(30-03-2015, 21:33)Was Wereham Owl Wrote: MS ,
That is statto at his best, and has opened my eyes to how bad we really have been this season, I knew we were poor, but not that poor!!, I was never Antonios biggest fan as I thought he was wasteful TBH, but he did excite the crowd, and now we have ..err , nevermind... but to be fair to SG , was it really HIS decision to offload him or did MM make him to buy May ?? , I suspect that depended on the Thai interest at the time too, if MM KNEW it was going to happen then I guess he would have kept Antonio and bankrolled May himself, but as a businessman if he was unsure he would have given SG the option of one or the other , this opinion is based on the premise that Antonio WOULD have stayed at S6, my feeling is he would have gone no matter what given the information in other posts .

(30-03-2015, 21:51)St Charles Owl Wrote: Undoubtedly SG was told if you want May, someone needs to go to cover the cost and as Antonio was not happy by all accounts with SG anyway, he was the most saleable asset we had that was worth enough.  Wasn't this deal done at the time when the Mammadov deal was in the throws of collapsing??  I doubt DC was even in talks at that stage anyway, so MM was probably in the state of mind that there was likely to be no immediate takeover so the May deal had to be financed through a sale.

For me though, the big question now is whether DC is going to stick with SG, give him a decent transfer and wage budget and let him and PA go about rebuilding the team reading for a push at the top 6??  SG has done a good job with the defence this season, so he is capable in that area, but can he find the right players in midfield or up front, and if he does will we be able to sign them??  Money certainly talks and by all accounts we now have it, so we should be far more optimistic about next season anyway.  Raking over the problems this season are to a certain degree pointless as our circumstances as a club have drastically changed in the last couple of months.

(31-03-2015, 01:39)madsteve Wrote: I know Antonio's other half. She said that he wanted to stay. He was told that Wednesday had accepted an offer for him & he wasn't part of SG's plans two days before the Brighton match. He was devastated & she was part way through her degree course at Manchester so it has made her travelling worse.

SG was so determined to get May that he was prepared to sacrifice Antonio.

(31-03-2015, 03:35)St Charles Owl Wrote: Last time I looked Westwood was part of our defence!!!  Where we have suffered is the loss of Loovens, which has seen Lees performances drop and the defence has conceded more goals as a result, but I think on the whole the defence has performed very well.

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(31-03-2015, 01:39)madsteve Wrote: I know Antonio's other half. She said that he wanted to stay. He was told that Wednesday had accepted an offer for him & he wasn't part of SG's plans two days before the Brighton match. He was devastated & she was part way through her degree course at Manchester so it has made her travelling worse.

SG was so determined to get May that he was prepared to sacrifice Antonio.

Yes he was, but also by all accounts he was forced into that decision by MM insisting on selling someone before we could buy May.  It wasn't an ideal situation for any manager to be in and with hindsight it certainly hasn't worked out as anyone hoped it would, but that was where we were at financially at the start of the season, now we start with a different mindset with regards to how we buy and sell players.

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MS, here is something that was posted by you just after Antonio left for Forest.  Not having a dig or anything but I thought it would be interesting to see what we have achieved since then:

1) No new scoreboard  About to happen
2) Tired old ground   Still nothing been said about the ground itself.
3) Star player sold  MAs sale certainly didn't help us and the money was no reivested in the team either
4) Lack of pace throughout the side (just Helan)  Still the case
5) Competing with Rotherham for unproven striker  We beat them to sign May, if thats a positive!!
6) Still haven't received ST when I paid in March  I assume it arrived!!
7) No away kit yet  Got sorted
8) Home kit quality problems  Still stuck with Sondico for now
9) Team lacks quality & depth  I think the January transfer and loan signings we have made have done well, especially McGugan and Keane, but still lacking real depth.
10) MM doesn't know what is happening  MM is on a beach somewhere!!
11) Takeover appears to be falling through  Which it did, only to be replaced by an actual, real takeover!!

I think most would agree that we have basically stood still this season, although never being near relegation was a bonus.  But the last line should see that all change now!!

(31-03-2015, 10:43)Thurnscoe_OWL Wrote: How's Antonio's birds travelling worse if they're still living in Sheffield?

(31-03-2015, 11:05)madsteve Wrote:

(31-03-2015, 10:43)Thurnscoe_OWL Wrote: How's Antonio's birds travelling worse if they're still living in Sheffield?

She watches the majority of his matches so half of them are in Nottingham rather than Sheffield. Ideally, he would live close to the training ground. Now he has to travel & she has to travel. Hardly ideal.

The main point was that they planned for at least four years at Wednesday and SG spoilt that for them so they had to make last minute changes that they didn't want to make.