If the price is right, we'll sell!

[First Wizard 0]

Come on down. Bargains galore!.

Do you agree, that come January, and despite Worthy''s wishes, if the board receive big money offers for Francis, Hucks and Green, they will all go?.

Contracts mean nothing in football, we all know that. Plus, these three players, are attracting high praise from TV pundits (damn them to hell) and the national media alike.

As the relegation scrap hot''s up, clubs with more money than City, and being desperate to cling on to their premiership status, may find City''s highly talented trio, far too tempting to ignore.

What ever Worthy wants, will, I fear, be ignored by our tight fisted board, as they cling to their dogma of prudence above sanity, that they seem to worship so much.

I fear January for the above reasons. More so in fact than to who we might or mightnot sign. 

Roll on February and a retained squad, with no departures, except maybe, Holt and Brennan.

[Pauly H 0]

I disagree. I think the board are now more than ever (sorry to say it) looking at the bigger picture. Surley they realise selling our top players is detremental to our survival and therefore will hit our pocket harder if we fail in our bid to survive. This club now exercisies extreamly shrewd business practice and is by no means reliant on the sale of our top players. Green is a different story but why splash out on players to take the club forward just to sell them at a profit. It doesn''t make sense and therfore won''t happen!!

[DH 0]

I think the only player at risk of leaving in Jan is Green. The other two perhaps at end of season depending on our own position.Hopefully though we can resist selling anyone till summer when we know what has happened. Can a premier team buy Green in Jan and loan him straight back to us, or have they stopped that kind of behaviour now?I see Nott Forest are willing to let Marlon King and Damien Johnson go, would they be worth a gamble.

[billy ball 0]

while I see what you are saying wiz....don''t you think a lot will depend on our position come Jan... a little run of good results we could be a few places highier, not saying the board will suddenly find the money.. but you never know.. we are facing a huckerby situation soon, where Nigel will put his cards on the table....got a feeling in my water..have you a spell for that

[FilletTheFishWife . 0]

how about we pay Arsenal to take Bentley back on the condition they don''t sign Green!!
If Man U don''t get Schwarzer they''ll be after Green too and a better swap deal might be negotiable.

if green goes, it would be akin to throwing in the towel. we will not survive without him unless we could scavenge for Friedel, Cudicini or Niemi.

if I had to choose between retaining the current squad or trading any of those three for new faces I''ll stick with what we''ve got.

[Notts Canary 0]

Would be surprised to see them go in Jan because I think they have put to much into it just to walk away from the club. Although if in the event we do go down I think it would be safe to say they would be off in the summer! The ones who should go include –

Doherty

Possibly Jonson

Helveg

Brennan

 

And hopefully we will bring in some players who will actually get into the team and improve it!!!

 

[Brum Uni Canary 0]

Francis and Green yes, Huckerby no....Francis is receiving praise from every direction and I surely the best midfielder we have had for a long time. The reasons for Green are obvious, but I am thinking that he will be here until June, regardless of any big offer another team may make. I think Huckerby won''t be hunted because he is the one player of the trio who have been tried and tested in the Premiership before (did Francis have a few sub appearances for Wimbledon?), and hasn''t been exactly a star. Here, he is the big(ish) fish, and IMO hasn''t performed to all expectations so far this season.

[Jerzy Krukowski 5]

Why fret about it, it hasn''t happened yet! If the price is right alsmost every club in the world will sell, that''s the point, if the price is right. The same thing goes for any club with someone we want too. How about posting a positive message for once. We''re nearly at xmas and in touch with 6 or 7 teams. We''re inconsistant but are quite capable of holding our own with most of the teams in this division.

Maybe Sat was a test of whether we have half full, half empty mindsets. I was half full, great comeback, could have won it. Worthy sorted things out tactically showing he''s learning and we got a point from a physically big team at their place. 

[stroud canary 0]

Huckerby - No Way, wont sell him , he wont go anyway.Francis - Unlikely, Im sure he will be here in February. Teams wont fork out the money we would want.Green - Maybe but I think not. He will go sometime for sure. We know Worthy would reluctantly let him go if the price was right. Personally I think we will keep him to the end of the season and see him go in the summer.

[Camberwick Green<IMG src="http:new.pinkun.comforumsimagesline.gif"><BR>Breathe the pressure, Come play my game Ill test ya !!!<BR><A class=authorlink href="http:" target=_blank><A><BR> 0]

I think it hinges on 2 things - clubs actually making bids rather than waiting 6 months to see if Norwich drop and then trying their luck at getting the player cheaper and Nige.

