Dele Is Off

[GrahamC]

Worrying thing for me is that GJ might be tempted to offer that one year contract to another seasoned striker currently on our books?!? Be an easy option but I'd like to think we'd aim higher than playing Stern John up front next season!

Seeing as he hasn't even made the bench in the last two games that's highly unlikely, isn't it?

I can't believe some of the stuff on this thread, Dele understandably wants a two year deal, we understandably think a guy who will be 34 in June and at the top of our wage scale isn't worth it, so what's the problem?

Best of luck to him, good pro, but life moves on.

[screech]

What I don't get in all this is, Scott Murray was past it 3 years ago yet Johnson prolonged his career here.

I think Adebola is certainly worth a 2 year contract, he's someone who shouldn't be classed as a regular but certainly a good option off the bench, he very rarely gets injuries too.

[DaveF]

Murray's basically a coach though so that's why he's still here.

[Riaz]

Was thinking earlier. I got slaughtered for saying we should accept Forests 400k in january...... now he's leaving for nothing.....

[PhatWill]

Was thinking earlier. I got slaughtered for saying we should accept Forests 400k in january...... now he's leaving for nothing.....

Pretty sure it wasn't as high as £400k. You don't sell your best players in the January transfer window, especially when we still had everything to play for.

[Riaz]

Pretty sure it wasn't as high as £400k. You don't sell your best players in the January transfer window, especially when we still had everything to play for.

It was between 300k - 400k. You don't sell you best players if you can help it. But a 33/34 yr old where his contract is running out? I was amazed we rejected it and as he's leaving now, I'm sure GJ wished he's accepted it and got in a replacement then. 400k towards a new signing is better than 0k.... isnt it?

[Seend Red]

It was between 300k - 400k. You don't sell you best players if you can help it. But a 33/34 yr old where his contract is running out? I was amazed we rejected it and as he's leaving now, I'm sure GJ wished he's accepted it and got in a replacement then. 400k towards a new signing is better than 0k.... isnt it?

Hindsight is a marvellous thing isn't it!

Secondly I'm sure from reading all the comments Johnson made post January he assumed Adebola would sign his 12 month contract. So he's leaving for nothing because Gary misread the situation in the first instance.

I'm not surprised he has found better offers elsewhere, he a fit lad and a genuine threat at this level, I feel has more than enough to play for another 2 years but Gary doesn't and won't change his mind so we lose a good player for zilch.

[RedM]

It was between 300k - 400k. You don't sell you best players if you can help it. But a 33/34 yr old where his contract is running out? I was amazed we rejected it and as he's leaving now, I'm sure GJ wished he's accepted it and got in a replacement then. 400k towards a new signing is better than 0k.... isnt it?

I'm not sure when in January the possible bid was, right as the window shut maybe? Where would that have left us if Dele had gone then and we weren't able to bring someone in, or even worse a panic buy. I'm not confident we would have got a loan player in either. We have been seriously lacking in the striker department all season, if Dele had gone and no replacement, just as we were playing with the best form of the season people would have wanted Gary's head on a plate!

When Dele goes, I'll wish him well. He's not put a foot wrong here and although I'd like to see him stay I appreciate why we are only offering a year and also understand his need for more.

Such is football that naturally there are more players available in the summer, so it gives us a bigger pool to fish from. As I said before I expect Gary to be out there right now reeling them in, having the advantage of time he said we were handicapped by having been involved in the PO's last season.

[Donkeeebles]

It was between 300k - 400k. You don't sell you best players if you can help it. But a 33/34 yr old where his contract is running out? I was amazed we rejected it and as he's leaving now, I'm sure GJ wished he's accepted it and got in a replacement then. 400k towards a new signing is better than 0k.... isnt it?

I would normally say yes!

I think the timing was the key thing though. At that stage we were in the bottom half and could easily have got sucked into a relegation battle. Dele had showed with his performances against the likes of Portsmouth away and Wolves at home how crucial he was going to be to us if we were to stay out of trouble! It was around that time that i started to realise what a good job he does for us. I thought he was our weak link before that.

