Gareth Frank Bale

[Matt]

Bale would be perfect in our front 3 as well.

I know we’re dreaming, but it would be incredible if we could pull it off. Such a statement.

And Nottingham has some excellent golf courses. Particularly in my end of the world - Woodhall Spa is one of the team GB training courses, notoriously difficult.

 

[Calvin Plummer]

Big no from me. Would destroy our wage structure and has been far more interested in golf than football for a long time.

 

[IJPS]

Wheres the BUPA tag?

 

[jamferg]

Big no from me. Would destroy our wage structure and has been far more interested in golf than football for a long time.

but... he's a multi millionaire and his legacy will be playing in a World Cup final .. so playing under Cooper and alongside BJ is perfect preperation. Money is not important ( to any normal person with ambition not greed as a drive- let us see)

 

[Calvin Plummer]

but... he's a multi millionaire and his legacy will be playing in a World Cup final .. so playing under Cooper and alongside BJ is perfect preperation. Money is not important ( to any normal person with ambition not greed as a drive- let us see)

Unsure if this is tongue in cheek or not.

He's currently on over 500k per week, even 20% would destroy our wage structure and any sort of squad unity. The fact he's been happy to sit on the bench tells us all we need to know.

 

[Carlos]

I can't see the comparison to Erikson? A man who literally tapped out on the pitch to a heavyweight ducking all the big fights, not saying Bale is shite or a bad signing, but for Jesus Mary and Joseph's sake can that reference stop being made? They are 2 totally different players

 

[Rzar]

The compairson is probably putting a world class player into a side near the bottom of the Prem.

Different players yes, but if it were to happen (I don't think it will) you would hope they would have the same impact.

 

[GOBIAS]

I’m still unsure where I stand on this. The aging big name player on oodles of cash brings out the wariness in me due to disruption to squad, potential lack of game time / fitness etc..

On the other hand it might be ok as he isn’t just another good player he is probably such a big name and talent that the players may relish him being here.

Who knows.

Anyway it isn’t happening anyway.

 

[Matt]

Lots of people assuming he’d be a bad influence here. Not sure that is the case, especially as we put more emphasis on attitude that aptitude in our current recruitment model

 

[Mr RayReardon]

Unsure if this is tongue in cheek or not.

He's currently on over 500k per week, even 20% would destroy our wage structure and any sort of squad unity. The fact he's been happy to sit on the bench tells us all we need to know.

Yep. It's clearly a wind up. Nonsense signing. Rather have Josh Bowler

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[Ste]

if he signed for £50-100k a week on a 1 year contract, with a big "stay up" bonus at the end of the season (to keep him motivated), I don't see how that could be anything but beneficial for both the club and player.

Clearly not going to happen, but would be pretty intriguing.

 

[Matt]

Yep. It's clearly a wind up. Nonsense signing. Rather have Josh Bowler

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All jokes aside, you can’t honestly think you’d rather have Josh bowler than Gareth bale

 

[Fitzcarraldo]

Another point on this fantasy bullshit, in a universe where Bale signs for us do you really think he's going to push himself and risk an injury before the WC? And, with that out the way and another, and possibly his final personal milestone reached, where does he go and what do we get?

 

[Notcher]

Just to play devils advocate with this. There's a serious cost-benefit analysis to be done here. Signing someone like Bale attracts serious international marketing opportunities. The shirt sales alone could potentially pay several months of his wages. If there was real potential to recoup a significant amount of that outlay then it's a signing worth considering.

The guy is still a serious talent and if we could offset his wages then I wouldn't be against it.

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[Morpeth]

The only problem with that is that we haven’t made a shirt to sell for over six months!

 

[gamble]

Just to play devils advocate with this. There's a serious cost-benefit analysis to be done here. Signing someone like Bale attracts serious international marketing opportunities. The shirt sales alone could potentially pay several months of his wages. If there was real potential to recoup a significant amount of that outlay then it's a signing worth considering.

The guy is still a serious talent and if we could offset his wages then I wouldn't be against it.

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Not forgetting we'd get the whole of Wales willing us to do well, the old hero Bale and the Young hope Johnson both playing for us.