I think that Hucks and Francis would be good additions to many premiership squads but that no-one will be so keen to sign them at the January price, that they wouldn''t wait and come back with an offer should Norwich be relegated (they don''t realise our brilliant prudence policy meaning no price cuts, the fools !!!).

Green is slightly different. Middlesborough need a keeper, they also know that Arsenal are looking for a no.2 and who knows what the man U goalkeeping situation is??? They may well be tempted to come in with a bid to secure the player now. But then again why actually bid now? why not get Green to sign an agreement saying he''ll go if Norwich go down ? (since I think he might stay if Norwich stay up).  After all they''ve got a keeper until the end of the season, so if Green has a clause where he can talk to people who bid £4m, they can agree terms now, bid £4m in May should Norwich go down and they get their player.

If someone actually did bid, It''d depend on Nige and the board - keep Green and get £1m to spend in January, or sell him and spend £3-4m. Nige is a defender and fairly conservative, I think in that situation he''d stick with what he had plus a few loans etc. Nige knows the points Green has saved the club in the past 2 seasons, I don''t think he''d take the cash and he''d manage the board to ensure that didn''t happen.  Which may be an opportunity lost, since as someone was quoted as saying-  it''s easier to keep goals out in the premiership than score them. Which is where we may come unstuck.

[First Wizard 0]

[quote]while I see what you are saying wiz....don''t you think a lot will depend on our position come Jan... a little run of good results we could be a few places highier, not saying the board will suddenly f...[/quote]

Sorry Billy, I have no spell for that I''m afraid!.

The other worrying aspect of this for me, that I didn''t mention in my first post was this:

A lot of posters on here are of the opinion, that if we do go down, then we will bounce straight back up again.

If, and yes I realise that it is a big ''IF'' again, we sell either Francis or Hucks. Then the task of getting promoted again without those two, becomes even more difficult.

I do agree with your comments regarding Green however.

But, I''m also not sure of Worthy''s attitude in all this, if the unthinkable does happen. Lets hope the board thinks and worries that way too!.

[General Melchett 0]

I don''t think Huckerby will be going anywhere. He''s the type of player that a manager has to build a team around and no manager wants to be doing that in January! You can''t just slot him in to your system and expect him to play like an orthodox winger or striker and with all due respect to Hucks (he''s great and I love him playing for city) there aren''t many other teams in the Prem that would have him as a luxuary player, playing in a free role. Everyone knows he been round the block a few times with different clubs - remember that clubs have to want to sell, a club has to put money on the table and thankfully under this board the player himself has to want to move.

Having said that I think Green and Francis are a slightly different matter and there is certainly more of a danger that they might go - but I don''t think it will be January. In a way it may have been a good thing that Green got injured, dropped out of the England squad, didn''t get a cap etc. January may still be too soon for a Prem club to come in for him (June may be a different matter!) And remember that Norwich have to want to sell Green and Francais - Ok you get £4M for Green and £2M for Francis - are you really going to go out and spend that on anything better? answer NO!
I think if we had a star Striker who would go for big bucks (are you listening Palace) then we should be far more afraid.

[Mcsncfcmcs 0]

Hucks - very unlikely to go even if we get relegated. He''s made it clear he is happy here and he''s on a good contract so no worries about that.

Damo - I''m glad he has been getting a lot of praise because he deserves it. In a funny way its a good thing that there are rumours about possible interest in him because it shows he is playing very well. But all they are is rumours. As for him leaving, no way will he go in January (particularly with his injury). If we get relegated then no doubt there will be interest in him from Prem clubs. One thing his new contract DOES mean is that any potential buyer would have to pay up to buy him (not like say Leicester who had to sell people like Thatcher and Dickov for next to nothing). If he was interested in a move to stay in the Prem and we were offered a good sum then he would probably be sold. But that''s just the nature of football for any club in our position.

