[Archived] Roque Santa Cruz Thread

[Amo]

Please Rovers, PLEASE move for Crouch!

Let's spend more on Crouch, when Roque's a better target man? I'd rather not.

[bats]

I doubt it, we still had the Carlos Villanuena money that had been put aside for his signing, and the £3 million pounds yearly money from the walker trusties? From what i have heard, the Givet signing was paid for regardless of the Roque signing.

Their might also be a couple more outgoings that will add to the pot..

What about Edin Džeko Nicko. He was talked up and linked to big clubs, but nothing has happened, think he would still be available..?

I doubt we could get Dzeko, AC Milan have made him their number 1 transfer target.

[Sysagent]

Bit sad to see some of the comments made with regard to Rocky, he never struck me as being that mercenary and always give his all when on the pitch with the limited supply options to him.

I personally think Rovers are making a big mistake selling him regardless of the cash involved, when on form he is up there at top four standard as a striker and for Rovers to lose a player of that caliber can only be a bad thing for the club, if he was to recover fully pre-season he would be a definite asset to the team and I would rather him playing FOR us than AGAINST, you got to remember that selling him to the likes of Man City etc makes him in direct competition against us this season imo.

As for all the media reports about him wanting to leave, sulking etc nothing has ever come out as concrete fact anywhere that he wanted to leave Rovers, if anything, I think all he did was show ambition which you can never blame anyone for...

I maybe going against the tide of opinion here, but that's what I think.

[Jolly Giraffe]

Last season when we needed hereos, men to stand proud and fight for the cause Santa Cruz was found wanting and let us down.

Good Riddance, thanks for the dosh Sparky - I hope he gets you the sack.

[tonygreenbank]

On balance I think his going is a good thing for us. I know on his day he is an excellent striker but he has definitely got injury issues. I`m not even certain that he will pass the medical so all this talk will be premature anyway. £17m for him is too good for a club like ours to turn down. He wants to go to an "ambitious" club we get a lot of money; good deal all round. Lets see what Big Sam can do with a sizeable war chest of about £12-15m.

[gumboots]

Bit sad to see some of the comments made with regard to Rocky, he never struck me as being that mercenary and always give his all when on the pitch with the limited supply options to him.

I personally think Rovers are making a big mistake selling him regardless of the cash involved, when on form he is up there at top four standard as a striker and for Rovers to lose a player of that caliber can only be a bad thing for the club, if he was to recover fully pre-season he would be a definite asset to the team and I would rather him playing FOR us than AGAINST, you got to remember that selling him to the likes of Man City etc makes him in direct competition against us this season imo.

As for all the media reports about him wanting to leave, sulking etc nothing has ever come out as concrete fact anywhere that he wanted to leave Rovers, if anything, I think all he did was show ambition which you can never blame anyone for...

I maybe going against the tide of opinion here, but that's what I think.

Thing is, i never thought he wasn't trying whilstt on the pitch for us, and I do think much of his poor form when he was playing was down to his not being fully fit. I'm not really happy we've agreed to sell him to City as I can't stand the thought of his doing well for them. However, the fact remains that, despite saying he loved the club and the fans and would carry on playing for them, he then gave every interview possible every time he was out of the country saying he wanted to go to a more ambitious club etc. That showed real disrespect for the club and fans he professed to love. I am, and I'm sure our chairman and manager are, as ambitious for my club as anyone else, but we don't have the cash to fulfil those ambitions in today's football world. Santa Cruz knew that and should have had the decency to keep his mouth shut. The reports coming out of Paraguay were too similar and too frequent for it to have been for any of the reasons that have been put forward like his being their biggest superstar and only saying what the media want him to say. There were no contradictions issued over there, so we can be pretty certain that he did say what was quoted and that shows him to be the kind of character we do not need at Ewood, only concerned for his own career and not for the team at all. I'm glad we had him in our team season before last and I'm sure if and probably when he scores against us for City I'll wish we hadn't sold him, but otherwise 18 million, if we spend it wisely, will cover a lot of regrets.

