Not good news. He is the steel we needed sometimes. Like Eustace before him, we are missing vital steel. Can the new contingent bring that? Good luck to our former numer 8, did that show his importance??
18 months ago the WO did this story. http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/sport/9435675._Nothing_better_than_Christmas_with_the_kids_/ Suggests that he really did not fancy another season away from the family.
Makes you wonder how Cassetti feels - Italy being a lot further away than Middlesbrough. Can't be any fun.
How old are Cassetti's sprogs? And just to throw this one in the mix, if he really wanted to stay, couldn't he have moved his family 'down south'? Just a thought, all the best to the lad like...
13 year old son & 5 year old daughter. Have you compared the house prices? I know footballers get paid a fair wad, but.....
I wonder if in his mind he wasn't guaranteed a place. He only had one year left on his contract, and if we don't go up this year who is to say we won't replace him with someone else?? He gets a 3 year deal near to his family this way.
Gutted that he's left. Don't know why he didn't relocate when he joined though, suggests it was never planned to be a long term move?
I think we will be fine without him on balance. Sorry to see him go but not sure he is in our best midfield three anymore just would have been great cover. We will miss him if Ireney gets injured. Surprised he didn't get picked up by someone like (the even more convenient) Boro though. Good luck to Huddersfield.
Some OTT responses on here, is it because he's English and tried hard? (not after an argument just saying what I see/feel) 0 goals in 78 appearances from central midfield, although he did get the assist for THAT goal! End of the day people Zola wants us to play from the back, thats why he brought in Chalobah and thats why he's recently brought in Iriney. Hogg just ins't the player who can link defence to midfield and/or ' get on the ball '. Thats not to say he's not good enough or rubbish etc, he's just not suited for this club anymore. No point in having square pegs in round holes regardless of how hard a player works or how much effort they put in. A little harsh perhaps but fully understandable IMO.
He was still in contract I assume and as often these days fee was undisclosed. Anyone got any ideas how much we got for him?
He wouldn't have played so much in pre-season if we had been actively trying to offload. I would be interested to see the stats for last season regarding the distance covered by our midfield. For all their quality Chalobah and Abdi couldn't be accused of an overabundance of energy at times. Lets not forget he kept Battochio out of the side for a lot of the season, I hope Iriney can bring the same combatative, high tempo side to the game. However, I do now think we are a player light in defensive midfield, especially while we play 3-5-2.
Then why were the club reluctant to let him go? Zola obviously rates him too... For me, the two main deciding issues were surely 1) changing room harmony - no point in keeping an unsettled player and 2) to a lesser extent, at the end of the day every player has his price.
I wonder what price Bolton? How much is a relatively young player worth who played most of the season in a team which finished 3rd?
One of the frustrations of football unfortunately. We'll never know how much he went for... We paid £300K for him from memory, can't remember if there was a sell-on clause though - and we improved him greatly over the two years he was here. I would have thought at least £1M, but then he did only have a year left on his contract. Possibly £500K - £750K - I'm sure the Pozzos wouldn't have him in the 'happy to give him away' category that others who have left apparently have been.
I think you're about right. Can't quite imagine it being a million but surely must have been more than £500K.
