For me Jelavic is the better finisher. He can strike a ball and head a ball and he gets in better positions in the box... Jela is more of a threat than long at set pieces. With Long, he is a quick striker, but we have to rely on him to create things himself, or the long ball over the top.
Awful bit of business by the club, we are now on the eve of a new season, with our best striker gone but an extra £5 million in the bank. Anyone know if Long pushed for this move or if he's just going because the club have decided to sell?
If were toothless up front and don't make it to the group stages of the Europa league, whoever agreed to sanction this deal can jump off a cliff.
Sorry to see Shane go but its very good business,the main concern that I have is the timing,three days to k.o. any replacement we get, going to need time to settle in with the team and the area ,we need to be hitting the deck running.
Our goals per game ratio was exactly the same before we signed Long (22 in 22) and after we signed him (16 in 16).
We have to sign someone decent as it will send out the wrong message to the new players we have just got in the building
^^^ This His replacement needs to be significantly better to make this disruption worthwhile, however to get someone significantly better the transfer fee and wages will eclipse anything paid for Long.
I'm undecided about this deal. On one hand we have lost our best striker, but £12.5m is a big fee for someone who cost £7.5m a few months ago. Getting a similar replacement equal or better quality will be hard work.
12.5 million, sounds like a lot of money and good profit, but as we should be now aware players are costing more money, just take the Snodgrass and Livermore deals for example. Can someone name a better striker than Long that's 12.5m or under and is on the same sort of wages and has played at the same level? I bet you can't
We're a small fish in a big pond - in order to survive and be 'self-sufficient' as AA puts it then we'll probably have to sell our decent players. But if it's for big money and we buy well what's the problem? Think we might have to get used to this.
Few minor points 1. We get 12.5Mil for Long, it doesn't mean we will only be looking at strikers of the same value! Bruce has stated multiple times that he was still looking so potentially we could be looking at the 15mil to 17.5mil bracket which opens up some very good strikers (who will score more then long does!) 2. Long was a pest on the pitch but a strikers purpose ultimately is to score goals. Long has only scored more then 9 goals in a season once and that was in the championship. 3. Bruce see's the players day in day out, he has a better understanding of them then any of us, therefore he may look at Ince and Aluko and say stuff it, they can both do longs job no problem (which i agree they can). 4. When we brought in Jelavic and Long, we were a far less attractive proposition then we are now. Back then we were fighting relagation, this season maybe the same but we potentially have a long euro campaign to look forward to. It's amazing how many players are willing to move to a team like ours due to us been in europe. Worst case we give that player a stage to impress on in the hopes of a big move.
I accept that. But his importance and also the timing is a key factor. I'd almost understand it more if it was to Liverpool or Everton. Southampton, you'd like to think, is a club which would be in the mini-league with us.
I hear his wife has a lot to do with this move as she isn't happy in the area and wants to move away from Yorkshire.
True, but you could say we overpaid on long for his quality, and there are much better strikers out there. The way I look at it... Selling for 12.5 million + funds available in the transfer kitty will allow us to step up a level in quality and enable us to try and get a better striker, that will still be over priced, but better, without breaking the bank...
Let's face it, we won't know if this is a good deal or not until we have signed his replacement and seen how he fits in with the current team. It could be a great move that pushes us forward as a club but at the same time it could be a disaster on the eve of a very important season.
Would Remy be worth a punt? He was going for 8 Million before his medical. Maybe get a cut down price now. What about Bendtner on a short term? Shame he is off, I still think he offered a lot with his energy. However, if it is true he is unsettled then he may not give 100% and its fair enough to sell him. Tidy profit and we move on. Maybe Brucey will just utilise the loan market.
