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Who stays and who goes? #NCFC

Who stays and who goes? #NCFC

10th May 2023 By Andy Head 9 Comments

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With the big summer discount sale apparently kicking off at Colney any day now, it seems like as good a time as any to have a bit of a speculate as to who will be gracing Carrow Road with Wagnerball next season, and who will be jettisoned to make funds available for Operation All-Eggs-In-One-Basket.

Certain To Stay

  • Adam Idah
  • Onel Hernandez
  • Kenny McLean

All three have signed new contracts in the past few months, so are part of the plans. Rightly or wrongly.

Sacrificial Lambs

  • Max Aarons
  • Andrew Omobamidele

When asked directly whether these two are likely to be sold, Wagner refused to rule it out highlighting that it is normal for clubs to sell in order to buy. The body language of both players against Blackpool did nothing to dispel the theory.

Would sell for the right price

  • Gabriel Sara
  • Josh Sargent

While I don’t think Wagner specifically wants either to leave, pragmatically these are two of our most saleable assets and if the right bid came in I think we’d take it. Wagner has lamented on several occasions our lack of clinical finishing, with Sargent often having been a starter in those games. My guess is that an offer near what we paid would get it done, especially if a similar type of player, such as Ashley Barnes, signs.

Time to say goodbye

  • Tim Krul
  • Ben Gibson
  • Milot Rashica

Three big earners, the first two are regressing and need a fresh start, and the latter doesn’t want to be here. Be surprised if we saw any of them here next year.

Likely to remain

  • Bali Mumba
  • Liam Gibbs
  • Jonathan Rowe
  • Abu Kamara
  • Jacob Sorensen
  • Angus Gunn
  • Tony Springett
  • Jonathan Tomkinson
  • Dan Barden

Wagner has already said that Mumba is in his plans. Barden, Gibbs, Tomkinson, Rowe, Springett, and Kamara are the young and hungry ones to fill out the squad (unless they are loaned). Gunn is nailed on as the number one (unless Rangers come calling – Ed) and Lungi is a versatile option to have in the squad that Wagner likes.

Questionable

  • Grant Hanley
  • Marcelino Nunez
  • Dimi Giannoulis
  • Sam McCallum
  • Christos Tzolis
  • Przemyslaw Placheta

These are the real question marks. I think Placheta is certainly one player we’d like to move on, but to do that someone has to want him, and that will be half the battle.

Likewise, Tzolis and Nunez might be candidates to go, albeit they come with the baggage of reasonably large transfer fees which we’d want to recoup as much of as possible, and neither has done enough to suggest they would fetch much of a fee. Equally, I don’t think Wagner sees either as being part of the long-term plans or fitting his system.

Neither Giannoulis or McCallum have been able to pin the left-back role down this season, and I’m not sure either fits Wagnerball. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if one or both leave if a decent fee can be rustled up.

Grant Hanley would be a huge surprise exit but if the club are committed to rebuilding he’s on a big wage, he’s on the older side, and he looks as comfortable as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs when playing out from the back which Wagnerball demands. For me, it wouldn’t be out of the question for the skipper to go on the block.

So those are my thoughts. No doubt you all have your own too. Either way, it should hopefully be an interesting summer at Colney.

My hope is that we don’t sell the silverware to fund a manager who isn’t up to the task and his replacement doesn’t have to rock up to a poor squad, now stripped of any sale value to start yet another rebuild with no money.

I also hope for World Peace and I’m unfortunately struggling to say which is more unlikely to happen at this point.


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Filed Under: Andy Head, Column

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Comments

  1. Olly says

    10th May 2023 at 11:25 am

    No one’s gonna buy Hanley while he’s got a ruptured Achilles…

    1
    Reply
    • Chris says

      11th May 2023 at 7:11 am

      Webber would.

      Reply
  2. martin penney says

    10th May 2023 at 11:29 am

    Hi Andy

    Just a quick thought on Grant Hanley.

    There have been pessimistic rumblings that he might not be fully fit until Christmas and that throws all kinds of shadows over his future. Impossible to predict right now,

    *Questionable* is certainly the right word in this case 🙂

    4
    Reply
  3. Paul frewer says

    10th May 2023 at 11:39 am

    This is probably the closest we have been to a fire sale for several years, I feel anyone is available at a price that will disappoint.
    Looking at our team Monday we might only see a few of them next season.
    ATM we are 7-8 players short of a competitive squad.
    As I said earlier I think no decent offers will be refused.
    OTBC.

