Ultimately it is futile to hold onto a player who really wants to be elsewhere and we have got embroiled in too many energy sapping disputes with players over fees down the years. However if the alternative runs along the lines that the player hints that he wants a move and we accept the first bid that comes along then that would quickly undermine the club. Particularly if we also adopted the "just pay the money" strategy often proposed on here when it comes to buying players.
In general I would be much happier if football as a whole adopted a system of fixed release clauses which were calculated on the value of the players outstanding contract. However something rational other the current bonkers arrangements is too much to hope for unless it is imposed by a court of law and it amazes me that a player in dispute with his club hasn't ended up there yet.
Returning to the opening post
I want Nyom, Dawson, Hegazy, Gibbs, Barry, Rodriguez and Rondon gone asap as they will make this group rotten to the core if they stay.
I was unaware that the club has had bids for Nyom Barry Hegazy and Gibbs.
In the case of Hegazy there was a £10m release clause which any club could have triggered and nobody did. So that is hardly down to the club's intransigence.
We have had bids for Dawson Rodriguez and Rondon.
In Rondon's case nobody triggered the release clause he has just left in a cobbled together deal that bought Dwight Gayle in from Newcastle. While that deal has unfolded painfully some of Newcastle's earlier attempts to land Rondon in the context of a £16.5m release clause might be best described as pathetic. If we had accepted one them we might be the proud owner of Rolando Aarons a player Newcastle will have to pay someone to take away and enough money to buy 2nd hand Ford Focus .
This brings us onto Dawson and Rodriguez and Burnley. Going on reports in the press Burnley offered £25m for the pair. We said the number we were looking for was in the region of £40m. Given their age, ability (mid range Prem talent) and the length of their contracts the top end of the range we could ask for, which is a saying we don't have to sell nor do we want to sell.
Albion's position was not totally unreasonable given we had paid £14m for Rodriguez the previous summer and had bids for Darren Gibson in excess of £20m knocked back during the same window who was subsequently recruited by Burnley for £15m. While £40m might not have been right nor was £25m.
There is an argument that the money is of little value to us compared to the players because as a Championship club we probably unable to recruit at a similar level but with the additional funds probably end up recruiting Championship level talent at a premium. Just like Burnely did when they splurged on Andre Gray and got very lucky with selling him on to Watford at a profit where he has hardly set the world alight.
If the players are poisonous and I don't know what has happened behind closed doors then there is nothing else to do but move them on but I have real doubts about the abilities of those replacing them and to give ourselves a reasonable chance in the market we cannot be a soft touch.