Jeff Stellings top 20 bargain buys

K-9 · 30-03-2011 9:12pm

20 Football transfers that shook the world on ITV4 atm.

AgileMyth · 30-03-2011 9:29pm

event wrote: »

you honestly think seamus coleman is one of the best bargains of the last 20 years?

60k for one of the EPL's standout performers this season. He'd probably go for around 6-8 million if they sold him in the summer.
Absolute steal.

pickarooney · 30-03-2011 10:16pm

Surely a bargain is someone that any team could afford but only one actually noticed and bought? Anyone who's a high-profile record-breaker is out of the question, e.g. Keane.

Anelka should certainly be top of that list (which is bizarrely loaded with SPL players and ignores non-UK transfers) with the likes of Friedel and Jaaskelainen not far behind. A solid long-term goalkeeper is always a good buy.

event · 30-03-2011 10:55pm

AgileMyth wrote: »

60k for one of the EPL's standout performers this season. He'd probably go for around 6-8 million if they sold him in the summer.
Absolute steal.

no, he wouldnt

let the chap develop a bit before claiming he's worth 8 million or one of the best bargains in the last 20 years after 1 season

Paparazzo · 30-03-2011 10:56pm

d.anthony wrote: »

What that man said.

Only in reverse order:D

£650,000 for Larsson was an absolute steal given what he achieved in the game. The only world class player to play in Scotland in the modern era... Sniff, sniff... memories:)

Don't forget Brian Laudrup!

Peter Schmeichel Brondby to Man Utd for 620k is the most impressive one on that list.

K-9 · 30-03-2011 11:42pm

Paparazzo wrote: »

Don't forget Brian Laudrup!

Peter Schmeichel Brondby to Man Utd for 620k is the most impressive one on that list.

Laudrup cost a fortune at the time, must have been a Scottish record fee, which definitely puts Larsson as a major bargain.

d.anthony · 31-03-2011 12:37am

Paparazzo wrote: »

Don't forget Brian Laudrup!

Peter Schmeichel Brondby to Man Utd for 620k is the most impressive one on that list.

Laudrup wasn't world class though.

Half decent at Bayern and Fiorentina, failed at Milan and Chelsea and was then punted to Copenhagen.

Paparazzo · 31-03-2011 12:44am

d.anthony wrote: »

Laudrup wasn't world class though.

Half decent at Bayern and Fiorentina, failed at Milan and Chelsea and was then punted to Copenhagen.

You could argue the same with Larsson. Not much outside Celtic. Paul Gascoigne could be considered world class too.

Reganio 2 · 31-03-2011 12:47am

Paparazzo wrote: »

You could argue the same with Larsson. Not much outside Celtic.

I agree, except for Barcelona... Oh and except for United as well.

d.anthony · 31-03-2011 12:56am

Paparazzo wrote: »

You could argue the same with Larsson. Not much outside Celtic. Paul Gascoigne could be considered world class too.

Gazza yes. But past his best when he was at Rangers and already well on with his alcohol problems.

You're probably right about Larsson. Apart from almost winning the UEFA Cup against Mourinhos Porto on his own.

Oh, and coming on as a sub in the Champions League final and changing th game, setting up the two Barca goals as they came from behind to win the trophy.

And getting a call from Sir Alex at 37 years old to come in and do a job for the most famous team on the planet.

Not to mention the goals at European Championships, World Cups and his Golden Boot.

He was World Class, no doubt about it.

Paparazzo · 31-03-2011 1:02am

Reganio 2 wrote: »

I agree, except for Barcelona... Oh and except for United as well.

He was a squad player at both. He was good at barca, but a squad player really. And come on, was it 5 appearances at Man-u? He's a good player, but nothing of note really outside Celtic.

dreamers75 · 31-03-2011 1:06am

World class = playing consistently well at international level.

Revolution9 · 31-03-2011 1:08am

dreamers75 wrote: »

World class = playing consistently well at international level.

So going by that, Robbie Fowler was not a world class striker in his day but Peter Crouch was and Robbie Keane is?

dreamers75 · 31-03-2011 1:10am

Revolution9 wrote: »

So going by that, Robbie Fowler was not a world class striker in his day but Peter Crouch was and Robbie Keane is?

Consistently well.

Fairly sure all 3s strike rate and performances at international level even out to be not World Class.

flahavaj · 31-03-2011 1:15am

Neither Larsson nor Laudrup were world class.

World Class to me would be if at any point in time you named a World XI and maybe a sub for each position and that'd be the world class players at that time. Or at least thats how it should be approximately defined IMO. If you were to pick a Planet Earth squad to play in an inter-glactic tournament to put it in a silly way.

I don't think Larsson or Laudrup would have made it onto either squad at any stage of their careers I'm afraid tbh.

seafood dunleavy · 31-03-2011 1:15am

Paparazzo wrote: »

He was a squad player at both. He was good at barca, but a squad player really. And come on, was it 5 appearances at Man-u? He's a good player, but nothing of note really outside Celtic.