To sell Dele at that time and risk not getting a suitable replacement or somebody that took time to settle could have meant getting sucked into the bottom group. Relegation would have been a hell of a lot more expensive than 400k so i think on this occasion it was the right decision!

[Riaz]

Hindsight is a marvellous thing isn't it!

I said at the time the offer should be accepted

I think gary should have said there and then "here is a 1 year extension to your contract or you can go to forest"

I realise it would have been difficult to find a replacement, but from from GJ and PJ tell us, they have always got their finger on the pulse.... and if nothing else we would have had 300-400k towards the replacement.

I don't accept that without dele we would have been risking relegation.

[BigP]

It was between 300k - 400k. You don't sell you best players if you can help it. But a 33/34 yr old where his contract is running out? I was amazed we rejected it and as he's leaving now, I'm sure GJ wished he's accepted it and got in a replacement then. 400k towards a new signing is better than 0k.... isnt it?

But we were still in the mix for the play-offs so I'm guessing GJs logic was to retain a key figure of our squad to help in the final push, if he had sold Dele then and we finnished in exactly the same position he would be getting hounded on here. I'm sure GJ always hoped Dele would stay for the extra year but it hasn't worked out like that so good luck to Dele and we must now find better 'footballers' or find a new mobile bruiser who is over 6''.

[Donkeeebles]

I said at the time the offer should be accepted

I think gary should have said there and then "here is a 1 year extension to your contract or you can go to forest"

I realise it would have been difficult to find a replacement, but from from GJ and PJ tell us, they have always got their finger on the pulse.... and if nothing else we would have had 300-400k towards the replacement.

I don't accept that without dele we would have been risking relegation.

Why don't you accept that?????

Are we exempt from being relegated??

Were we not down as low as 18th at one point?

What is it that you know that nobody else does that makes you not accept we could have been drawn into a relegation battle without Dele who at that time was probably our best player???

[BigP]

Why don't you accept that?????

Are we exempt from being relegated??

Were we not down as low as 18th at one point?

What is it that you know that nobody else does that makes you not accept we could have been drawn into a relegation battle without Dele who at that time was probably our best player???

i thought by the end of january that we were coming to the end of our run that dragged us away from the foot of the table to about 6th? I'm probably wrong though.

[Donkeeebles]

i thought by the end of january that we were coming to the end of our run that dragged us away from the foot of the table to about 6th? I'm probably wrong though.

You may be right.......i am not sure! Even then though as quickly as we got up to 6th we could have easily gone back down the table just as quick!

But you could then turn it round and say that selling him then could have cost us a place in the play off's. Obviously we have kept him and the play off's didnt materialise but nobody could have predicted what was going to happen back then!

Either way there is a good argument as to why selling him for 300k or 400k could have been the wrong thing to do and could have cost us more in the long term.

[easton boy]

Where do people get this 300-400k from????

Pretty sure that GJ said it was a "cheeky" bid of about 150k

[BigP]

You may be right.......i am not sure! Even then though as quickly as we got up to 6th we could have easily gone back down the table just as quick!

But you could then turn it round and say that selling him then could have cost us a place in the play off's. Obviously we have kept him and the play off's didnt materialise but nobody could have predicted what was going to happen back then!

Either way there is a good argument as to why selling him for 300k or 400k could have been the wrong thing to do and could have cost us more in the long term.

It's all ifs and buts! All in all though i think GJ done the right thing in january and i think a one year deal is the right thing to do now, although i suppose a one year contract with a possible performance/injury related extension could be worth a look?

[Donkeeebles]

Where do people get this 300-400k from????

Pretty sure that GJ said it was a "cheeky" bid of about 150k

I don't know what the bid was!

I am just going by what has been said in this thread!

[Seend Red]

The good run started the last week of January and went in to February. Regardless of this for Riaz to claim Johnson should of sold Adebola in the window would of made no sense at the time and only sounds plausible now because he not signing the contract, facts that were not known back in January.

