Demba Ba (now retired)

[Interpolic]

And I realise I'm speculating there tbh, just thinking of plausible situations where this clause may have been agreed.  I hope to fuck it doesn't exist and this is a load of bollocks.

[9]

If its less than 7m thats a total steal and he surely would be far better keeping that info to himself and bidding, why let every team in Europe know there's a prolific goalscorer available for next to nothing, really makes no sense

[ChrisMcQuillan]

Is it beyond the realms of possibility that 'Arry the wheeler dealer's being paid by Demba's agent to spout this, so that his agent can get a huge cut of the new deal, passing some of it to 'Arry?

[Guest neesy111]

Is it beyond the realms of possibility that 'Arry the wheeler dealer's being paid by Demba's agent to spout this, so that his agent can get a huge cut of the new deal, passing some of it to 'Arry?

 

Nothing is impossible with 'Arry.

[Sifu]

Anyone thought that the reason bollock face hasn't bid is because he cant, the release clause could be for current champions league teams only, that rules him out, hence the bitterness from stroke face.

 

Hoping so anyhoo.

 

I've read that allegedly the team needs to be in the top six or be playing European football for the clause to be activated.

 

If it was top 6 i would have thought strokeface would have bid already, he talking about Demba in a way that makes you think he wants him but cant have him, but doesn't want us to have him either, jealousy like, if you get what i mean.

 

Indeed.....

[9]

Even if true its a odd low value, west ham paid what 8m? He was a huge success and is now valued less. I understand when you get a quality player free there's going to be a lot of agreements in his contract that wouldn't normally be there, just very strange

[Interpolic]

Even if true its a odd low value, west ham paid what 8m? He was a huge success and is now valued less. I understand when you get a quality player free there's going to be a lot of agreements in his contract that wouldn't normally be there, just very strange

 

West Ham got him for nothing I think.

 

Edit: undisclosed fee, believed to be highly focussed on appearances.  He then left after a few months.

[Guest bimpy474]

Even if true its a odd low value, west ham paid what 8m? He was a huge success and is now valued less. I understand when you get a quality player free there's going to be a lot of agreements in his contract that wouldn't normally be there, just very strange

 

West Ham got him for nothing I think.

 

They paid £6m i think it was, thats why it was a mental deal to have release clause of zero if they went down.

 

Edit : Stoke agreed a £6m fee for Demba then obviously pulled out, i reckon thats where the £6m figure come from.

[mrmojorisin75]

It does make sense though Jon, if we've given him a low basic wage and made his contract highly performance-based then it's potentially something negotiated by Ba's people to compensate for that.  Nobody's saying it's something the club's insisted on, more something we may have agreed to.

 

i think this is most likely too - thing is with shitface going public it's up to MA and DL to get into Ba's agent(s) now and renegotiate his deal and get rid of the clause, NO EXCUSE if that does not happen imo and he leaves

 

hopefully this whole thing is just a renegotiation tactic from his agent(s)

[Mole_Toonfan]

This guy was blowing his nut when Chelsea were ready to 'poach' Modric from him... 6 months later and he's basically telling everyone the ins and outs of a player's contract that's not even on his team's books?

 

No class. Horrible Camden Market wheeler dealer.

 

Word for f*cking word.

[oldtype]

If the clause exists he'd be gone already. At least, that's what I choose to believe.

[Cajun]

If it does exist then I'd wonder why.  Was it to give us the advantage over other clubs when signing him?  If the clause is as reported then it seems a very shortsighted deal by us and a) I'd wonder what we're putting in our other players' contracts; and b) I'd hope we'd at least learn from this and cover ourselves going forward.

 

Why? Because we've been bit in the balls in the past regarding signing players on long term contracts, and then getting long-term injuries (*cough*Owen*cough*).

 

I'd imagine Ba's the only player at NUFC atm with a release clause purely because of the apparent 'dodgy' knee.

 

Still doesn't make any sense, the only reason this clause would be activated would be because he is playing well. If he was injured or shit we would accept anything to get him off the books, NOT give him a release clause no club would pay when we were desperate to get rid.

