Louise Posted 5 January 2005 Posted 5 January 2005 DEAL IS DONE BY BILL ANDERSON WWW.THEBLUEARMY.CO.UK 10:30 - 05 January 2005 Leicester City will tomorrow announce the arrival of Craig Levein's first new signings, Alan Maybury and Mark de Vries, if today's medical checks go through successfully. City have agreed a fee of £100,000 with Hearts for the pair, who will sign contracts lasting three years plus the rest of this season. It underlines Levein's aim to bring in players for the long term and, all being well, Republic of Ireland defender Maybury and Surinam-born striker de Vries will be available for the FA Cup third-round tie against Blackpool at the Walkers Stad-ium on Saturday. A delighted Levein said: "I am sure they will be of great benefit to the squad. "The length of their contracts shows that they are not just here for the short-term aim of this season but also for taking the club into the Premiership in due course and keeping us there if we can. "I know both players very well. I signed Maybury from Leeds where he was in the reserves and de Vries from Dordrecht in Holland, and both of them did very well for me. I am sure they will do well here too." There are echoes of Martin O'Neill's signing policy in the fortunes of the two players. At Hearts, Levein plucked both from relative obscurity and they became instant favourites with the fans, especially 29-year-old de Vries whose home debut saw him notch four goals in Hearts' 5-1 triumph in the Edinburgh derby two years ago. His record was to grow to 31 goals in his first two seasons in Scotland, but Levein rates his value as more than just his impressive striking rate. Being a big (6ft 3in), strong front man, he intimidates the opposition who might concentrate on trying to stop him and thereby leaving space for others to cash in. Maybury, who was Levein's first target when the transfer window opened, attained international recognition with Hearts and the 26-year-old no doubt feels the move to Leicester will enhance his chances of adding to his nine caps so far. Both players will feel they owe a debt to Levein for turning round their careers, and they are bound to try to repay that faith by doing well at City. http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/disp...tentPK=11600330 De Vries and Maybury are getting contracts that will run till May 2008. Considering what has happened in the past, is this really a good idea?
Ric Flair Posted 5 January 2005 Posted 5 January 2005 DEAL IS DONE BY BILL ANDERSON WWW.THEBLUEARMY.CO.UK 10:30 - 05 January 2005 Leicester City will tomorrow announce the arrival of Craig Levein's first new signings, Alan Maybury and Mark de Vries, if today's medical checks go through successfully. City have agreed a fee of £100,000 with Hearts for the pair, who will sign contracts lasting three years plus the rest of this season. It underlines Levein's aim to bring in players for the long term and, all being well, Republic of Ireland defender Maybury and Surinam-born striker de Vries will be available for the FA Cup third-round tie against Blackpool at the Walkers Stad-ium on Saturday. A delighted Levein said: "I am sure they will be of great benefit to the squad. "The length of their contracts shows that they are not just here for the short-term aim of this season but also for taking the club into the Premiership in due course and keeping us there if we can. "I know both players very well. I signed Maybury from Leeds where he was in the reserves and de Vries from Dordrecht in Holland, and both of them did very well for me. I am sure they will do well here too." There are echoes of Martin O'Neill's signing policy in the fortunes of the two players. At Hearts, Levein plucked both from relative obscurity and they became instant favourites with the fans, especially 29-year-old de Vries whose home debut saw him notch four goals in Hearts' 5-1 triumph in the Edinburgh derby two years ago. His record was to grow to 31 goals in his first two seasons in Scotland, but Levein rates his value as more than just his impressive striking rate. Being a big (6ft 3in), strong front man, he intimidates the opposition who might concentrate on trying to stop him and thereby leaving space for others to cash in. Maybury, who was Levein's first target when the transfer window opened, attained international recognition with Hearts and the 26-year-old no doubt feels the move to Leicester will enhance his chances of adding to his nine caps so far. Both players will feel they owe a debt to Levein for turning round their careers, and they are bound to try to repay that faith by doing well at City. http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/disp...tentPK=11600330 De Vries and Maybury are getting contracts that will run till May 2008. Considering what has happened in the past, is this really a good idea? 51999[/snapback] Well you've got to take risks in life, at the end of the day everythings a gamble. If we only signed them on 1 year deals and they are shit hot and then feck off we'll be seething, but on the flipside if they don't settle then we've got them on long deals. I trust Levein in his judgement and it's nice to see his goal being long term rather than Mickey's short term fantasy he had. I can't see them being on much money anyway, they were on peanuts up north according to some Hearts fans so £5000 a week down here will seem like a goldmine to MDV and Maybury. Relax, things are looking up.
