Goodbye RvW

[Tetteys Jig 830]

This all reads like a comments section in an obituary! Sums up his time here...

Goodbye Ricky and good luck. Nice lad but it just didn''t work. Time to move on!

[Fuzzar 1,703]

Yup, in all seriousness good luck. I know he''s been well paid, but it can''t have been much fun being an itinerant for the last few years.

[unique 439]

For an undisclosed fee?

This could be the first deal in the history of football that ''the seller'' has paid ''the buyer'' the transfer fee.

[Icecream Snow 762]

[quote user="Fuzzar"]Yup, in all seriousness good luck. I know he''s been well paid, but it can''t have been much fun being an itinerant for the last few years.[/quote]But that was his choice though, he could have gone back to Lisbon, but stumbled on personal terms.

[Yellow Wal 314]

Good luck Ricky. I hope your agent has got it right this time because he sure as hell hasn''t for your last three clubs.

[KoromaCrab 0]

A shame to see RVW go. It would have been nice to see him play in a competitive league game (whether that was Premiership or Championship) under Alex Neil''s management, of which he only got the chance once against Rotherham in the league Cup where he actually scored twice (one was offside).

Also wasn''t the 8.5m fee at the time reduced for Norwich as Sporting needed the money so it otherwise would have been higher?

[KeiranShikari_2 0]

You''re right, Koroma. How times change.

[Horse Renoir 1]

Yes, I can''t remember the exact figure but his release clause was 14-16 million iirc. There''s lots of rumours that the club made a move for him on that basis after barely scouting him and while Hughton approved the transfer, he wasn''t one of his targets.

Could be true or BS, who knows. But it would explain why we signed him in Feb/March of all times and how poorly he fitted into our system. The club smelt a bargain and at 6"1 and moderately fast they probably thought he''d be at least competent in the lone striker role

[It's Character Forming 1,165]

Exactly it was reported as a real coup at the time and Hughton had no real clue about the attacking side of the game so had no idea of what sort of striker he needed. So I suspect a few people persuaded themselves he''d be an amazing signing for us. Sigh.

[GJP 79]

If I remember correctly Sporting were saying something about an imminent change of President (or what not) at the club could mean the transfer didn''t get approved.

Possibly along with some story about us getting him at a knock down price because of financial difficulties.

Basically, they did us. Good and proper.

[Mr Angry 1,571]

[quote user="Ian"]I would be very surprised if we agreed to a permanent transfer AND offered to pay some of his wages, otherwise surely it would be announced as a loan with the option to buy?![/quote]

Not sure if that is correct Ian-I seem to remember a few years ago that Leeds were still paying part of the wages for players that they had sold.

[lake district canary 4,545]

Good luck to him. Really hope he succeeds at Vitesse and regains full confidence and form.

[Guest]

It''s possible I suppose, but would be highly unusual. Bearing in mind the guy''s been out on loan countless times, what would be in it for the club to allow it as a permanent whilst still paying his wages whilst the transfer window is still open? Doesn''t make a whole load of sense.

[If wed only kept Howie.. 3]

Sad that it didn''t work out... but i wonder if we have agreed a sell-on clause? (just incase, by some Mike Sheron style miracle, he rediscovers his form)..

[curious yellow 184]

Good luck Ricky and well done Vitesse for disguising themselves as Birmingham City. They must have been reading True Grit''s tips.

[Samwam27 532]

Good luck RVW, but lets now get a striker in as we''re even shorter on options up front

[hogesar 9,736]

Doubt he will ever come good as just seems to be lacking in so many areas of his game but a poor league and starting every game might see him fetch a few goals.

[Alex Moss 2,165]

Best of luck to Ricky, never worked out for him here sadly and I like many always hoped the spark from his SL time would reignite but it was never to be.

On another note, I''m guessing we really do have a striker arriving imminently... Will tomorrow be the day?

