Hob Nob Anyone?

Mike Hunt wrote:No too sure about this...

Yakubu didn't exactly set the championship alight did he? And he is keeping Roberts out of a dismal Blackburn team...

Are you serious?

Yakubu has been a revelation this season. He's scored 12 goals in 15 games.

I really cannot see the downside of a loan until the end of the season for Roberts. If he does well we could offer him a contract as he is a free agent at the end of the season.

If he fails miserably then we have lost a loan fee which hopefully will be no more than 400K or so. Much cheaper than buying a proven striker.

I hope I am wrong but even with new investment I really don't see us getting Rhodes and even Sharp might well go to the PL before the window shuts or elect to stay with Doncaster. The only player we know is available for sure is Maynard and I am not 100% sure he is going to improve us enough - so would be a big risk at 2M or so.

I just have a feeling that Roberts and ALF might work well together.

His ability to hold the ball up could really help the lack of creativity at centre mid. Getting the ball to his feet and letting the midfield push on around him would help a lot. Loan until the end of the season can't be a bad thing IMO!

FiNeRaIn wrote:

Mike Hunt wrote:No too sure about this...

Yakubu didn't exactly set the championship alight did he? And he is keeping Roberts out of a dismal Blackburn team...

Are you serious?

Yakubu has been a revelation this season. He's scored 12 goals in 15 games.

Lol, Arsenal really helped him with that tally...

Even still, do you think Roberts will add anything to the team?

andrew1957 wrote:I really cannot see the downside of a loan until the end of the season for Roberts. If he does well we could offer him a contract as he is a free agent at the end of the season.

If he fails miserably then we have lost a loan fee which hopefully will be no more than 400K or so.

You do know how loan moves work right?

For the record though, I think Roberts/ALF may work well too.

test icicles wrote:His ability to hold the ball up could really help the lack of creativity at centre mid. Getting the ball to his feet and letting the midfield push on around him would help a lot. Loan until the end of the season can't be a bad thing IMO!

^ This

Exactly the striking option we are missing. We need the ball to stick more than it currently does when we persist in hitting it high to Alf and/or Church up front (Hunt can actually win things in the air).

The Rouge wrote:

andrew1957 wrote:I really cannot see the downside of a loan until the end of the season for Roberts. If he does well we could offer him a contract as he is a free agent at the end of the season.

If he fails miserably then we have lost a loan fee which hopefully will be no more than 400K or so.

You do know how loan moves work right?

For the record though, I think Roberts/ALF may work well too.

I am not sure I get your point here? Are you querying the loan fee?

tomrfcurz wrote:He's in Reading tomorrow [meaning Monday] to discuss personal terms. If all goes smoothly should be confirmed by the end of the week

OK then, now it's Tuesday, anyone know if the first part of this statement was true or not....?

Mirror seems to think we've offered 500,000
but that doesn't make much sense as we'd get
a loan deal, surely?

Whether or not we get Roberts, (if fit enough) I think he's exactly the right type
we need. Someone big and strong who can actually win the ball and hold it up.

But at 33, surely we can't spend 500K and probably at least an 18 month contract?

I guess it depends
on how much faith McDermott has
in him. Maybe Blackburn
don't want to loan him out?

West Stand Man wrote:

The Rouge wrote:

andrew1957 wrote:I really cannot see the downside of a loan until the end of the season for Roberts. If he does well we could offer him a contract as he is a free agent at the end of the season.

If he fails miserably then we have lost a loan fee which hopefully will be no more than 400K or so.

You do know how loan moves work right?

For the record though, I think Roberts/ALF may work well too.

I am not sure I get your point here? Are you querying the loan fee?

Not all that many loans have an upfront fee attached and Prem to Champ loans mean the risk is the high level of wages and not a fee as such. (In the failed Kitson return we did actually pay a big fee a believe which was a bit silly).

e.g. Our top earner may be on £10k a week and we might be paying Roberts £18k a week for example, which may be 75% of his wages with Blackburn paying the other 25%

Simon's Church wrote:I guess it depends
on how much faith McDermott has
in him. Maybe Blackburn
don't want to loan him out?

Is this a poem?

The Rouge wrote:Not all that many loans have an upfront fee attached and Prem to Champ loans mean the risk is the high level of wages and not a fee as such. (In the failed Kitson return we did actually pay a big fee a believe which was a bit silly).

e.g. Our top earner may be on £10k a week and we might be paying Roberts £18k a week for example, which may be 75% of his wages with Blackburn paying the other 25%

Most Prem clubs will charge a loan fee to championship clubs but not in league 1 or 2.......them the [unwritten] rules

Disagree. Totally depends on the situation.

do you not play Football Manager!

With regard to the negativity about Roberts, have people forgotten the original reactions to the signings of Leigertwood, Griffin and Harte? They've mostly been very good signings so I'd trust McDermott with this one.

Unsure about this. He'd hold the ball up better than any of our other strikers and I can see a Roberts/ALF partnership working well, but i'm not sure how many goals he will score and having not played for a while it could take time for him to get up to speed.

tomrfcurz wrote:Ok yesterday I was 99% sure he would be. Today I'm 100% sure - Roberts was in Reading today, as well as making a short trip to Maidenhead (family there). Seems odd he'd be down here on a social visit. Am told he spent Sunday night in Reading too

Interesting, he was also on 5 Live's Monday Night Club show last night and it would seem a bit of trek from Blackburn. I'm assuming they still broadcast the show from London when they're not at a Monday game apart from the special shows they do as Motson and Claridge both do the show regularly, though Motson was absent last night, and they're both based in the south i think. I listen to the show pretty regularly and i'm pretty certain he's not been a guest this season before either.

NR_Royal wrote:With regard to the negativity about Roberts, have people forgotten the original reactions to the signings of Leigertwood, Griffin and Harte? They've mostly been very good signings so I'd trust McDermott with this one.

I was happy with the signings of Griffin and Harte personally, though wasn't sure about Leigertwood.

KC Royal wrote:

NR_Royal wrote:With regard to the negativity about Roberts, have people forgotten the original reactions to the signings of Leigertwood, Griffin and Harte? They've mostly been very good signings so I'd trust McDermott with this one.

I was happy with the signings of Griffin and Harte personally, though wasn't sure about Leigertwood.

Typical of the racist attitude among hobnobbers.