Brady's left foot is definitely too good for the Championship.:bigsmile:
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Brady's left foot is definitely too good for the Championship.:bigsmile:
Norwich apparently made a bid of £6m before the midway point of July. Brady is out of contract this time next year. He wants to leave. Hull have/had plenty of time to find a replacement. Their stance is very frustrating.
It's like the Wes Hoolahan saga all over again. Just pointless all round.
Oh the joys of being an Irish fan.
Pointless in the sense that they kept an unhappy player who was approaching the end of his contract, refused to play him anyway and ended up getting relegated for their trouble. Pointless in the sense that a player was a pawn - piggy in the middle - in dissension at board ranks between Villa and Norwich. Pointless in the sense that it deprived him of one and a half seasons at PL level reunited with a manager he had a solid working relationship with, and left him stuck in an unhappy working relationship with a manager who made it clear he had no use for him.
Norwich held the cards and it's clear now that they were better off holding on to him, so not pointless at all from their point of view. It's not their concern if Hoolahan missed a season and a half of PL football with somebody else, for once a contract actually meant something and they used it to their advantage. And Hull are right to do the same. A similar outcome would be ideal from their point of view, if not Brady's or ours.
They blocked an unhappy and aging player, with International aspirations, from leaving the club - even after handing in a transfer request. They didn't do this because he was a valued squad member - he was struggling to even make the bench at the time - but because they, ostensibly, didn't want to strengthen a relegation rival. That's fair enough, but they also didn't want to sell because of lingering unhappiness at boardroom level over the way Paul Lambert left the club; which is just pathetic, and it's unfair to punish a player over something like this. They would have caved in and sold the player to any other team.
It's worked out now yes, and great, but Norwich ended up going down, Villa ended up consolidating their position in the PL and it took Hoolahan another year to win the trust of a manager (Alex Neil) and begin to play in his natural position.
So yeah it was pretty pointless at the time, to the point that a normally docile Hoolahan couldn't contain his outburst on the final day of the transfer window.
http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/sport...lans-1-7375300
Quote:
Interest in the club’s existing players – Watford have joined Norwich City in wanting Robbie Brady but with a preference to include some form of swap deal..
I don't think you understand the meaning of the word 'pointless'. Maybe Norwich had the foresight to realise that relegation was a real possibility and that, although out of favour at that point in time, Hoolahan might once more become a valuable, experienced member of their squad, in a division where he had excelled in the past. They had practically nothing to gain by selling him to Aston Villa, other than showing goodwill to one of their longest serving players (with the obvious drawback of strengthening a direct rival). In hindisght it could have cost them close to €100m or whatever they value promotion to the PL at these times. They chose to put the club ahead of the player and have reaped the rewards since. Yes, they were still relegated that season, but they may not have come straight back up if they had lost Hoolahan, given the contribution he made once he came back into favour. Selling him to Aston Villa would have been 'pointless' from their point of view, not selling him has proved to be a masterstroke.
Not to mention the fact that Paul Lambert didn't last very long at Villa after that anyway, and there's no guarantees at all that Sherwood would have the same appreciation for Hoolahan as he had. It might have been a blessing in disguise for Wessi despite being, admittedly, a bit soul destroying at the time. He has never played more international football than he has in this period you're talking about either, which may not have been the case if he was stuck on the Villa bench.
I think you're reading too much into things. I don't think Norwich had the foresight to keep an unhappy, sulking player at the club back in January 2014 and keep him firmly in reserve with the view to helping them win promotion back to the Premier League in the event of relegation.
Villa made a good offer at the start of the window for an aging, unhappy player who was not being utilized by Chris Hughton and who - more pertinently - was out of contract in 6 months.
Norwich had plenty of time to reinvest that money in someone who the manager actually wanted.
As it was, Norwich just didn't want to sell him to that club because of residual ill-feeling from the Lambert move.
Hughton was gone in April and Neil Adams didn't last much longer. During that time period Adams made comments RE: Hoolahan that failed to inspire much confidence in how they viewed his ability particularly at Premier League level.
Hoolahan failing to make it at Villa is highly assumptive, just like making the jump that Norwich viewed a 32 year old as central to their future plans in a division they weren't in when their own manager was gone in April.
Anyone could see Villa were crying out for a player like Hoolahan; the move could have come up trumps for Hoolahan & Lambert.
And I do understand the meaning of the word pointless. As I said, if you look at it from the timeframe that Alex Neil became manager it wasn't pointless. If you look at it during the previous 12 months when they went out of the PL while leaving Hoolahan on the bench or out of the squad, sacked Hughton, received Adams resignation, languished in the mid-table in the Championship and played Hoolahan out of position along the way - then yes it was rather pointless!