He was a squad player with both alright but it doesn't mean he didn't do anything of note.He set up the two goals which won Barca the Champions League,thats something of note.Helped chip in with a few goals as well which helped them win La Liga,provided valuable experience to the likes of Messi too.

At United he did the same,chipped in with some important goals,one was the winner in a cup tie if I remember correctly.Ferguson would of been delighted to of kept him until the end of the season,that says a lot.Read what Henry had to say about him as well,if your peers can recognise what a class act he is it shows he is.

Pretty sure he scored in at least 3 World Cups,having played in 4/5.He was a fantastic player and not just at Celtic.That's just where he'll be remembered most.

flahavaj · 31-03-2011 1:17am

seafood dunleavy wrote: »

He was a squad player with both alright but it doesn't mean he didn't do anything of note.He set up the two goals which won Barca the Champions League,thats something of note.Helped chip in with a few goals as well which helped them win La Liga,provided valuable experience to the likes of Messi too.

At United he did the same,chipped in with some important goals,one was the winner in a cup tie if I remember correctly.Ferguson would of been delighted to of kept him until the end of the season,that says a lot.Read what Henry had to say about him as well,if your peers can recognise what a class act he is it shows he is.

Pretty sure he scored in at least 3 World Cups,having played in 4/5.He was a fantastic player and not just at Celtic.That's just where he'll be remembered most.

At the time Larsson was at Barca the world class players were the guys keeping him out of the team on a weekly basis, the likes of Eto, Messi and Ronaldinho. Whatever about him at his peak, he was at the tail end of his powers at that stage and definitely not world class. He was a squad player at best, how could he possibly be world class when he couldn't get a regular game?

seafood dunleavy · 31-03-2011 1:18am

flahavaj wrote: »

Neither Larsson nor Laudrup were world class.

World Class to me would be if at any point in time you named a World XI and maybe a sub for each position and that'd be the world class players at that time. Or at least thats how it should be approximately defined IMO. If you were to pick a Planet Earth squad to play in an inter-glactic tournament to put it in a silly way.

I don't think Larsson or Laudrup would have made it onto either squad at any stage of their careers I'm afraid tbh.

I wouldn't define it that way but I'd still put Larsson in my team.He was world class in my opinion.

Revolution9 · 31-03-2011 1:19am

dreamers75 wrote: »

Consistently well.

Fairly sure all 3s strike rate and performances at international level even out to be not World Class.

Crouch broke the record for most goals in a post-war international season for England with 10 or 11. Overall record of 22 goals in 42 caps. Not a very high amount of starts in those 42.

Robbie Keane has 46 international goals in 105 caps caps, a similar record to Raul for Spain, despite the fact Keane plays for a far weaker side. Competitive goals against France, Germany, Spain, Holland and Italy. An amazing record.

Fowler didn't too much at international level, yet he was certainly world class whereas the other two have accomplished quite a bit and are certainly not world class!

flahavaj · 31-03-2011 1:20am

seafood dunleavy wrote: »

I wouldn't define it that way but I'd still put Larsson in my team.He was world class in my opinion.

How would you define it so?

What years was Henrik at his peak in your opinion also?

seafood dunleavy · 31-03-2011 1:21am

flahavaj wrote: »

At the time Larsson was at Barca the world class players were the guys keeping him out of the team on a weekly basis, the likes of Eto, Messi and Ronaldinho. Whatever about him at his peak, he was at the tail end of his powers at that stage and definitely not world class. He was a squad player at best, how could he possibly be world class when he couldn't get a regular game?

Never said he was at the peak of his powers when he was at Barca.He was around 34 or 35 at this stage.He was at his best when he was at Celtic.Wasn't good enough to play ahead of them at the time no,but he most definitely has done something of note outside Celtic which I was saying.

dreamers75 · 31-03-2011 1:21am

flahavaj wrote: »

Laudrup were world class.
.

Ah come on now, he was ****ing awesome for Denmark, he won the EC and was brillaint in 98.

hes definitley World Class.

flahavaj · 31-03-2011 1:24am

dreamers75 wrote: »

Ah come on now, he was ****ing awesome for Denmark, he won the EC and was brillaint in 98.

hes definitley World Class.

I don't think he was. I don't think he was one of the absolute best in the world in his position at any stage of his career. He was also very inconsistent throughout his career.

Now his brother at Barca - there's a world class for you.

seafood dunleavy · 31-03-2011 1:26am

flahavaj wrote: »

How would you define it so?

What years was Henrik at his peak in your opinion also?

You've a good way of defining it I suppose,don't know how I would.To me its proving yourself in a lot of competitions.Playing your best in different leagues,in Europe,international games I'd say.

He was at his best around 2000 to 2004.Which was just after a leg break as well.Scored 52 goals in 00/01.You might say its SPL but if you watch the video of them all on youtube the majority of them are quality goals.Helping Celtic to the Uefa Cup final as well scoring about 8 goals in that competition.Then probably having the game of his life when it mattered most in the final.

