McCormack wants to join us and fee agreed with fulham

[Highland Canary 78]

If we finish ninth the squad will completely unwind in line with our last year of parachute payments. We will be stuck in the chumps if and until new investment is brought into the club which seems unlikely in the extreme. But we''ll be able to watch the likes of Bristol City and Wednesday coast past us.

[Van wink 2,994]

Trevor Hockey''s Beard wrote the following post at 02/08/2016 8:04 AM:

"I really hope this deal doesn''t go through. I would rather we finished 9th this year and kept our money in the bank, and did some more scouting, to find younger, hungry players, like in the Lambert era,

McCormack is a hungry player, but not in the way we want"

He would probably eat all our eggs!

[Alex Moss 2,167]

No way Newcastle are overrated, Indy? I don''t disagree that they have every chance of winning the league, but then so do we. Who are these great players that kept them in the Premier League so comfortably last season? They have proved nothing to me so far. With so much ''talent'' at Benitez''s disposal, why did he not pull them clear and therefore send Sunderland down in their place?. I maybe wrong but the facts before me suggest they were only marginally ''better'' than us at picking up points last season, we both beat each other, and I''d argue if we''d not done something silly at half time away then we''d have had a point or three away at St James Park too.

Yes, not overrated in terms of how they''re expected to do this season but they''re certainly overrated regarding their standing compared to US as things stand.

[TCCANARY 263]

Isn''t the scenario at Newcastle the same one that Benitez had at R Madrid. A talented squad that shouldn''t struggle to be successful? History has a habit of repeating itself.

[Yellowbeagle 0]

Anyone who says Newcastle don''t have the most talented attacking squad in this division are deluding themselves. What I will say IMO is that those talented players showed a distinct lack of fight last season and a poor ability to defend, two things that will have to be there in the championship or they could find things very difficult.

[Jim Smith 2,540]

There wasn''t really anything between us and Newcastle last season and our players are more experienced at this level so I don''t see that they are overwhelming favourites to win the league. All depends how both sides start. I am hopeful that we may be able to benefit from the fact that Newcastle and Villa will be seen as the big scalps by other teams who may perhaps raise their game a little bit against those sides. that said no doubt many teams will go to St James Park and not try and win.

I think Ritchie and Diame are very good signings at this level so in terms of their summer transfer activity so far Newcastle have probably edged it over us. The rest of the window will dictate whether that remains the case. if we sign McCormack and keep Brady and maybe add in another midfielder for Mulumbu if he goes then I still think there is nothing in it in terms of squad quality.

Villa should not be underestimated. They have quite a lot of promising players but last season lacked the backbone and spirit to recover after their dreadful start. if they get a good start and build momentum they will also be dangerous.

Its more vital than ever that we hit the ground running this season because momentum is going to be key. That is one of the reasons I am annoyed that 4 days before the season starts there remain question marks over whether two of our important players will be staying and over who we are going to be able to bring in. I really think this should have all been dealt with much earlier in the summer. Even if that did mean Olsson leaving then we would have had time to get a replacement and bed them in during pre-season.

[Legend Iwan 30]

Benitez averaged 1.3pts per game for Newcastle in the short time he was in charge. If he''d managed them for the whole season, at that rate, they would have finished 11th, ahead of Everton and 1 point behind Chelsea. Also, if Benitez had had a summer to prepare and pick the players he wanted, it''s not far to suppose they''d have done even better.

Newcastle have loads of money to spend, a world class manager, and a decent squad; they are, understandably, rated higher than us, which also means they have more pressure on them. Let''s see how they handle it.

[ron obvious 1,698]

What a lot of posters fail to take into account is attitude - character. That makes or breaks a player.

Hooper, Bamford, Redmond to a degree, these are the sort of players who have the talent but are simply not that bothered.

It''s obviously no use however good your teamwork & effort is if you don''t have the ability (Andy Hughes anyone?), but players like Naismith, Tettey, Jerome & Martin make up for their lesser abilities through drive & willingness to work for the team. As such they are often worth more to the side than talented but uncommitted players.

I''d say the attitude of nearly all our players is very good to terrific, it''s our main strength really

Of course we have one particular shining example of a player with both talent & attitude. I don''t even need to mention his name, you all know who he is.

From the reports I''ve seen McCormack seems to have the right stuff. He''s been scoring - & making - goals for a poor team. I would also think he''s up for the challenge; at his age it''ll be his last crack at the top division - & a chance to earn top money. I also think he could work with players like Wes & Naismith to provide an alternative to Jerome, especially now that Wes has found his right boot!

