[Archived] Benni Mccarthy - Gone

[gazsimm]

But we had Dunny for half a season does that not make up for it.

Yes we did shame he was not fit for most of them matches as well

[gazsimm]

£8m, yes that would be brilliant.

Now where will we find somebody who can get 2nd top scorer in the Premiership for that price and will come here?

Pigs might fly I suppose

we could not replace him, his goals have been vital for us this season and without him i think we would of struggled last season

[Martin]

I think you're way off the mark here. We had Reid missing for the whole of this season and we also had Savage out for half a season. You cant say the 4 place difference in the league was down to Bellamy / McCarthy

OK, perhaps I made my point badly.

What I am trying to say, perhaps badly, is that Bellamy did a lot of running for the team into the channels, putting people under pressure etc. I believe this attitude combined with the 17 goals or whatever Bellamy scored is more valuable to the team than McCarthy's contribution. Regardless of whoever has been missing this season, I believe there is an argument to suggest had Benni done a little more work for the team we might be a touch higher up the table. Whilst I wouldn't class Benni as a luxury player, he's more than that, at times we have carrried him. But for 24 goals I guess it's justified.

The problem is it is almost impossible to to argue against Mccarthy's contribution this season - 24 goals. Scoring goals is not only the hardest thing but the most important thing to do on the football pitch. Therefore, anyone who questions McCarthy's overall contribution gets knocked back with - "but he scored 24 goals, what more do you want". To that there is little you can reply.

What will be interesting is next season if he went say 9 or 10 games without a goal - exactly how valuable is his contribtuion then?

Don't misunderstand me I love Benni and I love him playing for us, I just get the impression he has more to give.

[gazsimm]

OK, perhaps I made my point badly.

What I am trying to say, perhaps badly, is that Bellamy did a lot of running for the team into the channels, putting people under pressure etc. I believe this attitude combined with the 17 goals or whatever Bellamy scored is more valuable to the team than McCarthy's contribution. Regardless of whoever has been missing this season, I believe there is an argument to suggest had Benni done a little more work for the team we might be a touch higher up the table. Whilst I wouldn't class Benni as a luxury player, he's more than that, at times we have carrried him. But for 24 goals I guess it's justified.

The problem is it is almost impossible to to argue against Mccarthy's contribution this season - 24 goals. Scoring goals is not only the hardest thing but the most important thing to do on the football pitch. Therefore, anyone who questions McCarthy's overall contribution gets knocked back with - "but he scored 24 goals, what more do you want". To that there is little you can reply.

What will be interesting is next season if he went say 9 or 10 games without a goal - exactly how valuable is his contribtuion then?

Don't misunderstand me I love Benni and I love him playing for us, I just get the impression he has more to give.

it's not just his goals that help the team, he sets up an awful lot of scoring opportunites for other players as well

[G Somerset Rover]

More or less the same quotes from Benni at the Nuts football awards. It does sound very much like he wants out though:

http://www.teamtalk.com/football/story/0,1...2130645,00.html

[Alex Rover]

More or less the same quotes from Benni at the Nuts football awards. It does sound very much like he wants out though:

http://www.teamtalk.com/football/story/0,1...2130645,00.html

Yes, doesn't it just

[jim mk2]

Extraordinary remarks from McCarthy that must infuriate Hughes and are surely deserving of a fine.

[bluebruce]

Firstly, he has been wonderful to watch this season and his goals have been both regular and at times sublime. At £2.5 million he was a bargain. The club can not lose. We either have a 20 goal a season striker playing for us next season or we get £8 million plus for a 29 year old facing a difficult second season in the PL. Whether anyone will pay good money for Benni I do not know.

Alternatively, we could keep a 29 yr old facing a difficult second season in the PL, or sell a 20-goal a season striker for £8 million, is the flipside. So, we can lose. As for cash...I should think 8 mill is the minimum we could and should expect from a club like Chelsea. Personally I'll be angry if we sell any of our best three attacking players (Bents, Benni, Pedersen) for less than 15 million. Or in Bentley's case, less than 25.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

If you want to go McCarthy at least have the decency to depart NOW and not 1 week before the start of the season.

**BIG SIGH**

[joey_big_nose]

More or less the same quotes from Benni at the Nuts football awards. It does sound very much like he wants out though:

http://www.teamtalk.com/football/story/0,1...2130645,00.html

As good as gone. Ho hum.

I just hope we don't get forced into a position of letting him go for less than he is worth.

10 millionish would be reasonable in light of the new transfer money and his outstanding record. I wonder who Hughes will pull out of the bag this summer?

[Ronin]

McCarthy does say he's not wanting to leave, but if a CL club were to come in . . .

Does sound like a come-and-get-me from him. Not a good move from him, especially with it only being a week since the Premiership finished. Would like to see what Hughes, JW think of McCarthy's comments and what they do about it.

[LeChuck]

Does sound like a come-and-get-me from him. Not a good move from him, especially with it only being a week since the Premiership finished. Would like to see what Hughes, JW think of McCarthy's comments and what they do about it.

