The Robins Nest Forum

Looking ahead to seeing Mo lead the line for us next season, what type of player would you like to see alongside him?

Personally I would like to see a strong player who draws in at least one opponent defender to help free space for Mo.

Much as I would dearly like to see Mo in a twin striker partnership at LCI next season, I honestly believe the only way that will happen is if we draw his new Club in one of the Cup competitions, or in a friendly as part of the deal that seals his transfer.

I really don’t think he will be pulling on a CTFC jersey again in anger, sadly for us, but Mo deserves a chance at superstardom. It’s what every football mad kid dreams of. He could be as good as Marcus Rashford.

What may be more important to Mo is a mid field that can find a good pass into space for him and for him to gamble on that ball being played. At the minute our build up is too slow (well from what I have seen at home matches), to make full use of Mo.

I would like Mo to stay if we can put a better set up around him, if we don't he deserves his chances elsewhere. Would have been amazing to see his goal tally in a team that was more skilful for an entire season than what we had this season just finished.

But as for your question, a forward good enough to regularly win balls and good enough to actually play the ball on for Mo, so that he can play the percentages and go for the space before the ball is actually played

Irrespective of where he goes, I hope we can finalise his future by the end of the month so we can use the funds to complete next seasons squad at the earliest. Selling in July would be a big issue as we would have to pay a premium for any players at that point.

Robin wrote:Irrespective of where he goes, I hope we can finalise his future by the end of the month so we can use the funds to complete next seasons squad at the earliest. Selling in July would be a big issue as we would have to pay a premium for any players at that point.

Disappointing to see you signing up to the Little Old Cheltenham brigade Robin.

Robin wrote:Irrespective of where he goes, I hope we can finalise his future by the end of the month so we can use the funds to complete next seasons squad at the earliest. Selling in July would be a big issue as we would have to pay a premium for any players at that point.

Agree, we need to draw an early line in the sand for Mo, Winchester and Sellars. different situations, but for all 3 it is much better that we know early doors what is the decision. That way we can get our squad either built early with them in mind, or built early, knowing that we need replacements. IMHO, if we are looking for playoffs, we need to hit the ground running with a starting 11 in place, that have worked together during the preseason. Also, avoiding shopping in the last chance saloon.

Ihearye wrote:

Robin wrote:Irrespective of where he goes, I hope we can finalise his future by the end of the month so we can use the funds to complete next seasons squad at the earliest. Selling in July would be a big issue as we would have to pay a premium for any players at that point.

Agree, we need to draw an early line in the sand for Mo, Winchester and Sellars. different situations, but for all 3 it is much better that we know early doors what is the decision. That way we can get our squad either built early with them in mind, or built early, knowing that we need replacements. IMHO, if we are looking for playoffs, we need to hit the ground running with a starting 11 in place, that have worked together during the preseason. Also, avoiding shopping in the last chance saloon.

I agree entirely, but as we know from prior experience these things drag on. the most critical is Mo, get a good price for him and GJ will have the time and money to be able to cherry pick. One striker worth contemplating - Akinfenwa ? now that Wycombe are a league higher they may be thinking the big man may find L1 a bit too fast for him

Nesty wrote:

Ihearye wrote:

Robin wrote:Irrespective of where he goes, I hope we can finalise his future by the end of the month so we can use the funds to complete next seasons squad at the earliest. Selling in July would be a big issue as we would have to pay a premium for any players at that point.

Agree, we need to draw an early line in the sand for Mo, Winchester and Sellars. different situations, but for all 3 it is much better that we know early doors what is the decision. That way we can get our squad either built early with them in mind, or built early, knowing that we need replacements. IMHO, if we are looking for playoffs, we need to hit the ground running with a starting 11 in place, that have worked together during the preseason. Also, avoiding shopping in the last chance saloon.

I agree entirely, but as we know from prior experience these things drag on. the most critical is Mo, get a good price for him and GJ will have the time and money to be able to cherry pick. One striker worth contemplating - Akinfenwa ? now that Wycombe are a league higher they may be thinking the big man may find L1 a bit too fast for him

Or don’t sell Mo....

The one thing that Mo really needs to work on is how to play a game where he hasn't got much space. We saw all the teams coming to WR and sticking 9 or 10 behind the ball and Mo just marked out of the game. He scored, what, 4 or 5 goals at home and 3 of those were v Port Vale? The vast majority of his goals came away from home where he had a lot more space. So, due to that, if we somehow keep him for another season then we need a big man that is going to be a handful for defenders and draw them away from Mo. We may also need two wingers right up there as well in order to keep everyone in the opposition defence busy and stretch them out a bit.

