[Archived] Roque Santa Cruz Thread

[cloggyjimmybrfc]

thought roque was awesome in his 1st season.....injuries caught up with him again unfortunatley.

didnt like the advertising himself spectacle..but hey 17/18 mil for him?brilliant.

hope sam gets enough of the war chest to land a good central midfielder and a striker..pos a rb?

[my_name_is_Earl]

Very shrewd business by Rovers. Firstly, great deal for such an injury prone player who doesn't want to play for the club. Secondly, we have plenty of time to adapt to the situation.

I must say i'm disappointed with the way Roque handled the whole situation though. I admire his ability and what he did for Rovers in his first season. However, because of his terrible attitude last season, I will neither boo him nor cheer him.

No club should keep a player who doesn't want to play for you. Immediately, all the necessary grit and determination goes from the player and his ability to work as a team towards the same goals. This was most certainly the case with Roque.

Great deal for me, no bad wishes against him at all and we've made a nice sum wherever it ends up.

[Rovermatt]

Let's hope that the team gets the investment rather than the Brockhall car park (or wherever the millions we get for players goes to).

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

I hope the people criticising the club relentlessly for not selling him on the final day of the January window will own up and admit they were wrong. We played this one absolutely perfectly and sent out a perfect message - pay the release fee or he stays with us.

Also January transfers are renowned for being overly priced, we're in a much better position to have a whole summer to spend it rather than a few weeks of panicking in January.

1. I thought they offered roughly the same amount just prior to the end of the transfer window

2. So close to the end of the window meant we probably couldn't have bought anyone anyway.

3. We paid his wages for 1/2 a season for ?

Nobody will know whether Rovers are better off - and personally I think we did the right thing at the time. But with hindsight - I would have sold him in January - I don't know how anyone could think any different.

[Exiled_Rover]

Let's hope that the team gets the investment rather than the Brockhall car park (or wherever the millions we get for players goes to).

Speaking of which I wonder who got Vogel's parking spot - it was right near the entrance. I wonder if we'll use that as a selling point to our latest 'big' money signing.

[Bobby G]

My two cents.

City paid us money for his first and only successful season in his career.

Roque will never be world class to prove it on a stage with the biggest players cause he isnt good enough to be a star around other stars. Harsh but true. He needed an environment like ours. He has forgotten Bayern where he had numerous opportunities to stake a claim but couldnt.

Once Hughes leaves, which will happen sooner or later, he will be overlooked by the next manager.

[riverside returns]

Goodbye and thanks Santa for the terrific first season. It was class. Hope you enjoy a good time at COMS and that when you play us you have a stinker.

All the best.

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

My two cents.

City paid us money for his first and only successful season in his career.

Roque will never be world class to prove it on a stage with the biggest players cause he isnt good enough to be a star around other stars. Harsh but true. He needed an environment like ours. He has forgotten Bayern where he had numerous opportunities to stake a claim but couldnt.

Once Hughes leaves, which will happen sooner or later, he will be overlooked by the next manager.

Personally I disagree - I think Santa was one of the best centre forwards we had since Sutton. His international displays have shown what a class act he is. IF he can stay fit - he could be the missing piece in the jigsaw for City - last season they obviously missed a target man - IMO Santa is one of the best.

[Bobby G]

I never said he wasnt class for us. But to be world class, you have to play for a BIG team, among world class players, and still show your worth. He didnt in the past and I doubt he will in the future. I dont consider City a big team yet though. If they sign the people they are linked with then its a different story. I think City are signing too many "Hughes" players who are honest hardworking players, but if they really want to make it to the CL, they need to be aiming for a bit higher.

[Jackson]

Enjoy the bench, fella.

*Benni rubs hands and scoffs another cream bun*

[Maverick]

Santa Cruz had a great first season, and that is what I going to remember him for. Injuries and lack of motivation destroyed last season. Good we got £18 mill for him. Now we should by one class player and a couple off young talents that might create future income to the club. We are a small club and will always have to be smart in the transfer marked.

[imy9]

£18 million for a striker who has only scored more than 5 goals in ONE season in his career is fantastic business.

He is 28 this year and a great move for him, good luck Roque BUT hope you're injured first game of the season.

