I reckon we must be getting over a million for him. 50% goes to Rochdale I think.. Not really a surprise actually as Malky clearly doesn't rate Buckley as much as that guy and one wonder if Buckley himself has asked to move.
Agreed... Buckley is a great weapon to have in your arsenal but with the emergence of youngsters with similar qualities of pace and trickery we are in no position to hold onto someone who isn't a regular starter if a decent offer comes in. Buckley may well go on to become a huge success at Brighton but if the offer is decent it would be silly to keep him. Especially as this will make it easier for us to hold on to the more important players like Eustace and Taylor.
Hi All New poster here who follows the Albion obviously. I've read some harsh comments about us on here. We have a very ambitious chairman and manager and so that doesn't make us arrogant. Maybe a touch of jelousy from some on here? Anyway it looks nailed on now that Buckley is heading south but there is talk of Cowie being lined up too. Any news from your end? I must say the feedback i'm getting over Buckley is very good and it sounds like we have bagged a real hot prospect. Don't forget we are losing our best player to Norwich to soften the blow. I'm really looking forward to the new season in our new home.:sign15: Good luck to you for next season. :drinking:
Buckley has bags of potential but only showed it a couple of times throughout the season. If you can bring out some consistency in him you've got a great player. But for a first choice winger to score 4 and create 4 goals over a full season - it is simply not enough of a return. If Cowie goes it will be a massive blow for us. He is vital to us. Not as flashy or quick but man does he work hard. Cowie is out of contract next summer so the idea may be to cash in on him while we still can. I can't see him leaving though - he is vital for us and we should be trying to get his deal extended.
Stepping up into the Championship from the lower leagues is some jump. Will is still very young which is an added bonus and maybe he will find his feet very soon? Wingers tend to blow hot and cold anyway. I just hope he is a good replacement for Bennett who is quailty. We signed Barnes from Plymouth for 60k and there fans were taking the p1ss how rubbish he was. 20 goals in his first full season with us isn't to bad is it?
No - but of course that was league 1. This will be a whole different kettle of fish. Just ask Hoskins!
Same. He's only had a couple 'great' games when he showed what he can really do but apart from that he's been pretty average. I think the fact he's inconsistent at times and his defensive work & final ball isn't great has led to the club letting him leave. Malky must have a replacement lined up too (Conway?) as well as Whichelow, who perhaps has even more potential then Buckely, able to play on the right hand side. Regarding Cowie, I've heard nothing about him joining Brighton and fully expect him to remain here next season.
That's what we were hoping towards the end of last season - picking himself up constantly. If he has space then you've got a very good player on your hands. Will be a blow to see him go but can be replaced. Cowie on the other hand, now that would hurt.
As I posted earlier you are welcome to Buckley, very good on his day, but those days don't come around very often. Maybe he will become more consistent, and if he does you will have landed a good player, and he may come back to bite us, but overall happy for you to have him at this stage. As for Cowie, that is a totally different kettle of fish, I will not be happy if you manage to snatch him as well. To be honest I can't see this happening, unless of course you are offering silly money, that is the only way I can see Malky letting him go, and I'm talking millions not thousands. I would be very disappointed if we let him go for less than £2.5m and even then I would not be happy about it, but we do need the money, unfortunately :dismay:
Think you nailed it with the line about "space" Gus wanted the pitch at Falmer made big and the chairman has done just that. It's the same size as Wembley. Poyet likes his wide players to hug the touchlines to make the pitch even bigger. I really can see Will being a big hit for us.
