[Archived] Duff Completes Switch

[pleasure]

the reason duffer has ended up at newc is chelsea didnt want to sell duff to any of their rivals.

it's very much a stop- gap move for him, and i expect him to be sold ,to one of the 'big 5', this time next year.

unless they sign 2 top strikers, i predict newc to struggle this season.

[Hughesy]

Hit the nail on the head there – simple Chelsea didn’t want Duff going to Tottenham or Liverpool and make them stronger and Abromovich has got that much money that he can afford to make sure he didn’t.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Pains me to say but you've got yourself a real bargain there at 5 million Toonfan.

Only one problem Damien lad........from now on this is where the medals dry up!!!!!!

Edited July 24, 2006 by SIMON GARNERS 194

[rover_groo]

The comparison of Duffer and MGP sounds a bit like sour grapes to me.

Some of the comments are unreal "No way would i take him over MGP" etc etc

Duff at the end of the day is a World Class talent and the only problem with him is the ability to stay injury free. As the 'ToonFan' reported yesterday, they have signed Duff for £5 million which is a considerable value less than his market value, but with him in his last year of his contract at Chelsea, then this probably had a factor in this price.

I wish Duffer all the best in his career, but I'm still not clued in why he picked Newcastle. They still aren't in Europe yet and as someone correctly said that there is no reason as to why Blackburn can out-shine Newcastle this time around again. Roeder could well find it hard to finish in the top-8 if he doesn't find a striker capable of scoring 15 goals a season.

[Eddie]

5 million is still quite a lot for a player in the last year of his contract, even for one so talented. It has been reported in recent months that Duff lost a yard or two of pace because of his injuries and that this has made him less effective, I would have to say there must be something to that, if not I can't see why he would have been let go. I know that Chelsea can buy anyone and have a very strong midfield, but players as versatile and skilled as Duff are hard to come by, so there must be a reason why they no longer feel he is up to it.

It could turn out to be a very good signing, but had I been the Newcastle manager I would have looked to use the money elsewhere. Even if he was "only" 5 million (I can't see Newcastle having uch more than 10 million to spend this summer so they have used half of their budget on him), he will have eaten up a sizeable portion of their wage packet.

I don't wish him all the best. He is at a rival club, he hasn't been a Rovers player for years and if he pulls his hamstring tomorrow I would in many ways be happy.

[pick32]

play him on the right wouldnt of been bad cant go wrong with a proven player like him next season. given and duff two former rovers i would love to have back.

[speeeeeeedie]

It is obvious that Mr Abramovich is not happy unless his beloved team wins the Champions League. Therefore, one can only presume that Mr Mourinho has been told to get rid of the surplus, free up the wage bill and sign better players (Ballack, Shevchenko etc).

Why does Red Rom need to trim wages? He's got very deep pockets. Chelski do not operate like the rest. They could afford to keep Duff on his wages and buy all of the Juventus side without flinching. i think Champs League vistory will be hard to come by.

[cn_barlow]

The comparison of Duffer and MGP sounds a bit like sour grapes to me.

Some of the comments are unreal "No way would i take him over MGP" etc etc

Duff at the end of the day is a World Class talent and the only problem with him is the ability to stay injury free. As the 'ToonFan' reported yesterday, they have signed Duff for £5 million which is a considerable value less than his market value, but with him in his last year of his contract at Chelsea, then this probably had a factor in this price.

I wish Duffer all the best in his career, but I'm still not clued in why he picked Newcastle. They still aren't in Europe yet and as someone correctly said that there is no reason as to why Blackburn can out-shine Newcastle this time around again. Roeder could well find it hard to finish in the top-8 if he doesn't find a striker capable of scoring 15 goals a season.

I think it was Chelsea who picked Newcastle rather than Duff. Aprrantly both Spurs and Liverpool were both in for him..but Chelsea didnt want to sell to a rival.

If i were him i'd have waited until next summer

[waggy]

newcastle have got a bargain,duffer for 5 million makes sense that chelski did not sell him to liverpoo or spuds,teams that could dent there silverware charge,just a shame we are not in the big league

[greggyk]

but if we were, we wouldn't be able to sign Duffer!!

Or maybe Chelsea are scared of the thought of Mido leading the Rovers front line! thats why we never got Duffer back

Edited July 24, 2006 by greggyk

[krislu]

If the £5m fee is to be believed then I'm a little sad we didn't try getting him. Surely he would choose us over Newcastle. It is always room for quality players like Duff.

[broadsword]

We'll get him back when he's 32 and his legs have gone.

[pleasure]

We'll get him back when he's 32 and his legs have gone.

or if newc get relegated this season and have a fire-sale.

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

I am sure that it is more than £5m - it would be unusual for there not to be add ons - i.e. £500k for european place etc etc. Also - wouldn't be surprised if Newcastle paid a significant signing on fee - possibly to avoid Chelsea paying out loyality bonus etc.

It will be interesting to see how he goes on - last season he didn't look anywhere near as effective as he did at his best when at Rovers. But that could just have been the way he was asked to play - who knows.

Id be surprised that Rovers weren't interested at that price - unless there is more to it than is being reported.

[rover6]

Duff on signing for Newcastle

[roversmum]

"Hopes to add to his Premiership medals there"

[Bobby G]

Oh Damien...

[S15]

Duff for £5m is sickening.

The Geordies midfield is looking strong....

Solano Emre Parker Duff

Or they could do the old...

Parker

Solano Emre

Duff N'Zogbia

Owen

Things are looking good (on paper) up there, and increases Rovers need to get in the market and stay ahead of a close rival.

[Eddie]

Owen is out for the season though.

[cn_barlow]

Newcastel have always had better players than Rovers....but they NEVER perform to their potential, and i expect that to continue this season.

We have a better manager and backroom staff...and are a team! In my opinion Newcastle have a team of individuals all pulling in different directions.

Damien Duff is not going to change that fact...if anything he will make it worse.

[S15]

Owen is out for the season though.

For the season?!

I've been away for a while but last I heard was he is out for 5 months from when he got injured?

[cn_barlow]

For the season?!

I've been away for a while but last I heard was he is out for 5 months from when he got injured?

his operation has been delayed due to swellingor something like that...

they're now saying he's out for the season

[AussieinUk]

never mind...

Edited July 24, 2006 by AussieinUk

[Shevchenko]

For the season?!

I've been away for a while but last I heard was he is out for 5 months from when he got injured?

Yeah what barlow said.

He's seriously buggered his knee. I've heard he needs two surgeries to fix it.

[78]

Things are looking good (on paper) up there, and increases Rovers need to get in the market and stay ahead of a close rival.

Newcastle's average attendance: Around 52000

Blackburns average attendance: Around 22000

Answers on a postcard, for the attention of John Williams.

Was listening to the radio today and it seems the geordies would rather have spent the £5m on a striker and not Duff. While there's no denying Duff is one of the Premierships best left winger, Newcastle have currently a midtable strikeforce in Ameobi and Luque. Not to forget, they already have NZogbia, who is slowly developing into a formidable winger.