The Holt Saga- An Amazing Piece of Spin??!

[BobbyLo 0]

So. What do you think?Firstly, as we have all come to accept, Lambert leaves the club for Villa. For the record- I heard it told he knew he was going a couple of months before it happened.Then our talismanic, three time player of the season decides that he wants out too- sparking furious reaction from some fans and sheer disbelief among others. I never held any malice towards him actually and am unbelievably happy that he has decided to stay. We wouldn''t have been able to replace what he brings to the team and I think the deal was well worth the hassle.However, maybe it''s the cynic in me, but does anyone else think this is an amazing PR/marketing super genius plan to make the board and the new gaffer look incredibly smart? I don''t think it''d be that hard to pull off, and the rewards are incredible. Increased media coverage, the exciting ''will he, won''t he'' saga, confidence in the board and Chief Exec and, of course, happy Canary fans... Plus, we all know Hughton has big shoes to fill and this little master stroke would definitely be a great coup at the start of your new job (I like CH already, I just want to see how he sets the team up and rotates players/formations then I''ll make a more succint assessment)Anyway. I''m probably talking a load of nonsense but this popped into my mind earlier and I thought I''d share my bizarre theory with others.Ps. Let''s look back up there for a sec... Happy Canary Fans. I think that this is the most important thing...so...it was worth it, wasn''t it?! [;)]

[Sooty57 414]

Jeez! I bet you believe the CIA orchestrated 911, and the moon landings were faked too.

[BobbyLo 0]

Ha ha! Excellent...It''s merely a suggestion. I think it''s quite a fun one.

[Guest]

[quote user="BobbyLo"]Ha ha! Excellent...It''s merely a suggestion. I think it''s quite a fun one.[/quote]Well looking at Holt''s interview on the press conference today, it seems the entire thing was just a bit of extreme brinkmanship to get the contract he wanted, and he never had any intention of actually walking away. Part of me really doesn''t approve of taking the p**s out of the fans like that (given his Twitter comments), but part of me can understand it in terms of wanting to get the best deal whilst in a strong bargaining position. Onwards and upwards now.Anyway, one of my colleagues is a Hammers fan and he was convinced he was going to sign him, so tomorrow should be fun...!

[barclay seats 4849 0]

[quote user="Sooty57"]Jeez! I bet you believe the CIA orchestrated 911, and the moon landings were faked too.[/quote]

 

HaHa !!! YOU really  believe man has been to the moon ?? HaHa !!

[William Darby 0]

[quote user="barclay seats 4849 "]

[quote user="Sooty57"]Jeez! I bet you believe the CIA orchestrated 911, and the moon landings were faked too.[/quote]

 

HaHa !!! YOU really  believe man has been to the moon ?? HaHa !!

[/quote]I do, but they haven''t been back cos the aliens warned them off.

[ricardo 8,034]

[quote user="BobbyLo"]So. What do you think?Anyway. I''m probably talking a load of nonsense but this popped into my mind earlier and I thought I''d share my bizarre theory with others.! [;)][/quote]What do I think? have a guess.[;)]

[BobbyLo 0]

Ha ha... Cheers ricardo. As an avid reader of your match reports its nice to see a reply from your good self.

I thought it was a crazy notion when discussing it with a friend earlier. Have to say though, it wouldn''t be the first time a football club pulled the wool over eyes....

In reality, I truly believe that the way NCFC handled the whole saga was pretty impressive. Lambert is a strange one, but the stance on Holt was always the same. They were quite transparent. It took a while to sort out and caused a bit of a furore but they obviously wanted to get a deal that was right for both parties. Like I said, most are happy and that bodes well for next season

[ricardo 8,034]

[quote user="BobbyLo"]Ha ha... Cheers ricardo. As an avid reader of your match reports its nice to see a reply from your good self.

I thought it was a crazy notion when discussing it with a friend earlier. Have to say though, it wouldn''t be the first time a football club pulled the wool over eyes....

In reality, I truly believe that the way NCFC handled the whole saga was pretty impressive. Lambert is a strange one, but the stance on Holt was always the same. They were quite transparent. It took a while to sort out and caused a bit of a furore but they obviously wanted to get a deal that was right for both parties. Like I said, most are happy and that bodes well for next season[/quote]

I love a good conspiracy theory Bobby, but sometimes 2 plus 2 really does only make 4.[;)]

[Trent Canary 0]

[quote user="I.S."][quote user="BobbyLo"]Ha ha! Excellent...It''s merely a suggestion. I think it''s quite a fun one.[/quote]Well looking at Holt''s interview on the press conference today, it seems the entire thing was just a bit of extreme brinkmanship to get the contract he wanted, and he never had any intention of actually walking away. Part of me really doesn''t approve of taking the p**s out of the fans like that (given his Twitter comments), but part of me can understand it in terms of wanting to get the best deal whilst in a strong bargaining position. Onwards and upwards now.Anyway, one of my colleagues is a Hammers fan and he was convinced he was going to sign him, so tomorrow should be fun...![/quote]Agreed. The whole thing smacked of Wayne Rooney from a season or two back. Never thought there was anything to it other than it being one big public negotiation.

