Okay. Playing hypothetical devil's advocate. Were we to sign another top level striker, suited to our style, in January, and Fat Sam offered £5m for Rickie. Would you consider saying 'adieu, thanks for the good times' and like Fergie/Wenger, be prepared to say goodbye to a declining club legend?
On loan, maybe. Think he has another couple of seasons here. Then he can leave or go on season long loans. Guessing this is linked to his Jos comments which have shocked me, to be honest.
Not really linked to the Jos comments. There was a discussion on here a while back where the point was raised at how good Fergie/Wenger were at selling players seemingly surprisingly for a great fee at precisely the right time (Viera/Keane/Henry to name but 3). I'm just throwing the idea out there to see what others think.
It May happen eventually. Not this season though. Not until we have a striker who can reach his goalscoring record. Which we dont. And if 17m buys osvaldo how much would we need to pay for a Lambert replacement? 30m?
Answering my own question - I would reject any January offers, but if his form continues at club level as per this season, I'd hope he goes and has a decent World Cup, keeping perceived value high, and sell him in the summer. No room for sentiment amongst the very top teams.
This point is very valid and I would agree. Right now, he has had some excellent games (albeit easier opposition) and still has something to offer.
Logically speaking we'd be silly not to take it, but since when was football logical? It'd certainly be sad to see him elsewhere.
Not sure he really suits our style, but I can't see us selling him because of his fan favourite tag. I think he may be kept until Gallagher is ready, who looked more direct than Lambert. What frustrates me about Lambert is how he drifts wide. I understand that he reads the game well and can play great balls, but when he's wide, I feel we lose our presence in the middle. We need someone to get on the end of these crosses and be the focal point of the attack
Nah he's worth more than 5 million as squad presence/tutoring/future coaching. Do think he should be dropped though.
That's kind of part of my point - that shouldn't really come into it if we're to be a top, top club. If they're not up to the job, get rid. Much as Jose adores Lampard and Terry, were they not performing, I don't think he'd hesitate.
Dani has kinda made dropping Lambo a bit of a prob. Hoping we get another look at Sam G though, he's looks promising.
That's kind of Rodriguez's job isn't it? I think he's more effective drifting back than he is being static and getting marked out of the game by a big centre-half, though I admit that he can become too reliant on that sometimes.
We're building a squad here. All the top sides have 4 quality strikers. We maybe seeing an end to Rickie being the 1st name on the team sheet, but he still has plenty to offer. £4m-£5m is sod all in premier league terms and we wouldn't be able to replace him with a proven player for the same money.
Lambert is struggling to be effective in our team at the moment, but you don't lose ability overnight never to return. The price we would get isn't worth letting go of a proven goal scorer. Dani isn't setting the world on fire at the moment either. Our team is in turmoil at the moment which must affect confidence, but you don't become a bad team overnight either. Our results are poor, but not one recent game suggests that we couldn't have got more out of it. Spurs gave us a very hard game, but we still could have got something out of it. As MP said, we gifted it to them. Not that they didn't deserve it by endeavour, but we physically handed them the points. The important thing is that the team (and the fans) don't behave like spoiled children who have had a toy taken away...knuckle down, move on and luck will turn (especially with the return of the wounded).
