Do we stick or twist?

[calibear1872]

Sell Kent, Aribo & Kamala. Hold onto Bassey and Morelos with new contract if possible. With others going and Lowry coming in, surely we can now spend to get quality players in for CB, wingers and one more clinical striker

 

[Twosignals]

Apart from the posts above, another reason to let them go, how many times have we turned up to games and wondered what players will turn up. Too many of our players have only played on average up to 60% this season. Gio himself isn’t without criticism in not having the Auld Heid of Steven Davis playing, clear out has to happen.

 

[RabSpackman]

If we can get decent money for Kent and Aribo, let them go. If we can get a few million for Roofe then let him go because he is just fragile. I would happily get rid of Borna as well if we can.

We need need to building a team around Lowry.

It’ll be interesting to see what Gio does with Lowry.. a Scottish, maybe even a British manager just wouldn’t built a team around a teenager who is breaking through.

The last Dutchman to manager Rangers did it though, and Gio was in that squad.
Maybe there’s a role for Lowry on Saturday?

 

[Carsons Army 2.0]

Sell and reinvest. Give Gio his own players and let him take control, obviously a few guys out of contract and leaving but I think we’ll sell a few as well.

Just don’t know if I’d trust Gio with funds

 

[willie johnston]

A few months ago with the title slipping away, many of here were lamenting that we didn't sell our best players last Summer when their value was at their peak. With the run in the Europa, a number of players values will be up again this Summer.

Do we cash in on this and rebuild a fresh team with hopefully a higher ceiling? That would likely involve selling our best players, bringing in promising but cheaper young players, whilst the club pockets some of the money to stabilise the clubs finances. The risk there though is with a rebuild we probably would have less chance of getting through the CL qualifiers and could be quite far behind in the league before the new players start clicking.

Or do we stick what we have got. That would probably increase our chances of getting into the CL group stage, pocketing the cash from it, whilst also increase chance of winning the league. The risk there is that if we fail to do that, the players values will likely drop substantially and the club finances would be under real strain. Unlikely to have much spare cash to improve the side from where we are.

It's probably worth noting that for all the stick the scum get about their spending, they actually brought more money into the club then they spent last summer, whilst improving their team significantly (albeit from a lower base than ours).

Keep, and let's get into the champions League

 

[linthousebear1981]

It’ll be interesting to see what Gio does with Lowry.. a Scottish, maybe even a British manager just wouldn’t built a team around a teenager who is breaking through.

The last Dutchman to manager Rangers did it though, and Gio was in that squad.
Maybe there’s a role for Lowry on Saturday?

He is our most talented prospect since Ferguson. I know it seems mental to build a team around but he has the talent along with Bassey to reach the top in the game. To me those two are most prized assets at the moment. Plus I really don't think we should sign Ramsey and Arfield cannot be our main attacking midfielder next season.

From where I am standing, we need a left back, another centre back to replace Goldson, a new keeper and a striker is as good as Morelos if not better because Roofe cannot be relied upon to be there if Morelos is out. Itten just doesn't fit our system.

I think we are looking at roughly 6/7 players out and 7-9 in.

 

[Private_joker]

I think there will big bids for Calvin Bassey. He's a good age for a club to invest decent money in him and he's physically a bit of a monster. I would love to keep hold of him though.
Like others have said - if players are on their final year they HAVE to be sold. I think central midfield is likely to require a full overhaul. We need cover at right-back. Big job on in the summer. Hopefully the kids will get more opportunities too.

 

[iaatpies]

I thought Kamara never really got a hold of that game last night. When you have Lundstram moving between midfield and defence then he is needed all game long though, and with Jack coming off after about an hour in any game (we did well to get the 75 minutes or so last night) then Kamara was unlikely to be taken off.

I was surprised not to see Roofe on earlier - maybe he really was that close to being ruled out that all he had in him was a few minutes and a penalty.

Part of it was lack of alternatives too.

During the game I wanted Kamara off and Ramsey on. Maybe it was the game for Lowry, but I'd be worried throwing him on in such a big occasion. I'd start him on Saturday, but last night was seriously high pressure. I think we could possibly have given Ramsey 30-45 minutes and got him up to game speed, but whether he was fit enough for that is a bit of a doubt. With Aribo playing poorly too, it wasn't even a case of dropping Aribo from his striking role to take over from Kamara as the attacking midfielder. Aribo was rotten. We just didnt have the squad options available to us.

