[Archived] Nikola Kalinic

[joey_big_nose]

I agree that we should be looking to find a partner for Kalinic.

We will be signing two strikers in the summer so we need to think about who can offer us the most in conjunction with Kalinic. Looking at his style perhaps a channel Bellamy/Defoe type of striker would work better than a target man as Kalinic likes to hold up the ball and lay it off, so someone who can exploit that with pace, width and likes to play facing the net would be ideal.

Bellamy himself would be great however he is on massive money, injury prone, getting on and a bit hard to handle. Hoilett is that sort of player but his finishing and decsion making are woeful. So I suppose we need to scour Europe to find someone who offers these options to us.

[T4E]

As much as I want Di Santo to come good, I can't see it being alongside Kalinic. Di Santo has height on Kalinic, but Niko is still a better target man, he's stronger, better feet and a better finisher. Kalinic is everything Di Santo is, but a couple of notches better at each.

I'd rather we signed someone with something a bit different. Bellamy and Kalinic would have been scary.

We could also do with a decent left winger to hook up with Kalinic the way Jansen and Duff used to. Infact, Duff would have been perfect.

[LeChuck]

Funny JBN...you've just described Dindane!

To be fair he's looked excellent every time I've seen him play since January, I'd never really bothered to watch him until we were linked.

[magicalmortensleftpeg]

Funny JBN...you've just described Dindane!

To be fair he's looked excellent every time I've seen him play since January, I'd never really bothered to watch him until we were linked.

Dindane is a poor player in a terrible team, do not be fooled. We dodged a bullet. Im glad we signed nobody instead of wasting our money on him.

[Amo]

I'd much prefer we play him with a proven striker. That way we could have a very promising striker paired with someone that could help his game. Surely that is prefered to having a Chelsea reject learning from our promising striker?

That would make David Bentley an "Arsenal reject" when we loaned him, too?

We have very limited striking options at the moment, and Di Santo is there to be used. For those who read, our away form can only improve at the moment, why not give Di Santo a shot with Niko? Roberts will always remain a sub for me.

[LeChuck]

We have very limited striking options at the moment, and Di Santo is there to be used. For those who read, our away form can only improve at the moment, why not give Di Santo a shot with Niko?

Because the system we're using at the moment is fine (3 attacking midfielders behind Kalinic), Di Santo should be nothing more than a bench player at the moment.

You said about 'having two promising young players on our books'...but that's not true, is it? Di Santo isn't ours. It doesn't matter whether he's 21 or 35 really, he's going in the summer regardless.

[Amo]

Because the system we're using at the moment is fine (3 attacking midfielders behind Kalinic), Di Santo should be nothing more than a bench player at the moment.

It's patently not working away from home. Why shouldn't we try another approach?

You said about 'having two promising young players on our books'...but that's not true, is it? Di Santo isn't ours. It doesn't matter whether he's 21 or 35 really, he's going in the summer regardless.

We should be making the most of his time here, or am I missing something here?

[Hughesy]

Id like to see us try to take Di Santo on loan again next season....and let Roberts go in the summer.

That leaves us needing 2 strikers, 1 hopefully with pace!

Id love us to sign Pavlechenko but we cant afford him! However just a thought.....what about Robbie Keane!?

[TugaysMarlboro]

Id like to see us try to take Di Santo on loan again next season....and let Roberts go in the summer.

That leaves us needing 2 strikers, 1 hopefully with pace!

Id love us to sign Pavlechenko but we cant afford him! However just a thought.....what about Robbie Keane!?

Put Robbie Keane's name next to Pavlyuchenko and you've got your answer.

[Hughesy]

Put Robbie Keane's name next to Pavlyuchenko and you've got your answer.

Do you think?

Celtic took him on loan and they dont pay big wages....not sure what fee he would command, he will be 30 in the summer!

[T4E]

Do you think?

Celtic took him on loan and they dont pay big wages....not sure what fee he would command, he will be 30 in the summer!

I think you'll find C_ltic are paying massive wages for Keane.

[Amo]

Hughesy - What have you seen of Pavlyuchenko to convince you he's good enough for this league?

[Eddie]

It's patently not working away from home. Why shouldn't we try another approach?

We should be making the most of his time here, or am I missing something here?

Why should we "make the most" of a player who has scored one goal all season (that goal being a header from about a yard out that every member of this messageboard could have scored)?

[S15]

Hughesy - What have you seen of Pavlyuchenko to convince you he's good enough for this league?

I think so, I just think he needs a manager who will treat him properly.

I suspect he is a player who would thrive more at a club our size, as I think he needs to feel important and valued.

Will never happen though, he would cost a fortune.

[CrazyIvan]

Who was it on here that said Nico couldn't shoot and he hit the ball all wrong?

:lol: :lol:

[Hughesy]

Hughesy - What have you seen of Pavlyuchenko to convince you he's good enough for this league?

9 games (5 as sub) - 4 goals...isnt bad.

He seems very good when given a chance and it cant be easy being in and out of the side....just a shame they want £10m+

[DE.]

I think Pavlyuchenko has the ability to become a good premiership player, it's just a case of adapting and having a steady run of games. I don't think his hefty price tag helped, the increased pressure seemed to have affected him the wrong way. Redknapp's comments on MOTD suggested that he sometimes lacks focus and motivation. I think he'd do better at a club like us or Birmingham, but Spurs apparently want back the fee they spent on him (or very close to) and coupled with his fairly large wages it seems we have no chance of signing him.

[John]

Positive comments and analysis on MOTD2 last night.

Obviously, Bilić rates him highly. Found it interesting that in his view, in 2 years, he is convinced Kalinic will be one of the best strikers in the league.

[thenodrog]

That's true if we allowed it to happen.

