GrahamC Posted August 16, 2016 Report Share Posted August 16, 2016 According to the Watford observer he has joined us on trial in a bid to prove his fitness. Presumably he was the Swedish defender that Des Kelly was referring to that he said he'd seen with LJ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'Orns Posted August 16, 2016 Report Share Posted August 16, 2016 This one won't go away, will it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazred Posted August 16, 2016 Report Share Posted August 16, 2016 A player of his pedigree on a free IF he's fit would be good business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meh Posted August 16, 2016 Report Share Posted August 16, 2016 I can hear it now :- JoelE, JoelE, JoelE, JoelEeeee Please don't hoof it just because you can Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bat Fastard Posted August 16, 2016 Report Share Posted August 16, 2016 I suppose that there has to be an assessment as to whether or not he can be kept fit enough to be available to play if Flint gets injured. If there are question marks over him, then he could become just another non-playing crock. Difficult decision! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bs4Red Posted August 16, 2016 Report Share Posted August 16, 2016 Just been confirmed by LJ he is training with us Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Necromancer Posted August 16, 2016 Report Share Posted August 16, 2016 LJ just confirmed he's training with us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citychuds Posted August 16, 2016 Report Share Posted August 16, 2016 Wasnt his fitness a factor in him being released from Watford? And then failing a medical at Leeds. I can't see this being anything but a gamble. Only thing I'd say is judging by the comments from players in pre season I think I've got the confidence we have a good enough set up to make a decent decision on how fit he is and much of a gamble this is Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citychuds Posted August 16, 2016 Report Share Posted August 16, 2016 Because in fairness a medical doesn't prove long term fitness does it and there are enough doubts. Always seems strange a player can fail a medical with one club and pass with another. Hope it happens personally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citychuds Posted August 16, 2016 Report Share Posted August 16, 2016 I should add I mean signing even if passing a medical would be a gamble Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major Isewater Posted August 16, 2016 Report Share Posted August 16, 2016 We should offer him a ' pay as you play ' deal . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robinreliant Posted August 16, 2016 Report Share Posted August 16, 2016 Let's be honest with ourselves. We need to establish in this league and then hopefully start to challenge for promotion. That's not going to be easy. We will not have money to throw around like some of the teams and this guy if he can prove that he is fit is the type we should be looking at. Good pedigree and with the likes of O'Neil etc are the ones we can afford. We will I'm sure bit by bit become one of the better side in this league but we must be patient. We have young players coming through i.e under 21. If we continue the way we are going I am confident that with luck our aim (prem) will happen. Not perhaps this season but next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dynamite Red Posted August 16, 2016 Report Share Posted August 16, 2016 He is a very good championship defender. I hope he can prove his fitness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddie Hitler Posted August 17, 2016 Report Share Posted August 17, 2016 8 hours ago, Citychuds said: Because in fairness a medical doesn't prove long term fitness does it and there are enough doubts. Always seems strange a player can fail a medical with one club and pass with another. Hope it happens personally. It's down to the personal opinion of the Doctor as the human body is a complex thing. They're probably relying as much on his injury record as on what they can see from a scan of his knee. If there's obvious damage it's a no but usually there's not going to be this. Shame you can't get a warranty as you do with cars to cover the leg equivalent of the cam belt snapping the day after you buy it. He's presumably not going to take a pay to play so if he's running about fine and there's no obvious damage a one year contract seems worth a punt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major Isewater Posted August 17, 2016 Report Share Posted August 17, 2016 1 hour ago, Eddie Hitler said: It's down to the personal opinion of the Doctor as the human body is a complex thing. They're probably relying as much on his injury record as on what they can see from a scan of his knee. If there's obvious damage it's a no but usually there's not going to be this. Shame you can't get a warranty as you do with cars to cover the leg equivalent of the cam belt snapping the day after you buy it. He's presumably not going to take a pay to play so if he's running about fine and there's no obvious damage a one year contract seems worth a punt. Think Paul McGrath . