Elliott Ward unveiled at 1.45 Press Conference

[Evil Monkey 52]

Asked my mate who''s a Coventry fan, he said that he simply lost his way at Coventry and his confidence went with it.  Has a tendency to go for the spectacular rather than play it simple when needed, but takes a mean penalty.

[Robert N. LiM 4,343]

[quote user="Mr.Carrow"]Really, really excited by this signing.  Yet more proof that our club at last has embraced ambition again. [/quote]

Is this irony? Genuine question. What do you know about Ward? Is he really that good?

[Mr.Carrow 376]

[quote user="Robert N. LiM"][quote user="Mr.Carrow"]Really, really excited by this signing.  Yet more proof that our club at last has embraced ambition again. [/quote] Is this irony? Genuine question. What do you know about Ward? Is he really that good?[/quote]

Don`t know any more than anyone else but i know many have rated him as Prem quality on his better days- seems to have consistancy issues, but then he was at Coventry.....

[Adam NCFC 0]

We''ve now got 2 CB''s that are overhead kick experts.

Ward and Nelson will score for fun next season!!

[lappinitup 629]

[quote user="Mr.Carrow"]Really, really excited by this signing.  Yet more proof that our club at last has embraced ambition again. [/quote]I must say this is a complete departure from your normal fare Mr Carrow. You have always implied that we should spend money on players as opposed to freebies and loans and less on tangible fixed assets yet you are really, really happy about signing a player who you admit to knowing little about on a free, while the club is spending money on additional seats. I think if we rolled the clock back one year and Bryan Gunn had made the same deal whilst the seats were being installed you may have been less enthusiastic.

Nevertheless, it''s good to see you have cleared Nutty''s fence and joined the land of the percy''s! [Y][:D]                               

[Mr.Carrow 376]

I know enough about him to know that he is a cut above virtually all the signings made since the Prem, and won`t have come cheap given the wide interest in him.  In the year since the board changes, we have been net buyers rather than net sellers in the transfer market for the first time since the Prem, and if they can also afford a few extra seats it just goes to show how much better the club is run than under the people you defended to the last.  Why not comment on the "A year since the departure of Mumbles and Doomy" LIU?  Or do you secretly want them back?  As nutty always argued against any changes i assume that is exactly what he wants, so we are still on different sides of the fence unfortunately.....

[Lambo 0]

Ward made SSN''s football league GOTS with an overhead kick for Donny a little while a go. Don''t think he''ll beat Calvin Zola''s goal though.

[Smudger 0]

haha nice one Mr Carrow. Ward certainly has far more about him than most of our signings since relegation from the Prem.

He is far better than, younger than, more mobile than and most likely cheaper than the Doc too. Oh he has also won promotion at a higher level than the Doc is ever likely to achieve too!

Well done Mr Lambert & Co on what could turn out to be an inspired signing!

Would still like to see another new defender or two at Carrow Road over the coming few months. Think our summer activity so far has been excellent though!

[O.T.B.C 0]

Very pleased with the signing, always thought he was a decent defender and will offer a lot of competition between the centre backs now.

I think we need a RB, L&R winger and another striker.

I like the idea of that chap from Wycombe, a striker in the mould of Iwelumo, who would be top draw.

[lappinitup 629]

[quote user="Mr.Carrow"]I know enough about him to know that he is a cut above virtually all the signings made since the Prem, and won`t have come cheap given the wide interest in him.  In the year since the board changes, we have been net buyers rather than net sellers in the transfer market for the first time since the Prem, and if they can also afford a few extra seats it just goes to show how much better the club is run than under the people you defended to the last.  Why not comment on the "A year since the departure of Mumbles and Doomy" LIU?  Or do you secretly want them back?  As nutty always argued against any changes i assume that is exactly what he wants, so we are still on different sides of the fence unfortunately.....[/quote]I wasn''t discussing the merits of the old board Mr Carrow, I was asking why you thought signing a "freebie" was showing ambition when paying £800k for Jamie Cureton for example wasn''t.

