Saito - Do we try to keep?

[cross it Dave]

Willock made his bed, now he can lie in.

[Abseits]

Willock was mostly garbage for the last 60% of his contract here and he's been shite at Cardiff. Why would any team sign a player that hasn't put a shift in for 2.5yrs - it doesn't make sense.

Anyway, the lump will see out his contract stealing wages at Cardiff warming the bench in L1 so it's all moot.

[LordLoftus]

Yeah not sure why they said Smyth wont be here? His contract expires in 2026 by the looks of it.
But maybe they think someone will come in for that?

In which case I could see it, he's on paper a good back up and substitute option for team that manage to get ahead... at least thats what I think on paper as i've no idea as thats not something we try and do.

Koki Saito	Left Winger	Jun 30, 2025	No	On loan to QPR	Jun 30, 2025	£3.42 million
Ronnie Edwards	Centre-Back	Jun 30, 2028	No	On loan to QPR	May 31, 2025	£3.25 million
Jimmy Dunne	Centre-Back	Jun 30, 2025	No	—	—	£3.00 million
Min-hyeok Yang	Right Winger	Jun 30, 2026	No	On loan to QPR	May 31, 2025	£3.00 million
Kenneth Paal	Left-Back	Jun 30, 2025	No	—	—	£2.40 million
Harrison Ashby	Right-Back	Jun 30, 2026	No	On loan to QPR	May 31, 2025	£1.00 million
Michael Frey	Centre-Forward	Jun 30, 2025	Yes (1 year)	—	—	£680,000
Steve Cook	Centre-Back	Jun 30, 2025	No	—	—	£425,000
Morgan Fox	Left-Back	Jun 30, 2025	No	—	—	£425,000
Lucas Andersen	Attacking Midfield	Jun 30, 2025	No	—	—	£340,000
Jack Colback	Defensive Midfield	Jun 30, 2025	Yes (1 year)	—	—	£170,000
Nathan Shepperd	Goalkeeper	May 13, 2025	No	—	—	£85,000
Paul Smyth	Right Winger	Jun 30, 2026	No	—	—	£425,000
Jake Clarke-Salter	Centre-Back	Jun 30, 2026	No	—	—	£1.03 million
Ziyad Larkeche	Left-Back	Jun 30, 2026	No	On loan from QPR	May 31, 2025	£425,000
Taylor Richards	Central Midfield	Jun 30, 2026	No	On loan from QPR	May 31, 2025	£235,000
Karamoko Dembélé	Attacking Midfield	Jun 30, 2026	No	On loan to QPR	Jun 30, 2025	£855,000
Hevertton Santos	Right-Back	Unknown	Unknown	On loan from QPR	Jun 30, 2025	£1.03 million
Elijah Dixon-Bonner	Central Midfield	Unknown	Unknown	On loan from QPR	Jun 30, 2025	£300,000
Charlie Kelman	Centre-Forward	Unknown	Unknown	On loan from QPR	May 31, 2025	£300,000
Murphy Cooper	Goalkeeper	Unknown	Unknown	On loan from QPR	May 31, 2025	£130,000

[72bus]

No to willock .
It's a sin in my book to have that talent and only coast through games , pulling out of tackles and not giving 100% .
His body language says it all .
Saito plays with a smile on his face , a bit lightweight but has moments of class .
Would like to keep

[Harrow QPR]

I would like to keep Saito , as others have said , he plays with a smile on his face , always tries and has some skill and creativity. The only downside he is a bit small and weak but if he builds his strength up in summer and had a season getting used to the Championship , he could be a bigger asset next season. As for Willock , great player on his day but bad attitude and injury prone , so a no from me.

[SheepRanger]

The only downside he is a bit small and weak.

Looking at his injury record it's the second time he's got a shoulder injury. This could be caused from being so small. I remember when I played seven-a-side there was a big guy in defence, and he never fould me, but due to his strength I just seemed to bounce off of him.

Maybe the latest shoulder injury should be something we want to take notice off. He likes a good hamstring injury too.

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/koki-saito/verletzungen/spieler/501743/plus/1

[Darkranger]

Willock was mostly garbage for the last 60% of his contract here and he's been shite at Cardiff. Why would any team sign a player that hasn't put a shift in for 2.5yrs - it doesn't make sense.

