Albion reject "final" Leicester bid for Ulloa

[Icy Gull]

We signed Murray who went on to score er, 30+ goals in the Champ and got Palace promoted to Prem.
We signed Ulloa who has seemingly increased his valuation from £2m to £7.5m-10m in the space of 18 months and scores "a goal a game"*
*almost
We signed Barnes who was sold to champ winning team + will presumably play in the Prem* next season...
*sit on the bench.
CMS and Hoskins - unlucky with both due to injuries but CMS certainly knows how to find the net.
and not forgetting Chris Wood...
and our judgement re: Lewis Grabban was probably correct although we obviously messed up there somewhere along the line.

So The worst ? Thats not bad I'd say in recent years. Far better than most Champ clubs.

* and before you mention our loan strikers in last 3 years eg: Lita, Paynter, Vokes (blimey), Obika, Rodriguez were hardly great loanees but then they were only ever meant to be back ups and in the end had only handful of starts amongst them. None of them were signed in hope that they would play 40+ games a season. If you're looking for back ups then unlikely you're going to land someone amazing... unlike CMS, Barnes, Murray, Ulloa, Wood etc.

We have relied on one striker since we arrived in the Championship. That's the way our managers liked it BUT we only had one fit striker for most of the 3 years we've been in the Championship. I can't think of another Championship club who have no decent experienced back which we have not had. I maintain that we are rubbish at signing strikers who know where the net is or aren't past their best or injured. Murray, Barnes and Ulloa over 4 or 5 years is not enough. CMS the jury is till out on at this level imo.

Grabban chose not to sign for us, which I found quite surprising but is also a worry imo

 

[withdeanwombat]

I've nailed some new studs into my old boots and given them a good go over with the dubbin. Once I've agreed personal terms with the Albion, Ulloa will be off.

My medium Albion shirt is incredibly tight these days, though.

See you all at the Amex,

Signed,

Bill Cassidy

 

[Machiavelli]

Actually despite reports elsewhere Argus reporting that its not "necessarily final offer"
via http://www.theargus.co.uk/sport/alb...or_Ulloa_while_Hyypia_chases_his_own_targets/.

Yes, this is another instance where the headline differs from the copy text, although the final is wrapped in scare quotes.

 

[Triggaaar]

We signed him for what, £2m in the first place? With decent scouting you could easily get a like for like replacement for that price, leaving £6m to invest elsewhere

Exactly. Good scouting and speculating on unproven players is how clubs like BHA will progress (especially in the FFP climate).

Selling a player for 7-8m that we could possibly replace for 1-2m is outstanding business.

If only it was that easy. We paid at least £2m, had to wait 18 months, and got lucky that he settled and succeeded over here, meaning we got a bargain. Suggesting we can replace him for £1m is foolish. We can take risks on players at £2m, but to be sure of getting someone as good as Leo you'd need to pay a lot more than £2m. We spent more on CMS and he's not yet been as good as Leo.

 

[Machiavelli]

My thoughts exactly. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but to think we had the option to sign him for a mere fraction of his current asking price when we had him on loan during our promotion season from League One. He would be a fine acquisition for us.

8m + Chris Wood.

 

[chaileyjem]

Yes, this is another instance where the headline differs from the copy text, although the final is wrapped in scare quotes.

The Midland football writer John Percy for the Daily Telegraph said that fourth bid, which Albion rejected this morning, was a "final" bid in a tweet yesterday... thus "despite reports elsewhere" and "final" bid in the thread headline.
[tweet]487246067679772674[/tweet]

 

[Icy Gull]

8m + Chris Wood.

I imagine Chris Wood is on a wage that would break our wage structure

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

Final bid my arse.

Only calling it a final bid so the player kicks up a stink and strikes

 

[Machiavelli]

The Midland football writer John Percy for the Daily Telegraph said that fourth bid, which Albion rejected this morning, was a "final" bid in a tweet yesterday... thus "despite reports elsewhere" and "final" bid in the thread headline.
[tweet]487246067679772674[/tweet]

According to this tweet, the bid's just gone up by £1m/£1.25m/£1.5m over-and-above the other reports. A month ago, I'd say that we should take this. Now McCormack's gone, I think the club are right to hold on to a £10m fee. You do wonder whether they're doing this as a negotiating stance, or because Burke knows (and I'm one that trusts him) that there aren't too many hidden gems out there.

