CONFIRMED Clarke Official

[Booker4]

Perhaps Flitcroft has a problem with our club. I'm not sure why he has to be so arrogant but he's only embarrassed himself.

Our club is entitled to offer whatever fee they wish and their club is entitled to reject it. He's a grown man and ought to act like one.

Agreed. I thought it was very unprofessional to be derogatory, particularly the bit about Leon laughing at our bid. He could have said they rejected a bid that was far below their valuation and left it at that.

 

[crucialkneeligaman]

To be honest if Bury had offered us 50K for Che, I would have expected CW to have answered in a similar vein. Perhaps if we made sensible offers we wouldn't open ourselves up to this kind of ridicule. Anyway looking forward to Pope joining us.

 

[ThatJa]

“I told Leon the amount and he absolutely laughed it down. It was such a derogative offer.”

Move on. He obviously isn't interested if he's laughing at the fact we're after him.

 

[BushBlade]

“I told Leon the amount and he absolutely laughed it down. It was such a derogative offer.”

Move on. He obviously isn't interested if he's laughing at the fact we're after him.

It's unlikely we put a bid in without talking to his agent first to see if he's interested. Of course he's interested, why wouldn't he be?

 

[Balham]

“I told Leon the amount and he absolutely laughed it down. It was such a derogative offer.”

Move on. He obviously isn't interested if he's laughing at the fact we're after him.

Alternatively: Flitcroft didn't say anything to Clarke and is making up a story. Unless Clarke's on a cut of the fee (hint: he's not) it doesn't make a blind bit of difference to him.

 

[1danewhitehouse]

I trust in Wilder. You and I dont know how much was his offer to Bury and the previous missed chances we had in signing Clarke has no relevance to this argument. Last season we had at least 12 players that were earning at least £5,000 and none at Coventry were earning £5,000 a week according to someone well known at Coventry who told my mate in the executive boxes last April. This suggests that Clough and Adkins thought they signed better players on high wages. It is not easy to buy success

Can’t really argue with any of that. Just frustrated that as a club it’s taken us until he’s in his 30s and at a club where he’s under contract and wanted when there’s been countless opportunities to sign him for nowt. Same with Duffy.


To an extent, I’m glad we’re finally going for these types of players. I just hope we haven’t left it too late. If we’d signed them in Wilson’s 2nd season for example we’d have surely gone up.

 

[S5Blade]

2 points;

Firstly, Flitcroft is a complete tool, his comments couldn't have been more disrespectful in respect of Pope.

Secondly, Clarke has had a history of "personal problems" that are still obviously there. Do we need another head the ball after getting shot of José?

I hope CW goes for Pope, will fit the budget and with the right service could do well.

I think, and im not sure, but I am sure that your parent can only die once, meaning that there is very much likely to be a repeat of Clarke needing time away from the club cos his dad has died.

 

[1danewhitehouse]

I wasn't talking about Adams, more McNulty as I am pretty much resigned to Adams going. I guess you could count both though.

Leon Clarke is a decent League One striker that every now and then has a little scoring run and then goes off the boil. Have you ever asked yourself why players like that move clubs so much? It's because they start well and never sustain it. Look at Jon Stead for another example.

He's fine, I would take him on a free as back up. He's not the right sort of partner for Billy who is our leading front man so I don't see the point. We need a different type of striker. Billy does too many of the same things better than him.

Surely Clarke is a much better partner for Billy than McNulty is or Done for that matter. He’s 6”2 and reasonably quick and strong. Akinde would be my preferred option but Clarke has attributes that our forward line lacks.

The other thing I like about the prospect of a strike partnership of Clarke and Sharp is that they're a right pair of horrible bastards. They both know the dark arts and I could see a fair share of red cards for opposing defenders playing against those 2.

 

[1danewhitehouse]

He simply won't come to be a sub. It's as simple as that. Nor should he. We need a focal point (not target man - sounds too Hoofy) up front. At the moment we have no-one to do that job except our main goal scorer. He's not great at it and should be free to concentrate on his proper job.

Semantics aside I agree. We need someone who has some height and strength who can hold the ball up but also has at least a little pace and carries a goal threat. Hanson for example is too slow and one dimensional for me. The only 2 I can think of that we could possibly get who really fit the bill are Clarke and Akinde. I’d be quite happy to land either.

 

[Esablade]

Semantics aside I agree. We need someone who has some height and strength who can hold the ball up but also has at least a little pace and carries a goal threat. Hanson for example is too slow and one dimensional for me. The only 2 I can think of that we could possibly get who really fit the bill are Clarke and Akinde. I’d be quite happy to land either.

Akinde just signed new contract till 2019..guess he's going nowhere?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/36858288

 

[1danewhitehouse]

Akinde just signed new contract till 2019..guess he's going nowhere?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/36858288

ah crap.

 

[GroovyBrad]

ah crap.

Quite unambitious of Akinde if you ask me

Then again saying that contracts really dont mean much after the first year anyway in regards to sales

 

[Esablade]

ah crap.

Look on the positive side, it could mean we've told them we're no longer interested (if we ever were!???) because Clarke has signed

 

[ChipButtyBlade]

Likes it in London i guess.