[G Somerset Rover]

Nicko what switched City's attention from forlan back to roque?

[Iceman]

Well this could turn out to be the curse of Blackburn again. You will be leaving at your own peril, just ask David Bentley. Im not too concerned about him leaving, we survived without him so good bye!

[Eddie]

Crouch is a pipe dream? Good god. Overrated player who no one would be interested in if he weren't English. Too big a fee. Wages too big. No thanks.

[patrickvalery]

I personally think Rovers are making a big mistake selling him regardless of the cash involved, when on form he is up there at top four standard as a striker and for Rovers to lose a player of that caliber can only be a bad thing for the club,

I think you are probably right.

However, in our current side he simply wouldn't show this form. It is a necessity that we sell him in order to improve the overall quality of the side. If we had a half decent midfield i'd probably advocate keeping him. But we don't and as such i'd be happier improving this area whilst replacing him with (probably) an inferior replacement. Hopefully the money can be invested in a creative type midfielder who will add some ideas to a very one dimensional midfield.

I've got to say it seems a good deal all round. I think if City keep him fit, he and Bellamy will be a very very good partnership. Lets just hope they can't.

[Balwer]

Well this could turn out to be the curse of Blackburn again. You will be leaving at your own peril, just ask David Bentley. Im not too concerned about him leaving, we survived without him so good bye!

Generally it does turn out well for us Ice, spectacularly so in the case of someone like Bentley. Overall I'd say we'd have one of the better records of buying players cheaply and selling them for a profit, where they go on to perform poorly. In fact, I would struggle to name a player that's left us to play for a bigger club that's ended up playing better.

[Eddie]

Here's the other point. Is Santa Cruz even part of our best pairing? Roberts and Benni are clearly the best combination of strikers that we have. I'd like to improve on that, but really the best possible line-up probably doesn't include Santa Cruz, even if he is the better player.

He's a very good player, but he's not top quality. He's still of a calibre that we could replace, it just takes good scouting on our part, which should be something we should expect seeing as this particular transfer has been coming for at least 6 months. We should have a list as long as my arm, we should know who is top of it and we should know who we can get. If we aren't able to bring in someone within about a week of this deal going through then it won't be too impressive. We've yet to make a signing to stir up interest and with the season ticket offer out there it would be great to respond to this by quickly bringing someone in. There can be no excuse for why it can't happen.

[modes98]

Do i need to? He is 25/26, never been prolific, struggles to get into the austrian team and has had a bad injury in recent times. He scored goals in a mickey mouse league for the beat team by miles in it.

Waste of time.

Sounds a bit like Santa Cruz when we signed him. You have to have faith in the manager to make the right decision.

[Ozz]

He's a very good player, but he's not top quality.

I think he his a top quality player. Oozes class, skill, can finish, great in the air, brilliant at holding the ball up, quick over 10 yards, good vision, good passer etc...

[joey_big_nose]

I think he his a top quality player. Oozes class, skill, can finish, great in the air, brilliant at holding the ball up, quick over 10 yards, good vision, good passer etc...

Eddie has a point though in that he has never managed to form a partnership with anyone. He has always looked best playing on his own up front. He is a difficult man to accomodate in your side.

Bellamy and Cruz could work I think at City. But then you would have to leave Tevez, Robinho and Eto'o out....

[Eddie]

I think he his a top quality player. Oozes class, skill, can finish, great in the air, brilliant at holding the ball up, quick over 10 yards, good vision, good passer etc...

I got criticised a lot for saying this when he was knocking in goals for fun, but I still don't think he is a natural finisher, or all that good of one. He can head the ball well, but he doesn't look that comfortable slotting the ball home a lot of the time. A very good player obviously and one who I am pleased that we signed and played for us, but I wouldn't put him above Bellamy or Benni when they had their great seasons and he fell away from that even more drastically than those two as well.

He's replaceable, it won't be easy, but it is certainly possible.

[joey_big_nose]

Best strikers, in order, to play for Rovers in last 15 years:

1) Shearer

2) Bellamy

3) Cruz

4) McCarthy

5) Jansen

6) Sutton

7) Cole

We've had some pretty good ones.....

