Making the figures work out

[redrobo]

https://www.lancasterguardian.co.uk/spo ... up-3696029

DA explains in full the need to increase his budget by making some players available for transfer.

I presume that if a club is interested in a player on the list then if they took on his current wages that would help the situation. A transfer fee would be desirable but to take on the players current contract could help.... but I know sod all about how contracts operate....

[Gone_Shrimping]

https://www.lancasterguardian.co.uk/sport/football/morecambe-manager-is-trying-to-ensure-the-numbers-add-up-3696029

DA explains in full the need to increase his budget by making some players available for transfer.

I presume that if a club is interested in a player on the list then if they took on his current wages that would help the situation. A transfer fee would be desirable but to take on the players current contract could help.... but I know sod all about how contracts operate....

I would think the chances of a fee being received for any of the transfer listed players is very remote. The club want them off the wages bill to enable new signings to join up.

[KenH]

I suspect there'll be players who we'll have to "pay off" to terminate their contracts or loan out at less than their wages cost, just to release some headroom in the budget for new players. I.e. get £1,000 per week on a loan deal to go towards our wages cost of say £1,500 for a player - at least that gives us £1k towards a player we want and would use rather than £1,500 on a player who'll be warming the bench (if that!). Likewise to pay someone off, maybe better to pay a lump sum, of maybe £25k as compensation, to save £1,500 per week going forward for the season, i.e. cost £25k to save £78k over the season, i.e. a saving of £53k to go towards a better player. No doubt there are hard decisions to make and a lot of tweaking to spend the budget on what DA really wants. Robbo really has left us in the brown smelly stuff hasn't he?

[RedRedWine]

I agree that we are unlikely to receive a fee for any of the transfer listed players - IMO this is about Adams looking to utilise the playing budget more effectively. That might not mean he does not rate some of the players that are potentially leaving, just that he feels he can get a better value in the market and that he may want to change the composition of the squad to use/manage the playing budget more effectively... this is how I see the situation with Leigh, who demonstrated that he was good enough but perhaps is one of the higher earners(?). Also - realistically we survived with the lowest points total, and shipped goals for fun - so things do need to change.

TBH - the ball is as much in the effected players court as much as clubs that might be interested in securing their services. Apart from a few exceptions, most of the squad deemed surplus to requirements would surely prefer to be playing elsewhere vs not playing at all next season- can't see them earning enough in one season to set them up for life.... they should be actively seeking opportunities of their own in order to prolong a short career, and/or ones that allow them the chance to develop and perhaps progress in the future.

[redrobo]

Others will no doubt disagree but for me there are only 2 of those 'up for transfer' that are most certainly not up to EFL1 standard namely Duffus and McDonald. Question marks remain against Delaney, Obika and O'Connor but for me the others are capable of EFL1 status.

However we have to trust DA but accept that he may not be able to recruit all those he would like which could see us struggle yet again.... BUT we achieved promotion with a squad that many thought would not be capable which shows that DA has this uncanny knack of finding jewels from those who are available.

[Little Shrimp]

If there's truth in the Ayunga to St Mirren story then I reckon there's a decent chance we can get a fee there. Also think we've probably got a decent chance with Cooney given his age and potential ability, possibly to a League Two club.

AOC, McLaughlin, McLoughlin and Obika (lack of game time but good previous experience) have all shown themselves to be capable players, but I'd be surprised if we were able to command fees for them.

Can't see anybody willing to pay fees for McDonald, Delaney and Duffus.

On paying people off - would that really free up a great deal of room in the budget? I would have assumed that doing something like that would probably come out of the same pot (please do say if I'm wrong).

[RedRedWine]

Others will no doubt disagree but for me there are only 2 of those 'up for transfer' that are most certainly not up to EFL1 standard namely Duffus and McDonald. Question marks remain against Delaney, Obika and O'Connor but for me the others are capable of EFL1 status.

I suppose that's what I was getting at - perhaps they are, just that unless they want to renegotiate their contracts, Adams believes he can get better value out of the budget by moving people in and out. Obika is a good example. He looked good when he played, but suffered from injury and limited opportunity. Shithouse Robinson stated that Jon was his main/big summer signing when commenting on the strikers return.... from that I assume he is one of the top earners... I'm sure he also came here with the intention of being a starter. With that in mind and putting yourself in Adams position, is it good utilisation of the playing budget to retain the services of somebody that you don't necessarily see as first choice? Probably not when there are so many holes to fill.

I would keep O'Connor as a squad player, but again he was brought here as a starter - and his wage probably reflects that... so it isnt good value. Adams has also shown him the door at least twice previously at other clubs.

