[Archived] Nicko's Thread

[yellowsubmarine]

i will be devastated if we do a swap for beattie with roberts.

[G Somerset Rover]

I can't believe that Beattie is almost 30! These seasons come and go too quickly! Seriously though I'm pretty sure that we could find a better striker elsewhere but in Hughes' judgement we trust.

[philipl]

If it was Damien Duff coming back i'd be over the moon jumping for joy feeling totally elated about him coming back,

Unlike Damien Duff who cannot jump as he is probably out for the season with injury according to a toon insider...

Incidentally, we moan when the team is full of foreign mercanaries, we moan when the team is full of local lads, we moan.

[JAL]

Flirting with relegation for signing a striker?? Get a grip!

Ashley Ward wasnt he a striker, Nathan Blake he was a striker, Kevin Davies all strikers.... relegation it'll never happen - it did! .

Quality counts .

[philipl]

As I said, we moan>

Returning to the real world from the depressive hades that JAL inhabits, what is ACTUALLY happening if the signing of Beattie is true is:

OUT

Jeffers (quite possibly for close to £1m with Cardiff now in the chase)

Nonda (would have cost £2m and outrageous wages to keep)

IN

Rigters (£350K)

Beattie (reported to be £2.5m but before John Williams has got to work...)

That looks like a strengthening overall both in terms of the quality of players and in terms of box office attractiveness.

[herbergeehh]

Can't be bothered to debate this, we'll just have to wait and see..

Thank you philipl. I don't believe myself that Roberts will be part of any dealings with Beattie, if Nonda and Jeffers are simply replaced by Rigters and Beattie it can only make us better.

Nonda did score seven goals, but this year we will hopefully have Roberts and Derbyshire the full season. Add Beattie to that, and keep McCarthy fit and happy (was he ever injured last term?) and we will have enough players upfront.

Anyone think we will sign a fullback/winger aswell as a new striker? Ooijer might be considered as a right back, but that would make Stephane Henchoz our 3rd central defender?

edit: Forgot Zurab, but still, an injury to Bentley or Emerton and we're suddenly not that well covered down the right.

[American]

So Alan, you'd rather have a guy who scored 2 last season in 35 appearances than one who scored 7 in 26?

People forget that Nonda was as effective a goal scorer for us last season as Roberts.

[OJRovers]

Beattie was out in Clitheroe last night with some of his pals...

[JAL]

Unlike Damien Duff who cannot jump as he is probably out for the season with injury according to a toon insider...

Incidentally, we moan when the team is full of foreign mercanaries, we moan when the team is full of local lads, we moan.

Apologies for the negativity it must be this east lancashire air, if the players are good enough nobody moans, nobody is complaining or moaning about Samba or Nelsen or Macarthy or Friedel or Emmerton or Savage or our Turkish delight or Zurab or Warnock or MGP or Bentley or some of the others at the club but it seems theres more than me a little disappointed in the thought of James Beattie returning to Ewood Park in Rovers colours.

[Mozzer]

So Alan, you'd rather have a guy who scored 2 last season in 35 appearances than one who scored 7 in 26?

People forget that Nonda was as effective a goal scorer for us last season as Roberts.

how many starts did beattie get last season????

as nicko said, beattie get the wrong service at everton, because everton dont play with wingers, blackburn do..beattie is a goalscorer given the right service, and id prefer a blackburn lad, capable of scoring 15+ goals, then a player who doesnt even look interested when on the pitch for rovers...

[RevidgeBlue]

it seems theres more than me a little disappointed in the thought of James Beattie returning to Ewood Park in Rovers colours.

I'm not disappointed in the prospect of Beattie returning to Ewood per se, it's the prospect that he might be the "big" summer signing that disappoints me.

If as philip says, it's Rigters/Beattie for Jeffers/Nonda that's probably a slight improvement in terms of the depth and quality of the squad without imo necessarily doing much to improve the first choice eleven.

If Beattie is simply being lined up because Roberts is leaving I'd be disappointed because I think overall Roberts is a better player who will score more goals, albeit Beattie is better in the air.

If it's Beattie and no-one else in or out I'd still be disappointed as I thought we'd be setting our sights higher on one player who could really make a difference to the quality of the starting eleven.

[herbergeehh]

That's not a very good argument Mozzer, it's not like buying a disinterested player is the only option if we don't buy Beattie. And it's not like we haven't seen disinterested players from Blackburn before either. However, I agree with your other argument, Bentley and Gamst Pedersen should help Beattie a lot with their crossing. Also, when in form Beattie has a lot of Roberts' qualities as well, he can muscle his way through a defence, (the goal against Arsenal being a fine example) and is a far better finisher than Roberts in my opinion.

[joeh8]

That's not a very good argument Mozzer, it's not like buying a disinterested player is the only option if we don't buy Beattie. And it's not like we haven't seen disinterested players from Blackburn before either. However, I agree with your other argument, Bentley and Gamst Pedersen should help Beattie a lot with their crossing. Also, when in form Beattie has a lot of Roberts' qualities as well, he can muscle his way through a defence, (the goal against Arsenal being a fine example) and is a far better finisher than Roberts in my opinion.

