Everton plan swoop for Charlie Adam

[Bluedell 5,367]

Craig and Gav are talking balls. �£500k looked like a crap fee for Adam then and looks even more foolish now.

 

Regardless of whether or not his form had dipped, players are regularly at a decent fee for past exploits. A goalscoring midfielder who had done it in Europe. Nothing either of you can say will convince me I'm wrong and I'd be shocked if you have much support for your views.

 

�£500K for a player that couldn't get in a relatively poor Rangers team, and a player that we didn't want? I'd say we did OK out of the deal, and we would have had little hope of getting more than that.

 

A dip in form? He had the odd good game and more bad ones in his time with the club. I don't remember a time when you could say that he was consistently good. His lack of pace and his inconsistency meant that we were never going to get more than that.

 

The fact that he ended up at Blackpool, and there were few or no other takers proves it. If he was worth more than that then there would have been a queue at the door.

[Zappa 0]

The fact that he ended up at Blackpool, and there were few or no other takers proves it. If he was worth more than that then there would have been a queue at the door.

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What, like there's a queue at the door of clubs looking to sign our best players? We haven't had a queue at the door for our best starters for quite some time, never mind the talented fringe players who don't get regular starts for whatever reason. If you remember rightly BD, there actually was a fair amount of interest from down south for players like Adam, Burke & Gow to name a few, so it's a bit off to say they weren't worth more than we managed to get IMO, especially when you consider how public our financial problems have been...

[Super_Ally 0]

I never commented on whether or not he should be playing for us. I said we got a crap deal and those who overuse the phrase "bite their hand off" at any derogatory fee we receive were idiots.

 

In addition to the positives posted about him earlier in the thread, he went on loan to Blackpool and became their POTY for many of their fans scoring some good goals in only half a season. Players in the Championship are regularly sold for several millions. So we have a player who showed himself to be class in the Championship, excel for Rangers and in Europe and become and international player. The fact we did not manage to get at least double the fee we did is a sad indictment of our negotiating ability. Would another Championship club have sold him for such a paltry figure had he the previous reputation and Championship form he displayed in his loan spell? The answer is emphatically no.

 

Once again, i'm not saying he is better than what we have now or had then (we'd have been better keeping him than buying Lafferty though). I'm saying the fee was poor. I've been consistent in my opinion throughout. I said the same when we sold him. Go and check. And I am being proven right even if he doesn't go for �£5 mil.

 

Craig is right, I was overly aggressive, but sometimes I can't be arsed to be diplomatic when people are examining the available evidence and coming up with a bizarre conclusion.

 

I've said my peice and the figures being bandied about now justify my view. I don't need to and will unlikely add to this thread. The facts are clear for all to see on this one.

[Danny 0]

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What, like there's a queue at the door of clubs looking to sign our best players? We haven't had a queue at the door for our best starters for quite some time, never mind the talented fringe players who don't get regular starts for whatever reason. If you remember rightly BD, there actually was a fair amount of interest from down south for players like Adam, Burke & Gow to name a few, so it's a bit off to say they weren't worth more than we managed to get IMO, especially when you consider how public our financial problems have been...

 

Ferguson was linked with Newcastle, Birmingham and Zenit.

McGregor was linked to Newcastle.

Beasley's linked to PSG.

Bougherra's been linked to Bordeaux, Newcastle, Marseille.

Mendes has been linked to Sporting, Portsmouth and Spurs.

Novo has been linked to Celta.

Boyd's linked to Schalke (or was it Hamburg), Birmingham, Villa, and a host of others.

 

I think it's a fallacy to say there's no queue for our best players.

[craig 5,199]

I never commented on whether or not he should be playing for us. I said we got a crap deal and those who overuse the phrase "bite their hand off" at any derogatory fee we receive were idiots.

 

In addition to the positives posted about him earlier in the thread, he went on loan to Blackpool and became their POTY for many of their fans scoring some good goals in only half a season. Players in the Championship are regularly sold for several millions. So we have a player who showed himself to be class in the Championship, excel for Rangers and in Europe and become and international player. The fact we did not manage to get at least double the fee we did is a sad indictment of our negotiating ability. Would another Championship club have sold him for such a paltry figure had he the previous reputation and Championship form he displayed in his loan spell? The answer is emphatically no.

 

Once again, i'm not saying he is better than what we have now or had then (we'd have been better keeping him than buying Lafferty though). I'm saying the fee was poor. I've been consistent in my opinion throughout. I said the same when we sold him. Go and check. And I am being proven right even if he doesn't go for �£5 mil.

 

Craig is right, I was overly aggressive, but sometimes I can't be arsed to be diplomatic when people are examining the available evidence and coming up with a bizarre conclusion.

 

I've said my peice and the figures being bandied about now justify my view. I don't need to and will unlikely add to this thread. The facts are clear for all to see on this one.

 

And you are missing my point, or simply ignoring it.

 

You cant simply look at these things in such simplistic terms. It isnt a case of "right, he is worth X pounds so we sit tight till we get it". There were other factors such as the club's predicament, his wages, his position in the squad (which, we must remember, was a sqwuad top heavy with midfielders).

 

That is the point I was making, perhaps not too well.

