Southwell rejects contract

[Carl Newell]

With Southwell it could be a win/win situation as he is under 24 and we have offered him (presumably) a contract equal or better to the one he is currently on then we would either have to agree a fee with any potential suitors or it would go to a fee would be decided by the powers that be. Opposite side of the coin is that we get to keep a proven quality player. Unlike the Miller scenario where because he was a "late bloomer" and didn't leave us until he was 25 then we weren't entitled to a fee. As far as getting Miller on board earlier it was said last season that he was offered a contract in the January he just wanted to try and get a pro deal in the summer; which he did.

As for getting players on contract for next season I am delighted that this is being done early. Last season we lost King in the summer and didn't get a decent replacement till Joel Dixon came in. Jones also came in at a similar times and has taken the pressure off Southwell. Personally I would also like to see Zak Mills offered a contract sooner rather than later.

[Pilgrim86]

In an ideal world, you get your players you definitely want to keep, on contract early on for next season. Tell the remainder of the squad, to earn themselves a contract - that incentive should then spur them on to play better.

Southwell may also get the chance to go pro like Miller, either lower end League Two or higher end Conference. Would Paul Hurst admit a mistake and re-sign him? I can't see Lincoln offering much more money than us, in their current financial woe. Scunthorpe are too high, surely (unless they take a punt on him, like Bradford did with Hanson from Guiseley?). If Southwell scores 25 by the end of the season, then surely he's a more attractive proposition due to his age, than Miller?

[Carl Newell]

Personally I expect him to stay as both Miller and Southwell situations are a gamble the difference being that one comes with a price tag which will put potential suitors off and I think he will be here next season.

If we can get Southwell and Mills on contract earlier that still leaves another 8 or 9 who still have to fight for a deal for next season.

[green hats mate]

Whatever happens we have The Quadrant.

Yes we might eventually get The Quadrant, but surely what's the point of having a super duper stadium to hopefully fill with supporters if you are not building a team to grace it, by not signing decent players, you just cannot get a settled team by signing loan players, I'm not saying loan players are no good, some are, but if they prove to be good , they go back to there parent club and we are back to square one again.

D Green made a bad mistake by not getting Ricky Miller to sign a contract a year last Christmas , if he had done that deed we should have least have something out of the move to Luton which happened at the end of last season, The gates this year have been consistently down on last years gates, is there any wonder when the decent players we need to keep the team fully competitive are allowed to move .

I can see the replies coming in already about how far we are out from the rest of the country , or we cannot compete with the ACFlydes, North ferribys, Barrow etc, we cannot even compete with lowly Spalding to sign players .

Greenes latest signings shows maybe  an astute managers team can compete with teams with  cheque book backers.
All fans should get behind the manager and chairman , the biggest wage bill does not always produce the best team .

[Pilgrim86]

I've just started reading Soccernomics (late, I know), and the first chapter or so mentions success at the top level, compared to wage levels and transfer spends.

Basically, it says that teams who give out bigger wages do better - but there is no correlation between transfer spend and success.

Whether this translates down the levels, I'm not sure - where desire plays a bigger part (and team tactics over individual skill), the less quality there is. You might pay for the best players in the league, but if they can't be bothered to chase every ball, then it probably balances it out.