Dale Stephens - January

[Munchkin]

If behind closed doors he's made it known that he has no intention of signing a new contract and will leave for free in the summer, is now the time to potentially cash in?

Bearing in mind the well reported financial loses, in some part due to players wages and the clubs desire to hold onto players, is this maybe one oppurtinity to cash in? With the impressive form of Steve Sidwell, the solid Oliver Norwood and imminent return of Beram Kayal, are we possibly in a position where we could cope with the loss of Stephens?

Interested in your opinions and how you think the club will view things? Promotion is without question the priority but the Stephens situation presents a very difficult and potentially awkward position for the club.

 

[Randsta]

If behind closed doors he's made it known that he has no intention of signing a new contract and will leave for free in the summer, is now the time to potentially cash in?

Bearing in mind the well reported financial loses, in some part due to players wages and the clubs desire to hold onto players, is this maybe one oppurtinity to cash in? With the impressive form of Steve Sidwell, the solid Oliver Norwood and imminent return of Beram Kayal, are we possibly in a position where we could cope with the loss of Stephens?

Interested in your opinions and how you think the club will view things? Promotion is without question the priority but the Stephens situation presents a very difficult and potentially awkward position for the club.

Keep hold and then when we go up he'll stay

 

[Brian Fantana]

Got to keep hold, and roll the dice for promotion.

He was utterly magnificent on Friday night, IMHO. Every stray ball from either team seemed to end up at his feet.

 

[Yoda]

I feel he's been told to stay put for the remainder of his contract and if we fail to go up, he can leave. If we go up, the promise of a much more improved contract.

 

[Blue Valkyrie]

Tony has publically said he's not for sale in January.

So he's staying.

 

[Nixonator]

No.

We do not need to sell and he is vital, he is what makes our side tick and does a better job than both SS and ON in that role.

Reuniting him with BK for the latter half of the season gives me great hope we can see this promotion push out.

 

[DarrenFreemansPerm]

Easy to say as it's not me haemorrhaging money but I'd keep him, having a small squad cost us last year, for the money that Bloom has sunk into our club I can't see him risking anything for a few million ( ) in January. Whatever happens I trust Tony and Chris to do the right thing.

 

[Insel affe]

I feel he's been told to stay put for the remainder of his contract and if we fail to go up, he can leave. If we go up, the promise of a much more improved contract.

Is the sensible option, I think Tony is laying his cards on the table this season and will spend to improve our chances considering our current position and teams like Villa and Norwich behind us...

Time to go all in.

 

[Paul Reids Sock]

He wants Premier League I don't think he realised how well we would do this season and therefore will probably keep his head down until the end of the season to see if we go up

 

[Captain Sensible]

I feel he's been told to stay put for the remainder of his contract and if we fail to go up, he can leave. If we go up, the promise of a much more improved contract.

If fact any Albion player, not just Stephens would be foolish to sign a new contract right now as we could be a perm club in the summer. Unless it was a contract with Premier League wage rise which is what I assume Dunk and Kayal signed. Although I'm just assuming. I have a feeling as you, that if we go up, he stays.

 

[grawhite]

Keep him, if we go up he stays, if we don't he goes for nothing. It's got to be gamble worth taking.


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[Munchkin]

Keep hold and then when we go up he'll stay

Let's hope so.

 

[deletebeepbeepbeep]

Am I right in thinking he can agree a deal with a new club for next season when the January window closes?

Or is that just Football Manager

 

[spring hall convert]

100% up to Hughton if you ask me.

I don't think there's any amount of money a club is realistically going to give us that will be worth more to us financially than the shot we've currently got at going up, that Stephens is a huge part of. Even if there's a replacement identified, it's a risk.

So as long as CH thinks that Stephens will give his all to the cause between now and the end of the season, he won't be going anywhere.

 

[Captain Sensible]

I love Dale Stephens, I want him to stay and I want him to sign a new contract before it comes to that..... however, It really sits uncomfortably with me that a player can hold that gun to our head. No one player is bigger than the club, a small part of me wants us to get to the promised land and not offer him a deal if that happens.

5 years of so ago, I would have said the same. However the money on offer in the Premier has distorted the situation. For clubs looking to go up, it is now worth holding onto key players and not cashing in like we did with Barnes. I'd say the Albion will offer him a good contract if we go up, as we won't need the initial outlay of transfer fee. The whole situation could work out well for Stephens and the Albion, but we have to go up.

 

[Albumen]

If we go up it doesn't matter. If he stays, then great. If he doesn't, we have £80m+ to buy someone of equal or better quality.

 

[Pavilionaire]

If Bloom was going to sell he would have done it in the summer.

I thought then that Bloom's bullish stance on transfers was correct and our present league position proves him right. I'm sure there is some sort of gentleman's agreement in place that either he'll be offered a new deal with us in the Prem, or be allowed a move to the Prem if we're not up.

I get the feeling that this season is sh1t or bust for us. We were so close to promotion last season that Bloom managed to convince all the key players to stay whilst bringing in a quality striker like Glenn Murray but I don't think he'll have quite the same option open to him if we miss out this time. If you let Stephens go you've got to let Dunk go, and if Bruno retires and Murray returns to Bournemouth then you've got a major rebuilding job on your hands on the back of huge losses in 2015/16 and 2016/17.

 

[Blue Valkyrie]

Am I right in thinking he can agree a deal with a new club for next season when the January window closes?

Or is that just Football Manager

I think that is only with an overseas club ?

 

[Nixonator]

I love Dale Stephens, I want him to stay and I want him to sign a new contract before it comes to that..... however, It really sits uncomfortably with me that a player can hold that gun to our head. No one player is bigger than the club, a small part of me wants us to get to the promised land and not offer him a deal if that happens. (as long as we had an improved option in place to replace him)

Both him and Beram are good enough to play in the PL. There's not many players who, knowing that they are good enough, would stick around in the tier below when they could be where all the money and prestige is at, unless they are on equivalent deals.

We should count ourselves lucky we retained them both, with one even signing a new contract. That is testament to the resolve of the club. To go through what we did in August to keep Dale and then offload him for pittance in January would be madness.

You talk about bringing in someone better than him, who is that? He is one of the best, if not the best midfielder in the league in the particular role he plays and anybody that comes close would be completely unrealistic to obtain. Even someone like Hourihane would be very difficult to prise away.

 

[Seagull over NZ]

Everyone keeps saying he would be silly to sign a new contract, but consider this, what if he got injured in say Feb/Mar with an injury that took him well into the next season. Let's not forget it wasn't that long ago he was out for a few months. An injury like that could lead to no clubs signing him in the summer. If I was him I would sign a new contract that had a release clause of next to nothing if we don't get promoted. He then has all bases covered. If he doesn't sign a contract then there is a risk that we could get promoted and still be without arguably our best player for life in the premiership. He will get a nice sign on bonus from potential suitors if he is a free agent in the summer so it is surely in our interest to get him signed up to a new contract too.