 

[RabSpackman]

Part of it was lack of alternatives too.

During the game I wanted Kamara off and Ramsey on. Maybe it was the game for Lowry, but I'd be worried throwing him on in such a big occasion. I'd start him on Saturday, but last night was seriously high pressure. I think we could possibly have given Ramsey 30-45 minutes and got him up to game speed, but whether he was fit enough for that is a bit of a doubt. With Aribo playing poorly too, it wasn't even a case of dropping Aribo from his striking role to take over from Kamara as the attacking midfielder. Aribo was rotten. We just didnt have the squad options available to us.

We had seemed to cope without a striker in recent games and I was nervous that starting Roofe would set that back.. Aribo in the role just wasn’t working though.
In trusty, our goal came from a bit of fortune when the defender fluffed his header and Aribo had a chance to take the ball on a run.
We weren’t creating any danger in their box though.

Would have been too much to put Lowry into that from the start last night but Saturday is a different situation and I’d think he’s up to it.

 

[RabSpackman]

He is our most talented prospect since Ferguson. I know it seems mental to build a team around but he has the talent along with Bassey to reach the top in the game. To me those two are most prized assets at the moment. Plus I really don't think we should sign Ramsey and Arfield cannot be our main attacking midfielder next season.

From where I am standing, we need a left back, another centre back to replace Goldson, a new keeper and a striker is as good as Morelos if not better because Roofe cannot be relied upon to be there if Morelos is out. Itten just doesn't fit our system.

I think we are looking at roughly 6/7 players out and 7-9 in.

Itten is finished - that he’s not had a look-in during the last few weeks when we’ve had issues fielding a striker confirmed it.

We need another Morelos-type definately.

Looking round the team and trying to predict who the manager favours and who isn’t at or towards end of a contract, I think the ones that swill be around next year will be Tav, Bassey, Lundstram, Jack, Hagi, Morelos, Lowry.. a few like Balogun, Sakala & Arfield will be squad players.
That’s a lot of jerseys that need filled.

Just can’t see Aribo and Kent both staying - and I think the problem with both of them is that they are cracking players but lack the consistent output of goals & assists to lead you to burst the bank for them.

 

[Outlaw Pete]

Sell Kent, Aribo and Kamara if we get good offers for them. Keep Alfie whatever the cost, even if we lose him for free next year. Keep the rest of the players and invest in a quality CB (unfortunately it looks like Goldson is off), a quality midfielder and a wide right player. 3 very good first team players is all we need to add, we have the spine of a team that made a europa league final, and we have the most promising group of youngsters I’ve ever seen come through.

Agree with most of this. If suitable offers come in for Kent and or Aribo I would sell. On their day they can be brilliant but as we have saw this season in particular they can be frustrating. Their numbers this season have been poor, when you consider their ability. Regarding Alfie, if he doesn’t sign a contract extension then I’m afraid we have to sell. I would reward Bassey with new contract. Goldson has been a good player for us, however their is always a mistake in him. After SC on Saturday I think Davies and MaGregor will retire. I would like us to add quality rather than quantity this summer. If we can only afford 2 first team players then so be it. And crucially we need to sign players that don’t have a poor injury record . Use the youth players to fill the squad out, as they have shown they can perform. FWIW I would also enquire about season long loan for Dialo.
Anyone else think Steve Davies shot in heading top bin last night until that defender gets the smallest deflection ? Gutting

 

[Hillheadbear]

The players that have really shone for us in this Euro run are Bassey, Lundstram, Tavernier, Kent and Morelos. I would be surprised if we don't get bids for some of them. Whether those bids meet out valuation remains to be seen.

We are lucky in that we have some really good young players coming up; Lowry, King, Devine, McKinnon to name but a few. I could see Lowry and King becoming regulars next season.

On the negative side, we have some players who are reaching the end of their careers; Davies, McGregor and Arfield are three of them. We also have some players who, in my opinion, aren't at the level we need. I would put Kamara, Itten, Wright and Sakala in that bracket. Can they be improved by the coaching team? If not, then we need to let them go.

So, who we buy will depend on 1) who ends up leaving, 2) how much confidence GVB has in the youngsters, 3) GVB's vision for the sort of team he wants out there and 4) where GVB feels his gaps and weaknesses are.

We should remember that this is still Gerard's team and not GVB's. Our manager will have his own ideas about the way forward.