dudevillaisnice Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 It's a no from me. I'd rather we didn't get another striker in. Sure we currently have injured strikers but I think it's more than enough in our situation when they come back we will be ok in that department. I'd also rather not sign Bendtner; I don't rate him at all and never really have. how about not signing him at all? That would be the better option for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StanBalaban Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 (edited) Let's assume Benteke is out until the New Year and Kozak doesn't make the start of the season; Who would be your preferred choice up top; Bent, Agbonlahor, Weimann, Bowery or Bendtner? Missing the point a bit though. The fact is that we do have the aforementioned strikers on the wage-bill so unless Lambert is going to get rid of a couple of them, no new strikers should be added and he should be pragmatic enough to work with what he has. Obviously though, 'Lambert' and 'pragmatism' are words that you will seldom find in the same sentence. Also, what about when Benteke and Kozak return to fitness? We'll basically have a third-choice striker on biggish (by our standards) wages* that could be better used elsewhere. Not to mention that Bendtner is the sort of player who will instantly kick up a fuss about it also. *Anyone who thinks Bendtner will come here for less than something like £25k/w (if that) is deluded. I don't think the future wage bill issue is much of a concern to Lerner anymore, as he's practically checked out. It's almost like we have no owner at the moment, so any longer-term view is largely irrelevant. Whether we are interested in Bendtner or not is up for debate, but I fully expect a few more freebies coming in, should we add to the squad. In lieu of any transfer fee, putting a free agent on a contract creates a new, sell-on value for them - effectively offsetting some of their wages if sold. Benteke has shown that he doesn't come back from injury by hitting the ground running so, even if he returns in the new year, it may take a while to hit form again. Kozak may not be ready for the start of the campaign and in our position we need to get as many points as we can, as quickly as we can. Who knows about Bent - was behind the kids in the pecking order at Fulham. I wouldn't be surprised to see another experienced striker come in, and possibly another midfielder in the same vein. Edited June 9, 2014 by StanBalaban Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 If we wont him, and its a big if, then there must be some reason for it you wouldnt waste the pittance he has like this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFCforever1991 Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 I'm expecting Jimmy Bullard any week now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarewsEyebrowDesigner Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Arsenal misfit Nicklas Bendtner looking for £104,000-a-week deal 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AValon Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Short term loan, nothing else. I like Kozak and we need to see how Benteke recovers before adding another permanent striker. Good move for Helenius, if right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villaglint Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 (edited) I'd imagine again most of the anger over this signing would be more to do with this further underlining we are some distance from being taken over. As striker cover it is in the Holt category, he is definitely a better player than Holt. This is Randy and Lambert thinking can I patch up the squad sufficiently to not get us relegated next year. Edited June 9, 2014 by villaglint Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodders0223 Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Let's assume Benteke is out until the New Year and Kozak doesn't make the start of the season; Who would be your preferred choice up top; Bent, Agbonlahor, Weimann, Bowery or Bendtner? Missing the point a bit though. The fact is that we do have the aforementioned strikers on the wage-bill so unless Lambert is going to get rid of a couple of them, no new strikers should be added and he should be pragmatic enough to work with what he has. Obviously though, 'Lambert' and 'pragmatism' are words that you will seldom find in the same sentence. Also, what about when Benteke and Kozak return to fitness? We'll basically have a third-choice striker on biggish (by our standards) wages* that could be better used elsewhere. Not to mention that Bendtner is the sort of player who will instantly kick up a fuss about it also. *Anyone who thinks Bendtner will come here for less than something like £25k/w (if that) is deluded. I don't think the future wage bill issue is much of a concern to Lerner anymore, as he's practically checked out. It's almost like we have no owner at the moment, so any longer-term view is largely irrelevant. Whether we are interested in Bendtner or not is up for debate, but I fully expect a few more freebies coming in, should we add to the squad. In lieu of any transfer fee, putting a free agent on a contract creates a new, sell-on value for them - effectively offsetting some of their wages if sold. Benteke has shown that he doesn't come back from injury by hitting the ground running so, even if he returns in the new year, it may take a while to hit form again. Kozak may not be ready for the start of the campaign and in our position we need to get as many points as we can, as quickly as we can. Who knows about Bent - was behind the kids in the pecking order at Fulham. I wouldn't be surprised to see another experienced striker come in, and possibly another midfielder in the same vein. Tell that to QPR and all the free transfers they signed from higher clubs, dropping down to 'do them a favour' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avfc96 Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 No thanks, he's shite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dudevillaisnice Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Actually looking at the piece again, it seems the source for that article is eyefootball.com which to me looks no different to the garbage caughtoffside etc. So doesn't seem much in it. Anddd relax. