He cost 8M rising to 12M with add ons, he's nowhere near that but he has potential and that's why Premier League teams will dish out stupid money for young players who have only played in the Championship, he was in demand and one of their best prospects, think of him as Chester, loads of potential and is class at the moment, Ipswich needed the money and no one would reject 8M for a Championship striker, obviously it hasn't worked out but he still would be good on loan for one season.
The difference is Chester is our best player, Wickham wasn't even a regular at Ipswich when he got his big money move. I just can't see what he did to earn it, that's all. If Bruce wanted to sign him again I wouldn't complain before seeing him play, but I've just never understood where all the fuss has come from regarding Wickham.
He played the majority of the season, he was one of those players that really shone towards the end of the season, he's hard to compare with but he played like 40 or something games and he was a regular starter I think
How many goals? I haven't checked myself but I'm confident he didn't score 10 goals that season (and never has in fact) and that he wasn't even their top scorer. I'm not saying 17 year olds should be top scorer of a championship club, but to be sold for £8-12m as a Championship player you'd expect him to be one of the better players in that team. I'd be genuinely interested to see how his record compares to McLean, I bet they aren't far apart. I know Aaron is a lot older, but the comparison still stands, we'd be amazed if a PL manager came in for McLean. Besides, that's a decent goal but the defending is downright shoddy. He ran from well inside his own half, right on the wing and had to beat a grand total of two players (neither of which put up much of a fight) before getting to the 6 yard box. Even the keeper didn't make a proper challenge. You might be right, I haven't checked anything. I know he was on the bench against us (and did nothing more than make a tit of himself after coming on), he didn't feature significantly in their cup run (Tamas Priskin was the star of that) and I didn't see him much on FL show.
He's a good player with alot of potential, he joined Sunderland for alot of money and flopped in his first season, but that could of happened to anyone, look at Oxlade-Chamberlain, he joined Arsenal at 17 and he's shone in the Prem and he's in the international first team, he joined Arsenal for 15M and he could of flopped and Wickham could of played class and be in the England team. Oxlade-Chamberlain only played League 1 football so that was an even bigger risk but it's paid off, unluckily for Wickham and Sunderland, it didn't.
Jay Rodriguez is a pretty similar player to Wickham, wonder if he'll end up like him in the Prem, he's nowhere near worth 7M
That's a good point to be honest, I don't think Oxlade was a key player for Southampton in the way that Lambert and Lallana were.
Wickham played 41 games for Ipswich the season before he was sold, he was certainly a regular, he scored nine goals that season(3 of them in one game).
Exactly, the Ox actually played less games for Southampton than Wickham played for Ipswich, the only reason Arsenal and Sunderland spent all this money on them is because when they did play they obviously showed potential, and the fact they were 17 and basically had a huge career ahead of them. If Stewart performed like Oxlade did for Southampton, who knows, perhaps someone like Fulham or Everton would of came in with a stupid bid like 10M for him.
Yes it was a sarcastic reply to the thought of Bramble in a City shirt. We can do better imo. In a heart beat on loan yes. What is there to lose ? One question though,,, was there not a clause in the transfer that said that Ipswich Town have first refusal on Wickham IF Sunderland choose to loan him out ? Just a thought. Yes he was. But the thought he went to trail in the first place puts doubt in ones mind. Was it a case of not enough evidence to find him guilty ? Without knowing the full facts its hard to be 100%. I just dont want Bramble at the club, imo. Correct. But that deal does include add ons. So i guess JR will have to be a good success for Burnley to see the full amount. Still good money for Burnley though. +++++++++++++++ Derby and Lesta battling for Forests Luke Chambers.
I personally think Wickham is overrated - nothing he has done so far suggests we should even be looking at him. At £12m I would think Sunderland would want to get him either firing in their team or cover their losses to another Prem team for a £7m+ price Bramble on the other hand is a much better defender than many give credit for. He makes an odd mistake but these were mainly in the early parts of his career. Mud sticks though - especially proven by the comments on this thread. Off the field though he seems to have a reputation though Regardless, he is on a possible £40k per week - cannot see anyone coming here on anywhere close to £10k per week despite the rumours of SB's war chest
If we can keep hold of Hobbs and Chester then Bramble would be a complete waste of money, He'd be on a lot of wages and IMO shouldn't be placed ahead of our current CB pairing. I think Wickham would be a very good signing though.
Can we stop talking about Bramble now please? A lot of media news stories seem to emanate from these boards and if the press start spouting about Bramble coming here the Allams might feel inclined to follow suit seeing as they're potentially going through a process of appeasing the fans at the moment. I know it's far-fetched but I'd rather not risk anything when TITus Bramble's involved.
Nor did they when I asked a few of their fans at the beginning of last season. They reckoned that Lallana was their crown jewel. Next season we get to see if that's the case, or whether his career will stall like Taarabt's did last season.
To quote a Sunderland season ticket holder today when asked about these guys.... Bramble: "Will do a very good job at Championship level prone to the odd mistake but decent. However I fear as I know your best two players are you're CB's" Wickham: "Not a PL player never will be, can't hold the ball up bounces off him like a ping pong ball." el muhammadi: "Got a wicked right foot cross and he some how wins every header from an opposing goal kick. Best header we have. Wont be sad to see him leave."
To quote a Sunderland season ticket holder today when asked about these guys.... Bramble: "Will do a very good job at Championship level prone to the odd mistake but decent. However I fear as I know your best two players are you're CB's" Wickham: "Not a PL player never will be, can't hold the ball up bounces off him like a ping pong ball." el muhammadi: "Got a wicked right foot cross and he some how wins every header from an opposing goal kick. Best header we have. Wont be sad to see him leave."
