Mashed Potatoes

But why let him go now ? At least wait until the January window. I can't see his valuation falling and if other clubs are getting involved it might rise considerably.

That is a decision that is down to the manager, not based on some edict driven by feelings of revenge.

I think the manager picks the team he thinks will perform best in the game in front of him ; if that team includes Phillips he plays him.

If BBD goes it will be because he is considered good enough to play Premier League football ; replacing a player of that level will be very difficult for a Championship club.

Surely we do what we think gives us the best chance of promotion ?

Where is the evidence that Phillips is going in the next few days ?

Correct, which is why it is unfair to blame people at the club for not tying him down to a contract then. You don't understand. We were saying that his reputation had fallen to a degree that the new contract that those arguing with the benefit of hindsight are saying should have been offered to him before the start of last season would have been met with a huge amount of criticism.

Surely it is to our advantage if the likes of City, United and Chelsea show signs of wanting to step in thereby generating a bidding war. I can't see any reason why we would agree to any deal now.

Correct, which is why it is unfair to blame people at the club for not tying him down to a contract then.

That would be cutting off our nose to spite our face - guarantees he will want to move, we won't have him available for our team and no prospect of an increase in valuation if he plays well

Whoever told you that must think they are a clairvoyant. How can anybody now claim to know what a tribunal would do in 9 months time ?

That is correct. Go back just over a year and phrases like "waste of money" and "£7m spunked away" were all over this messageboard.

You can scroll down and see the answer from JDT, which rightly is that we go for quality rather than short term panic buys .

With respect £5k a week is an annual salary for the player of £260k, nowhere near half a million, albeit employers national insurance plus any premiums for insurance against the player getting injured do take the cost to the club higher.

I think this is a bit optimistic. If they want to, Spurs can give him a better financial package than our first team players' contracts and on top of that there is the lure of being at a Premier League club who play in the Champions League. Look at Harvey Elliot moving from Fulham to the Liverpool academy, despite having played first team football in the Premier League.

That's the point, isn't it. Spurs will have a turnover this year in the region of £450m whilst we will have a turnover of approx £17m. If Spurs decide they really want him they will be able to offer him more than we can. The best hope for holding on to the player is to keep him until the end of the season and if we get promoted to the Premier League and he has established himself as a member of the first team squad then our wage offer will be a lot closer to Spurs and he might consider that staying at the club with a more realistic chance of first team football is the right move.

How do you know he will be happy with that ? In particular, what if his representatives want him at a bigger club that will pay more ?

Football is littered with teenagers with "potential" who failed to match the hype.

Shearer had signed for a then record transfer fee. Phillips is nowhere near that; when he is then he gets paid accordingly.

The moment there is a couple of million for Phillips then Jake Batty will be looking for something similar. Just paying a significant percentage of our wage bill in the hope that it will all come good one day in the future is a form of Russian Roulette.

Shearer was the best player in the country ! Phillips has played a couple of games.

Increasingly you have to wonder if Premier League clubs are actually interested in BBD, or at least for a significant fee. For strikers in the Championship Brentford signed Lewis-Potter from Hull for around £17m, Watford sold Dennis for £20m to Forest and are now reported to have turned down a £20m offer this afternoon from Newcastle for Joao Pedro. These players all seem to be better regarded than BBD.

So panic then.

Any signings have to be right for the long term, not dictated by panic stricken claims about the next game. 4 weeks ago you were telling us that we were throwing away the first few games of the season by not getting enough players in whereas apparently well run clubs like Bristol City and Middlesbrough were showing us how we should be doing it. Have a look at the league table.

There are hardly any 17 year olds who get to play in the Championship but I would point out that Harvey Elliot had already played Premier League football for Fulham when he opted to leave to join the Liverpool academy. As a general point I think posters on here are underestimating just how big a financial package Spurs could offer Phillips plus the lure for players of the big Champions League clubs.