 

[Machiavelli]

I imagine Chris Wood is on a wage that would break our wage structure

He might well be. But he's got a decision to make, because I don't think he'll be playing much first team football where he is, and you have to wonder what that'll do to his career, and long-term earning potential.

 

[chaileyjem]

According to this tweet, the bid's just gone up by £1m/£1.25m/£1.5m over-and-above the other reports.

Percy was reporting a 7.5m figure yesterday for the "fourth bid" .All the other reports (Leicester local paper, Sky, Argus) were going with 6m+ . Perhaps the bid was 6m with 1.5m add ons and he just reported the aggregate fig.

 

[dejavuatbtn]

I'd take that happily and I was one of Wood's biggest critics when he was here but he seems to have come on a lot since then.

We could then use some of the £6m on Murray and Zamora and have all our old strikers back.

To be honest I always quite liked the look of him. He was young and raw but had enough about him in terms of power, pace, strength and eye for goal that gave me the impression he would have agood career at championship level at least. He has a bit of the Neil Mellor look abouthim, a player I really rated but had a career caught short with injury.
£6 and him for Ulloa would easily do it for me.

 

[Icy Gull]

He might well be. But he's got a decision to make, because I don't think he'll be playing much first team football where he is, and you have to wonder what that'll do to his career, and long-term earning potential.

You could say the same about Stephen Ward, these guys are not going to willingly take a big cut in wages to come here, especially Wood who would probably get more money from about half the clubs in the Championship, should he be available.

Upson has taken the money to be a sub only as well I imagine?

Christ I'm a negative **** at the moment

 

[Luke93]

Brighton have complete control here. We're not looking to sell because we don't need to. So we have every right to hold off for a large (and overpriced) sum. Unless Ulloa starts going a Bridcutt, I can't see him leaving for much less than the club's valuation.

 

[Papa Lazarou]

Brighton have complete control here. We're not looking to sell because we don't need to. So we have every right to hold off for a large (and overpriced) sum. Unless Ulloa starts going a Bridcutt, I can't see him leaving for much less than the club's valuation.

Agree. And despite each article trotting out the same line about believing the Ulloa wants to leave or to talk to Leicester, I've seen nothing from him directly, or anything in his body language to suggest he does want to leave.

 

[Machiavelli]

You could say the same about Stephen Ward, these guys are not going to willingly take a big cut in wages to come here, especially Wood who would probably get more money from about half the clubs in the Championship, should he be available.

Christ I'm a negative **** at the moment

Ward's position is slightly different. And he also is in the position where he has to make a decision. It seems as though he's hoping that someone else comes in.
On Ward, he was our second best player last season, and he'd be a worthy addition, but I really do see promise in Chicksen, and if we sign Ward, then we'll probably have to sell Chicksen. Calde can cover at left-back too, as can Maksimenko, so I'm wondering whether we might be better off getting better quality elsewhere.

 

[Icy Gull]

Ward's position is slightly different. And he also is in the position where he has to make a decision. It seems as though he's hoping that someone else comes in.
On Ward, he was our second best player last season, and he'd be a worthy addition, but I really do see promise in Chicksen, and if we sign Ward, then we'll probably have to sell Chicksen. Calde can cover at left-back too, as can Maksimenko, so I'm wondering whether we might be better off getting better quality elsewhere.

I agree re Chicksen but how much can we rely on youth spread through the team? I guess we'll find out a bit in the pre season tour as we don't actually have other options at the moment.

 

[bhawoddy]

It was interesting when the interest in Ulloa first started, but I'm tired of it now....Don't care if he stays or goes TBH

 

[Black Rod]

Great, it took two years to replace Murray, who we should never have let go, with Ulloa and even longer to replace BZ with Murray. I have no faith that the club can find a quality striker before the season starts once we sell Ulloa. We will get a striker or two but our record of signing strikers that know where the net is is probably the worst in the division.

We tried to replace Murray with Mackail-Smith because Gus believed you didn't need that target man type player. That was to do more with a managers incorrect principles than anything to do with the scouting

 

[Machiavelli]

I agree re Chicksen but how much can we rely on youth spread through the team? I guess we'll find out a bit in the pre season tour as we don't actually have other options at the moment.

Your point about youth is a good one, although whether it applies to our defence (Bruno/Calde, Greer, Dunk/another experienced signing?, Chicksen/Ward if he signs) is a different one.