I agree with you to a certain extent there but roberts imo has a lot more pace than beattie, beattie has a better control and a better finisher but he is not going to take people on like roberts. he will score more goals than jay. they are similar in the way they are built. i also agree that bentley and mgp will assist beattie with the crosses they put in

IMO a good buy that is if we get hi off corse

[Mozzer]

i think it would be a good signing...

i dont want roberts to go tho..

[herbergeehh]

I think most of us feel the same, Mozzer. Beattie should be added to the current forwards / replacing Jeffers, not to replace our 2nd best striker.

[-foreverrovers-]

i really dont think roberts is going anywhere.

lets look at the facts...

1. he has spent the last few years of his career in the north-west.a little bit wierd if he got homesick after all this time!

2. pleads for mccarthy to stay.why would he bother if he was off?

3. has he handed in a transfer request?no!.hughes has obviously had a word with him when these rumours broke,and i think roberts has said it is rubbish,which has prompted hughes to come out and say he is not for sale.if roberts had said he wanted to leave,and hughes has come out and said he is not for sale this would have surely have made jr some out and counter this.has he?...no!

and in all honesty i think beattie is the best we can hope for.id prefer him over santa cruz any day,and i would have santa cruz bottom of the four strikers we are supposedly looking at.to be fair i wouldnt mind beattie coming in,but who is to say hughes doesnt have an ace up his sleeve?.

i do think that we need something in the centre of midfield more urgently.some creativity and flair,but they cost big money and i cant see big money being pent at ewood until the takeover either happens or doesnt.

[herbergeehh]

Can I just add to the 'inflated prices list':

Sven can have Crouch - for £25m! (the people)

Anything you want to add to that, Nicko?

[tcj_jones]

I am a fan of Beattie, and I think having two target men will leave us less reliant on Roberts and McCarthy and give us more options. However, I think that we should have signed him last season or the season before, when he would have been a vast improvement on what we had. His signing is a bit disapointing because, to really progress, we need to be bringing in a top quality striker. On the plus side, with the inflated transfer market, £2.5 million for Beattie isn't bad business.

[modes98]

If it was Damien Duff coming back i'd be over the moon jumping for joy feeling totally elated about him coming back, on the other side of the coin Beattie and Dunny just arent good enough to beat the standard that they have to beat in this league, both of these left Rovers for good reasons that they werent good enough, and nothing has changed except Rovers might just be getting desperate as the cash is probably sparse.

Duff is a crock and won't ever be as good as he was with us. I'd much rather have beattie back than duff, he could give us a much greater threat in the air.

Ashley Ward wasnt he a striker, Nathan Blake he was a striker, Kevin Davies all strikers.... relegation it'll never happen - it did! .

Quality counts .

Benni McCarthy!

[Lathund]

for Rovers to sign Beattie would be a massive backward step that would see Rovers flirting with relegation again again until the inevitable happenend.

:D

Sorry, but that's just a hilarious quote. I don't think Beattie would be a particularly good signing either (I hope he proves me wrong), but to say that signing him would take us closer to relegation is ridiculous. We finished 10th last season, and our squad this season, even with Beattie as the only remaining signing, is at least as good (I'd say better, if we don't have such bad luck with long-term injuries again. But others would disagree there) as it was last year. Signing, or not signing, Beattie makes little difference. If we were to get relegated, it certainly wouldn't be for him. Unless he scores 10 own goals of course.

People are right in saying that it offers us something different, a target man who's good in the air. The question is just whether he's good enough of a target man to make having a target man worthwhile, or if we'd be better off with another type of player.

Having said all that, Hughes has so far done well overall with his striker signings (And bringing Matty through), so if he sees something in Beattie there probably is something there. I still can't help being sceptical about it however.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

IN

Rigters (£350K)

Beattie (reported to be £2.5m but before John Williams has got to work...)

That looks like a strengthening overall both in terms of the quality of players and in terms of box office attractiveness.

Are you being serious Philipl?

[philipl]

Yes-

Golden Boot winner at the UEFA u-21s just finished and local lad and Rovers fan returning.

Are you just a spoilt brat?

[thenodrog]

Yes-

Golden Boot winner at the UEFA u-21s just finished and local lad and Rovers fan returning.

Are you just a spoilt brat?

A touch prickly today Philip? Whats to do is Nicko stealing most of your thunder at present?

[thenodrog]

He's in our usual bargain basement category - that's probably why we're interested.

I think we've seen the best of Beattie already, the prospect of bringing him back doesn't set my pulses racing at all.

We are currently in state of flux. The Walker Trust are trying to back out of BRFC, the new guys whoever they may be haven't arrived yet so who is going to sign any over large cheques? Rem City have only just started to spend now that the new owner and new manager are in place. Up until last week they were similarly inactive in the transfer market.

[philipl]

Most of our Rovers supporting careers would have seen us ecstatic at signing the likes of Rigters and Beattie.

I wouldn't be surprised if the club's market research shows that a significant reason for falling attendances has been players the fans see as alien. So the Rovers sign Dunn and quite possibly Beattie and the fans still howl like banshees.