Lars Knutsen offers a hearty welcome to Martin O’Neill’s new acquisitions, applauds the manager’s role in persuading stars to come our way and quietly approves of heavy rain on Wearside …
After weeks of suspense, Sunderland AFC finally confirmed the signing today of the Wolves striker Steven Fletcher.
It is such a welcome announcement that we will even spare SAFC our customary criticism of the absurdity of seeing all kinds of figures bandied about before coyly saying we paid “an undisclosed fee”. But we will remind all concerned to bite their lips before rebuking anyone who speculates wrongly at £10m, £12m, £14m or, for that matter, below or above.
NB. Stop Press: Have we, haven’t we? A tweet which may or may not have been a spoof suggested he was ours, or nearly, Wolves having accepted a ludicrously high bid of £14m for Steven Fletcher – good player, no fault of his that football is bonkers but that would make him worth almost as much as PSG paid for Ibrahimovic. It may be complete nonsense, of course. Much dust has still to settle …
Every club will get away with it as long as they can. Sunderland were happy enough to take megabucks for Jordan Henderson, good player and excellent longer-term prospect that he is. Spurs are past masters of the art of extracting ridiculous money for players they sense the would-be buyer wants more than they need to sell. Even so, the Steven Fletcher saga is extraordinary. Wolves have held out for a world-beater fee, with the risk of getting nothing, for a useful player most would value at £5-7m. Before the questionable rumours suggesting we had got what we wanted and so had they, Stephen Goldsmith, a known admirer, had chatted about it to Thomas from the Wolves Blog …
Bill Taylor advocates realism ahead of Arsenal on Saturday. Whether that translates as the point he and most us would relish, or a philosophical response to heavy defeat, Bill expects the season to start slowly, if slowly’s the right word …
A last word, from Stephen Goldsmith, on Tigers ungaggable new boss and a suggestion that calling Wolverhampton Wanderers’ bluff may …