Don't know if I'm in a minority but I don't really rate Sam. He blows hot and cold. Great one match non-existant the next three. I know it's good to see players come through the ranks but he just isn't an "edge of the seat player" if you know what I mean. I think if we can get a decent fee and any money is spent on new arrivals then sell and freshen up the squad.
If only Sam could play like he did against Tranmere this season, was worthy of a 750k price tag that day. Granted it was a Tranmere side in an absolute mess but he run them all over the shop.
I still can't understand how he can only last 70 mins in a game before looking like he has one leg.
Good player for us imho but as said previously if the sale means we could sign Puncheon and Barnard which seems possible in terms of amounts bandied about for those two then good business. If Murrays statement about no money is to be spent I wonder whether this mean that any money generated would be swallowed up. Seems a pity if thats the case.
The only area I'd be accepting of selling players right now is central midfield. Anywhere else and you've already blown half the money you'll earn in transfer fees on signing a replacement, and however hot or cold he may be there's no way we'll sign a better player than Sam on our budget and whilst in this division.
If we sell Racon to fund strengthening of the squad I'll accept it as a reality of our situation and because we have other good players in his position. If we sell Sam we'll be seriously weakening our side and missing out on promotion will cost us more than £750K and will see the rest of this decent side we have broken up. Would be stupid business if done, imo.
[cite]Posted By: Ormiston Addick[/cite]Given the choice I'd sell Lloyd Sam like a shot for anything close to 750,000 if that helps us bring in two more strikers and a left-sided midfielder to help us go up.
Sam is a decent player, for sure, but does not score anything like enough goals for the amount of possession he gets.
I know he is often double-marked but even so, a return of only 10 goals in well over 100 games is pretty poor for a winger, he only has four goals this season (two of which were in one match) compared to Wagstaff who already has three goals from far fewer starts.
We would miss Sam, that is for certain, but I would sacrifice him to bring in Mooney/Akpo full time and to maybe bring in Puncheon on the left.
If we sold him we'd also have to replace him. Have to agree with others who've said Wagstaff isn't good enough to start regularly.
Two of Wagstaff's goals were after coming on as a sub when we were already ahead, opposition pushed up, Wagstaff ran through one-on-one. For me, that's what he's good at doing, coming on as a sub, working hard, getting into goalscoring positions, it puts pressure on the opposition.
Sam might not get the goals Wagstaff does, but he creates far, far more chances. Wagstaff doesn't create much, Sam does.
As frustrating as Sam can be, without a replacement (even if it's a left winger to play on the other side) we'll seriously miss him.
Sam, along with Burton, have our most assists (7), only two behind the leading assisting player in the league. That's obviously not including the chances he creates that other players miss.
He's never going to be a goalscorer, but Wagstaff is never going to have the skill Sam has. Sam works hard as well, and has that bit more experience defending.
I'm not actually a huge Lloyd Sam fan, but in this league, with Parky's help mainly with his confidence and belief, he's become very important to us. He's not got the class of Andy Reid for example, but we're playing League One.
[cite]Posted By: No.1 in South London[/cite]good business if true, spend the £750k wisely and it may be the difference between play-offs and automatic promotion. £750 could buy Puncheon + a.n.other decent player to give the sqaud a boost which is exactly what it needs. Keep Lloyd without freshening things up could play into Norwich's hands. Wide left has been a problem for us this season and the above may mean we are better balanced with Waggy able to play right.
I agree with this, £750k for him and I'm afraid I'd accept it now.
[quote][cite]Posted By: Scoham[/cite][quote][cite]Posted By: Ormiston Addick[/cite]Given the choice I'd sell Lloyd Sam like a shot for anything close to 750,000 if that helps us bring in two more strikers and a left-sided midfielder to help us go up.
Sam is a decent player, for sure, but does not score anything like enough goals for the amount of possession he gets.
I know he is often double-marked but even so, a return of only 10 goals in well over 100 games is pretty poor for a winger, he only has four goals this season (two of which were in one match) compared to Wagstaff who already has three goals from far fewer starts.
