Big names - Waste of Money?

eirebhoy

I wrote this in an earlier thread today but I'm opening this one up to ask how the hell I never heard of Japans Nakamura before the Confederations cup. He's a 26 year old Japanese left winger and captain of Reggina. Celtic have agreed a fee with Reggina and its now down to the player. Anyway, he scored this cracker of a goal against Brazil last month:

http://img161.echo.cx/img161/3816/nakamura16cl.gif

and this is a must see compilation:
http://blog.goalura.com/movie/nakamura.wmv

From what I read he is one of the most underrated attacking midfielders in the world. I don't know how I never heard of this fella. Apparantly he's now Japan's best player.

€4m seems very cheap and I hope to god Celtic get him. Celtic also signed Zurawski for £2m who I never heard of before he was linked with Celtic. He scored 6 goals in his last 9 games for Poland and is their best player. He's also only on £15k a week.

I think the likes of Wright-Phillips is a class player but when you see what you can get for so much cheaper I don't think I'd want Celtic to buy a player in the premiership again.

d22ontour

Off hand i can think of veron as a waste of money.Did i mention veron and that argie veron was a complete waste of money.£26m for a pussy.

Töpher

Worth buying for his dead ball shots alone, don't get me started on the rest. €4m is a steal!

Serbian

He's great in Pro Evolution Soccer 4 :P. That's the only time I have ever heard of him, but from seeing the goal -vs- Brazil and looking at the compilation, he looks like a great buy. That's some finish for the last goal at the end of the video. It also seems like pretending to shoot is his trademark .

Headshot

chelsea's drogba waste of money

DoctorEdgeWild

Thanks for the vids Eirebhoy.

He looks like a great talent, I remember seeing that finish against Oman? at the end of the video before, cracking goal.

For a waste of money, look no further than Liverpool's chasing of Figo. IF they sign him, his wages for one year could have paid for 5 or six good young players, and at least they may have a sense of loyalty built in to them.

Veron, Ferdinand(imo) and Drogba all spring to my mind when the term waste of money is mentioned.

There is quality available to clubs outide just what we see on the back pages of the papers. I think even the managers are influenced by this media coverage. Example being Nakamura not making the papers but Wright-Phillips being connected wth a club every week. Nakamura has a proven pedigree, international class, club captaincy etc.

Ronan|Raven

DoctorEdgeWild wrote:

For a waste of money, look no further than Liverpool's chasing of Figo. IF they sign him, his wages for one year could have paid for 5 or six good young players, and at least they may have a sense of loyalty built in to them.

If figo joins liverpool he will be getting significantly less per year than he is on at the moment.

Chucky the tree

DoctorEdgeWild wrote:

For a waste of money, look no further than Liverpool's chasing of Figo. IF they sign him, his wages for one year could have paid for 5 or six good young players, and at least they may have a sense of loyalty built in to them.
.

name 5 or 6 good young players we could buy that cheaply? We dont need good young players, we need a decent good player immediatly. Good young players wont improve are form next season, figo will.

Judging a player from a video compilation is stupid. I am going to wait and see him play a full match before judging him.

As for a waste of money, veron is one. Still a class player, just not suited to english football.

But i can name alot more big name signing that have been worth the money then the ones who havent been.

DoctorEdgeWild

I meant that the money would be better spent on their youth academy. Ferguson put a huge amount into the United youth system (not entirely his decision admittedly) and was rewarded with the team that won the treble (not entirely youth team of course).

Figo will be on less money but I'm guessing that it will be at least 40k a week? More? That is a huge amount of money with regards the running costs of a club like Liverpool. It's small change when compared with transfer fees but Pool are not a rich club and could benefit from their success of last year by snapping up promising youngsters around the age of 15/16 rather than buying a has been who is a risk.

Chucky the tree

DoctorEdgeWild wrote:

I meant that the money would be better spent on their youth academy. Ferguson put a huge amount into the United youth system (not entirely his decision admittedly) and was rewarded with the team that won the treble (not entirely youth team of course).

Figo will be on less money but I'm guessing that it will be at least 40k a week? More? That is a huge amount of money with regards the running costs of a club like Liverpool. It's small change when compared with transfer fees but Pool are not a rich club and could benefit from their success of last year by snapping up promising youngsters around the age of 15/16 rather than buying a has been who is a risk.

yes, because buying 15/16 year olds isnt a risk. :rolleyes:

Liverpool is a rich club, why do you think its not?! 40k isnt a huge amount, its big but certainly not huge. 100k is a huge amount. How is figo a risk? Hes a quality player with a proven record. Hes certainly going to have a much better impact on the club then a few 15 year olds will.

