[Archived] Warnock Or Quality Midfielder

[modes98]

but surely that was covered from the Villanueva money?

I believe the majority of that covered the losses we made by not finishing where we had budgeted for in the league. Football is a tight numbers game for us, every pound has to be used to the area in which the management feel it will be most effective. If they felt it was better for the club to pay off a large chunk of debt from the main assets transfer fee then you have to go along with that. After all they know the figures, we don't and they are paid a fair old wage to make decisions these tough calls.

Having said that I would think all the Warnock transfer fee would be available to Sam should he require it. Otherwise I am pretty sure he wouldn't be keen to sell. Our CM is way short of where it should be and this money could make our first team far more competative.

[den]

Taking into account only the Bentley, RSC and Warnock sales, over £42m of player sales in the last two summers alone.

[Bobby G]

Den dont forget half the Bentley money went to Arsenal, but point taken.

[G Somerset Rover]

I wrote one post, pressed the wrong key and lost the text, still at least I vented my anger at this news. Now I'll try to be more considered. I like Stevie Warnock, he's a good footballer, he'll get stuck in when he has to, he's English, he puts in a shift, yes he makes mistakes but he tries hard every match. Steve Warnock is an honest footballer. I can identify with this man. Sadly he's the last in the outfield squad who means anything to me, so I'm unhappy at his transfer to Villa and it raises many questions.

Lets look at the midfield. We have four players injured and / or poor, who should have been shipped out ahead of Warnock. The problem is they're injured and well paid. What is the future for these players?

Dunn - ravaged by injury and lack of overall fitness. When did we last see a full 90 minutes from him? We can't rely on anything from David again

Grella - I've seen one decent performance from him and that was in the same midfield as Dunn. Ho hum. No expectations here

Reid - what is it now, two years since he made a contribution to the squad? Not the player's fault so anything Reidy brings to 2009/10 will be a bonus

Emerton - I never really liked Bert on the right side of midfield. Now we've signed the son of God to fill the right back slot for two years I suppose we'll be watching Brett run very fast down the flank before cutting inside 15 yards from the touchline. Usually creates a goal a season with this.

I truely hope Allardyce / Williams have something lined up and ALL the money (up to £8m is insulting) will be available to solve the midfield problem. If not I shall begin to question John Williams policy and judgement. We cannot continue to sell our best players and replace them with the second-raters we've had to date. The money must go into midfield, but I suspect if any of the above four give hope of returning to the squad before the transfer deadline the cash will go the bank.

waggy posted we'd be lucky to get 20 games from Dunn / Grella, I think he meant combined for the season? I'll go further, 20 to 25 games (full 90 minutes) from Dunn / Reid / Grella.

I'm constantly asked to appreciate the club's position, I do, I've defended it and I still appreciate the financial reasoning behind the management decisions. This morning I'm bitterly disappointed and moving towards the views expressed by den and a few others over the lack of investment in the team. This is a step too far so the pay off had better be good.

Lastly, and this is very important to me, Warnock is the last outfield player with whom I could identify. If I wore a shirt, it would be his name on the back. Other than Samba, who is the only valuable player left, we could sell the squad tomorrow and I wouldn't worry. Please can we have some footballers, real ones, not some bloke we've never heard off and will only see for a couple of seasons.

Yesterday I came across a stall selling football and other sports photographs. It was the usual sort of thing but with a few gems hidden away. One photograph was of the Liverpool squad circa 1965 - 66. To my astonishment I could still name 9 of them. Who will be able to do that in 40 years time for any of today's squads? It's a sad state of affairs, when your team is a collection of foreign players earning a living. There's very little left to believe in.

I need a hero.

Very good post Paul.

At times us fans can be very fickle, but I'd also like to think that we're equally just as understanding. This has been shown as we have never publicly critisised the club for the way in which we operate off the field despite our lack of backing in comparison to the rest of the division.

What we are not though is mugs. The board must tread very carefully here. Warnock's money HAS to be put back into the team.

[Big Fat Sam]

I believe the majority of that covered the losses we made by not finishing where we had budgeted for in the league. Football is a tight numbers game for us, every pound has to be used to the area in which the management feel it will be most effective. If they felt it was better for the club to pay off a large chunk of debt from the main assets transfer fee then you have to go along with that. After all they know the figures, we don't and they are paid a fair old wage to make decisions these tough calls.

