Was he not wanted by Monk or was it JDG's decision not to have another loan period? I honestly don't know. Much maligned by some on this board but looking at the Michu video it's clear we're missing a quality crosser of the ball at the mo.
I completely agree, Bony is as quality a finisher as Michu. We do miss JDG though. I was gutted when he signed for Napoli. With the press releases coming out in the summer, it seemed he was happy here and was looking forward to coming back. However, money talks and Napoli spent the cash. Maybe our heads were turned by the Gylfi transfer and then we blinked and missed out on JDG. He would definitely have improved our squad.
I was a JDG fan although he occasionally went missing I thought he was as skilful as any one in the team last season. He would have been extremely useful this season with Leon being injured and would have offered us an option instead of Jonjo and certainly more than Carroll.
My recollection was by the time we made enquiries, well after the season finished, we weren't prepared to meet the transfer fee. It seems to me the plan came together focussed on three clubs Spurs, Naples and us trading and accommodating each other's wishes. European football would have appealed to players leaving but I doubt JDG will be earning more as a basic at Napoli.
I agree with the comments here. DragonPhill used to insult JDG for fun on here and whilst everyone is entitled to an opinion I never understood that. Defies logic imo.
Good player, shame we couldn't compete with Napoli for his X. Good luck to him. Out of interest, where do you guys think he'd play now? Who'd he replace given current squad and tactics? Ki, deffo not, Siggy, no, Shelvey, possibly. My only issue with JDG rep[lacing Shelvey is that Shelvey's been playing a more defensive role and JDG is not defensively natured. Imo he'd be wasted on the wing so does that leave only the bench. What you think peeps?
We never renewed his loan contract because we could get better and subsequently did, not too complicated to understand and I never rated him, and am glad he has gone, and that's why I can give a big smile........ PS: By the way you do a fair bit of your own insulting on here, and your recent arrogance is clearly visible on the Laudrop v Monk thread, and I concure with Valley, when he stated 'Your arrogance is astounding. Cut out the unnecessary insults.'..............
JDG would have performed better in our current setup than Shelvey has. A much better finisher, he would have complimented Ki and Sig very well in that role. He play in the World Cup Finals for Holland FFS, how good do you want him to be. Shelvey can barely make the bench in a pants England team.
I have to say I was never greatly impressed by JDG and got a right royal slating for saying so. But watching him play in the World Cup it was hard to believe he was the same player - seriously good. He also improved after Monk took over. My personal conspiracy theory was a deal had been done involving Siggy, Carroll, Ben and Vorm early on but no one had told them. In a similar vein our dealings with Napoli and Rafa were also well established (Michu) including standing aside on the deGuzman front - we then were able to call in a favour when Chico left.
Phil - no need for that. I didn't insult anyone and was simply pointing out your views and the fact that you're entitled to it. Stop looking for a fight. May I remind you that it's the same Valley who's banned you repeatedly for misbehaviour in the past? Thought not. Now stop derailing, because that sideswipe was way off-topic. Always rated JDG myself as you know and it looks like Napoli have a decent player to me.
Not to mention Leon when he is back. The fact is, we didn't need JDG as we were bringing Ki back. I said it was a big mistake by ML to let him go to Sunderland as he was imo better than both Canas and JDG. I'd say, that so far he is well on his way to proving me correct there. We then also have to balance 7-8 million on either Gylfi or JDG. Imo we again opted for the correct decision in going for Gylfi who in my opinion is a much better player than JDG, although I will conceed that JDG improved greatly under Monk. So I would say that we would have had Leon, Ki, Gylfi, Gomis (when played 4-4-1-1) and possibly Jonjo ahead of JDG. And we can't afford to be buying 7-8 million pound players to sit on the bench.
"I said it was a big mistake by ML to let him go to Sunderland as he was imo better than both Canas and JDG. I'd say, that so far he is well on his way to proving me correct there." I thought you were in the anti-Ki camp Valley? Apologies if I'm mixing you up with someone else. Didn't we agree to disagree on him? May have been Bob.