 

[Fitzcarraldo]

Your typical EPL club gets approx. 7-8% on shirt sales. Not sure Bale is enough of an attraction to drive worldwide interest in the mighty oak to pay for one weeks wages.

I think the brand and, more important, the crest makes a huge difference here too. I.e. Bale on the back of a Macron Garibaldi is not quite the allure of the three stripe sporting the royal crown/corona.

 

[T.B.T.]

I don't think, as a club, we should be looking to sign players as high profile as Gareth Bale. As good as it would be to have someone as experienced as Bale, he would take a huge chunk out of our budget and I dread to think what his wages would be. Also, I think it could have a negative effect and would be unsettling amongst the rest of the team.

I trust in Cooper and Murphy to spot and search out fresh new talent with a view to them fitting in with our current squad and Cooper's style of play. Maybe in a couple of seasons but for now, let's take it one step at a time.

 

[Mr RayReardon]

All jokes aside, you can’t honestly think you’d rather have Josh bowler than Gareth bale

Honestly, I think so. Bale was absolutely world class 5 years ago but he's barely played since...

We should be looking for quality, young Championship players that can make the step up. If we're going for Bale, we may as well offer Jack Wilshire a contract as well.

Saying that, as fantastical as it sounds, if we sign up I'll probably put a poster up in my room!

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[gamble]

Honestly, I think so. Bale was absolutely world class 5 years ago but he's barely played since...

We should be looking for quality, young Championship players that can make the step up. If we're going for Bale, we may as well offer Jack Wilshire a contract as well.

Saying that, as fantastical as it sounds, if we sign up I'll probably put a poster up in my room!

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The issue with doing that is you end up being a yo-yo club and potentially end up doing a Sheffield United. You need both young players and players that are already good enough.

 

[Strummer]

Bale is a great player when he’s fit, which he often isn’t.

A player of that level would overshadow the entire club though. I’d rather build a team, together, as seems to be the Steve Cooper Way ().

 

[Mr RayReardon]

The issue with doing that is you end up being a yo-yo club and potentially end up doing a Sheffield United. You need both young players and players that are already good enough.

That's where the expertise of Cooper comes in. The players we buy, need to be good enough. With our unique knowledge of the players in the 2nd tier, we have to go for those who will be good enough to step up. 'Top' players won't come to us. Players that are established Premier League quality will already be well known to other clubs who will be ahead of us in the queue.

Buying premier league cast offs, leave that to Everton.



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[I'm Red Till Dead]

I didn't think he played all that well for Wales againt Ukraine. Certainly no where near £100,000pw well.

 

[cheapseats]

Just to play devils advocate with this. There's a serious cost-benefit analysis to be done here. Signing someone like Bale attracts serious international marketing opportunities. The shirt sales alone could potentially pay several months of his wages. If there was real potential to recoup a significant amount of that outlay then it's a signing worth considering.

The guy is still a serious talent and if we could offset his wages then I wouldn't be against it.

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But Notch, you've played the game and you know, just like the rest of us that someone like Bale, even if he comes in on his best behaviour will disrupt the dressing room. He will immediately become the leader, even if its just by virtue of the fact hes been a Galactico at RM and when you add the wage disparity in there it will turn the dressing room upside down. When that happens, theres trouble 95% of the time, particularly if results aren't good. Its just far too much of a risk even though we'd all love to see a front 3 with him and Brennan in there....

 

[cheapseats]

That's where the expertise of Cooper comes in. The players we buy, need to be good enough. With our unique knowledge of the players in the 2nd tier, we have to go for those who will be good enough to step up. 'Top' players won't come to us. Players that are established Premier League quality will already be well known to other clubs who will be ahead of us in the queue.

Buying premier league cast offs, leave that to Everton.



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I don't know about that Ray. If the objective is to stay up rather than pocket the money and improve the squad for a bit of you-yo ing then there has to be a mix and there do need to be players coming in that have played and understand the prem in 2022. For me an experienced, quality CM is key. I'd probably be looking to go 3 in the middle of the park and for sure a 2 of Yates and Garner isn't good enough.