Dj Campbell

[marbelladave]

My two penneth on DJ Campbell, for what it's worth is as follows.

It's commendable that DJ has come back to us and put some effort in under Sousa and he appears to be in the form of his life which stretches back from his spell at Blackpool last season. But the question I ask is, why?

There aren't many players that have 3 years out in the wildnerness at a club and then they finally make it there, it just rarely happens and I think the damage has been done with Campbell and Leicester. The benefit to his form in pre-season is that we'll now get seven figures for him instead of probably bundling him out of the door for a pittance.

It hasn't worked out for Campbell here and i've always had my doubts about his real ability. He's never shown any signs of being a quality player for Leicester in competitive football, but admittedly he has shown he can score goals at other clubs.

If we are as skint as i'm led to believe we are then Sousa has played a blinder by getting DJ's commodity up in the last few weeks. No doubt our fans will go wild if he leaves, stating that we were finally seeing what he could do, but who says that if we keep him he won't fook off for nothing next summer? Having cost us £1.6 million and probably the same amount or more in wages, for what? Precisely 4 or 5 goals so far.

It's a gamble in my eyes if we don't cash in, But if we can afford not to and he's happy here then fair do's, i'll get behind him. But please if he does go, it'll be because he wants to and it makes good business sense. Don't forget what he said about us whilst Pearson was here, he hasn't suddenly fallen in love with us again. It was Martin Allen, not Leicester he came to play for.

Nicely put...

If Campbell's newly found effort is genuine and he continues to work hard and play his part then he might just be worthwhile for the goals he might give us in a push for promotion. If he does that then I will offer support, but only if he makes a real effort.

What I am afraid of, is that if he does not get a move, he will lose interest in much the same way as he has in recent times. As you point out, his record for Leicester is pitiful, so I think that this is the more likely option so for me, if a decent offer comes in, take it!

[Mawsley]

First you all thought he was brilliant and loved him coming then you all decided he was crap and wanted him out. Then he went and you didn't want him back but he came back, didn't play well and you wanted him gone. Then he went again but played well and you all wanted him to return. Then he did and you wanted him gone again because you didn't like his attitude. Then he scores a few goals in training matches and you all think he's brilliant and want him to stay.

And now he might be going.

I love LCFC fans!

Football players don't play for the love of the club - this is some nonsense recollection of a halcyon era, bygone days which never really existed.

[marbelladave]

But Campbell wasn't given a chance to turn things around. How can you say he showed no effort and couldn't be arsed when he wasn't given the chance to? He was seen as a burden on the wage bill and the club wanted shot of him.

Like I said above it wasn't professional of him to disrespect the club but when treated like shit it's only natural to show some ill feeling towards your employers. Where you get all this crap from is beyond me. I mean how do you know he sulks all the time?

He appeared more than 30 times in his first season and 11 in our promotion season, 40 games in two years, his goal return and effort in those games were mediocre and Pearson lost interest. There was clearly fault on both sides but Campbell did nothing to impress Pearson and despite his injuries he appeared to make no attempt to do so.

I have no idea if he sulks all the time, I was using the word to descibe his performances on the pitch during the 2008/9 season, some of which I did see.

My views are primarily based on what I see on the pitch and documented evidence such as video interviews. I would be happy to see him try and turn this around and he appears to have made a start in pre-season, but it would take rather more than we have seen so far for me to be convinced. Personally I think he is simply making an impact to force a move (to Blackpool most likely) but that is purely an opinion based on past events.

[Edmund]

He appeared more than 30 times in his first season and 11 in our promotion season, 40 games in two years, his goal return and effort in those games were mediocre and Pearson lost interest. There was clearly fault on both sides but Campbell did nothing to impress Pearson and despite his injuries he appeared to make no attempt to do so.

But that season none of our players were scoring? If you remember we got relegated that season. He's not been given a chance since really to redeem himself unlike Fryatt.

