Craig Mackail- Smith

[Marshy]

Ta, I thought so, but couldn't remember whether he'd talked about him in the build up to trying to sign him, or just post-signing.

The signing came out of no where if I recall. Not even a rumour on NSC. Thats what made it so exciting... I clearly remember thinking holy shit we have got CMS ... awesome how did we manage that !

 

[Marshy]

If we had planned to get rid of him in Jan shouldn't we have loaned him out to a lower club, let him bang some goals in and up his value?

If we had a couple of strikers that were scoring goals, maybe that would have happened.
For me CMS is still our best forward.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

Burnley paid 500k for Barnes in January.... therefore its reasonable to think a similar fee for CMS is obtainable.
He is on considerably more money though, I would be suprised if there were not several Championship sides interested in CMS come January

Bear in mind CMS will be 31 in February and injury prone. Barnes wasn't out injured for over a year like CMS was.

 

[Betfair Bozo]

There's a lot of aftertiming concerning the CMS/Murray issue imo. If anyone foresaw the 30+ Championship goals season for GM at Palace then I suggest you take up scouting duties tout suite. The only thing that can be said without any hint of post event cleverness is that in order to accommodate CMS we were going to have to play channel balls and passes in behind central defenders for him to run on to and that he'd need either a strike partner or two "inside forwards" with him. How Poyet managed to misunderstand that or fail to adapt to that remains a mystery.

Would I keep him? It'd depend on the wage and how we plan to set up. I'd not worry particularly about a fee in January - it'd be insignificant anyway in the grand scheme of things. I'm probably currently more confused as to why following his best performance and showing how Teixeira can be best utilised in linking with a quick striker, Colunga hasn't had a sniff.

 

[Marshy]

There's a lot of aftertiming concerning the CMS/Murray issue imo. If anyone foresaw the 30+ Championship goals season for GM at Palace then I suggest you take up scouting duties tout suite. The only thing that can be said without any hint of post event cleverness is that in order to accommodate CMS we were going to have to play channel balls and passes in behind central defenders for him to run on to and that he'd need either a strike partner or two "inside forwards" with him. How Poyet managed to misunderstand that or fail to adapt to that remains a mystery.

Would I keep him? It'd depend on the wage and how we plan to set up. I'd not worry particularly about a fee in January - it'd be insignificant anyway in the grand scheme of things. I'm probably currently more confused as to why following his best performance and showing how Teixeira can be best utilised in linking with a quick striker, Colunga hasn't had a sniff.

Im not used to agreeing with everyone.... ;-) but again i do. I would much prefer at present to see Colunga leading the line than Baldock

 

[The Wizard]

Would probably score goals playing upfront with a big lad or partner but we don't play this way so best to get rid.

He gives his all I will never have a bad word to say about him because of that but from what I've seen his first touch and general finishing ability are not up to standard.

 

[AZ Gull]

Rumour at the time was we beat Leicester & West Ham to his signature. However he was our marquee signing when we moved to the Amex. All was forgiven for offloading Murray we now had CMS coming in off the back of a glorious run in league 1 where he notched over 30 goals the season before he joined us. However since his move its not really worked out for him or us. He was victim of a one upfront system under Poyet and Garcia and of course had the horrific injury last season which has meant we have not seen the best of him imo. We have suffered with lack of goals over the last 3 seasons and haven't really ever found that one player (Ulloa aside) capable of notching 25+ goals for us and in turn has been one of the major reasons why we have struggled in front of goal- He must be on massive wages as well. I believe his stats read 88/20 goals scored


What I want to know is do we offload CMS or is he worth signing up on an extended contract?

over to you

West Ham were definitely in for him. The day after we signed him, Sam Allardyce said this on TalkSport:-

We did table a bid for him and strangely enough he chose Brighton so I’m not quite sure what went on there. No disrespect to Brighton but it seems more of a financial move than a football move.

 

[kevtherev]

Still the best striker at the club and his scoring record in this division backs that statement up....Sadly I don't think we will ever have a manager who plays to his strengths.. Which says more about the managers than it does about Cms, seeing as he is the best option we have to stick the ball in the back of the net.

 

[Wilko]

I would keep him. Unbelievable that in the 3 seasons he has been here that he has very, very rarely played in a front 2 with a big man. As others have said Ulloa/CMS up top would have been nice to see.

I also have the distinct feeling that if he went to another champ side he would notch 20 goals.

 

[Marshy]

Bear in mind CMS will be 31 in February and injury prone. Barnes wasn't out injured for over a year like CMS was.

