Adam Johnson for Gareth Bale

[bobmcfc]

No, Bale is made of glass.

 

[allan harper]

Why would we need to involved Jonno in a swap?

He's our only outright winger, can play opposite side to Bale.

Especially, when City could involve Ade in any swap deal.

The way Ade is playing for Spurs i very much doubt Spurs would take him off our hands if we gave them him for free !
All my Spud mates fucking hate him.

 

[spurspinter1]

No, Bale is made of glass.

Bollocks is he.

When thugs do this to him

He may have a patchy few months fitness wise, I think that's a given.

If I remember correctly, not even a foul was given for that incident when it should have been a straight red. The gap toothed bastard went on to score the winning penalty that game....

I think now refs are starting to penalize people for attempts at hacking him down ie Skrtel (sp) being sent off for kicking lumps out of him he'll have a much better injury record.

-- Tue Nov 15, 2011 2:35 pm --

Why would we need to involved Jonno in a swap?

He's our only outright winger, can play opposite side to Bale.

Especially, when City could involve Ade in any swap deal.

The way Ade is playing for Spurs i very much doubt Spurs would take him off our hands if we gave them him for free !
All my Spud mates fucking hate him.

Yeah, we all hate having a striker that can actually play up top alone and hold the ball up. Its so frustrating! Bring back Crouch I'd say!

Seriously though, how many Spurs fans do you know who don't rate him?

The goals have dried up, and he has missed some chances which you would expect him to score, no two ways about it. But his build up play is far superior to anything else we have to offer, have you been watching Ade play for us?

 

[allan harper]

No, Bale is made of glass.

Bollocks is he.

When thugs do this to him

He may have a patchy few months fitness wise, I think that's a given.

If I remember correctly, not even a foul was given for that incident when it should have been a straight red. The gap toothed bastard went on to score the winning penalty that game....

I think now refs are starting to penalize people for attempts at hacking him down ie Skrtel (sp) being sent off for kicking lumps out of him he'll have a much better injury record.

-- Tue Nov 15, 2011 2:35 pm --

Why would we need to involved Jonno in a swap?

He's our only outright winger, can play opposite side to Bale.

Especially, when City could involve Ade in any swap deal.

The way Ade is playing for Spurs i very much doubt Spurs would take him off our hands if we gave them him for free !
All my Spud mates fucking hate him.

Yeah, we all hate having a striker that can actually play up top alone and hold the ball up. Its so frustrating! Bring back Crouch I'd say!

Seriously though, how many Spurs fans do you know who don't rate him?

The goals have dried up, and he has missed some chances which you would expect him to score, no two ways about it. But his build up play is far superior to anything else we have to offer, have you been watching Ade play for us?

Missed some chances ! Fucking hell that's an understatement !
Oh I only now 5 Spurs lads and each and everyone of them says he's useless ! Funny enough having seen Ade play in Blue enough times my self that's my opinion of him as well.

 

[BobbyQ90]

No, and Ill tell you why. AJ does have pace, he's a better dribbler, passer, has better vision, and has just as good, if not better left foot. I agree with the poster up above, the only difference between Kolarov and Bale is that Kolarov has a better left foot and less pace. Bale is a very good player, but the competition he faces for a starting spot is really quite bad. As we all know, Tottenham is hugely overrated, they can play some decent football but when they come up against the big sides they're really quite poor. So comparing his importance to his team, compared to the importance of AJ to us is pointless. The only world class players they have are VDV and Modric, and even that's a stretch. Bales a good old fashioned winger, but his main assets are stamina and pace, while AJ is a much more refined and skillful player.

Please, just stop.

You saying, "please just stop" doesn't make my point any less correct. Yes I agree that Van Der Vart isn't world class, but he's closer to it than Bale is. He's at least played for big clubs. Has anyone on this thread actually seen AJ play? He has so many more qualities than Bale. You can't just say "Please just stop" and think that works to rebuff my argument in any plausible way.

 

[SambaStyle]

Spurs fans, would you trade Bale for Adebayor + Johnson?

 

[spurspinter1]

Missed some chances ! Fucking hell that's an understatement !
Oh I only now 5 Spurs lads and each and everyone of them says he's useless ! Funny enough having seen Ade play in Blue enough times my self that's my opinion of him as well.

I'm confused, so you haven't watched him play for Spurs as you know enough about him from his time at City yet you feel you can say "missed some chances" is an understatement?

3 goals and 4 assists in about as many games as well as actually adding a focal point to our attack and your mates wouldn't take him on a free after watching Crouch Pavlychenkcho and Defoe flop about like a fish out of water for the entire previous season? Okay.

-- Tue Nov 15, 2011 4:58 pm --

Spurs fans, would you trade Bale for Adebayor + Johnson?

Would you take Gomes for Joe Hart by any chance? ;)

Would be a terrible deal. I guess the player exchange deals are a moot point as they rarely happen but it's fun to discuss I guess.

Depending on which paper you read of course, the assumed buy out clause in the duration of Ade's loan is around 12m?

And I'd say the difference in percieved value between Bale and Johnson is more than 12m, as well as the fact that we'd struggle to take on Ade's wages permanently so for the deal to work man city would probably have to continue to pay a chunk of his wages.

Both players will have inflated values as they have both recently signed new contracts.

As I discussed in a ratings thread ages ago on here, I have never rated Adam Johnson massively, in most games I have seen him play he starts off brightly with a couple of step-overs and speculative shots then fades, and has a bit of a moan when he gets subbed. I don't think he will be more than a minor squad player for you guys, swapping him with someone who in my opinion has a lot more potential would be madness.