[Billy Castell]

Good deal. Maybe they'll be amenable if we asked to do a deal on Jo or Bonijov. Loan with the chance for a deal would be good.

[john-rover]

billy, i have just read your signature, and it has lightened up my day! i thank you!

[tony gale's mic]

I should be celebrating this, but all the talk of Davies is just depressing.

[BRFC1995]

unfortunately if roques surgery has made his knee good i think in a team full of attacking flair he could have an absolute field day next year, the guy can be unplayable on his day and is capable of getting his head on set pieces more often than the defenders............this is a very sad day and it will be very hard to stomach if his replacement is davies!!!!!

[tcj_jones]

Absolutely fantastic business.

Bought for £3.5m and sold for circa £18m two seasons on. We got one great year out of him and then lost none of his value after a year riddled with injury. Well done Blackburn Rovers.

OK, Waggy et al, time to hold your hands up and admit that your criticism of Sam for not selling in January was wrong?

I hope the people criticising the club relentlessly for not selling him on the final day of the January window will own up and admit they were wrong. We played this one absolutely perfectly and sent out a perfect message - pay the release fee or he stays with us.

Also January transfers are renowned for being overly priced, we're in a much better position to have a whole summer to spend it rather than a few weeks of panicking in January.

Seems you beat me to it!

Those people are so quiet right now that all I can hear is the tumbleweed rolling around!

[Eddie]

um...I was one of them and I've already responded. I'm surprised, and pleased, that we got the fee that we did, but nothing happened in the intervening period to show that we had to keep hold of Santa Cruz. The only argument is whether or not City were actually willing to pay that sum in January and also whether or not the potential knock to the morale of the side would have been a major factor. I think by getting the fee that we just have and as we also stayed up you can't say that holding onto him was the wrong decision, but it is impossible to say that selling him would have been.

[AndyC]

um...I was one of them and I've already responded. I'm surprised, and pleased, that we got the fee that we did, but nothing happened in the intervening period to show that we had to keep hold of Santa Cruz. The only argument is whether or not City were actually willing to pay that sum in January and also whether or not the potential knock to the morale of the side would have been a major factor. I think by getting the fee that we just have and as we also stayed up you can't say that holding onto him was the wrong decision, but it is impossible to say that selling him would have been.

the ke thing though eddie, is the message it sends the rest of the squad. if we'd have sold him at the first opportunity, it send s aver negative message to the players. The fact we sold him when we wanted to, not the other wa around, shows that sam and the club is in charge and that we wern't prepared to gamble our future in the league for a quick buck.

got to hand it to john williams and sam here - they have played an absolute blinder. credit it where's its due

[47er]

When Hughes was with us, we had 3 world-class performers in Bentley, Freidal and Santa Cruz. Now we have none but around 40M quid has come our way. Are we better off for it?---------absolutely not. When will Rovers fans realise that if we uncover a "gem" we should move heaven and earth to keep them? We fantasise about who'll we''ll buy with the transfers fees and forget that the manager will never see half of it. Like goldfish we repeat this process continuously as if it had never happened.

[tonyoz]

It seems it's not as good a deal as we thought:

The Welshman signed Santa Cruz for £3.8m from Bayern Munich in 2007 and was rewarded with an impressive 23 goals in 43 games for Blackburn. Bayern agreed to a reduced fee on condition of a sell-on fee of approximately 20% and will therefore receive around £3m from Blackburn as part of yesterday's deal.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/ju...ackburn-rovers1

[Exiled_Rover]

We always seem to get bitten by these bloody sell on clauses.

[Rover Down Under]

Great deal for me, no bad wishes against him at all and we've made a nice sum wherever it ends up.

You don't need bad wishes, he will take the curse of Ewood with him and with his Bentley-esque whoring all season the curse will be extra potent just as it was for bench warming David. Mwaaahhaaaahaaaahaaaaha!

[philipl]

Another grim day to be a Rovers fan.

47er has it absolutely right. And the £3m to Bayern just rubs salt in the wound.

[Rover4ever]

The amount received sounds ok. But what will be unacceptable is if 5m of that goes towards Davies bought as a replacement for RSC.........