The pitch can be as big as you like, but you've still got to produce a final ball at the end of a run and that is so far what he has sorely lacked!!
are you on drugs -2.5m for cowie? i'd gift wrap him and carry him on me back for that fee. DC is good for us but at that dosh -wahay take the money and run... Go for it BBB 2.5m and brighton can have dc -make it a 4m package with add ons... for the pair of em.:sign15: we will soon be the richest club in the divison -debt free and a squad of home grown organics from the aca.:drinking:
I don't know where to start with this one. Oh well, here goes .... Firstly, I cannot believe the amount of people who think this is a great deal. £1,000,000 - £500,000 (sell on fee) = £100,000 PROFIT on this lad who is supposed to be a future premier league star. That is bad business so i'm hoping the fee is a lot higher than that or includes a large sell on fee, promotion clause etc Now then its time for someone to stick up for Will. A lot have said that he has had on decent patch and thats it. Well in that decent patch we won 7 games in a row, imagine how we might be when he matures and gains some consistency?! Not only that, but the latter part of the season for him was poor, but for me this was a mental issue. I was surprised he didn't break both ankles after THAT challenge by Danny Fox at the Vic. Lucky boy then, but he hasn't been to lucky with injuries as he has picked up a few knocks and been sidelined a few times. Do we have a ready made replacement? If Conway comes in then this sale will feel a little better (still disappointed about the fee) but I still cannot see Conway coming here, hope i'm wrong. If we don't get Conway then we will be relying on youth. Witchelow is an impact player, not ready to start whole games IMO. Bryan injured to much, can't defend and is even more lightweight than Buckley, with less pace and worse dribbling attributes. The only good thing about this? It must mean that Malky has said he can go, which, if he had intentions of leaving, wouldn't happen as another manager might have got the best out of him. This is a huge loss and for me hurts more than DG10's transfer. I had accepted Danny would go but hoped it would mean the rest of the squad stays and we could add to it. Making a 100k profit in todays footballing climate for a player with the potential to rip championship defences to shreds and step up to a prem player, is ludicrous. Time for the club/ Malky/ The Observer (I wish!!!) to provide news of a new exciting player coming in to replace Buckley. If not, expect Buckley to destroy Lloyd at the Vic when we play Brighton. Not angry about this, just bitterly disappointed that Malky cannot see his star potential. Sad day if you ask me.
There is a 50% sell on? Really? Fark that. If we were actually getting nigh-on £1m, that would be fine. Buckley has had no end product this year at all. It might come with time, it might not, but he is certainly not irreplaceable. He might run at people, but he never goes anywhere. Jimmy Kebe-esque. Plus, he falls over constantly, which is really tedious, especially when he is in a good position. If we are getting about £1m, but 50% of it is a sell on then that is a disgrace. Whoever invented sell ons can uck off. I don't think he is worth close to £1m frankly. He might develop or he might not, but he won't find somewhere easier to develop than Watford, where everyone is 21 anyway. There is a reason why Malky dropped him and why he has been so ineffectual. Flatters to deceive.
If theyre paying £1m+ for him then im happy to see him go, hes the kind of player who could potentially be worth £2m by the end of next season but most likely would only be worth £500k
Is it any coincidence that Buckley played well when we had a tolerably good pitch, and lost it when the egg-chasers wrecked it? Looks like Bas is being busy on Ebay. Who's next for his fire sale?
Not happy to see him go. A game changing player and someone who has bags of potential. If there is a 50% sell on clause this deal makes even less sense.
We spent 90% of the season talking about how good he could be, he had a poor season for us overall,4 goals and 4 assists as our first choice winger, compare that to Wichelow who came off the bench to score 3 goals from limited appearances. We also have Murray, Assombalonga and Bryan coming through with potentially Conway also on the way. £1m+ and a nice sell on fee is a decent price for Buckley, he could just as easily have another poor season next year and be worth eff all
Spot on. He had three or four stand out games and did absolutely nothing in the rest. If there isn't a 50% sell on, anything in the £1m ballpark represents a good deal. He might get better, but then he might not, and I am fine with Brighton taking that risk instead of us. Don't forget he got 4 goals and 4 assists in a team that until the last month or so were nigh-on the league top scorers!
I would imagine that this 50% figure - if accurate - would be 50% of the profit not 50% of the basic fee, though I could be wrong. Our sell on for Ashley Young is 15% on the amount above the £9.65m that Aston Villa paid - would not the Buckley situation be the same? 50% to Rochdale seems an awful lot though whichever way the deal was constructed.