The following season (that summer) when Hume and all were sold, Campbell was also on the list because of his wages. Relegation financially crippled the club hence why they wanted to see the back of him. If I recall during those 11 appearances, the majority were all sub apps as Fryatt and Howard were the preferred choice. Campbell by that time had been practically forced out and been mistreated by the club. It was never a case of Pearson lost interest or wasn't impressed, it was a case of we want you off our wage bill. All of this Campbell was to blame nonsense is just fan speculation.

[davieG]

Record Bids Made For DJ And Rangel?

The Sun are this morning reporting that Blackpool have made offers of £1 million for Leicester's DJ Campbell and Swansea's Angel Rangel.

'Pool manager Ian Holloway is on record as saying that the Seasiders have made offers for two players that would smash their transfer record (£500,000 paid for Charlie Adam last summer), and The Sun believe that DJ and Angel are the two players in question.

Whether the tabloid is correct is another question; whilst both players have been heavily linked with moves to Bloomfield Road, sources in the North West believe that one of the two players that Ollie has bid for and would break the transfer record is Wolves striker Sylvan Ebanks-Blake.

Blake has been linked to the Seasiders throughout the summer and worked with Ollie at Plymouth. At 24, he fits into Ollie's transfer plans, but whether the rumours are correct remains to be seen.

Read more: http://www.blackpool.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=519689#ixzz0v4Q5UPGl

[ousefox]

Still wouldn't mind if we got rid. If we get the money back for what we payed for him we will have done very well, and considering our feelings towards him last year i would say that at that time most of us would have ripped anyones hands off who were prepared to offer even £500k. I would much rather have over £1m for him that can be invested in other areas of the team, as well as losing his massive wage bill and the fact that he could leave us at the end of the season for free.

[Heart-Shaped Fox]

Still wouldn't mind if we got rid. If we get the money back for what we payed for him we will have done very well, and considering our feelings towards him last year i would say that at that time most of us would have ripped anyones hands off who were prepared to offer even £500k. I would much rather have over £1m for him that can be invested in other areas of the team, as well as losing his massive wage bill and the fact that he could leave us at the end of the season for free.

I wouldnt have minded, but now that he 'seems happier' and we dont have many other strikers I hope he doesnt go.

[marbelladave]

But that season none of our players were scoring? If you remember we got relegated that season. He's not been given a chance since really to redeem himself unlike Fryatt.

The following season (that summer) when Hume and all were sold, Campbell was also on the list because of his wages. Relegation financially crippled the club hence why they wanted to see the back of him. If I recall during those 11 appearances, the majority were all sub apps as Fryatt and Howard were the preferred choice. Campbell by that time had been practically forced out and been mistreated by the club. It was never a case of Pearson lost interest or wasn't impressed, it was a case of we want you off our wage bill. All of this Campbell was to blame nonsense is just fan speculation.

You look at the situation and come to your own conclusion and argue your point clearly, which is fine as it does actually make me think and review what I have seen and the opinions I have formed.

The issue of the club wanting Campbell out after the relegation is interesting and possibly the real start of the problems but this too cuts both ways, he had the opportunity to move but vetoed it for financial reasons and the club did not like it, after that it was all downhill.

Neither of us know what really went on in the dressing room, so it is down to gut feelings, you have yours and I have mine

What it boils down to is that you primarily blame Pearson (and the Club) for the breakdown while I put the blame squarely on Campbell, c'est la vie...

[ousefox]

I wouldnt have minded, but now that he 'seems happier' and we dont have many other strikers I hope he doesnt go.

I just don't want to see him go for free at the end of the season. His wages are the big problem cos will we want to renew his contract and keep him on the massive wage he is supposedly on? Depends on these investors i suppose.

[Brainy]

I mean how do you know he sulks all the time?

how do you know he doesn't? oh yes, your non existent contact within the club.

[Bert]

Has edmund ever said he has a contact within the club?

[Guest Bilo]

My opinion on Campbell is that he clearly has the ability to do well here and deserves a clean slate.

