[Archived] Roque Santa Cruz Thread

[thenodrog]

  Rovermatt said:

He can f**k off for all I care. His comments are pretty uncomplicated and only confirm what we've known all season. He's had his head turned by the promise of one game in three down at Citeh. If we can keep him around for the season and flog him come the summer for a healthy fee I'll be happy. Players with so little motivation needn't detain themselves at Rovers.

Thats churlish and immature matt. You are entering a profession I believe and he is a professional footballer from Paraguay for goodness sake. As such you will all serve the highest bidder. How good would it be if every player we sign would increase his value by 500% inside 18 months. The worst point being that SA is now wrestling frantically to keep this club in the Prem and possibly even in existence and needs all the quality that he can muster. That must come first and foremost and it is up to Sam to decide whether RSC or the players that his sale could fund would serve the club better. The situation that we find ourselves in however is down to the board and the previous manager and not to RSC.

If you get annoyed by players leaving BRFC for bigger clubs and greater wealth then you will suffer regular disappointment for the rest of your life. He's hardly skint now but the truth is if he misses the boat and Hughes is sacked he might not get another gift-wrapped chance to elevate his personal fortune to a much higher level.

[Bobby G]

If I were Roque, Id wait cause its obvious its a matter of when not if Hughes will be sacked.

We all know next season they will have a BIGGER NAME at the helm...And would Roque be big enough for them, then?

[Mr Creosote]

  John said:

Wenger admitted that he wanted to sign Cruz last summer but was told firmly by us that he was not for sale.

Wonder if he could still be interested.

That could explain RSC's demeanour this season. I got the impression that he was one of the good guys but I have been disapointed with his comments and what imo has been a lack of effort lately. Maybe there are no good guys in football.

Would be a great signing for Arsenal though.

[Rovermatt]

  thenodrog said:

Thats churlish and immature matt. You are entering a profession I believe and he is a professional footballer from Paraguay for goodness sake. As such you will all serve the highest bidder.

If you get annoyed by players leaving BRFC for bigger clubs and greater wealth then you will suffer regular disappointment for the rest of your life. He's hardly skint now but the truth is if he misses the boat and Hughes is sacked he might not get another gift-wrapped chance to elevate his personal fortune to a much higher level.

Apologies, I realise you're a sensitive soul. I get annoyed by players suddenly deciding that they are bigger than the club and using it as a stepping-stone to move onto pastures new, though not always more successful.

[thenodrog]

  Bobby G said:

If I were Roque, Id wait cause its obvious its a matter of when not if Hughes will be sacked.

We all know next season they will have a BIGGER NAME at the helm...And would Roque be big enough for them, then?

Thats exactly the reason that he cannot wait!

[Rovermatt]

  Mr Creosote said:

That could explain RSC's demeanour this season. I got the impression that he was one of the good guys but I have been disapointed with his comments and what imo has been a lack of effort lately. Maybe there are no good guys in football.

Would be a great signing for Arsenal though.

Santa Cruz would quickly become frustrated at the silverware-free zone that is the Emirates.

[JC4LAB]

I would be tempted to leave him out or keep him on the bench for the City game..

[thenodrog]

  Rovermatt said:

Apologies, I realise you're a sensitive soul. I get annoyed by players suddenly deciding that they are bigger than the club and using it as a stepping-stone to move onto pastures new, though not always more successful.

Sorry I edited my post whilst you were replying. It reads slightly different now.

  Rovermatt said:

Santa Cruz would quickly become frustrated at the silverware-free zone that is the Emirates.

If he wants silver he could always access his bank account. Doubtless there'll be more in that than even in Real Madrids trophy room.

[Earlydoors]

I was pleasantly surprised when i heard the RSC interview in full. He's not making the overtones the headlines are screaming. Its clearly a come and get me but he's doing it respectfully if naively.

If he has a clause in his contract at £18m as reported then the only way to keep him is for sparky to get the sack after we beat them on dec 28th.

RSC - top man.

[thenodrog]

  Earlydoors said:

I was pleasantly surprised when i heard the RSC interview in full. He's not making the overtones the headlines are screaming. Its clearly a come and get me but he's doing it respectfully if naively.

