peter smith writes what gary tells him to write

I suppose its difficult if Olpherts doesn't want to move or maybe no takers for him.

I read something today where Myler advised that he pushed for the Leeds exit and that Leeds wanted to retain his services which is indicative that Leeds did not need to sell to stay under the salary cap and that there should be room available for another signing, possibly Kershaw. I doubt we will sign Kershaw though unless we release Olpherts.

I'd say fullback is more of a problem than wing in terms of reserves. Although maybe the way we're looking to play Handley may work better as a reserve for Miller than Myler. I really doubt we'd have let Hooley go if Myler had left earlier.

Could end up in a Mexican stand off (that's not a new half back btw) because if Olpherts has ambitions of extending his playing career beyond the end of 24 he's going to have to play to have a hope of getting decent offers. If Leeds don't pick him and prefer Roberts, what are his alternatives? Would not be surprised to see a loan move once the season gets underway if he hasn't already departed.

Let's not forget that he was very poor for the reserves too so I don't see him as first reserve unless there's a real improvement

Agreed. When I saw him play in the reserves it was the same really basic stuff that let him down. I had no axe to grind when we signed him and genuinely thought he might be a useful back up, but I can't recall many signings who have been as poor in my time watching Leeds.

Talk of a contract beyond 2024 for Olpherts is a bit moot. He'll be 32 at the start of next season so this is almost certainly his last big contract. He's not 25 with the possibility of reviving his career and therefore maybe willing to take a bit of a financial hit for one season to prove himself.

He's perfectly within his rights to insist on being paid in full for next season, and given it would be pretty obvious Leeds are motivated sellers, there's virtually no reason for any cub signing him to put much into the pot to sweeten the deal. Loan deals to Championship clubs wouldn't take him off the cap for the whole year, and in any event we'd be paying some or most of his salary even then. Its not impossible to move him on and get a bit of cap relief, but its likely to be very small, and certainly far less than someone like Kershaw would want.

It comes down to what options Olpherts has (and what he'd rather do in 2024), and whether we really are tight against the cap or not.

I really don't blame Myler.
He doesn't want to sit in the stands for the last couple of years of his career, hoping for an injury to someone.
He'll be first choice at York.

But it leaves us exposed at FB.
If Leeds had known, I don't think we'd have sold Hooley.
Handley will be first choice FB back up now.

But we need better quality than Olpherts as wing cover.
I wonder if we're still trying to get another prop as well as Kershaw to replace Olpherts.
But moving Olpherts on is proving the blocker in the whole piece.

Surely Olpherts would want to move for the same reason as Myler. He shouldn't want to be sat in the stands for the final years of his career.