"Watching Brief". .... Isn't That a another way of saying scouting report, which clubs keep on each others' players as a matter of course. Yet another reporter needing to compie content to make theiir quota of BS for the day.
Just spotted it myself, here we go again!!! This could be another mega page thread, How many days or pages will it be before the dreaded "release clause" comes into it. Perhaps two days & 5 pages, including the amount, say £5 million. Come page 7 he will be as good as gone, speculation will be FACT again, fact will be only speculation, page after page about the terms of the release clause. People "in the know" will be spouting they know everything & nothing. By page 15 & August 15th he will be gone for £15 million, FACT. We`ll probably end up later on in August with £30 million ((Allen, Taylor & Sinclair) in the bank & ongoing negotiations with other players coming in. Bring it on?
Wouldn't be surprised to see him leave, but we'll find out soon enough. Hope he stays though. But he's bound to have a release clause, as I'm sure most players have one these days.
You're like someone who carries the sword of Damocles with him , why wouldn't you be suprised to see him leave ?
In fairness Taylor has got better and better following a tentative start to this tournament. I have been impressed with his ability to switch flanks and do it comfortably and some of his passing last night was top notch as was his support play. He's starting to look the real deal. There are bound to be clubs interested in him following displays like that and I just hope that his release clause (I'm assuming there is one) is at a suitably high figure. I suspect, though, that it might be as low as £5 million if it exists. I suppose the lesson is that we must start raising the ante on release clause figures in the future as other clubs seem to covet our players and the coaching/training they get from us. Fine, that's life as a smaller club in the Premier League but we must ensure that we will get suitable compensation when the big boys come calling.
The reason I wouldn't be surprised to see him leave is because he's a top player and better clubs are bound to be interested. Would it come as a complete surprise to you if he left? It's always the way that if a particular club have some great players then other clubs will be interested. So it's not surprising at all to see them leave. That's why football has transfer windows. I'm a realist. I accept that players come and go from all clubs. That's just the nature of football. Most people don't seem to be able to accept that this is how football works. But just as players leave, others will arrive. And I won't be surprised to hear that we have signed some great players to replace the ones that leave. Players leaving isn't anything worth stressing about. It's sad if some leave but that's life.
I tend to agree. So long as we get the right price. What pisses me off is Liverpool wanting to pay us less than they've paid for other clubs' players with inferior talent.
I don't think he's leaving at all. I said I wouldn't be surprised if he left. Equally, I wouldn't be surprised if he stayed. There is nothing in the article to suggest that he's likely to leave soon. And nothing to suggest that he's staying. It just says some clubs may be interested. That is so obvious that it's not worth writing an article about. I just don't find players leaving clubs surprising. It happens all the time. Why would it be surprising?
Like any of our better players, he could stay or go, but this has lazy journalism written all over it. Journos have spotted his performances in Team GB and have made something out of nothing imo. Cue another batch of merged threads.
The trouble is, Knack, that "nothing" has been his ever improving displays which have caught the eye. Pointless worrying about it, though. This sort of thing is going to happen more and more so we had better get used to it. Some players will opt to stay but others will go. The massive wages on offer from the bigger clubs will see to that. This is the reason why I raised my thread on management styles. We cannot compete against them financially but one or two players might see the benefit of improving their game, along with their prospects, under Laudrup. We desperately need the squad to bond under ML so that everyone feels that they are progressing both individually and as a team and are happy to stay because of it. It serves to emphasise the importance of the coming season. The money on offer for a successful campaign means that we can pay our players more so we would be reducing the gap to a level that would make players think hard before moving on with all the upheaval and risk that that entails. The trouble is, I have long railed against the money that footballers are paid so, for me, when we reach a certain level of salary, I would far sooner our manager let players move on and look for bargains that we can groom into our style and footballing philosophy. Sooner rather than later, some clubs are going to pay the ultimate price for their financial foolishness and I would prefer that we are not one of them. If this means that we will forever compete at the lower level of the Premier League, I will be quite happy with that.
Look at the Man Utd public offering on the NYSE; this is an act of desperation to provide cash to service debt, not for operations or investment. If you read their financials, they are in a world of hurt. It's only SAF keeping them at the top of the heap that's keeping them afloat, which as money is in ever shorter supply is going to be a problem.
I think this is something that most people don't realise - that Man U could come unstuck very quickly with so much debt. It's only a matter of time before it unravels and they go slipping down the league. I pity the 'investors'. They are buying shares that don't even have any proper voting rights. What mugs.
Why is anyone surprised, Im not as he has been outstanding and if a big club does come in for him then he will go. Ash could be on his way also which will be in the news soon, It will all come down to the players themselves on if they want to listen to offers from bigger clubs or not. Its exactly the right time when clubs make their move for players they want so surprised i am not......I know that one club is dead keen on taking ash....one thing is for sure it wont drag out as the new season is about us and any movement with some of our players will happen very quickly.....
Yankee the Debt situation with MANU is an artificially created one, by the Glazer family! The massive debts were due to the Americans leverage, during their buy-out of Old Trafford in 2005, before then Manu was cash rich, it's really the Glazer family who own this debt! So not quite the same as the club norm of spending beyond their means!.................
Ivor you could have posted this on the Arsenal page and no doubt a lot of 'egg and spooners' would agree. However, are they the force they once were? Don't get me wrong , I agree with you, but the sad fact is that money talks and if we survive this term look what revenue is on offer.
Because its a completely different regime at Anfield know involved in player recruitment and they actually have some nous unlike the last idiots.
It must be terrible just having to make do with a shot at the European Cup every season and having a good chance of winning boths cups too, with an outsider chance of winning the league.
But its till Utd who the debt is attached and who have to pay it off. If the money runs try and the interest and repayments can't be met its Utd that would go into Administration not the Glaziers. They'd have the club taken off them but they won't lose any of their own personal fortune. Its an exact carbon copy of what Hicks & Gillette did to Liverpool. A leveraged buy out to acquire the club, and then on the sly once in control signing all the outstanding debt over on to the club. If I could get a loan for like £400m or so I could buy a premier league football club in the way these cancers have and then pay off my loan with the profit the club itself generates. The problems comes wen the funds dry up and the teams can't carry on spending money on good enough quality players anymore and they start to slip down the standings like what happened with Liverpool. Liverpool are ****ed for years in terms of trying to get back to where they were before the two Cowboys destroyed them. Whilst those 2 ****s are sat at home with the maids and workers in their huge homes not one BUCK worse off for everything they did to Liverpool. Its the most disgusting and unacceptable part of the game and I hope in the future the likes of the Premier League etc will stop these types of things happening. Just look what they let happen to Portsmouth. Its just wrong no matter what team you support. Even as a Liverpool fan I wouldn't wish the Glaziers on Utd and hope they can get him out.
