Shame that we missed out on Ayala. I rated him better than Hobbs - should have gone for him first. Lost out as soon as our approach to Liverpool became public knowledge - a lot to be said for keeping quiet until it's all signed off.
Once on offer has been accepted, it's pretty much impossible to keep it quiet, Liverpool will be quite happy to start a bidding war.
I wonder if one of the options NP is looking at is Matthew Kilgallon, he's experienced, he's almost certainly available and he can also cover at left back.
How does that work??? Once an offer has been accepted, surely the only bidding war will be one of wages that will only benefit the player?
^ Agree Before an offer is accepted the selling club usually leaks the deal if they want to spark more bids. After the fee is agreed the agent normally leaks the deal to get the best wages. It is a common tactic for an agent to go to a club and get a fee agreed (with the seller), then hawk the player around clubs pointing out the cost of the deal. Tony Pulis recently spouted off that he was fed up of making a deal, only to se the agent then go to the big clubs and show them how much the player costs, and what sort of wages they had to beat. This one smacks of Ayala's agent sorting out the fee - then sitting back and doing the work.
Until he's sold, he remains a Liverpool player and other clubs are free to bid whatever they like for him. They accepted a bid from us, but he's not coming for us, so another club has to have a bid accepted and agree personal terms with the player. It may be that they only match our bid, in which case negotiations from now on will only benefit Ayala, but if one club want him more than another, there's nothing to stop them bidding more.
No point bidding more - comes down to the player accepting personal terms... you'd not bid more, just offer more salary. Gazumping is rare - bigger clubs would have no need to offer a bigger bid as the player will want to come anyway. Smaller clubs sometimes bid "more" - but usually knowing they wont get the player anyway, and to appease the fans. Once a fee is known there are few reasons to bid over that. The power is in the player's hands to choose the best package for him. Clubs may have a higher bid accepted, but the player still refuses. Doing the behind the scenes work (with the agent) teams can usually match the lowest bid even with a higher bid in place if a player wants to come, and watch the player refuse the offer from the highest bidder. Leaves the club over a barrel
Absolute nonsense. We stayed up entirely of our own accord by getting more points than 3 other teams. FACT. A league table is only relevant when all games have been completed. At this time we had more points than Newcastle hence they were relegated. FACT. We both lost the last game of the season so how did we get a favour? Newcastle were worse than us over the season. FACT. And we took 4 points off Newcastle that season which were pretty relevant all told. FACT.
Relegation is done through a point system, if teams are equal then goal difference comes into it. It does not work through a system of 'favour'. We've had this stupid conversation before.
Do not blame City for leaking anything, NP plays his cards very close to his chest. Don't expect to hear any names being given out by city now of any incoming players until they are signed, sealed and delivered.
There was a slightly oddly worded sentence at the end of today's press conference, regarding additions to the squad, something along the lines of 'we're always looking to improve the squad, whether or not that happens will depend on a number of criteria'. I wonder if Jimmy's exit is the main criteria.
That's pretty irrelevant once a bid is accepted. Surely Norwich will just bid the same and that makes no difference to Liverpool
