Stuart Webber on Emi Buendía

[Indy 3,298]

5 minutes ago, Chelm Canary said:

But it's written in the op's thread. It's in the first post. 

I will paste if for you:

“When someone tells you very clearly he will not be playing for the club again . . 'see you later then mate, we don't need you, thank you very much'.

"No-one is bigger than the football club."

I'm not sure if you're joking at this point. 

As I’ve said, read it, he’s not specific about Buendia, it’s a sweeping statement and addresses the picture, but at no point during the transfer or the summer was this raised in fact as I’ve pointed out quite the opposite from your attachment. So as I’ve said this is a deflection by Webber, it’s not needed it justifies nothing and looks like he’s trying to justify himself to fans!

I don’t buy it, clever wording!

[Chelm Canary 404]

13 minutes ago, Indy said:

As I’ve said, read it, he’s not specific about Buendia, it’s a sweeping statement and addresses the picture, but at no point during the transfer or the summer was this raised in fact as I’ve pointed out quite the opposite from your attachment. So as I’ve said this is a deflection by Webber, it’s not needed it justifies nothing and looks like he’s trying to justify himself to fans!

I don’t buy it, clever wording!

But it says "Stuart Webber on why we did sell Emi Buendia to Villa"

So are you suggesting Stuart Webber is lying?

Or the writer of whatever article that came from is lying?

Or the OP made it up himself and created the image?

Edit: you mentioned Stuart Webber is trying to deflect so I assume you have reached the conclusion that Stuart Webber is lying. 

 

Edited October 30, 2021 by Chelm Canary

[Yobocop 1,098]

A player who has never pulled up any trees at premier league level subsequently replaced twice by two players better than him 

[The Bunny 309]

The revisionists are out in force now…

[canarybubbles 1,915]

6 hours ago, Yobocop said:

A player who has never pulled up any trees at premier league level subsequently replaced twice by two players better than him 

Do you mean two players better than Buendia? Who are these, and where have we been hiding them?

[Alex Moss 2,165]

On 29/10/2021 at 10:36, king canary said:

It is hugely naive to suggest Webber just 'tells it like it is' and everything he says can be taken as the gods honest truth. 

My opinion is that he’s very upfront and honest about things, it’s not always what some like to hear but unless you have any evidence that he’s a flat out bullshoiter then my ‘naive’ *opinion* of the guy remains valid.

 

[Alex Moss 2,165]

On 28/10/2021 at 21:35, Hank shoots Skyler said:

Genuine question though Alex - do you think that it is in Webber's interests to have the fanbase think that he couldn't possibly do anything else other than selling our best player? 

I feel like its hard to know where the truth exactly falls in these circumstances, its one side of the story. I'm not going to bust Webber's balls about it, or accuse him of flat-out lying, but without Emi stating words to similar effect how can we know?  

We also don't know how common this sort of thing is. Didn't Hoolahan have a similar falling out around the time of the Lambert / Villa misdemeanour? With him publicly slagging off the club if I remember rightly. So how often do players and staff fall out behind the scenes but its all kept under wraps and the player stays contracted and happy (seemingly)?

I do of course agree that Buendia clearly wanted to leave, but to what extent could we have kept him, I don't know. I just hope we did do everything we could to try and make him stay, i.e. promised a wage structure breaking contract (not Villa's £80k but around £60k which we could definitely afford), with significant potential for add-ons if we stayed up, as well as promising to build our entire team around him etc etc.

If we did all that and he said no then fair enough. But did we? I'll never know but I just don't get the impression that we did - to be honest. 

Fair comments, Hank, and I agree with much of it. I just think it is what it is. Taking the yellow and green glasses off for a moment, I would be very surprised if Emi wasn’t banging on the door to leave with him and his agent having a very good idea that he could move to a ‘bigger club’ and earn a hell of a lot more money. I mean let’s be real, that’s just common sense. 

