[Archived] Samba

[Hughesy]

I thought it was about time this lad had his own thread - he has been immense for us since big Sam came in. Whether it be Striker, Midfielder or Defender he always seems to be up for the fight.

He has cut out the silly mistakes he used to make every now and again and he is beginning to look like one of our best players. Let it continue!

He always does interviews trying to fire up the lads and always talks about winning, maybe he should be the Captain from next season? He seems to wear the blue and white with more pride than most also.

Its amazing to think we only paid £200k for a player of his class. Hope we can keep hold of him, at 25 he will only get better and better for the next few years.

Keep up the good work big man!!

[RibbleValleyRover]

About time there was a thread for him.

He's definitely becoming one of my favourite players, his passion and commitment on the field is second to none. If he keeps developing then he's going to be a real star, one of the very best defenders in the league.

I just hope we can hold on to him.

[LeChuck]

Definitely one for the 'dream team' selection next year after Sam's comments about using him in attack.

[Jackson]

Amen to the above. Whenever we score, he's visibly often the most delighted.

[gazsimm]

he's playing out of his skin at the momemt. I think against liverpool i would like him to still play in defence, just because without him in the defence i think Torres and Gerrard will tear us apart.

I hope we can keep hold of him in the summer, but if he continues the way he is playing at the moment, i think a club will be coming for him, possibly sparky at city if he is still there come the summer.

[incecticide]

He's too naive to be captain, he follows Nelsen's example and is clearly not a leader. I wouldn't agree he's been immense, but he's been one of the better performers.

[DE.]

Wouldn't be surprised to see him leave in the summer... but I hope he stays. Good, premiership-class centre-half that we snapped up for a ridiculous price.

[bubblerrovers]

The minute i start to really like a player at Rovers he leaves so i reckon he could be gone in the summer, i don't see anyone paying big money for RSC so samba could be the only player we could raise some serious money for.

[John]

Hope Sparky, if still at City, does not come in for him....

[LeChuck]

I think City have enough talented but rough around the edges defenders in Onuoha, Kompany and Richards. I hope I'm not tempting fate here, but I think City will look for a different kind of defender to Samba in the summer. I wouldn't be surprised to see them throw a ridiculous wage in the direction of Cannavaro.

[Manc Rover]

Same old story beckons, a Rovers player gets some headlines, people start talking about him and then....he's off! I really hope big Chirs stays but I reckon he's a superb player and will no doubt be chased by the likes of Everton, Villa, Citeh.

[sloth_frattelli]

Why so negative? This is supposed to be a pro-Samba thread. There haven't been any links or rumours about him leaving. Or maybe this is the mentality we fans have developed over the years after flogging our best assets.

Big Sam wants to build a squad and with the termination of Vogel's contract yesterday and the imminent departures of Mokoena and Ooijer combined with the cashing in of Roque Santa Crutches come the summer we're bound to see a few decent signings. Looks as though he's 'trimming the fat' first.

[Hughesy]

Samba is essential to our club - we must not sell him.

We have to make a strong spine in our team. Samba is the first part of that - hopefully next we will build onto that by hanging onto him and adding a quality midfielder and maybe a quality replacement striker if Roque moves on.

[Manc Rover]

Why so negative? This is supposed to be a pro-Samba thread. There haven't been any links or rumours about him leaving. Or maybe this is the mentality we fans have developed over the years after flogging our best assets.

Big Sam wants to build a squad and with the termination of Vogel's contract yesterday and the imminent departures of Mokoena and Ooijer combined with the cashing in of Roque Santa Crutches come the summer we're bound to see a few decent signings. Looks as though he's 'trimming the fat' first.

I agree but I just get nervous when a player starts to shine. Plenty of deadwood being shipped out this summer. Gonna be some revolving door that's for sure!

[rover6]

Samba - Givet

That will be a fantastic centre back pairing next season if it happens.

BTW: I'm sure Samba had his own thread called "Samba-time" or sommat.

[bennyboyt11]

Absolutely fantastic player and like people have mentioned on here, he really does seem to be one of the more passionate players in the squad

[thenodrog]

Wouldn't be surprised to see him leave in the summer... but I hope he stays. Good, premiership-class centre-half that we snapped up for a ridiculous price.

I should think it's nailed on now that we have a thread about him.

Also if he makes a success of being thrown up front when we are losing with 20 mins or so to play his value will multiply 2 or 3 fold.

[Billy Castell]

£10m would make me think, then possibly dismiss it. I'd have to find another player who is a similar steal beforehand. Samba is great, and has the makings of a cult hero like Super Atkins or Tugay.

[RevidgeBlue]

I said 18 months ago that Samba should have a new contract with a 30m release clause in and I still stand by that. An absolutely exceptional player and the one we could least afford to lose imo.

As regards him playing up front I'm not particularly in favour of that, it smacks a bit of desperation and having run out of ideas to me. That said, if you're the opposition, even if you know Samba is going to be up front, I would imagine it's difficult to defend against. In certain situations he's fairly unplayable in much the same way Duncan Ferguson used to be for Everton.

[DE.]

People seemed to be getting a little carried away with the Samba-up-front thing... he had a decent time up there against a rubbish Spurs defence, but his best position is centre-back and that is where we need him. I don't think he'd regularly perform well in the role of a striker, whereas as defender he's proven time and time again he is an essential part of our back-four.

[RibbleValleyRover]

People seemed to be getting a little carried away with the Samba-up-front thing... he had a decent time up there against a rubbish Spurs defence, but his best position is centre-back and that is where we need him. I don't think he'd regularly perform well in the role of a striker, whereas as defender he's proven time and time again he is an essential part of our back-four.

Spot on.

[Jackson]

Did Ince ever try him right wing?!

[Lathund]

He has cut out the silly mistakes he used to make every now and again

They're still there, but they're fewer. He's also pretty good at making up for them, but his weakness is still that; a lack of concentration at times, as well as occasionally poor decision-making.

That's really just nitpicking though. He has so many great qualities as well, and the flaws he does have are of the kind that experience will tend to sort out, or at least improve, over time. One should still remember that before joining Rovers, where he's almost been ever-present since signing, he hadn't played a whole lot of top-flight football. So while he's 25, he's a 'young 25' in terms of experience, and will only get better.

Not sure about making him captain; he can (And does) lead well by example regardless of whether he has the armband or not.

[Hughesy]

Part of my reason I was suggesting he could become captain was him setting an example and seemingly to be really passionate about the club. The second part was so that it makes it easier to drop Nelsen in the future if necessary

[Hughesy]

Worked hard again today, but recieved no service and to be honest didnt recieve too many good crosses to attack either.