Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: Iago on December 09, 2011, 10:09:40 PM
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Nigel Reo-Coker says Owen Coyle has rekindled his enthusiasm for the game after a turbulent spell at Aston Villa ended in what he calls a “disappointing mess”.
The 27-year-old is rebuilding his reputation at Bolton, where he has been an ever-present in the Premier League this season.
And the tenacious midfielder stresses there have been no problems after his infamous bust-up with old boss Martin O’Neill at Villa in September 2009.
Mature Reo-Coker is even tipping his old nemesis O’Neill to succeed in his new gig at Sunderland - “I am sure he will get them going and motivated” - but the hurt over his exit from Villa Park on a Bosman last summer remains.
He originally intended to re-negotiate terms after impressing on the run-in last term, when Gerard Houllier’s regime was calling the shots at Villa.
But when the Frenchman left, Reo-Coker's future was plunged into doubt.
Houllier's successor Alex McLeish eventually opted not to keep the former England Under-21 international.
Sadly, Reo-Coker only this found out when his name was listed along with the club’s other released players on Villa's website.
“I am very disappointed at the way the whole situation was handled,” he reflected, ahead of Bolton’s home game with Villa on Saturday.
“From a professional perspective, I thought it could have been handled better. It was a bit of a mess about what could have been done and what couldn’t have been done.
“I didn’t know who was in charge as one person said one thing and another person said another.”
Despite Wanderers’ plight in 19th spot after a disappointing start, Reo-Coker’s displays have attracted good reviews.
Discuss.
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How could we keep him what with all the Italian clubs looking to sign him up. Internationalize Boltinio were just too big a proposition to turn down for Nige.
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A sad reflection on the way the club is being run
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Mature Reo-Coker.That's funny.
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I seem to remember his agent was touting him around quite a bit, if he really wanted to stay he should have come out and said it.
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NRC could have signed a new contract when Houllier was well, but all these top foreign clubs were after him. Sorry, but his wanting to stay dont wash with me, he was after the best deal he could get and ended up at Bolton.
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I seem to remember his agent was touting him around quite a bit, if he really wanted to stay he should have come out and said it.
That's what agents are supposed to do.
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Unlucky Nige.
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NRC was one of our most consistant performers last season and we could really do with him in the team now. Dont get me wrong he is far from the complete footballer but he does a job that needs doing and we dont have any one in the squad that does what he can do, close space and win the ball.
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Hes never on more at Bolton than we offered him here.
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hawkeye, I do not disagree, but the fact is he showed no signs of resigning and no need for this nonsense now to make him look better. His agent was spouting nonsense for months about top clubs and champions league football, yet he ends up at Bolton. He may not be on more at Bolton, but the fact he was messing around didnt help him one bit
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A very average player who could easily start in every game with us now, which shows how far we have fell .
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A sad reflection on the way the club is being run
Because we gave a player a free?
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A sad reflection on the way the club is being run
Because we gave a player a free?
are we still paying his wages , wouldnt suprise me ...
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A sad reflection on the way the club is being run
Because we gave a player a free?
are we still paying his wages , wouldnt suprise me ...
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.............
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A sad reflection on the way the club is being run
Because we gave a player a free?
are we still paying his wages , wouldnt suprise me ...
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.............
;) friday night TV does it
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A sad reflection on the way the club is being run
Because we gave a player a free?
are we still paying his wages , wouldnt suprise me ...
And why would you think that? Do you think he is worth the 50k a week he was apparently wanting?
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I think it was intended as gallows humour.
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Reading between the lines, GH wanted him, AM preferred heskey. I'd have kept him but it would have been really dumb to sign up a player the new manager didn't want.
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S
A sad reflection on the way the club is being run
Sorry, replied to the wrong post.
Because we gave a player a free?
are we still paying his wages , wouldnt suprise me ...
And why would you think that? Do you think he is worth the 50k a week he was apparently wanting?
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A sad reflection on the way the club is being run
Because we gave a player a free?
are we still paying his wages , wouldnt suprise me ...
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.............
Getting ready for the dippers game already Dave?
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A sad reflection on the way the club is being run
Because we gave a player a free?
are we still paying his wages , wouldnt suprise me ...
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.............
Getting ready for the dippers game already Dave?
Very good.
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A further reflection of what a clown Mcleish is, anyone could see midfield is our weakest position, you don't then let our beat midfielder leave without replacing him.
Our club is a joke from top too bottom.
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A further reflection of what a clown Mcleish is, anyone could see midfield is our weakest position, you don't then let our beat midfielder leave without replacing him.
Our club is a joke from top too bottom.
If I remember correctly, NRC left the club long before McLeish was approached and appointed.
That said, I stand by my assertion that it was more important to replace NRC than Downing and Young.
