At this stage of his career after some of the clubs he's been at, if he's still scrabbling for a few grand a week something is seriously wrong. More likely he reckons he'll get more game time with us than the others, except Palace and who wants to go there? But apparently Flyer has cast iron evidence from a source he's not prepared to share that the offer is 40k a week so I must be wrong.
We paid Johnson that, We paid Zamora more than that, we paid Park more than that. Why do you think I keep on banging on about younger players? A players wage goes up through their career and by the time they are in their 30s, they are paid many more times their current worth. Were better off buying young players (the cost is actually half) for £4-5m and paying them £10k as week than getting "frees" and spending £12m on wages like in bartons case. We can also sell on younger players too. Him living local is even worse, hes only choosing us so he doesnt have to move, that worked out well for the fulham pair.
Always rated him as a good footballer but not sure why we need him ATM? Im not gonna second guess "Arry at the moment though
Maybe after Harry getting that knock to the head has caused poor judgement in this case? ( gotta blame something and or someone if it don't work out !)
If we all put away our football manager hats away ... This looks like a very good signing to me ... If you look at our midfield squad then there are aspects of cover in it for this football IMO Very good player
Maybe just another lazy jouro story, however, picking up on a point I made on another thread I can only think Harry may want a player who can unlock a defence in the last 30 mins of a game. We are already seeing some teams "parking the bus" against us and they will only increase the more the season progresses. Is he a player that could have that sort of impact? I would argue he is better placed than the other options (except Phillips) on the bench
Confirmed in The Times this morning, though it did say Getafe etc would not match his wage demands......
SO here we have a player in his last season or 2 without a club, youd thought hed be desperate to play but instead is holding out for more money. That should be a massive warning sign to stay away.
Agreed - this smacks of a Hughes-type signing. Benayoun was a very good player, but who knows how good he still is. He is obviously still looking to be highly paid and we have an abundance of midfielders already. I don't see the point.
Well, for a start he's been training with us for a while so I would think that Harry and the coaching staff would have a reasonable idea about how good he is at the moment. Not such a gamble if they like what they see and he fits in to Harry's jigsaw. Says who? Just because he turns down Getafe, etc, because of the money doesn't mean that we wouldn't get him at the right price for him and us. He has been based in the UK for the last 8 years and has a wife and three children here. If they are settled why move countries for the last 2/3 years of his career unless shedloads of money are involved? Could easily have been holding out for a Prem club if possible ... and we're next best thing. In light of the Hughes signings it is all too easy to say of any signing that he is just here for the money and we will overpay him, but I think that you have to give Tony (having learned his lesson) and Harry a little more credit for brains than that. Of course, if you do not like Harry - ie constant references to him jumping ship and leaving us in the **** every other month since March - then you will take issue with everything that he does because you want to be negative and will the guy to fail.
Chosing us because they didn't want to uproot their family worked so well for boswanka, Zamora and johnson.
I thought he had turned down PL offers from West Brom and Palace? It had seemed that TF had learned his lesson, but HR will test his resolve and this one seems out of step with TF's new policy.
Ah Eamon, quality. Getafe wouldn't be offering more than £8-10k a week which is the salaries midtable clubs in Spain pay, so we could double that easily and still be miles away from 40k.
