Rumour- Bolton interested in Sunderland striker

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Lord Alfred said:
Which raises question marks about the supposedly intelligent and highly paid people running our club.......it was almost taken for granted on here that he liked a drink and was liable to seek out old pals on his return to the North East........think about that......ordinary Joes on a public forum warning the club about investing upwards of £10m (inc salary and signing on fee) on a very average player at best who was likely to be a liability at worst.
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But is that actually true? The exact same was said of Cattermole and he didn't revert back to why was allowed to leave Boro. The difference is that Graham was always shit, but hit a bit of form at the top level in a side where anyone who played in it scored goals. I don't know if the rumours about how often he may or may not be out on the piss are true or made up because he has the odd pint and people exagerate as he's slow, but I do know he's always been dreadfully slow.
 


Perryqhill said:
But is that actually true? The exact same was said of Cattermole and he didn't revert back to why was allowed to leave Boro. The difference is that Graham was always shit, but hit a bit of form at the top level in a side where anyone who played in it scored goals. I don't know if the rumours about how often he may or may not be out on the piss are true or made up because he has the odd pint and people exagerate as he's slow, but I do know he's always been dreadfully slow.
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Not knowing the fella personally I can only speak anecdotally but enough people who claimed to know either him or who knew his circle of friends suggested that there may be problems with his social lifestyle IF he came back to the NE........anyone committing themselves to a multi-million investment should at least have contemplated this possibility......and it's a theme that's recurred for years....we seem a bit lax in doing background or psychological robustness checks.

No-ones suggesting the fellas an alcoholic who turns in to work drunk but in a game of margins and having an edge he may be just doing enough to lose his.
 
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Lord Alfred said:
Not knowing the fella personally I can only speak anecdotally but enough people who claimed to know either him or who knew his circle of friends suggested that there may be problems with his social lifestyle IF he came back to the NE........anyone committing themselves to a multi-million investment should at least have contemplated this possibility......and it's a theme that's recurred for years....we seem a bit lax in doing background or psychological robustness checks.

No-ones suggesting the fellas an alcoholic who turns in to work drunk but in a game of margins and having an edge he may be just doing enough to lose his.
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There's certainly people on here who I've spoke to personally, who know Graham personally and actually one regular on here whom I haven't spoke to personally, but I can never recall them saying he was a pisshead, though they may have or they may know he is. True or not, it just seems the usual cackbabble among fans on here or tittle tattle at work and in pubs which grows and circulates, whether it's got any foundation or not. We hear it about any player who's seen out on the odd occasion, even infrequently, anyone who loses a bit of form or anyone there's a bit of mystery about: see Cattermole, see Johnson see countless others.

I don't particularly think he had any 'edge' tbh. He had a decent spell for Watford after being a reasonable scorer at a lower level, then a decent streak for Swansea first season as an unknown, but was still being left out and was one of the first to make way. Mainly he's a player with zero pace, but whom you can play the ball into when you have people in and around him. There's no great mystery to why he's lost form, he was never actually that good.
 
Perryqhill said:
There's certainly people on here who I've spoke to personally, who know Graham personally and actually one regular on here whom I haven't spoke to personally, but I can never recall them saying he was a pisshead, though they may have or they may know he is. True or not, it just seems the usual cackbabble among fans on here or tittle tattle at work and in pubs which grows and circulates, whether it's got any foundation or not. We hear it about any player who's seen out on the odd occasion, even infrequently, anyone who loses a bit of form or anyone there's a bit of mystery about: see Cattermole, see Johnson see countless others.

I don't particularly think he had any 'edge' tbh. He had a decent spell for Watford after being a reasonable scorer at a lower level, then a decent streak for Swansea first season as an unknown, but was still being left out and was one of the first to make way. Mainly he's a player with zero pace, but whom you can play the ball into when you have people in and around him. There's no great mystery to why he's lost form, he was never actually that good.
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Yeah, his actual ability was reason enough to question his signing and any other perceived issues should have reinforced that. If it was a on-off you could put it down to experience but it seems to be a perennial problem for us.

Geronimo said:
I'd still peddle Altodire before Graham
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If they started together how do you think they would rank in the all-time PL worst striking combos........we could be well represented in that list...:lol:
 
I know the lad and he is quite happy being paid good money for another couple of seasons.

