Other clubs releasing players...

[boslemportvale91]

Colchester released four of their top players  today including former vale player luke Prosser .

Makes me even more grateful Carol and kevin came in when they did. 

 

 

[ginginator]

All were out of contract (end of June). They wont be the only club doing this and re signing when finances allow. 

 

[boslemportvale91]

Can't see Colchester re signing them any time soon , they seem to be struggling on the money side like many teams no doubt. 

Side note - I'd take Frank Nouble & Luke Prosser at the Vale 

[TJHValiant]

Prosser looks past it. The serious injury he had a couple of years back has dented his mobility. He honestly would not get in our line up these days.

[Mario]

Thank goodness for the Man City windfall.

[Paul6754]

I'd have taken Frank Nouble in a heartbeat but since he was so bad the last time he played against us at VP I'm not so sure.

I wondered whether the financial hardship many clubs are in may work in Vale's favor in terms of us being able to sign Jake Taylor and possibly Mitch Clarke on a permanent basis. I would have thought Championship clubs like Forest would be looking to off load some players, perhaps not so much Prem. Clubs but it's always assuming Vale have the funds to take advantage.

[Conrad]

2 hours ago, boslemportvale91 said:

Can't see Colchester re signing them any time soon , they seem to be struggling on the money side like many teams no doubt. 

Side note - I'd take Frank Nouble & Luke Prosser at the Vale 

Frank Nouble would be good, but I can’t see any clubs signing new players whilst the season is on hold.

[JRC]

All 4 have been mainstay players in a team above us. Ryan Jackson is a good fullback and will know Askey from his spell at Macclesfield. All 4 are London based and I suspect higher earners. 

Certainly all 4 are upgrades on some of our squad players, not sure they are that much better than our first 11. 

[DistantVale]

How would we be able to meet even one of their wages never mind  4 ? Also isn't there a possibility if you have furloughed  your playing staff you might have a transfer ban for the next season ? 

[JRC]

9 minutes ago, DistantVale said:

How would we be able to meet even one of their wages never mind  4 ? Also isn't there a possibility if you have furloughed  your playing staff you might have a transfer ban for the next season ? 

All 4 are still under contract so nobody will sign them until after the season closes. I think every club has used the furlough scheme so sure that won't lead to a transfer ban. I doubt all 4 would be of interest to Askey. Can't see any players signing until clubs are confident supporters will be able to attend come August.

[Santa]

I believe Colchester owe Jobserve, their chairman's business / sponsor / parent company of the football club, something in the region of £25 million.

[darren1810]

I'd have taken Frank Nouble in a heartbeat but since he was so bad the last time he played against us at VP I'm not so sure

. Quite right Paul in fact that day none of their players looked like they wanted it.

Vale wanted it more whilst they just wanted to get dry. 

Luke Prosser has had a surprisingly okay career, i still shudder about his back pass against Macclesfield. Felt he was woeful for us but has obviously matured into an okay lower league player. Would i have him here, nope , particularly after the way Brisley performed. 

[Marmaduke]

Jackson would be the only one I'd be interested in, and even then he's an attack-minded full-back rather than a good full-back.

It's all academic, though, isn't it?  I expect there to be an abundance of "talent" available for a song this summer as clubs look to reduce their wage bills.

[Joe B]

Its going to be mayhem this summer, should the present restrictions still apply.

Club's forced into releasing players/deferring wages and bonuses as they take a monumental financial hit from the loss of 5-6 home games, regular season ticket sales, merchandise sales, and the usual gluttony of summer sponsorship deals and commercial activity.

For us, who apparently have been ran using the club's own generated income since Carol's arrival, and boosted by the City money and the prize money from the run in the Leasing, hopefully nothing too drastic will have to be done.

However, the likes of Macclesfield and Southend, or the clubs running at a perpetual loss (Salford, Mansfield, Scunthorpe) simply won't be able to generate sufficient revenue without either government/EFL intervention, or loans/capital injections from their owners.

Do the contracts still end in June, even if this season extends beyond then? The decision to get Legge, Worrall, Burgess, Gibbons, and I think Joyce tied down is proving invaluable.

I think we're going to see a litany of players released who will be desperate for a contract. Questions remain; who is going to sign players without guarantees of the re-emergence of revenue streams? What status will the contracts have if next season doesn't start till, say, January?

Maybe this will proliferate an enforced reliance on academies, the only players cheap enough to employ for the next few months before being lobbed into whatever cobbled together league programme is enacted.

All four released Colchester players are reasonable League 2 footballers; will be interesting to which teams are in a position to offer them terms.

[Joe B]

The EFL was falling apart at the seams before all of this; Bury gone, Macclesfield looking to go the same way, clubs spending over 100% of their income on wages in the Championship, short-term finances in a gamble to gain promotion, club's completely reliant on the financial supporter of benovelent, sensible, and wealthy benefactors in order to garner any degree of success.

Maybe this will all enforce a drastic reappraisal of things; I see salary caps have (cynically) been suggested by Radford now he's lost interest in the Stags. Enforced across every English league, this would be an excellent idea.

The reliance on academies may yield tighter regulations as to the number of their own youth academy products in the 18; it currently stands at 1, I believe. It would be excellent to see this increased, and force clubs to funnel more resources into local youth scouting and development, as opposed to chucking £4k a week at a lad with 5 in 28 for Stevenage (naming no names).

This entire 'time-off' from football, in concordance with the weekly video conferences all the clubs are having, is a rare opportunity for genuine reform to promote sustainability in a failing business model.

If we saw an introduction of:

1. Limits of % revenue that can be spent of player wages, including bonuses (say 95% for now, and then a gradual reduction over the years).

2. Enforced 3 'club home grown' players in the 18, with one in the starting line up (CHG probably being someone who had spent 2+ years at the club prior to the age of 18). Literally force teams to name a lad in the starting 11. You'll quickly see better youth coaching, scouting, and better players coming through.

3. Tougher sanctions for overspending - point deductions. 'Directors Loans' would need more thought as its a completely legal business but leads to so many issues for football clubs.

4. A push to introduce legislation in parliament that would prevent the split of clubs from their grounds, as well as the farcical 'sell the ground to the owner' schtick Derby pulled to avoid FFP.

5. Some form of legal doctrine that recognises clubs as both businesses and 'community assets' akin to a library or museum; yes, they need to be run as businesses, but with the recognition that should these businesses fail, they have a seismic impact on the local community. Will mean little in practise but would be an important step in re-aligning the 'consumer-business' model of a lot of clubs, as opposed to the 'business-community' overlap it should be.

6. I'd love there to be a reduction of parachute payments (can't see how it would work, though), as it essentially rewards club for overspending to go up, safe in the knowledge they make their money back tenfold by either staying up and raking in the sweet TV money, or going down and being rewarded for failure with millions which promoted clubs from League 1 will never be able to compete with, creating a dual-system of rich and poor in the Championship. To try and catch up, the poorer clubs overspend to try and reach the Prem too, continuing the cycle.

 

I get proper wound up by this stuff, as is probably apparent. I'd love us to cherry-pick elements of American sports; salary caps, a focus on signing players young, and greater parity.

Yes, all clubs will have to sign up, but if we don't see a move towards financial sanity during these times, we never will.