Dale Stephens

[RM-Taylor]

No, it's got to be Bill Withers' "Lovely Day" _

Two part harmony! Most sing Lovely Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaale, whilst Police Box Crew sing Lovely Dale, Lovely Dale, Lovely Dale, LOVELY Dale etc.

I will expect the songmasters to have this sorted by the Bristol City game.

I'll be chanting mine at leeds away, whether or not it catches on is a different thing but not afraid to give it a go, hey it has less than 15 words so shouldn't be too difficult for our fans

 

[Finchley Seagull]

Only 25 years of age hopefully he can play his best years with us injury free. Him and Kayal is the best two man midfield I've seen for the Albion.

Yes, and they only cost us about £1 million between them. I still can't believe nobody really competed with us for Kayal at £350K in January. At that price, it's not really a gamble for a lot of clubs at this level.

Look at how much Derby spent on two central midfielders for comparison and I wouldn't swap Stephens and Kayal for them.

 

[portslade seagull]

He was the best player on the pitch Saturday. When he 1st came in he looked a bit lightweight. How he has changed and scoring as well, can see why Derby tried to sign him but he has added some value now

 

[Discodoktor]

Kayal is also a big part of the reason Stephens is playing so well.

Those two are annihilating the oppositions midfield!

 

[1066familyman]

A cliche I know, but it's so true that you have to control the midfield if you're to stand any chance of doing well as a football team.

In Stephens and Kayal we finally have a rock solid centre mid pairing with fight, vision, skill, leadership and everything else you need and want from this absolutely crucial area of the team. Here's hoping they both stay fit and relatively suspension free for the whole season.

 

[RM-Taylor]

A cliche I know, but it's so true that you have to control the midfield if you're to stand any chance of doing well as a football team.

In Stephens and Kayal we finally have a rock solid centre mid pairing with fight, vision, skill, leadership and everything else you need and want from this absolutely crucial area of the team. Here's hoping they both stay fit and relatively suspension free for the whole season.

Are Stephens and Kayal our new Oatway and Carpenter, we haven't had a good pairing in the centre since either of those went.

 

[NooBHA]

Yes, and they only cost us about £1 million between them. I still can't believe nobody really competed with us for Kayal at £350K in January. At that price, it's not really a gamble for a lot of clubs at this level.

Look at how much Derby spent on two central midfielders for comparison and I wouldn't swap Stephens and Kayal for them.

Actually, the fee paid for Kayal was less than that. I don't know exactly what it was but it was a good bit less than was apparently reported. Perhaps there are add ons if he plays so many games or something like that, which might eventually take it up to £350K but its not that high up front

 

[dazzer6666]

Actually, the fee paid for Kayal was less than that. I don't know exactly what it was but it was a good bit less than was apparently reported. Perhaps there are add ons if he plays so many games or something like that, which might eventually take it up to £350K but its not that high up front

Reckon he has already added an extra zero to that

 

[NooBHA]

Reckon he has already added an extra zero to that

I totally agree but he came to Brighton with a bad injury record and from a club that were looking to rebuild at that time so we were taking a chance with an injury prone player, hence the low fee

 

[dazzer6666]

I totally agree but he came to Brighton with a bad injury record and from a club that were looking to rebuild at that time so we were taking a chance with an injury prone player, hence the low fee

Yeah....still early days in the great scheme of things with his injury record but we'll get enquiries in January I suspect. Can't see CH or TB letting either him or Stephens go now though (after what happened with Dunk). Good times.

 

[severnside gull]

Southampton had Stephens on loan from Oldham in the run-in to promotion n 2011 and perhaps surprisingly didn't turn it into a permanent deal. He then went to Charlton where I think they reckoned he was too similar a player to Johnnie Jackson. They sold him to us for only £100K or so more than they paid for him.
Now he's enjoying the form of his life I suspect Charlton will be thinking that they missed a trick and if he continues in this vein of form Saints and a few other top-tier sides might just take another look. Based on the current market you would guess his current value as an English born midfielder with an eye for goal would start at around £4m.

 

[RM-Taylor]

Stephens current deal runs until the summer of 2017, you'd like to imagine that we are already talking to his agent about signing an extension.

 

[RM-Taylor]

Based on the current market you would guess his current value as an English born midfielder with an eye for goal would start at around £4m.

Personally I'd rate him a bit more than that, how much did Bradley Johnson move to Derby for? They only signed him as attempts to sign Stephens from us failed.

 

[theboybilly]

I will say yes but not exactly sure I know what you mean

I don't understand 99.99% of what AP&SCT says in any of his posts

 

[samtheseagull]

Southampton had Stephens on loan from Oldham in the run-in to promotion n 2011 and perhaps surprisingly didn't turn it into a permanent deal. He then went to Charlton where I think they reckoned he was too similar a player to Johnnie Jackson. They sold him to us for only £100K or so more than they paid for him.
Now he's enjoying the form of his life I suspect Charlton will be thinking that they missed a trick and if he continues in this vein of form Saints and a few other top-tier sides might just take another look. Based on the current market you would guess his current value as an English born midfielder with an eye for goal would start at around £4m.

We paid more than 100k for him

 

[samtheseagull]

Personally I'd rate him a bit more than that, how much did Bradley Johnson move to Derby for? They only signed him as attempts to sign Stephens from us failed.

Johnson went for 6 million

 

[Brighton Mod]

Both Kayal and Stephens play a great role for us, I would like see more accuracy and vision from Stephens.

 

[severnside gull]

We paid more than 100k for him

Indeed we did. We paid somewhere between £400K and £500K.
Charlton bought him from Oldham for between £300K and £350K depending on whose estimate you accept.
The difference as I said was about £100K.
My guess is that Charlton might have asked for more had they not taken the view that Stephens and Jackson was not a viable pairing.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

We paid more than 100k for him

Yes. Which is what he said.