juffery 0 Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Not so sure if there's 'at least 8 first team players about to come into their prime' that I'd want us to hold on to though... The eight I'm thinking of are McGregor, Bougherra, Whittaker, Broadfoot, Davis, Edu, Naismith and Jelavic. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
calscot 0 Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 No chance will Weir play next season, his removal immediately drops the average age to 27, which means it's actually 26 now. I also think the goal keepers don't really count as they tend to be at their best in their 30's and can easily play till almost 40. It mostly depends who we keep and who we bring in in the summer and with a new manager and possibly new owner, there will definitely be at least a few changes. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
calscot 0 Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Looking at it again and taking away Weir and the keepers we have: Papac - 31 Bougherra - 28 Whittaker - 27 Broadfoot - 27 Jig - 33 Davis - 26 Edu - 25 Ness - 20 Hutton - 20 Fleck - 20 Naismith - 25 Lafferty - 24 Jelavic - 26 Beattie - 33 Healy - 32 Healy is on loan and if he doesn't make an impact he won't be staying. Beattie looks like he's already most of the way out the door and we'll be looking to get him off our books permenantly. That only leaves Jig and Papac over 30. I can see Jig drifting out the team next season as at his age he's not much left to give and his injury will likely mean he'll struggle to get back to a level to compete for a place. Papac is having a bad season and I can see us looking for a replacement. Take that lot away and you get: Bougherra - 28 Whittaker - 27 Broadfoot - 27 Davis - 26 Edu - 25 Ness - 20 Hutton - 20 Fleck - 20 Naismith - 25 Lafferty - 24 Jelavic - 26 Which is an average of only 24 (23 now without even counting Wiess) and those can really be thought of as the core of our medium term team. It doesn't look too bad. However, the 30 something players could easily be replaced or augmented by more of the same in the summer, considering our financial predicament and the need for experienced winners in our squad. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Totti 0 Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 (edited) He's probably not on very high wages, so wouldn't have wanted a longer contract. He'll probably get an improved contract and wages in 12 - 18 months if he keeps getting plenty games for us. Yes we could end up with another Boyd/Miller/Wilson. Calscot - Papac's form has not been great but lets not forget he was faultless in the earlier part of the season, good in Europe too. I wouldn't want to get rid of one of the few players we have capable of performing to a high standard against anyone. Replacing a player who has done well for years would be a very risky move considering the amount of atrocious players we've seen in the wide areas at Ibrox in recent years. His replacement would probably be Ricky Foster. Papac has not been great recently but neither has anyone really. Edited February 10, 2011 by Totti 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zappa 0 Posted February 10, 2011 Author Share Posted February 10, 2011 Healy isn't on loan Cal. He was released and signed for us till the end of the season. There's every chance he could be given a 1 or 2 year contract in the summer if the manager thinks he's worth keeping. Beattie is contracted till summer 2012 and we're more likely to keep him than buy him out to get rid if nobody wants him this summer. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankie 8,200 Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Despite his recent poor form I'd rather we kept Papac as he's experienced, pretty consistent and usually an able performer. No idea of the wage he'll be after but I doubt it would be much in comparison with having to sign a new player. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zappa 0 Posted February 10, 2011 Author Share Posted February 10, 2011 Despite his recent poor form I'd rather we kept Papac as he's experienced, pretty consistent and usually an able performer. No idea of the wage he'll be after but I doubt it would be much in comparison with having to sign a new player. Papac was offered that new 1 year contract and supposedly just had to clarify a few things with Bain last we heard, but that was weeks and weeks ago, so what's keeping it from getting sorted? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankie 8,200 Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Papac represents himself so is probably just taking a few weeks to think it over amongst some difficult matches. Not sure if it is affecting his form/attitude but his level has definitely dropped of late. As such, he won't be able to go back and ask for more anyway... 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
metlika 0 Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Papac represents himself so is probably just taking a few weeks to think it over amongst some difficult matches. Not sure if it is affecting his form/attitude but his level has definitely dropped of late. As such, he won't be able to go back and ask for more anyway... Didn't he want more long term security but we are only willing to offer a year . I'd keep Papac but get another left back in to compete with him. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.