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StanBalaban Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 In lieu of any transfer fee, putting a free agent on a contract creates a new, sell-on value for them - effectively offsetting some of their wages if sold. Benteke has shown that he doesn't come back from injury by hitting the ground running so, even if he returns in the new year, it may take a while to hit form again. Kozak may not be ready for the start of the campaign and in our position we need to get as many points as we can, as quickly as we can. Who knows about Bent - was behind the kids in the pecking order at Fulham. I wouldn't be surprised to see another experienced striker come in, and possibly another midfielder in the same vein. Tell that to QPR and all the free transfers they signed from higher clubs, dropping down to 'do them a favour' I should've added that only applies on astute acquisitions I honestly think we need to start the season with as strong a team as we can field. Every single win is going to count massively and I don't think we can rely Benteke and Kozak to get up to speed. We need another striker ready for the first game IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanoiVillan Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Short term loan, nothing else. I like Kozak and we need to see how Benteke recovers before adding another permanent striker. Good move for Helenius, if right. How? To go and play in a children's league? We might as well sell him, at least we would make something out of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobzy Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Let's assume Benteke is out until the New Year and Kozak doesn't make the start of the season; Who would be your preferred choice up top; Bent, Agbonlahor, Weimann, Bowery or Bendtner? Missing the point a bit though. The fact is that we do have the aforementioned strikers on the wage-bill so unless Lambert is going to get rid of a couple of them, no new strikers should be added and he should be pragmatic enough to work with what he has. Obviously though, 'Lambert' and 'pragmatism' are words that you will seldom find in the same sentence. Also, what about when Benteke and Kozak return to fitness? We'll basically have a third-choice striker on biggish (by our standards) wages* that could be better used elsewhere. Not to mention that Bendtner is the sort of player who will instantly kick up a fuss about it also. *Anyone who thinks Bendtner will come here for less than something like £25k/w (if that) is deluded. Let's assume Bendtner is actually an alright player and we get him on £40k/wk (not sure what he'd want, but I'd assume he wants first team football more than a wedge - others have stated otherwise though, so...). We're paying this extra £40k/wk for a season before Darren "60k+/wk" Bent leaves the club. Or, we're paying £2m for a player (again, assumed 40k/wk) then "saving" £2m over 2 further seasons compared to having Darren Bent around. He costs us "nothing" for 3 seasons. (As you say, though, no idea what he'd want - it'll be more than £25k/wk though). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islingtonclaret Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 An absolute plum. Lazy player. I'm more than happy to be proved wrong but have the feeling that if we signed him, we'd have someone enjoying a sizable wage and not giving a stuff about the team or club. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isa Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 I don't think the future wage bill issue is much of a concern to Lerner anymore, as he's practically checked out. It's almost like we have no owner at the moment, so any longer-term view is largely irrelevant. Whether we are interested in Bendtner or not is up for debate, but I fully expect a few more freebies coming in, should we add to the squad. In lieu of any transfer fee, putting a free agent on a contract creates a new, sell-on value for them - effectively offsetting some of their wages if sold. Benteke has shown that he doesn't come back from injury by hitting the ground running so, even if he returns in the new year, it may take a while to hit form again. Kozak may not be ready for the start of the campaign and in our position we need to get as many points as we can, as quickly as we can. Who knows about Bent - was behind the kids in the pecking order at Fulham. I wouldn't be surprised to see another experienced striker come in, and possibly another midfielder in the same vein. Fair enough, some good points made there. I still think that we may as well just go with Bent as the third-choice striker but that would depend on Lambert adapting the system to accomodate him I suppose so I dunno. Ultimately, if signing Bendtner won't impact the signings of players that should be a greater priority then I'm not overly opposed to it. It's not like Senderos where I feel there is zero point in the signing as Bendtner has shown glimpses in the past to suggest he can be relatively useful at this level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StanBalaban Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Fair enough, some good points made there. I still think that we may as well just go with Bent as the third-choice striker but that would depend on Lambert adapting the system to accomodate him I suppose so I dunno. Ultimately, if signing Bendtner won't impact the signings of players that should be a greater priority then I'm not overly opposed to it. It's not like Senderos where I feel there is zero point in the signing as Bendtner has shown glimpses in the past to suggest he can be relatively useful at this level. I think we need to get as many points as we can, as quickly as we can. There's a fallacy that losses in the first quarter of the season don't matter as there's still another 30-odd games to make it up, but all games offer the same 3 points. At start of the season we look like having Gabby, Bowery, Andi and Bent available for selection. I don't think that's enough personally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 (edited) Great! Let's sign him, he's giant child in a mans body with an ego bigger than that of Kanye West & with an alcohol problem. What can possibly go wrong? Edited June 9, 2014 by sne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StanBalaban Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 As of today, for the start of the season we potentially have: Guzan, Steer, Given - no further need here Lowton, Hutton, Bacuna - not great in quality, but okay to start the season Vlaar, Okore, Senderos, Baker, Clark, Donacien - okay here, especially if Okore and Vlaar are fit Luna, Bennett, Stevens (if he returns from his loan) - needs adding to for sure, probably our weakest area on paper Westwood, Delph, KEA, Sylla, Gardner, Grealish, Tonev, Bacuna, CNZ?? - crying out for more quality and that elusive no.10. Grealish to get his chance?? Gabby, Bent, Bowery, Andi, Robinson - what's the best pairing here? - I think we need another striker - even if he helps us to an extra 2 or 3 wins, he'll be worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woody1000 Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 It's one of those that if were weren't so handicapped by our wage bill I wouldn't mind, but for the sort of wages he's after I would rather we looked elsewhere. Funnily enough, this was my main fear when Rooney got his £300k p/w deal at United - the amount of average footballers who would be demanding £100k p/w! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshVillain Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 If this happens to be true then I can smell a reformed bomb squad in a couple of seasons - seems unlikely though given the source. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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