Just had his first kid so the drinking rumours are a load of shite. Yeah he likes a drink like a lout of young blokes do but nothing as outrageous as suggested

What would you do? Be paid 40k per week for next two seasons or go for 10k per week for 3 years somewhere? 99% would stay where they are
 
Lord Alfred said:
. If it was a on-off you could put it down to experience but it seems to be a perennial problem for us.
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Really? If we're talking problems (even obvious problems) with players we sign due to off field problems I don't see it as having been a major issue for us, certainly not more so than anyone else. We take chances on personalities as every club does and we often hear of managers asking other managers about players background and characters. In this sense we've certainly fared better than the mags in my lifetime, I think you're listening to to much tittle tattle for why things haven't worked out, when often the reality is much simpler.
 
minty said:
I know the lad and he is quite happy being paid good money for another couple of seasons.

Just had his first kid so the drinking rumours are a load of shite. Yeah he likes a drink like a lout of young blokes do but nothing as outrageous as suggested

What would you do? Be paid 40k per week for next two seasons or go for 10k per week for 3 years somewhere? 99% would stay where they are
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i would move to a club for 10k a week and play every game
 
ferryhill mackem said:
i would move to a club for 10k a week and play every game
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If I was almost 30 and on the biggest contract I was likely to get at say appox £30k per week, would I fuck chuck that away for 10k a week (if someone like Bolton could actually afford that) just to play regularly for some shit side for two years, when I could likey go there or similar on loan anyway and there was probably a loyalty bonus coming my way anyway.

Try being a bit realistic.
 
Perryqhill said:
If I was almost 30 and on the biggest contract I was likely to get at say appox £30k per week, would I fuck chuck that away for 10k a week (if someone like Bolton could actually afford that) just to play regularly for some shit side for two years, when I could likey go there or similar on loan anyway and there was probably a loyalty bonus coming my way anyway.

Try being a bit realistic.
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graham is meant to be on 40k a week. he would have also been on a decent wage at swansea too. i'm sure if i was on that kind of money i would be able to drop down to £10k a week and still survive. i'd prefer to be settled at a club towards the end of my career and be playing week in week out

on the money professional footballers get there is something lacking if you can't set yourself up for life
 
ferryhill mackem said:
graham is meant to be on 40k a week. he would have also been on a decent wage at swansea too. i'm sure if i was on that kind of money i would be able to drop down to £10k a week and still survive. i'd prefer to be settled at a club towards the end of my career and be playing week in week out

on the money professional footballers get there is something lacking if you can't set yourself up for life
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You probably would be able to drop down and survive no problem, but when your earning potential is vastly less than it was and it's unlikely there's a way back up (realistically his chance at the top flight is gone), you're not going to give away 60%+ of your wage, when you can earn it and likely still play at that level. Also he moved to Swansea from the Championship after two seasons at that level, I doubt he was on a massive amount.

Different if he was young and had time on his side, but at approaching 30 I'd be waiting for the club to do some sort of deal and seeing out my time with loans.
 
Hull_Mackem said:
If he is on say, £30k a week, and we have to keep paying £28k a week, we've saved ten grand a month on what we are with now.
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ten grand a month on a wage bill of around £5 million a month............not exactly worth it is it............
 
Perryqhill said:
Really? If we're talking problems (even obvious problems) with players we sign due to off field problems I don't see it as having been a major issue for us, certainly not more so than anyone else. We take chances on personalities as every club does and we often hear of managers asking other managers about players background and characters. In this sense we've certainly fared better than the mags in my lifetime, I think you're listening to to much tittle tattle for why things haven't worked out, when often the reality is much simpler.
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So you honestly think it's as simple as signing poor players?

I'm not saying it's neccessarily off-field problems.....a lot of it is down to players not being psychologically robust. Lots of companies employ checks to find out whether a potential employee has the mental tools to successfully do whatever role he's applied for.....and that might be for a £50k/year job. We throw upwards of £10m at individuals with seemingly only the most cursory of checks.
 
ferryhill mackem said:
graham is meant to be on 40k a week. he would have also been on a decent wage at swansea too. i'm sure if i was on that kind of money i would be able to drop down to £10k a week and still survive. i'd prefer to be settled at a club towards the end of my career and be playing week in week out

on the money professional footballers get there is something lacking if you can't set yourself up for life
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Right there is the problem with modern football. Not the great players making a fortune..someone like Ronaldo is worth every penny cos he performs vrtually every game..but journeymen on two million a year who are happy to sit and watch the grass grow.
 
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