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandro Posted August 17, 2016 Report Share Posted August 17, 2016 Personally this development is a bit of a concern for me. Rumoured to be keen on him a while back. Given his pedigree he is still a free agent and no other club has gambled on him (Leeds preferred Ayling, for example) and it's well into August now. If the idea was to give him a trial, why not just do it back in pre-season? The fact we go back to him now is perhaps a sign that we are not getting on too well with our other or main CB targets? I get the trial is 'no pressure' but it smacks a little of desperation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spudski Posted August 17, 2016 Report Share Posted August 17, 2016 10 hours ago, Citychuds said: Because in fairness a medical doesn't prove long term fitness does it and there are enough doubts. Always seems strange a player can fail a medical with one club and pass with another. Hope it happens personally. Funny you bring that up...was only talking yesterday to a chap who is involved in this sort of thing. His Championship club sold a player recently to another, and they all thought he'd fail the medical. They were shocked the buying Club passed him, and they bought him at a massive profit and the lad got himself a new contract with wage increase. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRaw Posted August 17, 2016 Report Share Posted August 17, 2016 20 minutes ago, Alessandro said: Personally this development is a bit of a concern for me. Rumoured to be keen on him a while back. Given his pedigree he is still a free agent and no other club has gambled on him (Leeds preferred Ayling, for example) and it's well into August now. If the idea was to give him a trial, why not just do it back in pre-season? The fact we go back to him now is perhaps a sign that we are not getting on too well with our other or main CB targets? I get the trial is 'no pressure' but it smacks a little of desperation. we had no centre back on the subs bench last night......we need more than 1 centre back Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollywhyte Posted August 17, 2016 Report Share Posted August 17, 2016 12 minutes ago, RedRaw said: we had no centre back on the subs bench last night......we need more than 1 centre back In my opinion we need a centre back capable of playing at right back, an out and out centre back and a striker. We could then let Little and Williams depart. If Kodjia is to go, expect LJ would be in for an additional forward as well. So potentially: Little, Williams and Kodjia out. CB/RB, CB & 2x Strikers in - Liam Moore, Joel Ekstrand, Jordan Rhodes and Frazier Campbell - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major Isewater Posted August 17, 2016 Report Share Posted August 17, 2016 49 minutes ago, Alessandro said: Personally this development is a bit of a concern for me. Rumoured to be keen on him a while back. Given his pedigree he is still a free agent and no other club has gambled on him (Leeds preferred Ayling, for example) and it's well into August now. If the idea was to give him a trial, why not just do it back in pre-season? The fact we go back to him now is perhaps a sign that we are not getting on too well with our other or main CB targets? I get the trial is 'no pressure' but it smacks a little of desperation. To me it ' smacks ' of a smart move. Instead of a prima donna who expects to waltz into the first team thanks to his big transfer fee , we could have an international player who is going to work his socks off to get his career back on track for peanuts. If It works out we have a valuable asset , if it does n't there is relatively little risk . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marina's Rolls Royce Posted August 17, 2016 Report Share Posted August 17, 2016 I'd pretty much agree with the Major. The only problem is that should he be offered terms he will be woefully short of match fitness having been out for a year thus being several weeks at best from offering any realistic 90 min cover in event of injury/suspension. On the flip side he was very popular at Watford, instrumental in their promotion from the Championship and a former International. Could be unexciting exciting or exciting unexciting. Tough call even if proven medically fit/injury free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Ian M Posted August 17, 2016 Admin Report Share Posted August 17, 2016 49 minutes ago, Major Isewater said: To me it ' smacks ' of a smart move. Instead of a prima donna who expects to waltz into the first team thanks to his big transfer fee , we could have an international player who is going to work his socks off to get his career back on track for peanuts. If It works out we have a valuable asset , if it does n't there is relatively little risk . I agree. We may also have offered him a trial earlier but he felt he could still get a deal without a trial somewhere. That didn't happen and now we look to benefit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandro Posted August 17, 2016 Report Share Posted August 17, 2016 1 hour ago, RedRaw said: we had no centre back on