Cyprus
Midfield
It has always been made clear, many times, that losing players is something that we must get used to and that there is nothing to worry about because there is always a plan of succession in place. The model is designed with sustainability in mind and we have been told that succession planning is in place for when members of staff move on which will enable us to continue to progress despite the prospect of a high churn of key staff and players. In fairness we have already seen it in action and it delivered when Alex Neil unexpectedly left to join Stoke. In previous years, that would have prompted immediate crisis but succession planning kicked in, Tony Mowbray was quickly appointed and we carried on with minimum disruption to enjoy a season that exceeded all expectations following promotion. I know that it is a lot easier when it comes to appointing a new Head Coach, particularly one who was out of work at the time and living on our doorstep, than it is to replace departing players and getting deals done particularly at this late stage of the window is going to be a real challenge for Speakman and the recruitment team. The way we have recruited has rightly bought Speakman trust and time but it will be interesting to see how much faith and patience supporters will have in this approach moving forward and I feel that this could be a really seminal day.