Jussi Jaaskelainen to leave BWFC

[Lofthouse Lower]

Maybe?

With little finance due to be at his disposal, Coyle will once again have to be canny in the summer transfer market and could well weigh up the sale of Al-Habsi against that of Jaaskelainen, who is one of the squad’s bigger earners and has just one more year left on his current contract.

The former’s sale would raise upwards of £3million – and given that he is unlikely to want to play second fiddle next season, those funds raised may be vital for Coyle’s transfer plans elsewhere in the squad.

Jaaskelainen has kept just six clean sheets in his 35 appearances in league and cup, leading some to suggest his grip on the goalkeeping gloves is working loose.

http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/wa ... ext_season_/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I say sell. Give Ali his chance.

Ali
Jussi

[BWFC_Insane]

Maybe?

With little finance due to be at his disposal, Coyle will once again have to be canny in the summer transfer market and could well weigh up the sale of Al-Habsi against that of Jaaskelainen, who is one of the squad’s bigger earners and has just one more year left on his current contract.

The former’s sale would raise upwards of £3million – and given that he is unlikely to want to play second fiddle next season, those funds raised may be vital for Coyle’s transfer plans elsewhere in the squad.

Jaaskelainen has kept just six clean sheets in his 35 appearances in league and cup, leading some to suggest his grip on the goalkeeping gloves is working loose.

http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/wa ... ext_season_/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I say sell. Give Ali his chance.

Ali
Jussi

It comes down to this really, Habsi is marketable. We could raise 3M.

Jussi probably now is not marketable and although clubs would probably be interested I think he'd be unlikely to upsticks and move elsewhere.

So Coyle has to decide whether getting the cash in for Habsi and sticking with Jussi is going to leave us stronger than giving Habsi a go and potentially having a frustrated Jussi kicking his heels around.

I think its a tough call. Again it will be a test of Coyle as a manager to see if he can get it right.

I still don't believe there is a lot to choose between Jussi and Habsi.

The only thing I think is that if we gave Habsi a chance and he had a good season with us he could command a fee far bigger than three million (how long is his contract?). A solid keeper of his age who has already made a few take notice could be worth 7-8M easily if he continues doing well.

Could we afford to throw that away? But equally if he doesn't do well and we've got rid of or seriously pissed off one of our longest serving players in history then what a balls up that would be!

[Lord Kangana]

Effectively we're looking at two from three. Its Ali and Jussi plus Bogdan.

To be quite honest, its probably the least of our worries as to which combination we end up with. Either get the money up front for one, or reduce the wage bill with the other. I don't see this as a great test of Coyle's management, it would be difficult to lose.

Dealing with the rest of the team might be.

[BWFC_Insane]

Effectively we're looking at two from three. Its Ali and Jussi plus Bogdan.

To be quite honest, its probably the least of our worries as to which combination we end up with. Either get the money up front for one, or reduce the wage bill with the other. I don't see this as a great test of Coyle's management, it would be difficult to lose.

Dealing with the rest of the team might be.

Its the implications it has on the rest of the team. In some cases this is easier in that we have 3 quality goalkeepers. In others ways its harder as a delicate balancing act between having the best keeper, the biggest budget and consequently the strongest team overall needs to be struck.

Coyle hasn't really made any statements yet in terms of changing the "old guard"/stalwarts I think Jussi, Kevin Davies etc how he deals with them is a big test for him.

[TKIZ!]

With Ali having 6 years on Jussi I would like Ali to have a chance of first team football with us. If not we can use the money to rebuild

[boltonboris]

There doesn't seem to be much difference in ability. So it's a difficult one. Jussi has vast experience. but we also risk losing Al-Habsi.

Preferably, for me, it'd be Al-Habsi as the number 1 next season. We could get a good 7-8 years with AAH, whereas Jussi is 'on his way'

[TKIZ!]

There doesn't seem to be much difference in ability. So it's a difficult one. Jussi has vast experience. but we also risk losing Al-Habsi.

Preferably, for me, it'd be Al-Habsi as the number 1 next season. We could get a good 7-8 years with AAH, whereas Jussi is 'on his way'

I concur with this sentiment

[BWFC_Insane]

There doesn't seem to be much difference in ability. So it's a difficult one. Jussi has vast experience. but we also risk losing Al-Habsi.

Preferably, for me, it'd be Al-Habsi as the number 1 next season. We could get a good 7-8 years with AAH, whereas Jussi is 'on his way'

What would you do with Jussi in that situation? I doubt he'll happily sit on the bench. Do you ask him to try "coaching" or see if you can move him on?

[truewhite15]

Jussi reckons he can do a Van Der Sar and go until he's 40something. It's definitely a tough one to call, unless Jussi's changed his mind, but if we're promoting Ali, then we've got to look at making Jussi a coach of some description.

[TKIZ!]

Him and Barber already have a goalkeeping school so I think he's inclined to move to coaching eventually anyway. So why not now?

[boltonboris]

There doesn't seem to be much difference in ability. So it's a difficult one. Jussi has vast experience. but we also risk losing Al-Habsi.

Preferably, for me, it'd be Al-Habsi as the number 1 next season. We could get a good 7-8 years with AAH, whereas Jussi is 'on his way'

What would you do with Jussi in that situation? I doubt he'll happily sit on the bench. Do you ask him to try "coaching" or see if you can move him on?