We would miss Sam, that is for certain, but I would sacrifice him to bring in Mooney/Akpo full time and to maybe bring in Puncheon on the left.[/quote]
If we sold him we'd also have to replace him. Have to agree with others who've said Wagstaff isn't good enough to start regularly.
Two of Wagstaff's goals were after coming on as a sub when we were already ahead, opposition pushed up, Wagstaff ran through one-on-one. For me, that's what he's good at doing, coming on as a sub, working hard, getting into goalscoring positions, it puts pressure on the opposition.
Sam might not get the goals Wagstaff does, but he creates far, far more chances. Wagstaff doesn't create much, Sam does.
As frustrating as Sam can be, without a replacement (even if it's a left winger to play on the other side) we'll seriously miss him.
Sam, along with Burton, have our most assists (7), only two behind the leading assisting player in the league. That's obviously not including the chances he creates that other players miss.
He's never going to be a goalscorer, but Wagstaff is never going to have the skill Sam has. Sam works hard as well, and has that bit more experience defending.
I'm not actually a huge Lloyd Sam fan, but in this league, with Parky's help mainly with his confidence and belief, he's become very important to us. He's not got the class of Andy Reid for example, but we're playing League One.[/quote]
Fair enough Scoham, some good points there, the only thing that you must remember is that Sam is out of contract in the summer so its a choice of getting some dough for him now or, most likely, lose him for free in the summer....
"surely we will pump the money back into the squad otherwise why bother?"
to balance the books. the same reason we sold reid when in the promotion race in the champ - i dont think any of that cash went back into the squad, other than on a series of pitiful loans but that didnt scrape the surface of the 4m. we would sell sam for the same reason - to try and steady the bank in case we don't go up. we would be lucky to see 100 or 200k put back into the squad. i don't see why anybody would realistically think we would put it back in, murray already said last week there wont be any cash and he mustve had an idea then if we were going to let anybody go. he didnt say "we would have to sell to buy". i think we will get a couple of loans, which is what we would get if sam stayed, no difference.
i think he is vastly underrated. yes inconsistent, but as somebody said what winger isnt, when your game is constantly taking on players and trying to split the defence open of course you are going to lose the ball fairly frequently, everything he tries isnt going to come off every time, but he is a threat for the majority of most games and has been throughtout the season, not just in the first month or two. he was instrumental when we beat MK 5-1 and has created numerous other goals.
i dont understand why people think it would be worth letting him go to extend the loans of akpo and mooney - we have had both those players for the last two months (as bit parts), so to lose sam for them would just be weakening the squad, and sam has been vastly more influential than either of them.
if we lose sam, i honestly do not think we will go up unless we replace him directly with a decent quality winger, (not wagstaff - by the way, what happens if he gets injured then), whether that be puncheon (dont know much about him) or anybody else.
[cite]Posted By: JT[/cite]The sole Premiership survivor.
*wipes tear*
Not quite - but will also be on Premiership wages compared with some of the more recent signings. If he can be replaced with the 'cheaper' Puncheon and the Club believe Waggy can hold his own (which to be fair he certainly has grabbed his chance with both hands) it's very good business, particularly for a man who has less than 6 months to run on his contract.
Players come, players go; the Club gets £500k to keep the wolves from the door, further reduce our outgoings, get a decent player on a two year contract and off we go again with no significant detriment to the squad.
That is exactly how I want my football club to be run in the current climate.
[cite]Posted By: Ormiston Addick[/cite]Fair enough Scoham, some good points there, the only thing that you must remember is that Sam is out of contract in the summer so its a choice of getting some dough for him now or, most likely, lose him for free in the summer....
I'd look at the longer term - promotion is worth far more to us than (a rumoured) £750k now. If we lose Sam in the summer, there will be other players out of contract, a much better chance of finding a good replacement.
Hard for some to believe, but if we sell Sam we'll probably only be able to replace him with someone just as inconsistent, and they'll need time to settle into the team.
Not too keen to see Sam go but if we get over £500k I think we'll take it. Would be good if we could get a player like Mark Yeates as part of the deal if possible as Boro fans don't seem to rate him that highly but he's always done well at L1 level.