He did brilliantly at Blackpool surrounded by players who were, in my opinion, not as strong as ours. Playing the right way as we did at Peterborough on Tuesday, the link up between Fryatt and Campbell will get goals aplenty, especially if fed well by the midfield. Campbell never really had a chance under Pearson because we didn't play the right way for him to thrive, with Howard proving the better foil for Fryatt. Under Sousa's more cultured style with the ball played into feet, Campbell, Fryatt and Gallagher can thrive. Hopefully DJ will be made to feel a bit more wanted by Sousa because I feel he has to a lot to offer based on what I saw on Tuesday.

I was never a supporter of Campbell's under Pearson simply because I always felt that Pearson was more of an asset to the club than Campbell, and the Howard-Fryatt, Waghorn-Fryatt, or even Waghorn as a lone striker options always worked well. Campbell simply wouldn't have been effective under Pearson and I didn't see him as a big loss. Now times have changed and he deserves a chance, it seems Sousa feels the same. The long ball game that cut DJ out looks to be in the past, and the passing football that enabled Campbell to score for fun at Blackpool is now part of the fabric here. Result? Five goals in five games. Those who say it's only pre-season will do well to cast their minds back to the summer of 2008 prior to the League One season where Fryatt's stock could barely have been lower when Pearson came in. A few goals in pre-season led to an excellent start to the 08-09 season and the rest as they say is history. It was almost like a new signing.

I see no reason why Campbell can't replicate that if he stays and I stand by what I said soon after Sousa's appointment that a Fryatt-Campbell pairing could be among the most lethal in the Championship if DJ stays. I hope the club fights tooth and nail to keep DJ here.

[Thracian]

Dj is exactly the type of player this club has been needing for years. A guy who is fast, difficult to mark, never stops moving, asks questions in and out of possession and has the capability of scoring goals.

The guy is a defender's nightmare.

And I couldn't give a shit whether he's a rebel or anything else.

If managers cannot cope with people who are a bit temperamental or have their own opinions they shouldn't be managers. I'd sooner we had a squad of genuinely talented head cases than some of the excuses for footballers we've been invited to pay to watch at Leicester over the last four or five years.

Football needs a revolution. People in charge who are prepared to be brave and to put the excitement back into football instead of overseeing the sort of blank-eyed shit that Capello presented.

And for me, despite his record, Pearson rarely showed himself as anything but predictable and lacking in imagination. Yes he ground out points and got us a promotion from a situation where we were far better financed than the vast majority of our rivals.

But last year was mostly a dour march towards insufficient goals. Times we didn't bother coming out of the blocks with any real conviction. Pearson nearly got lucky cos of all the other mediocrity surrounding him. But the truth is we were woeful on many occasions, just as we were in much of the second half of the promotion season.

[Mack]

This dollop is only putting it in now to get a transfer to Blackpool, dont be fooled.

IF Hollowords is silly enough to stick in a million pound bid then we should bite off his hand at the shoulder.

[marbelladave]

Dj is exactly the type of player this club has been needing for years. A guy who is fast, difficult to mark, never stops moving, asks questions in and out of possession and has the capability of scoring goals.

The guy is a defender's nightmare.

And I couldn't give a shit whether he's a rebel or anything else.

If managers cannot cope with people who are a bit temperamental or have their own opinions they shouldn't be managers. I'd sooner we had a squad of genuinely talented head cases than some of the excuses for footballers we've been invited to pay to watch at Leicester over the last four or five years.

Football needs a revolution. People in charge who are prepared to be brave and to put the excitement back into football instead of overseeing the sort of blank-eyed shit that Capello presented.

And for me, despite his record, Pearson rarely showed himself as anything but predictable and lacking in imagination. Yes he ground out points and got us a promotion from a situation where we were far better financed than the vast majority of our rivals.

But last year was mostly a dour march towards insufficient goals. Times we didn't bother coming out of the blocks with any real conviction. Pearson nearly got lucky cos of all the other mediocrity surrounding him. But the truth is we were woeful on many occasions, just as we were in much of the second half of the promotion season.

I would be more inclined to agree with you had I seen any evidence of Campbell being the player you say he is at any time during his time with us.

Not once in the last three seasons have I seen him do anything to suggest that he is the kind of player we really need, in fact I would go as far as to say that I have not even seen him try.

