I said a striker was probably our next gap if we brought anyone else in before the transfer deadline closed last night and that's what we got. I had hoped for a marquee signing but instead we got another one for the future with 19 year-old Darlington novice Michael Smith making the move south.
As if to counter-balance the relative disappointment here, we have held on to Paul Benson who was a rumoured target of a number of other League One and League Two clubs. We look to have numbers if not quality and as long as Bradley Wright-Phillips can play the majority of games this season and Paul Hayes holds his end-up, we shouldn't have too many complaints. Jason Euell is an able substitute although the drop in class doesn't appear to make him look any more of a threat than he's ever done before (barring his heyday over six years ago).
Robbie Elliot also made his very predictable switch to Newcastle for an annoyingly "undisclosed" fee. The relative loser in that spat obviously wants to save face although I suspect there may be a bit of this for both clubs. Perhaps this will come out in a future "evening with a Board member" but bearing in mind our complaint to the League about the way the Toon went about this, you have to hope we got £250,000 as a minimum figure. Elliot might not be getting on too many team flights this season but I would like to think that a quarter of a million is the minimum price we would allow a contracted first-teamer to leave for in heading to the Premier League, especially when it's to the silly money likes of Newcastle. Robbie's biggest challenge will be to ensure he stays fit (avoids getting fatter) without first team football and surrounded by Brown Ale and nights out at the Big Market.
As if to counter-balance the relative disappointment here, we have held on to Paul Benson who was a rumoured target of a number of other League One and League Two clubs. We look to have numbers if not quality and as long as Bradley Wright-Phillips can play the majority of games this season and Paul Hayes holds his end-up, we shouldn't have too many complaints. Jason Euell is an able substitute although the drop in class doesn't appear to make him look any more of a threat than he's ever done before (barring his heyday over six years ago).
Robbie Elliot also made his very predictable switch to Newcastle for an annoyingly "undisclosed" fee. The relative loser in that spat obviously wants to save face although I suspect there may be a bit of this for both clubs. Perhaps this will come out in a future "evening with a Board member" but bearing in mind our complaint to the League about the way the Toon went about this, you have to hope we got £250,000 as a minimum figure. Elliot might not be getting on too many team flights this season but I would like to think that a quarter of a million is the minimum price we would allow a contracted first-teamer to leave for in heading to the Premier League, especially when it's to the silly money likes of Newcastle. Robbie's biggest challenge will be to ensure he stays fit (avoids getting fatter) without first team football and surrounded by Brown Ale and nights out at the Big Market.
Smith can't ba all bad. He wouldn't have had a trial at Stoke if he was a mug, and he's young enough to learn and improve. In 5 year's time(hopefully), instead of Hayes and Wright-Phillips, we'll have Smith and Popo.
ReplyDeletemy uneducated guess would be 150k with add ons and sell on percentages. Loan window opens soon so if BWP does get knee knack i'm sure we can get someone else in if needed - did Liecester buy anyone, we were after one of their younger guys ... and they were looking to spend big yesterday on a striker - maybe something there sometime down the road.
ReplyDeletekeep up the good work....