What would be the purpose of bringing in two strikers just to let Becchio go? Obviously it may not happen, but I'm of the opinion we need four strikers to start the season with. We need quantity, not just quality. Welcome Cambs.
Another Italian website saying we have offered 12m for Quagliarella: Translated page: http://www.microsofttranslator.com/...ventus-kolarov-diamanti-isla-quagliarella.htm Could we really afford that?, they say Southampton have offered 10m.
Apparently the price was 1.5 million up front, 250k after certain number of goals and 500k if they are promoted, and that his wage was 1.5 million a year, so roughly 30k a week which we all knew anyway. Oh and the Fer transfer was delayed until the consultant who found out about his knee issue gave him the all clear
welcome. and now i shall shoot you down on one of those things! grant holt's basic wage at norwich city was fractionally over £24k per week if you add bonuses on top i imagine that some weeks it could possibly have crept close to £28k a week but he won't have fulfilled all requirements during any game last season. you could be right on the other things although with regards fer, i know of another reason why the transfer may have been delayed (not that it was - it was announced at the time they expected) but am happy to admit that the knee may also have needed a second opinion. anyway, welcome again
I still cannot see us spending a significant chunk of our budget on a 30-year old with no track record in the PL. I also cannot see us getting two additional marque strikers as I would imagine the lure for the likes of Hooper is to get a first team slot - if they want to be squad players they could earn a lot more bench warming for the likes of Spurs/Newcastle than us. I also seem to recall in an interview RvW stating that he had been promised a first team slot so I don't see the other two both coming to us as alternates for each other if for no other reason than we are not in a postion where we can afford to pay our squad players £30k - £40k per week. I'd be happy with Hooper as someone used to English conditions and highly motiivated to prove himself in a World Cup year and use the rest of the transfer kitty/wage budget elsewhere.
in other news, qpr are on the verge of signing richard dunne. that'll be 34 year old richard dunne, the same richard dunne who made no appearances last season. the same richard dunne who has a chronic back problem. the same richard dunne that qpr have allegedly offered £35k per week to (mind you, he is taking a pay cut to join them - he was on £60k per week at villa ). they never learn do they?!
Am I the only one who wishes QPR would give me a job? I'm middle-aged, reasonably good at what I do although full of aches and pains and would happily be massively overpaid to fail for a couple of years.
i'm biased as i'm a huge fan but i still hold out some hope that we might still be in for quagliarella. someone mentioned it on twitter and they are absolutely right - "he could be our berbatov". i'll add to that - he could be our zola, our klinsmann, our ginola. he's a brilliant player, the fans would love watching him, and if we could get him in he would slot perfectly into the 'hole' behind one of or both RvW and/or hooper. if it's an impact signing we want, he's as good as they come. if we are prepared to write his fee off, then let's do it, just this once. so long as the club don't make a habit of buying older players (and 30 isn't old - he's still in his peak) who have no re-sale value then i'm all for it.
redknapp's managerial prowess has always been a bit of a myth, mainly cos he's 'in' with so many journos. if you're old enough to recall the brilliant tv show 'spitting image' you'll remember seeing a certain terry venables depicted as a gangster - one can only imagine what they would have made of 'arry! here's a good article about him from three years ago... http://www.whoateallthepies.tv/west...knapp-is-english-footballs-wrecking-ball.html
I do find it strange that we are haggling over say £1m for hooper yet our bid for FQ is up at £10m - just find that odd if we do want Hooper.
They have to stick with the principle of buying 'wct' - trouble is, most of the 'wct' they buy are 'past their sell by date!!!'
His being 30 is a one of the main reasons I'd like this to happen (the other being he is just a superlative player). I think we underestimate the contribution an old head could make in turning the likes of RvW, Howson, Redmond, Pilkington and Snodgrass into (even) better players.