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Well it said in the piece, Mcleish decided not to keep him?
Either way Mcleish is a clown, he is today saying its a myth he plays negative football..... WTF he is a joke.
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Come on NRC is average at best.
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Come on NRC is average at best.
If the alternative is Heskey in midfield, I prefer the at best average NRC.
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A further reflection of what a clown Mcleish is, anyone could see midfield is our weakest position, you don't then let our beat midfielder leave without replacing him.
Our club is a joke from top too bottom.
Seriously, our best midfielder? Not Young, not Downing bur Nigel Reo Coker? That's why he's now at Bolton and they're at Manu and Liverpool?
It would have been nice to keep him for a bit of continuity but in a period of cost cutting and him looking for an improved contract it was not really an option.
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We should have been able to replace a player of NRCs ability fairly cheaply by utilising Houlliers contacts abroad. The real madness would have been giving him a 50k a week contract.
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The article in the OP is revisionism of a sort that the USSR regime would have been proud of.
I quite liked Nige but he chose to chase the £££ elsewhere.
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We would have kept an average 27 year old midfielder, on probably around £40k a week, and not played Herd and probably released him.No brainer for me.
Herd, Bannan, Albrighton, Delph etc, might not be any good, but we need to have a look at them, otherwise whats the point of having such a good youth system.
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We would have kept an average 27 year old midfielder, on probably around £40k a week, and not played Herd and probably released him.No brainer for me.
Herd, Bannan, Albrighton, Delph etc, might not be any good, but we need to have a look at them, otherwise whats the point of having such a good youth system.
What is the point of having a good youth system if the experienced players get you relegated?
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I think it was intended as gallows humour.
cheers zogman ;)
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Chris Herd > NRC.
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Weren't we linked to Romeu under GH. Him & Cabaye would have made a massive difference this season. Not that I am saying he would have chosen us over Chelsea but you just never know.
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I think Romeu was coming and then picked up an injury . Im sure GH would have gone back in . He has a clause that Barca can buy him back for around 9 million .
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we will now have the likes of Guthrie and Gibson to look forward to .
we will become a poor mans Sunderland .
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A sad reflection on the way the club is being run
Agree.
Poor is the word.
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Come on NRC is average at best.
I'd much rather have him than Heskey in midfield.
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I think Romeu was coming and then picked up an injury . Im sure GH would have gone back in . He has a clause that Barca can buy him back for around 9 million .
How would he have paid for that pair, both fees and wages? Plus the whole new defence we were going to need and while he's at replace Ash and Downing?
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I think Romeu was coming and then picked up an injury . Im sure GH would have gone back in . He has a clause that Barca can buy him back for around 9 million .
How would he have paid for that pair, both fees and wages? Plus the whole new defence we were going to need and while he's at replace Ash and Downing?
Dont know Chris , I dont run the club . he was probably the same fee as Hutton . There might have been talk of a loan if to be honest .
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Aston Villa and Blackburn Rovers are leading the race to sign Barcelona starlet Oriol Romeu.
The Catalan giants want to tie him to a new deal well before his current contract comes to an end in 2012.
However, his impressive performances in the holding role for Barcelona B have attracted widespread interest.
December 2010 .
p.s at least Houlier was trying to get some decent players in .
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Aston Villa and Blackburn Rovers are leading the race to sign Barcelona starlet Oriol Romeu.
The Catalan giants want to tie him to a new deal well before his current contract comes to an end in 2012.
However, his impressive performances in the holding role for Barcelona B have attracted widespread interest.
December 2010 .
p.s at least Houlier was trying to get some decent players in .
You forgot to quote your source. A quick Google reveals it to have been the Daily Mail and nowhere else. Nothing to see here.
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Aston Villa and Blackburn Rovers are leading the race to sign Barcelona starlet Oriol Romeu.
The Catalan giants want to tie him to a new deal well before his current contract comes to an end in 2012.
However, his impressive performances in the holding role for Barcelona B have attracted widespread interest.
December 2010 .
p.s at least Houlier was trying to get some decent players in .
You forgot to quote your source. A quick Google reveals it to have been the Daily Mail and nowhere else. Nothing to see here.
Would of loved to have seen what Houllier would of done for Aston Villa. Really think he could of took us to another level. His knowledge of players all over europe is impeccable and he was highly respected .......
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Would of loved to have seen what Houllier would of done for Aston Villa. Really think he could of took us to another level. His knowledge of players all over europe is impeccable and he was highly respected .......
I didn't really see any of that in Houllier, sadly.
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You don't see how respected he is? Or how incredibly knowledgeable he is on the subject of football?
Really?
He didn't re-invent the wheel with us, but his stature and knowledge are there to be seen.
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We'll never know, which is why it will be debated for a long time.