I think Mo is still ‘learning his trade’ and another season with us alongside a suitable co-striker, as has been suggested, to create space in the box etc may create a more finished product by the end of next season.

Alf wrote:I think Mo is still ‘learning his trade’ and another season with us alongside a suitable co-striker, as has been suggested, to create space in the box etc may create a more finished product by the end of next season.

Exactly, it suits all parties for him to stay at CTFC. Agents and journalists wasting their time.

We simply must cash out now on Mo, much as it grieves me to say it. The League 2 defences are now wise to him and he will be taken out either tactically or by professional fouls as soon as he gets into a scoring position. His confidence could be affected and his lack of goals could see his value plummet. Now is the time for him to move up a few Leagues where he can flourish with better players around him and most likely more time on the ball. Cheltenham need him to move on and succeed as he may well guarantee further income in the future with a decent ‘sell-on clause’ in his transfer. We risk throwing that all away if we don’t sell now.

Lord Elpuz wrote:We simply must cash out now on Mo, much as it grieves me to say it. The League 2 defences are now wise to him and he will be taken out either tactically or by professional fouls as soon as he gets into a scoring position. His confidence could be affected and his lack of goals could see his value plummet. Now is the time for him to move up a few Leagues where he can flourish with better players around him and most likely more time on the ball. Cheltenham need him to move on and succeed as he may well guarantee further income in the future with a decent ‘sell-on clause’ in his transfer. We risk throwing that all away if we don’t sell now.

Also the risk that we kill our promotion hopes. With a more solid defence and midfield Mo will fire us to promotion.

I believe our promotion hopes are vastly increased by selling Mo. There will be other experienced strikers available with the money we would have.

History shows that sustaining a League 1 position is difficult for us, given our fan base. We have achieved it twice and lost it twice.

We need to improve the stadium, and with that, gain some essential non-football revenue to sustain us in League 1. We also need a more experienced squad to get us there. Selling Mo gives us the finances to achieve both of those objectives. If we keep Mo, and not have the funds to rebuild our squad with experience, we may not even get into a promotion position if the now much wiser League 2 defenders bully Mo out of effectiveness.

Too much of a risk not to cash out now, much as it pains me to say it. This has to be about long term gain, not short term glory as we have had in the past.

Lord Elpuz wrote:I believe our promotion hopes are vastly increased by selling Mo. There will be other experienced strikers available with the money we would have.

History shows that sustaining a League 1 position is difficult for us, given our fan base. We have achieved it twice and lost it twice.

We need to improve the stadium, and with that, gain some essential non-football revenue to sustain us in League 1. We also need a more experienced squad to get us there. Selling Mo gives us the finances to achieve both of those objectives. If we keep Mo, and not have the funds to rebuild our squad with experience, we may not even get into a promotion position if the now much wiser League 2 defenders bully Mo out of effectiveness.

Too much of a risk not to cash out now, much as it pains me to say it. This has to be about long term gain, not short term glory as we have had in the past.

I think Mo’s goals are irreplaceable, even with £1.5m to spend. And of course, if we use the money to try and replace Mo, it means the money isn’t there for the stadium.

I think the risk of the money being blown on short-term signings who don’t deliver is of equal concern.

We have the money from Pell and his wages, which is worth two or three experienced players, Mullins being the first. Plus the profit and funds Gary opted not to spend in January with the intention of signing experienced round pegs this summer.

We need a good half dozen signings as it is, without the added stress of replacing a 25 goal striker!

We have got to sell but only for the right amount and build a better squad and put money away towards this new stand.

RegencyCheltenhamSpa wrote:I think Mo’s goals are irreplaceable, even with £1.5m to spend. And of course, if we use the money to try and replace Mo, it means the money isn’t there for the stadium.

I think the risk of the money being blown on short-term signings who don’t deliver is of equal concern.

We have the money from Pell and his wages, which is worth two or three experienced players, Mullins being the first. Plus the profit and funds Gary opted not to spend in January with the intention of signing experienced round pegs this summer.

We need a good half dozen signings as it is, without the added stress of replacing a 25 goal striker!

I agree with RCS.

Leaning towards the LE position.
Is a player with 2 years left on his contract in a stronger selling position than one with one year ?
What if next season for Mo is not as productive as this year?

