Jake Forster Caskey - waiting to hear if club will exercise 1 year option (p11)

cafctom said:

cafcfan1990 said:

cafctom said:

Cafc43v3r said:

cafctom said:

Not sure about JFC.

He has been here 6 seasons, and I’d only say he stood out in 1 of those.

Similar to the Pearce debate really. I think they could both ‘do a job’, but is that job going to be making us a promotion winning team? I’m not convinced.

In the 2 full seasons in league 1 we finished 7th he was POTY and 6th he was 3rd.

I would happily take 4th and him be 5th :-) 

I’m not suggesting he’s a bad player at all. On his day, he’s probably better than most others we have under contract. That in itself is probably enough of a reason to re-sign him.

I just don’t see him anywhere near the level of player that has historically got us out of this division. Think back to previous midfielders that have won promotion with us - Cullen, Aribo, Stephens, Jackson, Bielik.

He’s nowhere near that level IMO.

What about Reeves, Lapslie or Hollands?

Reeves and Lapslie were not major contributors to those promotion sides from what I recall. 

Hollands did a great job in one of our greatest ever performing teams.

If we re-sign JFC to play a supporting role like Reeves/Lapslie then it’s I’d say it’s a very good option to take up. But I wouldn’t be looking to build a side with him as a guaranteed starter if we’re serious about promotion.

I think that’s fair, especially as we don’t really know how good he is anymore after that long lay off due to injury. 

 a midfield three of the below with decent wingbacks should be solid enough. JFC & Dobson should even be able to rotate a bit throughout the game as needed. 

For context Reeves played 32 games in 18/19.

Lapslie played the same amount.  

Dazzler21 said:

 a midfield three of the below with decent wingbacks should be solid enough. JFC & Dobson should even be able to rotate a bit throughout the game as needed. 

Dobson
Fraser - F.Caskey

solid enough for what though? I don't think that's a promotion midfield

golfaddick said:

North Lower Neil said:

Would be strange to have offered him a contract when we knew he'd be out 90% of this season only to release him for the season after.

This. But then once he was fit & coming to the end of the season with nothing to play for why didnt JJ play him. I can only assume we wont be taking up the option, otherwise the past month has been a waste.

Maybe they thought it wasn't worth the risk to the player? He started one game, came on in a couple and played a few u23s, so that was probably enough. Would have been terrible if he'd been thrown in for 6 games and ended up breaking down. Then the club and the player are stuffed. I can't see us releasing him. Get a proper pre season in and a one year contract is good for all parties I'd say.

Cafc43v3r said:

YTS1978 said:

golfaddick said:

North Lower Neil said:

Would be strange to have offered him a contract when we knew he'd be out 90% of this season only to release him for the season after.

This. But then once he was fit & coming to the end of the season with nothing to play for why didnt JJ play him. I can only assume we wont be taking up the option, otherwise the past month has been a waste.

Maybe they thought it wasn't worth the risk to the player? He started one game, came on in a couple and played a few u23s, so that was probably enough. Would have been terrible if he'd been thrown in for 6 games and ended up breaking down. Then the club and the player are stuffed. I can't see us releasing him. Get a proper pre season in and a one year contract is good for all parties I'd say.

A straight one year contract isn't a good idea in my opinion.  We want the protection that if he breaks down we are lumbered with him but risk losing him on a free like we could well have done last season if we just miss out and he is one of our better players again.  I am convinced he would have left last summer if he wasn't injured.

There's a higher chance based on his history that he will be out for another season than actually play in it. 

Anything longer than a one-year deal with F-C is crazy talk. 

Croydon said:

Dazzler21 said:

 a midfield three of the below with decent wingbacks should be solid enough. JFC & Dobson should even be able to rotate a bit throughout the game as needed. 

Dobson
Fraser - F.Caskey

solid enough for what though? I don't think that's a promotion midfield

Not enough creativity or mobility. JFC is too similar to Dobbo and drifts into his position.

Cafc43v3r said:

YTS1978 said:

golfaddick said:

North Lower Neil said:

Would be strange to have offered him a contract when we knew he'd be out 90% of this season only to release him for the season after.

This. But then once he was fit & coming to the end of the season with nothing to play for why didnt JJ play him. I can only assume we wont be taking up the option, otherwise the past month has been a waste.

