So the shock
news yesterday that Lascelles and Darlow are no longer contractually Forest
players and next year will join what will now be their parent club Newcastle
has sent many cats amongst the pigeons.
 |
| Karl Darlow |
If you
thought that was bad enough was the news that Stuart Pearce had not sanctioned
the deal, felt it was below value and didn't even know it was going through
till Jamaal Lascelles said he was off to Newcastle for a medical.
It all seems
incredibly untidy, it all seems a mess, and it all seems terribly Fawaz.
I will always
support those in charge at Forest. Unless they were a horrific asset stripper
like the Oystons at Blackpool, I tend to think any such decision has to have
been made for sound business sense. I am a positive supporter. I don't like to
boo, I don't like to get on the players back, and neither do I think hounding
the guy who is in charge will achieve anything other than disaster.
But I can't
suss this deal out, and its timing. On the eve of the season it just horrific,
it throws disarray into the camp, the fans start with a cloud over them. It
just creates unhappiness. If the first few results go the wrong way I genuinely
fear the crowd will turn on Fawaz, who has retained excellent fan relations.
I have no
doubts this deal represented sense to Fawaz. He gets a fee, but he keeps both
players for the season. Both players are replaceable, and both players kind of
went for market value there or there about. But it just doesn’t sit well that
the manager was out the loop. That promises about keeping players had obviously
been made.
I don't want
to say it, but it once again raises the spectre of just how rich or how much
money does Fawaz really have? Perhaps he just felt this was business sense. 2
players whose value will drop. A large up-front cash instalment. And the
opportunity to keep them for the year. Looks sound enough.
But there's
the fact various larger figures had been bandied around. Now you never really
know the structure or payment plans of these. The infamous £4 mill QPR offer may
have been over time, may have included fees for appearances, survival,
international fees or sell on fees. This is straight up cash if rumour is to be
believed, so has no bolt-on's or questions over amounts.
People who
have valued this pair much higher (&-8m a piece) are wide of the mark. Birmingham
sold Butland for £3.3mill and he was more highly rated. Redmond also left them
for less than £2.5mill. They need that year of Premiership experience to start
adding that extra £5mill on, but surely still we could have fetched around £8-9
mill for both. And I'll say this because it's two players we are losing. Not
one, so to have 2 players in the same deal surely you’d want extra recompense?
But what
really irks me is that Pearce didn't ratify or even know. It's the old problems
of Fawaz/Manager communication. It appears he acts on a whim and then considers
the manager. Whether that be signing Algerians, or selling top youngsters. He probably
feels he got a good deal. A large cash injection and both players still at the
club. I'm pretty sure there's no malice intended, but that he just doesn't get
how it works yet. Communication is key.
It will be
interesting to see how this all unfurls.
Comments
Post a Comment