To start, I'll apologize for the somewhat long winded nature of this post...
Firstly....I just hope the "undisclosed fees" we apparently got in compensation for Coley & Bell reflected.....
a) The true value of losing an established and much sought after managerial duo who were on long term contracts
b) The fact that in all probability... we knew that Coley would come sniffing around our better players and that in all probability there was a very,very good chance we could lose some of them to 'Dale
I suppose there was only a limited length of time we could contractually put clauses in the Coley deal to prevent him from coming back and trying to prize key players up the road to 'Dale.
Ho, Hum....I suppose in all probability we'll never know
exactly what the clauses in the contract where and how much we actually received.
I still think, as a club, we've a lot to learn when it comes to awarding contracts.
For me..we should,
WHERE POSSIBLE and practical ....be tying "valued" players down to longer term contracts. Risky maybe, if said "valued" player picks up a long term injury...but assuming said "valued" player then becomes "wanted by another club" and he stays injury free....at least we've then got some "reasonable leverage" when it comes to "negotiating" a "reasonable" transfer fee
And secondly, when looking to offer renewed deals to "valued" players who are due out of contract, we should be starting to put offers on the table earlier...i.e. in January / February. At least then we've had fair chance to put an offer on the table which the player has plenty of time to consider..For me giving the club a better chance of retaining the player !!! Admittedly, some players probably hold off signing until they've seen if interest and a subsequent better offer (s) from elsewhere materializes.
Some clubs, albeit with more financial clout than Stanley....tie down "valued" players way,way before their contracts get to within a matter of weeks of expiring.
AND...before somebody bites my head off saying " Cooky was only appointed in February"...or "we operate on probably the lowest playing budget in League 2 "......points taken......though it does beg the questions when did we start putting contracts to the players???
I may be doing Cooky & Leam a "dis-service"....maybe they did quickly get an idea of who they wanted to work with / keep for next season. Maybe the club just isn't in a position to offer longer term deals to "key" or "valued" players???But the annual summer "exodus" of "key" players from Stanley makes any manager's job infinitely harder .
If we're to be successful and challenge for promotion to the next level or even have the ambition to build any sort of side that is reasonably successful / challenges at the right end of the table.......then the annual summer flight of key players needs to be addressed
And stopped / ended
We've lost way too many players for nothing in the last three close seasons. Coley was a genius in pulling "rabbits out of the hat" when it came to finding replacements, as no doubt Rochdale will see to their benefit now he's at Spotland.
We all knew Cooky ( & Leam ) have a very, very difficult act to follow.
The last two seasons have seen very slow starts, which have seen us fall behind the pace when it comes to climbing the table early doors. The fact that the manager has had to practically throw an entire squad together at the last minute twice can't help !!! I fear the same come August...and with current departures & lack of arrivals..and given our end to last season......I fear that we could well be embroiled in a scrap for survival next season......
I hope I am wrong.
I hope ( and trust ) Cooky and Leam have plenty of "irons in the fire" so to speak and we'll all be pleasantly surprised by incoming personnel. Though only a couple of weeks have passed since the end of the season....My worry at the moment ( personal opinion ) is that..... again.... plenty of players are heading out of the Crown exit doors and as yet...nobody coming in .....whilst other clubs (ala Rochdale ) are acting quickly & snapping up players.
The list of who we've actually got signed up for next season looks very "threadbare" with very little experience.
Rant Over....I hope I'm worrying unduly!!!