What do we do with this guy in the summer then boys and girls? He's 30, so realistically probably still has 2-3 years left at Premier League level. Do we keep him and offer WBA Gayle and or Murphy in exchange? If they want both then we'd need some cash off them I reckon. It's one of them things that until we know which league WBA are gonna be in next season then nothing can really be discussed. The price they are willing to sell Rondon to us for may well be higher if they get promoted (unlikely now I think), conversely our valuations of Gayle / Murphy could be different also, although if they want to keep one or both of them then that puts us firmly in the driving seat I reckon. Personally I'd like to keep Rondon, i'm not arsed about either Gayle or Murphy coming back, if WBA don't want them there will be plenty of other takers for them I'm sure. If Rondon goes back then we have two striker voids to fill although him and Perez seem to be forming a nice little partnership now since Miggy arrived, I can't see Hoss or Muto being our 1st choice CF, nor can I see (or would want) Gayle to be brought back in that role. We've moved on from him and he's not a top level striker (for us at least). I think Rafa will want to keep him and it may well be one of his bargaining chips for signing a new contract with us.
Love him to bits but personally I'd look for better. If we want the team to progress we need a striker who will get 15-20 goals a season. Mitrovic, Joshua King, Glen Murray, Ashley Barnes, Luca Milivojevic, Gyilfy Sigardson and Troy Deeney all outscoring him at present from clubs in and around our level. In fact the only clubs without players above him in the scoring charts are Southampton, Huddersfield and Cardiff...
No chance if West Brom hold out for 16 mill. Too much to expect even the most changed-of-heart Ashley to go that far. Best we can hope is West Brom are willing to do a Gayle + a couple of mill swap. With Rafa, if MA stuck that money towards one of his top targets, say 27 or under, that would probably smooth things over. More likely- we stick a failed bid of 2 mil on Andy Carroll
I think we have to be careful about breaking up the team spirit by having too many changes. No doubt there's better out there but at what price and would they actually improve the team?
Normally you'd say be wary of this type of guy looking for his last contract. However I do think his heart is genuinely in it like most of our squad. I'd like better, you'd always want better. I'd be tempted to look at his compatriot Josef Martinez given the Almiron partnership is already established. However you need a Rondon type in the squad and provided some sort of a deal can be done involving Murphy and Gayle then I'd do it. If we have to shell a good portion of our budget it becomes more problematic.
Agree with everything so far like. Rondon is settled here and is linking up well with other players in the squad now and certainly seems a lot less isolated in games now than he did in the first half of the season. He was instrumental in the build up to all of our goals on Saturday, holding off defenders and holding the ball up and laying it off very well for two of them. For me we have to keep him regardless of whether or not WBA want Gayle and or Murphy, like I said earlier we can flog them elsewhere although it would be easier if they did a deal with us I'll admit. I've said it a few times on here, the last player to score 20+ for us in a season was Shearer (03/04 iirc), that needs addressing in my opinion. Rondon for all his worth will not get us 20+ a season with the players we have around him. If we had midfielders who chipped in with 10-15 goals a season it's less of a worry but we don't so you have to have one or the other in my book (at least). He deserves a 2 year deal for me, 3 at a stretch but we're still just shifting the problem back a couple of years but this may well all be part of Rafa's plans anyway.
The problem is we will always judge strikers on their goals, but his game is about so much more. He is our pressure outlet from defence, his hold up play is key in the way we play. If we intend to keep the style of play we currently use, we need to keep Rondon and also look for an improvement for Joselu. Also what the intentions are with Muto?
I think every Toon fan in the world will agree with you there. Rafa clearly wants to hang on to Rondon, he's his kinda player, and he's totally smashing it at the moment, but getting the goals and his strength and link up play is excellent - he needs to stay. The 30 argument is irrelevant; looking at our team on Saturday, it was too young, Dubravka was the oldest at 30, we need at least another 30+ guy in the team. In a perfect world, West Brom won't get promoted, and they'll want to hang on to Gayle and they'll do a like for like swap with Rondon, who is the same age. As for Murphy, I doubt he's gonna be much of a bargaining chip, if anyone makes a decent offer we should snap their hands off.
