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Well after our valiant effort you want to get rid of some of our quality players. Our form has been excellent since February and had we been consistent with that form for the full season, I have no doubt that we would have been promoted as champions.

One thing is for certain, Mark Davies is going nowhere. There isn't a manager in the world who is going to buy him whilst he is suffering from knee ligament problems.

Kevin Davies is on his way out and probably Alonso, but there won't be any cash for either of them. So no buying power from them. If Dougie does decide to sell Chungy, I would think 4 million would be absolute top dollar and In think 3 million would be nearer the mark . He could probably buy a couple of half decent players for that amount but not anyone who is the finished article and I doubt he will go for players nearing the end of his career.

Spearing may not be for sale but as we haven't managed to get promoted he may not be interested in joing us for another stint in the Championship.

Andrews and Wylde, would probably not be missed but I don't see us having a great amount to spend. I do think DF will go into the transfer market and hopefully he can find a few gems as there are positions that need strengthening and as been stated, players will need replacing. In any event I am confident that we won't suffer the same kind of start that we have done this season.

Andrews, Wylde will probably go and I don't think dougie rates rickets much either. I expect a fully fit Holden to replace spearing for next season.

Well after our valiant effort you want to get rid of some of our quality players.

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Odd one this...we have done MUCH better without M Davies for one. He is a technically fantastic player...but there is no substance or intelligence to his play. What does he offer? Passing is accurate, but simple. Chips in with a few goals. Doesn't assist many, or really create alot chances at all in fact, with only 10 assists in his entire career. Doesnt intercept or win the ball much... He has great ability, no doubt, but in terms of offering attributes to the team, there are players who have offered, and currently offer alot more - even though they are inferior technically.

And CYL, yes he has great technical ability again, but does he offer alot to the team? In my opinion, no. He has underperformed far too mcuh. He loses possession far too much, his work rate isnt what it was. He doesnt cover or track the runs of the opposition when they are breaking, rather strolling back, usually meaning that Alonso is completely exposed far too often. The likes of Medo move across to cover, but if CYL actually bust a gut to help his team mates out, specifically Alonso, we wouldnt end up with players dragged out of position so easily. Also, he is not offering enough in and around the area for me, and hasnt throughout the season.

Chungy has lost something since he has broke his leg.cannot agree about mavies.I think he has been a massive loss.when he came back from his shoulder injury Bolton played their best football of the season until he got injured again.

Of course the best way to get out of this division is by getting rid of our two premier league quality players

Benny:

With Mark Davies this year:

7 W, 8 D, 7 L

22 Starts - 29 Points

Without Mark Davies this year:

11 W, 5 D, 7 L

24 Games - 38 Points

It's not as if we have missed him! We've performed better without him...which is part of my reasoning for looking to cash in on him...he is 25 now, not going to improve much more, he is injury prone..most importantly, he is not vital.

Yes he has fantastic technical ability, but what he actually offers to the team, is limited - we only start to win when he got injured.

Chungy - very disappointed in him. Yes he has a great touch and he moves brilliantly with the ball...but he loses it cheaply too often, passing is inconsistent, doesnt create huge amount of chances...he lets games pass him by sometimes, and he never busts a gut when its needed.

Does no-one else think we could get say, £12m and then give this Dougie to strengthen in the areas which REALLY need it if we are to progress?

Those stats mean nothing really.looking at the results since we beat Burnley and went on our run we have picked up 34 points from 17 games mavies was only fit to start 2 games which we won.we would probably have picked up more than 34 points if he had been fit.don't forget at 1-0 down v Burnley we were relegation fodder

I have a feeling Eagles will go so I would certainly keep Lee. Alonso probably will go too. I would move Ricketts on. Plus anyone who doesn't want to be here. Mark Davies will be going nowhere due to injury

As for signings, a left back, centre back and a striker.

I think we all feel a bit deflated tonight because to come so close only to lose out on GD is a very bitter pill to swallow.

That said our late season run of form was outstanding especially given how close we were to the drop zone just after Christmas and I for one believe that Dougie is definitely taking us in the right direction.
As to the comings and goings over the summer I don't really expect to see too much action there. Super Kev is moving on for certain and I think two or three others will follow him out of the exir door but Dougie will have a very small kitty for fees so he'll have to go bosman/cheap/loan althoug with some of the wage bill down he may be able to attract some extra quality with that.

Whatever happens I want to thank Dougie for bringing such hope to all of us when at one point we looked to be doomed to a mediocre mid-table at best season. As you all know I was a big fan of Owen Coyle almost to his last day with us and I knew very little about Dougie but the more I see the more I rate him and can't help wondering if perhaps we should have made the change in the summer after all. I did think Owen should be given time and I stand by my reasoning for that based on the information I had then but in hindsight I have to hold my hand up and admit I was wrong.

