Prob lazy journalism but the Sun are reporting that Fat Sam is going in for our Rickie. They've got no hope! They'll end up mid-table at best and I don't think we'll be far behind them with a bit of luck, so why would he want to move. The only true part to the story says that they've finally realised Andy Carroll is a waste of £17m ... no **** Sherlock!! They must feel a right bunch of plums for shelling out all those wages on him and getting nothing but injuries back; if had a typical West Ham signing written all over it! http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/4698558/Rickie-Lambert-transfer-West-Ham-want-Southampton-ace.html
Ps-I know they haven't paid £17m for him yet but that is rumoured to be the pre negotiation amount agreed for them to sign him-what a joke, that's 17 Rickie's!!!
I look forward to welcoming Rickie to the Boleyn in January. He will add good competition to our squad. Do you think he will celebrate if he scores against you at st Mary's?
If they were prepared to pay £17m for that useless great ........ how much is Rickie worth? When does to offer get too big to refuse as everyone has their price?
He does fit the profile of a Fat Sam forward...Target man and good in the air but Rickie also loves it on the floor and would surely not want to swap the silky football of Saints for the agricultural style of the Hammers...no offence trixter!...
The only real danger will be the wages WHU can offer Rickie He's on about £35-40k a week I would suggest with Saints, at WHU even the ball boys get more than that! Hope the offer of double his wages and a three year contract wont tempt him ..... think I have answered my own question haven't I??????
Our wage bill is the tenth biggest in the prem. about right for where we are aiming to finish I would say. If we were willing to offer Lambert far bigger wages, then you couldn't blame him for wanting to move and you couldn't blame West Ham for paying the going rate. The other thing to consider is the vision for our club. My friend saw the plans for the OS at the SAB and he says he was "blown away" by them. Fresh investment is rumoured. We could easily be subject to the next massive takeover. Any potential signings will be presented with this vision so this signing isn't as ridiculous as it may sound. Especially as Sam is a big fan of his. I don't think he will sign 'til the summer though.
Why on earth would Rickie sign for West Ham? We took the risk of buying him when he was an unfit league 1 player. I think the only club he'd be tempted by is Liverpool.
What, for extra money? You'd have to offer at least double the wages that he's on at Saints and pay a hefty transfer fee as well - at least £5million. Even then, it would take a lot of persuading for Rickie to leave the club where he's settled and he loves playing for and where the fans love him. If we stay up I would rate your chances of getting him at 0.001%.
Do you know any of this for a fact? Rob Green often spoke of his fondness for West Ham. He ended up leaving us for 5k per week extra at QPR! I'm sure Lambert does like your club and I'm sure he is happy to stay there. But if West Ham come in with a 15k per week pay rise - well, I think that would test his loyalty. We bid 7m for Grant Holt in the summer who is of similar age. It's very possible we would bid a similar figure for Lambert.
Forget it trixter, we're flattered that you covet one of our players but Rickie is going nowhere. He's worth more to us than any other club would pay.