There is some talk on here that Emi hasn’t given his side of the story so we’ll never really know. I think there’s good reason for that. He got what he wanted so what more is there for him to explain? His statement upon leaving made it clear whereupon as much as he loved his time here, he wanted to take the next step in his career. Their stories marry so I’m quite happy it is what it is. I don’t believe for a minute Webber would come out and say what he did to appease the fan base as he’d have left himself wide open to a tactful response from Emi saying something roughly along the lines of ‘it was never my choice to leave Norwich but I’m very happy to have joined Villa’, which would potentially open up a hell of a lot more grief for him and the club should there be a response from Emi to the contrary. A fool Webber is not.

In short, I honestly don’t see what’s so hard to believe about a player wanting to leave to earn more money and further his career at one of England’s historical giants, especially given he’d reached his mid 20’s at that point with us. My feeling is that supporters just want accountability for such transfers, and so the ‘Emi never wanted to leave’ brigade are obviously using Webber as a scapegoat to fit their in denial narrative. It is what it is, and Webber’s statement just confirms what the majority were thinking.

[A Load of Squit 5,162]

22 hours ago, A Load of Squit said:

Webber spoke about the transfer at the time, what he said this week wasn't anything new.

This is from June 2021.

https://www.pinkun.com/sport/norwich-city/city-chief-explains-buendia-sale-villa-move-sealed-8038212 

 

[The Bunny 309]

2 hours ago, Alex Moss said:

My feeling is that supporters just want accountability for such transfers, and so the ‘Emi never wanted to leave’ brigade are obviously using Webber as a scapegoat to fit their in denial narrative. It is what it is, and Webber’s statement just confirms what the majority were thinking.

Who are this “Emi never wanted to leave brigade” exactly? Strangely, I’ve only ever heard that from people on the “buuuut he wanted to leave so we HAAD to sell him!” camp because apparently rebutting imaginary arguments is easier than dealing with the real ones. 

The point was never that he didn’t want to leave, it was that the club did nothing to try to keep him (in fact Webber essentially told clubs to come and get him with his barely concealed press statements). And then we sold him for way less than his value.

After 9 games with one goal from open play, it must take a real effort to defend the sale of our best creator with a straight face. It amazes me that so many are still doing it.

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

16 hours ago, littleyellowbirdie said:

Why not? We basically are standing our ground and actually we don't have a bad footballing lot in life on the back of it overall: every other season is fantastic and there's always the chance that one of these days we might catch a break in the premier league without ditching young inexpensive talent for older expensive talent with not much shelf life remaining. Just my outlook. 

But we could have saved money. Emi we have been on at least £40K with us. And I guess some of the new signings may be getting close to if not that amount. So keep Emi for £80-100K so its only costing a million a season extra to keep him because we would have had to buy PLM or Rashica.

[Alex Moss 2,165]

7 minutes ago, The Bunny said:

Who are this “Emi never wanted to leave brigade” exactly? Strangely, I’ve only ever heard that from people on the “buuuut he wanted to leave so we HAAD to sell him!” camp 

Huh? That makes absolutely zero sense with respect. Why would the ‘he wanted to leave so we had to sell him’ camp be also saying ‘Emi never wanted to leave’ ? Of course that would be strange if people were completely contradicting themselves like that! Sorry, as I say, your point makes zero sense - reread it.

7 minutes ago, The Bunny said:

The point was never that he didn’t want to leave, it was that the club did nothing to try to keep him (in fact Webber essentially told clubs to come and get him with his barely concealed press statements). And then we sold him for way less than his value.

Did nothing to keep him? Where on earth did you get that from because I think we’d all like to see factual evidence of that 👍

Or could it be that we had indeed tried to keep him and that there does indeed come a point that once Emi made it clear that there was no room for manoeuvre no matter what, that that was the point Webber did the right thing and negotiated the best deal he could for us?

We have evidence from both Webber’s interviews and Buendia’s interviews with South American publications earlier this year stating ambitions from the horses mouth itself. Emi made his ambitions *very* clear whilst being respectful to Norwich City Football Club.

I will be very happy to change my opinion if you can show similar evidence stating the contrary, but I won’t be holding my breath with the greatest of respect.

[PurpleCanary 5,558]

I don't think there is any doubt Buendia was determined to go. All the evidence points that way, with none indicating he was happy to stay. There are only two relevant questions here.

