The King's reign seems over.

[Gerard]

On 04/09/2018 at 16:29, Ric Flair said:

He's had about 4 serious injuries now. Baffling how he got that new deal last summer, it's borderline fraud.

 

£30k a week for four years = £6m outlay for a 26 year old.

 

Even taking sentiment aside it's still reasonable business at worst for a player who Puel selected ahead of all the other midfielders to partner Ndidi at some point last season. He was also the standout player in a Championship side that he was on loan to and played 18 games in half a season. 

 

James has the attributes to play CM the way Puel wants his CM's to play. If he can stay fit for a length of time he will become a good squad player for us or we might be able to sell for good money. He's certainly not the worst contract the club have ever handed out.

[Guest Col city fan]

1 hour ago, Gerard said:

 

£30k a week for four years = £6m outlay for a 26 year old.

 

Even taking sentiment aside it's still reasonable business at worst for a player who Puel selected ahead of all the other midfielders to partner Ndidi at some point last season. He was also the standout player in a Championship side that he was on loan to and played 18 games in half a season. 

 

James has the attributes to play CM the way Puel wants his CM's to play. If he can stay fit for a length of time he will become a good squad player for us or we might be able to sell for good money. He's certainly not the worst contract the club have ever handed out.

No, it was a bizarre decision amidst some seemingly very good ones recently.

Even when fit (let’s face it, if ever?) James will be nowhere near the first 11 this season (barring major injury to other players).

The club might as well have built a bonfire of 50 quid notes and set alight to them.

30 k per week for Matt James for 4 years! 

Bonkers!

[Gerard]

2 hours ago, Col city fan said:

No, it was a bizarre decision amidst some seemingly very good ones recently.

Even when fit (let’s face it, if ever?) James will be nowhere near the first 11 this season (barring major injury to other players).

The club might as well have built a bonfire of 50 quid notes and set alight to them.

30 k per week for Matt James for 4 years! 

Bonkers!

 

Well he was actually in the first XI whilst fit this year ahead of Silva and Iborra.

 

Investing £6m over 4 years on a 26yo is a worthwhile risk. He's played half a season on loan at Barnsley in the Championship without injury and was their standout player. I still believe it was a good decision even now as we're still likely to get some mileage out of him or possibly sell him a year down the line and make a profit on our investment. 

 

To me he's far from deadwood in the squad. 

[FLAN]

7 hours ago, davieG said:

 

“He gave fantastic service for this club and I have 

"It was a possibility [that he could go out on loan] but at the end he remained with us until the next window and we will see.”

Is it only me that reads this final quote as a bit of a dig in that he had options and didn’t take them. Given Puel made it clear he wasn’t part of his plan last season the omission might be a retaliation to King deciding not to take a loan option 

[Foxhateram]

James crocked again. More surgery needed on his Achilles. Surely Lingy needs a number?

[Guest Col city fan]

7 hours ago, Gerard said:

 

Well he was actually in the first XI whilst fit this year ahead of Silva and Iborra.

 

Investing £6m over 4 years on a 26yo is a worthwhile risk. He's played half a season on loan at Barnsley in the Championship without injury and was their standout player. I still believe it was a good decision even now as we're still likely to get some mileage out of him or possibly sell him a year down the line and make a profit on our investment. 

 

To me he's far from deadwood in the squad. 

Had surgery on his Achilles again only yesterday. Reports are ‘no clear return date’.

4 yr contract!

Ridiculous.......

[volpeazzurro]

10 hours ago, Col city fan said:

No, it was a bizarre decision amidst some seemingly very good ones recently.

Even when fit (let’s face it, if ever?) James will be nowhere near the first 11 this season (barring major injury to other players).

The club might as well have built a bonfire of 50 quid notes and set alight to them.

30 k per week for Matt James for 4 years! 

Bonkers!

IF fit James would be valuable member of our squad and as one contributor has mentioned,  Puel picked him in preference to other midfielders. If fit I too think him a better option to Iborra and Silva. One would think logically that when the contract was offered,  fitness, previous injuries and prognosis to recover was taken into account following advice from professionals not Foxtalk armchair experts. How many forum warriors would have dumped Mendy based on their expert medical insight? Now look!

 

Injuries can be just down to bad luck, though admittedly, some can occur due to playing with an underlying problem or a long period out of the game. Either way, at that time an informed decision was made. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, either way, its not the plsyers fault. Mendy was just so unlucky when he first got here. James was looking good upon his return prior to an unfortunate unconnected injury ... it happens. 

