What team will we have on July 23rd ?

So i think we will have a side based on these (not inc the youth).

Doyle, Carr, Davies, Ridgewell*, Murphy, Burke, Fahey, Ferguson*, Gardner*, Beausejour, Gomis, Valles, Jerome*, King

* Players who could go if the right offer comes in but could be 50/50 staying.

Zigic and Michel i think will be off to Spain, Zigic would have to be cut due to his wages and Michel is not settled or happy here (well i doubt he is).

Of the players who will deffo go (Johnson, Dann and Foster) i think we will make £25M on them. Maybe £30M i cant see us holding out for £40M+ due to our predicament financially and players being unhappy to stay now McLeish has gone.

I also think we could raise £4-6M for Jerome and £6-8M for Gardner. As i dont see us selling them both for less than £10M

If Zigic and Michel go then that could make us £6-7M

But of any cash raised i dont see us getting more than 1/4 to put back in team as fees we would have to look at the free transfer market or players who cost £1-2M each.

But that dont mean that good players cant be had for the task ahead.

The KiD

Well not wanting to get into Ridgegate MK2

But Stoke have been keen on him before, and if its £10M for the Two we have to go and sell them.

Ridgewell has been a good servant and for £2M a bargin really, he was suspect at CB for the Prem but in this league he would be good enough and at LB would be quality.

But the guy has to look after his family he has been in Birmingham for a long time his family are settled, i cant see him going back to Villa because i dont think he would want the heat he would get for going back and also he would know if they spend he wont get games.

So for him Stoke is a local side, he would not have to relocate his family it would take him what 40 mins to get to Stokes Training ground. For Hime Stoke would be a ideal move.

And we cant begruge him if this happens, like we would not if McLeish had gone to Stoke instead.

Jerome well again we know he is a Enigma, with a another club maybe his football ability and finishing would improve then he could be a £8-12M player depending no how he improves but we can never know and if that dont improve then can we really ask for even £4M

So £10M for the paid is good business and maybe Jerome could be good if he is used as foil for Jones and not seen as a replacement.

The KiD

Fair assesment Banjo,

I think Ridgewell would stay, for some reason he comes over as the unassuming loyal type.

Gardner. Him I'm not sure about. It probably depends on who becomes boss. And what role he is asked to play. I would have him in the hole just behind the front two doing what he does, scoring goals.

Zigic. I hope he stays but will probably head for Spain. His wages will put off most suiters in the Prem.

Agree with the rest.
Now for Jerome.
I think he could see this as a new start. Different manager, different League and one he is better suited to. Some different players.

He has goals in him when his confidence is there and as you rightly say, a proper strike partner will be a must.
The service will improve with a 4-4-2 or even a 5-3-2 going to a 3-5-2 when we have the ball and are attacking.

CJ started to look good again when Gardner was used in a far more advanced role when McJudas felt a little more adventurous. Usually in the cup.

If all the hype is to be believed, and all these players are wanting to go, we will have about eight on the pitch at Derby.

Just about enough to get the game going.

KRO

Well you need to look at it like this.

Zigic is 31, he earns £50K a week and he never had the best 1st season with us, was not getting used and maybe he regrets comming to England, who can blame him for not wanting to stay had we stayed up, never mind now.

The big problem is come end of next season if Promoted an Zigic does not do well this season, then we will not be able to get rid of him even on a free the same would apply should we fail to go up.

With Zigic the problem is how many clubs based on last season would pay more than £3M for him and then £50K a week, we could say get a club offer £3M but if they only offer Zigic £30K a week why should he leave and give up £20K a week income.

2 Spanish Clubs was looking at him in January, one for 6M euros another for less, and so i think should a Spanish or even maybe Turkish club come after him i think Zigic would prefer a move and if we only get £3M we have to look at taking it as each season that goes by he would be harder to sell unless he becomes a hit.

Ridgewell and Gardner are commited but with McLeish gone ontop of being in the Championship with no Garuntee we will play in the Prem next season, i guess you cant blame them for moving on.

Ridgewell is settled with his family and i think he would prefer to stay local or move down near london and Stoke or QPR could be moves he would not give up.

If Stoke or WBA came after him for £3M+ then i really cant see us standing in his way.

I do think Stoke will come after Jerome, Bolton and another club are also interested, we 100% know that Bolton and Stoke have made bids but we seem to be holding out for more than £6M+ which i think is odd If we got even £8M+ for Ridgewell and Jerome thats good business.

Gardner we must keep, unless we get over £7M, as he showed Potential and if we had a better Manager i think we would have seen more from Gardner and we would find it hard to get a player who has his effect last season for less than £5M and add to that he is a Bluenose means 100% Commitment (while in Prem) which makes his value to us £7M+ i recon.