[cite]Posted By: Ormiston Addick[/cite]
Fair enough Scoham, some good points there, the only thing that you must remember is that Sam is out of contract in the summer so its a choice of getting some dough for him now or, most likely, lose him for free in the summer....
That's all well and good Ormy, but what is the cost of missing out on promotion? Was £3m the figure quoted in the summer as the cost of relegation? Miss out this season and you can wave bye-bye to Racon, Bailey and Jonjo for a start
plus maybe Youga, Dailly, Sodje and Semedo.
All this talk of signing 2 or 3 players with the money seems unrealistic to me as well. We'd maybe be able to sign one player on a permanent and 1 or 2 on loan - how much better off does that leave us? One of those signings would need to be a replacement for Sam as well otherwise the right of midfield would just become the problem the left has been. Anyone who thinks Wagstaff would get near a start in any of the other top 6 sides in this division is delluding themselves - I like the kid and think he could develop, but we need more than just raw enthusiam to get promoted.
As for the hot and cold argument, Sam is the most creative player in our first team and the only one (except maybe Youga) who can open teams up with a bit of flair and skill. He's also our only supply line from crosses (however bad Sam's crossing my be considered by others, Wagstaff's is worse). He isn't the most consistent player in the world, but as Scoham says, wingers tend not to be anyway and players who can combine Sam's skills with Semedo's consistency ply their trade at the top end of the Premiership - not in League 1 so we simply will not get any better. At best we'll get Puncheon on the other flank who'll be a very similar sort of player and we'll be left with a hole on the right instead. Also, don't forget Sam has played Premtership football and regularly at Championship level - Puncheon can't get in a poor Plymouth side at the base of the Championship, does that say to you he's likely to be any great improvement on Sam?
Imho, better to keep Sam and sign a loanee on the left. Apart from anything else, that means only 1 new player to settle into our midfield, not 2. And who's to say Sam won't stay if we get promoted again?
750k for a player out of contract in the summer would be very good business as long as it was pumped back into the squad. Sam blows hot and cold and when good is good but normally is pretty average. I think Wagstaff is better than some give him credit for and I'd back him to score more goals than Sam if played regularly.
Good post Exiled, agree with all of that. Would add that Racon has a bit of skill as well (as does Youga), though he's inconsistent like Sam.
I just think there's more to it than making decent money on Sam in the short term. It takes a settled team to get promoted, with a good mix of different types of players, and if you let first team regulars go you need good replacements to come in and play well straight away. I don't see how we'll easily replace him with someone just as good until the summer.
[cite]Posted By: LargeAddick[/cite]750k for a player out of contract in the summer would be very good business as long as it was pumped back into the squad. Sam blows hot and cold and when good is good but normally is pretty average. I think Wagstaff is better than some give him credit for and I'd back him to score more goals than Sam if played regularly.
But would you back Wagstaff to set up more goals and create more chances than Sam?
"750k for a player out of contract in the summer would be very good business as long as it was pumped back into the squad. Sam blows hot and cold and when good is good but normally is pretty average. I think Wagstaff is better than some give him credit for and I'd back him to score more goals than Sam if played regularly. "
Why do people keep talking about good business? who cares. yes his contract runs out in the summer and 750k is profit on that. woopee. but this isn't championship manager. if we don't go up this season we will probably be stuck down here for ages, promotion is the priority for christs sake, that will pay way more than 750k in dividends, if we lose sam on a free at the end of the season then s o d it if he gets us promoted. we are 3rd in the table with a very winnable run of games coming up. our priority this window is to make our squad as strong as possible to get promoted. not try and make 500 grand. what are we going to do with that in the summer if we are in league one? SOD ALL
unless anybody thinks selling sam will actually lead to an IMPROVEMENT in our squad (and it sounds like the only change will be we might get puncheon instead, so that doesn't improve on sam) then we shouldn't be entertaining the idea regardless of cash.