Raiz well done you're right..... with the power of hindsight which I believe Gary doesn't pocess.

[William Stand]

Hindsight is a marvellous thing isn't it!

Secondly I'm sure from reading all the comments Johnson made post January he assumed Adebola would sign his 12 month contract. So he's leaving for nothing because Gary misread the situation in the first instance.

I'm not surprised he has found better offers elsewhere, he a fit lad and a genuine threat at this level, I feel has more than enough to play for another 2 years but Gary doesn't and won't change his mind so we lose a good player for zilch.

You seem to try & find any opportunity to blame the manager???

We didn't sell Adebola, he then had probably his best scoring/assists run in his time here. That seems like a good move to me.

Post Bosman you can't just look at how much a player costs & how much you sell them for, cos at the end of the contract they're worth nowt. Yes we didn't get money for Adebola but we had the "value" of him playing for us from Jan - now.

[Seend Red]

You seem to try & find any opportunity to blame the manager???

We didn't sell Adebola, he then had probably his best scoring/assists run in his time here. That seems like a good move to me.

Post Bosman you can't just look at how much a player costs & how much you sell them for, cos at the end of the contract they're worth nowt. Yes we didn't get money for Adebola but we had the "value" of him playing for us from Jan - now.

It's about responsibility not blame....

Johnson expected Adebola to sign and he hasn't . I'm not criticising I'm just saying it has it is.

Johnson did clearly 'misread' the situation with Adebloa otherwise he would of gone in January knowing that he had no intention to sign the deal.

No problem it happens in football, no need to jump to his defense.

[Donkeeebles]

i thought by the end of january that we were coming to the end of our run that dragged us away from the foot of the table to about 6th? I'm probably wrong though.

Just looked and after the Barnsley game on the 31st Jan we were 11th on 41 pts!

I agree with you....i think it was the correct decision by GJ!

[Riaz]

Why don't you accept that?????

Are we exempt from being relegated??

Were we not down as low as 18th at one point?

What is it that you know that nobody else does that makes you not accept we could have been drawn into a relegation battle without Dele who at that time was probably our best player???

No we are not exempt from being relegation. But we are not a one man team and never have been under GJ. This is why Trundle struggled - cos we are a TEAM and we don't rely on one player.

I find it amazing that you don't rate the rest of the team and think without dele they would have been relegated??!

[Pickle Rick]

No one is suggesting he should panic buy! We don't need more players with the right attitude! we need genuine ability, obviously it would be nice to have both and I'm not suggesting we should sign complete wasters but Johnson really needs to focus far more on the ability side of things rather than finding the right personality, we're trying to find decent footballers not a date to take out to dinner.

Debatable, Johnson did put him in but he struggled so had to be taken back out again, like you say there is always next season but thats open to conjecture and opinion.

As it stands today Johnson doesn't think he's good enough otherwise he'd being playing.

Confliction messages from Gary on Adebola for me. Gary claimed he was 'unplayable' and a major part of our squad so why not give him the 2 years? Only time will tell if we'll miss Adebola next season.

Fair play thats a good post.

[Donkeeebles]

No we are not exempt from being relegation. But we are not a one man team and never have been under GJ. This is why Trundle struggled - cos we are a TEAM and we don't rely on one player.

I find it amazing that you don't rate the rest of the team and think without dele they would have been relegated??!

I don't think we would have been relegated and i never said we were a 1 man team.

I am also not stupid enough to think that selling 1 of our most influencial players would have absolutely no impact on a team that has at 1 stage found itself 18th in the league!

So by your reasoning then if we sell Elliott in the summer it wouldnt make the slightest difference to us as a team!

To quote somebody else on this site "I don't accept that"

[PhatWill]

No we are not exempt from being relegation. But we are not a one man team and never have been under GJ. This is why Trundle struggled - cos we are a TEAM and we don't rely on one player.

I find it amazing that you don't rate the rest of the team and think without dele they would have been relegated??!

