This was supposed to be the window to further widen the gap with the other teams. By bringing in smart additions.
But I feel after the Treble we may have been complacent and allowed players wanting to leave to dictate and be in control by keeping us hanging until last week.
We should have been the ones dictating concrete timelines to players when we
Need answers by or they will be staying and no discussions would be had.
Now major deal is going to custard, and we seem from the outside running around trying to put some plan in place.
Best approach now:
Keep Laporte like managed to convince Bernardo to stay. Ask him one more season or till Jan, allowing us time to line up an alternative.
Walker: take the new deal or serve out one more year. We have given you best years of your career and now do us a favour.
And focus on keeping Bernardo under any circumstances. If he decides he wants to leave then just focus everything on getting his replacement. That’s all in this window.
Otherwise he stays aswell.
Time to play hardball.