It is when they're playing for Bordeaux reserves and no one has anything good to say about them. That's £2.7m. £2,700,000. Would you like to take a punt on an 18 plate Skoda Fabia estate for £200,000? Get in touch.
Seriously. Spend £2.5million on a player tied to our dodgy agent Bayat which generates him commission and release him 6 months later and you excuse it because Pozzo has made bigger mess ups? Let’s face it you are never going to question them are you?
Felt dumb at the time. I remember the WO’s story denying our interest soon after the rumour first broke. At that point I thought ‘phew, glad that’s nonsense as it makes 0 sense to sign such a poor player in a position we don’t need’. Lo and behold he turned up later that week. And was as useless as anyone could have imagined.
https://girondins4ever.com/breves/2...ansfert-de-samuel-kalu-aux-girondins-en-2018/ A report (in French, but you can translate it) alleging falsified documents dating back to his transfer to Bordeaux, I'm sure this comes as no surprise to anyone
I assumed at the time he was a cheap punt replacement for Sarr. Seemed to have very poor Ratings. But arrived looking 45 and barely got a kick. Just made no sense.
Who exactly do you think I'm questioning where I say 'money should have been spent more effectively'? Who spends the money? Who am I questioning??? Think man!
What's the going rate for a Nigerian international, who the season before we signed him, made 20 appearances and scored 4 goals for a team that finished 12th in Ligue 1? £1m? £500k?
Why are you trying to justify this bizarre signing? The bloke was never premier league quality. The most basic research would have told you that. Do you think Mogi Bayat is a good associate of the club? Is the relationship with him healthy and beneficial? Do any of his dealings concern you?
Can you read? I said the money should have been spent more effectively. You could make the same assumption for Dennis based on 'basic research'. He's a 24 (???) year old that has an average record in Ligue 1. Is it really that inexplicable that he could have been okay in the PL? I think Bayat has too much influence, and I would rather we did business with someone less shady. I also think his record of transfers to us is about standard compared to non-Mogi transfers, if not slightly better.
Dealing with our favourite agent is seriously going to bite us on the arse one day and we deserve everything we get. I'm sort of looking forward to it.
I can read. I can also read the Cyrillic alphabet because I'm very good at reading. I think it's crazy to chuck £2.7m round on what was clearly a dud and a bung. You don't. That's fine.
Everyone can see you for the apologist you are. We get you are relentlessly positive about the owner but some transactions you are better off just not posting about. It’s embarrassing.
Okay buddy, good to see your pathetic realisation that you're a big cry baby lasted less than a day! Wah wah it's bad for my mental health etc etc Try reading the posts you're replying to before getting so angry.
I would not say I am angry. Club is deteriorating year on year under our owner which makes me sad. You, I just find a complete waste of time as it’s impossible to debate with someone who blindly defends the indefensible.
Can't help yourself can you. You've openly acknowledged that you cry for the sake of it, acknowledge that it makes you sad, pledge to stop, but you still can't help but moan. A complete waste of time, but you still waste your time having a whinge about any viewpoint that isn't apocalyptic. We wasted £2.5m on a punt, it didn't work out, looks like he's crap, money down the drain. Won't be the first, won't be the last. For us, or any club. Again, your reading is really quite poor lately. I haven't defended it, I just don't think it's as pant-wettingly awful as some are making out, especially when lined up against some of our other awful business.
What on earth are you talking about in the first paragraph? I “acknowledge I cry for the sake of it?” You know what, I will just stick you on ignore and be done with it. Have your last dig about mental health on the way out. This is a classic example of why this forum just isn’t worthwhile. You are truly an idiot.
Pretty clear, you still struggling to follow? Probably for the best isn't it, you've clearly lost any ability to have a decent debate, as others have noticed. Moron.
Please, I beg you, please read the post you're quoting before replying to me. Please, for the love of christ
I did. It seems like you try to palm off (another) awful money pit of a deal as being a ‘punt’, and other posters have felt the same so I’m not alone in reading your post that way. Although in fairness you then make a passing point that funds could’ve been spent better. It’s ok to expect our owners to do better. You don’t always have to fight their corner.