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Had GH been able to stay and be reasonably backed by Randy I reckon it would have been interesting.
In part because there's nothing like signing a reasonably cheap young foreigner you've never heard of as you can dream that they will be the next superstar. Whereas you sign the likes of Hutton, Stone, Merson, McCann, Collins etc (i've tried to be fair and cover a few of our managers!) you pretty much know exactly what you're going to get.
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Aston Villa and Blackburn Rovers are leading the race to sign Barcelona starlet Oriol Romeu.
The Catalan giants want to tie him to a new deal well before his current contract comes to an end in 2012.
However, his impressive performances in the holding role for Barcelona B have attracted widespread interest.
December 2010 .
p.s at least Houlier was trying to get some decent players in .
You forgot to quote your source. A quick Google reveals it to have been the Daily Mail and nowhere else. Nothing to see here.
Would of loved to have seen what Houllier would of done for Aston Villa. Really think he could of took us to another level. His knowledge of players all over europe is impeccable and he was highly respected .......
Just like his knowledge of Jean Makoun?
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Makoun should be in our midfield now.
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Makoun should be in our midfield now.
I like him but he doesn't/can't tackle. Where would he fit into our midfield?
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Makoun should be in our midfield now.
I agree he'd be perfect now, just not on match days.
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Makoun should be in our midfield now.
I like him but he doesn't/can't tackle. Where would he fit into our midfield?
He's also good at passing, which is more likely the reason that he doesn't fit into our current midfield.
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Makoun should be in our midfield now.
I agree he'd be perfect now, just not on match days.
I'd say the same about Warnock.
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Had GH been able to stay and be reasonably backed by Randy I reckon it would have been interesting.
Certainly more interesting than it is nowadays. And I say that as one who was never enamoured by Houllier, it's just that, 15 games into this season, looking back, he was like Pep Guardiola.
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Can't see why McLeish is being blamed, we released NRC on June 1st and didn't appoint McLeish until two weeks later.
If NRC had really wanted to stay with us, he'd have signed the deal offered when he was playing well early on under GH.
It's not like he got anything better from moving on either.
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Can't see why McLeish is being blamed, we released NRC on June 1st and didn't appoint McLeish until two weeks later.
If NRC had really wanted to stay with us, he'd have signed the deal offered when he was playing well early on under GH.
It's not like he got anything better from moving on either.
The piece says Mcleish decided not to keep him.
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GH should have stayed. He [apparently] enquired for Nacho (now at Spanish Man-City-alike Malaga) at Left Back.
He had already contacted Cabaye (as the player has said himself) for a possible move.
Amalfitano (now at Marseille), was shown around the club and Villa Park.
Sure we were linked with Stephane Ruffier who is a good keeper (34 matches, 13 clean sheets) now a St Etienne (concede I would prefer Given, but Ruffier would've been a good buy)
Delph looked promising in his stints at both midfield and Left back during Houllier's reign.
better football under Houllier too. We were crap. But it had and end-goal. Id rather be a shit Arsenal than a shit Stoke.
He was also linked with Adil Rami (joined Valencia), played Clark, played Baker, supposedly was going to get Gardner involved (obviously) as well as one of the youngsters (cant remember if it was Graham or Grealish).
Ruffier
New Rami Clark Nacho
Petrov
Cabaye Makoun
Amal. Gabby
Bent
Bench: Gardner, Albrighton, Bannan, Delph, Baker etc etc
Would have been vastly better than watching the tripe we play now. Having said that Gabby would not have been in the form he is in now and players like Ruffier and Amalfitano may have struggled to adapt..
But we bought british/proven in england players (Nzogbia and Hutton) and they have struggled to adapt too. It's swings and round-a-bouts but Houllier had me excited.
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Can't see why McLeish is being blamed, we released NRC on June 1st and didn't appoint McLeish until two weeks later.
If NRC had really wanted to stay with us, he'd have signed the deal offered when he was playing well early on under GH.
It's not like he got anything better from moving on either.
The piece says Mcleish decided not to keep him.
That could be the article writer's interpretation of the situation and I believe he's wrong.
You might aswell blame McLeish for releasing Friedel, Carew, Salifou, Pires etc. then as they all were released on the same day as NRC.
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NRC did nothing to warrant being paid £40k a week for 3 years, thought he was better than what he actually is & is now plying his trade at the mighty Bolton. A few decent performances at the end of the season didn't warrant him being offered a new contract.
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NRC did nothing to warrant being paid £40k a week for 3 years, thought he was better than what he actually is & is now plying his trade at the mighty Bolton. A few decent performances at the end of the season didn't warrant him being offered a new contract.
He's an extremely limited player.