Murray is 30 odd.... has had similar injury issues, but I would pay 1-1.5 millin for him still

 

[Betfair Bozo]

Im not used to agreeing with everyone.... ;-) but again i do. I would much prefer at present to see Colunga leading the line than Baldock

I just find it very odd that having done what we presumably hoped he would be able to do he was straight out of the team again. Having said that I am going to disagree with plenty on here and say that I think we have three decent forwards in Baldock, Colunga and CMS and enough creativity in Teixiera, Paddy, KLL and (currently) Benno to make it work, whichever combinations we opt for. If we can't then the management HAS to be questioned. Not really that bothered about us having no Plan B if that simply entails smashing it high and long to a lump. If you want a "presence" it has to be the likes of GM or Leo that can be more than a battering ram and they are not ten a penny.

 

[leigull]

The signing came out of no where if I recall. Not even a rumour on NSC. Thats what made it so exciting... I clearly remember thinking holy shit we have got CMS ... awesome how did we manage that !

I thought there was some talk of it the week before, but no one really believed it because West Ham and Leicester were well ahead of us? I am probably mistaken though as my memory really is terrible!

 

[Bold Seagull]

Murray is 30 odd.... has had similar injury issues, but I would pay 1-1.5 millin for him still

Yes, because Murray is quality!

 

[Chinman3000]

I think its sad but he has to go I'm afraid.

I also have it on good authority that CMS is on c.£12.5k a week meaning that should free up decent wages for a striker who erm...scores goals.

 

[Bold Seagull]

I would keep him. Unbelievable that in the 3 seasons he has been here that he has very, very rarely played in a front 2 with a big man. As others have said Ulloa/CMS up top would have been nice to see.

I also have the distinct feeling that if he went to another champ side he would notch 20 goals.

If we did suddenly play with a front 2 with a big man, I think Baldock would still keep CMS out of the side…

 

[dejavuatbtn]

If we had a midfielder capable of forward defence splitting passes for CMS to run off the last defender's shoulder for, we would be further up the table and he'd be top scorer. I'd like to see CMS running with a purpose, rather than through brick walls.

 

[Rod Marsh]

I think its sad but he has to go I'm afraid.

I also have it on good authority that CMS is on c.£12.5k a week meaning that should free up decent wages for a striker who erm...scores goals.

I'd be astonished if he's not on considerably more than that.

 

[durrington gull]

I would try to offload him in January window if we can - either on loan or a perm, however i cant see many takers unless Posh have him back

 

[AZ Gull]

Yeah I get that. It's just utterly BAFFLING. Isn't it? Think about it. It makes no sense whatsoever to his ethos.

Completely agree with you. Probably the biggest question mark during Poyet's entire tenure was why he was so keen on CMS. And just to underline how much Gus REALLY wanted him:-

From the official site when CMS's signing was announced - Albion Sign Craig Mackail-Smith

[Gus Poyet] told seagulls.co.uk, "When I first sat down with the chairman, Craig was at the top of my list, our number one target, so I am absolutely delighted to have signed him.

He is going to be a key player for us. He was the best player in League One last year, he scored the most goals, he scored in the play-off final, and he's got everything we need to help make our strikeforce one of the best.

He is a striker who scores goals and you will never see a player who can match his workrate - it's unbelievable. He is so energetic and powerful in what he does that it will rub off on the rest of the squad.

He is a very clever player all around the box. He can hold the ball up, even though he is not the biggest, he always plays off the shoulder of the last defender, he is quicker than he looks and he can score with his right foot, left foot and his head.

He is a player that we can build our team around, which is why I was so keen to bring him here, and one of the most pleasing aspects for me is that we have signed him despite interest from some other big, big teams.

Some thought it was a done deal that he would be heading elsewhere, but we got the player which is good, as it shows that we want to go places, to do better. A signing like that can only help us as we try to bring more players in.

To bring in a player of his standard is unbelievable, and the chairman Tony Bloom and members of the backroom staff have worked hard to make the deal happen, and it is a real team effort which has brought him here."

Albion drew 0-0 at Hull on February 22 2012, and three days later in the programme for the home match against Leicester CMS was quoted as saying:-

I felt like I could implement my game more than I have been able to in previous games. I like to wear defenders out so I like getting the ball in the channels and then I can come short and catch the defenders on their heels, but it makes it harder for me when we play that real passing game. I haven't been able to get myself in the game as much recently but at Hull, largely because of the pitch, we couldn't play our normal game so there were a lot more balls being played into me, I really enjoyed it.

Asked about Poyet liking to play the passing game, CMS added:-

This is the way that the gaffer plays and I have got to adjust my game to that. At Hull I could play my way but there are other days where I have got to play a different way. My role as a striker is to adapt and to keep learning.

Poyet allowed Murray to leave and persuaded Tony Bloom to smash the club's record transfer fee on a player whose style of play was completely anathema to that employed exclusively and without wavering by Poyet. The mind simply boggles.

 

[Marshy]

I would try to offload him in January window if we can - either on loan or a perm, however i cant see many takers unless Posh have him back

I would be really suprised if there was not plenty of interest in CMS, posh is an obvious option but I think he will get offered way more cash from a championship side