[cite]Posted By: LargeAddick[/cite]750k for a player out of contract in the summer would be very good business as long as it was pumped back into the squad. Sam blows hot and cold and when good is good but normally is pretty average. I think Wagstaff is better than some give him credit for and I'd back him to score more goals than Sam if played regularly.
But would you back Wagstaff to set up more goals and create more chances than Sam?
I personally think that Sam flatters to deceive most of the time. Two goals this season, both at Tranmere, is pretty poor return for a supposed wide player who like to cut inside all the time. Waggy I feel is more direct, has more pace, and can beat a man on the outside. Sam doesn't have any pace really but makes up for it with a bit of trickery. However, I don't think he's that great that we'd miss him greatly.
Oh, by the way, that is my opinion. Agree or disagree if you wish (not you specifically Scoham, the CL 'you') but please respect it. Thankyou.
It's all speculation at the moment but what happens with any possible sale money will ditate the reaction of fans i suppose. If we need to sell to keep the club going or if its a case of selling one to get 3 in. I suppose we'll have to wait till it's on the OS!
according to The Mail, Boro are interested in Wayne Routledge from QPR, Sunderland are interested in Adam Johnson from Boro and Sheff Utd are interested in Mark Yates. Maybe the Sam thing is just a rumour after all.
[cite]Posted By: paulsturgess[/cite]unless anybody thinks selling sam will actually lead to an IMPROVEMENT in our squad (and it sounds like the only change will be we might get puncheon instead, so that doesn't improve on sam) then we shouldn't be entertaining the idea regardless of cash.
Puncheon would be an improvement on Sam !, yes Sam has a fair amount of assists, but in my opinion is a fairly average 'one trick pony' player, decent enough at this level - but nowhere near consistant enough. He should be tearing this league up week in week out, but he isn't.
Don't get me wrong, I'd be fine enough if he stays, but wouldn't be gutted if he left (especially if we get between £500k - £750k and we can sign 2 players)
Comments seem to be divided between, keep Sam and we will get automatic promotion. Sell him and we won't.
(un)Fortunately things are never quite as clear cut as that, every thing you do in football is a risk/gamble/calculation.
Its all hypothetical, but we could keep Sam, not get promoted and lose out on possibly €750k. That could mean losing other good players and Sam in the summer. Or, we could sell him strengthen in other areas and win promotion. Or, of course the complete opposite of both those opinions.
That is why I love football, even when it is not being played there is so much to think about. It keeps me away from the worries of the real world.
[cite]Posted By: LargeAddick[/cite]I personally think that Sam flatters to deceive most of the time. Two goals this season, both at Tranmere, is pretty poor return for a supposed wide player who like to cut inside all the time. Waggy I feel is more direct, has more pace, and can beat a man on the outside. Sam doesn't have any pace really but makes up for it with a bit of trickery. However, I don't think he's that great that we'd miss him greatly.
Oh, by the way, that is my opinion. Agree or disagree if you wish (not you specifically Scoham, the CL 'you') but please respect it. Thankyou.
I respect that, but don't agree at all.
As said, he's scored four goals this season. I wouldn't say he cuts inside all the time, he likes to get crosses in rather than cut inside and shoot.
Wagstaff is a better goalscorer yes, more direct, adds energy, but his all round game and consistency is even worse than Sam's. All well and good Wagstaff charging past a left back, but he never gets many crosses in.
Sam has pace but doesn't use it. Not lightning quick (though not sure you'd say Wagstaff is either) no, but he makes up for that with his ball control (an area Wagstaff is much weaker in)
The thing I don't get when it comes to Sam v Wagstaff is the consistency one. Only reason Wagstaff doesn't look inconsistent (he is) is because he plays here and there, comes on as a sub, starts the odd game.
Anyway as I said I respect your opinion, but if Sam goes and Wagstaff ends up starting most games, it'll start to show how he's still nowhere near the same class as Sam.
[cite]Posted By: Elthamaddick[/cite]He should be tearing this league up week in week out, but he isn't.
Why should he? He's a good League One player, not levels above the defenders in this league. Bailey doesn't dominate every game, Burton doesn't either, why is Sam expected to?
