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He hasn't even gone yet but I feel his departure is inevitable.

Most teams, anywhere, struggle when their best player leaves. Ourselves, we only have to look at the loss of Mooney, then Parkin, then Fallon, resulting in relegation.

How will we replace him?

we struggled while cox was here.gulp.....

We will unearth another Finney,Thorne,Hay,SSP,Fallon,Cox etc.No worries!

It's probably inevitable but if he amazes us all and stays it'll be that much sweeter - and added pressure to repeat this seasons form!

We always go through potential names and we're rarely correct! As long as it's not a 29 year old joining his tenth club.

Like Tommy Mooney?

Mooney would be awesome.

I don't think he's playing much for FC Marbella so could be tempted back possibly.

I hear from someone who went to the end of season do last night that Mr Cox is very happy here and wants to stay...

You know what I meant.

I know what Rich means though. Such a player always seems more likely to end up like a Tony Thorpe.

It will be taken out of his hands Talk Talk.

We've got people interested who will be willing to break our own transfer record for him.

well he wasnt going to turn around and tell Gary Stanley he cant wait to leave and play with better players...

cox is hardly going to tell fans he cannot wait to leave at their clubs do

er you beat me to it dv.i didn't see your post before making mine.
oops

If I was Cox and wanted to leave/knew I was leaving I would keep my gob shut and smile and nod instead. I don't know if he said that to Gaz or if it was overheard.

Anyway, I thought it was worth repeating. As I have said before, I think it would show real ambition by the club to hang on to him and I hope it happens.

I think everybody hopes he'll sign a new contract and hangs about for another season. I think it would be silly to expect it though.

I will go five pints of Guinness by way of a bet on that then Benjamin.

Loads of options if he needs replacing. a season long loan from a proven championship fringe player,a lowere prem reserve/youth (just like cox once was). razak's in the frame is wilson can get him upto scratch in pre season - if he's given a contract.

I don't think any discussion about players we need is relevant until we know who's definately in the squad next season. It will be an interesting summer anyway.

what Ben said.

What I said. You don't drink Guinness though :P

Am I right in thinking he's got another year left on his contract?

Yep, miss a penalty and sod off to Oxford - great :)

(worst conclusion to a STFC career ever?)

Yes....

Unless he signs a year extension, he will be sold because there will be offers and his value is only going to decrease as we move towards June '10

Here is an interesting fact for you: Would you believe that, basic, he is not the highest paid player at the club?

He is very highly incentivised (sp?).

Exactly my thought process. Cash in now rather than risk losing him for nothing in 12 months (assuming he doesn't sign an extension).

I'd much rather he stayed mind, signing an extension in the process. I can dream on......

No, I wouldnt believe it


He's only just turned 22 so wouldnt go for nothing. We'd get compensation for developing him for 2 seasons. Wouldnt be even a 10th of what he is worth.

Parkin signed a year extension and gave us an extra year so Cox might. Of course Parkin wasnt as a good as Cox, didnt get as much media attention as Cox and no one put in bids for Parkin like the bids we will probably/hopefully/definitely get for Cox.

Alot of people say Posh baught there way out of the division,maybe true but also they turned down 2million for Mclean....Wolves being the bidders,they didnt sell,for this club to move on weve got to stop selling...ive got a sneaky feeling Cox will stay one more season.

The best move of the summer would be to replace Budgie with DV I reckon. I'm beginning to sound like a parrot...

A retarded parrot.

The difference is Mclean had more than a year left on his contract. He was then and still is now contracted till 2011

If Cox had 2 years left then we'd keep him.

Forgot about the age/compo thing. Point well made. I still say cash in though (at the right price).

Not sure about that.

A side from the fact im clearly ace and brilliant I see no reason to replace Budgie.

Adi Williams on the other hand is going anyway, rightly or wrongly

I wonder who'll come in. Will Byrne take over the reserves so the new guy can become assistant to Wilson or will they make Byrne look after the reserves and remain assistant to cut costs?

No, I'm wrong.

He's now contracted till 2012!!

McLean signed a new deal with Peterborough United, running until June 2011, on 5 April 2007.

He has been linked with a move away from London Road after 29 league goals in a season with Wolves offering in excess of £1.5 Million.

On 1 July 2008, McLean handed in a transfer request which Peterborough reluctantly accepted but Peterborough refused to let the player go for any less than £3 million plus add-ons.

He eventually signed a new four-year contract with the club in July

Nokcer I VD htiw eigdub ecalper ot eb dluow remmus eht fo evom tseb eht.

Good stuff DV....so the bottom line is we get him ti sign a new contract...

I believe the only way Cox will stay past the summer is if he signs a new contract/contract extension so he never runs into his final year.

As soon as he does there is more power in the players and buying team hands than the selling teams hands.

The example I'm going to use is Rory Fallon. In our relegation season he was playing well and had 14 goals by January and had others interested in him.

Really, at that point we needed to stick with Fallon (even against his wishes) and hope that his goals would have kept us up then we could have sold him in the summer.

Instead because he was into the last season of his contract and wouldnt sign an extension we had no choice other than to sell him. Take 300k now or get nothing at the end of the season.

It might seem a mynah point, but are you suggesting replacing Budgie with a parrot?

are you calling me repetitve reg?

are you calling me repetitve reg?

Why not Reg? He'd keep the squad in beak condition...

Nah, I'm just being a cock a too Reg.

Totally agree, the club has to protect itself. A years extension won't really mean anything in terms of whether he leaves or not (Jan window or end of season). That said, I think there's more chance of me starting up front with Paynter next season than Cox. He'll go.

On the subject of replacing Cox, you can't directly replace him and his goals. Well it isn't impossible, just very very unlikely.

But you can buy players to stem the deluge of last minute goals, idiot goals, etc. You can buy players who will chip in with 5-10 a season from midfield.

Add granite foundations to the team and spread the goals around it and the team without Cox will probably be more successful than with him (and mediocrity elsewhere).

Finding those players on our wage budget and gelling them together is a big ask. Come on Wilson:)

John Parrot?

That would fit the bill Reg

Got to find someone with a proven record .... best bet is someone who has scored loads at non league or League 2 level in terms of being able to afford someone ...

Steve Morison of Stevenage or Andy Bishop of Bury?

Cox was none of those things but he turned out alright.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/lincoln_city/8034680.stm

11 in 17 in League Two and out of contract. Article doesn't exactly fill you with confidence though.

Morrison has been knocking on the door for too long now, if we're to bring in someone of that age, I'd want them to have some experience and a goal scoring record in the football league

Bishop bashes em in....i like him though,suprised some team hasnt took a gamble with him.

If Bury don't get promoted, might be worth a shot. Same with Grant Holt at Shrewsbury? Although both would cost money I suspect.

Good on the long diagonal runs as well Leefer.

 :eek: The bishop!

[url width=449 height=328]http://lh6.ggpht.com/tttalyc/SEfpj4gfvQI/AAAAAAAAC9s/dJ3DwnosP7g/s800/montybishop.jpg[/url]

Very good Leefer, very good  ;)