Hullfox Posted 5 January 2005 Posted 5 January 2005 Well you've got to take risks in life, at the end of the day everythings a gamble. If we only signed them on 1 year deals and they are shit hot and then feck off we'll be seething, but on the flipside if they don't settle then we've got them on long deals. I trust Levein in his judgement and it's nice to see his goal being long term rather than Mickey's short term fantasy he had.I can't see them being on much money anyway, they were on peanuts up north according to some Hearts fans so £5000 a week down here will seem like a goldmine to MDV and Maybury. Relax, things are looking up. 52001[/snapback] In fairness to Mickey, his hands were tied to an extent with the contracts that he could offer. He just offered them to the wrong people. Now the club is on a more even footing financially, the three year contracts are viable from a money and footballing perspective. The bit I like is the comment that says De Vries is intimidating. That is something that we have lacked for some time now and I welcome it's return.
Ric Flair Posted 5 January 2005 Posted 5 January 2005 Well you've got to take risks in life, at the end of the day everythings a gamble. If we only signed them on 1 year deals and they are shit hot and then feck off we'll be seething, but on the flipside if they don't settle then we've got them on long deals. I trust Levein in his judgement and it's nice to see his goal being long term rather than Mickey's short term fantasy he had.I can't see them being on much money anyway, they were on peanuts up north according to some Hearts fans so £5000 a week down here will seem like a goldmine to MDV and Maybury. Relax, things are looking up. 52001[/snapback] In fairness to Mickey, his hands were tied to an extent with the contracts that he could offer. He just offered them to the wrong people. Now the club is on a more even footing financially, the three year contracts are viable from a money and footballing perspective. The bit I like is the comment that says De Vries is intimidating. That is something that we have lacked for some time now and I welcome it's return. 52004[/snapback] I am one of the only City fans who seem to be excited by the fact that De Vries is signing for us. I am being abit stereotypical here but there's been alot of posters saying they didn't want MDV as he's tall and slow, but that's generalising aswell. Hearts fans loved him up until this season and he sounds as if he can be a little bit moody but when he can be bothered he's a frightening player. I've only ever seen him briefly and he looks a better version of Deane and Dublin, which is fine by me. I like his name aswell MDV let's hope he's as good as SWP
Guest Posted 5 January 2005 Posted 5 January 2005 From what I've heard about MDV (), if he plays to his best, we will have a fantastic player. I have heard he prefers the big occasion, but on the whole, I'm hoping he'll be more of an asset than an hindrance. As for the deals, it's nice to see players committing to us especially after all these journeymen and mercenaries we've been having recently. I hope there are no 'get-out' clauses in there!
BartonFox Posted 5 January 2005 Posted 5 January 2005 Something you have to realise about the Hearts players this season is they really don't have a clue where they will be at the end of the season. Last year they were terrific as the 3rd force but then Cl had to cull his squad and players like Scott Severin and Andy Kirk were ditched. Severin is a talented player and Kirk can score goals. For a player like MdV it would have been pretty demoralising to see that happen, he'd have expected the club to push on and money to become available. It hasn't and the Lithuainian business man is yet to complete his takeover. He'll be fine under CL and PH here, also he'll have had it drilled into him how good Kenny Black was as a player at Tynecastle in the 80's. He'll play for us.
