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SIGNED: Ashley Williams - Short Term Contract (Mid Jan)


Dolman Block B

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He hasn't been a decent player for several years now. Legs went a while ago. Very poor at Everton a couple of years back and not too clever at Stoke last year. Gets turned far too easily and has absolutely no pace. Wages will be big (I would guess) for a player that (hopefully) would just be a back up.

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2 hours ago, JonDolman said:

The only strange thing is he will be one of our biggest earners and probably won't get in our side. Unless LJ moves Kalas right of the 3. But to me Williams should only be back up. 

 

Never understand this assumption that a “big name” player will always be on a huge wage until they retire.

The value of a player decreases as their age increases and their ability declines, and their ability to command a certain salary decreases with it. Williams is a free agent; City will offer a salary they consider commensurate with his worth to the club, and it’s up to him whether he takes it.

The club is pretty shrewd financially these days and won’t pay him more than he’s worth.

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3 hours ago, Jerseybean said:

From a Stoke fan friend of mine: ‘Look we finished 16th last season with him, now we are bottom.’ 

My own sense is he’d be a useful addition to the squad for a season and I hope it happens. 

Who wants to mention that despite everyone at Stoke being useless last season, they actually conceded less goals than Bristol City? And we had the best CB pairing in the division according to us. 

With Dasilva's injury requiring us to play 352 (ish), only having Baker, Kalas and Moore fit plus a never used Baldwin from the under 23s necessitates this signing. Plus I'm sure Moore and Baldwin could actually benefit from training with a CB who spent many of his best years playing for a pretty decent PL side. 

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1 hour ago, ChippenhamRed said:

Never understand this assumption that a “big name” player will always be on a huge wage until they retire.

The value of a player decreases as their age increases and their ability declines, and their ability to command a certain salary decreases with it. Williams is a free agent; City will offer a salary they consider commensurate with his worth to the club, and it’s up to him whether he takes it.

The club is pretty shrewd financially these days and won’t pay him more than he’s worth.

Agree. Think a 12 month contract would suit both sides. Ashley Williams needs us as much as we need him. He can do a job for us and we can do a job for him regarding his Wales career.  We are not that far from Wales for Ryan Giggs to come and watch him play, and he will obviously be keen to retain the captaincy and add to his 80 caps.

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37 minutes ago, Top Robin said:

Blimey.....Everton paid £12 million for him just 3 years ago. 

First season at Everton (16/17) he was decent enough, 7th with the best defence outside the top 6.

17/18 I think she saw the start of his decline....but at Prem level.

18/19 on loan at Stoke and although Stoke fans not complimentary, as above, they were pretty solid.

Certainly on the down side of his development / ability curve, but I see little risk at the right wages.  We need cover, and allegedly, Reading and another team interested.

 

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37 minutes ago, Westcountry Robins said:

Can definitely add something. I am worried about left wing back with JD out for so long. Rowe or COD could cover at a push for a few games but not months.

Hunts played there iirc. AW would help facilitate that as well, as Moore could cover on the right if need be. 

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1 hour ago, Davefevs said:

First season at Everton (16/17) he was decent enough, 7th with the best defence outside the top 6.

17/18 I think she saw the start of his decline....but at Prem level.

18/19 on loan at Stoke and although Stoke fans not complimentary, as above, they were pretty solid.

Certainly on the down side of his development / ability curve, but I see little risk at the right wages.  We need cover, and allegedly, Reading and another team interested.

 

Sounds like he was confused around that period

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Calling out all those who think he’s too old, or apparently shit nowadays, let’s hear your alternatives then? 

We desperately need cover at CB and can only sign free agents, personally not a fan of his previous antics on the pitch but you can not argue about the majority of his performances, he’s very experienced and be it Wales he’s an international. 12month deal for a player like Williams is a no brainer.