Green - all the rumours have been going on for so long, most of them complete fabrications created by people putting 2 and 2 together and making 5 (eg "the only reason Bentley signed on loan was because we have already done a deal with Arsenal for Green" - absolute rubbish!). But he''s a great young goalie and so clubs will be interested. I would be very surprised if anyone came up with a decent bid for Green in January to be honest. Man Utd for example spent their money on Rooney. Wenger doesn''t usually like to bring in many new people in January either. Clubs such as Middlesbrough might also be more likely to wait until the end of the season in the hope that we get relegated and therefore any move to a Prem club might be on Greeno''s mind. At the same time, if someone like Middlesbrough did come in for Greeno now, he might be more inclined to wait until the end of the season in the hope that one of the bigger teams were then interested.

One thing is clear, if Greeno did leave in January then the money would go to our player budget. Whilst our forthcoming financial results won''t look good (due to the nature of our last financial year), we are no longer in a position where we have to sell our best players due to needing the money to stay afloat (eg as with the likes of Eadie and Bellers). We don''t need to sell Greeno and we don''t want to sell him. But everyone has a price, and every good player has ambitions to further their careers. If a team offers us good money and he wants to go then maybe a deal would go through. But a lot of things would have to come together to make it happen and I don''t think the month of January offers sufficient time to sort everything out. Not least the fact that we would only sell if we knew we had the time to reinvest the money into our squad in January as well. Staying in the Prem would bring massive financial reward, far, far outweighing any transfer fee we might get for Green (and I think people who believe we will get £5-6m are misjudging the current transfer market personally). So even from a basic financial standpoint it wouldn''t make sense to sell Green if we couldn''t reinvest in our squad to help us stay up. There will still be plenty of interest in Green next summer anyway.

in truth I think most of the talk is just supporters worrying. I doubt anyone will go in January (well, any of our best players that is) and in all likelihood there will only be one or at the most two players coming in.

[KidCanary 0]

Huckerby - every player has his price but I''m willing to bet money he will stay, the board dont have to sell and he has already stated that if we go down he wants to remain here.

Francis - despite the plaudits still an unknown quantity for some, if we went down I would expect a bid for him but not in the Jan window.

Green - Am really not sure on this, I would be surprised if he went in Jan but can still see this as a strong possibility.  To be honest if someone is going to offer £5 million (and I think your looking at more than this if he went in Jan as it smacks of desparation from the buying club) I say take it.  We have two very good goal keepers in Ward and Gallagher, neither too far behind Green and £5mill would make a hell of a difference to our squad.  I know he has saved us on more than one occasion but I''m of the opinion we have adequate cover in that respect.

The only thing I would say is if/when he does go it will be a shame he wont of played for England while he was at Norwich, would be nice to have one of our squad in the side for the first time in a while.

[First Wizard 0]

[quote]Hucks - very unlikely to go even if we get relegated. He''s made it clear he is happy here and he''s on a good contract so no worries about that. Damo - I''m glad he has been getting a lot of praise bec...[/quote]

Mcsncfcmcs: (bloody hell, what a gob full mate!) I really did  enjoy your thoughtful post a lot, but, yes there''s always a but with me I afraid!.

What everyone has missed, is that a lot of clubs now, even  Manure, now pay in instalments. So if Green goes for say, £6 million (a fair price I reckon) then the board may only get an initial £2 million for him in January or whenever.

They (they board) would hold back £1 million just to be prudent!, thus handing Worthy only £1 million extra for transfers in January. And of course we would have lost Green in the process!.

Guessing?..certainly. Simplistic?......Yes.

But thats my view when reading Doomcaster''s and the boards thoughts.

[DumbleDelia is Magic 0]

[quote]Come on down. Bargains galore!. Do you agree, that come January, and despite Worthy''s wishes, if the board receive big money offers for Francis, Hucks and Green, they will all go?. Contracts mean no...[/quote]

No way.  Sorry mate don''t agree.  Greeno yes.  Definitely.  And I won''t blame the club or the player one little bit.  He''s an incredible talent and deserves to play top class football.

As for Hucks and Francis no way will we sell them.  What benefit would it give us?  We might get £7M for the pair.  Then what?  We won''t be able to replace them for that cash.

Also regarding Hucks, no disrespect to the lad, but who would buy him?  No other Prem club would want him IMO.  We love him and couldn''t do without him.  But other clubs have their superstars and to be fair he''s hardly set the world alight.  He wouldn''t leave Norwich anyway

Cheer up Wiz mate.  Greeno will go but I think we''re looking more like a Prem team every week. Remember- Unbeaten in 2!! 

[DumbleDelia is Magic 0]

Ps love the signature Wiz.  It''s awesome!

