blackburn Rovers v Blackpool Sat March 10

[mcteeth]

If I also have to reiterate the simple facts of Rhodes wanting to leave, us not being able to afford to keep him, Graham being on lower wages and costing around £1.5m and their subsequent scoring records since January 2016 which are relevant to this discussion...

So in your mind the only alternative to signing Danny Graham was to buy back Rhodes? I think we've found the problem...

[mrblackbat]

To be fair, mcteeth, that is the logical argument you're putting forward, albeit that the only alternative was to not sell Rhodes rather than to buy him back. I think you've always failed to focus on the crux of my argument: we had plenty of time to explore who the best striker available at that time was.

But anyway as I asked before: do you consider Marcus Antonsson a must buy?

[Rover the Top]

If I also have to reiterate the simple facts of Rhodes wanting to leave, us not being able to afford to keep him, Graham being on lower wages and costing around £1.5m and their subsequent scoring records since January 2016 which are relevant to this discussion...

So in your mind the only alternative to signing Danny Graham was to buy back Rhodes? I think we've found the problem...

Confused yourself? Despite what you claim, not one of your "simple facts" bears any relevance whatsoever... the reasons for Rhodes' departure and his subsequent stuttering career had zero impact on Rovers' options for replacing him. Perhaps you need the simple fact reiterating that our transfer dealings for the 16/17 season built a team that got relegated...

[mcteeth]

To be fair, mcteeth, that is the logical argument you're putting forward, albeit that the only alternative was to not sell Rhodes rather than to buy him back. I think you've always failed to focus on the crux of my argument: we had plenty of time to explore who the best striker available at that time was.

But anyway as I asked before: do you consider Marcus Antonsson a must buy?

No it isn't, I wasn't putting forward any argument, I was providing context to your quote that you referenced relating the sale of Rhodes to the purchase of Graham.

As usual Toppers is twisting something to make a poster on here look stupid so I'm ignoring it.

I'm glad you're wanting to have a sensible discussion as the context around the purchase of Graham is important. We were a club on a downward spiral without a lot of financial clout so all things considered given that he wanted to join us and we had that option yes it was really important. Not it isn't inconceivable that we could have possible found someone better for the same money or on loan, but that doesn't detract from what he has subsequently done. He flopped at Sunderland but aside from that he has shown a lot of qualities that we've benefited from and that's more than his goals, it's his overall play as well as assists.

Yes we were relegated, sadly by fine margins where any other season we'd have probably been fine, but collectively the whole club failed. But Mowbray has completely revitalised the club and I think we'll be back in the Championship stronger than when we left and Graham along with many others have positively contributed to that.

To answer you question on Antonsson no I wouldn't say it's vital we sign him but it might it would be possibly worth considering, although he's similar in some respects to Samuel. I would place importance on looking to sign Armstrong, Chapman and probably also Payne in that order.

[Darth Rover]

Danny Graham flopped at Sunderland but even Sunderland are flopping at Sunderland. Infact the whole northeast is full of floppage.

[Rover the Top]

No it isn't, I wasn't putting forward any argument, I was providing context to your quote that you referenced relating the sale of Rhodes to the purchase of Graham.

If that's what you think you were doing, then as blackbat said, you're unable to process what his point was. I'll repeat, why Rhodes left and what he's done since has fuck all to do with whether Graham was the right choice to replace a 20+ goal a season striker. What is relevant is whether he's provided the same number of goals (he hasn't) and if the team has maintained it's league position (it hasn't). He's an asset in League 1, but he wasn't signed to be a League 1 player. You can't take the fact we were relegated out of the debate because you like the guy; the fact we went down is a sure fire sign that our transfer dealings last season weren't good enough. My point has always been about the cost of bringing in a player who'd been on a fairly lucrative PL wage, something you've failed to acknowledge since the start.

[Ethiaa]

the whole northeast is full of floppage.

Something in the water

[mrblackbat]

To answer you question on Antonsson no I wouldn't say it's vital we sign him but it might it would be possibly worth considering, although he's similar in some respects to Samuel. I would place importance on looking to sign Armstrong, Chapman and probably also Payne in that order.

Yet Marcus Antonsson has very similar performance statistics during his loan period as Danny "Must Sign" Graham.

[Ethiaa]

Ahh, statistics.

[mcteeth]

To answer you question on Antonsson no I wouldn't say it's vital we sign him but it might it would be possibly worth considering, although he's similar in some respects to Samuel. I would place importance on looking to sign Armstrong, Chapman and probably also Payne in that order.

Yet Marcus Antonsson has very similar performance statistics during his loan period as Danny "Must Sign" Graham.

As I said it's more than just goals. His pedigree in the championship, particularly with Watford, ability to lead the front line and experience he could bring.

You can feel confident your getting a player that can hit double figures a season as well as contribute a lot to our general forward play.

[mcteeth]

No it isn't, I wasn't putting forward any argument, I was providing context to your quote that you referenced relating the sale of Rhodes to the purchase of Graham.

If that's what you think you were doing, then as blackbat said, you're unable to process what his point was. I'll repeat, why Rhodes left and what he's done since has fuck all to do with whether Graham was the right choice to replace a 20+ goal a season striker. What is relevant is whether he's provided the same number of goals (he hasn't) and if the team has maintained it's league position (it hasn't). He's an asset in League 1, but he wasn't signed to be a League 1 player. You can't take the fact we were relegated out of the debate because you like the guy; the fact we went down is a sure fire sign that our transfer dealings last season weren't good enough. My point has always been about the cost of bringing in a player who'd been on a fairly lucrative PL wage, something you've failed to acknowledge since the start.

I've never failed to acknowledge his wages, it's a difference of opinion, I don't see his wages as a problem and didn't at the time. There are so many factors and context to take into account regarding our relegation I really struggle to see why you want to give so much weight to this bit of transfer business.

I'd give far more weight to Owen Coyle being our manager as one of the biggest issues as although it is completely hypothetical it seems improbable that we'd have been relegated with Mowbray there all season and in fairness most other seasons the number of goals we'd scored and points we had wouldn't have resulted in relegation.

You saying if Graham has scored 3 more goals last season is then as credible as me saying if Lowe hadn't missed an utterly basic clearance away at Bristol City we'd have had an extra point. It's just not that simple.

[mrblackbat]

To answer you question on Antonsson no I wouldn't say it's vital we sign him but it might it would be possibly worth considering, although he's similar in some respects to Samuel. I would place importance on looking to sign Armstrong, Chapman and probably also Payne in that order.

Yet Marcus Antonsson has very similar performance statistics during his loan period as Danny "Must Sign" Graham.

As I said it's more than just goals. His pedigree in the championship, particularly with Watford, ability to lead the front line and experience he could bring.

You can feel confident your getting a player that can hit double figures a season as well as contribute a lot to our general forward play.

Except his pedigree didn't back up anything that you're saying. Graham's stand out part of his career has now been with us, in a relegation bound team and in League 1.

Nobody was going to rush to sign him, we could have been patient and had a look what else was available. I certainly wouldn't ever have described him as "must sign".

[mcteeth]

Not the time he was the Championship top scorer in a season, was voted into the Championship team of the season and was Watford's player of the season?

[mrblackbat]

Fair enough. But that was followed by a downturn. Mind you, I supposed being the main centre forward for a League 1 team matches that.

[mcteeth]

The downturn of scoring double figures for Swansea in the Premier League in their first season?