One is what would have happened if, as we had the right to do, we had refused to sell him, on the basis his contract had not run out. Would he have caved in and played properly for us, to our benefit, or would he have ended up in the U23s, to our loss? No-one can know the answer to that.

The other question is whether, given that he wanted to go, it was better to keep him, assuming he ended up playing properly for us, or sell anyway and use the transfer fee to bring in new players. And no-one can be certain what the answer is to that.

[By Hook or Ian crook 917]

On 30/10/2021 at 13:35, The Great Mass Debater said:

I made this argument at the time. It is superficial however, as another poster pointed out. Offer Buendia £80k a week, players like Pukki, off the back of a 25 goal season, would suddenly be asking, why isnt my contribution worth those kind of wages, meaning you either have to offer teammates of similar standing similar wages, or end up undermining team unity by having that kind of disparity.

Villa can pay Emi £80k a week not just because they have the money, but because as a whole, their other players are paid much higher as well. 

While I get that argument is there to be made, brutal truths would of had to of been said to other players who simple are not and were not worth paying that much too. 

[Indy 3,298]

Again that article states the following!

“Emi has been top class since the day he arrived. He has worked incredibly hard and we’re proud that he has developed into both the player and person he is today. I’m sure he will be the first to acknowledge what Daniel and all of the staff have done to help contribute to his success.
 

At no point has Webber said that Buendia refused to play for us…..till the OP posted that picture!

So with agreeing to players were allowed to find other clubs if we got promoted the summer before, for the value Norwich placed on the player, why now? Why come out with a totally open ended statement on a photo of Buendia when at the time it was all smiles and gentlemen’s agreements? It stinks, he should just get on with the job at hand instead of trying to defend his sale and the lack of quality he’s replaced them with.

If he’s not staying past this summer I’d be happy to see him f*****f now and get Adams in if that’s what’s going to happen!

Edited October 31, 2021 by Indy

[The Bunny 309]

2 hours ago, Alex Moss said:

Huh? That makes absolutely zero sense with respect. Why would the ‘he wanted to leave so we had to sell him’ camp be also saying ‘Emi never wanted to leave’ ? Of course that would be strange if people were completely contradicting themselves like that! Sorry, as I say, your point makes zero sense - reread it.

I think it's pretty clear what I'm saying. Try reading the whole paragraph in context. Note the bolded part. 

Quote

Who are this “Emi never wanted to leave brigade” exactly? Strangely, I’ve only ever heard that from people on the “buuuut he wanted to leave so we HAAD to sell him!” camp because apparently rebutting imaginary arguments is easier than dealing with the real ones.

The suggestion that Buendia wanted to stay is a straw man argument. 

[Dr Greenthumb 749]

He knew what was coming, ambitionless owners not investing as per

[Son Ova Gunn 165]

2 hours ago, PurpleCanary said:

I don't think there is any doubt Buendia was determined to go. All the evidence points that way, with none indicating he was happy to stay. There are only two relevant questions here.

One is what would have happened if, as we had the right to do, we had refused to sell him, on the basis his contract had not run out. Would he have caved in and played properly for us, to our benefit, or would he have ended up in the U23s, to our loss? No-one can know the answer to that.

The other question is whether, given that he wanted to go, it was better to keep him, assuming he ended up playing properly for us, or sell anyway and use the transfer fee to bring in new players. And no-one can be certain what the answer is to that.

I think many fans including myself would say there is a third question. Emi wanted to leave, if this is because he could earn 30k a week more (which is the logical explanation unless he has a love for Birmingham), did we attempt to make him happy here or simply see £ signs and the chance to spend more in transfers.

[The Bunny 309]

Quote

So with agreeing to players we’re allowed to find other clubs if we got promoted the summer before, for the value Norwich placed on the player, why now? Why come out with a totally open ended statement ons photo of Buendia when at the time it was all smiles and gentlemen’s agreements? It stinks, he should just get on with the job at hand instead of trying to defend his sale and the lack of quality he’s replaced them with.

This, exactly this. 

