The defence

[eastterracemike]

Just noticed Charlie/Naylor talking about our ' ageing' defence. It does make you wonder why we were so quick to offload Hall and Cook(maybe not).
Central defence could soon become our biggest problem. No surprise then that we are' considering ' another bid for the young dutchman.

 

[Stumpy Tim]

We didn't "offload" Hall. He didn't want to sign a contract

 

[KZNSeagull]

It does make you wonder why we were so quick to offload Hall and Cook(maybe not).

We did not offload them - neither wanted to stay and fight for a place in the first team.

 

[albion534]

when tottenham come in, your not exactly going to sit on the bench, and Cook, i reckon its the lure of first team football, especially when your 4th choice

 

[GingerBeerMan]

Don't think Cook was all that good, he played well once at LB then we sold him. Would have been good cover but not what we need right now in the direction we're heading.

 

[eastterracemike]

We didn't "offload" Hall. He didn't want to sign a contract

Probably because we didn't offer him enough money. It would be interesting to see how much we pay for another defender in terms of wages/ transfer fee. Why 'grow' our own talent cheaply and then not hang onto them. Hall is not going to get in the Spurs first team ant time soon.

 

[Fred Oliver - Legend]

dont forget we have maximento! think he will be our left back next season.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Probably because we didn't offer him enough money. It would be interesting to see how much we pay for another defender in terms of wages/ transfer fee. Why 'grow' our own talent cheaply and then not hang onto them. Hall is not going to get in the Spurs first team ant time soon.

Yeah, let's offer our unproven youth lots of wages to stay and sit on the bench.

 

[Stumpy Tim]

Probably because we didn't offer him enough money. It would be interesting to see how much we pay for another defender in terms of wages/ transfer fee. Why 'grow' our own talent cheaply and then not hang onto them. Hall is not going to get in the Spurs first team ant time soon.

We couldn't compete with Spurs. There's a shock

 

[albionalex]

Hall chose to leave and I'd suggest we sold Cook and Elphick as we didn't think they were good enough.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Elphick had signed a contract but was going to be a squad member, so chose to accept Bournemouth's offer of 3 years regular first team football. That's life when you get promoted.

The rest of the article suggests that it isn't an immediate problem, but that we are trying to bring in younger players like the Latvian and bidding for the Dutch player.

Bruno, skipper and centre half Gordon Greer and on-loan left-back Wayne Bridge are all 32, Bruno's deputy Inigo Calderon 31.


Oatway said: "It's an area (defence) that we'll have to have a look at because of the obvious thing that sticks out in your head and that's the ages of some players.


"It doesn't mean they are finished but it's an area probably that we would be looking at. We are not going to neglect any area. If a player becomes available who we think could strengthen our squad and it's in our budget and price range then I think we would look to strengthen."