Woah woah woah. Everyone relax. We don't need to sell our best players. Mark Davies is one of our best players. I've been looking forward to him and stu in the centre for what feels like a lifetime! Them two with Chungy and Eagles on either side has not been seen yet and I believe that's the one. Defence needs sorting out big time and a genuine goalscorer who's gonna get 20 goals. That's what we were missing.

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Benny..did you really just refer to KD as a 'proven goalscorer'?

Can someone really be one of our 'best' players, when we gained more without him, than with him?

A lot will depend on the finances.

Coyle made a big point about the wage cuts, and we have all discussed our financial situation a lot since relegation.

Once the figures are officially published, we will have a better understanding about where we stand in terms of funding a serious promotion challenge next season.

I will re phrase.I would sign a striker to replace the departing Kevin Davies but one with a proven goal scoring record.

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HH, Mark Davies has the ability to win games and as all the team were under-performing until we got into February, I prefer to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Chungy has come back from a bad injury and I for one didn't expect him to come straight back to his previous form. To be fair he has had quite a lot of playing time and If we still have him in August, I expect we will see him more to his old self, especially as we will have Holden fit again. Don't forget his most impressive spell was when Holden was playing.

As I said, we would have been champions if we had played the full season and got similar results as we have since February. Obviously we do have some quality in the squad, so where there is room for improvement, I think we should be careful that we don't sell quality players.

I remember a couple of players, who some fans on this forum and some managers, thought they weren't good enough to play for Bolton Wanderers, funny thing is they are still playing in the Premiership. The two are Nolan and Jussi, so be careful what you hope for.

Ricard vazte and joey O'Brien were booted out of Bolton for not being fit or good enough yet are now playing regularly in the premier league. Was watching the fls this morning thinking maybe we should go in for Frazer Campbell who Cardiff might think is not good enough for the prem but will get goals in the championship. Also hull are the luckiest team ever to get promoted,they have been awful when I have seen them and only went up because Watford blew it.

RE Mark Davies, theres no doubting the lads technical ability, but he is known to drift in and out of games and has had a few injuries. That said, he has just signed a new contract and I'd like to see what Dougie could do with him.

Outs for me:
LCY
Ricketts
Mills
Andrews
Alonso
SKD
Sordell

LCY has been poor all season and is probably our most saleable asset. Ricketts poor defensively, Mills and Andrews just not up to it, SKD and Alonso out anyway and Sordell because he has been given chance after chance and has never taken it.

IN:
2 x LB
2 x CB
RB
RM
LM
CM
2 x ST

I know thats a lot of ins but Dougie has always said he has been unhappy with the balance of the team, and with a good few expected to leave, expect a busy summer.

Does Mark Davies have the ability to win games though?

We all know he is good, but how often has he put in a performance which was won us the game when no-one else stepped up? Only Ngog and Eagles have done it this year. I cant think of any appearances where he has in his whole career to be fair. Even a performance where ive looked back and thought, yeah he was the best player on the pitch. He's only scored 11 for us, and he has only got 10 assists in his entire career so thats an odd thing to say. He is not creative enough to play in behind the striker, he would be better in a deeper role. But would i play him in the deeper role over Holden, Medo...or even Pratley? No i wouldnt, because they do it better than him. Furthermore, is he better than Eagles in that advanced role, no he isnt.

Like i said, Mark Davies has great technical ability, but in terms of substance, he doesnt add more than the other players in our team, despite them having inferior technical ability.

If someone offered £5-6m in Jan, id run with it. V.Talented, but not enough substance to his game, injury prone. We could sign a better player for that money..funnilly enough our 'player of the season' is available for just £3m.

Again, we could sign a better player than CYL and still have alot of change to use this to really fix our weak areas - the defence.

Mears and Weather are the only players i really rate in our defence who will be here next year. We all know Dougie doesnt rate Ricketts, and why would he when he is a defensive nightmare. He brought in Butterfield hoping he could drop Ricketts, but then he was even worse.
Alonso is offski. Knight has performed admirably this year...but i still dont feel comfortable with him there. Ream did ok yesterday, he has bulked up abit and you can tell - he needs games though to improve.

Mills i will give time - he had an injury and hasnt really featured under DF yet. Could have been undercooked under OC.

I agree with Cravies though, defence needs a facelift.

RB, CB, LB needed. We also need to add natural RW and LW - just to have that option. I am happy with the combo of Sordell, Craig and NGog. But could do with an additional striker. These players scored 28 goals in 64 starts this year.

Mavies is miles better than Pratley who has played well but just won't develop into a better player than he is now. It's a dead subject with his injury though for 12 months.

We need to build a defence around Wheater with questions asked of Bogdan.

We needed mavies in there yesterday ahead of pratley who shows his limitations in attacking positions.just needed a bit of thought and creativity but his only answer was stupid wide and high desperate shots.

"Sir Douglas of freedman" made me chuckle.

I do agree with your outs apart from Mavies who I would swap with Alonso. I think Mavies will stay, nobody will stump up the cash for someone that injury prone who is 7 months from match fitness.