I'm sure you've all noticed these last few weeks, how easily our young Joe Allen has taken to Premiership football, and I remember an interview with him when he came back from Wrexam on loan some season's back under Martinez, to regain a position back into our team, he referred at the time to Aaron Ramsey, who had just gone to Arsenal, and how that had inspired him to raise his game and achieve, he stated "Aaron and what he has done is a big inspiration for me," "The thing with Aaron is that, as well as being such a superb player, he took every opportunity that came to him," said Allen. "That's what you have to do, take every game as it comes and build a momentum. "That's not what I did last year" (2007). Of Course since then he has figured in our team, not only Under Martinez, but Sousa and Rodgers too, but his grabbing the moment here in the Premiership really does show how far young Joe has come, since he lost form under Martinez, and was sent out on loan to Wrexham back in 2007. There's no denying that Joe Allen has arrived, and must surely be considered as one of the hottest young prospects in the Premier league, and that is why Brendan Rodgers has tipped 21-year-old midfield ace Joe Allen for stardom, after his all-action display put Liverpoolâs big-money buys in the shade, He said: âJoe can play for one of the top-four teams, âI spent four-and-a-half years during Chelseaâs really successful era so I have worked with big talents and he has got the lotââ. Praise indeed from his manager, but as for Joe, he's back to how he loves to play, and that is as an attacking midfielder with the freedom to express himself, which he was denied of under Sousa. I really hope we can keep young Joe, but if he continues to play the way he does, then it is only a matter of time before a big club, like Arsenal come knocking, but until then I shall savour and enjoy the talent that is Joe Allen.
So pleased for Joe Allen, ive never met him but he seems like a well balanced boy and a good pro, it makes you wonder when you hear about the likes of jordan Henderson going for £20 m quid and i dont think he is half the player Joe Allen is !! Arsenal would be a perfect club for him but i think Joe will stay here if we maintain our prem status,he knows how important it is to be playing games ,he is making himself un dropable down here and long may that continue!!
Joey and Vorm are included in Skysports team of the season so far. Well deserved for both. http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/12040/7296962/Quarterly-review
Well deserved indeed apple, I will always wish Joe Allen the very best on his career path, just hope it's with us, but I think there will be some clubs calling at the end of the season, if he keeps going the way he is!.................. please log in to view this image
i have said before that we would have a job to keep him if a big club comes in for him with a fair offer
I think not losing any of our players in January may be what BR means by the board supporting him, rather than new signings.
I think we were very,very lucky that both him and Dyer chose to sign new contracts at the start of the season. The form they've both shown means that we would probably have had to sell them in January or see them leave at the end of the season. It seems for the bigger clubs at least now that 18 months remaining is when you think about offering someone a new deal, it'll be interesting to see what happens over the next few months with Sinclair.
Fair comment DB, let's hope Huw don't leave the contracts to run down to the last year, like Pratley, and others I could name!............. please log in to view this image
After the Anfield game, there is no way Joe Allen is any longer under the radar, TEAM GB?? it’s hard not to get excited about young Joe at the moment, but the way he bossed Liverpool’s Lucas, the Reds’ midfield Brazilian international, just will not go unnoticed by some of the big four managers, Lucas just didn't’t have a clue how to handle Joe's advances last Saturday, ok none of us want to see him go to another team, but I think this is an inevitability!................... please log in to view this image
I don't understand this "fear of bigger club" syndrome; nor do I harbour it. We are currently 10th in the Prem - that's 10th in the best league in the world (or so the fanfare goes). We are not "big" in the sense of the Manchester clubs, Chelsea, Arsenal, etc, but we're there amongst them, week in, week out, competing and holding our own. Our on the field brand is gaining respect and admiration -- we've been clapped off at Anfield (Hello Dalglish get the message). Our growth trend has been consistently bigger and better and higher in each of our last several seasons - we are building Rome and it doesn't happen over night. Why would our top players want to become just a number at one of the so called bigger clubs and perhaps see limited starting time (e.g DDV, Pratley), when they are able to start and shine and develop with us, play our brand of football. Money!!! Perhaps yes, but that will come with time with us and with success. We have the brand of football to be successful, very successful in this league and against European competition - in many respects we are better equipped to play European football than most of our peer clubs because of the style that we play. Look, back in the 1950's we developed and lost world class players - Ivor Allchurch, Cliff Jones to name but two - because we were a second tier club, with a second tier ground and a second tier mentality. We are now in the Prem - it's different and it had better be different if we are to stick around. Yes, we need to sharpen our business mentality and grow our infrastructure (anybody who has called into the club's main line knows what I mean), we need to start thinking top tier and operate top tier -- it's an evolution. We need to expand our stadium, perhaps take ownership of the stadium - again it's an evolution. We need to improve our player facilities and operations - training facilities, academy, health / medical, scouting and talent acquisition, player transfer logistics (no kidding) etc - it's an evolution. We are a big club - compared to the 80 plus professional clubs below us in the British system we are a big club. We have top shelf international talent playing for us. We need to swagger and we need to believe that our players really want to play for us and we need to give them a reason to believe that they should. None of our players need to go anywhere else to play Prem football, to play on the biggest stage in the world, to play in matches televised arond the world - they're already there and they are there with us. I say this with some hesitation and some trepidation because comparisons are dangerous, but young Joe looks like a young Ivor in the making, a work in progress but progressing nicely every week. Why does he need to go any place else - sadly Ivor did.
