[Archived] Debate of the week: Is Chris Samba right to expect to play for a "bigger" club ?

[daveoftherovers]

Great post Jisty, especially liked this:

Bentley: Off to Spurs. Got a big(ger) head and a League Cup runner-up medal. I bet he wears it under his pyjamas when he goes to bed. Played 42 times in three seasons, scored against Arsenal. Went on loan to a proper "big club".

Quality!

Your points are all valid, you are right, it is up to them (Venkys) to persuade him to stay and buy in to the process.

If they don't persuade him, I think we are up a much tougher creek without him next season, he is immense for us, as demonstrated in games such as Blackpool.

[thenodrog]

Chris Samba should not have signed a new contract in January if he had ambitions to leave the club in the summer, simple as that.

It’s the same situation with Modric at Spurs, he signed a 6yr deal and 12 months in wants to leave.

That’s my feelings on the situation, when are players going to be held accountable for reneging on contracts, it’s a two way street by the way, clubs also.

Dead right GAV. Rem Allardyce was under contract too. I knew you'd see sense one day.

As for Samba he's at the age to move to a top club. If he doesn't now he will be too old. His commitment and leadership in the final 6/8 matches when the chips were down was fantastic so I won't call him whether he stays or goes. Personally I'd offer him a player/coach position.

btw headline from the LET....

http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/9132511.Blackburn_Rovers_search_for_the_next_Phil_Jones/

Kin ell! So that's us now is it? Providing good young players for hated rivals? Jones hasn't given us a fraction of the service that Samba has so save your criticism for him.

Just as an aside from that LT link apparently the kids have to wear black boots..... well thats obviously not the case in those pictures is it?

[davulsukur]

I think its difficult for fans to judge what he should or shouldn't do. We can easily say he owes us after signing a long term deal or easily say that he should be allowed to move on to a bigger club. In reality, as none of us are professional footballers, we don't know how we would react in the same situation. We are all Rovers fans, which maybe blinkers our view slightly. We can only dream of pulling on the blue and white halves and charging out onto the Ewood Park turf. Samba isn't nor never has been (to my knowledge) a Rovers fan and as a professional sportsman i would expect that he wants to compete at the highest level. That means playing Champions league football, challenging the best teams in the premier league for the title, walking out at Wembly to fight for the domestic cups.

Don't get me wrong, as a premier league footballer he will have a very decent life, top wages and gets to do what most of us have to pay to do every working day of his life.

Should he (and players like Modric) be allowed to move on? I say yes, but only if its for the right reasons. Alot of players are motivated by money, they go where the cash is, i don't think that Samba is motivated by money alone.

We plucked Samba out of total obscurity and gave him his chance to shine in one of the best leagues in the world. He took it. Does he really owe us a living for that? Not really, he has given us decent service and more than repaid his debt to the club. He could have thrown in the towel at the back end of the season, put in half hearted efforts and then demanded a move at the end of the season had we stayed up or went down, but he gave his all and even though he has made noises that he wants to move on for (allegedly)better things he hasn't gone on strike or handed in a transfer request.

I think he's paid his "debt" to Rovers and should a deal be struck which suits all parties, he should be allowed to leave and given a great reception at Ewood upon his return.

[BangkokRover]

Of course he can leave, Rovers are a joke at the moment.

He probably fears his chance will be gone once the season stars.

He was a man mountain at the end of last season.

It's time for fans to understand that Rovers are going backwards in the league.

Fills me with no joy to say that but I think its 100% honest and accurate.

[onlyonejackwalker]

"Is Chris Samba right to expect to play for a bigger club?"

As mentioned by others, I am not sure the question has been phrased 100% correctly.

1) There is no logic in 'expecting' to play for a bigger club. The decision is out of his hands and relies on a number of factors, with the main one being 'does a bigger club wish to sign him'.

2) Samba does however have every right to further and improve his playing career and play at the highest level he can possibly achieve in what is, a very short career. To 'hope' to play for a bigger club, or the biggest clubs around is something all players would probably wish for and something I would not critise any of our players for wishing to do.

3) The player also reserves the right to maximise his earning potential and if this requires moving employers then that is also fair enough, irrespective of the amount he currently earns.

4) The player however is already a respected employee and has just been awarded and signed a new contract with those employers. However this means nothing in either sense. He may have signed it with the assurance, written or verbal, that he could leave if a larger club came in for him. He benefitted from job security looking forward and increased wages, the club benefits by being able to ask for larger amounts of money should we lose him. The contract safeguards the club as much as him, recognising that other than sell on fees it actually means very little in the modern era. Should the player wish to leave his contract, then that must be with the employers blessing and agreement. In this case it must mean we receive what we want for him.