In three seasons he has simply not looked like a decent player, I can't believe that it was all somebody else's fault, a player has to take responsibility for his own performances and they have been mediocre at best.

Otherwise...good post...

[Edmund]

Has edmund ever said he has a contact within the club?

Nope. I mentioned that Howard had been linked with Huddersfield in the past and Walkers sarcastically asked me how I worked it out so I jested and said I had contacts.

Of course Walkers being mr beg attention is trying to get in my e-pants at every opportunity and took it literally.

[Guest ttfn]

My opinion on Campbell is that he clearly has the ability to do well here and deserves a clean slate.

He did brilliantly at Blackpool surrounded by players who were, in my opinion, not as strong as ours. Playing the right way as we did at Peterborough on Tuesday, the link up between Fryatt and Campbell will get goals aplenty, especially if fed well by the midfield. Campbell never really had a chance under Pearson because we didn't play the right way for him to thrive, with Howard proving the better foil for Fryatt. Under Sousa's more cultured style with the ball played into feet, Campbell, Fryatt and Gallagher can thrive. Hopefully DJ will be made to feel a bit more wanted by Sousa because I feel he has to a lot to offer based on what I saw on Tuesday.

I was never a supporter of Campbell's under Pearson simply because I always felt that Pearson was more of an asset to the club than Campbell, and the Howard-Fryatt, Waghorn-Fryatt, or even Waghorn as a lone striker options always worked well. Campbell simply wouldn't have been effective under Pearson and I didn't see him as a big loss. Now times have changed and he deserves a chance, it seems Sousa feels the same. The long ball game that cut DJ out looks to be in the past, and the passing football that enabled Campbell to score for fun at Blackpool is now part of the fabric here. Result? Five goals in five games. Those who say it's only pre-season will do well to cast their minds back to the summer of 2008 prior to the League One season where Fryatt's stock could barely have been lower when Pearson came in. A few goals in pre-season led to an excellent start to the 08-09 season and the rest as they say is history. It was almost like a new signing.

I see no reason why Campbell can't replicate that if he stays and I stand by what I said soon after Sousa's appointment that a Fryatt-Campbell pairing could be among the most lethal in the Championship if DJ stays. I hope the club fights tooth and nail to keep DJ here.

Some good points in here, and it certainly seems that the change in style suits him.

However, there is one massive difference with Fryatt from 08-09. That is that. DJ Campbell has NO track record of scoring regularly at league level. Even back then Fryatt did. Furthermore, I believe Fryatt is three or four years younger than DJ (correct me if I'm wrong) and even if he had no track record beforehand, he had time on his side to develop one.

[Spiritwalker]

Is there room left for me on the DJ bandwagon. I may of slagged him off occasionally for his poor scoring record,

tendancy to run offside, and generally being poor value for money, but I've got a feeling that if he stayed DJ and

Fryatt could be the most potent strikeforce in the Championship this season.

If he does go we should make those cheeky bastards pay at least 1.5m for him

[ScouseFox]

DJ offered new deal?

[rico]

DJ offered new deal?

Can't see this being true

[STUHILL]

DJ offered new deal?

I think it could be true, just not sure if DJ would accept it as he will probably be after Prem football at a club he is worshipped at! BUTTTT we just don't know whether SOusa has the charm to convince him otherwise. Leicester are a bigger club and will in my opinion always have a brighter looking future. I personally think he would lean to Blackpool though. If true, then we will have a million plus to replace him! Could do better :-)

[C-man]

Please don't believe this. There's no way we could afford to offer him a package as lucrative as he'd be expecting at the current time.

[Tilley]

If the takeover is all but sealed then we could.

[Unabomber]

The only issue I see with this is if he is on the speculated £20,000/week then I can't see any deal we are offering to be at this level.

Therefore I can see him rejecting any offer and either getting a move this summer, or leaving on a free which would result in clubs willing to offer him a better wage due to no fee.

[C-man]

£24k he's on, right? He'd probably want an increase on top of that and 3 more years. Not particularly a great fan of that idea.