Luxury Players

[DaveInSA]

Just listened to the Pearson presser.

there was a great question about luxury players.

we obviously have some and they aren’t currently playing.

what I thought was interesting is that he said there’s always a second chance.

I’m curious if there’s a third chance.

and whether a luxury player can wean himself off the coke and become a bitter man instead.

[Davefevs]

Yes, was an interesting part of the interview.  Nige pretty clear - yes we have some, they aren’t playing!!

[RedRock]

Thought it was a great interview. Got a bit of zest back. 
 

Clearly, a very clever, deep thinking, determined and intelligent man. Maybe, belatedly our players are realising that and will now trust and support him. 

[Sleepy1968]

luxury player = doesn't pull weight = can't be trusted = joe williams would give a shoeing to if he was fit

[Talk Of The Town]

The best ‘ luxury ‘ player I’ve seen - Glen Hoddle 

[Loco Rojo]

Luxury players always play I they put in a shift. They're not and they're not missed. The sooner they're off the wage bill the better for them and us.

I'd feel ashamed if I watched the performances/attitudes of Scott and Benarous and thought about their passion and how much they're paid and then looked in the mirror. 

Edited November 26, 2021 by Loco Rojo

[steviestevieneville]

There’s no room in the modern  game for so called luxury players . The games to fast & physical to carry anyone . We all love a player that can unlock a defence but they also have to be disciplined defensively 

[Calculus]

48 minutes ago, Bobby Bollax said:

The best ‘ luxury ‘ player I’ve seen - Glen Hoddle 

I wouldn't call Hoddle a luxury player. Certaintly very skillful, but he would put a shift in and dominated games. 

[Malago]

For me a luxury player is one that comes into a successful team that is capable of  grinding out 1-0 wins and adds a bit of stardust.  Charlie George and the Arsenal double winning team of 1971 springs to mind.

I agree that the concept of luxury players is outdated in. Modern football when 100% commitment is needed across the board .

[B1ackbird]

Mmmm luxury milk from the human cow..*

 

* Jez.

[ExiledAjax]

Like any luxury, a luxury player should only be considered once all of the basics and fundamentals of a football team are sorted. You don't go on a flash holiday or buy gold cutlery if your roof is leaking and your car has broken down. Once we have fixed the fundamentals, then we can consider integrating a player that may want to operate as a maverick who is above the need for contributing to those basics. Even then, just like the holiday or gold cutlery, you don't go for the luxury if you think there's a danger that your basics might fail. If you do then the house can collapse and you've got nothing to fall back on.

IMO, we don't yet have the fundamentals sorted, so we are not yet ready for the luxury guys like Palmer to be involved.

[cidered abroad]

Luxury players? They used to be, a long time ago, someone who did unexpected things that win games. We don't have any such players.

What we have are a couple or three who believe that they are so good that they must play but not be a member of the team. Possibly they blame all the rest for not setting up chances and are not prepared to work hard enough for the team. The quicker thay are dispensed with, the better.

The Atyeo's, Galleys, Gow's, Tainton's, Ritchie's, Sweeney's and so on, worked so hard for their colleagues even if they were the cream of the squad. 

[Lanterne Rouge]

The last one you could say `came off` (barring Tomlin`s loan spell) was I think JET. A lot of that was down IMO to the fact that he was so well liked by the rest of the players they were prepared to work harder to cover him.

[Unan]

28 minutes ago, B1ackbird said:

Mmmm luxury milk from the human cow..*

 

* Jez.

Jeremy! This.. it’s one step away from cannibalism! 

[GrahamC]

Just watched it, very good interview.

Nige definitely appears to be better & is on good form here, obvious too that he much prefers speaking to James Piercy than he did to Gregor. 

Couple of interesting snippets for me were his praise for O’Dowda & his analysis of what Bakinson has done to get onside.

So obvious he is a huge Baker fan, too.

The flair player bit was revealing, you certainly don’t have to think very hard to work out who he is referring to.
 

 

33 minutes ago, Lanterne Rouge said:

The last one you could say `came off` (barring Tomlin`s loan spell) was I think JET. A lot of that was down IMO to the fact that he was so well liked by the rest of the players they were prepared to work harder to cover him.

Plus he was playing at a level beneath him, wouldn’t have worked so well at Championship level.

[Harry]

If we’re taking about a certain player who I think we’re talking about, then some people have a very strange idea of what ‘luxury’ means!! 
If it’s one of the ones I’m thinking of, who’s initials are also a brand of nuts, then luxury sure doesn’t describe him. 
What is it, 5 goals and about 3 assists in 3 seasons? I wouldn’t say that’s a luxury.  And certainly not someone who ought to be shoehorned into the team. 
 

This sort of player is what Richard Gould was referring to when he said we weren’t getting the value for our pound. Multiple millions in a fee and multiple thousands per week to be moribund. 
 

Luxury? My ass. As they say. 

[Midlands Robin]

4 minutes ago, Harry said:

If it’s one of the ones I’m thinking of, who’s initials are also a brand of nuts

I don't remember Nobby playing for us?

Anyway, the trouble with having players like this is twofold. They're not doing it in the squad and they're bloody hard to move on as they're not going to interest many clubs on the back of poor performances.

We stand to lose another fist load of cash.

 

[Dunc]

1 hour ago, Bobby Bollax said:

The best ‘ luxury ‘ player I’ve seen - Glen Hoddle 

You've got a few years head start on me. I tend to think of 'luxury' players being creative #10s to don't do the hard yards to keep defensive shape, but unlock defences. Ronaldinho, Totti, Le Tiss, Okocha at the top end or Trundle and JET a little closer to home.