DoctorEdgeWild

Buy 5 15 year olds and you have bought the POTENTIAL of having 5 good players in the year to come. You may end up with none admittedly but you are building a foundation for further prolonmged success rather than a one off 'fluke' win. I'm not saying the ECL win was a fluke, but it will be viewed that way if Pool fail to qualify through regular means again this year.

Buy 1 good player at the end of his career and sell a few Figo printed shirts and you can't be sure if he will perform for your team. There is a reason that Real dropped him towards the tail end of the season. Because he blows hot and cold and cannot be relied on to have a good game week in, week out.

I personally think it will be a step back for Pool if they buy Figo. Thats imo.

Pool are not a rich club. They have been looking for a buyer for a long while now, just because they won the ECL, the financial problems haven't gone away.

Davei141

Antonio barragan is 18. Mark gonzales is 20. sissiko is 20. Jose reina is 26. boudewijn zenden is 28. Whats wrong with an experienced 32 year old? Gary mac...

KdjaCL

Liverpoool will get 25 games out of Figo more thanb likely they be vs the big teams, there nothing wrong with getting an old hand when building a team. Especialy one who can win a game on his own.


Good signing for any of the top 5.

kdjac

Chucky the tree

DoctorEdgeWild wrote:

Buy 5 15 year olds and you have bought the POTENTIAL of having 5 good players in the year to come. You may end up with none admittedly but you are building a foundation for further prolonmged success rather than a one off 'fluke' win. I'm not saying the ECL win was a fluke, but it will be viewed that way if Pool fail to qualify through regular means again this year..

HOw many of the 15 years olds at chelsea, arsenal, old trafford will break into the first 11 5 years from now? YOu will be doing very well to get one of each breaking in. YOur hardly building a foundation by buying a few 16 year olds.

In the same paragraph you say how we should be using the money to buy young players for the future, then go on to say we need to finish in the top 4 next season.
How excactly will 15/16 year old help us finish in the top 4 next season? they wont, figo will.

DoctorEdgeWild wrote:

Buy 1 good player at the end of his career and sell a few Figo printed shirts and you can't be sure if he will perform for your team. There is a reason that Real dropped him towards the tail end of the season. Because he blows hot and cold and cannot be relied on to have a good game week in, week out.

I personally think it will be a step back for Pool if they buy Figo. Thats imo.

Pool are not a rich club. They have been looking for a buyer for a long while now, just because they won the ECL, the financial problems haven't gone away.

We cant be sure carra, gerrard or all the other players will perform next year aswell. Raul was also dropped, would signing him be a step down aswell?

A step back? so you would prefer nunez instead? Thats certainly a step in the right direction anyway..

What finacial problems? Were one of the richest football clubs in the world. Definitly top 20, problay close to top 10.

DoctorEdgeWild

I don't think that the signing of a lazy has been will help Liverpool finish in the top 4 next year personally. I think the top 3 have pulled away from the rest of the premiership and 4th place is up for grabs among any out of around 10 teams.

Raul would be a fantastic signing for Pool, twice the player Figo is at this point in time and although his performances are sometimes ineffectual, he is not a lazy player which I believe Figo to be.

Chelsea, United etc. would be lucky if one/two break into the team, but if one does, you can be sure he will either develop into a good team member and asset to the club or be sold at a profit when compared against his development cost.

It is impossible to know if Carragher or Gerrard could repeat their performances of last year. I hope they do personally as they are two very impressive players to watch.

Gary Mac did an amazing job for Pool when he was signed and I definitely thought he was a has been at that stage. However, if Figo does join Pool, his wages will surely dwarf MacAllisters.

As for financial problems, world football is in huge trouble at the moment, in Liverpools case, here is a link from less than a year ago about their financial state. They are far from the sorta trouble lower league clubs are in but they are also nowhere near the Chelsea table.


Basically, I would like to see Liverpool using their Champions league win to propel themselves into being a major club again and I believe that the way to do that is to invest in the future of the club by either buying youger players or investing in their youth system. Judging by replies on this thread, I am in the minority but I don't think Figo will do enough for Pool to justify his signing.

Guy:Incognito

DoctorEdgeWild wrote:

Pool are not a rich club. They have been looking for a buyer for a long while now, just because they won the ECL, the financial problems haven't gone away.

