[Archived] Nickos Thread

[LeChuck]

guess you would've said the same about Jon Stead?

Stead wasn't a 28 year old journeyman, he was a 20 year old with obvious potential.

[DeadlyDirk]

Just a thought before I go off on other busines until later...

Is there anyone here who has seen BOTH Andrews and Annan in action and can honestly say which one is better?

There is ONE guy who has.

He is called Paul Ince.

Let him make the call.

Exactly

[philipl]

....And had been playing a division higher

[Roar of the Rover]

....And had been playing a division higher

Andrews didn't play for Wolves then?

[LeChuck]

Urgh, it's like debating with an egg.

What are Liverpool up to?

[Sandiway Blue]

I think some people are forgetting how terrible League Two is. Maybe if the divisions were labelled One to Four again it would be more obvious.

No-one Hughes ever signed compares to a 28 year old lower league journeyman.

Don`t get me wrong i agree with you,but most of us haven`t seen him play and Ince has.Even Dalgleish signed Nicky Marker.We also had the likes of super Atko playing through our most sucessful period in the premiership,who possibly could be comparable to Andrews status in the game.

I don`t for one minute think Andrews will be in the starting 11 ,but he may be handy as a squad member.

[Pugg]

I think some people are forgetting how terrible League Two is. Maybe if the divisions were labelled One to Four again it would be more obvious.

For me personally, I am not forgetting how bad League Two is, and my brain can just about cope with changing the divisions names, but it still doesn't change the fact that I have not seen the guy play. I don't know how he stood out in a League Two team. By that I mean, did he stand out so that people thought he could do a job in higher leagues, or did he not stand out at all, and therefore meaning he looked average in a poor league.

[Roar of the Rover]

Urgh, it's like debating with an egg.

What are Liverpool up to?

Doesn't matter about Liverpool. It's a simple arguement about Keith Andrews. You have never seen the guy play and yet branding him sh!t. You slate Ince for making a rubbish choice, he's the only guy that has seen him in flesh and has seen in Annan, who would you rather have make the decision?

[briansol]

Interview with Andrews after being named best player in League 2 last year:

http://www.football-league.co.uk/page/News...1255007,00.html

Interesting comment from him:

"I let myself down in my early twenties but I've had my head screwed on for the last two years."

Might explaing the downturn in his career path since being the youngest captain in Wolves history.

Can he really be worse than Axe?

[imy9]

Andrews was League 2 player of the year, Watford were interested in signing him with Boothroyd stating that he felt Andrews would score "a ton of goals" for his side.

Ince has worked closely with the guy for two seperate clubs, there must be something there, I am willing to hold off until he plays for Rovers, remember Bruno Berner was playing in the Swiss league, how good is that compared to any of the English leagues? Wright, Steve Stone, Finnan, Primus etc have come through lower leagues late in their careers and shown what they can do, give the boy a chance!

Nicko- I have read that Andrews is in the last year of his contract, he turns 28 in a few weeks, could he not buy out his contract under the new rules? He surely cannot be on more than £200K a year?

[LeChuck]

I think it's fair to assume that every professional club in England has scouts watching over the leagues. So, with that in mind, I think the most pertinent question about Andrews would be...

If he has the talent to be a squad player at Premiership level, how has he existed under the noses of Premiership/Championship clubs until the age of 28 without anyone noticing? If he's good enough to be a squad player in the Premiership, he'd make a hell of a Championship player, but he couldn't even hack it at that level.

I can't share this blind optimism that Ince is so shrewd and such a fantastic judge of a player that he's managed to find something in Andrews that countless other managers/coaches/scouts will have missed across the last decade or so.

Edit: Regarding the goalscoring midfielder thing, last season seems to be a freak in this case, he'd managed a grand total of 3 goals in his career before that. Probably a good indication that, in League Two, he had finally found his level.

[SergioPeter89]

Ive just heared on 5live, that City are going to use the money they got from selling Corluka/Ireland, on buying RSC

It cant be any serious in this rumour ??

[Anti-Dingle-Brigade]

I think it's fair to assume that every professional club in England has scouts watching over the leagues. So, with that in mind, I think the most pertinent question about Andrews would be...

If he has the talent to be a squad player at Premiership level, how has he existed under the noses of Premiership/Championship clubs until the age of 28 without anyone noticing? If he's good enough to be a squad player in the Premiership, he'd make a hell of a Championship player, but he couldn't even hack it at that level.

I can't share this blind optimism that Ince is so shrewd and such a fantastic judge of a player that he's managed to find something in Andrews that countless other managers/coaches/scouts will have missed across the last decade or so.

It's not the best comparison, but wasn't Arse-shavin' a relative unknown until recently? And he's about Andrews' age I think.