 

BTW, the fact that Everton are possibly prepared to stump up 5 mill (and I cant for a minute imagine that they will indeed buy him for 5 mill) for him doesnt prove your point at all. You yourself suggested that Championship player sell regularly for several million pounds. True point. But he was playing in the SPL and we know that English teams usually pay premiums for players playing in English leagues, whilst players playing in Scotland tend to have their values deflated. Perhaps we would have seen a better offer than the one we got if we had loaned Adam to Blackpool, seen him play well there and then said to the EPL "look guys, he has played well in England so is worth X amount to you"..... ohhhh, wait a minute, we DID do that (loan him to Blackpool) - and yet Blackpool were the only club interested in signing him permanently and even then we had to squeeze the cash out of them.

[Zappa 0]

You cant simply look at these things in such simplistic terms. It isnt a case of "right, he is worth X pounds so we sit tight till we get it". There were other factors such as the club's predicament, his wages, his position in the squad (which, we must remember, was a sqwuad top heavy with midfielders).

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Top heavy with midfielders? I take it you're talking about the same squad that we've seen struggling for central midfielders because of injuries & suspensions?

[Bluedell 5,367]

.

What, like there's a queue at the door of clubs looking to sign our best players? We haven't had a queue at the door for our best starters for quite some time, never mind the talented fringe players who don't get regular starts for whatever reason. If you remember rightly BD, there actually was a fair amount of interest from down south for players like Adam, Burke & Gow to name a few, so it's a bit off to say they weren't worth more than we managed to get IMO, especially when you consider how public our financial problems have been...

 

What clubs were interested in Adam, and what are their transfer budgets?

[Bluedell 5,367]

I never commented on whether or not he should be playing for us. I said we got a crap deal and those who overuse the phrase "bite their hand off" at any derogatory fee we receive were idiots.

 

In addition to the positives posted about him earlier in the thread, he went on loan to Blackpool and became their POTY for many of their fans scoring some good goals in only half a season. Players in the Championship are regularly sold for several millions. So we have a player who showed himself to be class in the Championship, excel for Rangers and in Europe and become and international player. The fact we did not manage to get at least double the fee we did is a sad indictment of our negotiating ability. Would another Championship club have sold him for such a paltry figure had he the previous reputation and Championship form he displayed in his loan spell? The answer is emphatically no.

 

Once again, i'm not saying he is better than what we have now or had then (we'd have been better keeping him than buying Lafferty though). I'm saying the fee was poor. I've been consistent in my opinion throughout. I said the same when we sold him. Go and check. And I am being proven right even if he doesn't go for �£5 mil.

 

Craig is right, I was overly aggressive, but sometimes I can't be arsed to be diplomatic when people are examining the available evidence and coming up with a bizarre conclusion.

 

I've said my peice and the figures being bandied about now justify my view. I don't need to and will unlikely add to this thread. The facts are clear for all to see on this one.

 

It's hardly convincing to say "Players in the Championship are regularly sold for several millions" and apply that to Adam. There's few players sold from the SPL for more than �£500K if they aren't first team regulars, which was where Adam was.

 

There's also loads of Championship players sold for less than �£500K.

 

As for his reputation - slow, unfit, inconsistent was what many saw him as.

[craig 5,199]

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Top heavy with midfielders? I take it you're talking about the same squad that we've seen struggling for central midfielders because of injuries & suspensions?

 

You talking about currently ?

 

Zappa, most top teams operate with 2 players for each position, would you not agree ? That is how they usually plan their squad.

 

So, given that, we had Davis, Mendes, Edu and Thomson. 4 players whom it is easily argued would be ahead of Adam in the pecking order.

 

Now we also then have to consider the club's financial predicament. And then, your argument is really based on the premise of hindsight - no-one could have expected us to have injuries to 3 of those CM's simultaneously - Edu was expected back just after the start of the season originally with Thomson not long after.

[Zappa 0]

You talking about currently ?

 

Zappa, most top teams operate with 2 players for each position, would you not agree ? That is how they usually plan their squad.

 

So, given that, we had Davis, Mendes, Edu and Thomson. 4 players whom it is easily argued would be ahead of Adam in the pecking order.

 

Now we also then have to consider the club's financial predicament. And then, your argument is really based on the premise of hindsight - no-one could have expected us to have injuries to 3 of those CM's simultaneously - Edu was expected back just after the start of the season originally with Thomson not long after.

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Yes, I was talking about this season Craig.

 

Even if operating with 2 players for each position is the 'norm' for top teams, that would mean we would require 6 central midfielders for challenging in Europe where we often play a 4-5-1 with 3 central midfielders. Even running it tight, you'd want to have 4 or preferably 5 FULLY fit central mids. So, given that Thomson & Edu were both only 'due' or 'forecast' to be coming back from serious injury at the start of this season, I'll repeat what I've said before, which is that it was an error in judgment & severe lack of 'hindsight' to leave us so short in central midfield no matter who was at fault. We realistically didn't have an abundance of central mids at all. We were left short of them, which was exasperated by Mendes getting an injury quite early in the season. With our current squad, there's practically no room for multiple injuries in central midfield, leaving us vulnerable.

 

Small squads might be good for the wage bill, but they're not sound/solid when injuries creep up on you. Charlie Adam wasn't on a massive wage compared to some of our current central mids or Barry who left with him & since we got very little money for him in the grand scheme of things, I maintain that it was not only bad business to sell him for as little money, but bad business to sell him at all.