Definitely keep him. He's a key figure in the squad now. Experienced, personally I think he is doing a great job for the team and actually his finishing is quite good. You've got to remember when you look at his goals tally he was pretty much the only player in the oppo's half of the pitch for the entire first half of the season. Does a much better job for us that Gayle would in the prem.
Think we need to be realistic here. When you look at the players who are scoring 20+ goals in PL they are all way out of our league and would be priced at over 50million. This year the list comprises Aguero, Aubemayang, Salah, Mane, Kane and possibly Sterling. Its the area where you have to pay top dollar to guarantee goals. We will have to live with two strikers who can get 10each and hope for contributions from midfield. Think we have the best we are willing to buy so stick with them.
Exactly. I do think a CF is high up on our shopping list as at the moment we basically only have 1 playable striker on our books which is Rondon. Finding one at a price we are willing / able to fork out is extremely difficult however. Best thing we can do is keep playing well until the end of the season and make us look like an attractive option to potential signings. A few more 3-2 come backs at At James's won't hurt that cause!
As memorable and ****ing fantastic as it was, mainly to shut T-Rex Pickford up it does nowt for the nerves or anyone with a nervous disposition. Those last 10 mins after we scored the winner felt longer than the rest of the game that had preceeded it, I can't go through that too many times like. Clearly Ashley isn't gonna part with the funds to buy us an out and out 20+ goals a season striker so yes, we need to keep Rondon and make sure we have 2-3 strikers we can rotate who can chip in with 8-10 goals a season each along with a midfielder or two who can do the same. Once Miggy gets off the mark I think he'll fly and can bring us at least 10 a season. Longstaff has a shot on him and could quite realistically chip in with 5 at least I reckon. We've scored 29 so far this season which is the lowest outside of the bottom 3, our 38 goals conceded being one of the best outside of the top 6 is our saving grace at the moment and definitely something to build on. It shouldn't be unreasonable to expect a return similar to that below (current PL goals tally in brackets), we finished last season on 39 goals. Rondon - 10 (8) Perez - 10 (5) A.N.Other -8 Miggy - 10 Longstaff - 5 (1) Rest of the squad - 10 (14) Priorities for the summer for me have to be:- Out - Atsu, Ritchie, Murphy, Gayle, Aarons, Hayden, Ki, Manpillow In - Kenedy, Rondon, LB, RB That's 8 out and only 2 in which isn't ideal but we really do need to start getting rid of some of the dead wood and replacing some of our squad players with better players.
That Other bloke was quite useful - I assume he was a free transfer. There must be more of them out there (Others).
He's related to that fella with the initials OG who kept scoring for the mackems a couple of seasons back I think !
Are we hanging on to Joselu then? I think a few of your outs would make decent "squad players", and worth hanging on to so the squad doesn't become too bare if we have a few injuries, i.e. Ritchie, Atsu and Hayden have played regularly and done a decent job, and I'd rather hang on to all 3. For me outs are - Gayle, Murphy, Aarons, Ki, Muto, Joselu and Manquillo. I don't think any of us want Gayle back and he can be used to get Rondon, Muto and Ki just haven't cut it here, we may be able to get a decent offer for Murphy, and just throw Aarons, Joselu and Manquillo at anyone daft enough to be interested in them.
Before Ki went to the Asian Cup he was putting in some really solid performances in midfield and being praised on here. I would definitely keep him. He provides a good option when we need the workrate in midfield particularly if Hayden is on his way.
****, he's that **** and has hardly featured lately that I've completely overlooked that waste of a shirt, he can gaan anarl.
He was an improvement on Shelvey, that's for sure. But Longgy and Hayden are before better now than he did then. Maybe hang on to him then, for back up and experience. Muto is the funny one for me, done pretty much fk all since he's been here, some are saying give him a chance, but I'd ditch him asap tbh.