[kennyfoggo 0]

Blimey I am logged in as Kenny. which hasn''t worked for ages

Quote .. Huckerby - every player has his price but I''m willing to bet money he will stay, the board dont have to sell and he has already stated that if we go down he wants to remain here.

I think Hucks showed when he wanted to come here, that money didn''t play a bigger part in his life ..as some do. 

Yes Wiz.. it is virtually unheard of to pay all the fee up front.. say Greeno does go for 6 mill,  I would say that could be linked to appearences, england call up etc... and paid over a agreed period and would be seen as like a parachute payment by the board.

Possibily giving Nige, the first payemnt for transfers.. if we are lucky....

[Gentleman Jim 0]

[quote]Mcsncfcmcs: (bloody hell, what a gob full mate!) I really did enjoy your thoughtful post a lot, but, yes there''s always a but with me I afraid!. What everyone has missed, is that a lot of clubs now,...[/quote]

Well if that''s so Wiz we would also pay in instalments yes ? Then that £1m could be a down payment or two for us couldn''t it ?

[Northern Canary 0]

I would not sell them, because of what weve seen worthy can do in the transfer market. I dont think the money would get us any replacements as good or better. I think its better to try our best to keep them

[kdncfc 0]

Hucks will definitely not be going anywhere as he''s already said that we are the last club he would play for in this country, plus he''s already been at some of the big clubs and realises that they''re not all they''re cracked up to be. Francis maybe at the end of the season if we go down and someone offers silly money. As for Greeno I think he will be here for 1 more year if we stay up but will go at the end of the season should the worst happen.

[First Wizard 0]

[quote]Well if that''s so Wiz we would also pay in instalments yes ? Then that £1m could be a down payment or two for us couldn''t it ?[/quote]

Ye Gods Jim, I hadn''t even consider that logical solution, dooh!!.

But would the board, who are being prudent to the point of paranoia, wish to get into a play now, pay later scheme? .

I just don''t trust them to ''go for it'' twice in 12 months, they''re quite content to be a solvent fizzy pop league team for ever, in my twisted opinion!.          

[Gentleman Jim 0]

[quote]Ye Gods Jim, I hadn''t even consider that logical solution, dooh!!. But would the board, who are being prudent to the point of paranoia, wish to get into a play now, pay later scheme? . I just don''t ...[/quote]

...just can''t seem to please you at all today Wiz !     

[0Amarillo<P><FONT color=#cccc00 size=4><EM> º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸ Amarillo ¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°<EM><FONT><P>ddMMyyyy0Falseen-US<P><FONT color=#cccc00 size=4><EM> º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸ Amarillo ¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°<EM><FONT><P>True 0]

Firstly, Hux won''t go. He''s so happy here he''ll stay whatever, for a few years yet. Judging by the things he has said in the media this is the only club he''s ever felt at home with....

Secondly, who goes or stays isn''t entirely down to the club. If we get an offer for Green, and he wants to go, how can we stop him? I don''t think the club will actively look to sell anyone from the first team, but if the money is good, Worthy thinks he can overall strengthen by selling, and the player wants to go....

Finally, I think the board will give Worthy everything they can. That is, without risking the future of the club. I don''t think there is any correlation whatsoever between how far the club strethes itself and where we are next season. There are plenty of examples of clubs spending small but wisely and doing well (Charlton, Bolton etc), and of those who''ve spent big and come a cropper (Bradford, etc etc).

It''s all about WHO Worthy buys and how that affects the balance of the team, the sum of the parts, than how much he spends.

I would like to see people on here discussing names of players and the impact they might have rather than haggling over whether he should spend 1m or 3m and whether the board have or will give that money to Worthy.

I''d like to see Dean Ashton for starters, a good long-term prospect and could make an immediate impact too.

[First Wizard 0]

[quote]...just can''t seem to please you at all today Wiz ![/quote]

Jim: Yes, I am being difficult today aren''t I?. There has been many good ideas on this thread, I enjoyed Armirello''s post in particular.

But I disagree with him on the question of whether or not we should be discussing this now.

I think its vital, I also believe some of them (the board) do read these boards, if only to get an ''inkling'' of how we feel ie. Huckerby. And to keep up with what their customers think.

So by keeping this ongoing, I hope that some of them might realise, that there are supporters on here, who do not subscribe to their prudence above all policy, and further more, won''t swallow it, hook, line and sinker!.