Assombalonga - half a million per goal

Englishteacher said:
Just been watching Britt’s highlights reel from Peterborough 2013-14. Yes it’s a highlights reel and he is playing at a lower level but he definitely seems to have lost a yard of pace since those days. Many players compensate for losing some acceleration by developing skills in other areas later in their careers. Britt’s not managed to do this. I foresee the next few years of his career petering out -much like Jordan Rhodes’ career is currently doing because he contributes so little to the team other than the occasional poacher finish.

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This was the type of player I was expecting. He looks so sharp and quick and got shots off quickly with both feet. He’s put to much muscle on since then and looks I would say 2 yards slower than he does in this reel. Shame. It’s best to just cut our losses with him and not offer him a new deal
 
atypical_boro said:
I’m not remotely concerned because if he gets a new deal it won’t be anything like the one he’s on. If he stays, it will be for a wage that is appropriate for his experience and the remainder will hopefully go towards some much better competition for him.

People may never “forgive” his initial transfer fee, but the longer he stays, the longer he has to pay it back, cos if he leaves we’ll get none of it back at all.
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Are you familiar with the term "Don't throw good money after bad"?
It should be a club priority to move this disaster on at the end of this awful 4 year contract.
 
indeedido said:
Are you familiar with the term "Don't throw good money after bad"?
It should be a club priority to move this disaster on at the end of this awful 4 year contract.
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Err yes I am thanks.

I disagree that it should be a priority to simply move him on. Whatever Britt “costs” next season should be compared to what other strikers we can get for the same amount. I’m not saying that means he deserves a new contract, he’ll have to make his wage a very competitive one, but Britt’s problem is he cost too much and hasn’t fulfilled people’s expectations. It doesn’t mean he is a terrible player. I’d still say he’s better than Akpom to be honest.

And if he does stay, and has lowered his wage demands accordingly, I’m not saying he should be starting every week either.
 
atypical_boro said:
Err yes I am thanks.

I disagree that it should be a priority to simply move him on. Whatever Britt “costs” next season should be compared to what other strikers we can get for the same amount. I’m not saying that means he deserves a new contract, he’ll have to make his wage a very competitive one, but Britt’s problem is he cost too much and hasn’t fulfilled people’s expectations. It doesn’t mean he is a terrible player. I’d still say he’s better than Akpom to be honest.

And if he does stay, and has lowered his wage demands accordingly, I’m not saying he should be starting every week either.
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I do agree Akpom doesn't look like he'll score many
 
TeessideCleveland said:
I do agree Akpom doesn't look like he'll score many
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Started well but when he plays now just looks a bit ineffective. Whatever you say about Britt he does get into goal scoring positions and, whilst he wastes far too many opportunities, this will still result in his standard 12-15 goals a season.
 
I think you should give Britt a chance.

He did score yesterday after all.

And, hey, anybody can put it over from centre of the goal, unchallenged, one yard out.....😉
 
Any contract offer will be in line with his contribution. If he stays or leaves I don't really mind. He is an OK championship striker. Not worth 15 million or his wage certainly not the way we play, but you would assume if he stays it will be on vastly reduced terms.
 
I may be wrong or the rules might have changed but I remember reading something years ago that said when offering a player a new contract you have to offer at least the same wage as the current contract or higher.
To get around this, I seem to recall us letting Julio Arca ‘leave’ at the expiration of his first lucrative contract and then re-signing him on a new contract on reduced terms. I can’t see Britt agreeing to this.

Arca signs new Middlesbrough deal

Middlesbrough midfielder Julio Arca signs a new two-year deal with the Championship outfit.
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk
 
parmoboy said:
When you look back now they absolutely had our eyes out. They must have been laughing at the time.

To think we spent that much on him when we didn't even need a striker. We already had Bamford and Braithwaite.
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I doubt any Forest fan is laughing these days. Console yourself with that fact.
 
atypical_boro said:
Britt’s problem is he cost too much and hasn’t fulfilled people’s expectations. It doesn’t mean he is a terrible player. I’d still say he’s better than Akpom to be honest.

And if he does stay, and has lowered his wage demands accordingly, I’m not saying he should be starting every week either.
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To be fair, this is the point I've always tried to make.

£6-7m buys you a 14-15 goals a season striker, which is what Britt is. If we'd signed him for that fee we'd all be saying he's been a decent signing overall.

£10m+ buys you a 20 goals a season striker. Britt could have been one but injuries have obviously taken their toll.
 
parmoboy said:
£6-7m buys you a 14-15 goals a season striker, which is what Britt is. If we'd signed him for that fee we'd all be saying he's been a decent signing overall.
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I'd expect a little more ability as well as those goals for 6-7mill. His lack of technical ability is his biggest issue. 15goals and some good hold up and link play, and a bit of creativity and I could forgive him the 15mill price tag and glaring misses.
 
BoroMart said:
I'd expect a little more ability as well as those goals for 6-7mill. His lack of technical ability is his biggest issue. 15goals and some good hold up and link play, and a bit of creativity and I could forgive him the 15mill price tag and glaring misses.
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I think again that goes back to the mistake in signing him when we didn't really understand his game. Britt's an advanced forward. He's very limited but if you build the team around him and play to his strengths he will score goals.

His record was good until Pulis came in and I think Pulis destroyed him.
 
There are similarities to Rhodes in that he is a forward who needs to play one way. Both have limited technical ability, can't hold the ball up at all, have limited pace and take a lot of chances to score (BA is 1 in 6 chances in the 6 yard box). Neither have played in the PL, or ever will.
The differences are however:
1. Rhodes has a much much better scoring record for Huddersfield and Blackburn over many seasons than Assombolonga has ever had. He was simply a much better striker.
2. Rhodes can actually head a ball towards goal and scored lots of headed chances.
3. Rhodes didn't cost £15m and we got our money back on him.

Assombolonga is really bad. A real disaster.
 
parmoboy said:
I think again that goes back to the mistake in signing him when we didn't really understand his game. Britt's an advanced forward. He's very limited but if you build the team around him and play to his strengths he will score goals.

His record was good until Pulis came in and I think Pulis destroyed him.
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He’s not good enough to build a team around though that’s the problem.
 
We all know Britt's shortcoming and there is no doubt we probably payed double what we should, but he is a steady player at this level and will return 12-15 goals, which again is a steady contribution. Finding a 20 goal a season striker is a needle in haystack job, and one who can hold the ball up and link play is gold dust. Whilst there are better strikers at this level, the real class players soon get hoovered up by premier clubs (Adams Southampton, Watkins Villa). And on Rhodes I personally think he is a one dimensional footballer, which means a team has to completely adapt to his style to accommodate him successfully, which in the modern day where teams have to continually adapt to their opponents is unrealistic, and why Rhodes' career as dropped off a cliff. Britt is more versatile, quicker and physically stronger.
 
Block21 said:
He’s not good enough to build a team around though that’s the problem.
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If you look at his record at Forest, he was averaging 1 goal every 2 games.

It's easy to forget now but until Pulis arrived Britt was a popular figure amongst the fans. The only real criticism fans had was that he didn't score against the big teams, but he was still the 2nd top goalscorer in the division before Pulis arrived.

I think Pulis destroyed his confidence. I also think injuries have caught up with him, as he's lost a yard of pace. We knew we were taking a gamble when we signed him due to him struggling with injuries at Forest, but to take that kind of gamble when we didn't really need to was criminal.
 
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