Agreed Potguy, im happy for Brighton to take the risk with him and well benefit from a potential sell on fee further down the line Id be a little nervous if I was a Brighton fan, Buckley isnt the kind of player you want as your record signing with all that added pressure, without a doubt hell have a good few of their fans on his back by this time next season I guess Malky sees Buckley as replaceable and its fairly clear he didnt like him as a player, if selling Buckley for a good fee means we can keep hold of Eustace and Cowie then im all for it
http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/sport/9067385.Brighton_very_close_to_signing_Buckley/ "Brighton and Hove Albion are very close to signing Will Buckley, the Watford Observer understands. The Seagulls had initial bids for the 22-year-old, which were in excess of £500,000, turned down by the Hornets in mid-May but we understand the Hornets have now agreed a fee for the forward. Buckley joined Watford from Rochdale in January 2010 for an undisclosed fee, although reports claiming it was a £300,000 move were strongly denied by both clubs - with the Hornets stating that figure would only be reached if Buckley and Watford were “successful” and the club were promoted. The transfer was agreed by Watford’s former head of football business and development John Stephenson, who now holds a similar role at Brighton. Buckley, who has two years left on his contract, made 37 appearances during the 2010/11 campaign and was exceptional during Watford’s seven-match winning run over the Christmas period, which played a big part in him being named the club’s Young Player of the Year." Nothing about a 50% sell-on clause?
He still has 2 years left on his contract so no real need to sell for fear of him leaving on a free etc. So.. does Malky have a better player lined up or is it simply selling because we need money now? Also.. he's played less than 40 games for us and I wonder if there's a clause in the transfer with Rochdale where there are performance based add-ons, similar to the Sadler/Birmingham scenario? By him going now to a club who obviously rate him so are willing to pay a good amount (rather than trying to flog him if Malky, for whatever reason, wants to get rid) we may also be saving money by not paying Rochdale more? Just a thought.
Not too worried about seeing Will go. For 5/6 games he was phenomenol, but the majority of the time his performances are lacklustre. If the game is not going his way, he is not the sort of player who will play badly and then do something brilliant. More than likely he will be the sort of player who plays badly and gets subbed and then sulk, ala Pompey. Has potential, but thats all. If we sell him and have a healthy % on his next sale, then im perfectly happy with that. I think Whichelow has shown he is probably ready to step up and I reckon we will see the likes of Murray, Bryan and Mingoia around the first team squad next season. Hopefully Malky has a replacement lined up. Buckley is a fringe player. On his day brilliant a bit like A.McNamee, but not consistent enough and lacking in punch. A championship player at best.
HERE WE GO AGAIN Start rant: WHAT THE F*** IS WRONG WITH SOME OF YOU? Why is it that every time we sell a DECENT player, the usual suspects crawl out from their cave and bang on about how crap said player was. Buckley has BAGS of potential and after a full season in the Champ, I was expecting big things from him next season. Some of the comments in this thread beggar belief expecially those that are clinging on to the belief that one of our 15 years old kids would be a far better shout. If you really think that's the case then why dont we sell our entire first team squad and simply play our under 18's next season? (or are we doing this already?) Buckley is a quality player, a game changer and was utterly awesome in our winning streak this season. When running at defences, he scares the life out of them. FACT. Who else do we have at the club capable of that? Did we not have a conversation on here about how we couldnt understand why he had been dropped? I will be extremely dissapointed if he is allowed to leave, DG I totally accept and understand but not Buckley. HE WAS MEANT TO BE ONE FOR THE FUTURE WAS HE NOT?
If he played more often, he would be more settled in the team and perform better. He absolutely tore Cardiff apart at home. Didnt he win us both penalties in that game? If the reason he is moving is because he wants to play upfront then that is absolutely ridiculous! I know hes lightweight and hes not good when defending, but the impact he has on games is clear to see. Hes great from the wing, can cut in and shoot which he has shown many times this season. My mate who is a Rochdale fan says the sell on is only 30% ?
i know nothing has been confirmed yet but I think it would be a mistake to let him go if I'm honest. He's a good winger and even if we do bring in Conway I'm sure one of them can play on the other wing. This allows DC to play in the centre giving us, imo, a very strong looking midfield. I also don't see what the gain is selling a good player to a league rival