If he has a clause in his contract at £18m as reported then the only way to keep him is for sparky to get the sack after we beat them on dec 28th.

RSC - top man.

I know what you are saying earlydoors but to earn that accolade he really needs to start playing like one.

[Sysagent]

  joey_big_nose said:

Lets see how he reacts to Sam's management before putting the boot in eh?

Bloody damn right, what a fickle bunch football fans are...

You also have to remember:-

1) that he is Paraguyian, so English is not exactly going to roll off his tongue natively is it, so any interviewer instantly has the upperhand on him

2) he must be still pretty shook up about the whole robbery and wife episode he has just had to endure

3) he has probably spent the past six months in the most demoralising, un-professional environment in his whole footballing career

Give the guy a break, if he does go in January well good luck to him, we will hopefully get a good payment for him and a replacement striker will be found again to fill his boots.

I like the guy and I am sure he isn't half as mercenary as most of you are making out, imagine if he was come on these boards and see what is being written about him, that would really make him want to stay here wouldn't it...

/rant over

[gumboots]

  Earlydoors said:

I was pleasantly surprised when i heard the RSC interview in full. He's not making the overtones the headlines are screaming. Its clearly a come and get me but he's doing it respectfully if naively.

If he has a clause in his contract at £18m as reported then the only way to keep him is for sparky to get the sack after we beat them on dec 28th.

RSC - top man.

You should really know better than to take the press angle as gospel. He did say he wanted to go but he was also vey careful to hedge his bets by saying how much he likes being here. The press want the sensational atory so they focus on the I want out bit. Whatever happens, Santa Cruz wins. He goes and gets what he wants or stays and says he's happy to do so. What Allardyce has to decide is which outcome he and the club want. will santa Cruz settle down if he stays and become even half the player we had last year? If so then allardyce might decide he's worth keeping. If he's going to get a sulky player not prepared to get himself fit and playing to capacity then get rid for every penny you can.

[philipl]

I agree with earlydoors and sysagent.

Sorry Tris, you are wrong.

[herbergeehh]

Sam was supposed to meet Roque yesterday or today, any news on this? Nicko?

[nicko]

  herbergeehh said:

Sam was supposed to meet Roque yesterday or today, any news on this? Nicko?

Sam is a lot more diplomatic than some people might imagine.

He was angry at the timing of the interview but he can hardly argue with the content when he has been touting himself for England over the same weekend.

The only club that can afford Roque is Man City and, as has been the case all along, that is down to the money men backing Mark Hughes...I wouldn't say that is too likely right now.

So you will need a fit Roque and Roque will need to be a fit Roque for his own reasons...

Sam won't fine him or blast him, he will just point that out.

This price clause thing cuts two ways, if someone rates you that high they buy you, but anyone bidding lower can be told to get stuffed.

[Blue n White Rover]

  nicko said:

Sam is a lot more diplomatic than some people might imagine.

He was angry at the timing of the interview but he can hardly argue with the content when he has been touting himself for England over the same weekend.

The only club that can afford Roque is Man City and, as has been the case all along, that is down to the money men backing Mark Hughes...I wouldn't say that is too likely right now.

So you will need a fit Roque and Roque will need to be a fit Roque for his own reasons...

Sam won't fine him or blast him, he will just point that out.

This price clause thing cuts two ways, if someone rates you that high they buy you, but anyone bidding lower can be told to get stuffed.

So basically, we just need Roque to be last seasons Roque?

[nicko]

  blue n wite rover said:

So basically, we just need Roque to be last seasons Roque?

It's not too much to expect 10 goals from him in the second half of the season.

That does all parties a lot of good.

[T4E]

  nicko said:

Sam is a lot more diplomatic than some people might imagine.

He was angry at the timing of the interview but he can hardly argue with the content when he has been touting himself for England over the same weekend.

The only club that can afford Roque is Man City and, as has been the case all along, that is down to the money men backing Mark Hughes...I wouldn't say that is too likely right now.

So you will need a fit Roque and Roque will need to be a fit Roque for his own reasons...

