But Jim hasn't come back with any further news on that front so I'm wondering how accurate his source was. Why wouldn't Reina and Torres stay now that we are under new ownership? They've both shown their dedication to the club in recent months and I'm sure Reina's annoyance over the coach issue can be resolved. And with transfer funds available in Jan and next summer things could turn around very quickly. I'd be amazed if anyone asked to leave in Jan although Babel will probably be sold.
I think the problem is that modern foreign players have been schooled in a very different way to the methods coaches of Hodgson's generation offer, likewise though to a lesser extent, coaches like Mick McCarthy.
'Mr Ferguson' despite being stratospherically successful in comparison, realised this applied in some degree to himself, which was the reason he gave for bringing in Queiroz.
My worry with having Hodgson as 'the figurehead' is we may struggle to keep hold of and definately attract the sort of players we need.
This is one of the reasons why I so heavily favour Pellegrini. He has the ability to technically develop players. That I think is definately an attraction to a lot of players, more so than in the past, in addition to their chances of success within the team framework.