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2015/16 Ins & Outs


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Off topic, but Les and wife have just gifted (not loaned) 600k to bothwell parish church for its restoration. So they can't need his money he input to us back that quickly and therefore we should be negotiating for more here from Bournemouth. Add in his a key player with over 2 years to go and 400k should be a non starter.

It's up to him where he spends his dosh, but FFS Bothwell They could raise a few hundred grand by rattling the church collection tin extra hard on a Sunday
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The club needs money now though. We've had big loses and there is probably poor cash flow at this stage in the season. Can you put your hand on your heart and say Marvin Johnson is worth £400,000?

 

It's a big gamble to turn down that amount of money on a player who even his most fervent fan would have to say has been inconsistent. If he drops out the team or doesn't kick on while his contract runs down, he loses value.

 

Someone mentioned Ali Crawford and there is a case in point. He was superb last season but hasn't played at that level this season - would you pay more or less for him now or last season?

 

£400,000 seems more than a fair price to me and would represent significant income for the club. Could you get more in the future? Possibly but on what we've seen I think the odds would be against you.

 

I don't disagree however for them to acquire even an average at best player from Championship/League 1 level then the starting point would be a 7 figure price easily, so you can frame in in that sense. Obviously we're not a Championship/League 1 club but even still there seems to be a huge disconnect. Their business so far in this window has seen 2 Championship level players come in for a combined £18m in fact in terms of the league on a whole then there's barely a disclosed permanent deal going in to a Premier League team that is less than £1m. (http://www.skysports.com/football/transfer-deals). The suggestion was that they're looking at him as an alternative to Matt Phillips who's seemingly rated at £8m. In that context even £1m+ add ons would represent a cheap deal for them, which to be clear isn't to say that I think that Marvin Johnson's worth that simply that it would be a cheap price in that market.

 

In a world where you have folk like Tony Andreu, Lewis Macleod et al moving for (apparently) £1m fees then in that context it'd be fair to say that Marvin Johnson is worth more than £400,000 (or marginally more than an out of contract Lee Erwin).

 

However the flip of that is that a player's only worth what someone's willing to pay and I totally agree that the club posted a fairly hefty loss and when it comes right down to it whichever way you slice £400,000 would represent a fairly sizeable profit on a player we paid a nominal fee for only a year ago and a player who is fairly inconsistent at that. This is the model that the club and the owner have highlighted we need to do better in and as you've pointed out yourself our record of trading on players brought in from the English lower leagues has been poor. So in the eventuality that it turns out to be a legitimate interest then if it's a take it or leave it offer then we'd take it regardless of whether it can be viewed as 'cheap' when framed on the other fees Bournemouth are spending.

 

Having said all that you'd like to think that they wouldn't just take the first bid put to them given that it's in both Les' and the Club's interest to maximise their income in order to pay back the loan not to mention that the player still has another 2 years of his deal to run.

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Sbcmfc, if you would accept 400k for one of our currently most sellable assets with 2 and a half years left to go on his deal then thank goodness you are not involved in the club decision (hopefully!).

 

Couldn't agree more Capt Oats, on your post. In the grand scheme of things and recent transfers between SPFL and England...400k is light.

I just can't see where people are getting a value of more than £400k for Marvin Johnson. He's shown the odd glimpse that there's a player in there somewhere, but to say he's enigmatic would be an understatement.

 

He has 2 1/2 years on his contract, say he's on £3k a week (which I seriously doubt) that still doesn't add up to the value of £400k that's being scoffed at. (I know that's not the way clubs arrive at a fee, but it's an indicator)

 

I see some of the examples cited, although I'd write off Tony Andreu as a leaving present from Alex Neil.

 

Dundee United have done well at getting good fees, but these guys have proved themselves over a reasonable period and are young enough to develop further and potentially improve and increase in value.

 

Marvin Johnson has already kicked about the arse end of English football, he's 25, so he should be at his peak now.

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The club needs money now though. We've had big loses and there is probably poor cash flow at this stage in the season. Can you put your hand on your heart and say Marvin Johnson is worth £400,000?

 

It's a big gamble to turn down that amount of money on a player who even his most fervent fan would have to say has been inconsistent. If he drops out the team or doesn't kick on while his contract runs down, he loses value.

 

Someone mentioned Ali Crawford and there is a case in point. He was superb last season but hasn't played at that level this season - would you pay more or less for him now or last season?

 

£400,000 seems more than a fair price to me and would represent significant income for the club. Could you get more in the future? Possibly but on what we've seen I think the odds would be against you.

I don't think it's going to happen anyway so probably a moot point. But, would I pay 400k for him right now? No. Would I have paid the money clubs did from Hendrie, Andreu etc...no. I think in the current climate we could get more.
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I honestly don't believe they will even acknowledge the story, Eddie Howe won't even know who he is.

I agree there's no reason whatsoever for them to acknowledge it, but given that Eddie Howe played in the same Bournemouth team as our assistant manager for six years, it's certainly not impossible that they still talk and that Marvin has come up in conversation.