[Lineo 0]

Solid defender, this time a signing I know a bit about!A good replacement for Doc

[Mr.Carrow 376]

[quote user="lappinitup"][quote user="Mr.Carrow"]I know enough about him to know that he is a cut above virtually all the signings made since the Prem, and won`t have come cheap given the wide interest in him.  In the year since the board changes, we have been net buyers rather than net sellers in the transfer market for the first time since the Prem, and if they can also afford a few extra seats it just goes to show how much better the club is run than under the people you defended to the last.  Why not comment on the "A year since the departure of Mumbles and Doomy" LIU?  Or do you secretly want them back?  As nutty always argued against any changes i assume that is exactly what he wants, so we are still on different sides of the fence unfortunately.....[/quote]I wasn''t discussing the merits of the old board Mr Carrow, I was asking why you thought signing a "freebie" was showing ambition when paying £800k for Jamie Cureton for example wasn''t.[/quote]

Errrr, because Jamie Cureton was replacing a far superior player who departed for £3.5m and most of that money disappeared to finance other areas of the club, despite the CE lying to us that "All transfer money is re-invested in the team". 

I`ll try and keep things simple so you don`t keep embarrassing yourself, but we used to flog off our best players and re-invest a small fraction in replacements then claim ambition.  Now we turn down bids, get players in early doors without selling anyone when we used to be told that no business is done this time of year, and we are net buyers rather than net sellers despite our finances being "dire" last season.  Understand?

Now do you want the old board back as you never wanted them gone in the first place?  At least if you answer "yes" you won`t look like a total hypocrite......

[lappinitup 629]

[quote user="Mr.Carrow"]Errrr, because Jamie Cureton was replacing a far superior player who departed for £3.5m and most of that money disappeared to finance other areas of the club, despite the CE lying to us that "All transfer money is re-invested in the team". 

I`ll try and keep things simple so you don`t keep embarrassing yourself, but we used to flog off our best players and re-invest a small fraction in replacements then claim ambition.  Now we turn down bids, get players in early doors without selling anyone when we used to be told that no business is done this time of year, and we are net buyers rather than net sellers despite our finances being "dire" last season.  Understand?

Now do you want the old board back as you never wanted them gone in the first place?  At least if you answer "yes" you won`t look like a total hypocrite......[/quote]Oh dear. I should have known I would get the same tired old rhetoric sprinkled with insults. Let''s try again..........

As someone who has always insisted that spending large amounts of money on transfer fees shows ambition, what is it about the free transfer of Elliot that excites you so much that you see reason to abandon those beliefs? The Doc cost a fee whereas Elliot who has come in to replaced him is free. In the past you would have berated the board for "lack of ambition" but now it''s "more ambitious". Have you simply hung your coat on the "in Lambert I trust" peg? 

[BigFish 1,986]

[quote user="lappinitup"][quote user="Mr.Carrow"]Errrr, because Jamie Cureton was replacing a far superior player who departed for £3.5m and most of that money disappeared to finance other areas of the club, despite the CE lying to us that "All transfer money is re-invested in the team". 

I`ll try and keep things simple so you don`t keep embarrassing yourself, but we used to flog off our best players and re-invest a small fraction in replacements then claim ambition.  Now we turn down bids, get players in early doors without selling anyone when we used to be told that no business is done this time of year, and we are net buyers rather than net sellers despite our finances being "dire" last season.  Understand?

Now do you want the old board back as you never wanted them gone in the first place?  At least if you answer "yes" you won`t look like a total hypocrite......[/quote]Oh dear. I should have known I would get the same tired old rhetoric sprinkled with insults. Let''s try again..........

As someone who has always insisted that spending large amounts of money on transfer fees shows ambition, what is it about the free transfer of Elliot that excites you so much that you see reason to abandon those beliefs? The Doc cost a fee whereas Elliot who has come in to replaced him is free. In the past you would have berated the board for "lack of ambition" but now it''s "more ambitious". Have you simply hung your coat on the "in Lambert I trust" peg? 