The KiD

I dont think Jerome has ever been a Goal Scorer apart from at Cardiff, he did have that good season with Chucho but i dont think he is a out and out goal scorer.

Confidence does not help, but i dont think its a case of high confidence and he becomes a goal machine.

Derbyshire is a convidence player, you saw how he did when given a few chances early on, and then how at the end of the season after not getting used he simply lacked any confidence and pressure to perform got the better of him.

Jerome offers as i said above before, as far as goals go Jerome scores when he has no time to think about where the shot must go or where he has to controll it.

Hence he did well with headers, Jerome scores via reaction, and when he attacks a ball where his only touch is the shot.

But for that he needs good crosses in space (needs support to create that space) hence Jerome scored a lot off freekicks/corners, throwing in the final 3rd of shortly after the above.

He also scores when a ball is played in front of him to run and attack (and not run with) but in order for that you need players who can get forwards ahead of him and play those balls for him to run onto and you need players to create him space and time.

This happened when we played Chucho and Jerome.

The same would have worked if we used a Babel, N'Zogbia, DJ Cambell or any Striker with pace to support Jerome.

But Jerome would not have worked in the 4,5,1 even if we had/played a quality CAM lacked paced. Even 4,4,2 would not work often with a partner for Jerome who lacked pace.


The KiD

Just looking around other gossip sites and indeed Seems Stoke are after Dann and another player.

Well if that £10M is for Dann and Ridgewell they are having a laugh.

Ridgewell is a good servant and i recon £3M would be a good price in todays market. Would be gutted to lose him for that much or less though.

As for Dann £8M they are not gonna get that done, some of the prices branded around are silly.

Foster £10M to Villa yes, thats reasonable Keepers do not cost much in the Prem unless they play for bigger clubs and none relegated ones.

But Johnson £6M (Wolves) Dann (£8M) Stoke and Gardner £5M Newcastle are all silly offers.

£5M for Jerome was a good offer we want £8M is silly us asking for £8M for Jerome is like £20M for Dann and £15M for Johnson so about double what we should be looking at minimum.

For me Dann would fetch £10-12M easy, Johnson £7-8M, and Gardner £6-8M

Looks like Larsson could well be going to Sunderland cant blame him at least he wont be one of the former Blues players joining McLeish

The KiD

I hope Pannu meant it when he said he would only sell for reasonable prices. We may have to accept that Dann is going as he is young and very good, but for the rest I would only sell for the right money. Possibly Johnson as well as I think he has less on his contract to run than some of the others. But really try to keep the rest

Well here is what i think.

Foster £6M was a lot for a Keeper but he has done well but again i cant see us getting double what we paid and £10M is a good asking price.

Johnson £5M deal was a gamble that paid off, but in light of Johnsons lack of football tallent (he is a no nonesence good CB) and his older age i again think Johnson would go for double tops. And £8-10M a fair price.

Dann is younger is better on the ball and more mobile, he has a lot of potetial £4M deal was a bargin and he is worth 3X that and potentially he could fetch more in future. Dann is more of a asset now than what Cahill was when Villa sold him. £12M is a fair price for Dann but if others can go for £20M at some point i cant see why Dann cant.

Gardner £3M has been a bargin, proved that Villa never gave him chances, i think he is worth double that but then again i cant see us getting 3X more for him. Considering he cost £3M and we dont get many Pens and he is not our main taker what Gardner did last season compared to Gerrard and Lampard is remarkable. Had we won more Pens and had he taken our freekicks Gardner would have been our Lampard. I think we need to look at £6M+ and £7M could be the going rate.

Thats without silly over inflated prices, like £24M Lescot, £17.5M Santa Cruz silly prices.

Here is my value on players V, the minimum we should accept M, realistic selling value R and inflated price INF

Foster (V) £10M, (M) £8M, (R ) £10M (INF) £15M

Johnson (V) £10M, (M) £8M, (R) £7-8M, (INF) £12M

Dann (V) £15M, (M) £10M, (R) £10M, (INF) £20M

Gardner (V) £8M, (M ) £6M, (R) £6-7M, (INF) £10M

I think we would end up seenig them go for about the (R) Value.

And think eventually we would have to sell them and raise about £34M but we would be lucky to get £8M back to replace them with this season.

The KiD

Thats the problem, most of the money we get from selling off the assets will go into the Birmingham International Holdings coffers...

But thats always going to be the case unless Yeung is willing to write off and take on debts. He is not a Mni Chinese Abramovich though.

I do think you need to speculate a little and thats what S&G did.

What got me with S&G is they would speculate more in the Championship compared to the scope and income, than compared in relation to the Prem.

There are some free agents we could maybe attract but we need to act fast, unless the board sign players themselves.

The KiD