Maybe they thought it wasn't worth the risk to the player? He started one game, came on in a couple and played a few u23s, so that was probably enough. Would have been terrible if he'd been thrown in for 6 games and ended up breaking down. Then the club and the player are stuffed. I can't see us releasing him. Get a proper pre season in and a one year contract is good for all parties I'd say.

A straight one year contract isn't a good idea in my opinion.  We want the protection that if he breaks down we are lumbered with him but risk losing him on a free like we could well have done last season if we just miss out and he is one of our better players again.  I am convinced he would have left last summer if he wasn't injured.

I think he would definitely have left, but we're a year on, we've paid for his op/ rehab, paid his wages, have an option for a year so should take it IMHO. Anything more than a year is a bit too much given he hasn't proven his fitness. He might not be the same player either. As others have mentioned there could be triggers in the contract that could protect us, but I'd worry about the here and now first rather than what happens next summer.

killerandflash said:

So who will decide whether to trigger the option?

Martin, obviously. 

AFKABartram said:

Strange one with JFC.

We are (rightly) unsure yet if we don’t take the option then I’m sure JFC would get a Championship contract for next season. I reckon if given the choice he would walk away and take his chances. 

I wasn’t huge fan but it was strikingly obvious in recent cameo he has quality above our level. But that point earlier in the thread of him only twice in six seasons playing 15 games is hard to ignore. 

My gut feel would be to trigger it and keep, but I’m not sure how Jacko wants to set up next year and where JFC would feature in that. 

One less thing to worry about...

We're going to need at least a few known quantities and bods that are familiar with the club cos the scale of the required clearout and rebuild is vast, again.
His appearances this term were (too) few and brief but we were strides better with him than without, not least the dead ball situations.
Take up his option, maybe with an availability/fitness bonus element.
His injuries with us have been entirely unpredictable all down to worst luck in stark contrast to fragile never fit lumps like Chuks, Innis or Lewis Page (remember him?) who break down with this that or another muscle tear after brief spells of regular 3rd division football.

Fortune 82nd Minute said:

Southbank said:

Croydon said:

Dazzler21 said:

 a midfield three of the below with decent wingbacks should be solid enough. JFC & Dobson should even be able to rotate a bit throughout the game as needed. 

Dobson
Fraser - F.Caskey

solid enough for what though? I don't think that's a promotion midfield

Not enough creativity or mobility. JFC is too similar to Dobbo and drifts into his position.

Spot on with that last sentence.

Although we say we have been playing 3-5-2 it's really been a 3-1-4-2 as Dobson has been playing behind the midfield 4 in front of the defence.

The only game F-C started after his come back from injury was at Wimbledon and here we ended up with F-C constantly dropping back and playing alongside Dobson. They were both trying to play the same role. I'm sure F-C can be told to stay further forward but if that is not a role he wants to play then it seems unlikely he will oust Dobson and if that is the case I can see him being allowed to move on.

The 5 or 6 worst games I have seen Dobson play for us is when he has had a "partner".  Whether its been Clare, Watson or Arter in a 4231 by design or in the 352/3142 when JFC or Morgan has dropped deep, as they both do.

He thrives on the certainty, responsibility and clarity that that gives him.  He is still good but not the same player imo.   Maybe that's why Adkins wasn't a fan?

Garrymanilow said:

SOTF said:

Couple of whispers I’ve heard:

1. Oxford are keen.
2. The extension has a wage rise built in to it.
3. It’s not beyond the realm of possibility that we’ll trigger the extension and he still leaves in the summer.

I've been thinking about this and I wonder why we don't just trigger it anyway. Worst case scenario if he doesn't want to stay we can get a bit of a fee for him on the way out. It's what Chelsea have done with Azpilicueta and at this point it's just protecting the value of an asset. If he wants out then we can have an agreement with him that a sale will happen rather than having rehabbed him all year, which I think was the right thing to do, and then letting him go to a rival for free.

I dont think yu will find many teams willing to pay a fee for JFC with his injury record. If they dont you are stuck with a player on higher wages than you want taken up a spot in the sqaud numbers. 

Dazzler21 said:

 a midfield three of the below with decent wingbacks should be solid enough. JFC & Dobson should even be able to rotate a bit throughout the game as needed. 

Dobson
Fraser - F.Caskey

Not much pace there.