Town season set to be halted for World Cup
Extension clauses notwithstanding, the contracts of Reece Brown, Fraizer Campbell, Naby Sarr and Alex Vallejo are all set to run out in the summer too.
The club will already have an idea of what they might like to do with those, but getting new deals sorted for those who they do wish to keep – including Koroma and Toffolo – should give them a clearer idea of what wage budget they have available to spend in January…and who they might need to try and ship out to increase that number.
THE striker has found his opportunities limited since joining Town the day before the summer transfer deadline, and has not been included in any of Corberan’s matchday squads since coming off the bench against Swansea in late September.
The head coach insists Odubeko is not out of his plans altogether and could still have a part to play as the season goes on, but we can’t ignore that the striker’s season-long loan contains a recall clause that can be triggered either by Town or by West Ham United in January.
Corberan was unable to answer whether West Ham might want to trigger that in light of Odubeko’s lack of playing time, but there’s also the question of whether Town feel his wage contribution might be better re-allocated to a new arrival in January instead.
If it does come down to what Town want to do, then it might depend what other options are available in the transfer market.
TOWN have had at least four first-team players unavailable for illness or fitness reasons all season – five, if you count Danny Grant among that number.
All being well Town should be able to welcome back Vallejo, Pipa, Jordan Rhodes and Ryan Schofield over the coming weeks, which is a welcome boost. But we are still awaiting a clearer prognosis on long-term absentee Aaron Rowe as well as Jonathan Hogg and Duane Holmes, who both went off injured in the first half against Cardiff having been risked despite first picking up those injuries against Peterborough just a few days prior.
The hope is Town’s injury list will keep coming down over the next few weeks, especially as they have just two midweek fixtures scheduled between the end of the current international break and the beginning of February.
Nonetheless, the last two January windows have been spent plugging significant gaps in the squad created by injury crises, and everyone will be hoping that is not required again this time around.
CHAMPIONSHIP action will be paused for almost a month during the 2022 World Cup, but fixtures will continue in League One and League Two.
The World Cup, traditionally held during the summer, is scheduled to be staged between November 21 and December 18 next year in Qatar.
The English Football League (EFL) has adjusted its schedule to accommodate the international tournament, with a break in Championship matches planned from November 13 to December 9.
That period includes the World Cup group stage, plus the opening round of knockout games.
The EFL also confirmed the fourth round of the Carabao Cup would be scheduled for the week between the the World Cup final and the Premier League’s resumption on Boxing Day.
“Match round 16 in the Championship, set to take place on
Saturday, November 12, will be the final round of fixtures played ahead of the call-up period for the tournament, which begins on Monday, November 14,” read an EFL statement.
“The Championship will resume on December 10 2022 following the culmination of the World Cup group stages, whilst League One and
League Two fixtures will continue as normal.”
Individual fixtures in League One and League Two could still be postponed during the World Cup, subject to existing international call-up criteria being met.
All three divisions will begin the 2022-23 season on the weekend of Saturday, July 30, with the final round of the regular campaign set for the weekend of Saturday, May 6.
Play-off finals are scheduled to be played between May 27 and
29.