Hopefully they'll do absolutely nothing about it.

Players can't win with fans, can they? Bellamy said he wanted to stay with us then moves to Liverpool and gets blasted by everyone for lying.

McCarthy says he's very happy at Rovers but would find an English Champion's League team hard to turn down and gets blasted for being honest.

Every single one of our players would find a move to a Champion's League side almost impossible to turn down, any of them who say otherwise are just being 'diplomatic' like Bellamy. I don't have a problem with McCarthy's comments at all.

[ElTwis]

He's being completely honest which makes a refreshing change for a professional footballer!

Edited May 16, 2007 by ElTwis

[M-K]

I can't imagine Chelsea would be remotely interested when they're shopping at the Eto'o end of the market. Shame Benni has to do his daydreaming in front of a microphone.

[roversyoyo]

As good as gone. Ho hum.

I just hope we don't get forced into a position of letting him go for less than he is worth.

10 millionish would be reasonable in light of the new transfer money and his outstanding record. I wonder who Hughes will pull out of the bag this summer?

Agreed, that's as close to "come and get me" as your likely to read. Does anyone think his heart will be in it next season if he does stay? or will he be thinking of what ifs?

I dont want the guy to leave, he's one of the best footballers we've had at ewood in a long time (excluding bellamy). If he does end up in a Chelsea shirt banging the goals in, i dont think you'll be saying he's not contributing enough then, you'll be saying "Wish we had a 20-goal a season striker".

However, if his heart aint in it, let the guy leave, but only for big bucks. My worry is that he'll do to us what he did to Porto, and we'll end up getting screwed on the price.

[LeChuck]

Extraordinary remarks from McCarthy that must infuriate Hughes and are surely deserving of a fine.

Your sensationalist tabloid roots are showing Jim.

Edited May 16, 2007 by LeChuck

[jim mk2]

Your sensationalist tabloid roots are showing Jim.

Not sure what you mean but McCarthy's comments are bang out of order in my opinion.

[bluebruce]

Extraordinary remarks from McCarthy that must infuriate Hughes and are surely deserving of a fine.

Good idea. The way to deal with this is to fine him, making him want to leave the club.

[Bing]

On another forum I visit, I know a Chelsea fan (who wouldn't bs me) and he was at the Nuts awards. He said to Benni that he'd love to see him at Chelsea and Benni was as non-committal as he could be but did say "we'll see by Friday". A guy Benni was with was a little less diplomatic and said that Benni and Peter Kenyon had had talks earlier in the day.

On a lighter note, he brought up the story of the Tugay substitution/Stephen Hunt's antics I'd told him earlier in the week. When describing Stephen Hunt, Benni used quite a few expletives that I couldn't possibly reproduce here.

[cn_barlow]

If he leaves we'll replace him with someone else who can score 15 - 20 goals. End of story.

Just remember everyone was pretty pessimistic about replacing Bellamy this time last season and look what happened.

If there is one manager who knows a good striker then it is Mark Hughes...i am not worried!

[HairwayToSteven]

If he leaves we'll replace him with someone else who can score 15 - 20 goals. End of story.

Just remember everyone was pretty pessimistic about replacing Bellamy this time last season and look what happened.

If there is one manager who knows a good striker then it is Mark Hughes...i am not worried!

We simply cannot expect Sparky to pull a rabbit out of the hat every time we sell our best players.

[Hughesy]

Personally i do not believe Benni will go - i believe he is a man of his word and when he came here he said he wasnt interested in the big 4 teams as he wouldnt play week in week out. He also said he was here to play for us and that he had to repay the faith shown in him by rovers. So i fully expect him to stay!

IF not then £10 million has to be the least we take!

Viduka is available for free, maybe he would make up for some of the missed goals if he goes?!

Edited May 16, 2007 by Hughesy

[cn_barlow]

We simply cannot expect Sparky to pull a rabbit out of the hat every time we sell our best players.

i understand what your saying, but i dont believe that getting a striker who could score 15-20 goals for £10m (or however much we would possibly get for Benni) would be the equivalent of pulling a rabbit out of the hat. Hughes knows a good striker so he should be able to replace him with that sort of cash.

All hypothetical of course, id much rather he stays here. If he goes there is a pretty bad trend developing....

[Fife Rover]

To all those who say "let Benni go, Sparky will find a suitable replacement" I say just consider this. If benni or indeed any of our best players do go this close season, what is MH going to think? He has worked so hard and at last has got together a very good team, that just needs a cople of tweaks to make it into a top 4 challenging team. If he now has to suffer the loss of one or more of his best performers he is bound to think "what's the use?, I am wasting my time here, this club is never going to get any higher" Next thing, MH and his coaching team are offski! Is that what any of us wants to see? Think about it!!!

[jim mk2]

Personally i do not believe Benni will go - i believe he is a man of his word and when he came here he said he wasnt interested in the big 4 teams !

Worthy sentiments but unrealistic in the money-mad world of football. It's obvious McCarthy has been tapped up by Chelsea with the promise of a vast salary.