Ollie Watkins

[mcbladeface]

shhh, if you say his name too many times he'll appear behind you screaming "no bids".

So that was who that bloke was in the fruit aisle the other day!

 

[Harrisblade]

Could just be me being biased but why would anyone willingly choose to play under Hodgson/Smith over Chris Wilder

Might be decided by an agent

 

[LJBlade]

I'm not sure about Watkins. Not for £18 million. Especially when he's not going to play alongside McBurnie and so one will be on the bench. I think the money probably needs to go on someone to play next to McBurnie in the long-term.

Why wouldn’t he be playing alongside McBurnie?

 

[Chabuddy G]

I'm not sure about Watkins. Not for £18 million. Especially when he's not going to play alongside McBurnie and so one will be on the bench. I think the money probably needs to go on someone to play next to McBurnie in the long-term.

What? Why won't he be playing with McBurnie?

 

[Blade58]

I think it's more likely that Palace get him tbh.

Telegraph says Palace are in for him

 

[FTPE]

Surely the fact that we were in for him last year helps our cause?

 

[robbiez666]

Why wouldn’t he be playing alongside McBurnie?

What? Why won't he be playing with McBurnie?

Two tall target men playing next to each other? There's more to Watkin's game but that's essentially his strength. They'd be playing next to Mousse/Didzy

 

[Wards]

Watkins isn't a terget man. He's fairly strong and average in the air - but certainly not a target man.

 

[Reedy1889]

Surely the fact that we were in for him last year helps our cause?

Palace we're too last summer I believe. If we thought we had no chance of persuading him then we wouldn't be bothering pursuing this transfer. Although the alternative, Brewster on loan is equally appealing for me.

 

[bromtom]

Palace we're too last summer I believe. If we thought we had no chance of persuading him then we wouldn't be bothering pursuing this transfer. Although the alternative, Brewster on loan is equally appealing for me.

 

[ChipButtyBlade]

Let Leeds or Palace have him https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2020/08/...-clause-as-crystal-palace-allegedly-plan-bid/

 

[Blade58]

Our Blades resident Brentford supporter Banana has posted this about Watkins so called release clause:




Banana

Joined in Apr 2000from London68,507 Posts14,624 Likes for 6,197 PostsMentioned in 78 Post(s)

There is no release clause. 100% verified fact.

https://griffinpark.org/forums/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=3619687

 

[S40BLADE]

Our Blades resident Brentford supporter Banana has posted this about Watkins so called release clause:



Banana

Joined in Apr 2000from London68,507 Posts14,624 Likes for 6,197 PostsMentioned in 78 Post(s)

https://griffinpark.org/forums/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=3619687

Oh no I wonder if the "Top table meetings" are now being held on Google or Zoom.

 

[Chabuddy G]

Two tall target men playing next to each other? There's more to Watkin's game but that's essentially his strength. They'd be playing next to Mousse/Didzy

Target man? Have you ever seen Watkins play he was an inverted winger before this season

 

[Houso]

Two tall target men playing next to each other? There's more to Watkin's game but that's essentially his strength. They'd be playing next to Mousse/Didzy

He's a winger by trade who has flourished as a striker this season. Are you getting him mixed up with someone else?

In terms of my view on Palace getting him (same with West Ham or Southampton), is that location will play a big part.

 

[FTPE]

Leeds need to buy 3 new strikers so we are probably going to have to battle them at least once.
Why the hell you'd go to Villa or Pace other than money then I've no idea.

 

[CaptainMorgans]

I'm not that bothered about Ollie Watkins. I don't think he's got the speed & physicality to cause too many headaches at this level.

I think Che Adams is a much better player for instance & probably Karlan Grant too.

 

[dc_blade]

Target man? Have you ever seen Watkins play he was an inverted winger before this season

No mate, sorry. They're both tall. Can't play together.

 

[Carlton Blade]

No mate, sorry. They're both tall. Can't play together.

I do think that McBurnie and Watkins would get in each others way a bit. They operate in the same sort of areas.

Could also work really well if they figured out how to swap positions and pull defences about

I'm arguing with myself now

 

[Yellarbellyblade]

Our Blades resident Brentford supporter Banana has posted this about Watkins so called release clause:



Banana

Joined in Apr 2000from London68,507 Posts14,624 Likes for 6,197 PostsMentioned in 78 Post(s)

https://griffinpark.org/forums/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=3619687

God I miss Bananaman

 

[S40BLADE]

Banana please comeback I want to know about the "no release clause" and what else is happening at the "top table" meetings. Have you received any bids for Maupay yet?

