From an interview at the time, I know Nicola was amused by the size of their posse on one side of the table with him on the other. He apparently told them the price and they could take it or leave it. May be a b'stard, but he's our b'stard.
I hope it didn't stunt Chamberlain's growth as a player. If Arsenal were less inclined to play him it may have done that. If Chamberlain knows about this which i guess he does, maybe that would cause him to resent us.
May have had an effect at the beginning, but sure it has no effect now. Chamberlain will be grateful for all Saints have done for him, I'm sure.
I don't blame Cortese for trying to extract every last shilling out of Arsenal's negotiators. He was faced with a player who still wanted out after he had repeatedly explained to, and cajoled, OXO on what he intended for the football club. OK, many players would have run as well, but OXO was still Saints property, and it was upto Arsenal to agree or not agree. There should be no resentment from OXO towards Saints on Wenger's perceived lack of faith to commit him to more than 20 minutes per match. If anything, it reflects on how much Saints wanted to retain him. Also, I don't expect any more Tommy Forecasts or Ali Dias with Cortese in charge. The professionalism at the club took an enormous leap forward the day he took over. He demonstrates that time and again.
In the end, Forren didn't cost us all that much, if reports are correct. And he's a well-regarded international, but simply seemed to lack the effort to get into shape.
Agreed but Ali Dia certainly didn't cost us much and Forecast didn't really either (Yes he was part of the Bale clause buy-out but that was going to happen anyway. We wouldn't have got much more money from Spurs if we hadn't taken Forecast). Forren was signed for significant money and never played a game so he has to be in the same category for me. You could maybe argue Mayuka as well but he could still come good. I'm not having a pop at Cortese, but all clubs sign Tommy Forecast equivalents (maybe not Ali Dias) and we will undoubtedly sign a couple more.
I'm not sure Vegard Forren failed on footballing grounds. I think that, as he arrived on the same day as Pochettino, it has been assumed he was Poch's idea. I don't think so, and I don't think he was deemed suitable by Poch either. Another thing, he didn't look at all happy, right from the start. He was overweight and unfit, and I think he missed his Mum*. Any player can fail on that score and there is no guarantee that players have the personality or mentality to simply perform out of their comfort zone. Besides, I think he was brought in as a stop gap for our leaky defence, which tightened up considerably afterwards. Bit of a Billy Sharp for the defence. *meaning he doesn't travel well.
There were also rumours that he enjoyed a drink, something that (if true) could well have been exacerbated by moving away from home and being stuck in the U21s building fitness.
You mean normal sized headphones but used in the wrong surroundings? i.e. You should be sat at home with some Sennheisers on and not the poor quality, poor sound, trendy hyped up 'Dre Beats' garbage? It's strange but when I was reading through the Osvaldo thread and people were saying he looks cool. Doesn't look like a footballer. I thought to myself.............yep not a diamond ear ring in sight and no stupid dre ones. I bet Osvaldo wears Klipsch or Sennheiser.
Regardless of the reasons for his failure he WAS a failure. A big failure too. At the time he was our 3rd or 4th most expensive signing ever and it's not as though he made a few appearances and didn't quite perform, he never even got on the pitch! If he wasn't Poch's idea (and I tend to agree with that) then it's possibly an even worse signing. In contrast Forecast was a make-weight seen as a prospect and never came good. As fun as it is to laugh at how awful he is, he's not a player that we pursued particularly and that sort of thing happens quite often in football. Ali Dia is obviously indefensible but he's pretty much unique in the history of football.
