RUMOURS - Mifsud - Watson

[Stranded]

Would certainly have preffered a player of Gary O'Neil's quality.

Watson, like Gera for me is one of those players who's been available since Palace went down. Why has no one signed him? Been plenty of clubs looking for centre mids, we were looking in the summer, if we didn't buy him then, why would we buy him now??

Why look for the negative all the time? I don't know a hell of a lot about Watson but he could be as good as an O'Neill.

Very few players have left Palace because Simon Jordan was determined to hold on to them (and was very vocal about it) and would only have accepted stupid money.

The situation has now changed at the club so players that were previously only available at stupid money are available at a more realistic price meaning that they are likely to move on to free up funds for Palace.

[Fezza]

Would certainly have preffered a player of Gary O'Neil's quality.

Watson, like Gera for me is one of those players who's been available since Palace went down. Why has no one signed him? Been plenty of clubs looking for centre mids, we were looking in the summer, if we didn't buy him then, why would we buy him now??

Doesn't matter as per the other thread he has played for two clubs this season so can't sign and play for a third!

[Smoking Kills Dancing Doe]

Would certainly have preffered a player of Gary O'Neil's quality.

Watson, like Gera for me is one of those players who's been available since Palace went down. Why has no one signed him? Been plenty of clubs looking for centre mids, we were looking in the summer, if we didn't buy him then, why would we buy him now??

Why look for the negative all the time? I don't know a hell of a lot about Watson but he could be as good as an O'Neill.

Very few players have left Palace because Simon Jordan was determined to hold on to them (and was very vocal about it) and would only have accepted stupid money.

The situation has now changed at the club so players that were previously only available at stupid money are available at a more realistic price meaning that they are likely to move on to free up funds for Palace.

Why blindly look at positives?

People talk about Watson like he's amazing though they have never seen him play.

All the terrible signings of Championship players we've seen this summer. Just ask Fulham fans. Why would Watson be any better than all the others players from the Championship who have not made the step up?

Players from The Championship in general do not make the step up.

Yet lets just be positve shall we?!

Ben Watson is better than Sidwell, he must be, we're being linked with him.



We'll get better than Watson in January.....

[royaldownunder]

Players from The Championship in general do not make the step up.

Er... Sidwell, Convey, Lita, Hunt, Hannemann, Shorey, Doyle...
Apart from the odd academy and foreign imports where else do they play before the Premier league?

Searching the lower leagues for gold is RFC's way of competing in the transfer market, we don't have the budget of other clubs to spend on big name stars, so we take the odd risk, granted they may not all work out, but we do occasionally find the odd rough diamond.

[moo]

Players from The Championship in general do not make the step up.

Er... Sidwell, Convey, Lita, Hunt, Hannemann, Shorey, Doyle...
Apart from the odd academy and foreign imports where else do they play before the Premier league?

Searching the lower leagues for gold is RFC's way of competing in the transfer market, we don't have the budget of other clubs to spend on big name stars, so we take the odd risk, granted they may not all work out, but we do occasionally find the odd rough diamond.

Hahnemann came from Fulham... who were a Premiership team, Sidwell came from Arsenal...Convey was playing in the US top flight and Doyle in the Irish top flight...tsk

[Smoking Kills Dancing Doe]

Players from The Championship in general do not make the step up.

Er... Sidwell, Convey, Lita, Hunt, Hannemann, Shorey, Doyle...
Apart from the odd academy and foreign imports where else do they play before the Premier league?

Searching the lower leagues for gold is RFC's way of competing in the transfer market, we don't have the budget of other clubs to spend on big name stars, so we take the odd risk, granted they may not all work out, but we do occasionally find the odd rough diamond.

Hahnemann came from Fulham... who were a Premiership team, Sidwell came from Arsenal...Convey was playing in the US top flight and Doyle in the Irish top flight...tsk

I don't get your point. None of those players were signed when we were in The Prem.

Players from the Championship in general do not make the step up when signed by Premiership clubs.

Just look at all the players signed from the championship in the summer, not one has been a success. Jones has been the best and he's not been amazing.

Palace are on telly on Saturday, could be worth watching to see what Watson is like....

[Ian Royal]

Players from The Championship in general do not make the step up.

Er... Sidwell, Convey, Lita, Hunt, Hannemann, Shorey, Doyle...
Apart from the odd academy and foreign imports where else do they play before the Premier league?

Searching the lower leagues for gold is RFC's way of competing in the transfer market, we don't have the budget of other clubs to spend on big name stars, so we take the odd risk, granted they may not all work out, but we do occasionally find the odd rough diamond.

Hahnemann came from Fulham... who were a Premiership team, Sidwell came from Arsenal...Convey was playing in the US top flight and Doyle in the Irish top flight...tsk

I don't get your point. None of those players were signed when we were in The Prem.

Players from the Championship in general do not make the step up when signed by Premiership clubs.

Just look at all the players signed from the championship in the summer, not one has been a success. Jones has been the best and he's not been amazing.

Palace are on telly on Saturday, could be worth watching to see what Watson is like....

