Time to cash in on Jack Cork?

Yes, that was my question and before you snap my head off maybe you can read my thoughts....

 

Is this something I want, no.

Is this something that will happen, probably not.

Is this something that could benefit the team, maybe.

 

Let me first admit that I dont know the answer to my own question and what my opinion is but there are scenarios that could happen to make it a viable question though I think.

 

With JWP emerging now in CM position, that might put Cork down to the 4th option as CM and he is too good to be that imo. When we look at the team and depth in positions we have as CM options Wanyama, Schneiderlin, JWP, Cork, Davis and maybe even Guly as a final desperate option. JWP and Davis can play as one of the attacking four but we have a lot of options there too with Lambert, Osvaldo, Ramirez, Lallana, Rodriguez, Mayuka, Guly, Isgrove and if another one is coming in like Piatti we have really good cover for the front 4.

 

If we sell Cork then we would probably have Davis as the fourth option as CM and that is not bad imo. Obviously if you only consider the footballing quality you would prefer Cork but a squad isn´t always managed like that, at least not where we are at the moment.

 

Let´s say we have an offer for £7-8m for Cork which isn´t beyond possible and we could reinvest that money in a CM like Koyate or Alderweireld, would that make sense?

 

If I remember correct Corks contract is up 2015 (if it´s 2016 my thoughts would be a little different though). If he has a season now when he doesn´t get many games in the starting XI and mostly comes off the bench I dont think he will sign a new contract and next summer with one year left on the contract and a season behind him with not that much game time his resale value would drop with 50% imo.

 

Obviously he´s a great choice to have coming off the bench if we are leading games, but imo he is so good that he deserves to be a starting lineup player in the PL and I´m not sure we can offer him that this season....

 

 

Well that´s it, let the headhunt on me begin

Its a long season.........

I kind of get where you are coming from, however I really don't think we should be cashing in. Cork is a very good squad player as well as being a very good CM player he can also cover a number of other positions. The one thing that has let us down in the past has been our strength in depth and on Saturday I finally looked at our bench and thought wow that's better.

 

It will only take a couple of injuries and/or suspensions and Cork will be in the 11 again.

Erm......no. Injury to spider or Wanyama and he is back in.

What short memories some fans have. 9 months ago he was lorded as being one of the main reasons behind our upturn in form and a vital cog in our team. No, it's a squad game and he's still an important part of it and a very good player.

I think for the role he plays, we would struggle to find many better players without spending silly money. His presence has always improved the performance of the team. He was the only ever present when we dominated the Championship and his return last year coincided with the end of our run of defeats. He's an excellent player and is very unlucky to have lost his starting place. During the season he'll get chances to win it back or at least prove himself indispensable.

 

He's only being held out by Morgan's reputation, Wanyama's impact and unexpected heroics from JWP. It's a sign og genuine strengthening that he's really not just a squad player. We can make a midfield substitution without the quality in our excellent midfield dropping, few clubs outside the top six can do that.

No, you don't get rid of your best players unless you get a silly offer.

 

Personally I'd be playing Cork in the starting XI between the defence and Schneiderlin\Wagamama, he provides a fantastic defensive shield when he's in that position which allows the midfield to press + the full backs to get forward + improves the team shape IMO.

 

An underrated player on here.

What a load of nonsense, to have a chance of achieving anything you need strength in depth.

What short memories some fans have. 9 months ago he was lorded as being one of the main reasons behind our upturn in form and a vital cog in our team. No, it's a squad game and he's still an important part of it and a very good player.

AS GS says it's a long season and thoroughly agree with your thoughts. Someone posts a week ago, let's not forget Jack CORK, that he still has a massive role to play. He's a fighter, won't sit back and will rise to the occasion.

In answer to the OP No frikking way.

 

In deeper thought, it does raise the issue that MP will have to be very careful and will have to rotate players he MUST keep the squad happy. The spirit in the team is exceptional, we have all at some time talked of the likes of Cork Morgan & JWP as possible International quality (then sobered up)

 

Someone like Cork is NOT going to be happy starting only 3 or 4 Cup Games this season (like wise the mix of SRL/Gaston/JRod/Osvaldo/JWP/Steve Davis)

 

Rotation while still picking up points is key.

 

Nice new problem to have after so many years.

For me if anyone should go it's Davis

No.

 

It's a long season and Cork will play a significant part in it for us.

If anything Davis would be first to go (even though he is a great backup so wouldn't want him to go)

Nope it's a squad game...adequate cover is not what we're aiming for...they have to be better than adequate. Cork will play a lot of games this season.

I used to like this player - for some reason I'm not so keen on him anymore.

Jesus f**king Christ, what a stupid thread.

 

Cork's return from Olympic injury probably saved our PL place last season.

I used to like this player - for some reason I'm not so keen on him anymore.

