Its the Sam is our player and he is going nowhere that is so funny. City have sold goals for a ?? fee and have a replacement yet to do it in a City shirt. Only good business if it was top doillar and Agard gets 20.
Has anybody stopped to think that Sam Baldock may have had a say in this, He hasn't signed an extension to his contract and as others have alluded to he didn't seem to be completely 'with us' the last few games, he said himself, "But at the end of the day, a four-year deal and the opportunity to return to the Championship, where I feel I have unfinished business, was too good to turn down.â There are many on here Complaining that Maynard stopped trying at the end of his contract, well the club may well have just stopped that happening again.! Maynard clearly wanted to move on, Sam probably did too. if some of you think the club are going to do their business in public and are offended by business half truths, I would suggest you don't read any football media anywhere in the world its full of bullshit.. Would Cotterill have wanted to keep him? What manager with even half a brain would not want to keep a 20 plus goalscorer who just won the golden boot in this league?
"Bit harsh comparing Sam Baldock to the man who went on hunger strike during a game at Brighton " I didn't, I said "may well have" "But you said the other week that Sam would be our highest scorer this season, you lying bastard" I said Agard didn't I.? Saw this coming..
http://www.seagulls.co.uk/news/article/baldock-aims-to-repay-faith-1879748.aspx For those that thought his mind might not have been fully on the game, he does at least explain that- Move had clearly been going on for some time
Young, ambitious, footballer moves to bigger club, for more money, for a longer contract, in a higher division. Not sure why anyone is surprised...
That is not what Steve Cotterill said when beating his chest a month ago. It might turn out to be small time club lets top goal scorer go for peanuts.
And if that's the case, and I'm pretty sure it's at least a major factor in all of this, the question is - are you surprised ? I'm not
Would Sam have even thought for one second ten years ago about going to Brighton? A big NO. But a new stadium, some good management of club and team has taken Brighton to a top half of the Championship for the last three seasons. It has taken City decades to even begin to realise what is needed to mirror Brighton and other clubs in cities/towns halkf the size of Bristol. Maybe, just maybe, we are beginning to travel that same path. If this becomes reality, then we will be the bigger club that good players want to join, just like Sam was enticed by Brighton.
Another question worth tacking on is whether losing Ashton Vale has weakened the club to a point where it will take a long time to recover? In my opinion, yes. I reckon Ashton Vale would have put us on par with Brighton, and if the stadium plans had gone off without a hitch we'd be in our new home and probably still in the Championship. Brighton would get a new stadium because a great city needs a great stadium, and the council and all involved were keen to see it happen. Sadly, that infrastructure and backing in Bristol is seriously lacking.
At a Q&A it was revealed that the income generated by a redeveloped Ashton Gate for the FC would be little different to Ashton Vale. Ashton Vales income was going to be shared with business partners, Ashton Gates will not be shared amongst the same partners. Citys budget exceeds clubs exceeds clubs that had longer longevity in the Championship.
100% good business. We could potentially buy 2 players for that money, (Agard cost 750k I think) and we stand to make a little if he does move further up the chain. If I was Sammy I would be thinking that a decent season in the Championship and then maybe the play-offs and then get taken by West Ham (again), or QPR or any of the new teams in the Premier league on the kind of contract that you can retire at 34 and take it easy. No brainer. Or of course he could have stayed at City.
It does make me laugh that people moan about Baldock going for 1.5m to a club the league above, when we're able to get Agard for half the price and convinced him to drop a league. Very, very good business in that respect.
Latest I heard was that £400,000 was the first offer, which explains why it was rejected. The last was £1m with £500,000 add ons (promotion I would guess), but also a sell on clause- Glad to see that was the case if that is true-