[SwindonCanary 455]

Not surprised when a player has a loss of confidence but poor Ricky hit the bottom from such a wonderful start, I''ll always remember that header against Everton

[Feedthewolf 4,871]

Anyone got any inkling, or even an educated guess, at the fee? Around the £1m mark, perhaps?Good luck Ricky, I hope Vitesse''s marketing department have got something special lined up for the club shop [:D]

[KoromaCrab 0]

The Everton goal was amazing - it was almost like Norwich had bought the super striker they though they had, especially to score on his home debut.

Is it possible that the arrival of Jez Moxey was a big influence on this sudden sale of RVW? Birmingham and Vitesse suddenly in one day?

[Alex Moss 2,165]

Don''t think so Koroma, think that''s just how things work out - even though we were obviously looking to move Ricky on, I don''t think AN would let him go till a decent replacement was in place and guaranteed - I would imagine it means McCormack will be confirmed on Friday, surely?

[lake district canary 4,545]

[quote user="SwindonCanary"]Not surprised when a player has a loss of confidence but poor Ricky hit the bottom from such a wonderful start, I''ll always remember that header against Everton [/quote]

People will scoff, but that header proved beyond doubt we had a finisher of quality.  A visciously spinning ball from a mis-hit cross and he directed it perfectly into the top corner.  It seemed to confirm his reputation as a clinical goal scorer. Shame it was the only goal he managed, but then when was he given decent crosses to run on to?  With the only decent pacy winger out of the team through injury after that match - and Eliot Bennett did look to have stepped up in that match against Everton - and Redmond not able to supply accurate crosses at that stage of his career, the focus that season was on Snodgrass - and we all know what happened after that, the penalty incident arguably being a huge turning point in that season.  An RVW goal at that stage could have spurred him on and the three points against Villa would have made a huge difference.  RVW won''t have lost his striking ability though, all he has lost is some pride and a bit of confidence.  Good luck to him.

[Jacko 0]

Once upon a time he clearly had something about him. You don''t get 68 goals in 3 seasons and 2 Dutch caps if you are complete crap. Even if Portugal and Holland are weaker leagues in comparison.

However, there''s no denying how woeful he''s been in the last 3 years. He has scored 7 goals in 70 league matches and shown very little sign of life in that time. People can blame Norwich for not getting the best out of him, but he''s been passed over by 3 different managers here (Adams, Neil and Hughton) each with very different methods.

He''s also been passed over by 2 foreign managers as well. I find it hard to believe that all of these people have got it wrong. He was also very poor in this pre season campaign against indifferent opposition. The excuses have run dry for him. It''s very hard to put this down to a temporary loss of form or confidence after 3 years of struggle.

I really hope the guy comes good again for his own sake. Otherwise I can''t see him having much of a top flight future anywhere in Europe.

[lake district canary 4,545]

Interesting that he''s gone back to Vittesse Arnhem.  I didn''t realise he spent ten years there from the age of 10-20, spending a year in the first team before going on to Utrecht.  They obviously value him there and it is probably the best place for him to rekindle his career. 

[BroadstairsR 2,202]

Why am I as pleased about this sale as I would be about a new striker coming?

I/we seemed to spend so long hoping that this player would come could that in the end it was a case of our collective imaginations working overtime.

When the penny finally dropped it was final though, even though some clearly had faith in "RVW the Goal Machine" and justified it by coming up with the usual well-worn excuses that we had all nurtured for over-long. AN saw it straight away and credit due there.

That this sale will likely oil the financial workings of the McCormack negotiations is a major bonus.

Thanks for that at least Rikki, fingers crossed.

I now genuinely hope that he "finds" himself again, although life couldn''t have been that bad for him over the last three years having earned a lot of dosh over and above his relative capabilities as a footballer.

