[Archived] Blackburn Rovers Transfer Topic

[Torgeir]

How come Nicko has gone?

Is it because the majority of information he gives could only affect the club in a negative way and never positive? Letting people know about our targets on a public forum etc. I don't understand what it actually achieves apart from stroking his ego. Is it really important for people finding out about a deal or a target a day or so earlier than something actually happens? Surely we can wait if it therefore means there is less chance of anything being hijacked. From what i gather this is a well read forum, not only taking rovers fans into consideration. Things like the Di Santo deal are fine for him to leak since we had first refusal and so if people knew it wasn't going to affect the deal, but when we are chasing people for millions and millions of pounds surely it would be more sensible to quit all the leaks and witch hunts? Writing in his column is one thing, it being his job, but discussing it on a public forum seems a little pointless. I imagine he makes a few connections on here to help him with his work but surely it can be kept in private messages.

If and when he comes back I'm sure he'll happily discuss it with you. You can always try and send him a private message you know

[67splitscreen]

From a fans view I would not like to lose Samba, if Sam thinks it would benefit the team/rebuilding then so be it.

Was all the bentley money paid up front or has it now been paid in full??????

[Jonnolad]

It is not like we have to spend a lot of money to improve on Andrews. If we had sold him for £1m there is a good chance a reasonable purchase of £3m or so would have had a net cost of zero by the end of the season. Perhaps that's a gamble, but some chance of finishing in the top half is better than the no chance we've got now.

Sam Allardyce clearly doesn't agree with you though, unfortunately for you

[sweet]

I think that Bentley plus £5 million for Samba would be a terrific deal. I really doubt that if spurs were going to sell Bentley for straight cash they would accept anything less than 12 million (though I think his real value currently is 7/8m), meaning we'd be selling Samba really at £17million. Would anyone really advise rovers to reject a £17million, straight cash offer for Samba? At least this way the board wouldn't be able to take a vast amound of the money recieved away either, unless they want bentleys left leg of course.

[joey_big_nose]

I see your view, but for me Samba is not that good. Getting bentley back on the right wing would be brilliant.

Really? I would like to point out that getting Bentley back would not guarantee he was the player he was in 2007-2008. He has taken a massive knock in confidence, our side has moved on since then, we have a different manager, and Bentley could easily be demotivated by what he percieves as a backward step.

RSC, Bellamy, McCarthy have all shown us that it is very easy to have one good season and then tank it. Especially if you lack motivation. There is nothing to guarantee Bentley would not do this again.

If he wanted to come back. If he looked Allardyce in the eye and said - "I want to get back into the England squa and Rovers is the place to do it" and Sam felt that he was going to give 110% then I would be all for it.

I rather suspect however that if he did come back we would see a shadow of the player of 07/08, and Bentley would be looking to pick up his wages as he fades from the international scene.

However the only person who can make an assessment on this is our manager, and to do that I suppose we have to make an offer or 'tap him up'.

Nonetheless the main issue for me is we need a central player, not a winger!! Diouf is more than competant, and we have Hoilett, Doran and Van Heerden coming through.

[Hughesy]

What, if spurs were to make that offer then it would be the most idiotic bid for a player in history?! I really hope you mean Samba + £5m for Bentley, which would be a good deal for us.

Ok Bentley was £15m, and didnt really perform last season at all. Played 25 games and scored 1, compared to the previous year when he played 37 league games and scored 6 and was sold for £15m.

He was a bit part player, playing in different positions and didnt make any position his own. They paid an inflated price which nobody else would pay. I would say he has decreased in value by £5m. So call him a £10m player.

If we paid them £5m + Samba - you are basically saying Samba is a £5m player?! When Spurs were rejected £10m for BASSONG!!!! and CIty had a £18m bid turned down for Lescott.

Think people need to realise abit more, just how important Samba is!

For reasons such as the abuse we've given him, and the fact that his wages will be astronomical, he won't be coming back.

He is earning less than we offered him. We offered him 55k a week, he took 50k a week down there.

[incecticide]

Think people need to realise abit more, just how important Samba is!

I love comments like this one - "Why won't everyone realise I'm right?!?!"

I don't think Samba is that important to us. I certainly think he's less important that a £9.5m profit on one player that could be reinvested in the playing squad.

[saxo1man30]

i think the fact that mark hughes has never moved for bentley tells it`s own story. he clearly has doubts about his ability to go much further in the game than he did with rovers. bentley is MGP standard, a good winger when in-form but not top 4 quality.

[Hughesy]

I don't think Samba is that important to us. I certainly think he's less important that a £9.5m profit on one player that could be reinvested in the playing squad.

Put it this way - if you asked me at the beginning of the summer, which 1 player would I not want selling - it would be Samba.

He is vital to us, Sam said the same last season. Without him we wouldnt of stayed up. He caused mayhem against West Ham, Spurs & Wigan.

What Sam said after the West Ham game-

“Chris Samba is one of our major assets. Not only as a defender but in getting us opportunities to score goals,” Allardyce said. “This player will strike fear throughout the Premier League with his aerial power.

“I am going to use it to its absolute maximum because it’s something that we will be renowned for. The opposition will worry every time they play us about the aerial power of this guy. He’ll not only be known as a great defender but someone who makes opportunities for us to score goals.”

Seems to me that Sam rates him too!

