leeslover Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 I'm averting this gloom by thinking of Scunthorpe (which doesn't usually cheer me up). I was convinced they were done for when they were top of the division but sold Keough at Christmas, I felt he was even more important to them than Sharp. But they got a direct replacement in Beckford, kept the rest of their horrible team together and walked to promotion. Let's not give up hope that we can't carry on without Hughes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoytonBlueLad Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 Id risk losing him for nothing in June and look forward to watching Championship football at Boundary Park! That way we're in a better position to keep Lee Hughes in any case because we can afford to pay him more money and offer a higher standard of football. £400k now or higher revenues in the Champ? Or keep him, don't go up and he still buggers off I see your point though and it is a tough one for TTA. They do not want to be stung again and thanks to a certain someone it is something that will always be at the front of their minds now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diego_Sideburns Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 That'll be Hughes .. as he does it all himself I would be amazed if that's true - the PFA will be acting for him if he doesn't have a personal Agent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lookers_Carl Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 (edited) Id risk losing him for nothing in June and look forward to watching Championship football at Boundary Park! That way we're in a better position to keep Lee Hughes in any case because we can afford to pay him more money and offer a higher standard of football. £400k now or higher revenues in the Champ? thats easy to say though when your not putting your hand in your pocket and handing over 15k a week to support the clubs losses. and if what the chron is saying is true, someone bids 400k and we cant turn it down anyway i definitely dont buy this we are a one man team promotion relies solely on us keeping hughes stuff. we lose him for nothing in june we wont have any money to try to find a replacement we lose him in jan for a decent fee we could find a decent replacement, pocket some of the cash, and still have a decent crack at promotion. as was said earlier, when scunny sold keough and lost laws to sheff wed i thought they would slip, but they did quite the opposite. Edited December 1, 2008 by Lookers_Carl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigfinLatic Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 Ah well, cheers Lee, t'was good while it lasted.... At least we know now so I can prepare for the worst, if you are telling me that someone out there isnt goint to take a punt on Hughesy, well... Donny or not, he is a gonner.... I hope we are already putting some thought into who what we are going to do to replace him, as Byfield will not fill the gap left by Hughesy and Davies (depending on wherether he comes back or not).... If we get a fee for those two then I'd hope at least a decent loan is brought in... think old windyarse would be a great shout... The way of latics... the king is dead, long live the new king... whomever that might be... What I would also like to say is that perhaps we might focus our efforts on making sure Hughesy know we want him to stay... might swing it considerably in his mind... I think our fans could quite easily get on his/the clubs backs.... would much rather we all let him know how important we think he is to our club - which this threa dclearly shows... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lags Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 We are still talking potentially 10 or 11 games before the Jan window closes. 8 games takes us to the mid point of the window and by that stage we all should know what good chances we have of promotion. I would say Latics should hang fire till that time and assess our position in the league with what cash is on the table. The anouncement of the two televised games couldn't have come at a better time really as the club now know we've at least a further 100K monies that wasn't in the budget just last week that might temper things a little. Unfortunately the news of the release clause means that if a club coughs up the 400K there's little the TTA and Latics can do now, so grin and bare it and take the money. Anyway mid point transfer window could mean this 100K tv monies plus a good indication of play off TV monies which just might....might stave off a sale or two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leeslover Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 Thinking outside the box, does this mean that the OASIS pre-match drinks for Millwall are no longer going to be held in the Heathrow area? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaticMark Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 TOP scorer Lee Hughes can leave Athletic for £400,000 during next month’s transfer window. A release clause in the striker’s contract allows him to quit Boundary Park if any club comes up with the minimum offer. The decision would be taken out of Athletic’s hands and, although no bids have been received, there is a distinct chance of rivals teams exploiting the situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killens_physio Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 I'm averting this gloom by thinking of Scunthorpe (which doesn't usually cheer me up). I was convinced they were done for when they were top of the division but sold Keough at Christmas, I felt he was even more important to them than Sharp. But they got a direct replacement in Beckford, kept the rest of their horrible team together and walked to promotion. Let's not give up hope that we can't carry on without Hughes The difference was with Scunny selling Keogh, was that Keogh wasnt the goalscorer in the partnership from what i could see. Ok he scored a few, but he seemed to do most the donkey work and running for Sharp who was the natural striker out of the two. Hughes however is our main source of goals apart from Taylor, so i think we would feel the loss of him much more than Scunny did with Keogh leaving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dean 1984 Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 (edited) The TTA should do all they can to keep taylor and hughes untill then end of the season- promotion- more money, lose hughes and taylor 8th place finish, if they want to encourage more fans to games then what good will selling the best players do? Edited December 1, 2008 by dean 1984 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leeslover Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 The difference was with Scunny selling Keogh, was that Keogh wasnt the goalscorer in the partnership from what i could see. Ok he scored a few, but he seemed to do most the donkey work and running for Sharp who was the natural striker out of the two. Hughes however is our main source of goals apart from Taylor, so i think we would feel the loss of him much more than Scunny did with Keogh leaving. True - I don't think we will get someone as good as Hughes in anyway. Scunny coped by getting a different type of player in, rather than Keough making all of Sharp's goals Beckford came in and scored some himself. Most of our good spells this season have come when the midfield are linking up with the forwards and scoring themselves, if we get that going and Byfield starts hitting form we might not be as far off as we think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaskedOwl Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 People sound like its done and dusted. What are your sources? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senor_Coconut Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 Apparently Lee Hughes has a £400k release clause in his contract. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsslatic Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 What I would also like to say is that perhaps we might focus our efforts on making sure Hughesy know we want him to stay... might swing it considerably in his mind... I think our fans could quite easily get on his/the clubs backs.... would much rather we all let him know how important we think he is to our club - which this threa dclearly shows... Got to agree with that...an offer will probably come in for Hughes and as shown it's his decision whether to stay or go if it does. Sing his name to the rafters against Brighton, Posh, Orient, Crewe and Carlisle and just hope for the best. If only the scoreboard was working... 'Please Lee, Don't Flee' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leeslover Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 'Please Lee, Don't Flee' Shh, you'll only set Coco off by bringing that up again... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killens_physio Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 True - I don't think we will get someone as good as Hughes in anyway. Scunny coped by getting a different type of player in, rather than Keough making all of Sharp's goals Beckford came in and scored some himself. Most of our good spells this season have come when the midfield are linking up with the forwards and scoring themselves, if we get that going and Byfield starts hitting form we might not be as far off as we think. As much as i hate to credit the thugs of Scunny, they do seem to have a good eye for strikers. Previously being Sharp/Keogh, they now have Hayes and Hooper who both seem to know where the net is. I just fear that IF Hughes was to leave our backup options of Lewis/O'Grady errr Davies and Byfield (presuming he stays) wont get us enough goals. A lot of people seem to forget that Hughes apart from his goals is nearly always heavily involved in the build up play as well. That kind of awareness is something which our other strikers dont seem to possess. Byfield fair enough has played three and we've won 3, but just Hughes's presence in the team causes havoc for opposition defences, and thus leads to us getting more scoring opportunities. I just hope Byfield starts finding some form and Donny let us have him for the rest of the season. If Hughes does go, then we really need to think whether or not a physical presence like O'Grady will be enough or whether we will indeed need a different type of play (like a Beckford) to come in. I feel as if Hughes does go, Shez's replacement choice will be a make or break for our season, as well as his job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoytonBlueLad Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 If only the scoreboard was working... 