Could money gained from Selling Mo now be of more help building a sustainably strong squad, rather than another season of Mo in an average squad?

Unless the new chairman has a magic wand or has some master plan for a large injection of cash, we should look to sell Mo for a suitable offer asap. We should have a date in mind by which we decide , if no decent offers we keep him and build to that budget. No point in letting him go late in the summer when we may end up with the money but no suitable replacements on the market. Also those we could have brought in to strengthen the team may have moved on to other offers.

Ihearye wrote:Leaning towards the LE position.
Is a player with 2 years left on his contract in a stronger selling position than one with one year ?
What if next season for Mo is not as productive as this year?

Could money gained from Selling Mo now be of more help building a sustainably strong squad, rather than another season of Mo in an average squad?

Unless the new chairman has a magic wand or has some master plan for a large injection of cash, we should look to sell Mo for a suitable offer asap. We should have a date in mind by which we decide , if no decent offers we keep him and build to that budget. No point in letting him go late in the summer when we may end up with the money but no suitable replacements on the market. Also those we could have brought in to strengthen the team may have moved on to other offers.

Given the good rapport between manager and player it is not beyond the realms of possibility that should Mo fire us to L1 that he is happy to sign a new two year deal with a minimum transfer fee buyout clause. Thus maintaining his value.

Keeping Mo and seeing how high we can get with him, to me, seems much more ambitious than cashing in and plodding in L2.

RegencyCheltenhamSpa wrote:

Ihearye wrote:Leaning towards the LE position.
Is a player with 2 years left on his contract in a stronger selling position than one with one year ?
What if next season for Mo is not as productive as this year?

Could money gained from Selling Mo now be of more help building a sustainably strong squad, rather than another season of Mo in an average squad?

Unless the new chairman has a magic wand or has some master plan for a large injection of cash, we should look to sell Mo for a suitable offer asap. We should have a date in mind by which we decide , if no decent offers we keep him and build to that budget. No point in letting him go late in the summer when we may end up with the money but no suitable replacements on the market. Also those we could have brought in to strengthen the team may have moved on to other offers.

Given the good rapport between manager and player it is not beyond the realms of possibility that should Mo fire us to L1 that he is happy to sign a new two year deal with a minimum transfer fee buyout clause. Thus maintaining his value.

Keeping Mo and seeing how high we can get with him, to me, seems much more ambitious than cashing in and plodding in L2.

The debate and rationale is that the injection of money would prevent us from 'plodding in L2' (?) and that there is more chance of us plodding if we can not afford to attract the type of experience and skills required to go for promotion to L1 and keep us there for a reasonable amount of time (at least).

The gamble of Mo agreeing to sign a new contract with a minimum transfer fee, is one neither you and I have to cover, but it would be one the board would have to. We have no idea if with less than a year of his contract to go, Mo would not weigh up the financial benefit of being his own free agent against a % of a transfer fee. There is very little room for sentiment where business is involved. If you believe that is even in the slightest realms of possibilities then surely the management would be looking to do that extension now and Mo would be supportive of it???

Apols. Didn’t realise the money would be enough to afford a L1 side (before said money runs out) and fund a new stand.

A short-term injection into the playing squad may be good for a year or three, but when it’s been spent and we have 3,000 every week and players on L1 wages we could be even worse off.

I prefer a longer term plan of building the club to L1 level more organically, building around our best players.

Apols didn't realise Mo was going to score another 20+ goals next season and our defence would not leak as many . Nor that we are sure to get more for. On at end of next seasn. The point is that monies received now can be used to start the building bloacks as well as allowing us to plan with a degree of certainy for the future. What you are holding on to is that we keep Mo, he scores another bag full of goals and that the remainder of the team is good enough to keep us mid table. Expecting a promotion chasing team without extra cashis, I belive not on. Well the last two years has proven that.

Ihearye wrote:Apols didn't realise Mo was going to score another 20+ goals next season and our defence would not leak as many . Nor that we are sure to get more for. On at end of next seasn. The point is that monies received now can be used to start the building bloacks as well as allowing us to plan with a degree of certainy for the future. What you are holding on to is that we keep Mo, he scores another bag full of goals and that the remainder of the team is good enough to keep us mid table. Expecting a promotion chasing team without extra cashis, I belive not on. Well the last two years has proven that.

Defence already improved with Mullins.

We know there is extra cash - it was publicised in January that Gary’s shrewd profit making (over the last two seasons of frugal transfer windows) meant he had money to spend which he opted to save for this summer. Plus Pell’s fee and wages.