Having said that I would think all the Warnock transfer fee would be available to Sam should he require it. Otherwise I am pretty sure he wouldn't be keen to sell. Our CM is way short of where it should be and this money could make our first team far more competative.

So where did we budget for finishing under our new untested, two steps backwards to go three forward type manager??

12th at the lowest??? and we finish 15th, whats each place worth? If we budgetted higher I question the accountant and whoever drew up the budget.

Any way it will all be irrelevant soon, now we're acctually signing one (hopefully) Dunn, Reid and Grella will never get injured again.

[den]

Den dont forget half the Bentley money went to Arsenal, but point taken.

That's why I said £42m in sales. How much we got for the players is down to the boards initial agreements.

Don't forget, that's only three players there - there are more sales on top of those three [Gally, Derbs etc].

[Big Fat Sam]

Taking into account only the Bentley, RSC and Warnock sales, over £42m of player sales in the last two summers alone.

What do we do with it all???

The whole wages come out of transfers and the such makes it as a fan very difficult to have any idea what we do with it all.

[joey_big_nose]

If Warnock wants to go and we get real quality I don't have any problem with it.

Question is whether we have identified anyone. Ontop of that we need to find a back up for Givet as Olsson is more of a winger than a full back.

Re: where are we going to find a cash cow in the future: Samba, Kalanic, Robinson, Nzonzi all look like they will be worth something. But we are heavily reliant on the more untested players stepping up - Hoilett, Olsson, Treacy, Bunn, Judge etc. And of course whoever we buy with the Warnock money.

Sad that we have so few British players now. Dunn, Reid and Robinson.

[Rovermatt]

Midfield is an infinitely more important area of the pitch than left back. Being a good defender is a priority at full back and Warnock ain't that great a defender. Provided the club actually invests in midfield reinforcements rather than stashing the newly received cash with the rest of the millions that have disappeared, I'm all for the transfer.

[67splitscreen]

I must say I find the deal strange if it is installments.

Villas transfers.

Out

Berry 12m

Night 3m??? undisclosed

Stuart Taylor 1m??? uncidclosed

IN

Bought Downing 12m

Delph 6m undisclosed

Beye 3m??? undisclosed

So guessing at a nett of -3m

Villa are hardly short of money, this deal has to be front loaded with maybe add ons.

[thenodrog]

Just as an aside if this transfer does not happen how will AN's credibility stand? We are all taking it as done and dusted but there is precious little on't internet about it.

[CrazyIvan]

If it happens we will have lost a decent player, a good leader but with the opportunity to buy some quality in an area that is desperately needed. Don't get me wrong, I like Warnock and what he brings to the team but he has been guilty of some massive errors in judgement. Wigan away last year, virtually all three goals could be laid at his feet as his responsibility. Do we have cover? Yes and maybe Olsson is seen as the future for us at left back. Warnock, quality player and I'm not entirely happy to see him go but he won't be a massive loss.

[tony gale's mic]

Just as an aside if this transfer does not happen how will AN's credibility stand? We are all taking it as done and dusted but there is precious little on't internet about it.

A journalist is only as good as the information he gets given and the sources he builds up. I'm sure nicko has heard from a very trusted/reliable source that it's going through..if it doesn't happen then it won't really change all that much either way.

[tcj_jones]

Lescott is a fantastic centre half who Man City want- explains the overinflated price.

Johnson is a brilliant right back who is England No 1.

Warnock is a liability at left back- only need to look at the first goal we conceded against Man City for that- we need a central midfield player of quality that is what will define our season.

Rubbish, Warnock isn't a liability and to suggest otherwise is ridiculous. He's been consistently good since joining the club. For the first goal he slipped on the turn - that hardly makes him a liability.

Johnson is a great left back and Lescott is a very good CB but if they're worth £17 - 22m, then Warnock must be worth at least £10m - £12m.

[Manc Rover]

I'd be sorry to see him go but if this is the choice, a quality midfielder is more important. I like Warnock a lot but he's replacable and arguably not even first choice left back anymore. Midfield is where you win games and quite simply...we aint got anyone up to the required level.