I'm the other way around - at the beginning of last season I wasn't convinced Cork would be up to the job, but our results with and without him back up the argument that he really was a key player (and underrated). I think Cork's downfall is that he is the ideal substitute as he is so versatile. If any of our midfielders were out through injury or suspension I would have no qualms knowing that we had Cork as a replacement.

In answer to the original post - NO!

 

We are building a strength in depth SQUAD, not a first choice nest XI plus back up, and we've already shown we don't need to sell to buy if we do want to strengthen it further. He's flexible and can immediately slot in as and when required either off the bench or starting a game. I'd like to think that no player is sure enough of his position to be considered guaranteed first choice, that's when complacency set's in. Cork is just the sort of player to keep anyone picked ahead of them on their toes.

Can see mp playing 4-3-1-2 at times

With

Clyne , lovren , cb , shaw

Morgan , wanyama , cork

Am

Rickie , dani

No. Excellent player.

Like others have said, he aint putting up with a few cup games and last 20 mins of games, so he may decide next summer he wants out. In which case we have little say really. Would his value not diminish after a season of bit part inactivity? I am in no way saying get rid, I personally rate him. Guess keeping him and the squad in general happy is of of MoPos trickier jobs, because the talent is there.

Erm......no. Injury to spider or Wanyama and he is back in.

 

Dip in form and he is back in.

 

Cork was solid last season,a injury to MS or VW and he is in.Once he is in it will be hard for them to walk straight back in imo

Cork has a huge future at Southampton FC. Great player.

Olallana - brain fart!

Mad. Did you start this because he rarely has any shots at goal?

Lets see how the season shapes up shall we. He is an injury/drop in form of a long run in the team.

Also who's to say he won't get that anyway? We seem to have a squad that at last has some flexibility in it so why would we even be looking at off loading Cork or any of the first team squad.

If Cork hardly plays this season, only cup games etcetera then I could see him wanting to go, either Jan transfer window or next summer. I don't see this as relevant at the moment.

Well this thread went well for the OP

 

No, we shouldn't cash in on Cork. He has lovely hair and is quite dreamy.

Why would we sell Cork? Worst suggestion of the century.

I think we have to expect that Morgan and Vic will pick up a fair few bookings. The way we play will leave us exposed occasionally, and they will have to disrupt the counter attack by fair means or foul.

 

All three will get a fair amount of playing time, although MS and Vic for the big games. Or..............

 

Is there a case for saying put your best side out against the mid ranking teams where we need to pick up most points, and slightly less than 'A' list against the top and bottom four??

Jack Cork is first reserve as holding midfielder to MS and Big Vic this season based on form. We need a high quality back up for EVERY position. I think Cork is still number one reserve for those two myself as holding midfielder.And he will get games, and not just Carling Cup as our high octane game needs fresh legs.

 

You rightly mention the pleasing (re)emergence JWP and the reliability of SD but I would still rather have Cork if either MS or VW were unavailable for that DM position. So, no, cashing in on Cork is not a good idea, it undermines the reason we got BigVic in the first place. Having the quality of Cork in reserve for that vital position is excellent news. We have strength in depth. Wait until the weaker squads are down to bare bones, and dropping points they should'nt and we are still putting out a strong side and the gap betweeen the bottom three and us lengthens ...we will be picking up points on the back of that and gain the extra confidence needed to make that top ten push...

Why would we sell Cork? Worst suggestion of the century.

 

I think Micheal Barrymore saying 'fancy a swim.' to his mate over a gram of Charlie was a bit worse.

Well this thread went well for the OP

 

No, we shouldn't cash in on Cork. He has lovely hair and is quite dreamy.

 

Actually it went perfect. People suddenly discussing football on this forum (blimey), and if you read my post you can see that I never put a yes or no down to the question.

I raised it cause this is the kind of things managers have to deal and think about in every transfer window.

There is always a fine balance between squad strength, players happiness and good business sense in football these days.

 

Heart says hell no, brain says to at least have a rational thought about it...

He's only one injury away from a starting place, we're paying his wages, let's keep him.

No, ridiculous to sell him, he'll be an integral part of our season this year as he was last.

 

We are fortunate to be in the position we no longer need to sell to buy.

It's unlikely JWP at the age of 18 will retain present form and remain injury free for a whole season and its certain Morgan and Wanyama will get bookings and probably injuries too, we need Corky, class squad player, he'll be back

Actually it went perfect. People suddenly discussing football on this forum (blimey), and if you read my post you can see that I never put a yes or no down to the question.

I raised it cause this is the kind of things managers have to deal and think about in every transfer window.

There is always a fine balance between squad strength, players happiness and good business sense in football these days.

 

Heart says hell no, brain says to at least have a rational thought about it...

 

Well now you've gone and done it. You do realise that later in the season when Cork's playing well, Turkish or his bestest mate will post about how "at the start of the season everyone on here was saying that we should sell Cork".

Sorry mate, just going to snap your head off. ****ing ridiculous idea.