Puncheon doesn't tear up this league every week and Wagstaff certainly won't. I don't think any winger in this league does.
to be fair we are all getting animated here on the basis of a middlesbrough fans forum comment. haven't seen anything else on any other website about it.
elthamaddick i don't know much about puncheon so cannot comment but i find it hard to believe he is better than sam given their respective career histories. i actually think sam was one of our better players last season also and could be a good championship winger in a reasonable side with some confidence. all subjective however i guess. my opinion is based on sam being one of the better players in a winning team this season so not wanting to lose him, i doubt many of us can really cast any valid opinion about puncheon.
The counter-argument about whether Sam should stay or the club cash in on him:
What happens if Sam picks up serious injury and misses the rest of the season?
Many will get on their soapbox to tell us all that they were right in the first place ...... the club missed out on the money, still paying his big wages, and what price his contribution to our promotion challenge now?
Personally, I believe he'd leave a big hole in this side if he was sold; he's part of the team off the field, as well as on it.
But then the universe will unfold in the way that it should.
Comments
I still can't understand how he can only last 70 mins in a game before looking like he has one leg.
If we sell Racon to fund strengthening of the squad I'll accept it as a reality of our situation and because we have other good players in his position. If we sell Sam we'll be seriously weakening our side and missing out on promotion will cost us more than £750K and will see the rest of this decent side we have broken up. Would be stupid business if done, imo.
If we sold him we'd also have to replace him. Have to agree with others who've said Wagstaff isn't good enough to start regularly.
Two of Wagstaff's goals were after coming on as a sub when we were already ahead, opposition pushed up, Wagstaff ran through one-on-one. For me, that's what he's good at doing, coming on as a sub, working hard, getting into goalscoring positions, it puts pressure on the opposition.
Sam might not get the goals Wagstaff does, but he creates far, far more chances. Wagstaff doesn't create much, Sam does.
As frustrating as Sam can be, without a replacement (even if it's a left winger to play on the other side) we'll seriously miss him.
Sam, along with Burton, have our most assists (7), only two behind the leading assisting player in the league. That's obviously not including the chances he creates that other players miss.
He's never going to be a goalscorer, but Wagstaff is never going to have the skill Sam has. Sam works hard as well, and has that bit more experience defending.
I'm not actually a huge Lloyd Sam fan, but in this league, with Parky's help mainly with his confidence and belief, he's become very important to us. He's not got the class of Andy Reid for example, but we're playing League One.
I agree with this, £750k for him and I'm afraid I'd accept it now.
Sam is a decent player, for sure, but does not score anything like enough goals for the amount of possession he gets.
I know he is often double-marked but even so, a return of only 10 goals in well over 100 games is pretty poor for a winger, he only has four goals this season (two of which were in one match) compared to Wagstaff who already has three goals from far fewer starts.
We would miss Sam, that is for certain, but I would sacrifice him to bring in Mooney/Akpo full time and to maybe bring in Puncheon on the left.[/quote]
If we sold him we'd also have to replace him. Have to agree with others who've said Wagstaff isn't good enough to start regularly.
Two of Wagstaff's goals were after coming on as a sub when we were already ahead, opposition pushed up, Wagstaff ran through one-on-one. For me, that's what he's good at doing, coming on as a sub, working hard, getting into goalscoring positions, it puts pressure on the opposition.
Sam might not get the goals Wagstaff does, but he creates far, far more chances. Wagstaff doesn't create much, Sam does.
As frustrating as Sam can be, without a replacement (even if it's a left winger to play on the other side) we'll seriously miss him.
Sam, along with Burton, have our most assists (7), only two behind the leading assisting player in the league. That's obviously not including the chances he creates that other players miss.
He's never going to be a goalscorer, but Wagstaff is never going to have the skill Sam has. Sam works hard as well, and has that bit more experience defending.
