I half imagine Charlie as different than the prima donna players like Sterling chasing the big bucks. I dream that he might give it one shot in the championship to see if he can help get us up. I know it is very unlikely but I just feel with his roots grounded in proper work, he just might have a different take on things.
He's rubbing shoulders with established Premier League stars on England duty and he's earned it with those 18 goals he scored for us. I expect him to move and wish him all the best, I'd certainly applaud him should he line up against us in the future.
I think being away with England with all the big names will turn his head and any chance of staying albeit small anyway, will fly out the window.
Now is the time for him to go. I don't think that he would be doing himself any favours by playing with us in the Championship. Other players have managed to play for their country from the lower leagues but they are few and far between. We are now in the process of a complete rebuild. We have a chance to get a group of players together that could last two or three years instead of from window to window. Let us try and find the next Charlie Austin now rather than later - a very difficult job, I admit. If he stays then it must be with a new contract - or at least a 12 month extension to his current one. It would be very foolish to keep him for the year only to see him walk away at the end of the season (whatever happens next term) for nothing.
This All those greedy t@@@s like Stirling will be telling him to leave. It will be sad to see him go but thanks to Redknapp and his dinosaur football we find ourselves in a position that will mean our best players will be off. I also think if he goes to a club with other good forwards (Scum/Spurs /Saints) he will be on the bench a lot. He could do well at Newcastle and may suit their play. Villa would be a disaster because they will struggle again under Sherwood. It would be ironic if he did end up at Scum with Remy. Anyway it's our club/ex manager/Chairman's fault we lost Remy and soon to lose Charlie.
Agree Eamon. I'd even go as far to suggest that we may have got the best out of him he's likely to produce in his career. No guarantee he'll bag 18 again in the Prem. We have a chance to change the way we play instead of directly replacing him. Let's get some speed up top and perhaps a CF capable of leading the line by himself, bringing others in to play.
It's not a matter of him having his head turned, it's far more that he realises his potential. He's very grounded, has always said the right things and had the right attitude because of his background. It's a simple fact that if he wants to play for England and be in contention for Euro 16, he needs to play in the Premier League. And to be fair, he's definitely good enough - probably far too good for the Championship now.
Given we need a player that can hold the ball up and bring others into play, it's ironic that maybe the striker that we really need to replace is Bobby Zamora....
I hope we do sign him, big fan of his and he always scores past us! How much do you lads reckon it will take?
The £10M amount quoted in a tabloid is way off mark, (18 rem goals and English) try £20M then i guess we would sell. Saints lost a few players last year and will also lose 1-2 this year so you will need replacements. When Shane Long signed for Saints i thought he would score loads but every time i watched their games he was a sub and shadow of his former self. As i said in an earlier post, charlie should only go to a club where he will get first team football every week or it will be a disaster for him.
I agree that £10m is too little but then I'd say £20m is probably slightly too much seeing as I think he's only got one year left on his contract? Long has been a good signing but he'll never be a prolific goalscorer but you know that no defenders enjoy playing against him, he's full of running and also got a great leap on him as well. I'm pretty sure Charlie would get plenty of game time with us especially with Europa - I don't imagine it would be Long who he'd be competing with, more likely Pelle. Out of interest how many of his 18 goals were pens this year? I know he missed a couple as well.
Off the top of my head I think he scored 2 or 3 pens,i think that the club are looking for around 14 mill,but I guess it comes down to how many clubs want him and bid for him!
True, the best thing for you would be to get a bidding war going, I hope we are interested at that sort of price and that we try and get it done early, I can't see any of the teams who finished above us being interested so hoping he willjoin if we do show an interest.
I have said all along his best destination would be Saints. His family are settled in the south and he would be mad to move up to Scotland (Newcastle). Reckon Spurs would also be interested as would West Ham. No disrespects to Southampton but a London club would be a higher profile for a player.
Probably true, but depends on the club, I wouldn't say Palace would be a higher profile, or even yourselves, but at the same time I would say we are very 'in' at the moment in the media etc. our stock has never been higher, think a lot of players see us as an attractive proposition and a good stepping stone to the big clubs. Not sure Spurs will be that interested with Kane, West Ham possibly and could probably pay higher wages than us, another reason for us to want to get it done early
I guess you are right about Palarse and funnily i was going to use them as the exception. As for us we had a big name manager/players and chairman who is a media whore so we get more than enough exposure (most for the wrong reasons). I wouldn't count out Spurs because we have good links with them. Spam need a new forward and he may end up there. He has been a good servant to us and wherever he goes i wish him well (except Scum)
Personally I think this waiting game is a bit of a cheek on Charlie's part. The club should bow to the inevitable and get on with selling Austin so we can bring in a replacement as soon as possible.