Sam won't fine him or blast him, he will just point that out.

This price clause thing cuts two ways, if someone rates you that high they buy you, but anyone bidding lower can be told to get stuffed.

Is Hughes on his way out?

[nicko]

  Tugay4England said:

Is Hughes on his way out?

If Man City don't beat Hull on Boxing Day...the fans will take it to the streets.

I think the only thing saving him right now is the lack of a replacement.

And that is down to their top people knowing NOBODY in football.

Farce.

[FourLaneBlue]

  Sysagent said:

1) that he is Paraguyian, so English is not exactly going to roll off his tongue natively is it, so any interviewer instantly has the upperhand on him

Have you ever heard him speak? His English is just fine and no interviewer is going to get him to say things he really does not want to.

  Sysagent said:

2) he must be still pretty shook up about the whole robbery and wife episode he has just had to endure

Probably but as he lives in the Manchester area I hardly see how that comes into it. A move to Man City is obviously a big possibility and he would not even have to move that said same home.

  Sysagent said:

3) he has probably spent the past six months in the most demoralising, un-professional environment in his whole footballing career

Certainly the appalling time under Ince will have led to a load of our players asking their agents to sound out potential January moves. Always happens on sinking ships.

  Sysagent said:

Give the guy a break, if he does go in January well good luck to him, we will hopefully get a good payment for him and a replacement striker will be found again to fill his boots

Exactly...as long as we get good money for the player then I do not care which players we lose. Selling your best players is not necessarily the problem...it is selling them for less than top dollar (Brad to an extent) or failing to replace them replace them (Bentley) or using the money received unwisely/giving it to a manager you trust to spend it well (Brad and Bentley).

Under Allardyce we can feel reasonably confident he will spend the money well unlike his predecessor. Therefore if Cruz goes or whoever then it is not the same thing as if they had left under the hapless Ince.

It is still poor timing from Cruz however...right before the first game for the new manager. Selfish timing as was the tipsy outburst of Bentley in the summer while we were still looking for a manager. The word mercenary is fair enough in both regards. They are not doing anything illegal and are looking after their respective careers but the timing was poor and somewhat a stab in the back.

These things would likely come out anyway but often the timing is the thing.

As for Cruz...if we get a great offer for Rovers then sell...if not then keep until the end of the season whatever he wants.

[FourLaneBlue]

  nicko said:

He was angry at the timing of the interview but he can hardly argue with the content when he has been touting himself for England over the same weekend.

Pretty much. We are in the relegation zone and we cannot expect no players to want to be doing better than that. We ourselves want better.

The timing was poor though and I wouldn´t be surprised if Cruz himself now thinks waiting ten days or so would have been the best thing to do. It certainly does not reflect well on the player to be coming out with stuff like that at such an inopportune time and Bentley´s outburst in the summer will have done him little good either.

[philipl]

I speak French pretty fluently.

But I wouldn't have liked to handle an interview in French with the intensity that RSC got interviewed by a sensation-seeking name-making sod like that BBC guy.

If you listen to the pattern of questions and the way they are delivered, they are deliberately set-up to discomfort RSC and then yank out the reply he wanted.

As it is, the sub-editors still had to get to work to make it a shock horror story as Roque handled himself very well.

[T4E]

  philipl said:

But I wouldn't have liked to handle an interview in French with the intensity that RSC got interviewed by a sensation-seeking name-making sod like that BBC guy.

If you listen to the pattern of questions and the way they are delivered, they are deliberately set-up to discomfort RSC and then yank out the reply he wanted.

I dont think the sensation seeking BBC guy forced RSC to take the interview. Its the night before the first game under the new manager, it's the middle of December, 15 or so days from the start of the transfer window, and speculation about RSC has been everywhere since the Summer. What exactly did he expect them to ask him?

I don't have a problem with what he said. It's just the timing, and in all honesty the fact that he felt the need to say it at all.

[Earlydoors]

  nicko said:

I think the only thing saving him right now is the lack of a replacement.

I know of an up and coming young English manager with Premiership experience who's available

[scotchrover]

Arsenal Enter Race

This lot will pay over the top as there short on players