Tommy Smith - Gazumped by Pompey - Thread

[Wycombe Royal]

But that's not the point. Smith will go where Smith wants to go - not where Watford want him to go.

Not if they reject our bid, even if it does match what everyone else bids.

So if they reject our bid then Smith will go where Watford want him to? I don't see how that works.....

[Royal Lady]

FAO: Jay - "Rodgers hopes to add another player before close of transfer window". Oooh. If we sign Smith and ANOTHER player. That makes TWO.

[winchester_royal]

Watford are starting to take the piss not. They know they have to sell but are trying to fleece us for all we're worth.

Walk away NH, and then come back 2 hours before the deadline closes.

[Smoking Kills Dancing Doe]

Watford are starting to take the piss not. They know they have to sell but are trying to fleece us for all we're worth.

Walk away NH, and then come back 2 hours before the deadline closes.

How it always works though. Always takes forever, remember Murray and Lita dragging on and on. Watford will won't their fans to think they did all they could to keep him too....

[Geekins]

FAO: Jay - "Rodgers hopes to add another player before close of transfer window". Oooh. If we sign Smith and ANOTHER player. That makes TWO.

What about Mills and Bertrand?

[andrew1957]

To be fair to Watford if a large slice of the £1.8M we are offering is subject to us getting promoted you can completely understand them rejecting the bid. £1.8M cash now is very different from maybe getting 1.8M in the end in the unlikely event Reading get promoted this season.

I know that we have to cut our cloth but we have probably cut the wage bill in half with the departure of the higher earners, we have raised 12M in player sales and will get 11M in parachute payments and we have paid out 2M for Mills and a loan fee for Bertrand - I still make that around a 25/30M improvement on where we were at the end of the season in May.

Clearly the club has not been nearly so well run as we all thought, or we are being tight fisted. I am really not sure which it is anymore.

[Deathy]

FAO: Jay - "Rodgers hopes to add another player before close of transfer window". Oooh. If we sign Smith and ANOTHER player. That makes TWO.

You go on and on... Rodgers was quoted numerous times that he wanted TWO MORE. So if that's changed, it's changed. But never the less, he wanted two more. Smith was clearly one, and another. Move on love.

[IMAMATEOFJOVSKY]

Watford are starting to take the piss not. They know they have to sell but are trying to fleece us for all we're worth.

Walk away NH, and then come back 2 hours before the deadline closes.

What - much like the piss we took out of them by offering £750k in the first instance ????????...i think is a case of us being given our own medicine and showing us up...which the Watford chairman is doing a pretty good job of!

[Wycombe Royal]

Watford are starting to take the piss not. They know they have to sell but are trying to fleece us for all we're worth.

Walk away NH, and then come back 2 hours before the deadline closes.

What - much like the piss we took out of them by offering £750k in the first instance ????????...i think is a case of us being given our own medicine and showing us up...which the Watford chairman is doing a pretty good job of!

We didn't take the piss with the bid of £750k. It was just an opening bid to get negotiations rolling.

[Terminal Boardom]

Watford are starting to take the piss not. They know they have to sell but are trying to fleece us for all we're worth.

Walk away NH, and then come back 2 hours before the deadline closes.

What - much like the piss we took out of them by offering £750k in the first instance ????????...i think is a case of us being given our own medicine and showing us up...which the Watford chairman is doing a pretty good job of!

We didn't take the piss with the bid of £750k. It was just an opening bid to get negotiations rolling.

If BR rejected an offer of £1.5m from Cardiff while manager of Watford, then I would consider an offer of £750k as taking the piss!

[bigmike]

Offer of £1.8m rejected... Because it has promotion clauses in it..

Come on Squeaky do things right offer the asking price £1.8 up front or walk away.

Director of football dont make me laugh your more suited to be a director of Traffic..

every single deal we have done under hammond has either been on the cheap or a total flop.

[Deathy]

You have to be daft not to test the water. And the difference between the Cardiff offer and ours is about 7 months. There's now about 11 months left on Smith's contract, therefore his value reduces as well. £750k was a bit low, certainly when we knew Sheff Utd had had a bid of £1.8m accepted. To then take us a further 4 weeks to offer £1.2m, again rejected, is pretty farcical to be honest.

[Terminal Boardom]

And the whole sorry saga would not have happened had BR not gobbed off in that press conference about Tommy Smith wanting to come here. In hindsight it was unprofessional. My money is that it is a lesson well and truly learnt.

We now have to go cap in hand to Russo and eat shitloads of humble pie. Not nice but the question remains; how much do we want / need Tommy Smith. The answer determines the amount we have to pay.

[Kitson12]

And the whole sorry saga would not have happened had BR not gobbed off in that press conference about Tommy Smith wanting to come here. In hindsight it was unprofessional. My money is that it is a lesson well and truly learnt.

We now have to go cap in hand to Russo and eat shitloads of humble pie. Not nice but the question remains; how much do we want / need Tommy Smith. The answer determines the amount we have to pay.

'greed.