Farke has his faults, but I do have some sympathy for him. He's the only manager in the history of the premier league who ended up with a significantly weaker side than the side that got them promoted. This happened despite overall net investment. It wasn't due to a lack of ambition, it due to a lack of ability on the part of our sporting director. 

Webber has utterly failed the club. 

[hogesar 9,665]

I think its quite clear Emi wanted to go and was determined to do so regardless if it was advice from his agent or whatever.

Either way, there's not been many games but today and Brighton are two games where it was crying out for a big of magic from Emi. Or a player with similar attributes.

[East Rider 549]

It was quite clear EB wanted to leave, and I understand the reasons behind that. However, with the added benefit of hindsight I wonder if we would have been better to have played hardball with him and have him throwing an initial strop but coming back into the team sometime later?

After all, if this had been only his first outing since the start of the campaign I suspect we would have had that creativity we needed out there. 

 

[Yobocop 1,098]

19 hours ago, canarybubbles said:

Do you mean two players better than Buendia? Who are these, and where have we been hiding them?

Rashica and Tzolis…next? 

[The Bunny 309]

35 minutes ago, Yobocop said:

Rashica and Tzolis…next? 

You've gotta be trolling, right? 

[Jim Smith 2,317]

So if what Webber says is true (which I don’t necessarily automatically accept and note he worded it so as to leave it vague as to who might have said that to him) then all any player has to do to get a move is say they are never playing for us again?

He was hawking our star players around in the summer snd it was clearly our transfer strategy to sell him or A.N.Other to find additional signings. Did they offer buendia better wages? Funnily enough that can sway players. Did we ever try and persuade him not to go?

Funny how the ever reliable and no trouble at all Howson started playing up before we had to sell him. No doubt Cantwell will be sold in January now after another strange rift has developed. “We had no choice, the player wanted to leave.”

 

 

[yellow_belly 226]

If I was Emi I would want to leave!

Edited November 1, 2021 by yellow_belly

[A Load of Squit 5,162]

15 hours ago, Indy said:

Again that article states the following!

“Emi has been top class since the day he arrived. He has worked incredibly hard and we’re proud that he has developed into both the player and person he is today. I’m sure he will be the first to acknowledge what Daniel and all of the staff have done to help contribute to his success.
 

At no point has Webber said that Buendia refused to play for us…..till the OP posted that picture!

So with agreeing to players were allowed to find other clubs if we got promoted the summer before, for the value Norwich placed on the player, why now? Why come out with a totally open ended statement on a photo of Buendia when at the time it was all smiles and gentlemen’s agreements? It stinks, he should just get on with the job at hand instead of trying to defend his sale and the lack of quality he’s replaced them with.

If he’s not staying past this summer I’d be happy to see him f*****f now and get Adams in if that’s what’s going to happen!

This is from the interview he gave.

“Selling Emi when we did helped us do a lot of work in the summer, as much as we did not want to lose a good player. I have spoken about this before.

"When someone tells you very clearly he will not be playing for the club again then it has to be, ‘Okay, see you later mate, we do not need you. Thank you very much.’ No one is bigger than the football club. 

[Canary Wundaboy 1,359]

Regardless as to whether Emi demanded out or whether Webber wanted him sold to raise transfer funds, the only reasons we’re still talking about Emi are:

Farke and Webber can’t stop bringing him up at every opportunity.

We look utterly useless without him

The players who have been brought in to replace him aren’t fit to lace his boots

 

[Alex Moss 2,165]

16 hours ago, The Bunny said:

I think it's pretty clear what I'm saying. Try reading the whole paragraph in context. Note the bolded part. 

The suggestion that Buendia wanted to stay is a straw man argument. 

I have, and even with the additional waffle, it still makes absolutely ZERO SENSE - it’s a complete contradiction in terms! 🤦🏻‍♂️😂

And I’m pleased you’ve provided zero proof to back up your argument, that’s that then 👍

 

[Indy 3,298]

1 hour ago, A Load of Squit said:

This is from the interview he gave.

“Selling Emi when we did helped us do a lot of work in the summer, as much as we did not want to lose a good player. I have spoken about this before.