 

It does make sense though Jon, if we've given him a low basic wage and made his contract highly performance-based then it's potentially something negotiated by Ba's people to compensate for that.  Nobody's saying it's something the club's insisted on, more something we may have agreed to.

 

In that context I suppose it does, that's not the way I read TU's post though.

 

I still find it hard to believe, criticise the board for whatever you want but fucking themselves out of money isn't something they do very often and Ba's 'exploding knees' had us in the driving seat when negotiating a contract.

 

Maybe the clause is true, just a number of factors make it very difficult to believe (as said we were holding all the cards,  why hasn't a club spoken to him yet especially as the ACN must cause some difficulty trying to sign a player once it's under way etc..).

 

A player who has scored 15 goals already this season at £5m isn't any sort of gamble at all, especially given the amount of games he has managed the past few years despite dodgy knees (think his career average was about 30 games a season, which means with a 1 in less than 2 goalscoring record you are looking at 15 games a season) as said, doesn't make any sense.

 

[Sifu]

The condition of Ba's knee could put off some clubs actually. Would the more bigger clubs be willing to take a risk with him? As in will they be willing to offer him a better contract than what he has here and one which is long term? There's always going to be that risk that his knee could go at any time.....

[Zero]

He is as good.as.gone

 

[Ritchie]

We need to get him a crate of syrup so he can fake a knee injury at the Nations.

[Sifu]

If it does exist then I'd wonder why.  Was it to give us the advantage over other clubs when signing him?  If the clause is as reported then it seems a very shortsighted deal by us and a) I'd wonder what we're putting in our other players' contracts; and b) I'd hope we'd at least learn from this and cover ourselves going forward.

 

Why? Because we've been bit in the balls in the past regarding signing players on long term contracts, and then getting long-term injuries (*cough*Owen*cough*).

 

I'd imagine Ba's the only player at NUFC atm with a release clause purely because of the apparent 'dodgy' knee.

 

Still doesn't make any sense, the only reason this clause would be activated would be because he is playing well. If he was injured or s*** we would accept anything to get him off the books, NOT give him a release clause no club would pay when we were desperate to get rid.

 

It does make sense though Jon, if we've given him a low basic wage and made his contract highly performance-based then it's potentially something negotiated by Ba's people to compensate for that.  Nobody's saying it's something the club's insisted on, more something we may have agreed to.

 

In that context I suppose it does, that's not the way I read TU's post though.

 

I still find it hard to believe, criticise the board for whatever you want but f***ing themselves out of money isn't something they do very often and Ba's 'exploding knees' had us in the driving seat when negotiating a contract.

 

Maybe the clause is true, just a number of factors make it very difficult to believe (as said we were holding all the cards,  why hasn't a club spoken to him yet especially as the ACN must cause some difficulty trying to sign a player once it's under way etc..).

 

A player who has scored 15 goals already this season at £5m isn't any sort of gamble at all, especially given the amount of games he has managed the past few years despite dodgy knees (think his career average was about 30 games a season, which means with a 1 in less than 2 goalscoring record you are looking at 15 games a season) as said, doesn't make any sense.

 

 

Hmm, good point

[mrmojorisin75]

If the clause exists he'd be gone already. At least, that's what I choose to believe.

 

unlikely people will sign a player with a 'dodgy knee' prior to the ACoN imo...those pitches are a fucking disgrace to humanity, it wouldn't make sense even at a knockdown price imo

[Interpolic]

This guy was blowing his nut when Chelsea were ready to 'poach' Modric from him... 6 months later and he's basically telling everyone the ins and outs of a player's contract that's not even on his team's books?

 

No class. Horrible Camden Market wheeler dealer.

 

No way he's classy enough for Camden market like, Roman Road market selling Topshop seconds perhaps.

 

The Modric point is a good one, the only reason he's never been pulled up on this is surely that he has the press in his pocket and that's not good enough from the FA.

[oldtype]

If it does exist then I'd wonder why.  Was it to give us the advantage over other clubs when signing him?  If the clause is as reported then it seems a very shortsighted deal by us and a) I'd wonder what we're putting in our other players' contracts; and b) I'd hope we'd at least learn from this and cover ourselves going forward.

