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For next year I think we have a few options after the Carlos (forced?) decision. You let the expiring contracts of Lia, Bertos and Ifill go. All on reportedly substantial salaries. Possibly you keep one or two of them on reduced salaries. And that is where the funds come from. Where you find the players is another thing. Lia's potential upgrade is getting a two week "trial" now and if not him there will be others like him. Ifill's salary and import slot will open up some decent options for an overseas player up top that will fit Ernie's game plan better (I don't expect Krishna to stay if he's an import). And that's clearly not a deal that Ernie could swing as a short term injury replacement right now, so Krishna is the stopgap. Those changes leaves us light still at FB/DM cover, but Leo's good deal should afford us a better Aussie/Kiwi or, by letting Stein go as well, decent funds for another import upgrade and a younger development player. If you let Stein go you'd obviously want to be comfortable that Lia's replacement could do the job as playmaker in case of injury to Carlos. I think there is plenty of scope for something like those moves to give us two to four upgrades for next season. The year after that you have Carlos, Kenny and Brockie contracts expiring, so you have further substantial renewal options then. Meantime hopefully Rufer and Ridenton and possibly other youngsters are giving you starting options.
Just my musings.
My concern is that you want to want to run when we have barely walked for the past 3 of 12 games. Letting Stein go to chase another import presumes everybody else around him is amazingly good (wishful thinking IMHO). We already have quite a few young local lads that are being developed; we need to have mature, experienced and talented players next to them, or we'll come to grief next season. Any reason Stein does not fit the bill? He is thriving under Ernie, and so is Lia. Getting those extra inches out a decent player is what separates 'the Merricks' of this game from 'the Herberts'.
I think I have to agree those are good points. And as I posted somewhere else, with Leo's salary, and possibly Brockie's, and either Ifill back or a replacement for him, plus any extra funding we currently have under the cap, we do still have some room to improve the squad. So if Carlos also comes right, we could have a pretty good step up into next season.