Most of our team came from the Championship. Ashton, Primus and many many more came from lower leagues. Plenty make it, but not all, or possibly even a majority.

If Championship players arn't good enough where do you get prem players? Or do you think they grow on special secret trees?

[royaldownunder]

Players from The Championship in general do not make the step up.

Er... Sidwell, Convey, Lita, Hunt, Hannemann, Shorey, Doyle...
Apart from the odd academy and foreign imports where else do they play before the Premier league?

Searching the lower leagues for gold is RFC's way of competing in the transfer market, we don't have the budget of other clubs to spend on big name stars, so we take the odd risk, granted they may not all work out, but we do occasionally find the odd rough diamond.

Hahnemann came from Fulham... who were a Premiership team, Sidwell came from Arsenal...Convey was playing in the US top flight and Doyle in the Irish top flight...tsk

I don't get your point. None of those players were signed when we were in The Prem.

Players from the Championship in general do not make the step up when signed by Premiership clubs.

Just look at all the players signed from the championship in the summer, not one has been a success. Jones has been the best and he's not been amazing.

Palace are on telly on Saturday, could be worth watching to see what Watson is like....

Exactly! - they were all signed when we were in the Championship, hence they were then Championship players, who all sucessfully made the transition to the Premiership.

Yes admittedly they had come from different leagues, they were plying their trade in the championship when we were promoted.

So had we not been promoted that season, and any prem clubs had signed any of those players, I would hazard a guess that they would have called it a "Championship signing"?

Just think that it's impossible to rule out finding the odd rough diamond in the lower leagues, as a club RFC doesn't have the funds or the presence to go wading into the transfer market buying experienced prem stars (who wouldn't want to play for us either). The Championship is as good as many foreign premier leagues with a huge amount of talent, and it would be foolish of us to rule out looking there.

[royaldownunder]

Players from The Championship in general do not make the step up.

Er... Sidwell, Convey, Lita, Hunt, Hannemann, Shorey, Doyle...
Apart from the odd academy and foreign imports where else do they play before the Premier league?

Searching the lower leagues for gold is RFC's way of competing in the transfer market, we don't have the budget of other clubs to spend on big name stars, so we take the odd risk, granted they may not all work out, but we do occasionally find the odd rough diamond.

Hahnemann came from Fulham... who were a Premiership team, Sidwell came from Arsenal...Convey was playing in the US top flight and Doyle in the Irish top flight...tsk

Fair enough, some weak examples (my point was they were championship players who sucessfully made the step up to the prem).

How about these then:
Shorey, Kitson, Lita, Ingimarsson, Little, Gunnar, Sonko?

[Darren Caskey's Dietician]

To be honest, this arguement is poorly founded and absolutely ridiculous.

The reason no one steps up and makes it from the Championship in the premiership is simple. All the better lower league players get brought into the top 3 or 4 championship teams, and get promoted. They then have a great half season/season and a bigger club comes in for them, or their team get relegated, and the player moves onto another premiership team.

The second reason it is rare to see is because Championship and Lower League teams always ask way over the odds for the players in their team. The result is premiership teams buy players when young and add the finishing touches, buy abroad, or invest only when the player is proven.

The one exception to this rule is a promoted side, who will look to strengthen their team by buying players from the teams around them who didn't go up.

Arguing that no player ever gets bought by a prem side and then makes it, where as players can transition well is nothing short of utter bollocks. It's not about buying and doing well, it's simply about players being able to transition, and many a player is able to do that.

When you look beyond the mighty RFC, you have players like Dawson, Defoe, Carrick (both of whom had played in the prem, but were bought from the championship), Andy Johnson, Lescott, Carson, Dyer, Young, Walcott, Robbie Keane, Bellamy, Jerome, McShefferey, Ashton, Kenwyne Jones, Jenas, Simon Davies, Etherington, Crouch, Jagielka, Koumas, Jason Roberts, Upson, Green, Reo-Cocker, Anton Ferdinand, Zamora, Nolan, and god only knows how many more have made that transition in the last 5 or so years..... Except Keane and Bellamy - they were tongue in cheek as they've been around a while now, but they still made that step up.

To say lower league players won't make that step up, unless in a promoted team is a ridiculous comment, as they still have to step up if promoted and a lot of players do make that transition rather well.

Granted, it is harder now, but if you look back in time, that was the route nearly every player took. Despite the fashion to go abroad because it is cheaper, lower league players can still make the transition and to make a comment like they won't unless they are promoted is outrageous.

I would be happy to see us go after a number of lower league players - Watson is one of them, and I believe, especially with Coppell at the healm, they will be able to make that step.

[Hoop Blah]

I think the point that SKDD was trying to make is that very few players make the step up from Championship football to the Premiership when they move clubs.

Nearly all the examples above were either Premiership players who were bought back into the Premiership after a relegation or were players that came up with their clubs. Being in a side already and making the step up and then proving yourself must be a lot easier than adjusting to a new club and the Premiership at the same time.

It's logical to think that a player from the 'lower league' will have to fight to get into a Premiership side more as a new signing than as an existing member of a promoted side. That just means that the liklihood of being a success is greater in a promoted side.

