Crofts has gone

[lamierobertsonwasbad]

Spot on turkey

 

[BensGrandad]

Not one to knock Gus but I would suggest that this a scouting mission of convenience in that by him going to S America scouting it is tax deductable as a business expense for the club but if he went there on holiday to see his family he would have to pay everything. So him scouting in S America suits everybody.

 

[Renns]

I'll say it again, he's looking for players!!!

And he's in Argentina anyway, just to be picky. But whatever, the foreign market is a massive advantage for us over other league one teams. Can you see the likes of Phil Parkinson and Paul Mariner even knowing where Argentina is, let alone having contacts and knowledge of the football there? If we can pick up some quality players at a time where there isn't even football going on in this country to watch anyway then we've taken a massive step ahead of everyone else.

Plus, as I've just said, even if we sign nobody from South America then Gus and Taricco are still allowed a holiday. How do you or I not know they have family in Argentina they can only see once a year, ie May/start of June?

Absolutely. We can do a lot better than Crofts and i'm sure Gus is aware of this too, which is why he sold him. Hopefully whilst he's in Argentina he can find a suitable player and a few more for the other positions we need to strenghten, like another decent striker.

 

[Basil Fawlty]

With Crofts going, we desperately need to strengthen in the middle of the park. Hopefully Gus trip to South America was a scouting mission, because this is a rather big hole to fill now Crofts has gone. It feels like we've taken a step back and its only May!

 

[Gerbil]

Back on loan in January,then.

I wouldn't be suprised to see him loaned out by Jan, why not!

 

[Beach Hut]

Pointless all this doom and gloom so we lost a player who was good says perhaps we have a habit of nurturing players to become better albeit not all the time.

Let's wait till August prior to worrying too much.

 

[chez]

I cant believe it's only £300k. Norwich have got a massive bargain if that is the price.

I'm gutted he's gone.

 

[Mr Burns]

I think its a good deal. He's had a good season, but as pointed out by others, he was playing for Wrexham before he joined us, and couldn't get in Gillinghams side!

Could his performances this season be a flash in the pan? A One season wonder?

WHo knows, but for £300k with one year on his contract left, I'd rather not keep him around to find out.

I'm sure Gus already has a relacement lined up, and besides, if he rated him that highly, he'd have give him a new contract before now, so in summary, thanks Crofts, good luck, but losing him doesn't bother me one litte bit.

 

[Mr Burns]

I cant believe it's only £300k. Norwich have got a massive bargain if that is the price.

I'm gutted he's gone.

300k's a great price, for a player that cost nothing, and we be free to sgn for another club for freeat the end of next season.

Don't let it worry you. If he was part of Gus' long term plans, he'd still be here. If he's not replaced by the start of August worry about it, but I'msure you'll have nothing to worry about come the start of the season

 

[Philzo-93]

Thanks for everything Croftsy! All the best mate!

Our Captain marvel

 

[Superphil]

I cant believe it's only £300k. Norwich have got a massive bargain if that is the price.

I'm gutted he's gone.

how is it known that it was £300k, the site(s) say undisclosed, how come some people seem to know?

Anyway, disappointed he's gone, he will be missed, and for all of you saying he can be replaced easily, just remember how long we complained about getting a decent midfield, we finally get one and the kingpin leaves so soon? I think we'll be stuggling in midfield next season, let's hope we sort out a striker so we don't have to worry about a poor midfield.

 

[New Carpet?]

Yes, it's a shame Crofts has gone, but I really feel this could be a good bit of business, especially if we can use that money to fund a couple of players' salaries for a couple of seasons that we sign for free.

For example, off the top of my head, if we used that transfer fee plus Crofts's current wages to take on the aforementioned Prutton (who I regard as a more complete central midfield player anyway, and was totally wasted at a team that bypasses their midfield) and a FLAIR striker from Spain or Latin America who will set League One alight next season and then The Championship the following year, then we could all look back on this as one hell of a deal.

 

[Finchley Seagull]

I am sad that Crofts has gone but wish him good luck at Norwich. Sounds like he went about the move in the right way and hopefully he will get a good reception when we play him next. Overall, I think we have got a decent fee for him and in the long term it is probably a good deal as I am not sure he is Championship quality despite being fantastic last season.

 

[SI 4 BHA]

I am sad that Crofts has gone but wish him good luck at Norwich. Sounds like he went about the move in the right way and hopefully he will get a good reception when we play him next. Overall, I think we have got a decent fee for him and in the long term it is probably a good deal as I am not sure he is Championship quality despite being fantastic last season.

Could be a while before we play him next! He may well be retired by then!
What fee would that be, its undisclosed, so you are relying on the figures mentionned on NSC. Not that reliable then!
It can only be seen as a good deal if we get someone as good or better to repace him.

 

[Finchley Seagull]

Could be a while before we play him next! He may well be retired by then!
What fee would that be, its undisclosed, so you are relying on the figures mentionned on NSC. Not that reliable then!
It can only be seen as a good deal if we get someone as good or better to repace him.

What an odd initial comment. Do you think he is going to be playing in the Premier League soon? Or do you think because we have sold one player in May we have no chance getting to the Championship in the next few years? I would say the odds on us playing against him in the next few years are quite good.

As for the fee, I am going on what the Argus printed. Fair enough it is speculation but it is all we have.

As for replacements, why can't I be optimistic if others on here can write us off already?

 

[SI 4 BHA]

What an odd initial comment. Do you think he is going to be playing in the Premier League soon? Or do you think because we have sold one player in May we have no chance getting to the Championship in the next few years? I would say the odds on us playing against him in the next few years are quite good.

As for the fee, I am going on what the Argus printed. Fair enough it is speculation but it is all we have.

As for replacements, why can't I be optimistic if others on here can write us off already?

Obviously Crofts wont be playing in the Prem, ever! But we certainly have very little chance on promotion next season if we cant hold on to our better players like Crofts and Calderon. Calderon in particular was the best right back I can remember in 30 years of watching the Albion and he has actually not signed for anyone else yet, but Gus has made it clear he is not welcome back.

Maybe Gus can pull off some amazing new signings on the cheap, but a) that is actually quite difficult, b) he hasn't signed his new contact yet even though it's been on the table for a couple of weeks, so we actually don't know how committed he is and c) assuming he stays with us, not every signing he makes will be successful, ie, Holroyd!

 

[Mellotron]

As someone earlier said, one of my first thoughts on seeing this transfer confirmed was:

"excellent, this frees up the shape of the team a bit".

Having Crofts as captain made him undroppable, but made it ruddy awkward trying to fit both Dicker and Navarro in the team as well, both better footballers IN MY OPINION (before anyone shouts me down).

Now we can be far more flexible, and hopefully get a proper attacking & creative central midfielder who scores around 10-12 goals a season.

 

[Mellotron]

Overall though, I am excited at the prospect of who Gus is going to bring in. I can't believe the amount of people singing his praises a few months ago who don't trust him at all now.

He knows what he's doing.

 

[Tyrone Biggums]

please gus give us some good news i thought we were building a team

We signed Painter, Brezovan and Caskey, that's pretty good news.

 

[Stumpy Tim]

Since I've supported the Albion the only player I was genuinely gutted to lose was Bobby, and that's because I knew it was impossible to replace him - even at 1.5m quid. We can replace Crofts with 300k

That's my impression anyway. I've never seen him play