for him. Soudani is another, I really cant judge his ability on the few minutes he has played but if we did want to move him on we will struggle to get our money back. Hefele? We didn’t pay much but even on a free he will want to match his current wages, easier said than done.

I think we will retain a lot of our bloated squad unfortunately but most of those listed above can make some sort of positive contribution, I do believe Watson has definitely shown his worth in recent weeks. If we are going to sell who might we get a fee for? Yep, Benny.

Murphy - no one will pay a fee for him these days and his wages will be the issue for clubs now but there's always going to be a team prepared to take him as he's been such a successful championship player. Clearly rated among his peers but not by Forest fans it seems.

Grabban - cant believe people are writing him off. 3 months ago he was scoring pretty much in every game he played. He was easily on to score 25/28 goals. He's scored goals consistently over recent years for a number of clubs. Easily worth £6m. Injuries happen. They didn't stop him scoring a shed load of goals for Sunderland and Villa, did they?

Soudani - got an unlucky injury which could have happened to anyone. Has a goal scoring pedigree elsewhere but struggled for game time as Grabban was doing so well. Why's he suddenly being written off? He's just been unlucky.

Hefele - has not been that impressive on the pitch to be honest but I cant imagine he's on ridiculous money anyway. He was as much a gamble signing as Benalouane was. 

Watson - O'Neil has changed my opinion of him. I thought his legs had gone but he's re-emerged in this midfield bruiser role and minder to Yates.

Benny - Every manager who's been at the club has picked him consistently. I'm not arrogant enough to think I know more than them. 

Geddy - Seems to have lost that initial burst of enthusiasm and now isnt so much of an attacking threat. Still a good squad player to have though IMO.

So in summary, some of the above are injured, out of form, or currently being overlooked. That's not to say they need hooking out of the club.

[Strawberry Avenger]

Makes me chuckle how every single thread has a Benny debate in it at some point!

I’m with Green man definitely sell Murphy, Osborn not sure only if we can get a good replacement, would like to keep him as a sub but don’t think he would accept that.

I think Forest tried to do something in Jan' with Os' but unless we can get better AND have an 'Os' in reserve, what's the point?

We need a couple of wingers of battle proven and Prem'/Champ' talent to push Os' down the pecking order.  Then we'll be top 2 candidates.

For now, in the absence of anything else, Os' is the best we have there...unless there are revelations to come from the 'also rans' or the academy...

SA.

[Strawberry Avenger]

Ive said it before but the problem with “definitely sell Murphy” is who the heck is going to pay a fee for a 36 year old striker or even offer to match the wages of what we are paying for the final year of his contract. You can say the same for Guediora and Watson.

People are talking about even cashing in on Grabban but he is the wrong side of 30 and has a recurrent  injury problem, again nobody is going to pay £6M for him. Soudani is another, I really cant judge his ability on the few minutes he has played but if we did want to move him on we will struggle to get our money back. Hefele? We didn’t pay much but even on a free he will want to match his current wages, easier said than done.

I think we will retain a lot of our bloated squad unfortunately but most of those listed above can make some sort of positive contribution, I do believe Watson has definitely shown his worth in recent weeks. If we are going to sell who might we get a fee for? Yep, Benny.

Murphy - no one will pay a fee for him these days and his wages will be the issue for clubs now but there's always going to be a team prepared to take him as he's been such a successful championship player. Clearly rated among his peers but not by Forest fans it seems.

Grabban - cant believe people are writing him off. 3 months ago he was scoring pretty much in every game he played. He was easily on to score 25/28 goals. He's scored goals consistently over recent years for a number of clubs. Easily worth £6m. Injuries happen. They didn't stop him scoring a shed load of goals for Sunderland and Villa, did they?

Soudani - got an unlucky injury which could have happened to anyone. Has a goal scoring pedigree elsewhere but struggled for game time as Grabban was doing so well. Why's he suddenly being written off? He's just been unlucky.

Hefele - has not been that impressive on the pitch to be honest but I cant imagine he's on ridiculous money anyway. He was as much a gamble signing as Benalouane was. 

Watson - O'Neil has changed my opinion of him. I thought his legs had gone but he's re-emerged in this midfield bruiser role and minder to Yates.

Benny - Every manager who's been at the club has picked him consistently. I'm not arrogant enough to think I know more than them. 

Geddy - Seems to have lost that initial burst of enthusiasm and now isnt so much of an attacking threat. Still a good squad player to have though IMO.

So in summary, some of the above are injured, out of form, or currently being overlooked. That's not to say they need hooking out of the club.

The Summer 'clear out' is going to be very interesting.

The two remaining Portuguese are looking vulnerable to the boot print.

Os'...might have gone in Jan' had Stoke coughed up?  But I doubt Martin was going to let a reliable performer go for nothing better in return?

I think a lot of the 'on loan' players may end up going.  Jason et al.  Attitude or ability just isn't there.

Geddy, not so much his enthusiasm but perhaps he hasn't got the zip of the player we had a handful of years ago.  His pass to Cash for the goal was sublime showing, he's still got it.  I think when he's on his game we perform a bit better.  He's got a good shot on him.  I think he's worth a shot in the ACM role.  He's robust, gets stuck in and can pass or shoot.