[nicko]

Nicko what switched City's attention from forlan back to roque?

Forlan didn't want to know...he has been told that he is second choice at Real Madrid if they don't get David Villa.

Those calls were made last week, which is why he dropped off Man City's list and Roque went to number one.

Lucky break for Rovers.

[jannerman]

What I'd like to know is just how injured was Roque between March and the end of the season?

In either case if he was feigning then it's disrespectful to the club, but if it was all genunie then it's a risk for Man City right?

Either way, a good return, and despite my wonderings he did do well for the club and raise the profile, who knows what might have happened if he'd have been fit all of last season.

As for the Crouch debate I've never rated his "skill" and used to tease a mate when he was a Liverpool player that the best thing they can do is lump the ball at him and hope for a deflected goal!

Ok, so maybe a bit harsh, but why 17m ish on him and why not 6-8m on a younger, more hungry and less expensive (wages) player?

Fingers crossed

[Guest benmaxwell]

Sky Sources now reporting that Chelsea and Man City are in for Carlos Tevez? How can City be in for both Cruz and Tevez with the strikers they already have... I have a very bad feeling about this..

[sanlorenzo]

Bit sad to see some of the comments made with regard to Rocky, he never struck me as being that mercenary and always give his all when on the pitch with the limited supply options to him.

I personally think Rovers are making a big mistake selling him regardless of the cash involved, when on form he is up there at top four standard as a striker and for Rovers to lose a player of that caliber can only be a bad thing for the club, if he was to recover fully pre-season he would be a definite asset to the team and I would rather him playing FOR us than AGAINST, you got to remember that selling him to the likes of Man City etc makes him in direct competition against us this season imo.

As for all the media reports about him wanting to leave, sulking etc nothing has ever come out as concrete fact anywhere that he wanted to leave Rovers, if anything, I think all he did was show ambition which you can never blame anyone for...

I maybe going against the tide of opinion here, but that's what I think.

Well put. When Rocky was healthy he gave 110%. He obviously was injured and needed the surgery to make things right. After Bentley left he had no service. He is Rovers best player by a mile and will be sorely missed.

[nicko]

Sky Sources now reporting that Chelsea and Man City are in for Carlos Tevez? How can City be in for both Cruz and Tevez with the strikers they already have... I have a very bad feeling about this..

Man City want to play Tevez and Robinho wide of a central striker...Roque now rather than Eto'o or Forlan.

4-3-3. It would work.

[tcj_jones]

Plus City will no doubt offload a shed load of players over the next twelve months. The wage bill isn't really a big concern for them.

[nicko]

Plus City will no doubt offload a shed load of players over the next twelve months. The wage bill isn't really a big concern for them.

Sturridge going...leaving Bellamy, Caicedo, Benjani, Bojinov, Evans as cover or competition or cast-offs.

[tony gale's mic]

Bit sad to see some of the comments made with regard to Rocky, he never struck me as being that mercenary and always give his all when on the pitch with the limited supply options to him.

I personally think Rovers are making a big mistake selling him regardless of the cash involved, when on form he is up there at top four standard as a striker and for Rovers to lose a player of that caliber can only be a bad thing for the club, if he was to recover fully pre-season he would be a definite asset to the team and I would rather him playing FOR us than AGAINST, you got to remember that selling him to the likes of Man City etc makes him in direct competition against us this season imo.

As for all the media reports about him wanting to leave, sulking etc nothing has ever come out as concrete fact anywhere that he wanted to leave Rovers, if anything, I think all he did was show ambition which you can never blame anyone for...

I maybe going against the tide of opinion here, but that's what I think.

So you'd rather have a man in his late twenties who's had only one season his ENTIRE career where he's scored more than 5 league goals, versus that much money to strengthen the team when we have so little money to spend otherwise?

Sure on his very best he's been great, but history suggests he's not too likely to produce that form in a hurry.

If Sam makes the right signings it can usher in a new era at Rovers.