Fair comment there Yankee, but you should know how things are here at Swansea, yes it would be good to hold onto young Joe, but realistically can we? Imagine if Arsenal put a 10 Million bid in for him come season's end, how the hell could we match the package they would offer him? and while I have the same frustrations and ambitions as you've stated, the time scale for our club development, is still some years away, even when we had Huw Jenkins, talking about extra 7000 seating for the East stand, we had Jacks saying it was not wanted! when you have that parochial view, you'll always struggle to get your vision realised, and a good example of that is the academy, where is it? Planning green light was given 2 years ago, the club itself have said nothing on this front in the last eighteen months, so while I salute your post, for it's vision, I doubt it will be a reality any time soon, this is some of the issue Dai is referencing with Rodgers vision, and will the board match it, challenging times ahead, will the right decisions be made? I'd like to think so............ please log in to view this image
Agreed Dragon, the persistence of parochialism is something that the Club will encounter, but the Club is not a democratic entity and true / good leadership should look past such things and persistent with "the plan", if there is one, and formulate one if there is isn't. And I understand Dai's point about the Club management stepping up to the challenge, there is plenty of heavy lifting to be done. However, from a player's perspective - if it's about nothing but money then there is nothing we can do on the short term. But if a player gets value from where they play, how they play and the company in which they play, about their developement, then, for the most part, we're already there. Plenty of players have left us for bigger and better only to discover that the grass is not always greener - now we can offer them the stage on which to play. The money part of it is a work in progress, but a player should see the opportunity to achieve professionally with us. I wonder what Borini is thinking now and what words have been exchanged with his agent. (Agents! Now that's another factor that can always f*** things up - cue Jager).
Agree we do offer the right playing environment for players like Joe, and yes we can now offer them, the highest stage to play on too, and I think that, that is a big plus for us especially if we can remain here, come end of season. What we all know is though, money talks in the game these days, being selfish, if say Arsenal did come in for Joe (There are rumours, that they are considering an 8 Million offer this season, for him) I doubt we could do much about holding on to Joe, I know Jenkins would do his very best, but the outcome would be in Arsenals favour in my view. please log in to view this image
When you look at the much poorer British talent that went for 15 million plus this summer... it is not whether we can match the buying clubs terms, but if the price is right ..... SIMPLES £10 million is too low. The actual value of the player means nothing, but the nationality, input from the developing club, cleverness of the board and actual worth through potential failure after the deal to the selling club that dictates. It is a sellers market if you have the right product (sorry to use that term, but the players are simply assets in a global business) you name the price. We are in a strong positon to build. Stay up this year and with a profitable sale (which cannot be turned down as replacement is potentially avilable) allows us to establish the team further. Onwards and upwards.
Not so fast, not so easy. If there is one lesson we learned from the transfer of Scotland it is that a productive boot on the field is not the same as cash in hand. Replacements are not easy to come by. We tried Pintado, Beattie, Dobbie, Kuqi, Trundle, Moore ... nobody could hit the net like Scotland, not even all combined were they as productive as Scotland. Borini was the first to look like a real replacement. Sinclair was the person to make up the lost goal production, but from a different position on the field. Trading Allen for cash, even a substantial amount of cash, would not an Allen replacement make. Exactly who would that replacement be. Who would fit into our style of play. Who would have the same potential to achieve what Allen is likely to achieve with 6 years +/- to go before his peak. Any replacement is going to cost the same amount of money, if not more, and if they are available. Boot on the field over cash in the bank any day! Sell Allen, never! Not at this point, not without bringing in somebody first and proving that that player is as good as, if not better than, Allen. We've tried to replace post-facto - the risk is too high, it rarely works. So to summarize, for me, we either have a new player coming through the ranks that is hotter than Allen and able to step in, or we acquire a replacement first and prove out .... then we can trade off. Remember, there are Premiere League Players and players that play in the Premiere League .... we need to understand that Allen is increasingly looking like the former and they are a much rarer breed than we might realize.
Sir Alex Ferguson has been one manager with the happy knack of knowing when to bring in a player to replace another that he intends to shift. Like him or loathe him, he has been doing that for years developing and changing entire teams along the way. He, of course had funds that we will never have. Our gates will never allow us to compete with the top clubs in terms of transfer fees or salaries, no matter how successful we are. We are always going to lose our best players at some stage. This is why an Academy is so essential. If we become an established PL club - and I'm growing more confident of that by the week - every player that we develop to that level will save then bring us millions of pounds in transfer fees. We all know the talent is in the area. History has proven as much. It hasn't dried up, it has shamefully been neglected by previous regimes. There are other Joe Allens out there and we must put aside some of our new found wealth to unearth them then develop them. They could, quite literally, become the lifeblood of the club for all time to come.
The guy is quality and has top 4 team written all over his performance. He will leave one day and all the best when he eventually does. Just hope we get the real value for him. Henderson at liverpool 18 Million. what price does that put on our Joey. Priceless.
Last three posts, sum up my feelings on the matter, I just hope we can keep young Joe!.............. please log in to view this image