Leave it up to him. Tell him, for now he's second choice. If al-Habsi drops a few clangers, you're back in.. If you're not happy waiting for your chance, you can move on.

Probably wouldn't even command a fee.. Just get him off the wage bill

[BWFC_Insane]

There doesn't seem to be much difference in ability. So it's a difficult one. Jussi has vast experience. but we also risk losing Al-Habsi.

Preferably, for me, it'd be Al-Habsi as the number 1 next season. We could get a good 7-8 years with AAH, whereas Jussi is 'on his way'

What would you do with Jussi in that situation? I doubt he'll happily sit on the bench. Do you ask him to try "coaching" or see if you can move him on?

Leave it up to him. Tell him, for now he's second choice. If al-Habsi drops a few clangers, you're back in.. If you're not happy waiting for your chance, you can move on.

Probably wouldn't even command a fee.. Just get him off the wage bill

Fair enough but then theoretically you've got three quality keepers on the wage bill and lack of quality elsewhere.

Somehow I think Coyle wants to cut the three down to two to free up funds for elsewhere!

[boltonboris]

There doesn't seem to be much difference in ability. So it's a difficult one. Jussi has vast experience. but we also risk losing Al-Habsi.

Preferably, for me, it'd be Al-Habsi as the number 1 next season. We could get a good 7-8 years with AAH, whereas Jussi is 'on his way'

What would you do with Jussi in that situation? I doubt he'll happily sit on the bench. Do you ask him to try "coaching" or see if you can move him on?

Leave it up to him. Tell him, for now he's second choice. If al-Habsi drops a few clangers, you're back in.. If you're not happy waiting for your chance, you can move on.

Probably wouldn't even command a fee.. Just get him off the wage bill

Fair enough but then theoretically you've got three quality keepers on the wage bill and lack of quality elsewhere.

Somehow I think Coyle wants to cut the three down to two to free up funds for elsewhere!

Loan out Bogdan (not that he'd be on that much compared to the other 2)

If wages are the issue then tell him (Jussi) he can leave. Or take up a coaches wage, if he so wishes

[Armchair Wanderer]

On the bwfc website the other day Bogdan mentioned there being 4 keepers, with Lainton being the 4th.

Like BWFC_Insane says, we shouldn't have 4 keepers and then moan about having a tiny squad. Move one on and strengthen elsewhere.

[CAPSLOCK]

Sell Jussi and next problem will be keeping Bogdan happy

If you're right that Ali has 6 years, Bogdan won't wait that long

[boltonboris]

Sell Jussi and next problem will be keeping Bogdan happy

If you're right that Ali has 6 years, Bogdan won't wait that long

If we keep Jussi we'll still have the same problem with Bogdan

[BWFC_Insane]

I think this situation is more complex than folk make out. You can't say to Jussi "leave or accept a coaching position". He could turn round and say "Fook that you can pay me the top whack for the last year of my contract for me to sit around doing nowt".

Then he could sit around and cause trouble. He's not exactly shy of a good sulk is he, as demonstrated at Blackburn on Saturday! Nice enough bloke and all don't get me wrong but I can imagine he'd have a face on him if he was a regular bench warmer at the very least.

There is also the situation of Habsi being under pressure should he make a mistake, again he's made a few this season. And the crowd would be critical of Coyle if he dropped Jussi and it backfired. Although there are quite a few asking for Jussi to be dropped I reckon there would be more unhappy if he was, loyal servant and all that.

There is also the image of the club, dropping a keeper who lets face it might not be as good as he was, but hasn't chucked any in, after he's played over 500 games for the club. What statement would that make?

On the other hand it isn't good for any young strikers coming along for example if the message is that players like Davies are in every game no matter what until they drop, if thats the way it goes with Jussi.

Coyle will know the personalities involved and I'm sure he'll get it right.

If I was a betting man I'd put money on Al Habsi not being here next season and Jussi being no. 1 choice, but I'm less than certain.

All adds to what will be an intriguing summer.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Oh look, "everybody" is talking about it a month after it was mooted on T-W...

FWIW Although I can see the merit in the idea - that's why I mentioned it - BWFCi's right: it's just not as simple as deciding to ditch Jussi. He has to accept the decision (difficult considering how settled his family seem) and we have to find someone willing to take him and his wage off us. It's not beyond the realms that Wigan would offer him the loan spot vacated by AAH (whom they wish to sign permanently), but picking up what percentage of the wage?

Strikes me there's two reasons for this mooted change: football and finance. On the playing side, it's a very tough call: Jussi has long been one of the top flight's best keepers but is getting no younger, and at some point we have to switch. Is AAH the man for the job? He certainly seems very capable indeed. On the financial side, it's also difficult. Jussi only has one year left on his contract so we'd get next to nothing in transfer fee, merely hoping to cut the wage bill. Contrastingly, AAH is on lower wages but would command a higher fee (especially as he's now fully work-permitted up). The simple truth is that BWFC won't know the financial margins and could only guess - unless they put both keepers up for sale and see what numbers come in. And I doubt that would help morale...

[Choppers]

Whatever happens, I'd be really disappointed to lose Al Habsi.

[DIPS]

Pretty straight forward this one. AAH is the future. We owe Jussi nothing, he's played for us and we've paid him. If he gets dropped it will down his form or Coyle having a different approach that in the end is for the benefit of BWFC not just one player.