[bigmike]

You have to be daft not to test the water. And the difference between the Cardiff offer and ours is about 7 months. There's now about 11 months left on Smith's contract, therefore his value reduces as well. £750k was a bit low, certainly when we knew Sheff Utd had had a bid of £1.8m accepted. To then take us a further 4 weeks to offer £1.2m, again rejected, is pretty farcical to be honest.

Worse than farcical to be fair down right out of order Why have Hammond in charge of transfers when we have Frank Lampard Snr as football advisor... Get rid of Hammond and promote Frank to Director of football

[IMAMATEOFJOVSKY]

And the whole sorry saga would not have happened had BR not gobbed off in that press conference about Tommy Smith wanting to come here. In hindsight it was unprofessional. My money is that it is a lesson well and truly learnt.

We now have to go cap in hand to Russo and eat shitloads of humble pie. Not nice but the question remains; how much do we want / need Tommy Smith. The answer determines the amount we have to pay.

Agree too - We need someone who can create goals and score goals for which Smith has a proven record - with our financial limitations, maybe Smith is the best option out there for us and if this is the case then we should put up or shut up - cant keep going on with a big fat zero in the "goals for" column

[bigmike]

maybe the club will say look heres £1.8 m with the option of it rising to £2m if he is involved with promotion with Reading

[CMRoyal]

You have to be daft not to test the water. And the difference between the Cardiff offer and ours is about 7 months. There's now about 11 months left on Smith's contract, therefore his value reduces as well. £750k was a bit low, certainly when we knew Sheff Utd had had a bid of £1.8m accepted. To then take us a further 4 weeks to offer £1.2m, again rejected, is pretty farcical to be honest.

Worse than farcical to be fair down right out of order Why have Hammond in charge of transfers when we have Frank Lampard Snr as football advisor... Get rid of Hammond and promote Frank to Director of football

Why? Much as I loved The Real Frank Lampard as a player, does he have any background in that role? My Hornets-supporting mate reckons he spent most Saturdays watching Chelsea when he was 'advising' BR at Watford.

[IMAMATEOFJOVSKY]

You have to be daft not to test the water. And the difference between the Cardiff offer and ours is about 7 months. There's now about 11 months left on Smith's contract, therefore his value reduces as well. £750k was a bit low, certainly when we knew Sheff Utd had had a bid of £1.8m accepted. To then take us a further 4 weeks to offer £1.2m, again rejected, is pretty farcical to be honest.

Worse than farcical to be fair down right out of order Why have Hammond in charge of transfers when we have Frank Lampard Snr as football advisor... Get rid of Hammond and promote Frank to Director of football

Why? Much as I loved The Real Frank Lampard as a player, does he have any background in that role? My Hornets-supporting mate reckons he spent most Saturdays watching Chelsea when he was 'advising' BR at Watford.

I think Lampard Senior is an unnecessary luxury - hes there on a consultancy basis , a couple of days a week - hardly the approach to make a big impact...

[Tinrib]

Reading's bid for Tommy Smith is still not enough for Watford
7:00am Friday 21st August 2009

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By Frank Smith »


Tommy Smith is expected to play in front of his adoring fans against Blackpool after Reading’s ‘take-it-or-leave-it’ offer failed to meet Watford’s valuation for the forward.

There were reports Smith could start for Reading against Sheffield United tomorrow after the Berkshire club apparently matched the Blades’ successful £1.8m bid.

But the Watford Observer understands the Royals are yet to reach the required fee.

Watford are still in negotiations with Reading despite the reported ‘final’ bid and yesterday (Thursday) Watford boss Malky Mackay confirmed the offer had neither been accepted or rejected.

He said: “The situation is that there is a bid that has come in and is being considered right now by the board.

“There is a meeting on that this afternoon and then we will decide on the action to take. The bid hasn’t been rejected or accepted yet.”

Former Hornets boss Brendan Rodgers made a fresh approach on Tuesday night, prior to Smith scoring in Watford’s 4-2 win over Nottingham Forest, after last Thursday’s offer of around £1.2m was rebuffed.

It has been claimed Reading offered what they believe to be the required £1.8m but it is understood a large proportion of that fee is add-ons, such as money based on promotion.

During his brief spell as Watford boss, Rodgers regularly referred to Smith as “Superman” and the Northern Irishman is hoping a “solution” can be found as quickly as possible.

Rodgers said: “The club have obviously matched an offer that was agreed by another club and we’re hoping there will be a solution to it and that will be up to the two clubs.

“We’ve made the offer and we’ll just see what happens from there.

“There’s other possibilities we’re looking at in a couple of other positions as well.

“I need to bring in my own type of player to add to what is a very good group of players, so that will be key over the next week and a half to try and do that.”

Newcastle United have enquired about Smith and representatives from the North East club were watching the forward during Tuesday’s 4-2 victory over Forest.

It is known that Smith is keen not to move his family but Newcastle may be an attractive proposition to the 29-year-old, considering he supported the club as a youngster and some of his family are from the area.

A bid from the Magpies could be on the cards after they sold Republic of Ireland international Damien Duff to Fulham on Tuesday, although it is unclear who is in charge of recruiting players as the they remain managerless.