[/quote]

Now far be it for me to leap to Mr Cs defence but the fact that Ward is free does not mean he is cheap. If it is true that a number of Champ clubs were after him then his agent will have negotiated up a tidy sum to disappear into their respective back pockets. Just the way of the football these days.

Now I will spoil it by saying it would have been very hard for the cub to be net sellers considering what Roeder left behind.

[Mr.Carrow 376]

[quote user="lappinitup"][quote user="Mr.Carrow"]Errrr, because Jamie Cureton was replacing a far superior player who departed for £3.5m and most of that money disappeared to finance other areas of the club, despite the CE lying to us that "All transfer money is re-invested in the team". 

I`ll try and keep things simple so you don`t keep embarrassing yourself, but we used to flog off our best players and re-invest a small fraction in replacements then claim ambition.  Now we turn down bids, get players in early doors without selling anyone when we used to be told that no business is done this time of year, and we are net buyers rather than net sellers despite our finances being "dire" last season.  Understand?

Now do you want the old board back as you never wanted them gone in the first place?  At least if you answer "yes" you won`t look like a total hypocrite......[/quote]Oh dear. I should have known I would get the same tired old rhetoric sprinkled with insults. Let''s try again..........

As someone who has always insisted that spending large amounts of money on transfer fees shows ambition, what is it about the free transfer of Elliot that excites you so much that you see reason to abandon those beliefs? The Doc cost a fee whereas Elliot who has come in to replaced him is free. In the past you would have berated the board for "lack of ambition" but now it''s "more ambitious". Have you simply hung your coat on the "in Lambert I trust" peg? 

[/quote]

Were we net sellers under the old board (particularly since the Prem.)?  Have we been net buyers under the new board?  Which, to you, is the more ambitious approach?  Now, do you want the old board back or are you going to be man enough to admit that those you tried to shout down for so long had a point?

[lappinitup 629]

[quote user="Mr.Carrow"]Were we net sellers under the old board (particularly since the Prem.)?  Have we been net buyers under the new board?  Which, to you, is the more ambitious approach?  Now, do you want the old board back or are you going to be man enough to admit that those you tried to shout down for so long had a point?[/quote]We''ve always been net sellers for as long as I can remember Mr Carrow but as Bigfish says, this board had nothing left to sell. Which is why I was at St Andrews Hall voting no confidence in the old board. Did you? So why would I want them back? Now back to the original question, why are you really, really excited by a free signing and how is it showing ambition?

[Mr.Carrow 376]

Stop sidestepping the questions LIU:  Have we been net buyers under the new board?  And is that more ambitious than being net sellers?  And re. your "nothing to sell" point, did our CE not say we`d turned a bid down for Russell?  And did our Chairman not say that we could sell our best players for a few million but promotion would be worth more so it wouldn`t make sense?  Are you calling them liars?

And the signing is ambitious because we are spending money on adding to an already useful squad, instead of relying on spending a fraction of the millions raked in from flogging off our best players as we did ever since the Prem until the new men took over.

[Ulf Ottosson 0]

Is it just me or is it difficult to get excited by a player who has just been released by Coventry.

Surely if he was any good they would want to keep him.

[RichT - The Biscuit 0]

I posted this before but will post again.

A lot of players are now looking to see out contracts with the aim of getting some bunce for themselves in new deals. There is a conflict of interest as it''s not in the clubs interest to lose a player on a freebie, especially when you pay a million, but what can they do when a player won''t sign something new and wants to make some cash for themselves.

For the record, even though he is free, I think he will be an excellent signing and I for one will wait to see him play before writing him off.

Football is changing, free transfers no longer mean not good enough. It was only a few days ago everyone one on here was moaning about Doc leaving, yes on a free, if those are to be believed then he will end up playing at the same level so someone will pick him up but give him a payday and not the club.

One thing is certain, no-one, and I mean no-one will truly know the exact reasons for players allowing contracts to expire, be it a clubs choice or players!!