[TimmyJimmy]

I don't want to lose any player, happy with all of them actually - well if they were to fully play to their potential. For me to be 'happy' with a player leaving then a) they would have to be kicking up a real fuss to go the money on show reflected not only the worth of the player but also the inconvenience of replacing him and bedding in a new player c) the money received was used to add greater strength to other positions on the park.

An analogy would be that if we were a boat race club and we sold our best oarsman then we would have to be able to buy at least two others whose combined horse power meant that the pulling power of the boat as a whole increased. I've just re-read this and it's a pretty ropey analogy but hopefully you get the jist.

Samba to my knowledge has not shown any desire to go, ArrieHalfWit is trying it on yet again. The best outcome is he gets a player, the worst is the player who recones he's going in the next window so gets unsettled and provides less for the team who presumably achieve less points because of that. Spurs benefit both ways.

I think we have one of the best defensive squads in the league. We are never going to win consistently 3-2 or 4-3 because we aren't that creative in front of goal therefore we must have a rock solid defensive unit and hope to bag the occasional goal at the other end. 1-0 wins are still wins so I'd take that.

Samba to stay please - unless we get Bentley and a big big wad.

[incecticide]

Seems to me that Sam rates him too!

I rate him - but every player has his price.

[T4E]

How come Nicko has gone?

Is it because the majority of information he gives could only affect the club in a negative way and never positive?

Lets just respect the guys privacy at this time. Pretty sure he'll be back when he's good and ready.

[Sparky Marky]

If we could sell Samba and bring in 3 good players, Faye, Beattie and Barton.....that would be a good deal for rovers...Barton is exactly what we need in our team...

[G Somerset Rover]

If we could sell Samba and bring in 3 good players, Faye, Beattie and Barton.....that would be a good deal for rovers...Barton is exactly what we need in our team...

Why would we need Beattie when we've literally signed Kalinic and got Di Santo on loan?

Pitty we haven't got the cash to be able to go for Moussa Sissoko (I see he's been linked to Tottenham) at Toulouse..now he'd be an awesome signing.

[Saahil]

we seemed to be linked with Radoslav Kovac

[Al]

How many pages now on a swap deal that is clearly never going to happen? Just forget it!

[USA Rover]

I don't think Samba is that important to us. I certainly think he's less important that a £9.5m profit on one player that could be reinvested in the playing squad.

Its not about profit, its about getting what he's worth! Why would you sell someone thats worth 15-20 mil for 10 just because its a decent profit? If Lescott is worth 22 mil then Samba is worth atleast 15. If we are forced to sell then get what he's worth ffs.

[Veevs]

I would be well gutted if we sold Samba... BFS has basically built the team around a strong defence, Samba is key to our set peices and our defence and works very well with Nelson, whats the point of having someone shiny in midfield to appease the fans who want style if we get relegated due to letting in 6-7 more goals.

Plus its been proven for the last few years we never get all of the money from outgoing players, part of it goes to the bank/Board/magic hole.. 4-6m for defensive cover and an attacking midfielder no way is it worth loosing Samba for that.

[Sparky Marky]

Why would we need Beattie when we've literally signed Kalinic and got Di Santo on loan?

To replace that lazy sod McCarthy....

[Presty On Tour]

Central defense is probably our most strongest position in the squad for strength in depth.

Samba, Nelsen, Givet and Zurab are all top players and we need to keep them all. My point is when a player gets injured or suspended, we have decent cover to come in. Teams who do not have strong replacements to come in drop points and struggle.

We are starting to build a team that may start to challenge again in the top half and we need to keep our top players to do this. I think we do need a Tugay replacement and Sam has been very shrewd by saying no more signings to get the prices down. I still think he has money to address this position.

I think it would be the wrong decision to sell Samba but like someone said earlier, everyone has a price.

[deryck guyler's spoon]

Central defense is probably our most strongest position in the squad for strength in depth.

Samba, Nelsen, Givet and Zurab are all top players and we need to keep them all. My point is when a player gets injured or suspended, we have decent cover to come in. Teams who do not have strong replacements to come in drop points and struggle.

We are starting to build a team that may start to challenge again in the top half and we need to keep our top players to do this. I think we do need a Tugay replacement and Sam has been very shrewd by saying no more signings to get the prices down. I still think he has money to address this position.

I think it would be the wrong decision to sell Samba but like someone said earlier, everyone has a price.

Not to Spuds though, anyone but them. The "wouldn't sell them a virus" quote could not be more apt than when applied to that lot.

[incecticide]

Not to Spuds though, anyone but them. The "wouldn't sell them a virus" quote could not be more apt than when applied to that lot.

Spurs are arguably the best team to sell to. They pay stupid money for players who aren't worth it.

[savage8]

How many pages now on a swap deal that is clearly never going to happen? Just forget it!

Agreed. Thank you !!

[S15]

About half as many as on us signing Beckham yesterday.

[American]

"Samba's not that good- he's slow on the turn and I lost count of the amount of times he was done with a little drop of the shoulder by the likes of Defoe last season." - you should have added "in my opinion".

I think most people on here thought he was our player of the season last season, so I would have to question your judgement?

Agree with you on this one.

I also agree that we shouldn't sell, but I think every player has his price (see Ronaldo, C and Kaka). To me it would take £25 million to have us be able to live without Samba, factoring in his value to the team and how difficult/easy it would be to find a replacement. Fortunately, no one will bid that much for him this summer, so the point is moot.