[Indy 3,448]

[quote user="ron obvious"]What a lot of posters fail to take into account is attitude - character. That makes or breaks a player.

Hooper, Bamford, Redmond to a degree, these are the sort of players who have the talent but are simply not that bothered.

It''s obviously no use however good your teamwork & effort is if you don''t have the ability (Andy Hughes anyone?), but players like Naismith, Tettey, Jerome & Martin make up for their lesser abilities through drive & willingness to work for the team. As such they are often worth more to the side than talented but uncommitted players.

I''d say the attitude of nearly all our players is very good to terrific, it''s our main strength really

Of course we have one particular shining example of a player with both talent & attitude. I don''t even need to mention his name, you all know who he is.

From the reports I''ve seen McCormack seems to have the right stuff. He''s been scoring - & making - goals for a poor team. I would also think he''s up for the challenge; at his age it''ll be his last crack at the top division - & a chance to earn top money. I also think he could work with players like Wes & Naismith to provide an alternative to Jerome, especially now that Wes has found his right boot![/quote]

It''s obviously no use however good your teamwork & effort is if you don''t have the ability (Andy Hughes anyone?), but players like Naismith, Tettey, Jerome & Martin make up for their lesser abilities through drive & willingness to work for the team. As such they are often worth more to the side than talented but uncommitted players.

I''d say the attitude of nearly all our players is very good to terrific, it''s our main strength really

Naismith drive and willingness to work, really who were you watching last season?

[Temp the Revelator 0]

Getting it sorted earlier is all well and good Jim, but it isn''t solely down to us as a club - we are reliant on other clubs wanting to sell their players at a price we think is acceptable and wanting to buy our players at a price we think is acceptable - if that doesn''t happen early, it''s not ENTIRELY our fault!

Unless you are advocating selling cheaper and buying more expensive than we can realistically afford to, just to get the business done earlier?

Market forces Jim - that second option is the fast track to going out of business.....

[Jim Smith 2,540]

[quote user="Temp the Revelator"]Getting it sorted earlier is all well and good Jim, but it isn''t solely down to us as a club - we are reliant on other clubs wanting to sell their players at a price we think is acceptable and wanting to buy our players at a price we think is acceptable - if that doesn''t happen early, it''s not ENTIRELY our fault!

Unless you are advocating selling cheaper and buying more expensive than we can realistically afford to, just to get the business done earlier?

Market forces Jim - that second option is the fast track to going out of business.....[/quote]

But nothing has changed all summer regarding McCormack''s position at Fulham. His contractual position has not changed, their manager has not changed. Whether or not they need to sell has not really changed. Our need for a striker has not changed. I still do not see why we could not have made any formal approach weeks ago and brought the process to a head (one way or another) much sooner.

[Temp the Revelator 0]

And how do we know that we didn''t? One thing for sure, this whole saga wouldn''t have been happening had we not sold Redmond for £11m nice and early.....as Branston has mentioned in another thread, these transfers are often reliant on a chain of events - Fulham need a replacement, the selling club there may need a replacement etc etc

As it stands, we have no idea when we opened negotiations with Fulham over McCormack. All we have is unfounded rumour from social media. But don''t let that get in the way of finding a stick to beat the club with.

[Alex Moss 2,167]

[quote user="Yellowbeagle"]Anyone who says Newcastle don''t have the most talented attacking squad in this division are deluding themselves.[/quote]

Keep hearing this, but I want proof of these so far mythical far superior attacking players. Come the end of the season, it maybe a Sheff Weds that has shown more guile and goals in attack than Newcastle or ourselves. As it stands, I don''t see what Newcastle''s attack has that we don''t have - Hoolahan, Brady, Howson, Jerome, dare I say it but Naismith and Jarvis can show they possess superb technical ability on their day, not to mention Canos, the Murphys and Maddison - all either possess good or in some cases excellent technical ability. Olsson and Pinto down the flanks. I still have not seen the proof why some of you think Newcastle are superior in that respect. Perez is good but no better than Hoolahan, Matt Ritchie - good but not a level above what we have, Gayle and Mitrovic(?) - remains to be seen if they''re as great as some think, Winaljdum gone, Sissoko almost certainly on his way... Hardly Barcelona is it?. I''m sorry but I don''t buy it.

[ron obvious 1,698]

Indy:

"Naismith drive and willingness to work, really who were you watching last season? "

You really do just see what you want to see. He was closing down, tackling, moving into space & shooting far more than I''ve ever seen from your favourite darling.

