[Albion] Knockaert joins Fulham on initial one-year loan

[Bra]

I like AK and think he is better than most of our other wide options and would always be disappointed by his departure. But I understand that the club has to be run as a business and if a great offer comes in, say 50m for Dunk, we will take it.
4M loan fee or 10M in a years time if reports are correct. Seriously can anyone think that makes good business sense. The prices being quoted for others, Mossett at Bournemouth 10M, Mcburnie with less of a track record 15m and we think this fee is good.
Utter madness

 

[blockhseagull]

I must be watching games in a parallel universe.

You must be yeah

 

[Stat Brother]

Who else is going to take credit? Did the ball propel itself towards goal?

So far you have tried to compare a tap-in from 3 yards created by the opposition, to a goal out of nothing and Goal of the Season winner, and now trying to re-write history again by suggesting Jurgen Locadia was the main reason we got to Wembley with his match-winner at Millwall.

Get in touch with reality.

No the keeper threw it in, the free kick missed all Albion players and was missing the goal.
Hence Big Jurg singlefootedly getting us to Wembley as his foot was the only one that genuinely did anything of worth.

As a metaphor of AK and the pearl clutching on this thread Wembley is a fine example.

It's a game we lost, lost to nil.
All his endeavour and bluster amount to nothing.

Which in fairness was still considerably more than Big Jurg's Millwall game were we were treated to 73 minutes of f**k all from AK.


As for 'goal of the season', of course it was it was fantastic, and to do that on the first attempt...




...oh no hang on that was about the hundredth attempt, which was still less than the attempts we had to sit through after the event.

 

[Ecosse Exile]

There is nothing at all logical about having several of our players on 'highest earner' clauses. It would be madness if we did, and I don't think Bloom is mad.

Short thinking at best, unless you are very confident that you wont be signing anyone on higher wages during the length of that contract (5 years in Dunks case), but then why else renew Dunks contract when he still has 4 years to run on his previous one.

Just playing devils advocate, but perhaps this was written into Dunks contract at a time (in the championship) when we didn't ever envisage paying the sort of wages we are being asked to now.

 

[Mo Gosfield]

Never seen March rip a PL team like AK has done.

List of games please...just for interest.

 

[Berty23]

Knock going will make me sad

 

[deslynhamsmoustache1]

This is all just part of us evolving as the Squad will contain next to none of the Promoted side in a year or two's time. Can see Stephens being the next to return to the Championship.We are clearly going for youth, which I think is the real gamble now. However if it pays off it will put the club in a very rewarding financial situation as the big boys come knocking to pick off the talent.Big business v sentiment = business wins every time.

 

[Captain Sensible]

Have we considered that maybe Knockaert wants to go? Or maybe the Club want him to go? To Loan a player out of that quality or sell him for peanuts is crazy. There must be more to it?

 

[Triggaaar]

Short thinking at best, unless you are very confident that you wont be signing anyone on higher wages during the length of that contract (5 years in Dunks case)

Indeed.

but then why else renew Dunks contract when he still has 4 years to run on his previous one.

Because the player wants a pay rise, and the club think he's earned it whilst also wanting to secure him for a longer term. If he had a highest earner clause, they wouldn't need to sign a new contract, he'd just automatically get more.

Just playing devils advocate, but perhaps this was written into Dunks contract at a time (in the championship) when we didn't ever envisage paying the sort of wages we are being asked to now.

The club was set up to get promoted. Of course they envisaged getting promoted and employing people on higher wages.

That's not to say I'm right, I have no inside info, but it would be madness to have someone like Knocky on a highest earner clause. Is our club really being run by amateurs?

 

[Stat Brother]

Have we considered that maybe Knockaert wants to go? Or maybe the Club want him to go? To Loan a player out of that quality or sell him for peanuts is crazy. There must be more to it?

They'd be crazy to allow the player being discussed on this thread to leave.
Although I think it's the right decision to let Knockaert go, he's nowhere near as good.

 

[Triggaaar]

That said, I would rather have AK than Jahanbakhsh and have said so on the Ali J thread, but the reality is we are NOT going to offload Ali or Locadia for anything like what we payed for them.

So our PL plan is to keep the poorer players and get rid of the better one, because he's the only one other teams want? What a shit way to run a PL club that would be. If the others aren't good enough, loan them out. If we can't sell them, take the hit financially. It will be cheaper than getting relegated, which is what will happen if we deliberately offload our better players.

 

[deslynhamsmoustache1]

Have we considered that maybe Knockaert wants to go? Or maybe the Club want him to go? To Loan a player out of that quality or sell him for peanuts is crazy. There must be more to it?