Jack Cork is a great footballer and will be an integral part of our team/squad/season.

 

Hopefully in the team soon ...rotation/injuries/suspensions/form etc

 

Squad....good for us and the coach.. who will keep everyone happy:D fingers crossed:rolleyes:

Its a long season.........

 

This

No thanks

Actually it went perfect. People suddenly discussing football on this forum (blimey), and if you read my post you can see that I never put a yes or no down to the question.

 

Oh thats ok then. Never a look at me thread then, sorry

I think Micheal Barrymore saying 'fancy a swim.' to his mate over a gram of Charlie was a bit worse.

 

**** no. Not happen to the fact he's been dropped as it is.

Morgan didn't play well against WBA and got hooked at half time v Sunderland. He seems to be struggling to come to terms with fans favourite big Victors agricultural style of football. Perhaps Cork may be able to make more sense of the conundrum presented by VM . To me VM looks like a "second ball" (West Ham/Stoke type). Odd signing that has changed the balance of the team. We could i guess sell Cork, truly embrace the long ball game and get Papa Bouba Diop in to finish the transformation. At which point I will give my season ticket to a tramp.........

Haha nobody would pay 7-8m for him

I see the reasoning here but just because JWP coped in CM against Sunderland there's no guarantee as yet that he could do it so well against a team that come looking for us. Couldn't see that much of a defensive role was required on Saturday and as we know Cork is good at defending. Thus don't think we'll be letting him go this window unless he actually asks for a move.

Sunderland sat off the CMs on Saturday as they figured we didn't have the guile to brake them down. They were more or less right but for one bad piece of defending for the Fonte goal. JWP is not a DM but may make an AM.

Cork will be essential to the club this season, he's a very talented player and ironically his versatility is what will probably keep him from starting regularly.

Cork will be essential to the club this season, he's a very talented player and ironically his versatility is what will probably keep him from starting regularly.

I get what you're saying, but is Cork really all that versatile? He's a very good defensive midfielder, but I think we all know his attacking skills are pretty limited so he won't play much further up the pitch. I think the real Sociedad game highlighted what quite a few people have said for some time; he really isn't a very good right back, and in front of him there we have Clyne, Chambers and Yoshida at the very least. He genuinely isn't a centre-back either. So while he's played around the park before I think its been more out of desperation than anything else, and I certainly hope any performances we see from him are at CM. If he ever plays RB or CB then something is very, very wrong.

Yes, that was my question and before you snap my head off maybe you can read my thoughts....

 

Is this something I want, no.

Is this something that will happen, probably not.

Is this something that could benefit the team, maybe.

 

Let me first admit that I dont know the answer to my own question and what my opinion is but there are scenarios that could happen to make it a viable question though I think.

 

With JWP emerging now in CM position, that might put Cork down to the 4th option as CM and he is too good to be that imo. When we look at the team and depth in positions we have as CM options Wanyama, Schneiderlin, JWP, Cork, Davis and maybe even Guly as a final desperate option. JWP and Davis can play as one of the attacking four but we have a lot of options there too with Lambert, Osvaldo, Ramirez, Lallana, Rodriguez, Mayuka, Guly, Isgrove and if another one is coming in like Piatti we have really good cover for the front 4.

 

If we sell Cork then we would probably have Davis as the fourth option as CM and that is not bad imo. Obviously if you only consider the footballing quality you would prefer Cork but a squad isn´t always managed like that, at least not where we are at the moment.

 

Let´s say we have an offer for £7-8m for Cork which isn´t beyond possible and we could reinvest that money in a CM like Koyate or Alderweireld, would that make sense?

 

If I remember correct Corks contract is up 2015 (if it´s 2016 my thoughts would be a little different though). If he has a season now when he doesn´t get many games in the starting XI and mostly comes off the bench I dont think he will sign a new contract and next summer with one year left on the contract and a season behind him with not that much game time his resale value would drop with 50% imo.

 

Obviously he´s a great choice to have coming off the bench if we are leading games, but imo he is so good that he deserves to be a starting lineup player in the PL and I´m not sure we can offer him that this season....

Well that´s it, let the headhunt on me begin

 

 

 

I don't know if " headhunt " is quite the word I'd use......

 

Although I might agree with much of your theorising, decades of following football (and Saints in particular) has taught me that a lot can change in a short time.

 

Suspensions can be short or long. Injuries can be over in a week, but a broken leg or knee ligament problems can mean being out for the rest of the season. Loss of form can hit anyone.

 

What do you do then? It may be ....that by Christmas ..someone who can't even make the bench today may be a regular - because of one of the above.

 

I don't think Cork is surplus to requirements, and we may well need him in the near future. In fact I could probably name 2 or 3 others who might go before he does.

 

Being on the bench is not a permanent placement. If you've made one error of judgement it may be that of supposing the start sides put out so far is the definitive MP selection - I don't believe it is.