I do think we need to start to raise our expectations a bit and try to bring in a few players that have some proven Premiership class. The policy of bringing in 'gambles' is not really working out and we have to mix the long shot gambles (the Halfords, Bennetts, Cisses etc) in with a few short odd favourites like the O'Neils, Taylors, Steve Davis', Solanos of this world.

[Smoking Kills Dancing Doe]

To be honest I didn't think this was that great a debate.

My point was doing it in The Championship is not an indication of being a Premiership player. Look at Kamara at Fulham, was the stand out player in The Championship, Fulham paid £6m for him and he can't get a game in a really crap side. Koumas looks no more than average at Wigan. The money wasted on Championship players in the summer was amazing.

My 2nd point was as Hoop Blah pointed out. We've not signed one player who improved the 1st 11 since we went up. Now that has something to do with just how good a side we were. But it's also got something to do with the players we've signed, like Fae and Rosenior. There just no that good. I think players need to be really good to get in our team and we need to start signing those sort of players.

So my point is. Is Ben Watson going to improve our 1st 11? From what I have seen of him, he's Haper without the pace, he's certainly not a Sidwell type box to box. I want someone like Sean Davies at this club, someone I KNOW will improve the team.

[royaldownunder]

Mixed report from Sky:
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528, ... 85,00.html

If he's one of their key players (and if not - why are we interested?)
I Think that Palace would be foolish to sell whilst they are still easily in sight of a playoff position.

If he is good enough player and they just need the cash, then why not?

Who knows.

Agreed, most of our recent signings have yet to impact on our first team, and it would be good to get some quality in for a change, but as is usually the case with RFC, cash and stature are our weakness in the transfer market.

Here's hoping Coppell will dig up a few gems over January, where ever they may come from.

[Stranded]

Would certainly have preffered a player of Gary O'Neil's quality.

Watson, like Gera for me is one of those players who's been available since Palace went down. Why has no one signed him? Been plenty of clubs looking for centre mids, we were looking in the summer, if we didn't buy him then, why would we buy him now??

Why look for the negative all the time? I don't know a hell of a lot about Watson but he could be as good as an O'Neill.

Very few players have left Palace because Simon Jordan was determined to hold on to them (and was very vocal about it) and would only have accepted stupid money.

The situation has now changed at the club so players that were previously only available at stupid money are available at a more realistic price meaning that they are likely to move on to free up funds for Palace.

Why blindly look at positives?

People talk about Watson like he's amazing though they have never seen him play.

All the terrible signings of Championship players we've seen this summer. Just ask Fulham fans. Why would Watson be any better than all the others players from the Championship who have not made the step up?

Players from The Championship in general do not make the step up.

Yet lets just be positve shall we?!

Ben Watson is better than Sidwell, he must be, we're being linked with him.



We'll get better than Watson in January.....

I just explained the situation. I have an open mind as regards all possible signings. He may be good enough, he may not - we won't know unless he plays in a Reading shirt. I just don't see the point of rubbishing any move before it's even been made.

[royaldownunder]

Mifsud Put a couple past Blackburn in the cup, doesn't sound like such a silly replacement if Lita is on his way...

[chilipepper91]

Mifsud Put a couple past Blackburn in the cup, doesn't sound like such a silly replacement if Lita is on his way...

Coppell said he didn't want Mifsud when he was available on a free at the beginning of the season, and he didn't now either.

[rg6royal]

Mifsud looked good this weekend in the cup....great finish for his second goal.

[cmonurz]

2 against United and 2 against Blackburn this season.

[papereyes]

Players from The Championship in general do not make the step up.

Er... Sidwell, Convey, Lita, Hunt, Hannemann, Shorey, Doyle...
Apart from the odd academy and foreign imports where else do they play before the Premier league?

Searching the lower leagues for gold is RFC's way of competing in the transfer market, we don't have the budget of other clubs to spend on big name stars, so we take the odd risk, granted they may not all work out, but we do occasionally find the odd rough diamond.

Hahnemann came from Fulham... who were a Premiership team, Sidwell came from Arsenal...Convey was playing in the US top flight and Doyle in the Irish top flight...tsk

I don't get your point. None of those players were signed when we were in The Prem.

Players from the Championship in general do not make the step up when signed by Premiership clubs.

Just look at all the players signed from the championship in the summer, not one has been a success. Jones has been the best and he's not been amazing.

Palace are on telly on Saturday, could be worth watching to see what Watson is like....

Most of our team came from the Championship. Ashton, Primus and many many more came from lower leagues. Plenty make it, but not all, or possibly even a majority.

If Championship players arn't good enough where do you get prem players? Or do you think they grow on special secret trees?

Academies and from abroad.

[Coppelled Streets]

Mifsud Put a couple past Blackburn in the cup, doesn't sound like such a silly replacement if Lita is on his way...

Coppell said he didn't want Mifsud when he was available on a free at the beginning of the season, and he didn't now either.

Actually that was Wally that said that ISTR. Sorry to nit pick. I'm suffering from a case of the Christopher Bennett's.