Wayne Routledge has signed a new 4 and half year contract http://m.sportsmole.co.uk/football/...s/routledge-signs-new-swansea-deal_66443.html
Good news and well deserved. At 28 he has finally found his feet.... but if I have 1 concern, it is the length of the contracts we are currently handing out. I appreciate we do not know the exact details of these 4yr plus contracts, but it wasn't so long ago we would only have players on a rolling 1 year contract. Maybe I am wrong, but a winger contracted on 1st team Prem wages til he is almost 33? We gave Tate a 4 yr extension last september and if anything, it is hampering his chances of finding a new club. I am sure the board have covered their bases, but I am still getting used to us having dosh and don't like the idea of potential long contracts handicapping us in the next few seasons.
Imagine Michu on a rolling contract. If routlege hits an even higher gear if danny does indeed leave we'd kick ourselves if he was able to walk after 6 months left.
Lol...of course we should no longer offer rolling contracts to 1st teamers, but 4.5 yrs? Whats wrong with a 3.5 yr contract for a 28vyr old?
The only duffer of a 4yr contract is Tates, that was done with the heart and not the head wasnt it !! Routs deserves it IMO, he has played well for 2 seasons and has shown himsef to be top quality. Apparently Laudrup holds Wayne Routledge in very high regard and is known to be very impressed by his football skills/brain. High praise indeed !! If we want to build something we must hve our player feeling like this will be home for the next 3 years or so. It means they can concentrate on football . I think the policy over the last few years had to change,finally the board have realised they lose out on alot of money by trying to penny pinch (not really penny pinching but you get the idea) especially as our new found and proven premier league players can be sold for top dollar in this league to europe or indeed the championship!! It's another smart move by the club, premier league players always move for money and most of the ones we have signedon long term deals are worth alot more than what we paid for them`
I think 4 years is about right. He is at the peak of his career now and maybe for the next two years. The longer contracts protect the club when bigger clubs come in for players. We need a settled first team without looking over our shoulder every transfer window. If teams do then come in for our main players (like Vorm now possibly) we will be suitably compensated. I am talking about first choice players mind. Not sure what offering Tate 4 years was all about, legend that he is of the club. Slight rush of blood to the head for Huw there possibly. Without the long term contracts, because we pay relatively low premiership wages, a three year deal basically means two years, because rightly so we should not let players contracts run down. So 4 years is basically three years. That takes Routledge to 31, nowhere near past it. Even if the odd long contract goes against us, as in a player staying and us paying them for that extra year, this will be more than made up by the odd big transfer fee. You have to remember the value of some of the players at the club now far exceeds anything that we have seen in the past, and I think the idea of these longer contracts just reflects that. Also, not being at all pessimistic, but if the worst should happen and we were to get relegated, all these contracts would I am sure (hope) have clauses in whereby wages are halved or whatever. That will do for now.
Not really no. At the time Tate was a valuable squad member and experienced senior pro who was playing upwards of 30 games a season. It hasn't worked out for him under Laudrup but that doesn't make it a "duffer". This time last year the idea that Nathan Dyer wouldn't be one of the first names on the team sheet would have been laughed at, but look at the situation now. Some players do better under certain managers than others. Back to the main subject, this is indeed good news. A player who should have featured a hell of a lot more ahead of Brendan's Golden Boy last season is enjoying the best spell of his career now and thoroughly deserves a new deal. That this is the first time he's signed a contract extension with any club since he was a kid at Palace tells you a lot about how happy he is here and how well he's done. I couldn't agree more.
Yes but we all knew There was no way he was going to keep playing for another 3 yrs at the top level/championship, so why 4 yrs ? Its a sympathy contract and nothing Else IMO . He struggled at Leeds when on Loan and that tells you his PowerShare where on the wane for a while,he has been very lucky to play in a good side which has Made him look better than what he is, harsh i know but thats just my view..many Will disagree
Obviously we all didn't, hence the new contract, and the agreement of many that it was a good idea. Try not to project your own misconceptions onto others.
