lucas neill

[SJ's Love Monkey]

Thanks m8....i think you're probably right about the signings. We're now in a division where you have to pay what it takes to get the player you want. I wouldn't be surprised if another bid goes in for Upson. If we have to pay £8-10 million to get him then so be it.
Our new owners have said that they want us to be up with the top 3 in the next few years.....quite mind blowing stuff considdering we've always played second fiddle to most other London clubs

But that is English football now mate, the rewards from Sky and Champions League football are so high that every club seems to virtually bankrupt themselves trying to grab a piece of the pie. This Icelandic fella at West Ham obviously thinks he has the clout to back up what is a very bold statement and i am sure no West Ham fan will be grumbling if he delivers what he promises. Unfortunately as you say dropping out of the Premiership means such dire financial consequences now that to stay there you sometimes have to pay over the odds for players.

 

[Timbo]

Our new owners have said that they want us to be up with the top 3 in the next few years.....quite mind blowing stuff considdering we've always played second fiddle to most other London clubs

Hang on a minute! Just because they've said it........

 

[SJ's Love Monkey]

Hang on a minute! Just because they've said it........

Of course there is a huge difference between saying and doing but if this Magnusson bloke feels he has the financial muscle to get West Ham into the top 3 then good luck to him. On the other hand he is hardly going to come out and say we are just happy with getting 40 points a season and staying up each year is he?

 

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

jealousy is such a wasted emotion.......

And who exactly have BHA signed

Do you think he's worth 60,000 a week? Personally I think he is an average premier league player and find it a little bit shocking that the money he will make in a month would be enough to sort our whole team out. It just seems crazy that a 'nothing special' player can make so much money.

Although thinking about it, if he's worth 60 grand a week, I reckon I must be worth about 300quid. I'll have to have a word with my sunday league manager...

 

[SJ's Love Monkey]

Do you think he's worth 60,000 a week? Personally I think he is an average premier league player and find it a little bit shocking that the money he will make in a month would be enough to sort our whole team out. It just seems crazy that a 'nothing special' player can make so much money.

Although thinking about it, if he's worth 60 grand a week, I reckon I must be worth about 300quid. I'll have to have a word with my sunday league manager...

But he is an experienced Premiership player and a full international and rightly or wrongly that is the going rate for players with that criteria.

 

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

But he is an experienced Premiership player and a full international and rightly or wrongly that is the going rate for players with that criteria.

Yeah, I know. It just that the gap between the top(even the mediocre end of it) and the rest of us never ceases to amaze me.

 

[pasty]

what money-grabbing twats Premiership players really are.

I read an interview with Stuart Pierce the other day in which he asked one of his players (un-named) if, given the choice, would they prefer a new Ferrari or an England call up. Guess what the answer was.........(hint, he wouldn't need football boots).

The amount of money some players are raking in is nothing short of obscene. Newspaper talk currently reckons the first 200K per week contract will be signed by the end of this season, with John Terry favourite to get it.

 

[Timbo]

But he is an experienced Premiership player and a full international and rightly or wrongly that is the going rate for players with that criteria.

Of course Palace know all about big money signings following the capture of 'Dave Martin from Dartford'.

 

[SJ's Love Monkey]

Of course Palace know all about big money signings following the capture of 'Dave Martin from Dartford'.

I am pleased we have plundered the lower leagues for a player, i can't remember the last time we actually done that and at £25k it isn't a risk is it? He may well peter out and be back playing for Dartford within a year but on the other hand he might be a gem.

Who have you signed again?

 

[jevs]

Do you think he's worth 60,000 a week? Personally I think he is an average premier league player and find it a little bit shocking that the money he will make in a month would be enough to sort our whole team out. It just seems crazy that a 'nothing special' player can make so much money.

I think he's worth whatever it takes. If the manager has earmarked him and wants him so bad, that what he'll have to pay....it's the crazy world we live in today i'm afraid.

We've just had a £6m bid for Upson turned down by Brum. Now personally if the manager thinks he's that good, he should offer 8....even 10 million for him.

 

[Da Man Clay]

8 or 10 Million quid for an average Championship defender!? The world has gone insane.

 

[Pavilionaire]

It's West Ham that have gone insane. I've not seen a relegation-threatened club panic buy like this before.

I see Matt Upson has just turned them down - £6 million for an aver age defender, and if Lucas Neill's wages are anything to go by Upson was probably offered upwards of £50,000 per week.

And how can Pompey sign Lauren and pay him half of what Neill's on when Lauren is clearly the better player? Has Neill got Champions League experience over several seasons? No.

