This is Leicestershire says that Sven is considering a new bid valued at £5m. Their chairman is one of the richest guys in Britain, and I cant see them accepting. The alternative suggested is Chad Evans for a million. This is now really down to Maynard, who it has been suggested is happy to stay at Bristol. Obviously doesnt want to lose his cut on his transfer fee. If Maynard hasnt the ambition to join a club that is making other excellent signings, then **** him ! Nail your flag to a mast once and for all ! Sign a new contract or have the balls to say that you would like to talk to us.
The later and later it gets without him signing a contract, the more their chairman will worry about losing him for nothing, the more likely the next slightly higher offer will be accepted. Unless he really does want to lose out on £5m+
I worry that the Maynard fiasco could be the turning point for fans of other clubs in their attitude to our investment in fulfilling our Premier League dream - We are in danger of being lured into paying well over the real market value of a player - That makes it hard for other clubs to sign mediocre players because their values rise accordingly If BCFC won't sell at the right price then good luck to them and let's look elsewhere
Just get him 5m is what its worth to bcfc then it up to maynard to prove his value 20+ goals and getting into to prem will do nicely
Wrote a similar comment on another website: Over his last two full seasons at this level (inclusive of league and cup goals), Maynard has averaged 0.35 goals per game. Similar player, similar age, the same period of games - Fryatt; averaged 0.36 goals per game. Perhaps it would be prudent to include Maynard's goals from last year in to this tally considering he almost got 1 in 2. This changes his average to 0.37 per game. Now this isn't me wanting to open up Fryatt-gate again, or is me suggesting that Fryatt is as good as, or better than Maynard or vice-versa, but Fryatt went for £1.2m a few months ago and Maynard possibly for £5m+. Admittedly the comparison can't just be based on these stats alone, but £3.8m+ is a huge difference, and I wonder whether such comparisons as this provide us with a reality check as to whether we have almost convinced ourselves that a) We need Maynard and b) He is definitely the best option we have with regard to a new striker. For me personally, I would prefer we put a bid of a similar amount of money in total for two players in Whittingham and Sharp (who by the way, has an average of 0.47 goals per game over the last two seasons)
It´s dragging on abit now. Does he want to come to LCFC ? Fryatt, god have we moved on as a team since that little drama.
I don't see the logic in Maynard wanting to spend another season at BCFC in the hope that he can score goals and get himself a move to a PL club for free the following year. If a PL club wants him they'll pay for him, they're not skint!! There is no guarantee that we'll get promoted but there is undoubtedly a better chance of us chasing promotion than BCFC so if he came here he would be playing in a better team who create a hat full of chances (because we do already without our improved squad) so he is likely to score more goals and playing with better players and under Sven will also improve him as a player. Even if we don't go up he'll be in a better position to find a PL club after spending a season with us than he would be staying at BCFC. The only thing I can see is if he hands in a transfer request then he won't get his 10% of the transfer fee so therefore may be reluctant but on the other hand he will probably double his salary coming here so it seems a no brainer to me. Also why would BCFC want to keep a player who's heart isn't in it anymore, seems odd!!
Well you'd hope so THEFOXES1884, and if so, would we want to pay £5m for a striker with a similar scoring record over recent seasons? The more I think about it, the more I hope we consider Sharp, although with add ons, we would probably be looking at £4m for him.
Agree mclidst3, the value the club has for him will be far more than any amount that will probably be offered, I feel we would have similar emotions in relation to Andy King; in reality he is probably worth a few million, but the majority of Leicester fans would be unable to see the value in selling him for anything less than double that figure. I think the situation is a lot easier from Leicester's perspective; Maynard obviously isn't that keen on coming here or he would have handed in a transfer request, Sven has stated he only wants players who show a passion for wearing the shirt, ergo - let's see who else we can tempt. From Bristol City's perspective, they have a player who is non-committal over a new contract, and I think even the most subjective BCFC fan will admit it seems he is waiting for a Premiership offer. The problem is, everything is in the hands of the player, there is absolutely no incentive for him to sign a new contract; if Bristol City go up, he will be offered a new and improved contract in the summer, if they don't as a free agent, it is highly likely that he will be offered a bigger signing on fee and wage than he would be if he signed for a club now, whilst still under contract. The only pressure on the player in this scenario , is to perform to at least a similar level this season. So really, the only benefit of him signing a new contract would be to the club and chairman and I think the player and/or agent are well aware of this, hence why I think the club are struggling to offer any sort of real appeal in a new contract. (This is a general point in relation to end of contract players/free agents, and certainly not a suggestion that being under contract for BCFC is pointless). I think the likely scenarios are the following in order of probability: Player sold to a Premiership club or Leicester if they provide a ridiculous offer and contract Player sees out his contract and signs for a bigger and better wage with a Premiership club next summer Player signs for a club in January for a much reduced few Player signs a new long term contract with Bristol City
RE: Wages. Mills has signed a contract for 25K per week plus bonuses and I imagine Maynard would be offered the same.
