nicky forster puts in transfer request

[Durlston]

Forster's column in the Argus today didn't mention the Albion at all, in fact all he was talking about was John Terry's antics and how footballers are role models.That leads me to think that there may be more in this than Ken Brown is making out and he's pissed off with no new contract.

 

[Uncle C]

Forster had a great season and should be rewarded with a 2 year deal.

Thats a funny sort of statement. If he's on £7000 per week thats a 'reward' of three quarters of a million pounds. Maybe the Albion think that money can be better spent.

 

[severnside gull]

Now Ken Brown has clarified the situation, perhaps the only real question is who will Forster sign a pre-contract agreement with ?

There will doubtless be a long queue of clubs who want him

 

[BensGrandad]

There is a lot being made of Forster having the hump because El Abd has been given a new contract but putting it in perspective. El Abd is our utility player of which every club has only one but in Forsters case there are other choices perhaps not as good but looking to the future who knows what Poyet thinks about our striker situation at the moment. Perhaps he is not yet certain whether or not Holdroyd will fill the position , whether or not Murray will be here next season etc etc.

 

[Binney on acid]

Perhaps Forster is miffed because El Abd has absolutely no natural footballing ability. Forster is also probably aware that he is not part of the general ineptitude driven malise that creates our annual relegation struggle.

 

[mr cgull]

Looking through these posts, I think people are missing the key points. Forster clearly is a bright bloke and at his age, with a family, must be thinking seriously about what the future holds. I think it is fair to assume that he is likely to be thinking about this earlier than many other footballers at a similar stage of their career. He wil be asking himself how he will be earning money for his family in the next 5 years.

Couple this with the club's (rightly or wrongly) non-rushed approach to deciding contracts (quote Forster himself), he is clearly concerned for the future. By putting himself on the transfer list, he is obviously dropping a major hint that his employment future is the most important thing for him - I guess it's fair to say he'd be happier with a 2 year contract elsewhere that a 1 year contract at Brighton.

As well as seriously nudging the club into action, it also puts him firmly in the shop window for other potential clubs - surely he is likely to have more offers at the end of the season if he is in the window now as opposed to if he becomes available suddenly in the close season.

From a fans point of view - this is highly unfortunate. From Forster's point of view I can understand his actions (if it were a younger player it would not be understandable). From the club's point of view I support them in not rushing to give a deal to him when a, there is no guarantee of his ability to perform at his current level in the next 2 years, b, Poyet needs time to be able to build his own team (and not rush into things), and c, it appears there is money to spend in the summer - maybe we do have plans for big name strikers?

Oh and finally...

"He should be dropped at Orient" -utter crap. Forster is far too professional to produce anything other than his best - who would back against him scoring today?

"His form has dipped". Really? I'm assuming these people were not at Walsall, where (irrespective of his superb goal) he looked incredibly sharp in the first half. Yes, he was poor against Villa (Premiership opposition) but even then he still scored. Ok so he had a bad game against Millwall - so what? I bet there were hundreds of players across the country who also had a bad game. Surely the most likely explanation is that the heavy pitches at Walsall and Stockport have probably taken more toll on his legs than if he's played on 'normal' pitches.

 

[Giraffe]

My take on this for what that is worth is that given the fact we are supposedly a club with money with now and that this means that in the summer we will be almost certainly be buying one or two forwards of a good quality (it's the only way to seriously challenge next season) then perhaps Forster becomes surplus to requirement.

HOWEVER, this season he is bloody key. He is our top scorer, and unlike Murray has turned up in virtually every game looking to score. Therefore we should honour that by offering another year, no more no less. If that keeps him happy for this season and then he is just a fringe player next season it will still have been worth the money. And there is certainly no harm in having a player as professional as him on the edge of the squad helping players like Holdroyd and Murray to develop.

 

[mr cgull]

Agreed, he should definitely get another year and would be very surprised if he wasn't offered this, but, the problem appears to be:

- Is 1 year enough from his point of view?
- He wants a deal now, the club want to wait till later in the season.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

Forster's column in the Argus today didn't mention the Albion at all, in fact all he was talking about was John Terry's antics and how footballers are role models.That leads me to think that there may be more in this than Ken Brown is making out and he's pissed off with no new contract.

I dont think you can read too much into that, that was prob written before this

 

[Acker79]

There is a lot being made of Forster having the hump because El Abd has been given a new contract but putting it in perspective. El Abd is our utility player of which every club has only one but in Forsters case there are other choices perhaps not as good but looking to the future who knows what Poyet thinks about our striker situation at the moment. Perhaps he is not yet certain whether or not Holdroyd will fill the position , whether or not Murray will be here next season etc etc.

IMO that's not perspective, that's spin. Utility players are not a scarcity, or at the very least are much more plentiful than 20+ goals a season strikers.

Utility players are not a necessity. We have left and right backs that can step into centre back spots, and vice versa. We have centre backs that can become defensive midfielders. We have centre midfielders that can deputise on the wings. Forwards that can work on the wings. Centre midfielders that can step up in attack. Hell, we've even got defenders who can play up front.

The point of a utility player is back up, someone who can fill the gaps. We have enough in our squad to cover the odd absence with a bit of shuffling.

Virgo has played all over the pitch, Hart has played in various players. El Abd is not the only utility player at the club. The lower divisions are awash with players that are decent in several positions but not standout enough in a single position to make the step up to higher divisions.


No league 1 club (or its fans) can be so blasé about losing a 20+ goal a season striker. Sure we have Murray. But Murray is someone who's goals come in patches. He'll score a lot in a few games, then go a run of games without a goal. In those games we rely on Forster.


Don't get me wrong, I'm not disappointed we extended El Abd's contract, but to suggest that a utility player is a) rare, b) more important than a free scoring striker is, imo, complete nonsense.

 

[Smythe]

My take on this for what that is worth is that given the fact we are supposedly a club with money with now and that this means that in the summer we will be almost certainly be buying one or two forwards of a good quality (it's the only way to seriously challenge next season) then perhaps Forster becomes surplus to requirement.

HOWEVER, this season he is bloody key. He is our top scorer, and unlike Murray has turned up in virtually every game looking to score. Therefore we should honour that by offering another year, no more no less. If that keeps him happy for this season and then he is just a fringe player next season it will still have been worth the money. And there is certainly no harm in having a player as professional as him on the edge of the squad helping players like Holdroyd and Murray to develop.

If this is the case and we are lining up some new forwards in the summer then so be it, Forster cant go anywhere this season anyway as window is shut so he he can see out his contract for rest of this season......i seriously cant see the club offering him any more than a year extension and if hes not happy with that then thanks for all you done Nicky but the club has to move on.

 

[BensGrandad]

Acker79:

Every club has 1 utility man and obviously GP has decided that ours is Adam El Abd. OGH and Virgo have made it known that they do not want to play anywhere other than as a striker and defender respectively.