I'm not actually a huge Lloyd Sam fan, but in this league, with Parky's help mainly with his confidence and belief, he's become very important to us. He's not got the class of Andy Reid for example, but we're playing League One.[/quote]
Fair enough Scoham, some good points there, the only thing that you must remember is that Sam is out of contract in the summer so its a choice of getting some dough for him now or, most likely, lose him for free in the summer....
to balance the books. the same reason we sold reid when in the promotion race in the champ - i dont think any of that cash went back into the squad, other than on a series of pitiful loans but that didnt scrape the surface of the 4m. we would sell sam for the same reason - to try and steady the bank in case we don't go up. we would be lucky to see 100 or 200k put back into the squad. i don't see why anybody would realistically think we would put it back in, murray already said last week there wont be any cash and he mustve had an idea then if we were going to let anybody go. he didnt say "we would have to sell to buy". i think we will get a couple of loans, which is what we would get if sam stayed, no difference.
i think he is vastly underrated. yes inconsistent, but as somebody said what winger isnt, when your game is constantly taking on players and trying to split the defence open of course you are going to lose the ball fairly frequently, everything he tries isnt going to come off every time, but he is a threat for the majority of most games and has been throughtout the season, not just in the first month or two. he was instrumental when we beat MK 5-1 and has created numerous other goals.
i dont understand why people think it would be worth letting him go to extend the loans of akpo and mooney - we have had both those players for the last two months (as bit parts), so to lose sam for them would just be weakening the squad, and sam has been vastly more influential than either of them.
if we lose sam, i honestly do not think we will go up unless we replace him directly with a decent quality winger, (not wagstaff - by the way, what happens if he gets injured then), whether that be puncheon (dont know much about him) or anybody else.
Not quite - but will also be on Premiership wages compared with some of the more recent signings. If he can be replaced with the 'cheaper' Puncheon and the Club believe Waggy can hold his own (which to be fair he certainly has grabbed his chance with both hands) it's very good business, particularly for a man who has less than 6 months to run on his contract.
Players come, players go; the Club gets £500k to keep the wolves from the door, further reduce our outgoings, get a decent player on a two year contract and off we go again with no significant detriment to the squad.
That is exactly how I want my football club to be run in the current climate.
Hard for some to believe, but if we sell Sam we'll probably only be able to replace him with someone just as inconsistent, and they'll need time to settle into the team.
Parky connections at Colchester , Southgate rather than Strachan signing. Not sure whether he is left footed , but I think he is.
Would he be worth a punt in part exchange ?
Lol Richard J great minds think alike!
That's all well and good Ormy, but what is the cost of missing out on promotion? Was £3m the figure quoted in the summer as the cost of relegation? Miss out this season and you can wave bye-bye to Racon, Bailey and Jonjo for a start
plus maybe Youga, Dailly, Sodje and Semedo.
All this talk of signing 2 or 3 players with the money seems unrealistic to me as well. We'd maybe be able to sign one player on a permanent and 1 or 2 on loan - how much better off does that leave us? One of those signings would need to be a replacement for Sam as well otherwise the right of midfield would just become the problem the left has been. Anyone who thinks Wagstaff would get near a start in any of the other top 6 sides in this division is delluding themselves - I like the kid and think he could develop, but we need more than just raw enthusiam to get promoted.
As for the hot and cold argument, Sam is the most creative player in our first team and the only one (except maybe Youga) who can open teams up with a bit of flair and skill. He's also our only supply line from crosses (however bad Sam's crossing my be considered by others, Wagstaff's is worse). He isn't the most consistent player in the world, but as Scoham says, wingers tend not to be anyway and players who can combine Sam's skills with Semedo's consistency ply their trade at the top end of the Premiership - not in League 1 so we simply will not get any better. At best we'll get Puncheon on the other flank who'll be a very similar sort of player and we'll be left with a hole on the right instead. Also, don't forget Sam has played Premtership football and regularly at Championship level - Puncheon can't get in a poor Plymouth side at the base of the Championship, does that say to you he's likely to be any great improvement on Sam?
Imho, better to keep Sam and sign a loanee on the left. Apart from anything else, that means only 1 new player to settle into our midfield, not 2. And who's to say Sam won't stay if we get promoted again?