A good offer? I can't remember exactly but were we talking in the region of £1m? I remember thinking it was peanuts anyway in terms of reinvestment, even if the offer was reasonable enough taking into account his bench status, age and contract situation. What could Norwich really have done with £1m in all fairness?
Even if it was nothing other than a petty way of not indulging Lambert it still wasn't pointless (from their point of view), but you're only assuming that's the case anyway, while passing it off as fact like you do with almost everything. I think, at the very minimum, they didn't want to run the risk of strengthening a direct relegation rival at a critical stage in the season which is, again, not pointless.
They obviously felt they had more to lose than gain by selling him to Aston Villa and they were emphatically proved right, even if vindication came via the scenic route.
You calling me a kettle? :p
£1m was a good offer for a 32 year old approaching the end of his contract in 6 months (something you seemed unaware of in your original comment), who was one of the club's highest earners and whom they didn't appear to have much use for.
Now that's pretty unnecessary, DeLorean. You're casting aspersions on me as a poster there. There's no need to do that. It was common knowledge at the time what the stumbling blocks were around this move. Fair enough you don't think any of it was pointless, but I just listed why I think it was. We'll just have to beg to differ on that.
Yes, they were proven right. They kept an unhappy senior player at the club - no doubt having a negative impact on team morale, Hughton got sacked 2 months later & they got relegated. Fast forward several months later, Norwich are languishing in mid-table, Adams has no idea how to utilize Hoolahan - played out of position more often than not - and soon gets sacked. Then Alex Neil comes in and the rest is history. All part of the master plan I am sure.
Vindication in relegation.
Norwich have had a bid of £7m accepted according to HITC, which is admittedly not the most reliable source.
Edit: Talks ongoing but no bid accepted.
https://twitter.com/HumbersideSport/...63594924404736
Good left foots are worth good money. Especially with good delivery !
Brady is obliged by the terms of his contract to take a 50% cut in pay after relegation, just from an economic perspective it's in Brady's imperative interest to get out of Hull. And with that contracted pay cut, imo, holding onto Brady = Hull having their cake and eating it. IMO, Hull should be obliged to accept a fair offer for the player.
Unaware of what? I didn't see it as good value from a Norwich point of view, but accept it was a fair offer. I don't think, everything considered, it would have been a good deal for them, but then I'm a Hoolahan fan and always had the hope he'd work his way back in if he wasn't sold, even if it looked unlikely and ultimately required relegation and two changes of management. At the time I'd have been happy to see him sign for Villa, but would have struggled to see any significant benefit for Norwich.
Don't be so sensitive. Even in this paragraph you're doing exactly what I accused you of. What you refer to as common knowledge is anything but. Yes, there was no love lost between Norwich and Lambert, but you can't categorically say that's the only reason they didn't sell, yet you are saying that. I've already suggested other factors that may or may not have been in their thinking, but they would have certainly been in mine if I was weighing it up.
I never suggested it was a deliberate master plan, but I do think they weighed up the pros and cons of losing him and history has proved they made the right call.
You're hardly implying that they'd have avoided relegation had they sold Hoolahan to Villa? They were right to hold on to him, whether you like it or not, or whether their intentions were honourable or not, it has worked out for them... That's the vindication.
By the way, didn't you make some comment relating to Derby and what Norwich could have done with the £1m... Pretty sure I saw something along those lines yesterday but hadn't the time to reply.
I think you need to relax old chap. Maybe try separating your personal preferences from the reality. United signing Darmian over Coleman doesn't mean they're anti-Irish. Norwich not selling Hoolahan wasn't pointless. Hull holding out for the best deal they can get for a player they don't even want to sell certainly isn't pointless either and GSTQ definitely wasn't played with the specific intention of riling up James McClean. Although maybe I'm over thinking things.
Same rumour I expect.
http://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/Hull-City-Robbie-Brady-set-depart-7m-Sam-Clucas/story-27481236-detail/story.htmlQuote:
Robbie Brady's proposed switch from Hull City to Norwich City is on the verge of being completed with the Tigers in negotiations with the Canaries to finalise a £7m exit from the KC Stadium.
Brady's future has looked certain to be away from the Tigers for the past week now and he was not expected to travel with the squad to Austria on Saturday morning, staying behind to complete a move which will take the Irish international back to the Premier League.
While Brady's exit is waiting to be confirmed, a first signing of the summer for City is understood to be close to being completing.
The Tigers have made a move for Chesterfield attacking midfielder Sam Clucas, who played against Steve Bruce's side in the friendly match between the teams on Tuesday evening.