Utd were bought a couple of months ago are (were ) they not a rich club?

Guy:Incognito

DoctorEdgeWild wrote:

It is impossible to know if Carragher or Gerrard could repeat their performances of last year. I hope they do personally as they are two very impressive players to watch.
.

I hope to god Gerrard forgets he stepped onto a pitch last year, never mind does the same crap again.

DoctorEdgeWild wrote:

but they are also nowhere near the Chelsea table.

All the other clubs in the league combined can't match Chelsea , so thats a pointless comment.

DoctorEdgeWild

United have debts after the Glazer takeover however they are a bigger marketing machine than Pool.

I thought Gerrard played a decent season last year and some of their success can be rightly attributed to the club captain as a result.

Chelsea are out on their own but Pool did turn down Morgan's offer of a buy out. At least he is a life long Liverpool supporter.

el rabitos

you can probably throw a few million more on top of liverpool's value as a club following the champions league win

andyman

I've heard of Nakamura in the Championship Manager games. Seen him in a few matches in the Confederations Cup aswell. Great player.

eirebhoy

Looks like Nakamura could be joining next week:
http://members.boards.ie/eirebhoy/naka.jpg

andyman

Will be a good signing imo.

eirebhoy

Celtic signed Nakamura today for a mere £2m. :eek:

Strachan: “Once he’s out on the pitch, I’m sure our fans will realise very quickly why we were so keen to secure his signature.

“He’s a very special talent.

“He’s a player who can bring an extra dimension to any team, and having done our homework on him and asked many people about his background and temperament, we are delighted the deal has been done.

“I’ve no doubt it’s going to prove a great bit of business for Celtic, and I’m looking forward to him pulling on the hoops and showing our fans why we have worked so hard to bring him here.”

Chief Executive, Lawwell: “Nakamura is a player Gordon Strachan was especially keen for us to secure, given his superb pedigree in the game.

“This is a player who has played in Serie A for the past three years, who is a mainstay of the Japanese national side, with over 70 caps, and who is one of the biggest footballing icons in Far East football.

“He’s here first and foremost for his footballing pedigree, which is evident from the man-of-the match award he won when playing for Japan against Brazil. However, the opportunities he will bring in terms of commercial spin-offs, especially in Japan and the Far East, are of great interest.

“One of the most complicated aspects of the negotiations was the player’s image rights, which Celtic have secured. This could lead to an increase in merchandising sales in the Far East, as well as a significant boost for our other services and products.

“Shunsuke is, alongside Hideo Nakata, the most famous footballer in Japan and I hope that the fans will feel that their patience has been rewarded when they see Nakamura and the other six new signings making an impact this season.

“I’d also like to thank the chairman Brian Quinn, Dermott Desmond and the rest of the board for their support in enabling us to spend money on players at a time when very few clubs have been able to pay transfer fees as well as players’ salaries.”

Nakamura: “Celtic are obviously an enormous football club with an extremely passionate support. This was one of the main reasons I have signed and I can’t wait to get started and show the fans what I can do.

“I’m confident of a successful season in Glasgow, both in the league and in Europe and look forward to meeting up with my new team-mates later this week.”

I searched for Nakamura on this forum and found this post:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=1001799&postcount=9

And who says Nakamura isn't as good as Ronaldinho? Just becuase he isn't Brazilian, or doesnt have shed loads of image rights,isn't any good in Champ Man or isn't featured in The Sun daily? I had been lectured at length about his greatness before and when i saw him play in the Confederations Cup i realised that he was just as good as I had been told.He played twice,got a brace against New Zealand (not a big achievment i know) and clipped in a freekick against France that was just as good as anything your beloved Ronaldinho could even hope to produce.I firmly believe that if he had played against Colombia Japan would have progressed much further. He played his heart out for the full 90 minutes in both matches and was always involved,always looking dangerous - something Ronaldinho never did.You might say that he was simply playing above his level, maybe like Gary Breen at the world cup but the touches,control and skill he showed don't just disappear overnight.He'd be a fantastic addition to almost any team,just the type of guy Liverpool should be looking at and so should any other team with a brain I think.Fergie wanted that extra edge and i think he would be much more likely to produce it then some over-valued walking billboard.(and i realise I suggested a Japanese player as partially a marketing device but they have real skill to back it up with).If you disagree you could at least try to explain why instead of just making an unfounded statement like that, back it up for christs sake.