I just think there's more to it than making decent money on Sam in the short term. It takes a settled team to get promoted, with a good mix of different types of players, and if you let first team regulars go you need good replacements to come in and play well straight away. I don't see how we'll easily replace him with someone just as good until the summer.
Why do people keep talking about good business? who cares. yes his contract runs out in the summer and 750k is profit on that. woopee. but this isn't championship manager. if we don't go up this season we will probably be stuck down here for ages, promotion is the priority for christs sake, that will pay way more than 750k in dividends, if we lose sam on a free at the end of the season then s o d it if he gets us promoted. we are 3rd in the table with a very winnable run of games coming up. our priority this window is to make our squad as strong as possible to get promoted. not try and make 500 grand. what are we going to do with that in the summer if we are in league one? SOD ALL
I personally think that Sam flatters to deceive most of the time. Two goals this season, both at Tranmere, is pretty poor return for a supposed wide player who like to cut inside all the time. Waggy I feel is more direct, has more pace, and can beat a man on the outside. Sam doesn't have any pace really but makes up for it with a bit of trickery. However, I don't think he's that great that we'd miss him greatly.
Oh, by the way, that is my opinion. Agree or disagree if you wish (not you specifically Scoham, the CL 'you') but please respect it. Thankyou.
Puncheon would be an improvement on Sam !, yes Sam has a fair amount of assists, but in my opinion is a fairly average 'one trick pony' player, decent enough at this level - but nowhere near consistant enough. He should be tearing this league up week in week out, but he isn't.
Don't get me wrong, I'd be fine enough if he stays, but wouldn't be gutted if he left (especially if we get between £500k - £750k and we can sign 2 players)
(un)Fortunately things are never quite as clear cut as that, every thing you do in football is a risk/gamble/calculation.
Its all hypothetical, but we could keep Sam, not get promoted and lose out on possibly €750k. That could mean losing other good players and Sam in the summer. Or, we could sell him strengthen in other areas and win promotion. Or, of course the complete opposite of both those opinions.
That is why I love football, even when it is not being played there is so much to think about. It keeps me away from the worries of the real world.
As said, he's scored four goals this season. I wouldn't say he cuts inside all the time, he likes to get crosses in rather than cut inside and shoot.
Wagstaff is a better goalscorer yes, more direct, adds energy, but his all round game and consistency is even worse than Sam's. All well and good Wagstaff charging past a left back, but he never gets many crosses in.
Sam has pace but doesn't use it. Not lightning quick (though not sure you'd say Wagstaff is either) no, but he makes up for that with his ball control (an area Wagstaff is much weaker in)
The thing I don't get when it comes to Sam v Wagstaff is the consistency one. Only reason Wagstaff doesn't look inconsistent (he is) is because he plays here and there, comes on as a sub, starts the odd game.
Anyway as I said I respect your opinion, but if Sam goes and Wagstaff ends up starting most games, it'll start to show how he's still nowhere near the same class as Sam.
Why should he? He's a good League One player, not levels above the defenders in this league. Bailey doesn't dominate every game, Burton doesn't either, why is Sam expected to?
Puncheon doesn't tear up this league every week and Wagstaff certainly won't. I don't think any winger in this league does.
The money won't go on transfer fees either.
elthamaddick i don't know much about puncheon so cannot comment but i find it hard to believe he is better than sam given their respective career histories. i actually think sam was one of our better players last season also and could be a good championship winger in a reasonable side with some confidence. all subjective however i guess. my opinion is based on sam being one of the better players in a winning team this season so not wanting to lose him, i doubt many of us can really cast any valid opinion about puncheon.
Wait til we hear from Sam Lloyd.
Then we'll know.........
I know MOG, I definitely won't post my Shelvey, Bailey and Racon rumour now! ;0)
What happens if Sam picks up serious injury and misses the rest of the season?
Many will get on their soapbox to tell us all that they were right in the first place ...... the club missed out on the money, still paying his big wages, and what price his contribution to our promotion challenge now?
Personally, I believe he'd leave a big hole in this side if he was sold; he's part of the team off the field, as well as on it.
But then the universe will unfold in the way that it should.