I will say that wingers tend to be the position who has the hardest job of maintaining consistency though, I will admit I have not watched Johnson like a hawk throughout his footballing career so maybe I've just caught him on his off days<br /><br />-- Tue Nov 15, 2011 5:00 pm --<br /><br />

You saying, "please just stop" doesn't make my point any less correct. Yes I agree that Van Der Vart isn't world class, but he's closer to it than Bale is. He's at least played for big clubs. Has anyone on this thread actually seen AJ play? He has so many more qualities than Bale. You can't just say "Please just stop" and think that works to rebuff my argument in any plausible way.

No, I just thought I'd jump head first in to debate about the player without having seen him play. I haven't even seen bale play to be honest. Not that in too football to be honest......

Are you on the wind up?

 

[ChicagoBlue]

AJ flatters to deceive, seems slow on the uptake, and is a source of frustration for both Mancini and Capello. He has scored some outstanding goals (4 that I recall) in two years and has had a few assists. To see the way he acts, one would think we bought him from Barca, as an established international, with a long history of brilliance.

Jury is still out on what he COULD be. Today, he is a single faceted winger, with average (at best!) pace, a few moves (likes to put the ball between the two staggered defenders and force them to either foul him or let him through, has a step over, and can chip the ball with his right foot which somehow bamboozles defenders who show him the line!) and almost zero defensive skills.

In the system that City want to play, where the two OUTSIDE MIDFIELDERS have to track back and help cover BOTH the opposing outside midfielder and marauding full back, he is ill-suited to the task, which is why Mancini thinks he is a "impact player" late in a game when City are pressing.

Mancini is clearly getting to him, as we have recently seen AJ do more defending than at any time in this cumulative history. However, what is also glaringly obvious is that he does not have an engine. He has two gears....walk and dribble. He cannot sprint and he cannot maintain work rate, which is why MILNER starts on the left side for England AND City in place of him. Milner is not the fastest guy in the world, but he has some pace combined with an almost indestructible engine. In short, Milner is our new SWP, with tackling/crossing/distribution skills, and is the MOST underrated player at the club. AJ THINKS that is him!!

I will bet that AJ is not at Man City at the beginning of next season, possibly even the end of January, if Bobby Manc gets the wide player(s) he wants. However, I think Bobby believes that January is a time for opportunistic buys, not a time to offload decent squad players. The ideal type of outside midfielder is someone like (I know, I know) Bale or Valencia, who can play down the line, but have QUALITY defensive instincts. After all, in the Bobby Manc scheme, we are cultivating our FULL BACKS to be wingers who cross the ball and get to the byline, so (as we showed to perfection at the Swamp!), the outside midfielders need to be able to drop in and do a job defensively, while the combination of Silva, Toure, Nasri, Sergo, Edin, Mario, et al work in their interchangeable groups upfront when we attack.

Bobby Manc KNOWS what a REAL PLAYER looks like, smells like, acts like. AJ is not it, and the clock on whether he can change Bobby's mind is ticking down. If someone offered Downing-type money for AJ, I would rip their hand off. AJ may be a good player for a team that has the luxury to CARRY a winger, due to playing 3 other hard nosed midfielders who will do his donkey work for him, but that team is NOT City and that team will never amount amount to much with AJ as a regular starter.....in his current form, mindset, work rate.

The only questions of relevance to me is: Do WE have time to wait for AJ to get fit and be what WE need him to be for us? And, does AJ want to be that player? Sadly, I think the answer to BOTH questions is NO!

 

[spurspinter1]

Very interesting post. But do you think he would have got a new 5 year contract if your boss didn't see potential in him?

 

[ChicagoBlue]

Very interesting post. But do you think he would have got a new 5 year contract if your boss didn't see potential in him?

POTENTIAL is all ANYONE sees in him, unfortunately! When that potential is going to be realized is the issue. Maybe Bobby thinks we can carry him and try to bring him along this season. However, as our only real wide player, he puts us in a difficult position when he plays and does not perform. If we had kept SWP, I might have fancied him to come on for those last 20 minutes on occasion, as you KNOW you will get 100% and lung busting runs up AND back, when needed.

Also, don't forget that contracts are barely worth the paper they are printed on these days. In today's world, a contract is just designed to ensure that the club receives appropriate value when they do come to sell him on, as opposed to letting VALUABLE players get within 18 months and then start dicking the club around (see De Jong).

Since the Bosman ruling, it is incumbent on clubs with young players with bags of potential to tie those players up for long periods. No-one wants to see a player nurtured into international prominence, only to see him walk away, into a big fat signing bonus in lieu of a transfer fee, just as he reaches his prime.

NOW, City control when he leaves or not for the next five years. CONTROL is a very big part of building a business, which is what is being done at Man City. Don't forget, we did not pay that much for him, and if he is not good enough for the First Team, he will soon get tired of the Reserves and want away. If and when that happens, CITY will control the situation, not the player!

One of the FEW things AJ has going for him is that he is young and English, which is meaningful in the squad make-up system that is currently being employed in England. However, if Mancini can find someone who can do what AJ can do AND defend AND go linger than 20 minutes in a game without looking like he needs oxygen, AJ will be listed in a New York minute!

After watching the England game tonight, it is clear that Downing is a far more accomplished ALL AROUND player than AJ, which means that AJ needs to pull up his socks if he has ANY intention of trying to be a regular England squad member. Amusingly, Micah Richards has been a bigger attacking threat down our right wing than AJ this season!