Would have to be a silly price as it would put our PL future at risk. No chance of getting a good replacement in January...non starter.
It sounds feasible.They made several attempts to get Holt in the summer.Most likely try to turn his head with a big wage offer.
This is the key for me, considering Lambert is probably the closest thing we have to proven in the Premier League, in that he's a proven source of goals, from our point of view as relegation strugglers letting go of our main source of goals and one of our leaders makes no sense in the middle of the season. Sure if we get like £8m for him we can bring someone else in, but always going to be a risk and an unnecessary one, I mean JRod cost £6m and has shown potential, but he's not someone we want to be relying on for goals in our current situation. If we go down I could see him being tempted, or even if we do stay up if West Ham are prepared to pay him a lot more than us he could be tempted. He's obviously doing well for himself but in terms of a footballer his earnings across his career have probably not been huge. If he's only got 3/4 years in him then he might want to make the money whilst he can and I could easily see West Ham paying him 2/3 times as much as we are. Out of curiosity Trixter, you say he would be a great signing and I agree, but how much would you be happy to pay for him?
If you consider how much we'd lose if relegated, Lambert must be worth 15+ million to us on the conservative side. No one would pay that.
99% sure that RL wouldnt entertain WHU, If Liverpool or Spurs came along with big wages who would blawe him for looking..... The only bit that worries me is the wages, RL has a max of 2 more season at top level, he must be looking at what he could do next and what money he can leave (playing) football with. I pray NC has thought of all these things, as he is a banker he must understand the importance of a final payout/bonuses.
To be honest mate, for me personally, I am never fussed how much we spend on any player. We have 2 very shrewd chairmen and I trust them to make good financial/business decisions for the club. Lambert probably only has 2-3 seasons left at his peak which I am sure both your chairman and ours will take into account when considering any potential deal. We bid 6-7m for Holt in the summer and many felt that was too much for a player of his age. I think we would be a bit more understanding if we spent that kind of figure on Lambert as he is simply better than holt. I don't think there is a chance of you selling this window as I think doing so would pretty much seal your relegation. With him in your side you have a real chance of staying up. Unless Carrol gets recalled in January, I would be very surprised if we go for any central strikers in January anyway. If we do sign a forward, it will be a wideman IMO.
That's funny because you seem very interested in how much we spend on ours! Especially our beloved Gaston and Jay. I think matching the value between the two clubs will be the main stalling point if there even is any possibility of a deal. He is our main goal-scorer and talisman and we have no need to sell him, so from our point of view he is very valuable, but he is also aging and already not the most mobile of players so he's not exactly a long-term investment. That being said, he fits your style of play perfectly in that he is good in the air, can feast on quality deliveries, but also great at receiving the ball and distributing it. If he can get you 15-20 goals in the next 2/3 seasons as well as contributing in build-up as well, then why isn't he worth £10m+? It is a bit of a mess, tough to pull a figure from that. I would be very surprised if, as you say, you invest in a central striker in January, and even more amazed if we let Lambert go at such a crucial time. But in the summer, if we get the right offer then we may look to life after Rickie a little earlier than planned whilst making a little bit of money off of him. All that being said, if West Ham were going to dish out on a striker I'd be surprised if it wasn't Carroll, Liverpool will surely look to cut their losses there.
Ha! That's just me dicking around! Don't get me wrong. I get wound up when we spend a big chunk of our budget on a poor player. We spent 4.5m on Maiga who may well come good, but that money should have gone on a quality left back or cover for CM. Lambert is a proven striker. He would score a bag full of goals for us, as you say, given our style of play. If David Gold and Sullivan decided to bid 12m+ for him, you wouldn't see me complaining. It's not my money and if they decided the numbers add up and it's worth doing, then I trust them.
Even assuming that we sold him, how much would a replacement cost? You would have to offer well over the odds to get a proven striker and then pay much higher wages. We would not sell in January unless we had a top replacement already lined up. The maths simply doesn't work. Even if Rickie's head was turned by an offer from a big club we know NC deals with players who want to tear up their contracts. Not going to happen.
Rickie might be tempted, but he wouldn't let us down after all that Saints have done for him and vice versa. Can't see him sulking or refusing to play...can you?