You are using hindsight very well here! I'm sensing that your opinion also stems from the fact that you don't really rate Adebola.

Forest came in with the Adebola bid two days before the window shut, there's no way we'd have been able to find a suitable replacement in that time. Probably only a loan and therefore the cash would have been all but useless.

Given Adebola's form in January I don't think you'd have found many City fans who'd have been happy if we had sold a first team player to C'ship rivals.

GJ made the correct call and now Adebola is moving on. Who knows, we might already have a replacement lined up?

[Riaz]

I don't think we would have been relegated and i never said we were a 1 man team.

I am also not stupid enough to think that selling 1 of our most influencial players would have absolutely no impact on a team that has at 1 stage found itself 18th in the league!

So by your reasoning then if we sell Elliott in the summer it wouldnt make the slightest difference to us as a team!

To quote somebody else on this site "I don't accept that"

No of course not, it would be a blow, but at the same time it would not damage us so much, that we become a side who is battling relegation.

[Riaz]

You are using hindsight very well here! I'm sensing that your opinion also stems from the fact that you don't really rate Adebola.

Forest came in with the Adebola bid two days before the window shut, there's no way we'd have been able to find a suitable replacement in that time. Probably only a loan and therefore the cash would have been all but useless.

Given Adebola's form in January I don't think you'd have found many City fans who'd have been happy if we had sold a first team player to C'ship rivals.

GJ made the correct call and now Adebola is moving on. Who knows, we might already have a replacement lined up?

Firstly at xmas, I never rated him, but he won me over since then. When he is on form, he is unplayable.

secondly, its not hindsight.... Forest bid rejected.

I stand by my opinion that the bid should have been accepted IF and only IF it was around 300-400k.

[Seend Red]

Firstly at xmas, I never rated him, but he won me over since then. When he is on form, he is unplayable.

secondly, its not hindsight.... Forest bid rejected.

I stand by my opinion that the bid should have been accepted IF and only IF it was around 300-400k.

No one is debating if you said what you did back then but only now do we know that you are right...........in hindsight!

Had Adebola signed his contract you'd of not been right and you'd of not raised this issue about you being right all along.

[PhatWill]

I think Gary didn't know and thought he'd sign his contract, it would seem he's misjudged the situation as he said this a few weeks ago.

Johnson told BBC Radio Bristol: "Talks have been ongoing and hopefully he's happy with what's been put forward. "I'm leaving that to the powers that be but I'm sure that he'll be a City player for longer than this season."

City turned down an offer from Nottingham Forest in the January transfer window and chairman Steve Lansdown and chief executive Colin Sexstone are conducting the talks.

Johnson added: "We've always seen him as a major part of our squad.

"And he's certainly come up trumps and been a major player in our last 10-12 games with his goals, work-rate and presence.

"He's getting back to that unplayable Dele Adebola that we know he is."

Which ask's the question if Johnson rates him so highly and see him as a 'major part' of the squad and 'unplayable' why hasn't he offered him a little longer than the 12 months?

So already that's one of our better players seemingly on his way. If Elliott was to follow I seriously worry for us next season as I don't think Gary has the minerals to bring in the types of players required.

T

I think you read too much into what GJ is saying. It's very possible that GJ was playing mind games with Adebola to try and encourage him to sign the one year deal. GJ clearly thought that we could get one more good year out of Adebola, remember this is a player that now struggles to play two lots of 90 mins in a week. Imagine when he's 36?

[Donkeeebles]

No of course not, it would be a blow, but at the same time it would not damage us so much, that we become a side who is battling relegation.

Oh really!

In a division where any team can beat any other. Probably the tightest and most exciting division of all. You can claim that next season with or without Elliott we wont be at risk from relegation. Despite the fact that we have been down there this season and gone as much as 8 games without a win twice you can assure us that we wont be down there next season! Phew thats a relief!

You can say "I don't accept that" as much as you like but the fact is Dele has been a key player for us this season (especially after Christmas)and selling him to make a quick buck in January could have been an extremely expensive error!