That is the 'hilarious' headline of the latest news story on my 3G phone, basically a story lauhing at the idea of a striker of that quality joining us. But if you think that is them trying to be funny, further into the artcle it says; Boothroyd revealed earlier that he had rejected a £5million bid for star winger Ashley Young but the bids are understood to have increased to £7million with Aston Villa, Everton and Spurs all in the market for the talented youngster. But here comes the really funny bit.... Sheffield United are also understood to be interested ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
SHEFFIELD UNITED? ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D How about, £8M + Webber, Hulse, Jagielka, Colin Kazim-Richards, Mikele Leigertwood, Chris Lucketti, Paul Ifill, Claude Davis and Leigh Bromby ;D
7 sounds good enough for me!! at least 3 quality players can be brought in for that. Says on sky sports that 6 clubs are after him!
7 is a good figure and would certainly be able to buy a player of equivalent quality - however we will have dificulty getting a player of equivalent quality to sign - an established prem playter will not risk moving to the bottom club
I personally think that with bids of that ammount coming in from so many clubs we should hold out as it is obvious that there is a major bidding war on the cards. But i would have to say that the offers we are getting are too good to refuse and i would be suprised now if he didnt go before the end of the month.
It's not the asking price thats the problem. IT's his greedy wage demands. If he's really worth 20k a week then he would have scored the open goal against us!!
Exactly...let somebody like Sheffield United pay those wages and then suffer if they go down. To be honest I'd rather have the 2 Rotherham lads on low wages in the Championship than a high earner who probably won't care either way.
I don't see how you can call that greedy when it's the going rate! We need to stop assuming quality players are going to fall over themselves to join us and actually get our chequebook out.
Maybe its not over yet... http://www.watfordfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/News/NewsDetail/0,,10400~961226,00.html
Is it just the website being slow as usual or has the deal been given a twist after John saying he was not interested?
You have to look at the bigger picture. A footballers wages aren't decided on his recent form, they're decided on his standing. He is a Premiership striker. He is established in the division. He is 21. He has a good record over time. He's also been on the fringes of his national team. I would consider £20k/wk to be the going rate for a player fulfilling those categories. As I said in my 'Observations' thread yesterday, you can't apply lower league signing rules (he has something to prove, regular first team football, Watford offer good development) to established Premiership players. These guys earn money on their names, not their current form. We have to adapt and get up to their expectation level. Or we can moan about money and never sign the suitable quality. I guess it's our choice... It was never officially announced it was us, so the website is hardly slow. Aidy is obviously trying to get his side across before John goes somewhere else and people blame WFC for not trying hard enough.
A question for you all. Any of you think that Aidy's wooing of CJ could backfire. If John says no - which I think he will, anyoe else we try and bring in wilknow their 2nd choice for us - and potentially be less likely to sign. If I were Earnshaw and we came in now, I'd think twice before deciding simply because I'd know John was who Watford wanted.
Greedy Wright Phillips, Greedy John who else can join the greedy list. After watching the hornets for the last 35 years this is not the type of player we need. Give me a Tommy Mooney or a Luther Blisset or a Heider Helgusson type. This club do not need a money grabbing journeyman. What next Viduka !!! Luca V nearly bankrupted us then Pi**ed off thank god. Hoskins, Billy Sharp etc etc are the future.
sod collins john! Good player but I don't want anyone coming here who wants excessive wage demands. If the only reason hes not playing for us is because of a few grand a week less then he can go else where i'm afraid.
Yeah! Spot on! Lets keep clogging around the mid-to-lower divisions for forever and a day! That's the true Aidy spirit (not). And how's he a 'journeyman'?? Two clubs in his career hardly suggests that. You're just being hysterically unambitious. How do you know it's excessive? It's more than little Watford can maybe offer so it's excessive? Don't be so naive! If there are a queue of clubs prepared to pay it and we're not then we're the ones at fault, not the player. Why should everyone who ever joins us take a pay cut?
I don't think you have the correct definition of journeyman in the sporting sense... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journeyman_footballer We obviously have a lot of fans with the 'small club' mentality if you can't see what's exciting about Collins John and what it would mean for the club.
Wikipedia FFS, you're a university student! New Oxford English Dictionary - a worker or sports player who is reliable but not outstanding eg a solid journeyman professional.
I've just read the Wikipedia definition - it's hilarious and totally wrong, obviously made up by someone who 'thought' they knew what it meant.
Some fans seem happy with a lack of investment, if we're serious about trying to get a foothold in the prem then at some point money has got to be invested heavily into the playing side. For far too many seasons now we've been running on a squad which has been thin and the depth is poor poor quality. Fact is the lack of investment in August has cost us big time and that is down to Boothroyd, not the board as i'm pretty sure they gave him the money. The stuff about ****** era doesn't wash with me, completely new regieme now. Not twanks like Tim Shaw and the other foreign sounding guy incharge on the board. Simpson/Ashton/ are shrewd, they know what mistakes have been made in the past and aren't stupid enough to make them again. We can't just toddle along buying a player for 200K here and there and the odd free transfer there. nb. The stars are representing a bald italian manager. lol his name is blocked! haha
Meh. Righto I'll concede that one. Not really my key point though! The Premiership is full of players like that, the established Premiership teams are full of players like him: are you seeing the big link here? We're not, they are. We're bottom, they're not. Hmmm...no fuss, lets go back to being little old Watford known for their hard working misfits who're already at their peak.