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11 hours ago, Red Right Hand said:

How do we know he will be on huge money? He`s not earning anything at the moment and if he wants to continue playing he`ll have to cut his cloth accordingly.

Yeah you might be right. And whatever he will be on its only till May so probably not a huge loss if we do pay him a bit more. 

I guess that means we have a whole season to find that ball playing centre back, or maybe two of them if Wright is not offered a new deal. 

The more i think about it I think this signing is a sensible one.

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To all these people saying "his legs have gone " and "he's too old"  some said exactly the same 'back in the day' when we signed a certain Norman Hunter and what a signing he turned out to be.

So lets give the guy a chance.  Taylor Moore would learn lots along side such experience.

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Whilst I fully appreciate that 1982 must still be very much on everyone's mind- we now have a new owner who appears  to run the club quite well and has a few quid.

As a result, discussions of what wages BCFC may or may not pay in order to plug a gaping hole in defence seems pretty irrelevant to me.

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Of course everyone will want him to do well. That said there are plenty reasons why people will be skeptical.

He is going to be 35 by the time he signs. 

They are not an easy 35 years either. He has played over 600 games in his career. He has dropped off dramatically after game 500. 

He has been without a club since June so no preseason for him either. 

He has looked off the pace since his move to Everton. 

Also still part of the Wales squad(positive and negative). Meaning he is still counted on for his national team but during the next few international breaks he will be away instead of gelling with the squad. 

Again I hope he does well if he signs. Just saying his CV doesn’t mean he will be a success. In fact, imo, there are strong signs he won’t be. 

That is the point of the forum though. Opinions. Some will be right and some won’t. I hope I am wrong because we do need someone in that position. 

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2 hours ago, Badger08 said:

I know mate, some people have their heads in the clouds. He will certainly Do a job for us for 12 months. People act like it's there money the club are spending. 

Pretty sure we signed Wilbs at 34! Shaun Taylor was getting on a bit too and he's one of the best defenders I've ever seen play for us. People were also slating Benik a few weeks back too. 

Lower level.

Wilbraham did his main stuff in League One for us and his well or was done!

Shaun Taylor again largely third tier- missed most of the Benny/Ward season. That said when he did return in April 1999 it's fair to say he made a good difference!

Still unconvinced by this one however. At the top end? In a deeper shape perhaps. Tactically in where we seemingly want to go? Nope.

What's he like in a shape such as Saturdays?

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For all the concerns over his pace what he'd bring is 'been there, done that' experience...which almost no one in our squad, or management, let alone starting 11, has. And he'd offer top level experience of the CB role to players who are still learning the game. 

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1 hour ago, westonred said:

To all these people saying "his legs have gone " and "he's too old"  some said exactly the same 'back in the day' when we signed a certain Norman Hunter and what a signing he turned out to be.

So lets give the guy a chance.  Taylor Moore would learn lots along side such experience.

You can't compare Ashley Williams to Norman Hunter,  Hunter is a far better player than Williams.. ............ though at 75 he doesn't tackle quite so hard these days

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4 minutes ago, Red Exile said:

For all the concerns over his pace what he'd bring is 'been there, done that' experience...which almost no one in our squad, or management, let alone starting 11, has. And he'd offer top level experience of the CB role to players who are still learning the game. 

Yes you can’t diminish the positives of Williams which is largely experience and leadership. Just think you need to have the quality as well. Which Williams did possess I am just not quite sure he still does. 

@Davefevs yes but wanted to point out he has not played with this squad before and during one of the rare times he could gel he will be away. Probably will not mean as much for a seasoned pro like Williams but a factor I think

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1 hour ago, Johnny Musicworks said:

Just don’t understand why LJ, MA and our 30 strong recruitment team, ( plus the Wales manager) with all the stats and figures available for almost every player in Europe should blatantly ignore the OTIB experts who clearly know that his legs have gone. 

Plus the fact that he will be off to Chelsea when their embargo is over....nudge, nudge, wink, wink.

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