Do-do-dooo, Nigel Reo Coker (signs)

[General Mannerheim]

am only joking of course. he looked good, theres obvious quality there, although i thought he did look out of shape and a bit tired by about 70mins - has he not been training with anyone?

really enjoyed tonight tho, and my first taste of the new season. showcasing three new players was a bonus too! gutted i missed the pitch invasion tho, left on 85 to get a pint but no bastard pubs were open!

[LiOC]

am only joking of course. he looked good, theres obvious quality there, although i thought he did look out of shape and a bit tired by about 70mins - has he not been training with anyone?
really enjoyed tonight tho, and my first taste of the new season. showcasing three new players was a bonus too! gutted i missed the pitch invasion tho, left on 85 to get a pint but no bastard pubs were open!

Tbf, even if he has, this'll be the first match he's played since he got released so his fitness will be behind our squad I presume.

Little pitch invasion at the end, Bury stewards didn't even seem to care.

[Verbal]

update:

Happy now?

[officer_dibble]

pitch shirt wave?

[Verbal]

PSG: pitch shirt gesture

[LiOC]

Another here if anyone is still suspicious
Burnley league 1 though, maybe not a great source...

[keveh]

Glad to see him signed.

Although we have quite a lot of players fighting for that position, I think he's got something extra to offer. Basically a Muamba who can pass.

[aussie_wanderer]

Can we call him Nige?

Or are we sticking with Nroker or whatever

Whats Coyle's fist choice midfield I wonder...Muamba/Nige, Nige/Pratley....and then when Holdens back?

Competition for places

Muamba, NRC, Pratley, Holden, Mavies, Gardner... then Lee, Petrov and Eagles on the wings... midfield is not a problem at the moment. If anything I can see either Mark Davies or Muamba going before September.

i wouldnt get rid of mark davies, no way, how much did we pay for him? was a fair bit if i recall correctly
i dont really see any more players leaving. only cahill

[thebish]

update:

Happy now?

clearly photoshopped!

[bobo the clown]

looking taller in this one.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Muamba, NRC, Pratley, Holden, Mavies, Gardner... then Lee, Petrov and Eagles on the wings... midfield is not a problem at the moment. If anything I can see either Mark Davies or Muamba going before September.

i wouldnt get rid of mark davies, no way, how much did we pay for him? was a fair bit if i recall correctly
i dont really see any more players leaving. only cahill

Mark Davies is the kind of player Coyle would want at his club and may well revert to his pre-crisis role of first-choice attacking-change sub. Muamba is a good player to have in the squad and fits the "improvable, resaleable" template that we have been really going for under Coyle (it was to some extent introduced under his predecessor). He also suits the high-tempo Coyle style. I'd be surprised if he left for any less than £5m, especially if Cahill goes for a fair whack.

[Lofthouse Lower]

Very pleased with this signing. Will play in every game that's fit I reckon.

Keep Muamba, we need a bigger squad and he doesn't seem the type to rock the boat. Can't imagine there'd be many takers for him either, cos no doubt we'd want to recoup our outlay on the boy.

Has he fulfilled the criteria of that extra £1m in his deal yet?

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Keep Muamba, we need a bigger squad and he doesn't seem the type to rock the boat. Can't imagine there'd be many takers for him either, cos no doubt we'd want to recoup our outlay on the boy. Has he fulfilled the criteria of that extra £1m in his deal yet?

Didn't realise there were any extras. Can't find exact details beyond "£750,000 in add-ons" (both official sites) above the £5m fee. They could be anything - 100 appearances? Full cap? 10 full caps? Note that he also signed a four-year contract for Coyle last August. Like you say, he's not going anywhere fast or cheap, nor should he be.

[Lofthouse Lower]

is it £750,000? Fair enough - yes, would expect them to be appearance based.

Bit cheeky of us if its linked to trophy wins....we could have offered them £50m and it'd be pretty safe

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Bit cheeky of us if its linked to trophy wins....we could have offered them £50m and it'd be pretty safe

Indeed, considering they'd just gone down and famously (if inaccurately) regarded as trophy-free...

Add-ons obviously depend on the circumstances of the clubs and the player's potential.

If we sell Dean Holden to skint Oldham then we'd be happy for a 20% sell-on (in case he reaches the potential we thought he had), rather than an appearance-based fee which may end up with Oldham unable to play him if they can't afford to see him reach the benchmark.

If second-tier Birmingham sell Muamba to Premier League us, it's reasonable for them to ask for £500k if he reaches 50/100 games, plus one if he plays for England when with us (remember he was already a U21 regular).

If we sell "England's Gary Cahill" to a Champions League team then it's reasonable to ask for a million if they win the Champions League or Premier League (at which point they presumably won't mind) or if he reaches a certain number of England caps under their ownership (which would theoretically prove he's worth it).

[Lofthouse Lower]

Agreed, and it'd be daft of us not to that, even if it means taking a hit on the upfront fee.

Sell-on clauses are another one, I seem to remember Portsmouth having a 20% sell-on for big Matt (though annoyingly can't find any evidence now), but whether that was 20% of a flat fee or 20% of any profit is another thing. Fingers crossed it was the latter.

Talk has often abound of us buying out the sell-on with Cahill, but has this ever been proven?

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Taylor sell-on is news to me. Cahill buy-out never proven.

Unlikely to get a sell-on percentage from the big clubs because they like to think that they'd only sell for say £40m to say Barcelona.

[Lofthouse Lower]

Yes, unless it's a sell-on of any fee, as opposed to a percentage of profit.

Either way, Muamba shouldn't be sold

[Lord Kangana]

I'm not sure that decision will be entirely in Coyle's hands. Unless we suddenly pull an £8.5m striker out of a hat, its clear he's got little money. If someone were to offer, say, £7m+ for Muamba, I'm sure the club would give it a great deal of consideration. And probably sell.

[Lofthouse Lower]

If they did then they'd be stupid not to.