Bailey or Fox and Crofts?

[Mark Fotheringham City Legend 0]

Would you have had Bailey instead of Fox and Crofts, with pretty much our entire budget going on him, or two cheapish signings.

[Morisons Prozac 0]

Probably Fox & Crofts as they provide two different styles of midfielders although it is a close one.

[Jacko 0]

Not even comparable. Crofts was 350k assuming that Fox was around the same that comes to about 700k. Bailey has cost around £1.5 million. As someone else says we need to be signing someone like Nicky Bailey from Southend when he was a bit cheaper. Hopefully Lambert has pulled this off with Crofts and Fox. Don''t write them off just yet. Bailey''s career was very underwhelming before joining CHarlton.

[Mark Fotheringham City Legend 0]

Certainly not writing them off, I think Fox is a fantastic player! I was just wondering what the thoughts of the pink''un were

[Jacko 0]

[quote user="Hoolahans Right Foot"]Certainly not writing them off, I think Fox is a fantastic player! I was just wondering what the thoughts of the pink''un were[/quote]

Sorry for misreading the post then. I think Fox could be an exciting signing. Ian Holloway even said he felt it was a mistake releasing him from Blackpool last season so that has to be worth something given what he has acheived this season. Don''t get me wrong I would have been thrilled to have seen Bailey here. He is a skilful yet nasty player who excelled for Charlton in the championship even though he was in a terrible team. But realistically the days of us paying over £1 million for a player are long gone unless we get back in the Premier League.

[Pabs 0]

I think that the two are both good signings. I have been impressed with what I have seen/heard of Crofts. 7 goals in 50 games as a defensive mid proves he can shoot too...perhaps more so than a Russell or Lappin!

As for Fox, I wouldn''t be surprised ifLambert trains him up for being Hoolahan''s deputy when needs be. He has a nice range of passing, can hit a free kick and may do well in the ''hole.'' Otherwise, I would expect him to battle with Smith/Hughes/Lappin for the other midfield roles, with Crofts a regular at base of diamond.

[John 0]

[quote user="Good Touch For A Big Man"]Not even comparable. Crofts was 350k assuming that Fox was around the same that comes to about 700k. Bailey has cost around £1.5 million. As someone else says we need to be signing someone like Nicky Bailey from Southend when he was a bit cheaper. Hopefully Lambert has pulled this off with Crofts and Fox. Don''t write them off just yet. Bailey''s career was very underwhelming before joining CHarlton.[/quote]Crofts Transfer fee was reportedly made up of a host of clauses, so whether it rises to that amount is debatable.As for Fox, the fee was of course undisclosed, but i can assure you it would of been nowhere near a solid 350k fee. Colchester fans seem to imply that a fee anywhere between £50,000 to £100,000 would of been a more than reasonable assumption, and his association with the club was nowhere near as strong as it was concerning Crofts and Brighton. Crofts was Player of the Season, very settled, and a pivotal part of a League One team that is building the foundations for Championship football with a 22,500 seater stadium in the making, alongside a lot of financial backing, and a manager that likes to stick to his plans (and Crofts, as captain, was a big part of them). This is whilst Fox had made it known that he had not settled into the area, explicitly requesting that he be transferred. This, and he was clearly not a part of the managers plans, that looks to be doing little else than to continue the work of the previous regime, having been appointed from it.I''d reckon that the figures initially paid for these two would of amounted to little more than 250k to 300k collectively (if that).

[Jacko 0]

I thought that might be the case. I was doing what was effectively the worst case scenario. On the evidence of Big Bad John, Bailey alone would cost 5 times the amount Crofts and Fox have. It just illustrates the point that signing Bailey or these two was never an option. We have to cut our cloth accordingly. £100k for Fox could potentially be a very shrewd piece of business. I am surprised Cowling let us have him that cheap.

[CanaryOne 0]

If you get to around 25 years of age and you are playing for Brighton or cannot get in the Col Who starting line up then thats probably your level , its players like Bailey with a little bit of class and maybe improvement still in them that we will need in the Championship . I do fear that Lamberts sign everything from the lower leagues approch will see us relegated next season , we are very short of Championship class players in the squad and on paper it looks way short of the calibre needed.

[Boyo 0]

The talk of Fox AND Crofts annoys me.  It''s like everyone is talking that they are going to be our new midfield paring when we have Korey Smith who is still learning and already a really good player and who had a great season last season.  I would have thought he would be one of the first names on the team sheet and does not deserved to be forgotten about and definately does not deserved to be dropped if Lambert is thinking that way.

Crofts is more likely to come straight into the team (if Russel goes) to sit and hold but I doubt Fox will come straight into the team and replace Smith.