Selling Ross McCormack would be foolish and replacing him would be difficult
Square Ball 17/8/13
Amitai Winehouse
Take a moment to consider your own biases. You may have disliked Ken Bates, but like the daughter of a newspaper baron you began to identify with him. You don’t have the same morals or view of football, but you do have to break through the barriers that he set over your footballing mind. You don’t have to sell your best.
Consider those biases again. Relative normality has been restored to Elland Road, and it seems we function more like other football clubs. Money we make on transfers goes into the side. There’s clear evidence of it, Morison’s departure allowing for us to go out and sign Murphy. The philosophy is clear, and whilst we have to sort out the wage budget, a sale leads to a purchase. We don’t build stuff with transfer money anymore. We don’t simply need to think about whether McCormack is going, therefore, but whether we could replace him.
If you were to look at the league, McCormack, whilst not too good for the division, is certainly one of the better players in the league. As mentioned on the podcast, Middlesbrough are aiming to go up, ostensibly, and they clearly see McCormack as a player who can help that. Given their relatively undervalued offers so far, they sense a discount at Leeds.
The goal McCormack scored today shows his quality, his ability to make things happen. To replace a talent like that would cost more than Middlesbrough are offering (£1.3m), or they would simply snap up the alternative. It doesn’t work to sell your best player unless the offer is too good to turn down or he’s demanding a move. As it stands neither is the case. You always have to take comments on transfer dealings with a pinch of salt, but as Ross said:
“I love it at Leeds and I want to stay. I’ve always said that I’m happy here. I know clubs are interested in me but I’m settled.”
To sell now would seem foolish in the extreme – the money is not too good to turn down and the player doesn’t want to leave. A day like today and the goal he scored shows how difficult it would be to replace Ross. Why bother putting ourselves in a position where we need to?
Amitai Winehouse
Take a moment to consider your own biases. You may have disliked Ken Bates, but like the daughter of a newspaper baron you began to identify with him. You don’t have the same morals or view of football, but you do have to break through the barriers that he set over your footballing mind. You don’t have to sell your best.
Consider those biases again. Relative normality has been restored to Elland Road, and it seems we function more like other football clubs. Money we make on transfers goes into the side. There’s clear evidence of it, Morison’s departure allowing for us to go out and sign Murphy. The philosophy is clear, and whilst we have to sort out the wage budget, a sale leads to a purchase. We don’t build stuff with transfer money anymore. We don’t simply need to think about whether McCormack is going, therefore, but whether we could replace him.
If you were to look at the league, McCormack, whilst not too good for the division, is certainly one of the better players in the league. As mentioned on the podcast, Middlesbrough are aiming to go up, ostensibly, and they clearly see McCormack as a player who can help that. Given their relatively undervalued offers so far, they sense a discount at Leeds.
The goal McCormack scored today shows his quality, his ability to make things happen. To replace a talent like that would cost more than Middlesbrough are offering (£1.3m), or they would simply snap up the alternative. It doesn’t work to sell your best player unless the offer is too good to turn down or he’s demanding a move. As it stands neither is the case. You always have to take comments on transfer dealings with a pinch of salt, but as Ross said:
“I love it at Leeds and I want to stay. I’ve always said that I’m happy here. I know clubs are interested in me but I’m settled.”
To sell now would seem foolish in the extreme – the money is not too good to turn down and the player doesn’t want to leave. A day like today and the goal he scored shows how difficult it would be to replace Ross. Why bother putting ourselves in a position where we need to?