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Post by FullerMagic on Mar 20, 2008 12:59:18 GMT
..and they've made 4 moves for Earnshaw but Derby want a 1/2m loan fee  Bluebirds chase Michael Chopra
Mar 20 2008 by Terry Phillips, South Wales Echo
CARDIFF City today made an official approach to bring goal ace Michael Chopra back to Ninian Park on loan.
Chairman Peter Ridsdale has talked to Sunderland chairman Niall Quinn, while sources close to the Premiership club say the player is keen on a return to South Wales for the rest of this season.
And the major bonus is that Chopra would be eligible to play in the FA Cup semi-final against Barnsley at Wembley on Sunday, April 6.
Sunderland, though, are reluctant to let Chopra out on loan as they fight for the Premiership lives. They turned down Cardiff’s initial approach, but the Bluebirds are certain to step up talks.
Ironically, national newspaper speculation last week that Cardiff City had asked about Chopra was untrue, but they made their move as soon as yesterday’s court case against Langston was decided in their favour.
Ridsdale would not comment on the move for Chopra, but said City would step up moves to bring in loan players.
The Bluebirds see a goalscoring striker as a priority, particularly with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink ruled out by a three-game suspension, and they want extra cover at full-back.
There is one week left in the emergency transfer window. After next Thursday no team will be able to strengthen their squad.
Cardiff City have made four separate moves to bring Robert Earnshaw back to Ninian Park, but Derby County want a £500,000 loan free.
City could not raise that money while the court case was pending, but Ridsdale said today: “Now, at last, I can concentrate on strengthening the squad.
“We have been working hard all along to bring in the right players – over the last couple of days alone we have been knocked back for six players – but the court case meant finances were difficult.”
Chopra, 24, who joined Sunderland from Cardiff City in a £5m transfer last summer, scored 22 goals in 42 starts for the Bluebirds. He netted two goals in Sunderland’s first two Premier League matches this season, but has only scored once since then.
He has started 17 League matches for Sunderland – and there is a clause in his contract that guarantees Cardiff City an extra half a million pounds if he starts 25 games. |
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Post by potter84 on Mar 20, 2008 13:00:48 GMT
500K, im sure we can afford that - get in their TP & Coatsey
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Post by lordb on Mar 20, 2008 13:02:17 GMT
£500k - surely he would get a goal or 3
worth it
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Post by lordb on Mar 20, 2008 13:03:50 GMT
£500k - surely he would get a goal or 3
worth it
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Post by FullerMagic on Mar 20, 2008 13:05:19 GMT
Bit steep for potentially 6 weeks though. Great if it works, tear-your-hair-out madness if it doesn't.
Still, the stakes are high and 3-4 goals wouldn't go amiss.
Not sure Pulis would go in with a Fuller-Earnshaw front 2 though.
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Post by Stick It On Cort's Head on Mar 20, 2008 13:06:29 GMT
500k loan fee. It won't happen.
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Post by potter84 on Mar 20, 2008 13:06:44 GMT
Yes but no Fuller for next 2 so will play, will work well with Mama or Jay!!
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Post by lordb on Mar 20, 2008 13:07:37 GMT
£500k loan fee has got to be more or less the same as we were prepared to pay for Nugent
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Post by potter84 on Mar 20, 2008 13:12:20 GMT
£500k loan fee has got to be more or less the same as we were prepared to pay for Nugent I would of thought so, it may have been more for Nugent, with Pompey spunking £6m on him & Derby paying £3.2m for Earnshaw...need to make sum money out of em |
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Post by FullerMagic on Mar 20, 2008 13:12:24 GMT
I still think it's s**t or bust and we've got to put all our eggs into doing it this year.
There isn't much of a season-on-season formline in this division.
All bets would be off come next August if we're still in ithis league. And even reaching the play-offs next year woul be nowhere near guaranteed.
Or the next season after that, for that matter.