Anyway, the lump will see out his contract stealing wages at Cardiff warming the bench in L1 so it's all moot.

We already have Taylor Richards stealing a living, and after yet another season of doing sweet FA he's due back in the summer.

[Abseits]

Looking at his injury record it's the second time he's got a shoulder injury. This could be caused from being so small. I remember when I played seven-a-side there was a big guy in defence, and he never fould me, but due to his strength I just seemed to bounce off of him.

Maybe the latest shoulder injury should be something we want to take notice off. He likes a good hamstring injury too.

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/koki.../501743/plus/1

The shoulder is a worry. OK, he was fouled at PNE but it was pretty innocuous and I'm not sure even a freekick was given. If it's known he has a "dickie shoulder" opposition defenders will feel obliged to give him the odd barge or nudge in the hope it takes him out the game.

One thing, I do feel the modern game and programme is too intense and players are breaking down left, right and centre. There's no point scoffing at this saying they're highly paid and should get on with it - the basic fact is they ARE getting injured more. We spent all season griping about injuries but I am 99% sure that most other clubs suffered similarly.

We need to stop moaning and start ensuring we have a full-squad with TWO credible options for every position. That means FOUR strikers, FOUR FBs and FOUR CBs. Having any less than that (ie like this season) is just asking for trouble.

[SheepRanger]

The shoulder is a worry. OK, he was fouled at PNE but it was pretty innocuous and I'm not sure even a freekick was given. If it's known he has a "dickie shoulder" opposition defenders will feel obliged to give him the odd barge or nudge in the hope it takes him out the game.

One thing, I do feel the modern game and programme is too intense and players are breaking down left, right and centre. There's no point scoffing at this saying they're highly paid and should get on with it - the basic fact is they ARE getting injured more. We spent all season griping about injuries but I am 99% sure that most other clubs suffered similarly.

We need to stop moaning and start ensuring we have a full-squad with TWO credible options for every position. That means FOUR strikers, FOUR FBs and FOUR CBs. Having any less than that (ie like this season) is just asking for trouble.

I dont recall a freekick being given either. The Ref clearly thought the defender held his ground and it was Saito who bounced off him from the speed of his run?

If it was a foul surely he would have gone down on his shoulder, rather than doing a superman impression with the injury caused from landing hand first.

As soon as I saw it, it seemed to look similar to the pre-season Dunne shoulder injury at Oxford??? I'd be amazed if that muscle damage caused by landing land first is treatable by physio only. I think he'll go under the knife.

But 39 games with three goals and three assists is okay......but not enough to be one of our bigger earners. I'm sure we'll offer him £8-10k a week and if he gets a better offer then so be it. I doubt he will get better terms though.

[topperharley]

Saito effects games in more ways than his stats show.

His energy is important and i think a very capable starter but perhaps a better impact sub depending on the game.

He is however weak defensively, knows what to do but doesn't have the strength to do it, he's also pushed off the ball easily. I fear he would get battered out of games once teams know what to expect from his bag of tricks (we already saw his effectiveness drop this season). Wouldn't let that get in the way of signing him, just wouldn't want to pay alot, or anything really beyond a decent signing bonus for the lad at this point.

[72bus]

Needs to build up his stamina and strength he's very slight

[dave58]

I've been proven wrong about Willock so hold my hands up after a really poor season for him.

I just want to raise one question though.

If Cardiff were to get relegated which looks possible now, and you have the time to think about this if it were to happen. Would you take Willock back if he dropped his 14k a wk to say 8k a wk knowing that Marti was a manager that knew how to get a tune out of him???Let's not forget the impact he had on us when brought back into the starting lineup

Definitely Not didn't want to be here was given the chance to stay ,not sure what he got at Cardiff was much more than we were offering probably 3 year deal i think we only offered 2 money couldn't have been too much difference, the boy has had a massive fall from grace under Beale at the start of that season was probably one of the best players in the championship got injured never recovered and i think he threw the towel in wanting away.
I would love Saito to stay been very good in most games gives 100% had a bit of a shaky start but been excellent for most probably our biggest + other than Nardi & the loan of Edwards ,Morrison also been quite good