[Guest Col city fan]

52 minutes ago, volpeazzurro said:

IF fit James would be valuable member of our squad and as one contributor has mentioned,  Puel picked him in preference to other midfielders. If fit I too think him a better option to Iborra and Silva. One would think logically that when the contract was offered,  fitness, previous injuries and prognosis to recover was taken into account following advice from professionals not Foxtalk armchair experts. How many forum warriors would have dumped Mendy based on their expert medical insight? Now look!

 

Injuries can be just down to bad luck, though admittedly, some can occur due to playing with an underlying problem or a long period out of the game. Either way, at that time an informed decision was made. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, either way, its not the plsyers fault. Mendy was just so unlucky when he first got here. James was looking good upon his return prior to an unfortunate unconnected injury ... it happens. 

Personally I’m never sure that many injuries are ‘unconnected’. Some will be of course. But if you look systemically, muscle groups etc compensate for weaknesses in other areas, thus making themselves more prone to pulls, aches and tears.

Like Wilshere, (also heard today he’s out with another injury) it’s no surprise that James continues to be on the treatment table.

The issue for me was the length of contract. 4 years for a player who had had a really bad injury and had been out of the game for so long, imo was lunacy. I think the club should have offered Matty a year’s rolling contract and if he decided to leave, then ok, he goes with the club’s blessing.

Added to this is the fact I don’t think he’s brilliant anyway. I don’t believe he’d get into

this side at the moment.

 

[davieG]

We can debate the contract justification my concern is more to do with why he was included in the 25 man squad when he hadn't proved his fitness especially when I believe the squad can be altered in January.

[Ric Flair]

10 hours ago, Gerard said:

 

Well he was actually in the first XI whilst fit this year ahead of Silva and Iborra.

 

Investing £6m over 4 years on a 26yo is a worthwhile risk. He's played half a season on loan at Barnsley in the Championship without injury and was their standout player. I still believe it was a good decision even now as we're still likely to get some mileage out of him or possibly sell him a year down the line and make a profit on our investment. 

 

To me he's far from deadwood in the squad. 

This surprises me from you. You regularly harp on about value for money on players and yet seem content that a long contract was offered to a player who's not handled the rigours of PL football for more than about half a dozen games on the spin in 3.5 years. Werent we offered about £5m from Derby for him last summer as well, it's a strange decision. I suppose the club might view it as neither the transfer fee nor his wages for 4 years will make much of a difference in the grand scheme of things but you'd not be happy with frivelous behaviour like that with many other players. Look at how wild you were going about Danny Ward and Iborra.

 

James was crap in 2014/15, he had a couple of decent games last season and has always looked the business in the Championship. At best he deserved a couple of years contract or a clause where his wages were a small basic but large appearance money. He's done at this level.

[leicesterlad1989]

I might be in the minority when it comes to Matty James but personally I think the bloke offers nothing or certainly no more than someone like Andy King. A 4 year contract for a player that's suffered numerous serious injuries during a relatively short career is very strange. To be included in the 25 man squad is equally as baffling.

 

3 hours ago, volpeazzurro said:

IF fit James would be valuable member of our squad and as one contributor has mentioned,  Puel picked him in preference to other midfielders. If fit I too think him a better option to Iborra and Silva. One would think logically that when the contract was offered,  fitness, previous injuries and prognosis to recover was taken into account following advice from professionals not Foxtalk armchair experts. How many forum warriors would have dumped Mendy based on their expert medical insight? Now look!

 

Injuries can be just down to bad luck, though admittedly, some can occur due to playing with an underlying problem or a long period out of the game. Either way, at that time an informed decision was made. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, either way, its not the plsyers fault. Mendy was just so unlucky when he first got here. James was looking good upon his return prior to an unfortunate unconnected injury ... it happens. 

I think the difference between the two situations, rightly or wrongly, was because we had recently signed Mendy who many viewed as a replacement for Kante and he was never going to live up to those expectations. As soon as he got injured, fans instantly wrote him off. Matty James on the other hand has had the full support of fans from day one but there becomes a point where we all have to question whether he will ever be fit again. It's not a personal attack nor should we ever blame him for his injuries.

[Gerard]

9 hours ago, Ric Flair said:

This surprises me from you. You regularly harp on about value for money on players and yet seem content that a long contract was offered to a player who's not handled the rigours of PL football for more than about half a dozen games on the spin in 3.5 years. Werent we offered about £5m from Derby for him last summer as well, it's a strange decision. I suppose the club might view it as neither the transfer fee nor his wages for 4 years will make much of a difference in the grand scheme of things but you'd not be happy with frivelous behaviour like that with many other players. Look at how wild you were going about Danny Ward and Iborra.

 

James was crap in 2014/15, he had a couple of decent games last season and has always looked the business in the Championship. At best he deserved a couple of years contract or a clause where his wages were a small basic but large appearance money. He's done at this level.