BTW he currently plays with Reggina who barely survived in Serie A this year, needing a playoff to stay up,wave Champions League football under his nose and he'll come running

hoolio

Yep that was me. Goes to show if you throw enough mud at a wall tipping players to be quality eventually some of it will stick . I was a bit off the mark criticising Ronaldinho though wasnt I? But hey,that was when he was being moody as PSG,before he moved to Barca and turned into a football god,at least thats my excuse anyway!

Anyway great buy by Strachan,very impressed with him so far,can see him doing great things.Didn't hear a thing about Nakamura since the last Confederations Cup and was always wondering why no one picked him up. And for 2m? An absolute steal. Rate him as a player with the talent but more importantly the temprament to excell. I just hope he doesn't hinder McGeady's progess.

andyman

£2m?? And Lyon want more than £26m for Essien. :eek:

evilhomer

Laurent Robert £10million from PSG!!!!!
Laziest player I have ever seen and talk about thinking he is gods gift!!!

I totally agree with Veron too.

Massimo Maccirone £8 million to Middlesborough.

Stan Collymore

Serbian

What a disaster Maccarone turned out to be. He is still Middlesbrough's record signing too I think, and he is still on the books as Boro try to sign Lovenkrands. I'm sure he'll go out on loan again to Sienna or another Italian side.

Another waste of money is Francis Jeffers, useless for every team he ever played for. Did Arsenal not pay £8,000,000 for him in 2001?

Kingp35

Leeds signed Thomas Brolin for £4.5m in 1995 which was then a club record fee. He was just after having a tremendous world cup with sweden and was one of the most highly rated players in Europe. there was a massive big frenzy surrounding his signing because he was such a big name player.

He was quite possibly one of the worst players to ever pull on a Leeds shirt. He played a handful of games, was absolute rubbish in every game he played, the fans hated him he was so bad so leeds put him in the reserves to rot.

He was eventually signed by a swedish second division team as a goalkeeper for them!!

Now that has got to be the worst signing ever. What a bloody waste of money

Lex Luthor

Phil Babb

Lex Luthor

Davei141 wrote:

Jose reina is 26. ..

I thought he was only 22?

evilhomer

Lex Luthor wrote:

I thought he was only 22?

Your right Lex Jose Reina

MooShop

Nakamura and Nakata are the two biggest names in Japanese football. Im sure most footballing fans have heard of Nakata but in Japan Nakamura is bigger, he's their answer to David Beckham.

He looks to be a good player and has huge marketing potential for Celtic. He is a steal at £2 million. I read that about Nakamura and Nakata on some site reporting the Nakamura deal a few days ago can't remember where i read it hence no link to the actual article but that was the jist of it.

20 Times 20 Times

Kingp35 wrote:

Leeds signed Thomas Brolin for £4.5m in 1995 which was then a club record fee. He was just after having a tremendous world cup with sweden and was one of the most highly rated players in Europe. there was a massive big frenzy surrounding his signing because he was such a big name player.

He was quite possibly one of the worst players to ever pull on a Leeds shirt. He played a handful of games, was absolute rubbish in every game he played, the fans hated him he was so bad so leeds put him in the reserves to rot.

He was eventually signed by a swedish second division team as a goalkeeper for them!!

Now that has got to be the worst signing ever. What a bloody waste of money

Just reading this andmakes me think of another one staright away
Seth Johnston
How much are you playing that clown a week ?
and wasnt the transfer something mad liek 7million ?

Big Nelly

Sarge wrote:

Just reading this andmakes me think of another one staright away
Seth Johnston
How much are you playing that clown a week ?
and wasnt the transfer something mad liek 7million ?

40 grand or something a week and cant play him anymore because if they do then a clause gets activated in his transfer and they have to hand over more money to Derby! that one was a joke alright!!

~Rebel~

Double post...but while im here, may as well just reiterate Veron for Man U and then even more Veron again when we all knew he sucked, for Chelsea. Why pay loads for a player you knew for a fact couldn't play make it in the premiership?! my theory is that it was just a draw for other players to let them know they meant business.

~Rebel~

El Hadji Diouf - but half due to the club being stupid. Why buy a striker for 11million and then play him on the wing? Continuously? After him getting 2 on his debut? even when owen is injured and heskey is starting with an untried (at the time) baros? sigh, could never quite figure that one out Houllier. Of course now we see that he's actually quite a good player..even if he is a bit of a scummer. though sam insists he's a nice lad!

eirebhoy

MooShop wrote:

Nakamura and Nakata are the two biggest names in Japanese football. Im sure most footballing fans have heard of Nakata but in Japan Nakamura is bigger, he's their answer to David Beckham.