5) Samba's employers have been very good to him and helped further his career. But this was not a charitable decision on the club's part and we have had our pound of flesh. The player has been fantastic for the club ever since he came here and the amount of effort and committment displayed puts some other players to shame.

6) Samba has improved dramatically since he came to the club, but is still a little short of what is required to play at the very highest level consistently. However he has played against the very best and looked the part and I believe he is good enough to play at a bigger club, especially in light of the players currently getting game time at many of those teams.

7) In all works of life, it is not unusual for someone to want a new challenge and change of direction.

8) Employees often wish to leave employers when the company is badly managed and organised and the future is unclear. Clearly our club is a mess right now from top to bottom. At the height of his career, at the peak of his abilities, he is required to take instruction from someone unqualified for the managerial position he holds.

9) Any employee has a duty, but moreso a leader of the players, to follow a code of conduct and established etiquette that should be adhered and followed to the letter if wishing to relocate. There are ways and means of doing things and I think as a rule players handle transfer situations very badly.

In summary, I would have no problem at all with Samba leaving purely for the benefits to the man, his career and his family. I would much rather he wanted to stay, but honestly who would you rather work under Kean or someone akin to Wenger? For less money? It is not as though he was born in Mellor is it?

Could he have handled things better, then yes.

However, he has given his all, worn his heart on his sleeve and been a very good servant to the club. We can all picture despairing last ditch tackles and challenges, throwing his body on the line. He was immense as a leader the last 3 months of our season and along with Junior one of the major reasons we survived. Amongst the chaos, I am proud of this player on the pitch.

Others clubs must feel the pain if buying him and their finances must be damaged. We in turn should benefit financially for all our development work along the way and be able to recruit a suitable replacement, with money left over.

I would wish Samba the best of luck with a big thank-you. The club is in a right state and I would not critise anyone considering leaving at this time, although I don't think that factors into his thinking and from what I have heard, believe he has wanted to leave for at least 12 months.

Best of luck in the future big man, I would follow your career with interest and clap you onto our ground every time you re-visited.

[dave birch]

I'm coming to the conclusion that Samba will end up staying at Ewood.

There doesn't seem to have been much talk about him moving other than the odd gossip column. Arsenal and Tottingham appear to be casting their nets at other players.

Having said that though, they could be waiting for the right time to strike, but every passing day is a day closer to him staying.

[thenodrog]

I'm coming to the conclusion that Samba will end up staying at Ewood.

There doesn't seem to have been much talk about him moving other than the odd gossip column. Arsenal and Tottingham appear to be casting their nets at other players.

Having said that though, they could be waiting for the right time to strike, but every passing day is a day closer to him staying.

Biggest danger is him leaving at the 11th hour.

[dave birch]

Biggest danger is him leaving at the 11th hour.

Does that not apply to any player at any club?

[thenodrog]

Does that not apply to any player at any club?

Nope.... The likes of Keith Andrews and Vince Grella can leave anytime they want dave.

[K-Hod]

Agreed Theno. In my eyes, if he wants to win trophies, and he thinks he has a better chance elsewhere, it's fair enough. He's been a great servant to the club

(for the most part) and it's only a short career, so he's well within his rights to maximise his potential throughout this time.

[thenodrog]

Agreed Theno. In my eyes, if he wants to win trophies, and he thinks he has a better chance elsewhere, it's fair enough. He's been a great servant to the club

(for the most part) and it's only a short career, so he's well within his rights to maximise his potential throughout this time.

Stands to reason if he plays to the maximum and really pulls his tripe out to attract an offer from a big club then we benefit. Alternatively if he chooses to coast along and see out his career here his performance standards will fall, we'll soon be on his back and then we'll end up with a player worth little or nowt.

As always (and something that we regularly fail on) we need to replace him with like for like before we let him go. Otherwise we'll end up trying to replace him with an inferior player just like we tried to replace Alan Shearer with Per Pederson!!

[roversmum]

I have no problem with Samba wanting to leave, as others have said, he has given us good service and if denied a 'chance' he may grow stale.

However, he must be realistic. There are only so many domestic trophies to go round - and in recent times Rovers itself has won two of these. There are the two European trophies of course, but generally speaking these are less likely to come the way of an English Club. At the moment, Arsenal, his desired location, seem less likely to win anything than Manchester United, Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool (who have to be in some sort of chance with King Kenny at the helm). None of these latter clubs seem to be interested in him.

This leaves Arsenal, Spurs and the chasing pack. However, both Spurs and Arsenal are currently bigger than Rovers and therefore would seem more enticing.