 

[1danewhitehouse]

Quite unambitious of Akinde if you ask me

Then again saying that contracts really dont mean much after the first year anyway in regards to sales

I suppose we could argue that the new contract means little though. Murphy had just signed one for us. When the bigger clubs come knocking, I have it on good authority that Barnet would be powerless to say no, new contract or no new contract.

 

[Chali 2na]

Akinde just signed new contract till 2019..guess he's going nowhere?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/36858288

First, I was angry.

Now I question, Is my life still truly worth living?

 

[Booker4]

I'm just sick of the fact that I'm keeping tabs on signing Leon Clarke signing on all news mediums possible including twitter. I really rate Clarke but it just feels like Dan Burn over again.

 

[BushBlade]

ah crap.

Yes he is.

 

[1danewhitehouse]

Yes he is.

You think so? I like the look of what I've seen/heard/read about him. Big, strong, quick, scored goals over the last couple of seasons.

 

[BushBlade]

You think so? I like the look of what I've seen/heard/read about him. Big, strong, quick, scored goals over the last couple of seasons.

I've seen him too. Nowt special. Decent at L2 level, might be able to adapt to L1, might not, might do after a season or so.
He looked good at Alfreton.

 

[robbiez666]

My guess is that having done it with Hussey and it worked, we tried the same with Clarke and it failed. It might be derisory but Bury are supposed to be in financial trouble. If we come back with a decent bid they'll probably sell obviously and no one will care about the original "joke" bid/s.

I have memories of being on the other end of this and not being very happy about it. It's a pretty unpalatable tactic to unsettle players. I'd rather we just started trying to bid at the lowest end of the valuation. All we're doing is annoying a club and probably a player. If Coventry have an offer accepted and we matched it, I wouldn't be surprised if they reject ours.

 

[BushBlade]

I have memories of being on the other end of this and not being very happy about it. It's a pretty unpalatable tactic to unsettle players. I'd rather we just started trying to bid at the lowest end of the valuation. All we're doing is annoying a club and probably a player. If Coventry have an offer accepted and we matched it, I wouldn't be surprised if they reject ours.

It's like diving. No one wants to condone it but we all know that if we don't do it and the opposition do, it gives them an advantage over us.
You appear to be saying you want our board to act like pussies.

 

[robbiez666]

It's like diving. No one wants to condone it but we all know that if we don't do it and the opposition do, it gives them an advantage over us.
You appear to be saying you want our board to act like pussies.

I think it's more akin to buying a house. You wouldn't bid 20k for a 150k house. It does nothing but upset the seller. Why not bid say 120k and then negotiate from there.

 

[sheffielder]

I have memories of being on the other end of this and not being very happy about it. It's a pretty unpalatable tactic to unsettle players. I'd rather we just started trying to bid at the lowest end of the valuation. All we're doing is annoying a club and probably a player. If Coventry have an offer accepted and we matched it, I wouldn't be surprised if they reject ours.

But we don't know the true facts of this. Flitcroft might value Clarke at 1m and we offered say 300k, which is less than a third of the valuation. Personally I would see that as the max valuation for him, however they might think that the bid was pathetic as they value him much higher. Flitcroft needs to sell Clarke and get rid of Pope because they're skint. Personally I would prefer to spend the money elsewhere, which I am sure Wilder does after what he saw on Tuesday night.

 

[BushBlade]

I think it's more akin to buying a house. You wouldn't bid 20k for a 150k house. It does nothing but upset the seller. Why not bid say 120k and then negotiate from there.

Because it's nothing like buying a house. It's like poaching an employee from another company.

 

[sheffielder]

I think it's more akin to buying a house. You wouldn't bid 20k for a 150k house. It does nothing but upset the seller. Why not bid say 120k and then negotiate from there.

What if you didn't think the house was worth 120k and you knew the owners were skint?

 

[BushBlade]

What if you didn't think the house was worth 120k and you knew the owners were skint?

Truth is, I've never known anyone get offended by a low offer. It's something you believe will happen and stops you from trying. I did it a while ago with a guitar. It was on for about £450 and arguably worth it so I offered £300. Got it for £325 plus a case and some spare strings.

 

[Th!stledo]

Truth is, I've never known anyone get offended by a low offer. It's something you believe will happen and stops you from trying. I did it a while ago with a guitar. It was on for about £450 and arguably worth it so I offered £300. Got it for £325 plus a case and some spare strings.

I bet that was music to your ears?

Seriously, I don't see a problem with the bid. Its just posturing on both sides and psyching each other out and seeing if anybody else joins the bidding.

 

[Keef Chedwyn]

Truth is, I've never known anyone get offended by a low offer. It's something you believe will happen and stops you from trying. I did it a while ago with a guitar. It was on for about £450 and arguably worth it so I offered £300. Got it for £325 plus a case and some spare strings.

I get your riff. Glad you didn't fret after your first bid was turned down and they didn't string you along. Ukulele are a good negotiator.

 

[SouthEssexBlade]

Truth is, I've never known anyone get offended by a low offer. It's something you believe will happen and stops you from trying. I did it a while ago with a guitar. It was on for about £450 and arguably worth it so I offered £300. Got it for £325 plus a case and some spare strings.

I would've had to fender off that offer.