Ric Flair Posted 5 January 2005 Posted 5 January 2005 Something you have to realise about the Hearts players this season is they really don't have a clue where they will be at the end of the season.Last year they were terrific as the 3rd force but then Cl had to cull his squad and players like Scott Severin and Andy Kirk were ditched. Severin is a talented player and Kirk can score goals. For a player like MdV it would have been pretty demoralising to see that happen, he'd have expected the club to push on and money to become available. It hasn't and the Lithuainian business man is yet to complete his takeover. He'll be fine under CL and PH here, also he'll have had it drilled into him how good Kenny Black was as a player at Tynecastle in the 80's. He'll play for us. 52037[/snapback] Good post mate, I agree. Things might have gone sour for MDV this season but that doesn't mean he has gone off the boil as a player. At 29 he's still plenty of life left in him and it wasn't that long ago that Sporting Lisbon came looking at him, in this league where anything can happen we could well see plenty of goals from the big man. 19 games left, i'd be happy with a 10 goal haul from him.
Steven Posted 5 January 2005 Posted 5 January 2005 De Vries and Maybury are getting contracts that will run till May 2008. Considering what has happened in the past, is this really a good idea? 51999[/snapback] Both will still be younger after three and half years than most of MA's signings.
spirefox Posted 5 January 2005 Posted 5 January 2005 Now we will really see what CL is all about.All managers live or die by their signings so this will be the acid test of his credentials.Its also interesting to try and add up where the money's come from, Blake out for a month and Benji on a subsidised loan doesn't pay £100K and two wages (unless they're on less than me)Perhaps we just pretend to have nowt to get better deals!
Foxes_Trust Posted 5 January 2005 Posted 5 January 2005 Now we will really see what CL is all about.All managers live or die by their signings so this will be the acid test of his credentials.Its also interesting to try and add up where the money's come from, Blake out for a month and Benji on a subsidised loan doesn't pay £100K and two wages (unless they're on less than me)Perhaps we just pretend to have nowt to get better deals! 52155[/snapback] Money wise - there will have to be further departures & soon
Scow Posted 6 January 2005 Posted 6 January 2005 I don't have a problem with it - It shows that Levein wants to rebuild a settled squad instead of looking for quick fixes.
Louise Posted 6 January 2005 Author Posted 6 January 2005 Now we will really see what CL is all about.All managers live or die by their signings so this will be the acid test of his credentials.Its also interesting to try and add up where the money's come from, Blake out for a month and Benji on a subsidised loan doesn't pay £100K and two wages (unless they're on less than me)Perhaps we just pretend to have nowt to get better deals! 52155[/snapback] The signings that, for me, will be a better judge of what CL is all about are the ones he'll make that aren't from Hearts. Then we'll get to see how well he judges a player he's not worked with before.
davieG Posted 7 January 2005 Posted 7 January 2005 CL's view on the benefits of longer contracts. Craig Levein believes offering players long-term contracts will help remedy the lack of team spirit he has identified in the dressing room.Levein this week took delivery of former Hearts duo Mark de Vries and Alan Maybury, who have each signed three-and-a-half-year deals at The Walkers Stadium. He said: "One of the first things I noticed when I came down here from Scotland was the number of short-term contracts at the club. But short-term contracts can work against you because no real partnership develops between the players and the club. "There can be a lack of team spirit, there's no pecking order developing in the dressing room and sometimes the players can almost show each other too much respect. "I feel that's what's happened at Leicester and it's something I want to address so I hope that by offering the longer-term contract to players we can start to build a team spirit and develop stronger relationships within the squad."
Guest Posted 7 January 2005 Posted 7 January 2005 Again, he's telling us what we already know! Plus, he's doing something about it! You don't think we'll start chanting player's names again? It's been mentioned before we no longer do that, but when you're expecting someone to be around for a few months, it's hard to connect with them!
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