Whether he is interested in Spurs I don't know, but they are certainly interested in him and can offer Europe this season. As for Arsenal, they too are possibly interested but are busy playing transfer games at the moment.

Then there is the Rovers Curse. Some have overcome it, but they are fairly few.

Nothing is ever as straightforward as it seems.

[DP]

I was surprised that Arsenal didn't come in for him in January and also surprised that a deal hasn't been done already.

It appears once again that Arsene Wenger is ruling with his heart rather than his head, because he needs 1 or 2 Premier League tough guy centre halves. He also needs a leader which they severly lack. Step forward Big Chris, because for this job he's clearly good enough. He may/will get found out at Champions League level but it's the Prem where Arsenal fail to do it time and time again.

In terms of signing a new contract, don't be surprisd that this was done with a little gesture of good will from our 'yes boss' manager that he would be allowed to move if the right bid came in. Happened with Jones after all.

He does deserve a move, but at the moment it appears the one top club who need him are too stuborn to put their hands in their pocket.

[Guest Rovers4Good]

Of course.

Football today is all about money, money talks and so does ambition, like that lanky streak of p**s adebayor said, why would he want to be in a team that is fighting relegation nearly every year?

[des]

does he have a right no. He signed a new deal that was his choice. He is tied to rovers for a number of years, no one makes a player sign a new contact.

Yes people have a right to change club/work but there have to agree with the terms that there signed.

Players think that there can do as there like still get paid there hugh wages, and all is well and ok.

If I acted like that at work I would be in big, big trouble, its time players woke up and know how lucky there are.

[Mr. E]

The sad thing is he is not even good enough to play for a bigger club. He is clumsy, inconsistent, constantly giving away penalties...his good-to-bad games ratio is 60-40 at best. That's not going to fly with Champions League chasing teams.

[thenodrog]

The sad thing is he is not even good enough to play for a bigger club. He is clumsy, inconsistent, constantly giving away penalties...his good-to-bad games ratio is 60-40 at best. That's not going to fly with Champions League chasing teams.

Isn't it? How about Sendaros, Vidic, Carragher, Keown, Lescott, Terry, Skirtle, Campbell, Dawson, Upson etc etc. Personally I'd take some persuading to consider swapping Samba for any of those. Remember also top 4 clubs receive far more latitude from refs re: fouling, yellow cards and penalty decisions.

[roversfan99]

You wouldn't swap Samba for Vidic?

Anyway, I definitely believe that Chris Samba has the ability to play for a bigger club. He is better on the ball than people give him him credit for, and he is strong, aggressive and a goal threat at the other hand.

For a team like Arsenal, he would seem the perfect addition.

However I don't agree with his tactics of complaining to the media. Perhaps his time at the club may have run it's course, and it's only right that he should have ambitions, but even the long length of time he has spent at the club doesn't excuse him from bleating and moaning, he should knuckle down and work hard, discussing any issues he has with the club privately. We did rescue him from the reserves of Hertha Berlin, he should not forget this.

However if I was Kenny Dalglish, Harry Redknapp or Arsene Wenger, I would see Samba as an excellent addition as he is nearly always fit, and definitely has the ability, as well as the fact that he isn't English, which will perhaps reduce his fee in comparison to alternatives such as Dann, Cahill and Jagielka.

[thenodrog]

You wouldn't swap Samba for Vidic?

No. Decent player but he'd give a dozen penalties away every season in a blue and white shirt. He gets away with bloody murder.

I'll tell you the criteria which I apply..... how would I personally like to play against them. imo Samba would be an absolute nightmare. I'm not small but he'd win the physical battles, he's no slouch for speed, he'd win everything in the air, I'd be expected to mark him at corners and it's miles around those legs.

The vastly overrated Upson would be the easiest opponent with Dawson and Sendaros next up and Terry after them. Terry cos he is slow of thought and deed and Sendaros cos his is an accident waiting to happen. The one that I would consider toughest of the lot and one who shouldn't really be in that list is Martin Keown. A proper centre half despite Matty Jansen making him look a clown and even breaking his leg a few years ago.

[Brad]

He's already stated numerous times he wants a move.. Although I'm not sure he really wants to go, I think he's very relaxed at Rovers and was always just trying to get an improved contract.. I really can't see him going anywhere..

[rigger]

If he goes so be it. I will still be there next season.

[Commondore]

This might be a tad off topic, but a while back on this forum someone posted a fantastic picture of Samba and Pedersen, manipulated so that Samba descended on Pedersen with a knife and fork in hand looking like he was about to devour him. Does anyone have it, and if so would they mind posting it here?