 

Why? Because we've been bit in the balls in the past regarding signing players on long term contracts, and then getting long-term injuries (*cough*Owen*cough*).

 

I'd imagine Ba's the only player at NUFC atm with a release clause purely because of the apparent 'dodgy' knee.

 

Still doesn't make any sense, the only reason this clause would be activated would be because he is playing well. If he was injured or shit we would accept anything to get him off the books, NOT give him a release clause no club would pay when we were desperate to get rid.

 

It does make sense though Jon, if we've given him a low basic wage and made his contract highly performance-based then it's potentially something negotiated by Ba's people to compensate for that.  Nobody's saying it's something the club's insisted on, more something we may have agreed to.

 

In that context I suppose it does, that's not the way I read TU's post though.

 

I still find it hard to believe, criticise the board for whatever you want but fucking themselves out of money isn't something they do very often and Ba's 'exploding knees' had us in the driving seat when negotiating a contract.

 

Maybe the clause is true, just a number of factors make it very difficult to believe (as said we were holding all the cards,  why hasn't a club spoken to him yet especially as the ACN must cause some difficulty trying to sign a player once it's under way etc..).

 

A player who has scored 15 goals already this season at £5m isn't any sort of gamble at all, especially given the amount of games he has managed the past few years despite dodgy knees (think his career average was about 30 games a season, which means with a 1 in less than 2 goalscoring record you are looking at 15 games a season) as said, doesn't make any sense.

 

 

Agree. How does the clause make sense at all for this board?

 

If he plays well they miss out on an extra 10~20 mil they could have made.

 

If he plays badly nobody would pay them the money anyway.

 

Given the way they work, if Ba's agent had demanded a clause I'm pretty sure they would have told him to fuck off. We were actively pursuing other strikers at the time too.

[mrmojorisin75]

i want to see a reaction from pardew and/or the club on this like, it's a fucking disgrace and someone should say so....for once people who are on twitter should put it to some use and get laid into some journalists about the hypocrisy (modric) and flagrant breaking of the rules

 

it'll be a massive disappointment if the club just let this slide by

[Cajun]

If the clause exists he'd be gone already. At least, that's what I choose to believe.

 

unlikely people will sign a player with a 'dodgy knee' prior to the ACoN imo...those pitches are a fucking disgrace to humanity, it wouldn't make sense even at a knockdown price imo

 

I assume this isn't Ba's first ACN?

 

Would the clubs all agree to hold fire on a bid until the ACN is over then battle for his signature? £5m for a £25m forward is a worthwhile gamble. Liverpool were willing to gamble £35m on a striker with half a seasons experience and a few injuries himself to put this into context, in fact if you looked at how many games Carroll has missed through injuries the last 2 years compared to Ba I would be surprised if Carroll's wasn't actually worse.

[oldtype]

If the clause exists he'd be gone already. At least, that's what I choose to believe.

 

unlikely people will sign a player with a 'dodgy knee' prior to the ACoN imo...those pitches are a fucking disgrace to humanity, it wouldn't make sense even at a knockdown price imo

 

I think there would be plenty of clubs who would consider the chance to sign one of the best strikers in the world for a fraction of his value well worth the risk.

[alexf]

The most annoying thing about this is that Ba seemed to be the least of our worries going into January. The way he was playing his value must have been around £20m atleast but we all knew no one would pay that with his dodgy knee so he was safe. Now this. FUCK!

[ponsaelius]

If the clause exists he'd be gone already. At least, that's what I choose to believe.

 

unlikely people will sign a player with a 'dodgy knee' prior to the ACoN imo...those pitches are a fucking disgrace to humanity, it wouldn't make sense even at a knockdown price imo

 

I assume this isn't Ba's first ACN?

 

It is.

[Guest bimpy474]

The most annoying thing about this is that Ba seemed to be the least of our worries going into January. The way he was playing his value must have been around £20m atleast but we all knew no one would pay that with his dodgy knee so he was safe. Now this. FUCK!

 

But if his knee is dodgy i cant see a team paying the fee, hoping like.