'Please Lee, Don't Flee' Bit close to the mark that! So 400k is the guarantee if he leaves. We shall see. I certainly hope we are already weighing up potential replacements. You know, just in case Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lookers_Carl Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 Bit close to the mark that! So 400k is the guarantee if he leaves. We shall see. I certainly hope we are already weighing up potential replacements. You know, just in case well i suppose that would depend on what the bidders think hes worth. If donny bid 200k, blackpool bid 300k, then we would have a say as we could turn down either offer. Although 400k is not beyond the means of most championship clubs these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldhamSheridan Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 If Hughes does go, then we really need to think whether or not a physical presence like O'Grady will be enough or whether we will indeed need a different type of play (like a Beckford) to come in. I feel as if Hughes does go, Shez's replacement choice will be a make or break for our season, as well as his job! I suspect that the last part of that will become less and less the more players we sell. He's shown that he'll put us there and there abouts if given the players. If they are sold underneath him (one way or another) TTA can hardly demand anything other than mid-table obscurity. If we sell hughes I expect at the most 6th. Anything top half becomes 'not bad'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killens_physio Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 I suspect that the last part of that will become less and less the more players we sell. He's shown that he'll put us there and there abouts if given the players. If they are sold underneath him (one way or another) TTA can hardly demand anything other than mid-table obscurity. If we sell hughes I expect at the most 6th. Anything top half becomes 'not bad'. Unfortuntately its a bit of a double edged sword the the TTA. They want attendances to improve the the mark where we can become a self-sufficient club and put an end to the 15k a week losses, but thats not going to happen until we have a team capable of success......which wont happen if we sell our best players. Then if they dont sell them, then they continue to subsidise the losses we are incurring without a ground development at the moment in sight, so like any business you end up having to sell your assets to cover the losses. Its a question whether we are aiming to become a well run business or a successful footballing club. Sadly they are buggered either way. If they sell and we dont go up they lack ambition, if they dont sell and we struggle to cover the losses then they are gambling with the clubs future. Not a position i would like to be in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaticsLen Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 If we do sell Hughes for £400,000 then a cheeky £300,000 bid for Lambert at Brizzle should be made. What better way to get promoted to have a good friend of our Ernie to come in Jan and smash us to glory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killens_physio Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 If we do sell Hughes for £400,000 then a cheeky £300,000 bid for Lambert at Brizzle should be made. What better way to get promoted to have a good friend of our Ernie to come in Jan and smash us to glory. While in fantasy land that would be nice, somehow i think any money from the Hughes sale will be used to cover some of this seasons losses rather than paying out a big wedge of it on a transfer fee. Anyway, i doubt Brizzle would accept anywhere near 300k for Lambert. They really would be screwed without his goals Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neiladamsheadband Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 think its a crock of $h!£ if he goes, any ideas if we have anybody lined up to replace him at that very very low price Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
palmer1 Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 While in fantasy land that would be nice, somehow i think any money from the Hughes sale will be used to cover some of this seasons losses rather than paying out a big wedge of it on a transfer fee. Anyway, i doubt Brizzle would accept anywhere near 300k for Lambert. They really would be screwed without his goals papers reckon he will go to the championship for a million, cant remember who though. look on the bright side people, if hughes goes for 400k and we now have 2 live games on the box, then taylor does not have to be sold. maybe davies will be back in january when hughes is gone, back in form and confident and finishing the season as he started the last. that should be enough to get us up. and for those that wont come if we sell hughes, you are abviously fairwearther fans, so why come now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaticsPete Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 If we do sell Hughes for £400,000 then a cheeky £300,000 bid for Lambert at Brizzle should be made. What better way to get promoted to have a good friend of our Ernie to come in Jan and smash us to glory. Unfortunately the answer to such a "cheeky" bid is likely to be go forth and multiply. Between now and the end of January there are going to be lots of twists and turns for Latics. we all seem to have agreement that there are four sellable assets - Eardley, Taylor, Davies and Hughes. Very unlikely that all four would be allowed to go (or need to in financial terms) so a very good offer for one may preclude another from going. The Hughes situation is different of course in that he can walk if someone bids £400000 - but if there are no bids for anyone else would TTA take £300000? I'm trying to adopt a wait and see attitude but I agree we should try and make players feel as wanted as possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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