TRon

I don't know who posted it but there was a quote from an American sports coach along the lines of "I'd rather risk losing a player a year before his peak than a year after it." Sums the situation up quite well for me. Can't wait to see West Ham try and recoup that fee.

so would Neil Warnock.

Cue a 6 month absence from these boards by brummie

Any chance we could change it to Pussi?

Warnock is 30 this year. Might as well be dead tbh. Come off it man. Replacing Enrique with Warnock would definitely be a step backwards. Finally something to be seriously pissed at the board for.

Got to admit I don't take much interest in other teams these days so know fuck all about Warnock. He could be playing for Leeds for all I know.

He'd be Zico if he played in the SPL.

I'm getting hen pecked these days, wife and daughter means I end up watching fucking One Tree Hill instead of footy.

Ditto. I haven't really followed Warnock much but if he was any good Liverpool wouldn't be trying to buy Enrique.

I think you're missing something, aye, a measly 4m for our club captain. He might as well have bloody stayed or the board give him a longer f***ing contract for that much We might as well have given him a longer contract, which would be a terrible idea, simply because the fee isn't massive? I don't think a longer contract would have been terrible whatsoever in hindsight, I might have felt differently if we got, say, £8m for him and that £8m was guarenteed to actually buy his replacement. I dont think many on here would argue against that, but for the sake of only 4m he might as well have stayed. Just how I feel about it really. Still.. lets see if any more CM's come in He wanted 5 years, even if he'd have accepted 4 years are you saying giving him that kind of contract would be a good idea? He'd still be here on £50k a week when he's 33 which is a terrible idea IMO. The fee we're receiving doesn't change that. If it came down to a 2 year extension or him leaving, I would rather he had stayed if that was the sticking point. Depends on the contract itself really, a 2 year extension on what he had wouldn't have been so bad for the financial frantics on here if it was more performance based then the full whack regardless of goals, appearances, etc. It still would have opened the door to him leaving at this point next year, if this upcoming season he didnt do as well as the last. It's all if's and but's really, guess we wont know how it will affect the team and the points we pick up next season until then. I'm just not too happy so far at the speculation that it was either him or Cabaye, i would rather have seen both and give the boot, if saving money is some peoples main priority As fans we have this idealistic way of looking at things but in reality it never works like that. Who would want Smith? And which team in reality would give Nolan a 4 year contract if he's not going to be first choice next season? Nolan had the choice to stay for another two years but chose to leave for more money in a lower league. Cash is a priority whether we like to admit it or not, both for us as a club and Nolan as an individual.

We said the Championship was going to be hard to get out of when we went down but we absolutely strolled it. The teams down there haven't got the finishing power of a can of Raid fly spray.

Despite the fact I slagged him when he was in the team I do agree he's a decent squad player. My problem has been he's a player who hides when he's used regularly, but coming in as a squad player he's still pretty handy. Far better technically than Nolan although not as strong a character.

they won't need them. Two big centre halves, a big forward and Nolan to pick up the scraps from dead ball situations and that'll do it. You can fill the rest of the 11 with pretty much anyone really.

No it isn't. UV has a library of posts which he's bookmarked and filed away for future reference. What is the point of the internet if you can't put such diligent cyber-plotting to good use?

While i think Nolan is the right type of player to get them out of that division, Allardyce is building up a lot of problems getting beyond that. Even if they go up they'll have players on big wages who are declining and won't get shifted in a hurry.

Yeah, actually. Could see it. I think he's slightly better than Barton personally, but it would be another one step forward, one backwards scenario. Surely there is no way Barton is staying now? I thought he was likely to go anyway, but today just seals it. Unless he does as a few have suggested and simply sits tight waiting for a free move next season? I doubt the club are that arsed tbh. He's got a year left and as long as he doesn't disrupt the new squad he'll still be a useful player next season, especially with Nolan leaving. Going off the interview though he seems to be getting ready to go.

A £1million fee is pointless when it gets Ryan Taylor games. There's still 30 odd million left in the kitty. If we can't find someone better than Routledge the head scout wants shooting with shit.

He's served his purpose and we got the fee back. What were they expected to do; sign him on for as long as he wants and accept diminishing returns? No place for sentimentality - we need to make progress. Some of you would have rather we kept Gavin Peacock and David Kelly. People believed in Keegan and Sir John. Who believes in Ashley, Llambias and Pardew to take us forward? I'll tell you in August. Let's see who comes in first. No problem with the moves so far though.

Remember Viduka, Geremi and Smith being ushered in under Fat Sham? Groundhog Day.

I'd have gladly taken £3million that we originally turned down. Says more about you tbh. Yeah dumb old me who didn't want to sell Zog for £6million and now we are looking at paying double to buy him back. Has fuck all to with this. It shows judgement though.

I'd have gladly taken £3million that we originally turned down. Says more about you tbh. Yeah dumb old me who didn't want to sell Zog for £6million and now we are looking at paying double to buy him back.

Oh noes! let's reduce the fee to £1.5 million!

I'd have gladly taken £3million that we originally turned down.

Because on his day, he's invaluable. As rare as those days are. He's worth keeping for the goals. But if you are running a football club you have to weigh up how valuable and over how many years. Would he be valuable enough to keep in the first team next season and not have bought Cabaye? Nope, always thought we needed a CM upgrade. But how often have we played our 1st choice side this season? We need options and he's a pretty decent one to turn to when you're chasing a goal. Other people have said it and I agree...he's not a player that would be effective coming off the bench. Not that I think Nolan would have stayed anyway if he wasn't going to be a first team player as has been proved by the move to West Ham.