I'm of the view that very few teams can set up in a way to carry that sort of player nowadays, exciting as they are! 

[Jackson Lamb]

I wouldn’t use the term luxury but more with a hint of sparkle to them but easily fizzes out. 

[Talk Of The Town]

1 hour ago, Calculus said:

I wouldn't call Hoddle a luxury player. Certaintly very skillful, but he would put a shift in and dominated games. 

I agree but at the time he was classed as a ‘ luxury ‘ player in England. That’s partly why he went abroad. English football was years behind the European model

[Harry]

2 minutes ago, Midlands Robin said:

I don't remember Nobby playing for us?

Anyway, the trouble with having players like this is twofold. They're not doing it in the squad and they're bloody hard to move on as they're not going to interest many clubs on the back of poor performances.

We stand to lose another fist load of cash.

 

I think the ‘moving on’ part is harder due to the excessive wage rather than lack of appearances or poor performances.  
I’m sure there’s plenty of teams who’d take a chance and managers who feel they can integrate such a player and turn their career around, but they ain’t prepared to pay the £20k odd per week. 
We don’t half pay some ludicrous salaries for chumps. 

[Red Army 87]

1 hour ago, Harry said:

I think the ‘moving on’ part is harder due to the excessive wage rather than lack of appearances or poor performances.  
I’m sure there’s plenty of teams who’d take a chance and managers who feel they can integrate such a player and turn their career around, but they ain’t prepared to pay the £20k odd per week. 
We don’t half pay some ludicrous salaries for chumps. 

Very hard when said player has had plenty of clubs at this level (including an unsuccessful loan from us) and we are the only one to pay a fee for them. We aren’t in a strong position. 

[City1970]

4 hours ago, RedRock said:

Thought it was a great interview. Got a bit of zest back. 
 

Clearly, a very clever, deep thinking, determined and intelligent man. Maybe, belatedly our players are realising that and will now trust and support him. 

I don’t understand why people can’t see that. He is exactly that to me, give him a decent amount of funds in January and next summer and let’s see the real Nigel Pearson. 

[B1ackbird]

Tomlin and Odemwingi kept us up in January, who's to say we're not that F ***ed now...

[Davefevs]

29 minutes ago, B1ackbird said:

Tomlin and Odemwingi kept us up in January, who's to say we're not that F ***ed now...

Both crucial loan signings.

[B1ackbird]

29 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Both crucial loan signings.

Do you think we're there again?

[Sir Geoff]

BCFC luxury players to my mind were Jacki, Andy Cole and possibly Louie Donowa. All floated around a lot and came up with the occasional spark of brilliance, None of them could be called 'team' players. Andy Cole in particular spent a large part of his Bristol City career standing in the centre circle waiting for the ball to come to him.

[Simon79]

5 hours ago, B1ackbird said:

Do you think we're there again?

Well, Odemwingie was at the Barnsley match, so watch this space! COYR 

[Oh Louie louie]

Yes as crazy as it sounds, not every manager fancied glenn in those days.

Its been said many times people concentrate on what he wasnt good at.

His goal scoring record was excellent, roughly 1 in 4 for spurs.

People certainly got on his back a lot on tv.

[Oh Louie louie]

Lot of managers around like don revie in those days.

 

[Davefevs]

8 hours ago, B1ackbird said:

Do you think we're there again?

No, nowhere near.

I do remember when Odemwingie signed there was a lot of “meh” comments, but for me this was a player who had played at the top level, and boy did it show when I watched him play for us.  Top attitude too, once we were safe he said that if LJ wanted to play other players in prep for the next season that he didn’t mind standing aside.

[adamski]

5 hours ago, Sir Geoff said:

BCFC luxury players to my mind were Jacki, Andy Cole and possibly Louie Donowa. All floated around a lot and came up with the occasional spark of brilliance, None of them could be called 'team' players. Andy Cole in particular spent a large part of his Bristol City career standing in the centre circle waiting for the ball to come to him.

Andy Cole was an out and out striker, he scored 12 in 29 games in a not very good team, look how very average Bob Taylor was in that team, I think he scored 8 post promotion.... I don't think out and out strikers are luxury players, if they score! same could be said of Lineker, Defoe, Phillips, Greaves etc, they rarely strayed inside of their own half 

[B1ackbird]

2 hours ago, Davefevs said:

No, nowhere near.

I do remember when Odemwingie signed there was a lot of “meh” comments, but for me this was a player who had played at the top level, and boy did it show when I watched him play for us.  Top attitude too, once we were safe he said that if LJ wanted to play other players in prep for the next season that he didn’t mind standing aside.

I think he bollocked Waggy for his FIFA Goal celebration..

 

[IAmNick]

I feel like "luxury" really just means doesn't put as much as a shift in or maybe has a bad attitude, but people like the player so want a nicer way of phrasing that. It's almost like people don't want their negative qualities to factor into their description, so luxury sounds better than the alternatives.

I often struggle to see what exactly makes them a luxury personally - in most other lines of work (and I'm sure we've all worked with a few who are good but don't pull their finger out, for example) they certainly don't get described as a luxury!

I'm not sure I'd personally say we have any luxury players in the entire squad currently - if they don't produce the goods AND don't put a shift in they're not a luxury player, they're just not good enough.