I think it's fair and not glib in the slightest that in all probability he would earn a significant (even for a footballer) amount more at Leicester - I accept you have a filthy rich owner - So do we and I ain't about to get into an our owners are richer than your owners argument What must be remembered is our owners have a business model that depends on raising the profile of the club and without achieving that (getting promoted to the Premier League) the model doesn't work and for that reason they are prepared to finance at whatever level is necessary
Don't think the wages will be a major contributing factor to be honest. Financially speaking, I can only see it really having an influence if Bristol City are offered an amount they can't refuse. Some have suggested that BCFC are greedy, waiting for a bigger fee, etc, but I don't think they have really done anything wrong or even frustrating from a LCFC fans perspective. They have clearly stated they don't want to see the player, they have offered him, in context of the club's history, a huge new contract and have been genuine enough to explain that they would not sell the player, unless he wanted to leave, and at that point they would consider offers that had been made. I think the reason Maynard would leave Bristol City would be if he felt genuinely felt Leicester had a much better chance than The Robins to compete for promotion this season and wants to be involved in that. The fact is, I think the player is happy to play another season, possibly pushing for promotion or possilby not, under the premise that he will be offered a hell of alot more money in the summer. A depressing theory to have, but money talks more nowadays, than the passion for the game/loyalty, to some players. Objectively speaking, I could only see a huge financial offer from Leicester to the player tempting him, and I think Sven is keen to keep a structured and even wage bill (hence why we have probably withdrawn from tempting players like the Yak, Heskey and backed out of the opportunity to loan Wright-Phillips last year).
I wish people wouldn't suggest Ched Evans and Billy Sharp as alternatives. They are not the same kind of player, nor are they as good as Maynard. I'd like someone who isn't so one dimensional, whodoesn't need a strike partner and can make things happen themselves. We also need someone who will suit our system.
I actually really do agreewith a lot thats been said on here. The bristolcity fan speaksa lot of sense- I cannot see themaccepting 5m and I would hope that we stop there and pursue someone else. more than 5m for a guy who has never played in the premis ludicrous despite our riches. so,presuming we will not get maynard, i think there are 3 alternatives: 1. test readings resolve again with a 5-6m bid for shane long 2. offer 3-4m for billy sharp or 3. go to buy routledge and whitingham, and accept our strikers will be nugent, waghorn, howard and vassell (and shclupp) and try to get someone in in jan or a loan forward. basically I would go 1last offer for maynard, then i would attempt to sign long or sharp, if that fails then yakubu again or someone elseout of contract like john carew
I disagree Emilio, I think we need an out and out striker who is purely there to score goals, not sure we need to be looking for someone who is ultra dynamic because of the system that we play - we just need someone who can get in the positions and show composure. It's great that we have different opinions to make threads interesting, and I would be interested to consider the challenges to my opinion on Sharp. Emilio, what makes you think Sharp isn't worthy of a bid? From the aspect of what most would consider the main appeal of an out-and-out striker, over the last few years Sharp appears on a par, infact in my opinion, slightly better from this perspective. Both have scored in teams struggling, both a similar age, both have produced good seasons inleague oen and the championship (good back to back scoring records in Sharp's case). From this perspective, I would suggest Sharp has a good an opportunity to be a 20-goal-a-season man as Maynard at our club, based on the last two seasons full seasons from both players, possibly a better chance. I personally do think Maynard has more potential to be a better player if we were to progress in to the Premiership but a)who cares about that at the minute, we just need a striker who is good to excellent in this league b) I really struggle to think of any significant reason why Sharp wouldn't be a good option if we couldn't get Maynard...?
Don't get me wrong, Sharp is decent, but I think we can do better. He's a box player, like Fryatt or CMS. Considering Sven does not seem to be in the market for a quick winger, and that we will probably play 4-3-3 again. we require the central striker to do a bit more than score. This was very obvious last season with the Yak up front. He scored a good number of goals and was immense in some games, but in the ones where he went missing the team as a whole was too predictable and one-dimensional. Likewise, in games where we were under pressure, we needed an out ball, someone who we could get it up to and that would make something out of it without immediate support. I'd be much more confident about our chances with a player like Maynard than a player like Sharp. I'm not saying that without a player like Maynard we won't get promoted, just that we would be stronger than we would be with a player like Sharp.
I actually would compare Billy Sharp to Dickov more than lazy bar steward yak. I think when he hasn't got the ball, he does harry defenders. Perhaps we could do better, but at the minute, there is a shortage of proven strikers at this level who perhaps are a little more dynamic and could provide assists as well - the only two I could think of from last season, who aren't now at Premiership clubs, are Long and Becchio who both chipped in with a fair few assists and showed an ability to hold the ball up well. I think we have no chance of getting Long and I don't want Becchio, there is something about him that annoys me! I think, if we don't get Maynard and assuming we can't get Long and Sven doesn't want Sharp, we will play the waiting game on possible loan strikers from the Premiership or free agents/loans from the continent.