    1
    Reply
  4. JohnF says

    10th May 2023 at 11:49 am

    The plan appears to be we sell two of our best young players in order to buy or recruit aging free agents to replace them with. That should keep Delia happy as bottom half of the championship is what we’ll achieve at best.
    Let’s hope she sees the light and sells up in time to recruit decent players on the way up.
    Another season like the last one and she’ll be lucky to see 15,000 gates but doubtless her employees will tell her the attendance was 26,720,

    3
    Reply
  5. AlexB says

    10th May 2023 at 11:57 am

    Hi Andy

    A good read and I agree with most of it.

    Tzolis is one thati see a future at city Wagner it’s said went out of his way to convince the club to cancel the loan so unless it just about getting money in I can see him here next season.

    Placheta went out on loan and played as a wingback getting good reviews from the Birmingham manager until a serious injury curtailed his season maybe he could do that for Wagner.

    Nunez the conundrum what is his best position, Smith says the drop off in his preformances was due to no rest period for two years, even during the World Cup his was on international duty so hopefully we might see more from him next season.

    Barden 14 games for Maidstone 27 g9als conceded maybe a better loan next season.

    Hanley not going to be fit for pre-season so there will be no taker till at least January but he just might prove his doubters wrong and come back refreshed.

    Gibson will be gone and city will lose money hewas never worth the reputed £9.5m

    Gunn it would be a big mistake letting him go but with Rangers looking to sign out of contract players and Buttland already in talks I can’t see that being his destination

    Giannoulis and McCallum both love going forward but poor at times in defence maybe for cash to build a transfer fund one will be sacrificed on the alter of self-funding not both.

    Aaron’s could end up in Germany with Farke

    Andrew O might go the route to Italy the clubs there have done well picking up cheap players from UK based clubs in recent years.

    Webber off to Leeds maybe.

    Mark Attanasio could become our majority shareholders so he might look at this his first season and decide he wants his own people in who he trusts to spend any funds available.

    This will not be a quiet summer

    2
    Reply
  6. Tim Ball says

    10th May 2023 at 1:52 pm

    Crikey Andy when you see it like that you realise the enormity of the summer recruitment ahead.

    Ben Gibson, is possibly the highest earner at the club so I just cannot see him going in the summer. I don’t think anyone will pay his wages.

    Really we should be keeping Andy Omobamidele, Gabriel Sara and possibly Nacho Nunez and Sam McCallum, but as the board have lost all the parachute money we are in a massive bind.

    Andy has looked okay, needs a senior partner, Sara may improve for another season with us and be worth a lot more next season, Nunez may improve for the break and be a more consistent player next season and Sam was young player of the year at QPR so he has potential with the right training.

    And as Olly says no one is going to buy Grant Hanley until next summer at the earliest. Personally come December/January we could be very pleased to see him back.

    Giannoulis, Tzolis, Placheta are all unknowns, could any of them improve under Wagner after a full pre-season?

    Josh Sargent will be interesting, I would hang on to him if we can but it really is one hell of a guessing game.
    The only thing being sure is that by now DW must knows who he wants and who he doesn’t.

    Reply
  7. Nick says

    10th May 2023 at 3:27 pm

    The answer depends on who we can attract to fill the gaping holes in an unbalanced squad: namely two decent centre backs; at least one out and out DM so that Kenny and Sara, if still here, and Gibbs and Nunez can play where they are most potent.

    Pukki must be replaced by an experienced forward.

    Assuming Max goes we need a proper RB who can defend and attack. Please MR Wagner do not rely on Bali Mumba for this position. His defending was grim even in L1!

    After those key roles are filled then one out one in and that applies to absolutely any of the current squad no matter what their contract length.

    1
    Reply
  8. Seamus says

    10th May 2023 at 8:04 pm

    The squad Looks poor and we we need 12 to 15 decent players 😱

    Of the current squad – 4 sold, 5 out of contract, several loaned out

    Reply

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