South News reporting that Tubbs of Crawley has been sold to Bournemouth for 800k and Bill Sharp about to sign for Soton.
Have to say, didn't see this one coming - especially after the Cup victory on Saturday and Crawley's excellent state of financial health. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/16794214.stm Also, for a striker who's proved to be so deadly, even at League Two level, the fee looks a little bit light. Sharp's been on his way for a while, the shock is that he's going to Southampton - thought he'd stay in the North. Wonderful player.
You beat me to the Alan Smith one super! John Bostock signed for sheff weds on loan today. We always seemed to be linked with him.
Interesting financial deal going on there. When I saw how much he was on, I nearly fell over. Echoes of Bellamy's loan to Cardiff last season.
Also find Tubbs a strange one - cant help but feel that maybe Evans thinks its too good to refuse, but Tubbs must be feeling a bit underwhelmed by it.Cant help but feel that he's moved to a smaller club - even though Crawley are div below. Shows ambition that Bmouth have i suppose.
It's actually very admirable from Tubbs to sign for his boyhood club, we all dream of that moment! As for the spend- they have ha all of their assets sold off and not seen much investment since, so happy for their fans.
I think that, say, in 5 years time they will be a bigger team than Bmouth - certainly they have the catchment, and also Gatwick - and, yes, they will be getting bigger crowds than Bmouth in 5 tears time if they are in same divison.
You're right there, Stu - first that daring raid for Francis and now Tubbs. This could still be the money they got for McQuoid and er, the other bloke - they didn't seem to spend any of it at the time.
1) Tubbs isn't signing for Bournemouth in 5 years' time. b) You're talking about the pre-takeover Bournemouth. iii) I don't think club size is defined by proximity to an airport four) Bournemouth's last home league attendance was double Crawley's, even with Crawley at their highest point ever. It'll take more than 5 years.
I suppose what i'm getting at is i think they are clubs converging in direction. Would love Bmouth to go up this season and Soton to stay where they are - would mean a lot of local away games for me next season - Pompey,Soton,Bmouth,Brighton. Average gates this season... Crawley 3181 Bmouth 5927 Braindead 11481 Palace 15112 Us 17285
I think your last few stats sum it up. This is the third season in a row Millwall will finish above us, and I think the fifth for Palace. Not sure Crawley will make faster ground than either of them. Anyway, good signing for Bournemouth. Interesting signing for Southampton. Any other news in League 1?
I'm amazed they've found that sort of money, money is still tight at Bournemouth, and if any season warranted that sort of spend it was last season when they had a chance of promotion, as it's going to be very hard for them this season, 5 points off Stevenage, and having played a game more
I don't agree. There is a large element of risk entailed. He is 27 and has played all his career, bar this season, in non-league football. For that money, and at that age, you would expect a player good enough to hold down a regular place at Championship level for three seasons. He might well develop to be such a player. I hope he does. But at that age there must be some doubt how much more scope for improvement there is. On the other hand he might be a player who has found his level at Div Two and might, at best, survive at Div One. He is better and younger than Benson, but you get the idea. Not to mention a certain Izale McLeod. If they have the money, it is worth the gamble. Goalscorers are hard to find. But I think the fee is about right, not a snip by any means. I wouldn't have been happy if Charlton had paid more than that for him. Clarke and Haynes could prove to be equally good or better, and they came for (more or less) free.
Last season they nearly went bust, which is why they had to sell off good players like Hollands and Wiggins, and why Eddie Howe didn't want to stick around. Now they have the Abramovich of Div One pouring in millions. Well, not exactly, but they have plenty to invest in new signings: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/15430101.stm
Alan Smith has been poo ever since he left leeds injuries have ruined his carrer total waste of wages in my view....madness. Must admit i`m very surprised the Tubbs sold Tubbs
I'm always a bit concerned about these mystery moguls buying clubs, how many times have Portsmouth been bought by someone who wasn't as rich as he said he was...
Think if smith gets to play, then it's a very shrewd move. They are also only paying £2.5k of his wages.