This. Maybe someone is coming the other way

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

What nonsense is this? How is the timing right? Happy with Locadia and Ali J and some unknown quantity as wingers? Why would you want to dispense with one of our best players and one of the few 'flair' options we have? And someone who has a real passion for the club. You'll be trying to convince us of the benefits of a no-deal Brexit next.

I will point you to [MENTION=17103]Mo Gosfield[/MENTION]’s excellent post #799. I will not be able to explain my feelings any better than this post.

 

[Bra]

I don't think it has helped my angst that we hear from Barber how difficult the market is being so hyper-inflated. Not where this deal is concerned it isn't!

 

[Sarisbury Seagull]

Good summary. So my question to the Knocky knockers is who do they think we have who is better than Knocky in his position?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Solly March.

 

[Mo Gosfield]

I would agree with nearly all of that, if not for comparison with our other wide players.

I think the question is why him? Why is Knocky moved on when he has outperformed every other wide player in the squad?

I'm sure we could quite easily rip most of our players apart if we wanted to, they each have some pretty glaring faults. That's why they play for us and not a top side, but surely Knockaert did enough when compared to the rest.

Whether it's for personal reasons, to free up high wages or this highest earner clause crap, that is the question people are asking along with some understandable sentiment.

I go back to my post and re-iterate. Knocky, for all his talent, makes the highest number of simple errors ( e.g giving the ball away under no pressure ) than any other player in the squad. We are not a talented, free scoring group of players that can brush off regular mistakes. We have to grind out opportunities, keep the opposition away from the ball as much as possible and try and limit our number of errors. Players are very quick and very direct at this level. If you give the ball away, when you are pushing forward, committed and stretched, you will be punished. I agree others are guilty as well but Knocky stands out as the most culpable and its often a result of him trying to be too clever or do too much. He still hasn't learnt ( and his personality determines that he won't ) that its all about simple, quick, direct football played with a decent degree of accuracy. Unless players can fit into this blueprint, then they won't fit in the PL.
Others will disagree with this viewpoint. I feel he is just not solid enough at this level.

 

[GT49er]

If it's £4M for the loan, or buy at £10M, then it looks like a great deal for Fulham. He can shine in the Championship, get Fulham promoted, and then they can just give him back because they won't want him in the PL.
All speculation though really - doubtless every detail will be "undisclosed" as usual.

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

Never seen March rip a PL team like AK has done.

I have never seen either of them exactly rip a PL team apart as you put it, the odd snippet of brilliance maybe, but that's about it.

 

[Surf's Up]

I agree....but some on here are making out that he is some sort of talismanic genius.
It's too rose-tinted for me. Very good in the Championship, which is his true level. Unfortunately, he makes far too many basic,simple errors at PL level and that is why he doesn't hold down a regular place in the starting line-up. He lays the ball off without looking, over and over again. He drove CH to distraction. He hasn't got the delicacy of touch that you would expect either. His dead-balls are all very similar. All whipped in with pace and mostly overhit.
On the other hand, he is frustratingly capable of moments of brilliance. These are few and far between at the highest level because he is up against much more clever players, who know how to unsettle him and ruffle him up. The moment he tries to overplay, its a lost ball and the opposition are in possession.
Believe it or not, I like Knocky and have huge respect for what he did in the Championship but he has driven me mad in the PL with his inability to knuckle down and simplify his style. This is his achilles heel. When he stops over playing, keeps the ball moving quickly and simply, he looks a different player. Unfortunately, he cannot stop reverting to type ( loose extravagance ) which then moves him more towards being a liabilty and indicates a lack of footballing nous.
He is a top of the ground, seat of the pants, heart on the sleeve, emotional, complex mixture, that can work at a lower level. The PL is a cold, calculating, ruthless environment, not best suited to him.

The hit head nail the on. I'll still miss him though.

 

[Stat Brother]

I go back to my post and re-iterate. Knocky, for all his talent, makes the highest number of simple errors ( e.g giving the ball away under no pressure ) than any other player in the squad. We are not a talented, free scoring group of players that can brush off regular mistakes. We have to grind out opportunities, keep the opposition away from the ball as much as possible and try and limit our number of errors. Players are very quick and very direct at this level. If you give the ball away, when you are pushing forward, committed and stretched, you will be punished. I agree others are guilty as well but Knocky stands out as the most culpable and its often a result of him trying to be too clever or do too much. He still hasn't learnt ( and his personality determines that he won't ) that its all about simple, quick, direct football played with a decent degree of accuracy. Unless players can fit into this blueprint, then they won't fit in the PL.
Others will disagree with this viewpoint. I feel he is just not solid enough at this level.

Some appear to have got themselves so bent out of shape, over this, they are confusing their emotional responses to AK at the AMEX and the time when they happened.

I don't recognise the AK being sanctified on this thread as the player I've watched over the last 2 seasons.