Robbie Brady (M Preston b.1992)

Delighted for Brady. Neil is definitely a quality manager and obviously has faith in Brady to shell out £7m. I think it's value for money. I don't think Brady has had undisputed faith from Bruce since the first half of 2013/2014 and that was demonstrated, secondarily, by the outlay on Andrew Robertson at left-back (not his best position, I know) and, primarily, by the signings of Gaston Ramirez and Hatem Ben Arfa in the more advanced spots.

I don't like saying this and I hope I'm proved wrong by one of them, but when it comes to our two brightest players from January 1992 I think Brady has the potential and is closing to realising the potential at PL level. I'm afraid Hendrick has a lot more work to do in terms comfort in possession. Brady has that in truckloads.

I mean, I don't know what Brady lacks to not be a high enough level PL performer. Cracking delivery, decent dribbling, relatively quick, comfort in possession, good strike. He won't be Damien Duff as he hasn't got the ingenious close control that set Duffer aside but there's no shame in that.

The class of January 1992!

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DeLorean

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So it was an equitable offer. Ah we are in agreement so. Letting any player go in January when you are in the cusp of a relegation battle doesn't have benefits, unless you desperately need to open up squad places. It was a bit strange at the time how they were keeping a 32 year old running down his contract, after handing in a transfer request though - when he could barely get on their bench at the time.

I am not being sensitive. There is no justifiable reason to allude to previous posts of mine. They have nothing to do with this. It is common knowledge that residual ill-feeling between the boards of those clubs prevented them from doing business from each other; it was a mitigating circumstance.

And I was saying that it is/was incorrect to infer Norwich had the foresight to prepare for relegation and Hoolahan being a pivotal part of their return to the Premier League when he was out of contract in the summer, deeply unhappy at the club and their manager was on the outs. It's obvious he wasn't seen as a Premier League player and would have been let go if they retained their status.

No. I am saying that they got relegated and Villa stayed up. It was vindicated to an extent after he signed a new contract, and a bit more when Alex Neil arrived at the club and they knew how to utilize him; if you look at it in that context then it was vindicated - and even then he has to retain his status as a starting player playing in his preferred position - which he didn't do for significant parts of last season. He would have had a great chance of starting at Villa. We don't even know if he will start when August rolls around. Jump the gun by all means.

No idea what you're on about.

I never said Man Utd were anti-Irish; I said continental players are more in vogue than Irish players. Clubs like Man Utd and managers like Louis Van Gaal would be more prepared to splash out money on a Spanish or Italian player than an Irish player of the same quality. You said I don't understand the meaning of the word "pointless". Futile is a synonym for pointless. Norwich not selling Hoolahan was pointless at the time, in that context; it would have remained that way if Alex Neil never came along 13 months later. I thought it was highly coincidental that GSTQ was played before McClean's first match for West Brom in light of all the controversy that preceded his signing. I couldn't understand why a national anthem was being played before a club match.

Personal preferences? Like the personal preferences that lead you to lash out verbally if you so much as criticize a certain player?

Couldn't be arsed going over the Hoolahan stuff again... we understand each other and disagree.

I don't get why you think LVG would prefer continentals of equal ability to Irish players, that would be anti-Irish, no other way of wording it really. And there's nothing to back it up, even if Darmian and Coleman are of similar ability, it only emphasises the point of Darmian being better value at half the price.

Your last paragraph is disturbing. Indeed I did have a go at you and apologised immediately because I shouldn't have got personal. That's well over a year ago though and was a complete once off, I think you need to move on.

As for the personal preference stuff, I do have a soft spot for Derby but not to the point where I'd lose objectivity, and I have no great love for Keogh at all. The thought of him being selected for us in a crucial game scares the bejaysus out of me to be honest. You know all this anyway as I dealt with it in length here, which you hadn't even the manners to acknowledge at the time, but still proceed to spout similar nonsense some months later as if it was never discussed.

Anyway, this is going nowhere so send me one of your lovely private mails if you want to continue, said I'd get there before Tets does!

Oh... and you do know what I'm on about, unless I dreamt it, which would be kind of sad.

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Originally Posted by DeLorean

I didn't know that but why should they be obliged to accept a fair offer?

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Now that you know his wages would be reduced by 50% and he's an epl capable player, you can figure that question out by yourself :)

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And who decides what a fair offer is?

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Someone, I suppose.

Obviously I can't. That's why I asked you. :)

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Originally Posted by DeLorean

Obviously I can't. That's why I asked you. :)

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How about the concept of mutual respect between an employer and employee? have you never encountered it?
Considering his wages would be reduced by 50% and he's an epl capable player, then
once the criteria of a fair transfer offer has been met, the best possible offer, then Hull are obliged to accept it, it's a mutual respect thing.

Enforced mutual respect! Brady was obviously happy enough with the terms of the contract in the first place to say he signed it. A fair fee is incredibly subjective, Norwich seemed to think £4m was reasonable initially and now it seems to be around £7m. Even £7m might not seem reasonable from a Hull perspective if they think it will seriously dent their promotion chances. What if they had six or seven players on these types of contracts? Theoretically they could lose half their team if offers deemed to be reasonable (by someone!) came in.