Personally I just would not be able to stand another departure like Bentley or Bellamy and Santa Cruz. The players need to see off their contracts and that's that.

Quite depressing really.

Depresssing certainly, disappointing definitely but Mr E ..... You think BRFC should have blown big money by letting circa 35m walk away for absolutely nothing just for the sake of another 12 months of em playing like they are made of porcelain?

You are on your own I hope.

[Steve Moss]

With what Money?!?

If I knew that with any certainty I'd have John Williams' job. Regardless, if Roberts and Di Santo go they'll need to be replaced, and we still have to find a Benni replacement. So 1-3 strikers are on the to do list this summer, depending. Just because I want three youngish strikers doesn't mean that I'll get them.

This is what I'd suggest, based upon pure guess work:

1. We are saving Benni's salary for this last half of the year. This should amount to a million (at a guess).

2. We have Benni's transfer fee, roughly 2 million, so that puts us at 3 million.

3. If we do better than 13th-15th (reports vary) we'll have roughly 750,000 per spot. Being an optomist, let's say we'll get 1.5 million better than anticipated.

4. Roberts isn't cheap and some portion of his salary could be applied toward a financing package.

5. Reports are that the board will give Sam money for the "right" young player.

Taken all together, I hope that Sam will go for one older player on a free (for seasoning), and two younger players (to develop). There might be enough money between Benni's money, wage savings (Benni now and Roberts in the future), league position and board investment to bring into two young guys. But I suspect Sam will try to get a good deal on a future star (Kalinic Mk II), a young guy on loan (either Di Santo or Di Santo Mk II) and an older player on free.

But what the heck, this is bit premature as we need to save it for our summer topic.

[Mr. E]

Depresssing certainly, disappointing definitely but Mr E ..... You think BRFC should have blown big money by letting circa 35m walk away for absolutely nothing just for the sake of another 12 months of em playing like they are made of porcelain?

You are on your own I hope.

Well, certainly we've done good business in terms of us getting big money and the players we sell quickly finding out the grass is rarely greener on the other side...

but everytime we sell a vitally important player, we struggle almost an entire season trying to recover, no matter what else is going on. Happened with Duff, Bentley, Bellamy, Cruz...when you build a team around specific players, and those players suddenly walk out, it pretty much shatters your entire system and you need to start building from the ground up again.

[Exiled_Rover]

If I knew that with any certainty I'd have John Williams' job. Regardless, if Roberts and Di Santo go they'll need to be replaced, and we still have to find a Benni replacement. So 1-3 strikers are on the to do list this summer, depending. Just because I want three youngish strikers doesn't mean that I'll get them.

This is what I'd suggest, based upon pure guess work:

1. We are saving Benni's salary for this last half of the year. This should amount to a million (at a guess).

2. We have Benni's transfer fee, roughly 2 million, so that puts us at 3 million.

3. If we do better than 13th-15th (reports vary) we'll have roughly 750,000 per spot. Being an optomist, let's say we'll get 1.5 million better than anticipated.

4. Roberts isn't cheap and some portion of his salary could be applied toward a financing package.

5. Reports are that the board will give Sam money for the "right" young player.

Taken all together, I hope that Sam will go for one older player on a free (for seasoning), and two younger players (to develop). There might be enough money between Benni's money, wage savings (Benni now and Roberts in the future), league position and board investment to bring into two young guys. But I suspect Sam will try to get a good deal on a future star (Kalinic Mk II), a young guy on loan (either Di Santo or Di Santo Mk II) and an older player on free.

But what the heck, this is bit premature as we need to save it for our summer topic.

Oh c'mon that money will go towards paying off debts. We won't see it in the summer transfer window.

[gumboots]

Oh c'mon that money will go towards paying off debts. We won't see it in the summer transfer window.

And if we have debts that need paying then I'd rather we paid them and the club continued in the Championship or even lower with the possibility of working its way back through the leagues than do a Portsmouth with all the uncertainty their fans have gone through this season

[braddock]

Well, certainly we've done good business in terms of us getting big money and the players we sell quickly finding out the grass is rarely greener on the other side...

but everytime we sell a vitally important player, we struggle almost an entire season trying to recover, no matter what else is going on. Happened with Duff, Bentley, Bellamy, Cruz...when you build a team around specific players, and those players suddenly walk out, it pretty much shatters your entire system and you need to start building from the ground up again.

No. Cruz was poor for the first half of the season (due a little to playing up front on his own) and injured for most of it. We effectively lost him the summer before and to be honest I don't think we miss him because I don't think he would have played for us again. I mean, he's not fit for city enough and he seemed to not want to be fit for rovers.

i think you need to be a little bit more greatful for what blackburn are giving you considering the wages they pay and the tough task they have ahead of them. stop moaning. if you can't handle another big sale you might as well leave now because there will be more. that is the way it goes. at the moment it is the way it has to go.

[thenodrog]

Well, certainly we've done good business in terms of us getting big money and the players we sell quickly finding out the grass is rarely greener on the other side...

but everytime we sell a vitally important player, we struggle almost an entire season trying to recover, no matter what else is going on. Happened with Duff, Bentley, Bellamy, Cruz...when you build a team around specific players, and those players suddenly walk out, it pretty much shatters your entire system and you need to start building from the ground up again.

I've said many times MrE that that is what stood Mark Hughes apart from other managers. He had his replacements lined up before anyone was allowed to leave. He was pro-active as opposed to just about every other BRFC manager that I can rem who have been re-active.

It may be a bad example cos RSC was perpetually injured but in an ideal world Kalinic would have been better overlapping RSC for 6 months rather than coming after him.

Bear in mind too that we are not alone. Even top clubs can struggle. MU have not properly replaced Ronaldo, Lpool have not replaced Alonso, Arsenal with Henryand Vierra etc etc.