He looks to be a good player and has huge marketing potential for Celtic. He is a steal at £2 million. I read that about Nakamura and Nakata on some site reporting the Nakamura deal a few days ago can't remember where i read it hence no link to the actual article but that was the jist of it.

Aye, look at this for a billboard:
http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/upload/260705snakamura3_lg.jpg

~Rebel~

Jonathan Woodgate; Bought for 13million a year ago and has never kicked a ball since, and now after the below report, looks like he may never get the chance to play for Real. A pity as he really was a class player..always thought there was something evil looking about him though..


from skysports.com

Jonathan Woodgate's career could be in doubt after he broke down yet again in training.

The 25-year-old has not yet kicked a ball in anger for Real Madrid after his £13 million move from Newcastle last summer.

Woodgate has struggled with a thigh injury that has seen him fly to America and Finland to see specialists in a bid to cure the long-standing problem.

Although he has been back in training in Madrid while the club has jetted around the world on their pre-season plans, he has reportedly suffered another major setback.

The former Leeds man has aggravated the femoral muscle in his thigh again, and this time his whole football career could be in doubt.

Real are said to been taking both legal and insurance advice on the situation should Woodgate be unable to return to action, as they would then want to cancel his contract.

Woodgate had offered to take a cut in his £50,000-a-week wages until he returned to action, as he was keen not to be a drain on resources at El Santiago Bernabeu.

However, if the setback is as serious as is initially thought, Woodgate could never get the chance to pull on a Real shirt.

Necronomicon

Poor guy.

andyman

I really wanted to see what he had to offer for Real. I was hoping his last injury was the last of it. Poor guy is right Necrominicon

Davei141

Lex Luthor wrote:

I thought he was only 22?

Yeah he is, at the time i wrote that i thought he was 26.

evilhomer

Jesper Gronkjaer £7,800,000 from Ajax to chelsea!!!

Now that guy was a joke!
He was the most inconsistent player I have ever seen

Oh and he is moving clubs again for the third time in two years. Gronkjaer moving on again.

eirebhoy

Just watching the Celtic match atm. Nakamura started for his debut. This lad is top class. He almost scored a header after 60 seconds. The passes he pulls off are amazing. He was inches away from scoring a free kick, it was saved. He has some skill too. If he played like this every day I wouldn't swap him for David Beckham. Being completely honest.

evilhomer

did you see douglas playing for leicster. He gave away a penalty and totally fluffed collecting a ball into the box which Sheffield united scored from!!!

Thank god celtic got rid of him! He looks worse then ever now.

Johnny_the_fox

eirebhoy wrote:

Just watching the Celtic match atm. Nakamura started for his debut. This lad is top class. He almost scored a header after 60 seconds. The passes he pulls off are amazing. He was inches away from scoring a free kick, it was saved. He has some skill too. If he played like this every day I wouldn't swap him for David Beckham. Being completely honest.

his interpreter has got off to a great start as well.
- from teamtalk.com

Nakamura has been followed by an interpreter on the training ground and in the dressing room.

A delighted manager Gordon Strachan joked: "The interpreter's all right but he needs a new suit.

"He's had the same suit on for four days in a row. He was standing in the rain in training the other day but I'm sure we'll be able to kit him out with a new suit this week."

evad_lhorg

BLoody hell that nakamura guy is a legend. he can hammer in some great freekicks. that goal he scored from the corner was hilarious. well worth the money tbh.

Drogba is a waste of money. If chelsea hadve gone for shevchenko that also wouldve been a waste as he is pushin 30 now.

andy cole was a waste of money when Utd bought him a few years back. Veron was also.

Real Madrid have to be the biggest money wasters thuogh. they just buy up all these big names and then dont even give them a place in the team. tbh I dont know why any player would want to go there.

Rollo Tamasi

evad_lhorg wrote:

andy cole was a waste of money when Utd bought him a few years back.

What? :eek:
Cole scored a shed load of goals. Himself and Yorke formed one of the most feared strike forces in Europe for about 3 seasons. Are you mad man? Uts paid 6million and gave up some guy called Keith Gillispie for Cole. Thats hardly a waste of money. Fair enough it took him a season to get into the swing of things at Utd, but at the time he was the British transfer record and their was sooo much pressure on him. He's done well at every team he's played for. He'll bag 15 goals minimum at Man City this city.

MrJoeSoap

Great free-kick on him alright!