What is going on? | Page 2 | Vital Football

What is going on?

You could be right but that doesn't negate the theory. Is there a general feeling abroad that we won't/can't hold on to players? If there is then there is only one direction for us.
 
We don't know though. When Eaves signed after a season of 4 goals in 40 games a tier lower for Yeovil not one supporter was thrilled at the prospect, so we don't really have a clue what's out there to replace him.
 
Not sure what that has to do with it. There are always players out there and usually clubs chasing them. Forwards command more attention and bigger salaries. Clubs that can't compete financially tend to drift downwards, as we have done over recent years. If we are unable to meet fairly modest demands we will get relegated. Eaves is a very small cog in this but his situation could well trigger decisions by other players.
 
jogills said:
You could be right but that doesn't negate the theory. Is there a general feeling abroad that we won't/can't hold on to players? If there is then there is only one direction for us.
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How many players like John Egan who let his contract run down to sign for a bigger club have we generally lost? And how many more if you chuck in the likes of Dack who we sold before they were out of contract? Not many I wager.

We tend to not offer contracts to players and replace them with players who weren't offered contracts at their clubs. Like most clubs at this level we sign other teams' rejects in the hope we can get them to click in our own system. And then now and again our rejects find their form at another club and people lament the fact we released them.
 
EagerExile said:
We'll be VERY lucky to stay up
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That's just not true, in contrast we'd be very unlucky to go down. Currently the only team in the relegation zone who can catch us are Rochdale, and their run in isn't easy, with two teams in the play-offs.

Home - Plymouth Argyle
Away - Oxford United
Home - Charlton Athletic

They'd need to win minimum 2 of those, and we lose both of our remaining games. If we draw one game, they could match us with 2 wins, then it would come down to goal difference. Their game against Plymouth tomorrow will be crucial. If they lose against Plymouth, then don't win against Oxford, we'll be safe regardless of our result.

However that's not taking into account both Walsall and Oldham, both of which would need to win 2 of their remaining 3 games to overtake us.

I'm not saying we're safe, a win against Brizzle on Saturday would see us mathematically safe, but to say we'll be very lucky to stay up is a bit of an exaggeration...
 
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Gordon_Road_Mat said:
That's just not true, in contrast we'd be very unlucky to go down. Currently the only team in the relegation zone who can catch us are Rochdale, and their run in isn't easy, with two teams in the play-offs.

Home - Plymouth Argyle
Away - Oxford United
Home - Charlton Athletic

They'd need to win minimum 2 of those, and we lose both of our remaining games. If we draw one game, they could match us with 2 wins, then it would come down to goal difference. Their game against Plymouth tomorrow will be crucial. If they lose against Plymouth, then don't win against Oxford, we'll be safe regardless of our result.

However that's not taking into account both Walsall and Oldham, both of which would need to win 2 of their remaining 3 games to overtake us.

I'm not saying we're safe, a win against Brizzle on Saturday would see us mathematically safe, but to say we'll be very lucky to stay up is a bit of an exaggeration...
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Mate, Rochdale May be 21st currently, but Wimbledon, Walsall and Oldham could also go above us if we have 2 heavy defeats and then they grind out wins. Another point or two from the previous 8 games and this would all be academic.
 
Sandyman_GFC said:
Mate, Rochdale May be 21st currently, but Wimbledon, Walsall and Oldham could also go above us if we have 2 heavy defeats and then they grind out wins. Another point or two from the previous 8 games and this would all be academic.
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I agree, I remember posting weeks ago that heading into the last 10 games, a win and a few draws would see us through, and then we disintegrated.

At the end of the season, we need to finish in 20th or above, and it would take a lot of results going against us for that to happen.

Let's just hope Plymouth do us a favour tomorrow.
 
The biggest problem for the future with Eaves has to be the fact that he is clearly worth a lot more now to the team than the peanuts we are almost certainly paying him .He would have been on very low wages at Yeovil and almost certainly we would not have spent big to get him .That being the case like with Holy if we want to get the best out of him we will have to give him a new contract .With Dack we let him stay on a reasonably low wage until he got to the point where he just wanted out . Scally has done it over and over if we are going to move forward we have to start awarding new deals when they are deserved not waiting till it is too late .
 
chris who said:
The biggest problem for the future with Eaves has to be the fact that he is clearly worth a lot more now to the team than the peanuts we are almost certainly paying him .He would have been on very low wages at Yeovil and almost certainly we would not have spent big to get him .That being the case like with Holy if we want to get the best out of him we will have to give him a new contract .With Dack we let him stay on a reasonably low wage until he got to the point where he just wanted out . Scally has done it over and over if we are going to move forward we have to start awarding new deals when they are deserved not waiting till it is too late .
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Does Eaves deserve a big new contract on the basis of a good couple of months around Christmas? He did little until he scored that hattrick and he hasn't done much in the last half a dozen matches. History will ultimately show if the purple patch of scoring form was the exception or not.

So you think Dack wanted out because of wages? Nonsense. He was happy until that promotion chasing season under Edinburgh that fizzed out and he realised that if he wanted to play at the higher level he is capable of then he would need to go to a bigger club. We sold him as it was clear Dack didn't want to sign a new contract.
 
Jeez you re being obtuse. No one is claiming Eaves is Mo Salah but he has scored 15 goals and is handful to play against. A player in his position would expect an improvement from what was almost certainly a modest contract. There will definitely be other clubs prepared to improve on it.

Perhaps you believe we can pull another one out to replace his goals and impact for less but I don't. I think we may be struggling to compete financially in this league and I think players and agents get wind of that sort of situation and I think it affects team morale and cohesion.
 
And it will continue to be poor and lack quality until there is some decent investment in the team.
 
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jogills said:
Jeez you re being obtuse. No one is claiming Eaves is Mo Salah but he has scored 15 goals and is handful to play against. A

Perhaps you believe we can pull another one out to replace his goals and impact for less but I don't.
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Chris who suggested to get the best out of Eaves we need to offer him a new contract and then went on to discuss wages in general. He has scored most of those goals in a purple patch in the middle of the season and I don't think we should be offering him an improved contract right now.

Will other teams be keen to offer him a better deal? That will only be a question at the end of next year when his current deal ends and we have a decision whether or not to offer him a new contract. I cannot see any team wanting to sign him in the meantime.

Can we pull out another player to replace his goals? Sure. Eaves was a flop journeyman striker not doing much at a struggling league two side which caused general negativity when he signed. A hattrick against Southend and suddenly he is propelled into our top 3 list of best players. At our level, there are always other "Tom Eaves" out there but it is just a case of our scouts recognizing the right one for our system.
 
The strength of Eaves is that he puts himself about and competes with defenders while winning his share of headers.

That makes him as good as we could expect when strikers are feeding on scraps. Even when we were in good form we were a counter attacking team, hence why the form was better away from home.

If we actually invest in some forward passing quality in midfield and start maintaining possession I don't think Eaves would stand out as significantly better than any other striker we could afford. Even Wilko would look better with accurate balls to his feet.
 
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