[tony gale's mic]

Yep £8m is the minimum I'd consider for Warnock, so the fact it's "upto" £8m is very disappointing and I really think we should've held out for 8m upfront. Warnock's main position of full back is maybe the most replaceable position in a football side, however his versatility and what he brings to the side in things like spirit etc are things that we're going to miss.

The situation with the money being withheld could go one of two ways - they could either say they're happy with the money for now after pocketing so much of the RSC transfer, or they could have a blanket policy of taking a big cut of every transfer that we do.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

I've always liked Warnock since his first game in the Blue & White ( Luton away in the F,A, cup I think ). He's my sort of player, energetic, whole hearted and skillful. He's the best left back we've had since Le Saux who was the best since the late great Keith Newton, so that tells its own story. He's not without the flaws that this sort of temperament brings- he can be impetuous , un disciplined and he goes to ground too early at times. Having said when we go to Burnley later in the season he'd be one of the players that would rise to the occasion and one that you would want in the team.

When I saw Villa buy Shorey and City buy Bridge I realised we'd got a much better player at Ewood and weren't we lucky nobody else had noticed. However if MON is thinking he can do a Barry and move Warnock to midfield he's barking up the wrong tree, Warnock lacks the guile and cunning to star there.

Incidently , Shorey or Bouma in a swap deal ? No way, I'd rather play Andrews there.

So where do we go from here ? Givet will be OK there but he lacks a bit of pace and doesn't offer much in attack. Plus he's probably our best centre half. Ollsen briefly looked the part but that roasting he got off Lennon at Spurs seems to have knocked him back a fair way. I don't know wether Jacobson can play there , possibly he can. From what I remember of Salgado he seemed predominantly right footed so I doubt wether he'd play there. Have we time to bring a specialist left back in, I doubt it but Sam may prove me wrong.

I'm just left with a feeling of sadness that we've obviously become such a selling club. It's pretty obvious what message that will be sending to the rest of the squad and other clubs.

[rog of the rovers]

Givet at left back and a quality midfielder would do me fine. It also gives fresh hope for Olsson to kick on and prove his worth.

£8m is a good price for Stevie!

[Dunnfc]

Names to replace Warnock with:

Cristian Schulz,

Cristian Pander,

Artur Boka,

Sylvain Monseraeu,

Jeremie Berthod,

Jeremy Mathieu

Id personally go for and reastically get Schulz or Toulouse's Mathieu.

[imy9]

Rubbish, Warnock isn't a liability and to suggest otherwise is ridiculous. He's been consistently good since joining the club. For the first goal he slipped on the turn - that hardly makes him a liability.

Johnson is a great left back and Lescott is a very good CB but if they're worth £17 - 22m, then Warnock must be worth at least £10m - £12m.

warnock is not great defensively and has been shown up in that position,if he was that good fabio would pick him! Also you are only worth as much as someone is willing to pay for you.lescott is wanted by man city and Johnson was chased by chelsea and liverpool,who is chasing warnock?

[67splitscreen]

Someone on the official board is saying that Gally was talking to someone Thursday, Warnock had a bust up in training (presumably with Sam) and told to train with the ressis, maybe there is more to this saga than just a bid from Villa.

[rovers_rob]

radio lancs have reported that he has been dropped because he is not in the right frame of mind but we have not agreed a fee with villa yet.

[Manc Rover]

radio lancs have reported that he has been dropped because he is not in the right frame of mind but we have not agreed a fee with villa yet.

Not in the right frame of mind?? I wasnt in the right frame of mind for work last week after a skinful of lager but I still went in and did the job. Not in the right frame of mind my ass!!

[Eddie]

Quality midfielder every time. I think Warnock is a tad overrated, he has some great games but he makes his fair share of mistakes as well. Is a combination of Givet, Olsson and whoever a serious downgrade? Not really. Givet offers a lot less going forward, but probably more reliable at the back and Olsson would give us the pace going forward but is probably then less reliable at the back.

Our centre midfield is crying out for a bit of talent. Central midfielders win games, left backs rarely do. It's all pretty clear here for me.

[ABBEY]

Lescott is a fantastic centre half who Man City want- explains the overinflated price.

Johnson is a brilliant right back who is England No 1.

Warnock is a liability at left back- only need to look at the first goal we conceded against Man City for that- we need a central midfield player of quality that is what will define our season.

god bless shrooms.