the subs bench last night......we need more than 1 centre back 1 hour ago, Major Isewater said: To me it ' smacks ' of a smart move. Instead of a prima donna who expects to waltz into the first team thanks to his big transfer fee , we could have an international player who is going to work his socks off to get his career back on track for peanuts. If It works out we have a valuable asset , if it does n't there is relatively little risk . Fully aware we most likely need two more in defence and this could prove to be a smart move. Nothing to lose on our part. But as I say, this guy has been on the radar for a while now and given we are only offering him a trial, why wasn't it done 4 weeks ago to give him more of a chance to get up to speed and settled in? At this stage we don't really want to be messing around with trials, we need to move quickly. As I said, it is a little bit like we considered him four weeks ago, said no thanks, looked elsewhere, had little success and have gone back to him. If on the other hand he turned down a trial before hoping for a permenant move, and has now re assessed, may be a different matter. I hope it works out though because he does have good experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin1988 Posted August 17, 2016 Report Share Posted August 17, 2016 48 minutes ago, Alessandro said: But as I say, this guy has been on the radar for a while now and given we are only offering him a trial, why wasn't it done 4 weeks ago to give him more of a chance to get up to speed and settled in? At this stage we don't really want to be messing around with trials, we need to move quickly. Maybe he wasn't available? Maybe he was injured? He was linked heavily with Leeds and it never happened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spudski Posted August 17, 2016 Report Share Posted August 17, 2016 It's worth mentioning that although Joel was 'released' by Watford, he was actually offered a contract by them. He refused the contract, because he knew the chances of making the first team again would be quiet remote. Especially as Watford have brought in some good defenders. He wants to go somewhere where he will get a better chance of actually playing, and that's why he didn't sign the contract he was offered. His knee injury was a really bad one...ligament and break...would have been career finisher in the past. However things have moved on...it's remarkable what Athletes can come back from. He had the same surgeon work on him as Xavi and Eto'o Lyndsey Vonn the downhill skier had a far worse injury and has come back just as strong as before within a year...and skiers have far more forces on their knees than footballers. Fingers crossed it works out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandro Posted August 17, 2016 Report Share Posted August 17, 2016 44 minutes ago, Robin1988 said: Maybe he wasn't available? Maybe he was injured? He was linked heavily with Leeds and it never happened. Not sure of his fitness over the summer, but if the rumours are true he failed his medical at Leeds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted August 17, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 17, 2016 1 hour ago, Alessandro said: Not sure of his fitness over the summer, but if the rumours are true he failed his medical at Leeds. Yep, but didn't Mark Bunn fail one with us last summer and then go on to play in the Prem with Villa? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midlands Robin Posted August 17, 2016 Report Share Posted August 17, 2016 And given Villa's performance last season it looks like we got off lightly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandro Posted August 17, 2016 Report Share Posted August 17, 2016 As discussed players fail medical school at some clubs and then not at others. All I'm saying is, given his pedigree and that he is a free agent, I'm suspicious about the fact that A) No one else has signed him up yet and B) It's taken us this long to offer him a trial. But I'd be very happy for him to prove his fitness here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Dawe Posted August 17, 2016 Report Share Posted August 17, 2016 1 hour ago, spudski said: It's worth mentioning that although Joel was 'released' by Watford, he was actually offered a contract by them. He refused the contract, because he knew the chances of making the first team again would be quiet remote. Especially as Watford have brought in some good defenders. He wants to go somewhere where he will get a better chance of actually playing, and that's why he didn't sign the contract he was offered. His knee injury was a really bad one...ligament and break...would have been career finisher in the past. However things have moved on...it's remarkable what Athletes can come back from. He had the same surgeon work on him as Xavi and Eto'o Lyndsey Vonn the downhill skier had a far worse injury and has come back just as strong as before within a year...and skiers have far more forces on their knees than footballers. Fingers crossed it works out. Yes, but do skiers do Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday-Tuesday spud? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.