The odds are much better now with a 7-game mini-season to focus on.
Easy to say when it's not your money - but surely we've got to roll the dice as much as we can for a 6-week blast when the odds are dramatically tilted in our favour.
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Post by serpico on Mar 20, 2008 13:21:39 GMT
I still think it's s**t or bust and we've got to put all our eggs into doing it this year. There isn't much of a season-on-season formline in this division. All bets would be off come next August if we're still in ithis league. And even reaching the play-offs next year woul be nowhere near guaranteed. Or the next season after that, for that matter. The odds are much better now with a 7-game mini-season to focus on. Easy to say when it's not your money - but surely we've got to roll the dice as much as we can for a 6-week blast when the odds are dramatically tilted in our favour. For a chairman who owns a gambling business it may be time for him to take a couple himself. Pulis has said he want's a "fox in the box", Earnshaw certainly fits into that mold and 500k is probably similar to what the Nugent deal was going to cost. |
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Post by realstokebloke on Mar 20, 2008 13:24:52 GMT
Weren't we on the verge of doing the nugent deal?
And wasn't that rumoured to be in the order of £500k all-in at the time?So, do we want a striker that badly or not? Simple as.
I don't think they are that radically different are they (Nugent & Earnie w.r.t. style of play etc not racial origin & angle of teeth etc)
IOW wouldn't Earnie present the same problems (or ooportunities) alongside Fuller as Nugent?
(Albeit, he won't be alongside him as Fuller won't be playing for a couple of matches.)
Or is Chopra actually the better shout or even Stokes at Sunderland? They can't all be playing.
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Post by mikeyb99 on Mar 20, 2008 13:27:24 GMT
£500k is silly money for an average Championship striker. If they can nail that fee down a little it might be worth it. Ultimately there is no potential in Earnshaw after this season - he certainly isn't good enough for Premiership whereas Nugent might be.
Teams like Derby shouldn't be holding anyone to ransom IMO. Not for £500k.
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Post by The Toxic Avenger on Mar 20, 2008 13:28:48 GMT
Earnshaw is an excellent Championship striker.
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Post by stokelad on Mar 20, 2008 13:31:45 GMT
chopra would be a good player to have at this point in the season, could bag a few goals but hes only done it for one season and hes really struggled in the prem, 500k for earnshaw is ridiculous i carnt quite understand derby for signing him myself.
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Post by serpico on Mar 20, 2008 13:32:00 GMT
If he gets the goals that win us promotion then that 500k will be money well spent. The question you have to ask is will we ever get a better chance of automatic promotion ? it's in our own hands.
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Post by realstokebloke on Mar 20, 2008 13:34:36 GMT
mikey:
Despite his shortcomings in the teeth, being Welsh, being ex Baardiff and being a rate twatter departments, RVD is right imo.
No-one has a crystal ball but i could see him being very useful here.
Also, it would be a loan (even a "loan with a view to a perm..." will have a get out clause or two in it). So if he helps us get there, great, then we go shopping in the summer if when we go up. 
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Post by Danstoke82 on Mar 20, 2008 13:37:46 GMT
Chopra would we a good addition, the git used to regularly put them past us in his Baardiff days. As for Earnie, time would tell whether Coatesy would be willing to stump up more cash.
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Post by FullerMagic on Mar 20, 2008 13:55:30 GMT
Earnshaw's record stands up at every level really.
L2 20 goals 22 starts
L1 43 goals 71 starts
Ch 50 goals 93 starts
Pr 11 goals 23 starts
There can't be many better all through the leagues.
He'd almost be bound to get us 2-3 at this level, and they could be priceless.
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Post by lordb on Mar 20, 2008 13:57:36 GMT
you have to question why he hasnt been playing for Derby though.
if its down to a perceived attitude problem then he would be the last player we need as team spirit is very important @ Stoke
if Jewell just doesnt rate him then thats a differnt matter
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Post by realstokebloke on Mar 20, 2008 14:01:52 GMT
Impressive to say the least.