He wasn''t quite good enough at it, his ability is questionable at Prem. level, but I saw nothing wrong with his attitude. I don''t even like him much as a player, & he did tend to run out of steam, but he was giving it his all.

[Indy 3,448]

No not having that Ron, he was dreadful, falling over at every chance, waving his hands about like a spoiled child and his head was the first to drop.

As a senior player and one bought in to giving us the best chance of survival last year he was so poor even AN dropped him.

I don''t have any darling, I don''t think McCormack is any better than what we had and I''d be happy to see a different option than both Hooper and McCormack.

[Herman 11,112]

Hmmm.Pat Murphy

‏@patmurphybbc

2h2 hours ago

Appears @AVFCOfficial have revived interest in Ross McCormack & Patrick Bamford after drawing blanks elsewhere.Purely exploratory thus far.

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 2,411]

Villa aren''t going to pay £15m for him either.

[fetchyafathersgun 1]

Skybet have now put villa favourites to sign him at  4/5 and we have dropped to 11/10

[Indy 3,448]

What''s Bamfords fee? 5-7 million? Is he worth that from what we saw last year?

[Alex Moss 2,167]

The BBC update would certainly tie in with why it''s all gone a little quiet. Either Villa can pay the £15mill or their odious owner is trying to bump up the transfer fee for us just to play dirty (didn''t he basically accuse us of this? - for that reason, and given how he comes across, it would not surprise me one iota). Hopefully we''re looking elsewhere anyway 👍

[OldRobert 38]

[quote user="Indy"]What''s Bamfords fee? 5-7 million? Is he worth that from what we saw last year?[/quote]I read £8M somewhere, and no imo.

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 2,411]

SkyBet transfer odds are a bit of a sham. The biggest spreader of transfer rumours also happen to be the biggest betting company on player transfers.

The can manipulate the odds so easily to promote people making foolish bets.

[Alex Moss 2,167]

Id take Bamford. Has built himself up physically over the summer, and very much cut the mustard in this league for Middlesborough, nobody can deny him that - he was a menace. Will split opinion, but I''d be happy to get him plus a punt on someone that''s from abroad ie not so well known and as obvious a signing - there must be gems out there.

[norfolkngood 1,172]

someone at fulham club or agent were stalling for this

now let villa have him they will no doubt be able to pay more wages

i would like spearing to tap into his foreign knowledge and pull a couple of strikers out for 7.5 mil each

or is it AN wants to play it safe and go homegrown players ?

[Indy 3,448]

For half the money and given his age and ability at this standard I''d prefer Bamford to McCormack.

If the fees are correct surely it''s worth the risk on Bamford even if he was pretty awful last season!

[Branston Pickle 4,116]

I''d not be overly impressed with Bamford alone - he did little last year to suggest he''s come on from the previous season, but it may in turn have made his transfer fee more reasonable. He wasn''t exactly involved a lot for us, but if he showed the right attitude etc AN could go for him and if he doesn''t that could also be quite telling.

Ultimately I would like us to sign RM but if it doesn''t come off then fine, if we have the funds we ought to be able to find someone decent enough. There does seem to be a bit of a dearth in options, though - as Villa seem to be finding.

[norfolkngood 1,172]

thing is with Bamford would he want to come here

the reason i am thinking this is when we signed him we didnt use him as much as we could have

i have a feeling if he was to move he would want to be No1 striker

did alex rate him once he was here ? he didn,t use him like he did

[Mason 47 1,855]

Ultimately, I feel it''s our attacking midfield that will be our greatest asset his season- IMO any technically-sound forward who starts the majority of our games should be reaching 20 or so this year.

RMc is probably as close as you can get to guaranteeing that the chances they forge will be put away, but similarly comes with a reputation for clever link-up play and assists that will bring others into the fray. And that''s why he will cost such an exorbitant amount.

FWIW I still think we''ll pop up with someone like Zach Clough as well as the aforementioned, which will probably mean Lafferty leaving on loan.

[Tetteys Jig 848]

[quote user="Bethnal Yellow and Green"]SkyBet transfer odds are a bit of a sham. The biggest spreader of transfer rumours also happen to be the biggest betting company on player transfers.

The can manipulate the odds so easily to promote people making foolish bets.[/quote]

While I see what you mean, the odds are there to bet on him joining us and currently you''d nearly double your money if you think it''ll happen.

[El Convento 14]

I''d rather have Bamford than McCormack, especially given the disparity in price.  But I don''t think either AN or Bamford would want it.  He didn''t get much of a chance here, and his career has stalled everywhere since he was burning up the champs, so he''ll be aware that this season could be make or break.  Pity though - he is (was?) a great creative striker.