"When someone tells you very clearly he will not be playing for the club again then it has to be, ‘Okay, see you later mate, we do not need you. Thank you very much.’ No one is bigger than the football club. 

That’s the key part of this disagreement, Webber clearly stated at the time of the departure Emi has been top class since the day he arrived. He has worked incredibly hard and we’re proud that he has developed into both the player and person he is today. So where in the summer did Webber actually say Buendia came to us and stated that Buendia himself refused to play for Norwich again? He never did, only now we have an open statement as above it’s clear Webber is a little under pressure about all the fan & media talk of us missing a player in Buendia and is using the normal….if a player doesn’t want to play for us okay see you later! We can read it how we want, for me it’s a little bit of **** covering when the truth was Buendia was free to find another club after agreeing to it with Webber once the price was agreed Buendia wanted to sign for Villa, obviously money is better bigger club and probably sold him the package, fair enough. But I don’t think he’s ever refused to play for us, he’s certainly a passionate player on the pitch and deserves our respect for what he was part of here, double promotion side which bought Webber lots of money and his sale has helped in our transfer kitty. Had Rashica performed as we had hoped Webber wouldn’t have ever published such rubbish trying to justify himself for the sale

[A Load of Squit 5,162]

17 minutes ago, Indy said:

That’s the key part of this disagreement, Webber clearly stated at the time of the departure Emi has been top class since the day he arrived. He has worked incredibly hard and we’re proud that he has developed into both the player and person he is today. So where in the summer did Webber actually say Buendia came to us and stated that Buendia himself refused to play for Norwich again? He never did, only now we have an open statement as above it’s clear Webber is a little under pressure about all the fan & media talk of us missing a player in Buendia and is using the normal….if a player doesn’t want to play for us okay see you later! We can read it how we want, for me it’s a little bit of **** covering when the truth was Buendia was free to find another club after agreeing to it with Webber once the price was agreed Buendia wanted to sign for Villa, obviously money is better bigger club and probably sold him the package, fair enough. But I don’t think he’s ever refused to play for us, he’s certainly a passionate player on the pitch and deserves our respect for what he was part of here, double promotion side which bought Webber lots of money and his sale has helped in our transfer kitty. Had Rashica performed as we had hoped Webber wouldn’t have ever published such rubbish trying to justify himself for the sale

Seems fairly straight forward, Emi wanted to leave, it wouldn't be beyond interpretation that it meant he didn't want to play for Norwich anymore.

https://www.pinkun.com/sport/norwich-city/city-chief-explains-buendia-sale-villa-move-sealed-8038212

“Despite us not wanting Emi to leave, once he made it clear that he wanted to go to Aston Villa, and they reached the level of deal we have got to, we were left with little option."

 

 

 

[Indy 3,298]

1 hour ago, A Load of Squit said:

Seems fairly straight forward, Emi wanted to leave, it wouldn't be beyond interpretation that it meant he didn't want to play for Norwich anymore.

https://www.pinkun.com/sport/norwich-city/city-chief-explains-buendia-sale-villa-move-sealed-8038212

“Despite us not wanting Emi to leave, once he made it clear that he wanted to go to Aston Villa, and they reached the level of deal we have got to, we were left with little option."

 

 

 

Absolutely, I’ve never disputed the fact Buendia wanted to leave, it was agreed upon promotion he could if the club met the price Norwich put on Buendia.

I don’t like the utter rubbish terminology used by Webber, as though he refused to play for us, he didn’t, it then leads to the following statements fr9m City fans on here….

Buendia is obviously a self serving and money hungry little **** 

Glad he is gone

I’m sorry but if Webber really wanted to keep Buendia then he shouldn’t have made it clear on promotion our better players won’t be allowed to leave, then try to sell the club to them all how we need to develop and only absolutely daft offers would be accepted. Like Watford and Brentford did with their star players! They were put in the shop window by our self funding club and now Webber is trying to justify the sale in a negative way, the reality is he’s under the eye of the press and fans for a **** start to this season, question marks over the 70 million pounds spent, the loan players and the manager, all he can do is be critical of the fans, ex players and it makes him look a little childish. Just man up and do your job Webber.