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I was thinking Motherwell sources leaked the 'story' given its the Daily Mail.

 

i think the message has been clear since McGhee came in that we have an asset in Marvin who was in danger of going wayward. We must therefore look to maximise his value in the relative short term.

 

In the meantime Ainsworth is shunned to the side despite sharing similar weaknesses to Johnson.

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I just can't see where people are getting a value of more than £400k for Marvin Johnson. He's shown the odd glimpse that there's a player in there somewhere, but to say he's enigmatic would be an understatement.

 

He has 2 1/2 years on his contract, say he's on £3k a week (which I seriously doubt) that still doesn't add up to the value of £400k that's being scoffed at. (I know that's not the way clubs arrive at a fee, but it's an indicator)

 

I see some of the examples cited, although I'd write off Tony Andreu as a leaving present from Alex Neil.

 

Dundee United have done well at getting good fees, but these guys have proved themselves over a reasonable period and are young enough to develop further and potentially improve and increase in value.

 

Marvin Johnson has already kicked about the arse end of English football, he's 25, so he should be at his peak now.

 

I don't think an "odd glimpse" is a fair assessment. He's had some serious dips in form, granted, the start of this season in particular, but since he has joined he has been central to the vast majority of good Motherwell performances.

 

Given he was bought for a nominal fee as an investment, if one year later where as you say, he's had peaks and troughs, someone is willing to start the bidding at £400k, then for me there is potential to make a lot more on him if he can show signs of consistency over a period of time, which I'd say he's en route to doing just now. Especially considering he has two and a half years left on his deal.

 

To accept a bid just now, it would have to be around a million for me. There's no question that losing him would have a detrimental effect on our squad.

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Would certainly agree with Joe's comments above. In an ideal world, we'd be looking for at least £1m.

 

However, if someone comes in with a bid of say, £700k, at the end of the month, do we stick or twist? That's still a cracking return for a nominal investment 12 months ago, and as they say, a player is only worth what a club is prepared to pay. If we hold off to the summer, and there's no takers, his value will only go down in the final 18 months of his contract.

We've lost out on gambles before (we turned down the best part of £1m for Reynolds, didn't we?). If there is genuine interest for Marvin Johnson out there, this will be the first real test of Les' words in relation to transfer fees.

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As far as Marvin Johnson' is concerned potential predators will not just be assessing his form to date although that is important. They will be assessing his character and talent. They will be asking whether their coaching staff can take a player with great potential and move him up a level or two, comfortable in the knowledge that their coaching, medical, management facilities are far better than ours.

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Would certainly agree with Joe's comments above. In an ideal world, we'd be looking for at least £1m.

 

However, if someone comes in with a bid of say, £700k, at the end of the month, do we stick or twist? That's still a cracking return for a nominal investment 12 months ago, and as they say, a player is only worth what a club is prepared to pay. If we hold off to the summer, and there's no takers, his value will only go down in the final 18 months of his contract.

We've lost out on gambles before (we turned down the best part of £1m for Reynolds, didn't we?). If there is genuine interest for Marvin Johnson out there, this will be the first real test of Les' words in relation to transfer fees.

 

£700,000 is a fair bit more than the £400,000 figure that's been mentioned though, isn't it?

 

I understand that many don't think he's worth more than £400,000, but how many of the players those teams down south are signing are actually worth the amounts paid? Very few.

 

It's all subjective, and if he's good enough to draw attention from a club in that position, then he's worth a fair bit more than £400,000.

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£700,000 is a fair bit more than the £400,000 figure that's been mentioned though, isn't it?

 

I understand that many don't think he's worth more than £400,000, but how many of the players those teams down south are signing are actually worth the amounts paid? Very few.

 

It's all subjective, and if he's good enough to draw attention from a club in that position, then he's worth a fair bit more than £400,000.

 

It is, yes, but considering I'd read today that apparently we'd look for £1m, that's the reason I picked out the £700k figure. Bang in the middle of the fee being talked about, and the fee we apparently are looking for.

 

 

As I said, he's only worth what a club is prepared to pay. Will just be interesting to see, if there is any bid(s), at what point we accept.

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I understand that many don't think he's worth more than £400,000, but how many of the players those teams down south are signing are actually worth the amounts paid? Very few.

That's always the annoying thing though, isn't it... an English Premiership team would probably always pay more for a Championship or League One player than they'd pay for that same player from a Scottish Premiership team, just because transfer fees down there are so grossly over-inflated.

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That's always the annoying thing though, isn't it... an English Premiership team would probably always pay more for a Championship or League One player than they'd pay for that same player from a Scottish Premiership team, just because transfer fees down there are so grossly over-inflated.

 

Aye, that's true, but we have seen English sides pay over the odds for Scottish-based talent as well. It seems to come down to the negotiating skills involved, which is why it seems to be the same few teams who get decent money for their players.

 

Let's hope that whenever a bigger side comes calling for one of our contracted players, be it Marvin or someone else, that Les lives up to his talk.

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