All the signs are even without any money from Mo, we are well placed to improve the squad in key areas.

Ihearye wrote:Leaning towards the LE position.
Is a player with 2 years left on his contract in a stronger selling position than one with one year ?
What if next season for Mo is not as productive as this year?

Could money gained from Selling Mo now be of more help building a sustainably strong squad, rather than another season of Mo in an average squad?

Unless the new chairman has a magic wand or has some master plan for a large injection of cash, we should look to sell Mo for a suitable offer asap. We should have a date in mind by which we decide , if no decent offers we keep him and build to that budget. No point in letting him go late in the summer when we may end up with the money but no suitable replacements on the market. Also those we could have brought in to strengthen the team may have moved on to other offers.

I agree that Mo's future needs to be settled early however given that we don't have a small budget, his sale should not dictate our forthcoming season unless we are planning to have one of the biggest budgets and to spend it all within a season or two on wages and fees.

Garys shrewd profit making hahaha. Billy Waters,Thomas divis and Cup moneys have helped the funds.

horlickfanclub wrote:Garys shrewd profit making hahaha. Billy Waters,Thomas divis and Cup moneys have helped the funds.

Those were also factors.

Fact is we bust the budget in a gamble to get back up. Then over the next three transfer windows did enough to build a squad in no danger of going down whilst getting back in the black.

We are in the best position now to build a strong squad than we have been for years.

RegencyCheltenhamSpa wrote:

horlickfanclub wrote:Garys shrewd profit making hahaha. Billy Waters,Thomas divis and Cup moneys have helped the funds.

Those were also factors.

Fact is we bust the budget in a gamble to get back up. Then over the next three transfer windows did enough to build a squad in no danger of going down whilst getting back in the black.

We are in the best position now to build a strong squad than we have been for years.

Not wishing to cross swords, and therefore only for the purpose of debate, I disagree with you. We are not in a position to build a strong squad (around Mo) for several reasons:

* Mo and his advisors will want to get the very best for him at this stage of his career, & is there any guarantee he will be advised to stay for another year?
* Strong Squad = much bigger wage bill (will eat into Pell transfer fee).
* We’ve just allegedly ‘lost’ Williams to Northampton, no doubt he had a better offer.
* Bigger wage bill hits us in the Financial Fair Play pocket - because -
* Season ticket sales / other revenue may not be as strong this year.
* Not being able to afford/build the new Stand will hit our non-football revenue potential massively, which will peg us back on Financial Fair Play rules when bringing higher earners to the club.
* How would we sustain a League 1 side with our current revenue streams?

The sums, without the sale of Mo, just don’t add up. If we keep Mo, we may be able to slightly improve the squad (based on the sale of Pell) to gain a few extra places in the League, but that’s about it, and it won’t be sustainable, because once the Pell money is spent, that income cannot be replaced. It’s a one-off.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44209843" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Nesty wrote:https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44209843

Great spot Nesty.

As the popular season long “Doidge and Dennis” thread unanimously concluded, attempts must be made to sign the Chesterfield goal scorer.

RegencyCheltenhamSpa wrote:

Nesty wrote:https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44209843

Great spot Nesty.

As the popular season long “Doidge and Dennis” thread unanimously concluded, attempts must be made to sign the Chesterfield goal scorer.

Well as GJ sacks people due to threads on here, we can fully expect him to be signed before the night is uo due to the thread mentioned

Ihearye wrote:

RegencyCheltenhamSpa wrote:

Nesty wrote:https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44209843

Great spot Nesty.

As the popular season long “Doidge and Dennis” thread unanimously concluded, attempts must be made to sign the Chesterfield goal scorer.

Well as GJ sacks people due to threads on here, we can fully expect him to be signed before the night is uo due to the thread mentioned

What you on about now?

Kristian Dennis would be a very decent signing. He’s been a consistently reliable goal-scorer since 2011, and whilst at Chesterfield he’s averaged slightly better than a goal every three games, which included 10 goals in League 1 (averaging one goal in approximately every 4 games in League 1).

Indeed he would; as would Barnet's John Akinde. I'd imagine quite a few clubs would be interested, so it would be a real coup if we could snare either of these strikers.

Akinde is the more realistic of the two in my opinion, Barnet are a small club and likely to be desperate for the cash. Chesterfield may be able to play hard ball but I would both would want small six figure fees.

All speculation until we know the investment plans of the new Chairman.