I'm more bothered about the suggestion he didn't really know who was in charge at the club at the time (something which Mat Kendrick commented on on Twitter the other day, saying words to the effect of, he thought the same about the rudderless manner of things at Villa Park)
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NRC did nothing to warrant being paid £40k a week for 3 years, thought he was better than what he actually is & is now plying his trade at the mighty Bolton. A few decent performances at the end of the season didn't warrant him being offered a new contract.
It was more than a few decent performances. Alongside Downing, he was our most consistent performer last season. Whether that's worth 40k a week is another question but I'm guessing his agent put his own monetary interests ahead of those of his client.
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I prefer Herd to Reo-Coker. At least can occasionally pass the ball to a fellow Villa player.
I wouldn't have given Reo-Coker a new deal. He didn't justify the £20mil in Transfer fee and wages that we probably spent on him anyway.
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I always liked Reo-Coker, I make no apology for that. But I don't believe McLeish decided not to keep him - surely the timescales bear that out - and I'm pretty certain that NRC was offered a new deal, earlier in the season, and declined it.
There's plenty of things to grumble about with regards to the club at the moment, but NRC leaving at the end of his contract isn't one of them.
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I prefer Herd to Reo-Coker. At least can occasionally pass the ball to a fellow Villa player.
I wouldn't have given Reo-Coker a new deal. He didn't justify the £20mil in Transfer fee and wages that we probably spent on him anyway.
Spot on.
I would say when we spent £8m on him, a lot of that was on potential. In the time he was with us he didn't improve at all, and his weaknesses were blindingly obvious.
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If you want to slag off a manager for his handling of NRC, then I'd say the most obvious one has to be the one who constantly played him at RB, then had a fall out with him on the training pitch and also preferred Sidwell ahead of him.
just saying Loike...
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I always liked Reo-Coker, I make no apology for that. But I don't believe McLeish decided not to keep him - surely the timescales bear that out - and I'm pretty certain that NRC was offered a new deal, earlier in the season, and declined it.
There's plenty of things to grumble about with regards to the club at the moment, but NRC leaving at the end of his contract isn't one of them.
Agree with all of this.
I was a fan of him in the holding role, but he wanted too much cash to stay so he left.
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Ever present in Bolton Midfield. Bolton bottom of the league. Says it all. Average player, although for some bizarre reason I kinda liked him.
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I always liked Reo-Coker, I make no apology for that. But I don't believe McLeish decided not to keep him - surely the timescales bear that out - and I'm pretty certain that NRC was offered a new deal, earlier in the season, and declined it.
There's plenty of things to grumble about with regards to the club at the moment, but NRC leaving at the end of his contract isn't one of them.
Agree with all of this.
I was a fan of him in the holding role, but he wanted too much cash to stay so he left.
add me to this camp. He could have stayed and he'd be playing right now. That said, we might not have seen the emergence of this promising Aussie full back into a very competent defensive midfielder. NRC is a good player. His agent put into his head that he was great and deserved to be paid accordingly. He should have a word with his agent given where he's ended up.
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Watching the Bolton game, I remembered that thing Zat Knight used to do to cover up his fuck ups, which was to point at something authoritatively.
NRC used to do that, too.
Oh, and he organised the team huddles before KO.
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Ever present in Bolton Midfield. Bolton bottom of the league. Says it all. Average player, although for some bizarre reason I kinda liked him.
The same could therefore be said of their star centre half that also used to play for us.
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I get the impression that he tried to call our bluff - left when he didn't get the contract he wanted and thought we'd either offer him better one later or a 'big club' might fancy him, only to find neither happened.
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It pretty depressing to think that such an average footballer must have cost the club 15-20 million for his 4 years here.
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It pretty depressing to think that such an average footballer must have cost the club 15-20 million for his 4 years here.
That's what average players cost these days.
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It pretty depressing to think that such an average footballer must have cost the club 15-20 million for his 4 years here.
That's what average players cost these days.
Especially the ones signed by MON.
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It pretty depressing to think that such an average footballer must have cost the club 15-20 million for his 4 years here.
That's what average players cost these days.
Especially the ones signed by MON.
£15m is a £7m fee and £40k a week for 4 years. That's not just MON excess - it's what you pay for a PL player capable of hoding down a place in a mid table side.
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I said it was depressing that he cost us between 15 and 20million (depending on exact wages, bonuses, signing on fee etc) for 102 league games over 4 years, especially as he was very average. Maybe you don't find that depressing because it's an average, but I do.
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I said it was depressing that he cost us between 15 and 20million (depending on exact wages, bonuses, signing on fee etc) for 102 league games over 4 years, especially as he was very average. Maybe you don't find that depressing because it's an average, but I do.
25 games a season means he's involved a lot more often than not, but depression wise it's just a symptom of the overall lunacy of money in football to me.