The Milner Novela... Final episode page 296

[Brend'Watkins]

Not 3 months ago, no, but someone should have looked at this last year and recognised that a Barry like situation could rear its head again. You're right inasmuch that if Man City want to buy they will, but we would have had more of a bargaining position than we do now.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.  When we bought him there were many, myself included, who thought we were paying over the odds.  To be offering him an improved and extended contract on that first season would have been seen as a very strange move when he wasn't anywhere near the standard of last.  It was only when he moved into the middle that people started taking notice and we are now where we are because of that decision.

[peter w]

Not 3 months ago, no, but someone should have looked at this last year and recognised that a Barry like situation could rear its head again. You're right inasmuch that if Man City want to buy they will, but we would have had more of a bargaining position than we do now.

I can see your point but if you start offering players a new contract after only 12 months then you set a dangerous precedant because they'd all want the same.

Its all about judgement calls and no-one really could have predicted a Man City offer for Milner. Nor would anyone have thought that he would jump ship.

[Concrete John]

Not 3 months ago, no, but someone should have looked at this last year and recognised that a Barry like situation could rear its head again. You're right inasmuch that if Man City want to buy they will, but we would have had more of a bargaining position than we do now.

I think with 2 years left ot bargaining position is strong enough to get best value for him.

Plus, if this move was in the offing for a while why would he have signed a new deal anyway?

[nick harper]

Not 3 months ago, no, but someone should have looked at this last year and recognised that a Barry like situation could rear its head again. You're right inasmuch that if Man City want to buy they will, but we would have had more of a bargaining position than we do now.

Not sure about that. He was still playing wide right 6 months ago and probably worth no more than what we'd paid for him. Since moving into the middle, being picked for England, and being described as England's future by Capello, his value seems to have rocketed.

The club would have had to have had a great deal of foresight and moved extremely quickly to tie him down to a new a new contract at a substantial increase in wages in that time.

Let's hope he has a good world cup so his value increases further because he is pretty much certain to go and with two years left on his contract, we can maximise that value.

[peter w]

Not 3 months ago, no, but someone should have looked at this last year and recognised that a Barry like situation could rear its head again. You're right inasmuch that if Man City want to buy they will, but we would have had more of a bargaining position than we do now.

I think with 2 years left ot bargaining position is strong enough to get best value for him.

Plus, if this move was in the offing for a while why would he have signed a new deal anyway?

Not saying he would but you need to explore the possibility. Knowing that an Ebngland international already acclaimed by the manager, will have a World Cup at the end of a season, and then 2 years left of his contract should have made some distant alarms going off somewhere.

Maybe they did, maybe MON contacted the player and/or his agent and was told to wait until after the World Cup. Either way our hand is forced to act this summer.

[Villa'Zawg]

...

The difference will be in the amount we would be able to get for him. See Barry, G.

How much did we lose on Barry?
I'm not sure Liverpool or anyone else had offered much more than the £12m we received for him last summer.

[peter w]

...

The difference will be in the amount we would be able to get for him. See Barry, G.

How much did we lose on Barry?
I'm not sure Liverpool or anyone else had offered much more than the £12m we received for him last summer.

I don't think we particularly lost out because we were reluctant sellers. But his price was £18m.  So, you could say he lost 33% of his value between having 1 year left on his contract and 2.

[Brend'Watkins]

I think it would be fair to say that once a player (any player) gets England recognition alarm bells will ring at that club.  The other thing that happens is the players agent gets a bit more excited at the prospect of a bumper deal one way or another.

It's a very good reason to have disdain for the International team as invariably we will lose a player to a richer club, ie...Platt, Barry and now Milner, or, the other side of the coin is that the player instantly becomes shit...Draper.

[Concrete John]

So, when exactly would you have offered Jimmy a new contract:-

August 2008 - arrives
Summer 2009 - decent season, but most feel he was overpriced at £12m
Mid season 09/10 - moves to the centre, improves greatly and gets England squad place.

So, the only practicle time was once the plaudits starting coming in.  But is that sensible?  How many players are flavour of the month, but then fade?  Do contracts EVER get signed in February-April?  Should we have also given Gabby a bumper new deal when he got his first cap?

I'm sorry, but I genuinely feel this is hindsight at it's best and not really workable in the real world.

[peter w]

Could have approached him and/or his agent around September /October time and arranged a time to meet. They may well have suggested to waot after the World Cup in which case its a moot point.

Of course its hindsight. but, we're not paid to look at the minutae of the playing staff and decisions about their future. The manager is. Or the CEO, Director of Football, or whoever is in charge of that side of things.

[Concrete John]

Could have approached him and/or his agent around September /October time and arranged a time to meet. They may well have suggested to waot after the World Cup in which case its a moot point.

Of course its hindsight. but, we're not paid to look at the minutae of the playing staff and decisions about their future. The manager is. Or the CEO, Director of Football, or whoever is in charge of that side of things.

Sorry, but you don't start to arrange a new contract just over a year into a four year deal.

If we had switch him to the centre a year ago would you be saying we should have approached his agent a couple of months after signing him?

[Greg N'Ash]

i'd say 2 years left is about the right time to look at a new contract. think we learnt our lesson when olof was allowed to walk out for nothing but it is a 2 way thing and player like to keep their options open too.

[peter w]

Could have approached him and/or his agent around September /October time and arranged a time to meet. They may well have suggested to waot after the World Cup in which case its a moot point.

Of course its hindsight. but, we're not paid to look at the minutae of the playing staff and decisions about their future. The manager is. Or the CEO, Director of Football, or whoever is in charge of that side of things.

Sorry, but you don't start to arrange a new contract just over a year into a four year deal.

If we had switch him to the centre a year ago would you be saying we should have approached his agent a couple of months after signing him?

He's had a good year in the centre but i think he would have had a good year wherever. I maintain that where he is playing is not his best position so I could counter what your saying that if we played him as a right-sided midfielder we would have been offering an extended contract a lot sooner because he would have been even more productive.

As for arranging contracts there are cases of new contracts been offered all the time especially when a player has made a massive improvement the season before. That hasn't happened in Milner's case granted but his progression was assured as the more mature he became. Also, by dropping the attempt at playing as a winger.

But, as I said, Capello made his feelings known last season, Milner was cracking in goals and getting plaudits by October/November, and it became very clear that he would be a mainstay of any club should as he gets older and more experienced.

That's when it was time to act.

[Concrete John]

We can't start giving improved contracts to every player that hits good form - it'd be financial suicide!

It's a balance of time remaining on the contract and the players value to the side.  Which with Jimmy I think should be this summer.  

I don't think the club has done anything wrong in this instance.

[JUAN PABLO]

If we want to get the so called 25/30 million fee, he has to go now.

I think his stock will go down in value.

Hes a very good player but at 20 million plus Ireland , we could  improve the team with that.