 

Ward £12.6m transfer fee and £40k a week over four years is £21m outlay. 

Iborra £13.5m transfer fee and £60k a week over four years is £26m outlay.

 

Matty James will cost us nothing as he's already here and his outlay will be £6m in wages.

 

A fit Matty James probably gets ahead of Iborra, a fit James also commands a good transfer fee. Ward and Iborra were bought for absolute top dollar and we have next to no chance of recuperating their transfer fees the minute they signed for us. 

 

It's all about risk/reward financially. Ward and Iborra were far too costly for what they offer but James was worth the risk. None of these three players will probably be regulars for us at any point in their careers. 

[STUHILL]

14 minutes ago, Gerard said:

 

Ward £12.6m transfer fee and £40k a week over four years is £21m outlay. 

Iborra £13.5m transfer fee and £60k a week over four years is £26m outlay.

 

Matty James will cost us nothing as he's already here and his outlay will be £6m in wages.

 

A fit Matty James probably gets ahead of Iborra, a fit James also commands a good transfer fee. Ward and Iborra were bought for absolute top dollar and we have next to no chance of recuperating their transfer fees the minute they signed for us. 

 

It's all about risk/reward financially. Ward and Iborra were far too costly for what they offer but James was worth the risk. None of these three players will probably be regulars for us at any point in their careers. 

It's not and shouldn't be. 

 

It should be about the football and results on the pitch. Something James has not contributed to in a long time and maybe never will again. Sad but true.

[Farrington fox]

If James ever gets fit, he belongs in the Championship. Period. 

[Gerard]

2 minutes ago, STUHILL said:

It's not and shouldn't be. 

 

It should be about the football and results on the pitch. Something James has not contributed to in a long time and maybe never will again. Sad but true.

 

That's a very naive point of view.

 

If you consistently get bad value for money then you will go on a downward spiral. I'd rather the club buy a striker for £1m who got 9 goals a season than one for £50m who got 10 goals a season. 

 

James was being picked ahead of Iborra last season when both were fit. I think his contract extension was a relatively low risk which may or may not pay off for a 26yo squad player. Compare that with the £47m combined outlay of Ward and Iborra who are nothing but squad players and the only club in the world who valued the pair of them at £26m was us.

 

I remember you saying that we probably overpaid £5m-£6m for Iborra but it didn't matter as it was peanuts so if that's your attitude I would have thought James was worth the risk. 

[fuchsntf]

15 hours ago, Col city fan said:

Had surgery on his Achilles again only yesterday. Reports are ‘no clear return date’.

4 yr contract!

Ridiculous.......

I really did like James,but giving him a 4yr contract no matter what the circumstance were,was downright stupid,and bad business!!

Kingy,just personal thoughts,from me.....he'd of got a squad shirt for this year...When he didnt,he should of tried to move on,and get

Game time..We have now 4 dead fish,on our books,somebody ran away from the hard decision making....All four deserved better,

Poor agents and advisors player side,though James situ,was repetitive badluck...( But 4hrs extension))))

 

Edited 14 September 2018 by fuchsntf

[sm1]

Came on here for some news on King,  but see its turned into a James thread. 

[STUHILL]

5 hours ago, Gerard said:

 

That's a very naive point of view.

 

If you consistently get bad value for money then you will go on a downward spiral. I'd rather the club buy a striker for £1m who got 9 goals a season than one for £50m who got 10 goals a season. 

 

James was being picked ahead of Iborra last season when both were fit. I think his contract extension was a relatively low risk which may or may not pay off for a 26yo squad player. Compare that with the £47m combined outlay of Ward and Iborra who are nothing but squad players and the only club in the world who valued the pair of them at £26m was us.

 

I remember you saying that we probably overpaid £5m-£6m for Iborra but it didn't matter as it was peanuts so if that's your attitude I would have thought James was worth the risk. 

I'm starting a poll. I think you would be surprised how many people would spend £49 million extra for one goal... 

 

What a ridiculous statement! 

 

We did overpay for Iborra and yes it was peanuts compared to what the owners are worth and spend. We also made £59,550,000 on the Mahrez deal, so you lose some and win some I suppose. Such is football and Iborra will no doubt be required this season and hopeful perform as well as he did in the first 6 months of last season, where he was rated as our 2nd best performer. 

 

My main point was, you see football as purely a business with profit and loss being your only focus, which is all rather depressing really! 

 

You will no doubt now spout the usual about how making a loss on a player here and there will result in our ultimate demise... but honestly, I'm not bothered. I just want to see us play well and score tomorrow and dream of us pushing for a top 7 place and European football and maybe an FA Cup final