I fully expect West Ham to get out of trouble, but there is something very wrong with football. It puts into perspective what a great job Coppell has done at Reading.

 

[NMH]

It's West Ham that have gone insane. I've not seen a relegation-threatened club panic buy like this before.

I see Matt Upson has just turned them down - £6 million for an aver age defender, and if Lucas Neill's wages are anything to go by Upson was probably offered upwards of £50,000 per week.

And how can Pompey sign Lauren and pay him half of what Neill's on when Lauren is clearly the better player? Has Neill got Champions League experience over several seasons? No.

I fully expect West Ham to get out of trouble, but there is something very wrong with football. It puts into perspective what a great job Coppell has done at Reading.

A 'cultivated' club with a wise-headed manager - and scouts - should really have in place a prepared list of target players who fit their criteria for places that require strengthening. However, the big 'IF' comes into it when their targets are not available for sale, are too expensive for their budget, don't want to come, or require personal terms that are not negotiable. It's seldom that all the requirements are met by both parties, and if the move is even 'on the cards', there are many things that can still scupper the deal. One might be personality of players and management!

You would think that West Ham, as a famous Premiership club, could cherry-pick from the lower divisions. But - so are the rest of the Prem clubs, and the most established will get first dibs.
Witness Wigan's fall. Their best player/playmaker was pinched at the beginning of this season, by Fulham. Since then, they've struggled to get the form back that got them so high last season - - - and now they can't close any deals for players! Good club, respectable and sensible manager, ambitious but struggling. Not uber-wealthy though, and may even find themselves worse off for having had 2 seasons at top flight!

Coppell, it must be said, will probably find the funds available to him. He's good at spotting decent talent that will fit in, he gets them to work for him, and he's got ambition to spare. I'd bet on him to do well.

Roy Keane might also bring Sunderland up quickly, the way things look - they say he's calm and collected...amazingly.

Looking at the quality of the teams going down from the Prem, you'd have to say that Watford were always doomed. They're a Championship side at best, and can't aspire to more than that. They haven't spent enough to stay up, and will lose their best players now anyway.

West Ham? Probably better, on paper, than Sheffield U, Charlton, Wigan and perhaps even Fulham. Aston Villa won't go down, but Man City still have work to do. Management-wise, Charlton and WHU should have a chance purely on the strength of their managers.

Predicting things from here, I'd forecast Watford, Sheffield Utd and Wigan to go down. Based on their potential-player 'pulling power', and current-player form.

 

[enigma]

Noone is saying Neill is a bad player
- it's just there is no way on earth he is worth £60,000 a week.

£60,000 is not the going rate for players of his ability- £30,000 or so is, hence why Liverpool wouldnt meet his demands. West Ham have been mugged.

The Icelandic bloke might want West Ham to be one of the top clubs in the country, but judging by some of the players they have bought, it probably isn't going to happen.

 

[enigma]

8 or 10 Million quid for an average Championship defender!? The world has gone insane.

Bit harsh on Upson that, he was good for Birmingham in the Prem, but he isn't worth that, particularly with his contract expiring fairly soon.

 

[Silent Bob]

8 or 10 Million quid for an average Championship defender!?

No, Matthew Upson.

 

[Silent Bob]

Noone is saying Neill is a bad player
- it's just there is no way on earth he is worth £60,000 a week.

£60,000 is not the going rate for players of his ability- £30,000 or so is, hence why Liverpool wouldnt meet his demands. West Ham have been mugged.

£30k is more than the going rate I'd say, Aston Villa for example only have one player who is on as much as that. Liverpool probably pay that, but non top 4 clubs don't, West Ham are just rich and desperate.

 

[SJ's Love Monkey]

Noone is saying Neill is a bad player
- it's just there is no way on earth he is worth £60,000 a week.

£60,000 is not the going rate for players of his ability- £30,000 or so is, hence why Liverpool wouldnt meet his demands. West Ham have been mugged.

The Icelandic bloke might want West Ham to be one of the top clubs in the country, but judging by some of the players they have bought, it probably isn't going to happen.

But West ham are in a corner and are desperate and Neill knew that i expect. Having said that it isn't Lucas Neill's fault West Ham ofered him £60k a week is it? If it is on offer who wouldn't take it?

 

[enigma]

£30k is more than the going rate I'd say, Aston Villa for example only have one player who is on as much as that. Liverpool probably pay that, but non top 4 clubs don't, West Ham are just rich and desperate.

Agreed.

 

[SJ's Love Monkey]

Well the Icelandic bloke is anyway!!