The clubs have little enough power as it is, I don't think there's any need to tie their hands even tighter.

Anyway, luckily for Brady there does seem to be some mutual respect at play as Bruce has been resigned to losing him for a while now.

Norwich have some form in prolonged transfer negotiations, prolonged by their low opening bid and subsequent painfully slow ascent up the scale to meet the 'fair price' evaluation.

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"The two clubs have agreed a fee for Robbie," added Bruce.

"We have given Robbie permission to go and speak to Norwich. I envisage that deal to go through.

"I want to thank Robbie for his efforts as he has been a terrific player for us.

"It's sad to see him go but most people will understand that when you get relegated these things happen.

"When Norwich were relegated last season, we got Robert Snodgrass. They are doing the reverse this year and they have taken one of our good players.

"And he is a good player, and we wish him the best of luck."

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http://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/Hull-...ail/story.html

"When Norwich were relegated last season, we got Robert Snodgrass. They are doing the reverse this year and they have taken one of our good players."

Fairly clear that Bruce was adamant on playing hardball with Norwich, even though they did open the bidding unnecessarily low. Hull paid close to £7m for Snodgrass so, clearly, Bruce wanted to recoup something along those lines for Brady. Just so happens that, I think anyway, £7m is pretty fair value.

I hope Brady is on the wing for Norwich, as opposed to full back. Wingers there are:
Lewis Grabban (striker also though)
Nathan Redmond
Bradley Johnson (also left back and central midfield)
Elliott Bennett

Don't think I'm missing anyone there. Bennett can be discounted as he was loaned out last year and isn't near Brady. Redmond will be on the right. Grabban is likely to play up top, if at all and only played on the left twice last season. Johnson played 33 of his 43 starts last season in the middle.

Norwich aren't that free-spending historically, so if a player is signed for £7m he's signed to start. However, I'd hope that it'll be in a more advanced position than left back and the above infers that it may be.

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Originally Posted by Olé Olé

I hope Brady is on the wing for Norwich, as opposed to full back.

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if he is to play for us at left back, as seems the case, then I would rather he played there for Norwich also. we have a couple of options for left mid but very few for left back

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Originally Posted by Olé Olé

"When Norwich were relegated last season, we got Robert Snodgrass. They are doing the reverse this year and they have taken one of our good players."

Fairly clear that Bruce was adamant on playing hardball with Norwich, even though they did open the bidding unnecessarily low. Hull paid close to £7m for Snodgrass so, clearly, Bruce wanted to recoup something along those lines for Brady. Just so happens that, I think anyway, £7m is pretty fair value.

I hope Brady is on the wing for Norwich, as opposed to full back. Wingers there are:
Lewis Grabban (striker also though)
Nathan Redmond
Bradley Johnson (also left back and central midfield)
Elliott Bennett

Don't think I'm missing anyone there. Bennett can be discounted as he was loaned out last year and isn't near Brady. Redmond will be on the right. Grabban is likely to play up top, if at all and only played on the left twice last season. Johnson played 33 of his 43 starts last season in the middle.

Norwich aren't that free-spending historically, so if a player is signed for £7m he's signed to start. However, I'd hope that it'll be in a more advanced position than left back and the above infers that it may be.

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I'd agree with all that, but

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Originally Posted by jbyrne

if he is to play for us at left back, as seems the case, then I would rather he played there for Norwich also. we have a couple of options for left mid but very few for left back

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I'd agree with that too.

However, I don't think he's really been tested, and luckily we got away with murder against Scotland. I don't think he's ever going to be sound enough at left full, and would hope that we investigate other options to their limit before we settle on Robbie.

I thought he did well against Scotland but I thought he looked shackled. He's one of the best technical players we've produced in a while (Jack Byrne looks likely to be the next and he's 5 years young and that's speculative). I reckon he needs to move to left midfield as it's his best position. Of course it'd be better for Ireland if he was playing left back for his club and playing left back for his country because that's where MON wanted to select him. If Norwich pick him left midfield then it's probably better for them and better for Brady, as that is his preferred and natural position. Tough luck for Ireland. Make your choice then, MON.

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Originally Posted by Olé Olé

I thought he did well against Scotland but I thought he looked shackled.

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I meant that in the sense that he didn't get tested despite having no cover in front of him. That Scotland didn't cramp his was bizarre.

7 million for Brady. Worth the same as Bebe... ;)

Is there a list of biggest fee single transfer irish players? I presume McCarthy or Robbie are at the top?

I'd say Keane, duff, McCarthy, McGeady and long..

I'd say Roy Keane's transfer record in 1993, if properly adjusted would be worth more than Robbie or Duff, but the transfer fees pre-sky implosion don't get adjusted properly to reflect post-sky implosion value.

Duff's £17m in 2003 just about edges out Robbie's £13m in 2000, after transfer inflation adjustment.
I think the only other notable was Frank Stapleton's to Man U in early 1980's for about £1m.

Yeah hard to believe Roy Keane's £3.75m fee was a British transfer record at the time!

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Originally Posted by DeLorean

Yeah hard to believe Roy Keane's £3.75m fee was a British transfer record at the time!

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Mad how money has taken over. Even given inflation rates that's only just around £6.2 million today.