[PAFELL]

Just a thought before I go off on other busines until later...

Is there anyone here who has seen BOTH Andrews and Annan in action and can honestly say which one is better?

There is ONE guy who has.

He is called Paul Ince.

Let him make the call.

Ince has also played along side of Andrews at Wolves, so knows what Andrews can and cannot do. He knows how Andrews reads a game.

[roversinmyblood]

Don`t get me wrong i agree with you,but most of us haven`t seen him play and Ince has.Even Dalgleish signed Nicky Marker.We also had the likes of super Atko playing through our most sucessful period in the premiership,who possibly could be comparable to Andrews status in the game.

I don`t for one minute think Andrews will be in the starting 11 ,but he may be handy as a squad member.

We don't want to be paying possibly £2m on a squad player!!

I agree with an earlier poster that if we do sign him it should be on a loan basis or at least a small basic payment of £500K plus add-on's for performances.

He may turn out to be very valuable to us if he is a Robbie Savage type replacement.

[LeChuck]

It's not the best comparison, but wasn't Arse-shavin' a relative unknown until recently? And he's about Andrews' age I think.

Not in the slightest! Everton were apparently looking at him last season and a few people on here said he'd be a fantastic signing.

[imy9]

Luca Toni anyone?

[LeChuck]

Luca Toni anyone?

That would be the Luca Toni playing in Serie A aged 22?

I give up answering silly questions after this one.

[philipl]

Interview with Andrews after being named best player in League 2 last year:

http://www.football-league.co.uk/page/News...1255007,00.html

Interesting comment from him:

"I let myself down in my early twenties but I've had my head screwed on for the last two years."

Might explaing the downturn in his career path since being the youngest captain in Wolves history.

Can he really be worse than Axe?

That is a very good find- puts Andrews in a different light. However, £2m is still far too much. Sub £1m plus clauses which could go up to £2m is more appropriate.

The "we are selling these guys so you can buy RSC" argument is clearly BS. Why go behind Sparky's back then? However, the worry is the bid for RSC could be the only way they can talk Sparky out of the fire exit- hopefully Sparky has more self-respect than fall for that but you never know.

[RibbleValleyRover]

Ive just heared on 5live, that City are going to use the money they got from selling Corluka/Ireland, on buying RSC

It cant be any serious in this rumour ??

Don't worry Roque is going nowhere.

[krislu]

Ive just heared on 5live, that City are going to use the money they got from selling Corluka/Ireland, on buying RSC

It cant be any serious in this rumour ??

If they offer around £15m then I'm sure we will accept and just use robberts instead, no worries..

[Anti-Dingle-Brigade]

Not in the slightest! Everton were apparently looking at him last season and a few people on here said he'd be a fantastic signing.

It's on a different level though. Before Zenit and Russia's great runs, he was simply a "good player". Rated under 10m. Since then, he has rocketed into being a "world class" player and is going to cost Spurs a bomb.

Andrews isn't anywhere near that level, but what's to say he isn't a good player who has never been given a good chance/is unlucky?

I'm not suggesting he's great, but he may do a job for us.

[PAFELL]

I think the only way Andrews coming in would be acceptable would be if Mokoena went for £1.5-£2m and Andrews came in for considerably less.Ince knows the player and his capabilities and we should trust his judgement even if we don`t go along with it.I wonder if we would have greeted Andrews coming in with the same sceptism if it had been Hughes still in charge rather than Ince?

If I remember correctly that Daglish's first signing was Alan Wright from Blackpool - even though he had Jack' s millions to spend. Hughes brought in players such as Nelson - somebody we had not heard of - Samba, same again. You are right in my view it is only because it is Paul Ince and not Mark Hughes that wants to bring Andrews in that people are critical. Hughes brought Jeffers in - who was not much good which was a risk (Ince is doing the same with Fowler) - got rid of Jon Stead and how many of us moaned at that, yet in hindsite was proved to be a correct choice. If Andrews comes in and proves to be a decent signing we 'll praise Ince - if he is no good, so be it Andrews would be got rid of.

[flintoff]

i can onalistley say if we dont pull a rabbit out of a hat or sign keith andrews then blackburn rovers is in for one long old season

[Stuart]

Ive just heared on 5live, that City are going to use the money they got from selling Corluka/Ireland, on buying RSC

It cant be any serious in this rumour ??

From the sounds of things it'll be going on player wages - or even compo for Hughes if he leaves and claims constructive dismissal!

On another note, everyone has jumped on Nicko's teaser as meaning Andrews has signed. Isn't it more likely that - in spite of recent performances - Fowler has been given a pay-as-you-run-about-a-bit-trying-to-prove-you-can-still-play contract?? I'm sure that would bring about a fair amount of screaming.