Our attack needs, after a £15 million plus spend...a reboot.  We need a couple of wingers, an ACM reboot and another striker.  That's four players right there.

SA.

[Paplane]

Grabban - cant believe people are writing him off.

To be fair, as a player I don't think anyone is writing him off, or even hurrying him out the door. I think in that example, wary of the recent Matty Fryatt episode, fans are merely expressing concerns about getting their fingers burned again.

Lewis Grabban has an Achilles issue, he has had it for a number of years, was suffering from it when we signed him & has suffered a relapse this winter. due to that injury he's only been fit enough to complete 23 games, with a cameo role in a further 8.

Obviously when you lose your top goal scorer for a number of games, & he can only play a bit part in a number of others, you lose some of your goals & some of your goal threat.

As we've seen, this season, when this occurs, due to poor recruitment in the summer & a lack of plan B, we struggle.

To combat that this summer we are going to have to purchase a new striker. If we can afford to do that, without selling Grabban & either Grabban, or the new guy, is willing to spend significant time on the bench, then I don't think anyone would complain.

These days with 1 up front, the striker expends so much energy chasing down and running that you cant expect them to play 50 games. He's scored 15 goals for us this season and missed 5(?) penalties too. If he didn't play another game that would be more than any other striker we've had in quite a long time so he's been a successful signing. We've not exactly built a team around him so him being absent is someone else's problem, not his. £6m is a lot for a player but in striker terms, it's not excessive.

I just dont like the way players are written off on fans forums when they're either injured, out of form, or simply not being picked. No need for a 'summer clearout' in my opinion.

[Alf]

Ive said it before but the problem with “definitely sell Murphy” is who the heck is going to pay a fee for a 36 year old striker or even offer to match the wages of what we are paying for the final year of his contract. You can say the same for Guediora and Watson.

People are talking about even cashing in on Grabban but he is the wrong side of 30 and has a recurrent  injury problem, again nobody is going to pay £6M for him. Soudani is another, I really cant judge his ability on the few minutes he has played but if we did want to move him on we will struggle to get our money back. Hefele? We didn’t pay much but even on a free he will want to match his current wages, easier said than done.

I think we will retain a lot of our bloated squad unfortunately but most of those listed above can make some sort of positive contribution, I do believe Watson has definitely shown his worth in recent weeks. If we are going to sell who might we get a fee for? Yep, Benny.

Murphy - no one will pay a fee for him these days and his wages will be the issue for clubs now but there's always going to be a team prepared to take him as he's been such a successful championship player. Clearly rated among his peers but not by Forest fans it seems.

Grabban - cant believe people are writing him off. 3 months ago he was scoring pretty much in every game he played. He was easily on to score 25/28 goals. He's scored goals consistently over recent years for a number of clubs. Easily worth £6m. Injuries happen. They didn't stop him scoring a shed load of goals for Sunderland and Villa, did they?

Soudani - got an unlucky injury which could have happened to anyone. Has a goal scoring pedigree elsewhere but struggled for game time as Grabban was doing so well. Why's he suddenly being written off? He's just been unlucky.

Hefele - has not been that impressive on the pitch to be honest but I cant imagine he's on ridiculous money anyway. He was as much a gamble signing as Benalouane was. 

Watson - O'Neil has changed my opinion of him. I thought his legs had gone but he's re-emerged in this midfield bruiser role and minder to Yates.

Benny - Every manager who's been at the club has picked him consistently. I'm not arrogant enough to think I know more than them. 

Geddy - Seems to have lost that initial burst of enthusiasm and now isnt so much of an attacking threat. Still a good squad player to have though IMO.

So in summary, some of the above are injured, out of form, or currently being overlooked. That's not to say they need hooking out of the club.

Some fair summary's there. All I'd add is........

Soudani's a player who's built a career on playing a physical game in a league where you don't come up against much serious physical oppositional challenge. He's now playing in the league with possibly some of the most phsyical opposition challenges to overcome, and at 30+ his body has a lot of adapting to do, and very little time to do it in. I think if anyone can get anything from him MON can, but I'd be amazed if he came good. It's really no coincidence he's always injured trying to adapt to the British game at 30+

This should also be Geddy's last season with us. He's done an OK job on return, better than I expect tbh, but he's another who's dynamic + physical game is beyond where his body is currently at because of age.

[optimistic_red]

I think that's a bit harsh on Guedioura. When watching games I've not thought that he's out of energy, unlike Cash (every game at 60 mins!), Murphy or Lolley (at times).
As mentioned before in the thread, the older players are harder to move on, so can't expect to be able to move all of them on. It is also important the the squad contains some seasoned pros who can guide the younger players throughout the season.

[Frochy1977]

If we are in the Championship next season we should keep Guedioura, Soudani and Grabban if we think he can get over his injury problems.

[Alf]

Harsh yes, but if we want success we have to be & can't afford to carry many "maybe" players.

Grabban's a different class of player to Geds & certainly Soudani. I wouldn't dream of selling Grabs, I'd just look to bring in a good young striker too.

If Soudani returns to do anything significant I'd be amazed.