I do expect our owners to do better and made that exact point in the post you quoted. It's okay to read posts before quoting them, you don't always have to assume the worst. Pretty clearly was a punt. Same as Dennis. Same as Oulare. Same as Lukebakio.
2.7m was a significant chunk of what we spent on fees all of last season. We can't just rewrite history and pretend that we were like Forest and this was a fringe punt that made sense. Kalu was signed with us staring relegation in the face, with gaping holes in our side and used a significant chunk of our budget. He solved no problems. Nobody except Gino and Giaretta (and LR) thought it was a sensible move at the time and so it's been proven. You can't justify this one. Nobody can. Someone needs to dig into these Mogi transfers because the motivation for them cannot be to benefit our team. Something else is afoot.
Not fair really. Someone with your super powers should he able to dig up comments from Jan and see that nobody needed 7 months of hindsight to see this was a **** deal.
I would say there's a bit of a difference between regular punts that don't work out and signing a punt whose previous transfer is under investigation for financial irregularities because of the agent used, who also happens to be your agent of choice. Additionally, all clubs sign players that are punts. I'd be surprised if many clubs sign this many players that pretty much never get on the pitch - there's a big difference between a player that plays 15-20 games but it just doesn't work out and one that is deemed surplus to requirements almost immediately after signing.
Yes, I agree it was a waste of money! Yes, I agree the money should have been spent in different areas! I'm not trying to justify it. But £2.5m, with PL money, on a 24 year old full international with top flight experience and goals, is not that high on my personal list of Pozzo transfer **** ups, I'm sorry. It was a punt, it didn't work out. On another timeline, Sarr gets another injury, Kalu starts regularly, plays averagely and scores 2 goals as we get relegated, and we're able to sell for £1.5m to a random club in Europe. As it is, he was a winger who didn't get off the bench, picked up a couple injuries, and we'll be losing all the money we spunked on him.
To be honest, I don’t think he is the same as those players. Oulare was a big outlay at the time and clearly one for the future, not the ‘there and then’. I think Lukebakio was the same. Both were clearly bought with the idea of trying to nurture them through training and loans. And then seeing what we ended up with in terms of readiness for the team or whatever. One worked, one didn’t. Dennis had played in CL and excelled. He was clearly bought IMO to go straight into the first team. He was scouted as a good player they knew they could use straight away. It was a low fee but I don’t think just because fee’s are low, that automatically makes them a ‘punt’. I just don’t think there’s an excuse for Kalu. Clearly wasn’t scouted, clearly wasn’t good enough and was almost immediately surplus to requirements. I don’t believe he was a ‘punt’ personally and I suspect he was signed as a favour. Fair enough if people can brush past the above by using other players example, or using the low fee. But something is there that deserves explanation IMO. Stories of false documents, falsifying birth certificates etc. I think peoples concerns are that these issues seem to be attached to our club more than is normal.
I'll be honest, I didn't write him off as quickly as most (more in hope than expectation). Retrospectively those who did are being vindicated.
Eurgh, if you insist Not calling anyone out here, btw. Fair play to those who pegged him as a dud early doors though. Although I suppose the credit for that wanes a little when every new signing is labelled as such, but still.
Dennis got straight into the first team though, as you’d expect based on his pedigree. This guy was bought in January which is a notoriously bad time to buy (so why buy unless you really have to??) When we were desperate and needed help to stay up, but he then didn’t get a look in at all, utterly, utterly bizarre behaviour. I’m not sure how selling Dennis for a profit makes this any less nonsensical, or is even remotely comparable given the circumstances. The Kalu deal makes zero sense on any level, you can’t just say it’s offset by a good deal elsewhere, because a good deal doesn’t then give you the right to lose your marbles on another deal.
@wfcSinatra literally said it was awful business in the post that you're quoting, so not just why he's deserving of such a patronising lecture.