& That's clearly why they think they can justify £500k.
(Can't help thinking Blackpool have, effectively, got much the same 'thing' for what must have been a fraction of the cost though in the shape of Dikov?)
Anyway, get some horse-trading done PC to get Jewell & the other Derby twatters down a bit & gerrim here.
But get it done, pronto. If we fanny about like with Nugent, it'll be over. This weekend or nowt plse.
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Post by PotterLog on Mar 20, 2008 14:06:53 GMT
Pulis is looking for a replacement for Fuller, not someone to play alongside him. Even if we did pay 500k for the loan for Earnshaw (which I really doubt we will), we certainly wouldn't see him start 7 games.
If Sidebe's fit, Sidebe plays.
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Post by The Toxic Avenger on Mar 20, 2008 14:10:06 GMT
"Despite his shortcomings in the teeth, being Welsh, being ex Baardiff and being a rate twatter departments, RVD is right imo" Bit harsh! Apart from the "being a rate twatter" bit, obviously  Or did you mean Earnie? |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2008 14:11:42 GMT
Earnshaw's record stands up at every level really. L2 20 goals 22 startsL1 43 goals 71 startsCh 50 goals 93 startsPr 11 goals 23 startsThere can't be many better all through the leagues. He'd almost be bound to get us 2-3 at this level, and they could be priceless. Earnshaw has a cracking goal scoring record. I'd take him with a view to a permanent deal if we get promoted. He has never really been given a fair crack of the whip at Prem level. We need a striket that can notch 4-5 goals in the remaining games. He definitely fits into this category. |
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Post by FullerMagic on Mar 20, 2008 14:13:05 GMT
Whether he'd ever go in without a fit Mama is a moot point.
But would anyone half-decent (if Nugent's anything to go by, we are looking at the top shelf of loanees) be prepared to drop to the C'ship for 6-7 weeks in such circumstances if we assume a fit and available Fuller will always start?
In the right circumstances and if he could get a partner for Fuller of the right quality, maybe Pulis would be prepared to go in without Sidibe; maybe he would've done last season if Parkin wouldn't have been recalled and surely he would've done if the Nugent deal would have gone through.
There's no way Nugent would have sat on the bench watching Sidibe.
And haven't we already got Gallagher and Bothroyd to come on and try and change the game in the last 20 if it's not going our way?
Pulis' quotes seem to suggest he definitely sees both of them as impact subs.
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Post by serpico on Mar 20, 2008 14:15:09 GMT
You have to wonder if there is anyone out there who's available with a better record than that ?... the answers no, if there was ever a time to take a gamble now is that time, go get him Tony.
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Post by realstokebloke on Mar 20, 2008 14:26:15 GMT
"Despite his shortcomings in the teeth, being Welsh, being ex Baardiff and being a rate twatter departments, RVD is right imo" Bit harsh! Apart from the "being a rate twatter" bit, obviously Or did you mean Earnie?
Ah-ha. So my attempts at character assassination were remarkably accurate then?
(Oh and yes, I'll get you the name of a good dentist if you do look like that n'all.)
Can't help you with the Welsh bits though.
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Post by The Toxic Avenger on Mar 20, 2008 14:30:52 GMT
To be fair, I was very moved by Earnshaw's performance as that thing that bursts out of John Hurt in Alien.
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Post by frasier37 on Mar 20, 2008 14:37:28 GMT
We're too close now for PC to go tight fisted. Come on Peter, yer can't take it with yer. Don't go wobbly on us ;D
One big signing will do it.
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Post by realstokebloke on Mar 20, 2008 14:41:10 GMT
Earnie or Chopra would be as close to a sure thing in the goalscoring department as we'll ever get now.
(Plus both would have the added bonus of hacking off Baardiff enormously. ;D )
Cheque book out Peter.
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