[Thisisbabyish 0]

What a load of tosh! Next you''ll be telling us AVB is off to Spurs! : P

[Syteanric 1]

good Work BobbyLo!interesting reading and theory to boot!

[Europe_93 50]

I''d be interested to here David McNally view on events. I''d be amazed if he did a u-turn and suddenly decided that Holt was young enough after all, maybe the money was sourced elsewhere so it didn''t come out of McNally''s budget. If he was over ruled, then I wouldn''t be surprised if he departs within the next 12 months. Personally I''m not sure that is a good thing for the football club.

Second to that, we seemed to have a broad transfer policy that I could understand. Buying youngish players to be deployed straight in the first team, generally giving 3 year contracts, then as better players were bought moved to being squad players, before being moved on when out of contract. You could argue that last season in the premiership, we could afford, and utilized a larger squad and that there were very few players who could call themselves first team rather squad players.

The renewal of contracts for Ward, Surman & Martin somewhat surprised me. They all have contributed, but when looking at our overall squad, they are positions we could have strengthened. To me someone has recognized these players perhaps have a transfer value, hence the contracts, whereas before people were contracted to do a job and moved on. The downside here is we will be paying the wages. It just appears there is a change in policy and I wonder who is responsible?

[Billabong 0]

I''m not so sure the whole saga was orchestrated but the club probably knew all along, that offering a 3 year contract would solve the problem in one stroke.

We would have to be very naive to think the club wouldn''t make the most of this contract extension to cleverly launch CH on the right foot.

I have a feeling, the club knew all along he was going to stay [with 3 years] and GH knew he was going to get the extension.

So, yes the announcement was all about timing

So BobbyLo actually makes a good point

[BobbyLo 0]

Cheers Billabong... I like your take on the theory (or notion, whatever you will) Knowing how PR works, personally, I see why this could be beneficial.

As I always maintained, this was purely a suggestion and not based on any ''hard facts'' as it were.

Oh, nice one Jas! Thanks mate

[Hairy Canary 754]

[quote user="Europe_93"]I''d be interested to here David McNally view on events. I''d be amazed if he did a u-turn and suddenly decided that Holt was young enough after all, maybe the money was sourced elsewhere so it didn''t come out of McNally''s budget. If he was over ruled, then I wouldn''t be surprised if he departs within the next 12 months. Personally I''m not sure that is a good thing for the football club. Second to that, we seemed to have a broad transfer policy that I could understand. Buying youngish players to be deployed straight in the first team, generally giving 3 year contracts, then as better players were bought moved to being squad players, before being moved on when out of contract. You could argue that last season in the premiership, we could afford, and utilized a larger squad and that there were very few players who could call themselves first team rather squad players. The renewal of contracts for Ward, Surman & Martin somewhat surprised me. They all have contributed, but when looking at our overall squad, they are positions we could have strengthened. To me someone has recognized these players perhaps have a transfer value, hence the contracts, whereas before people were contracted to do a job and moved on. The downside here is we will be paying the wages. It just appears there is a change in policy and I wonder who is responsible?[/quote]

I think there''s something in what you say Europe and it seems pretty clear there is a change of emphasis. This is the first time in three years that we have renegotiated better deals for some of our players rather than replacing them (there might be the odd one or two but certainly not many). In short we are spending our cash on better contracts and wages for our better performers rather than bringing in new players.

To me it suggests that the board feel a period of stability is needed and we need to concentrate on establishing ourselves in the prem rather than pushing higher. I guess this may well be the main reason why Lambert walked.

 

 

[Europe_93 50]

I would argue that those 3 players aren''t our ''better'' performers.  They have all provided value over the time of their contracts, mainly in promotion from the Championship, but whether they can (or did) deliver  the same standard of performance in the Premiership is another matter.  Lambert / McNally seemed happy to give players 3 year contracts and look to utilise them in that time rather than sell them for profit.  It is hard to imagine that those 3 players will still be in the squad in the 3 years time and that we will be a Top 11 premiership side.  For me the key to stability is continual improvement.