Blatter · 31-03-2011 1:29am

dreamers75 wrote: »

Ah come on now, he was ****ing awesome for Denmark, he won the EC and was brillaint in 98.

hes definitley World Class.

Brian Laudrup, world class? Never.

Charisteas was awesome for Greece and won the EC in 2004.

Was he ever world class? He was in his hole...

Blatter · 31-03-2011 1:32am

We will never exactly know what Larsson would have been like in his prime outside of the SPL.

We know he would have been excellent as his performances for Barca and Man Utd proved he could do it, but would he have been world class? We will never know...

His talent was largely wasted in the SPL, I don't think Celtic fans will ever be so lucky for that to ever happen to them again.

K-9 · 31-03-2011 1:45am

For the money, Larsson was a bargain for Celtic, it's undebatable.

That Barca didn't get the best out of him is irrelevant.

It's the soccer forum though!

d.anthony · 31-03-2011 2:03am

SOCCER4LIFE wrote: »

We will never exactly know what Larsson would have been like in his prime outside of the SPL.

We know he would have been excellent as his performances for Barca and Man Utd proved he could do it, but would he have been world class? We will never know...

His talent was largely wasted in the SPL, I don't think Celtic fans will ever be so lucky for that to ever happen to them again.

Would he have had to have played for a bigger team to be recognised as world class?

I think it's unfair to say you don't know what he would have been like in his prime outside the SPL. Yes, it's a crappy wee league but at that time we more than held our own in Europe, beating the likes of Juventus, Ajax, Barcelona, Liverpool, Lyon, Porto, Valencia, etc. and we couldn't have done that without a world class player in our ranks.

It's not like he was posted missing when we came up against a big team. Add on to that his performances for Sweden at WC's 94, 02, 06 and Euro 2004 and you have a player that delivered the goods at the highest level.

All that, in my opinion of course, makes him a world class player.:)

seafood dunleavy · 31-03-2011 2:32am

SOCCER4LIFE wrote: »

We will never exactly know what Larsson would have been like in his prime outside of the SPL.

We know he would have been excellent as his performances for Barca and Man Utd proved he could do it, but would he have been world class? We will never know...

His talent was largely wasted in the SPL, I don't think Celtic fans will ever be so lucky for that to ever happen to them again.

Didn't realise that you had your doubts he was world class from that post at first.As above,a truely world class player and he proved it.

MaceFace · 31-03-2011 7:48am

Larsson world class? Come on - he played in a minor League against very poor players.

If he was playing in Turkey or Belgium doing the same thing, no one would be talking about him - just because he was a Celtic player and people in Ireland watched him regularly and liked the team he played for, he was built up as if he was this great player.
In all honesty, if he was that great a player, he would have played for a great team before he turning 33.

Now, back on topic, whether he was one of the best bargain buys in the last 20 years? Maybe he was, and I can actually see him getting ahead of a lot of people on the list, but I could say that for many players.

Sappy404 · 31-03-2011 8:59am

I was sure he'd have Charlie Adam to Blackpool in here considering his importance to the team in getting them promoted, their form since promotion and the profit he's likely to earn them when sold. It's certainly one of the biggest bargains of the last 10 years in terms of impact per pound spent.

Rob113 wrote: »

Chicharito could go down as greatest of all time if he keeps improving.

Improving is the wrong word. He's been scoring since day 1. If he's as prolific for the next 5 years, he might make this list then.

seafood dunleavy wrote: »

Why is Sami Hyypia number 2?Just a 3 million pound player in my opinion.Which wouldn't of been that cheap in 1993 I don't think.

Oh dear. Apart from the reasons already stated, 317 appearances at CB for Liverpool scoring 22 goals; ten years at the club; a former club captain; the most appearances in the premier league by any non-English player... £2.6m. I can see why he may not be no.2 in your opinion, but I can see where Stelling is coming from considering what Liverpool got for their money.

Larsson would be my No. 1 for the record.

seafood dunleavy · 31-03-2011 11:42am

MaceFace wrote: »

Larsson world class? Come on - he played in a minor League against very poor players.

If he was playing in Turkey or Belgium doing the same thing, no one would be talking about him - just because he was a Celtic player and people in Ireland watched him regularly and liked the team he played for, he was built up as if he was this great player.
In all honesty, if he was that great a player, he would have played for a great team before he turning 33.

Now, back on topic, whether he was one of the best bargain buys in the last 20 years? Maybe he was, and I can actually see him getting ahead of a lot of people on the list, but I could say that for many players.

Its been explained by d.anthony a few posts above the teams Celtic beat in Europe with him scoring against a lot of them.And the number of world cups he scored in.

He had plenty of offers to join big clubs when he was at Celtic,he said so himself.Didn't want to move because his family was settled.If you had watched the way he played and the goals he scored he wasn't just a player hyped up because he played for Celtic.If there are many more of these hyped up players I'd like to hear of them.

Jeff Stellings top 20 bargain buys

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