Delaney is not good enough for League One - or at least wasn't in Robinsons system. He also showed no improvement at Scunthorpe. I expected him to be a bit more dominant than he is, given his physical. attributes.

Apparently respected members of the current squad believe that Wes McDonald is perhaps the best player in training - just that Robinsons over complicated tactics and style did for him. For me he looked too one-footed and predictable.

Difficult to make a assessment of Duffus - we didn't really see enough of him. He was a bit of a panic signing/potential project.... is that good use of the budget now? Probably not.

[Keith]

...for me the others are capable of EFL1 status.

I had wondered if there may be a way back for any of the players who are on the transfer list? For example, Ryan Cooney, who most of us were surprised and delighted when Burnley let him come to us. However, rumour has it, he doesn't work on his fitness ass well as he perhaps could. If that is true, then I hope he may be able to focus upon those areas and work his way back in to Derek's plans.

[SEASIDECLARET]

In response to KenH about compromising players contracts, from experience I can let you know that very few would go for the compromise KenH put forward, being paid 33% of your contact, (also not forgetting the 4 weeks severance pay that they would/could be due at the end of it) would be far below their expectation. Players have a short career, and they have to maximise their earnings as much as possible. Whilst we have gone up the food chain a little bit, in the main there aren’t a great many more football pay days after you have left Morecambe! This is one of the reasons you see players seeing their contracts out, even if they aren’t playing a great deal, and in fairness to the players, in this instance, it’s not their fault that they were offered 2 year contracts!

[KenH]

In response to KenH about compromising players contracts, from experience I can let you know that very few would go for the compromise KenH put forward, being paid 33% of your contact, (also not forgetting the 4 weeks severance pay that they would/could be due at the end of it) would be far below their expectation. Players have a short career, and they have to maximise their earnings as much as possible. Whilst we have gone up the food chain a little bit, in the main there aren’t a great many more football pay days after you have left Morecambe! This is one of the reasons you see players seeing their contracts out, even if they aren’t playing a great deal, and in fairness to the players, in this instance, it’s not their fault that they were offered 2 year contracts!

Surely they're better off getting a compensation fee if they can then go and get a new contract somewhere else on similar pay than they'd get at Morecambe? Considering it's widely thought we were a low paying team, some players would probably get a higher wage at lower leagues. So overall, they'd earn more than warming the seats at Morecambe, even on the same wage, they'd be better off due to the compensation/payoff.

[KenH]

...for me the others are capable of EFL1 status.

I had wondered if there may be a way back for any of the players who are on the transfer list? For example, Ryan Cooney, who most of us were surprised and delighted when Burnley let him come to us. However, rumour has it, he doesn't work on his fitness ass well as he perhaps could. If that is true, then I hope he may be able to focus upon those areas and work his way back in to Derek's plans.

I've said previously, I don't really think DA expects to move all 10 onto other clubs. He's probably aiming to move on 5 and keep 5 (or so), and work with who stays to develop them and introduce 5 new players more suited to his style. At the end of the day, (other than maybe Wes and Duffus), he'd probably be "content" for some of the others to stay, presumably for the bench, as it would be a very strong bench with the likes of AOC, Cooney etc. I suppose it's up to the players as to how hard they work to find other clubs or whether they're happy to bench-sit or work hard to work their way back into the starting 11.

It's also possible that there had already been discussions with some of the players who may have been happy to be "let go" for other opportunities, perhaps Greg, so DA is making it easier for them as he won't want players who don't want to be here.

[redrobo]

I read somewhere that by the beginning of the season that there could well be up to 1000 players with no club to go to so those who are unable to move on could well look at their situation and prefer to get paid for warming the bench at best..... HOWEVER it could work in our favour as a contract with us is better than no contract at all.....so swings and roundabouts for me.

[SEASIDECLARET]

I accept the point that if a player’s contract was compromised and the payer could then get a new contract at similar money he would be better off than “bench warming” however, it has been said that Morecambe last season were amongst the lowest budgets in L1.However, the very vast majority of the players who DA is looking to release I would have thought would not be being sought after by L1 clubs, but by L2 and National League teams. The wage budget last season at Morecambe was in excess of a very substantial amount of L2 clubs and all bar at the most 3 National League teams(Stockport, Wrexham and Notts County), so maybe not quite as straightforward as we would hope!

[P/T Indie]

I also heard that in training Wes is a world beater

[redrobo]

I also heard that in training Wes is a world beater

.. and despite that DA never used him. Wonder why? Maybe he already knew of his failings.