How much are we regretting not getting the Adam Johnson deal done before Strachan came in? Apparently it was all laid out on the plate just waiting for SAFC to pay the cash but Southgate was sacked and ginger Gordon came in and stalled it giving Mancini time to throw in a £7million offer and the rest was history. One of Bruce's biggest mistakes in his reign so far?
A sure indicator of the caliber of player we are after all of the time. I'd love to hear the pitch from Quinny when he sits down with a prospective player. He must have promised the likes of O'Shea and Brown something special in the way of signings in order to convince them that they would be playing for an ambitious and forward looking club.
I dont see how this is a mistake though? If we had agreed a 7m deal, would Man City not just have come in sooner? We dont know if the delay stopped the deal or not really. Maybe all it dod was mean it went ahead with the club that offered 30k per week more than we did at a later date. I think the mistake is in thinking the deal was done for us all along? Other clubs were monitoring Johnson for months as well. We bit first but couldnt match City's wages. No other club in the EPL can. Simple.
Cest I heard bruce talking about this at rainton Meadows last year - he said the deal was already agreed and Adam was signing for us. middlesbrough wouldn't let him go so a pre contract agreement had been signed in the January and he would have been ours in the summer as we had only about 5m to spend on him - then Man City splashed the cash and the rest is history - I don't think we could ever have signed him as, if we'd upped our bid then city would have matched it and player, regardless of any loyalties or love for clubs, always follow the £££££
If we had him now, i'd confidently predict a Europa challenge. We are crying out for an Adam Johnson to finish the picture.
I heard this story too mate but I think the impression most fans have is that we somehow let him slip through our fingers. We didnt. He simply chose a club that gave him 30k per week more in wages and that would have been the case at any time during this negotiation. We cannot compete with City wages but players are going to have to ask themselves some big questions in future. If they sign for the money and then cant get a game, no other mortal clubs can afford to buy you or pay the wages. Your'e basically stuck there. Sure you will earn 90k to 100k per week but hardly ever play, or you could take 40k to 50k per week (Still 2m to 2.6m per annum) and play 40 games a year. In a 10 year career, you will still earn over 20m and play 400 games and thats hardly chicken feed is it? How many games did Johnson play for City last eyar form the start? 6? Maybe 10? Will he get a game for England with 6 to 10 games per annum to his name? At SAFC he would have played every game he was fit and developed his opportunity to make the England team, oh AND earned 2.6m. Not exactly a bad existence for a 20 year old is it?