 

[itsinyerblood]

When you consider the transfer equation - player/buying manager/agent/selling club - if you consider Wilder's approach to buying players so far, unless a player shows willing and wishes to play for this club, plus if a player's agent wishes to play silly buggers and thinks he can fuck Wilder about, plus if the selling club choose to go back on their word and change the selling price as agreed.....well then it shouldn't come as a surprise that Wilder will stand firm and decide to look elsewhere.

I doubt it's a case of cutting your nose to spite your face, but Wilder knows that unless you stand strong you open yourself up to the nonsense of being dictated to in terms of fees, wages, agent's fees, and we know he won't tolerate that. Good on CW I say. I know that we may lose out in some cases but overall it means we'll sign players who have a desire to play for this club, and that way we avoid mercenaries whose influence may prove disruptive.

I've posted recently about the need to improve our wage budget, and of course I appreciate this won't happen overnight, but it needs to happen, and I'm sure that CW grasps this fact and will push the board to increase the wages we can offer. So, as with all matters SUFC, I'm happy to leave it to Wilder to determine who we sign and for how much. By following this pattern we'll remain in good shape financially while improving our playing staff. If a player like Swift thinks he'll be better off at another club then good luck son. My advice would be to study the trajectory of this club under Wilder and consider if you'll improve as a player by signing for the Blades......the answer is staring you in the face!

 

[Isaw Joeshaw]

Nice to see many on this thread recognising the fact that when we fail to score goals , it is not necessarily as a result of the incompetence of the two designated main strikers but just as likely to be a failure , for whatever reason or reasons , to provide them with any or very few reasonable goal scoring opportunities .

A classic example of this was the Newcastle match at home where the strikers were absolutely crucified by many on here , completely overlooking the fact that a) Newcastle defended very well and in large numbers and b) the lack of a creative midfielder capable of opening them up meant that they were feeding on scraps throughout the game .

If Olly Watkins is the best available within our price / wages structure we may well be better sticking with what we've got but finding a way to make better use of them .

 

[8lade]

For those that aren’t too bothered about him, is this solely based on his performance yesterday?

No I've watched him scoring and I'd say that both Sharp and McBurnie are very competent finishers around the 6-8 yard area. Mousset and Robinson are Ok. Teams who we are competitive with were packing their defences at the end of the season we barely had a ball into that area in the last 3 games. Now we need something different, somebody hitting the target with power from further out for example.

 

[HeCanDoMagic]

Ollie Watkins = Target man.

Read it all now. Wow.

 

[SouthEssexBlade]

Just because we were keen last summer does not automatically mean we're still keen now. Last summer we were looking to stay up, last summer the PL was an unknown entity to CWAK, last summer Watkins was a player similar to Robinson (wide forward).

Our targets may have changed, our requirements may have changed, our horizons may have broadened.

 

[HeCanDoMagic]

Just because we were keen last summer does not automatically mean we're still keen now. Last summer we were looking to stay up, last summer the PL was an unknown entity to CWAK, last summer Watkins was a player similar to Robinson (wide forward).

Our targets may have changed, our requirements may have changed, our horizons may have broadened.

But Watkins has got better, a price has now become easier to agree, we desperately meed forward players.

The biggest danger is that other clubs will ‘out wager’ us.

 

[Blade56]

Don’t think Watkins will leave the M25 perimeter. Doesn’t meet CWAk minimum characteristics in that case.

 

[SouthEssexBlade]

But Watkins has got better, a price has now become easier to agree, we desperately meed forward players.

The biggest danger is that other clubs will ‘out wager’ us.

We've arrived in silly season. Player suggestions on here, spurious ITK links in the press and on social media, previous "targets" apparently becoming available and then when said players sign for Palace, Leeds, Villa, Seville or whoever people going apeshit on here. Same every window

The club will have multiple targets for each position required, the leaks have been plugged so knowledge of those lists is very limited. Speculation is inevitable, accuracy of that speculation patchy at best, but it will do nothing to stop the panic on here when the signings start to happen.

 

[Guesty]

Ollie Watkins is a strange one. On his Wikipedia page he describes himself thusly: 'I am a Number 10. [...] I try to base my game on his [Thierry Henry], by driving at defenders and looking to make something happen when I get the ball'

But on this video



he's scored most of his goals this season from the ball being slung into the box. He seems to have become a completely different type of forward to what he originally saw himself as.

MkI would be an alternative to McGoldrick, I suppose. MKII would seem to be in competition with McBurnie.