vvm wrote:but I worry that might cost us this summer if we need to recruit an entirely new team yet again.
Speaking to someone very close to the club, it looks like a complete rebuild is going to be needed.
There have apparently been a couple of almighty foul ups with not understanding player contracts, whereby we've lost the right to trigger an extension clause, meaning a couple of the most influential players that we could have kept by triggering extensions are now off. These are both apparently scenarios where we needed to have started/played them for a specific number of games over a specific time period, but which because the manager/assistant manager didn't read the contracts properly, are now free to go, without any way of us holding onto them or selling them. In one case, the most potentially valuable player of the two, we are one game short (not clear whether he needed to start or just needed to play), of triggering the extension, where two more starts/plays are needed but we only have one game left! Doh!!
Another has been refusing to start so as not to allow his extension to be triggered as he doesn't want to stay, whatever is offered. That explains why he has been a regular off the bench when logic would have said for him to start. (Sounds like another Cole situation where he'd just not put the effort in if he was started against his wishes!).
Two more of our better players are out of contract and have made it clear they're off, not even waiting around to see what (or if) our contract offer will be.
There is a glimmer of hope with two more of the better ones, both indicating they're wanting to stay, one in particular we desperately need to stay, and things are looking good for that one as he's very motivated to stay, the other, again, someone we desperately need to stay, is a "probably".
So, out of our squad, we have, maybe 3 or 4 (counting Brown) who are likely to still be here for next season. Few, if any, of the others are staying apparently, and that's regardless of what happens with ownership, budget, etc. It's going to be another hard few months for a manager to build up an entirely new squad yet again.