[Katie Borkins 1]

Club''s in crisis

[PurpleCanary 5,580]

[quote user="lake district canary"][quote user="SwindonCanary"]Not surprised when a player has a loss of confidence but poor Ricky hit the bottom from such a wonderful start, I''ll always remember that header against Everton [/quote]

People will scoff, but that header proved beyond doubt we had a finisher of quality.  A visciously spinning ball from a mis-hit cross and he directed it perfectly into the top corner.  It seemed to confirm his reputation as a clinical goal scorer.

[/quote]

After we signed him someone here posted a video of nearly 20 of his goals, and said that he obviously scored all kinds of goals. Actually, as I replied, what the video showed, with one exception, was that he only scored one kind of goal. The kind he scored against Everton - the ball would come to him in a bit of space (more than he would normally get in a top-flight league) and he would either shoot or head first time, or even have the space to take a touch and shoot.

He didn''t make goals for himself, but just provided an end product.

What slowly became apparent, with us and in France and presumably Spain, was that because every other aspect of his game was so sub-standard (my dears, his ball control...) with a total lack of pace and physicality, that no amount of pure finishing (with far fewer opportunities per game than he was used to in The Netherlands and Portugal) could possibly compensate.

[lake district canary 4,545]

[quote user="PurpleCanary"][quote user="lake district canary"][quote user="SwindonCanary"]Not surprised when a player has a loss of confidence but poor Ricky hit the bottom from such a wonderful start, I''ll always remember that header against Everton [/quote]

People will scoff, but that header proved beyond doubt we had a finisher of quality.  A visciously spinning ball from a mis-hit cross and he directed it perfectly into the top corner.  It seemed to confirm his reputation as a clinical goal scorer.

[/quote]

After we signed him someone here posted a video of nearly 20 of his goals, and said that he obviously scored all kinds of goals. Actually, as I replied, what the video showed, with one exception, was that he only scored one kind of goal. The kind he scored against Everton - the ball would come to him in a bit of space (more than he would normally get in a top-flight league) and he would either shoot or head first time, or even have the space to take a touch and shoot.

He didn''t make goals for himself, but just provided an end product.

What slowly became apparent, with us and in France and presumably Spain, was that because every other aspect of his game was so sub-standard (my dears, his ball control...) with a total lack of pace and physicality, that no amount of pure finishing (with far fewer opportunities per game than he was used to in The Netherlands and Portugal) could possibly compensate.[/quote]

A good argumement on the face of it, but a striker is there to score goals and if the rest of the team is functioning well and providing the crosses and passes that enable him to bury a shot with his first or second touch, then that is just what is required.  Ruel Fox used to be that kind of provider and I don''t remember Sutton having any great pace or skill - just a good finisher.  That said, maybe football has changed and simply being a good finisher isn''t enough in the English game, but then I''d rather have a good finisher in a pacy team going forwards stretching defences, than being a pacy team going forwards and with someone at the front who isn''t a reliable finisher. It wasn''t to be for Ricky, but he didn''t imo deserve the flack he got, given the circumstances.  Thankfully we can all move on from this now and watch his career from a safe distance, hopefully seeing him recapture his form at some stage.

[Michael Bates 9]

Totally agree with both LC and PC on both opinions. He simply is a striker with good technique and movement but he doesn''t have the pace or skill to create something out of nothing. He also is too lightweight to hold the ball up and bring others into play. Therefore he is a luxury striker who is best suited in a side attacking 70% of the time where he can stay in the middle on the last defender and get onto the end of things. Unfortunately we have been quite the opposite, as were Real Betis and to a certain extent St Ettienne where we are chasing possession and need players to contribute to the overall attacking play. RVW doesn''t do that whatsoever, he is the Gary Linekar type striker who needs chances created for him and generally he will put them away. Compare to Grabban for example who is the complete opposite, lacking technique but has pace and strength to create a chance for himself. He needed 3-4 chances to bury one but at least contributed to the attacking play, hence why AN favoured him many times. Despite that, I still disliked Grabban for his wastefulness in front of goal lol...