Crouch

[Canary Jim 0]

Do you guys think that the chances of us signing Peter Crouch from Villa have increased now they have missed out on a UEFA cup spot?! i.e. less incentive for him to stay there etc.

Any thoughts?

[Jonesy 0]

Im worried now, If they had qualified for europe O''leary would have had more money to sign strikers. That would have put Crouch down the pecking order & given us more chance of signing him! Not so sure now!!!!

[bailojnr 0]

Don''t know if he''ll come to Norwich (even though I''d love it if he did). I would imagine that the 7 million O''Leary has to spend will go 2wards adding to the squad and with the departures of Dion Dublin and Johnson, I be suprised if he left. Crouch may decide himself that he wants to play every week and come to Norwich, but with his age and ability i reckon he would cost around 2 milllion. Can we afford that? Especially when other areas of the squad (defence/midfield) need improvement first!

[DumbleDelia is Magic 0]

You can look at it in two ways. 1) Like you say as Villa have missed out for Europe Pete might want to leave. or 2) As Villa have missed out they have got less cash and therefore might want to keep him. We just don''t know.

[Canary Boy 0]

I saw an interview with David O''Leary yesterday and he said something like 14 players had gone recently and only 3 had come in. He said he needed about 6 players to boost his first team squad to 18 for next season. Not sure if those figures are exactly right but near enough. I cannot see him letting another player go (Crouch) unless it was for a sizable amount of cash to boost his spending power.

I agree with the other post above...we need to strengthen other areas of our squad first, especially if we get Bentley as well.

[ca 1]

According to a local radio station in Birmingham today we have agreed a fee of £1.8m and he is due for talks next week.Found these details on another website so not sure how reliable the info is but thought I''d tell you anyway.

[gazzathegreat 0]

saw the same thread, am not sure what to believe really

i am sure worthy would love to have crouch back, but a sum of £1.8m would be too much, considering the defensive and midfield cover he has to bring in as a matter of urgency

still, things may happen, would not rule it out completely, just not for that sum

[Freddy H 0]

Peter did a fantastic job for us and we are all grateful. However Matt & Leon also did fantastic jobs, scoring similar amounts of goals per games played; do we really need to sign Pete? I think that the near £2M should be saved and try to get Mr Bentley on loan.

[FatMan Fat 0]

I cannot see us spending £1.8 million on any player, we just dont have that sort of money. We will sign players with low transfer fees (suggest a maximum of £500,000?),and those who are on release clauses, "bosmans", or simply on loan. What money we do have will spent largely on wages for any new signings, not on transfer fees. So, on that basis we will not be signing PC.

[susie b 0]

Just to throw another thought into the melting pot, why was Crouchy subbed partway through yesterday''s game? Does this indicate D O''L''s true opinion of him, i.e. he doesn''t really rate him and/or he might be on his way, or was he injured? Does anyone know?

[Villa Fan 0]

Hi!

I think "El Crouchio" might go this summer. With the v.talented Moore brothers coming up, O''Leary hinting that he might want another top striker this summer, and Vassell/Angel beeing or first choice upfront.

Saying that, Peter was a whole new player after he came back from you. Showing off some very good skill and scoring a few goals aswell. He is certainly a player who is good enough to play well in a PL team on regular basis. But I don''t think we can offer him just that (a regular first tem spot). I''d love to keep him as a backup striker, but considering that we need funds for other transfers and that we don''t exactly lack options upfront I think that £1.5-2m deal would be a good deal for both clubs.

Good luck next season btw!

[DumbleDelia is Magic 0]

Cheers for that Villa fan. Good luck next year.

[gazzathegreat 0]

hello villa fan

great to see you on our board, and thanks for the best wishes for next season, yes, we would love crouchy back, but i fear the likely price may rule this out - no one except the board and manager can really know what funds are available, but 1.5-2m is a lot for one player, although i guess we will have to get used to the ''going'' rate

i am eagerly awaiting my trip to villa park, always my favourite birmingham ground - always waved to it on the many times we passed it on the way to molineux, brom or walsall!!!

next year we will be turning off before spaggi junction!! great stuff :-)

[susie b 0]

Thanks, Villa Fan, for your comments. I am feeling a bit more optimistic now, especially as you say he seemed like a new player after being here. Perhaps he really did enjoy being here so much that this brought out the best in him, and maybe there''s more to come too. Oh well! Time will tell, I suppose.
Good luck yourselves for next season. Maybe you''ll make the European places next time around instead of the Barcodes!

[ncfc4eva 0]

he wants to come here..his girlfriend lives down here and says villa wont let him.

[FatBoy Slim 0]

How much would City be willing to pay for Crouch?

Anything over £1.5 million could be too much for a player who has potential, but hasn''t yet started to knock ''em in.

[jb 0]

He has huge potential.Unfortunately I think O''Leary and a few others are now recognising what Nigel saw months ago.Apparently Foley has tracked him since he was in Spurs youth team.

[Ayrton Twigge 0]

I think its shaping up nicely for us.

Assuming Crouch leaves Villa - who else in the Prem is going to be interested? Lets consider the lower levels of the division and the new entrants. Crouch wouldn''t step down a division.

Ginger - of course, but theres no chance of that. Besides, he already has big front men.
Man City - no way.
Portsmouth - been there, done that.
Blackburn - unlikely
Bolton - ditto
Everton - not with Big Dunc
Spurs - need a bigger name

Wouldn''t be surprised to see a play-off club in too for obvious reasons.

I think he''s coming back!!

[jb 0]

I''ve heard Southampton as a replacement for Beattie and Bolton too.

[Villa Fan 0]

Susie B: I think the main reason why Crouch played good when he came back was confidence. Simple as that. He got his confidence back. Which he had been lacking after been slated by our supporters here for a long time. I remember he looked like a good player when first came from Portsmouth. But then he had a bad periode and never really came back. Probably because of what I mentioned above. Then when he came back from your lot we suddenly saw that player we just got a glimpse of two years ago. The useless Peter Crouch we knew from last season actually looked like a decent player again. Giving neat little flick-ons and taking people on. I''ll tell you, we couldn''t believe our eyes :)

A few weeks later he had an absolute blinder of a game when he scored two goals against Leicester. After that people started chanting his name at matches. And I think it really boosted his confidence further.

From what we''ve seen the last few month there is no doubt in my mind that Peter is a player that can play regular in a Premier League side. Maybe not the top 6 sides, but then again, not many can. But I think Crouchio is a player that can give you 10, maybe 15, league goals a season playing regular. And have in mind, he is still only 23.

[AJ 1,218]

I reckon theyve either got plans to buy crouch
or buy another "Target Man".
Otherwise surely theyd have kept roberts fro another season.
I also tohught young Hayse was replaceing him but he was let go on a free.........