AVFC Blog - Will Aston Villa pay the £80k a week Crouch wants?

If Martin O'Neill wants Peter Crouch he really should pay the £80k a week

Written by Damian

Thursday, 08 May 2008

You want to play with big boys you've got to play by their rules. If Peter Crouch wants £80,000 a week and Martin O'Neill sees him as an integral part of our assault on the top four, them I'm afraid he's got to pay it.

Let's put it another way, if we can get top four football with players all earning £40,000 a week then that's what we'd do, but the simple truth is we won't be able to.

If you want to be in the Champions League you've got to bring in the players that can get you there and they want Champions League pay to do it.

Now, I'm not saying Peter Crouch is one of the right players we need to bring in, however I am a fan, but if Martin O'Neill sees him as a valuable addition in getting us to the Champions League, then surely it's got to happen. After all, we're told and told that Randy Lerner will back the manager.

We lost out on Defoe because of wages and we'll lose out on Crouch if the club don't pay it.

While the thought of paying somebody that much money is disgusting, that's the game and like I said, if you want to play with the big boys, you've got to play by their rules.

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eoin1981 said:

I agree 100% - i dont care what they cost or how what wages they want - if they are going to get it from someone else then they are worth it. Pay the market rate - its as simple as that.

One of my mates who is a united fan and a bit of a gunner hater sent me this today......

'I would have to agree with you that O'Neill needs to start spending this Summer. I get the impression that he is a bit like Arsene Wenger - They are afraid to spend big money on players and therefore avoid criticism when things don't go well because they haven't spent much money. It takes a bit of balls to spend the cash no matter what people think.'

Fans say that MoN is doing really well WITH THE SQUAD WE HAVE, but his doubters say - we agree BUT after 2 seasons and assuming that he has the financial backing - why dont we have a bigger and better squad. That is his responsibility.

May 08, 2008

Jimmy Villain said:

Crouch isn't worth 80k a week, we have John Carew and his presence on the field at times created this long ball strategy we have all seen for long periods of games this season. Adding Crouch is more of the same, he thrives on those long balls, doesn't beat many defenders from outside the box and is crap in the air. If we are going to pay someone 80k a week it needs to be a player of a much higher calibre than Crouch. Mind you, crouch will score more goals than Carew.

That being said, I agree with your comments about getting what you pay for and paying the going rate. I just don't think that a player like Crouch is worth breaking the wage structure over.

May 08, 2008

McVillain said:

Is a lot of money for our club, but your right if we are going to compete we need to start paying the big bucks.

Crouch? I have to say I have always felt he has been an under rated player and has a surprisingly very very good touch for his size.So yeh Pay it

Crouch may come but to get bigger and better we HAVE to get into Europe, big F.U last week.

Come on you Geordies

May 08, 2008

villafandan said:

when you consider that old trafford is packed out every home game with the equivalent of villa park and white heart lane combined you'll see we just don't have the revenue to start paying silly wages just yet. that doesn't even touch on all the other income clubs like manure have that we don't.

no doubt we can go higher than the ~45k ceiling we're currently at, but we couldn't hope to afford too many on close to double that. i'm sure we'll head in that direction bit by bit, but i'm not convinced crouch is the player to lead the way. but that's MON's decision.

May 08, 2008

mini_beest said:

I agree as well. But in all honestly, I think Villa know they need to do this to progress into the top 4. The way we played this season has been amazing! I said top 10 at the start and I would of been happy. With Intertoto or Europe so close it is exciting times at Villa. If we did get into either of these two, I could see some good players come in and also alot of young kids for the future.

But I would love to see Rodney back at Villa park

May 08, 2008

Winston said:

The wage demands of a player are irrelevant. O'Neil should only be prepared to pay what they are worth (at todays inflated prices), and Crouch (though a fan) is not worth 80 a week. Why can't we scout Europe and find a Torres or Anelka type player? We know what Crouch can do. To use a horse racing term he is 'exposed', I would like to see a 'progressive' type from for continent for 15m plus (there are plenty of them who want to play in the premiership).

May 08, 2008

Woz said:

Not looking good for the Geordies.....

"Newcastle striker Mark Viduka faces a lenghty spell on the sidlines through injury"

May 08, 2008

PaulE said:

I agree in principle, that to get the cream of the crop we have to pay top dollar in terms of wages. I don't think Crouch is worth that. He would be a good addition, but he's not in the same class as Barry or Young (I'd be happy if either one of those two got £80k a week because we can't live without them!).

What I don't want, though, is for us to pay someone that much when they're not worth it. Crouch is probably worth £50k per week, but not £80k unless we got a big discount on the transfer fee.

May 08, 2008

shabba said:

I'd like Crouch back at Villa Park but he's not worth those wages, give Barry 80k p/w and lets make some exciting signings for once.. Lets Offer Quaresma or Van der Vaart 80k and see if we can cause a stir amongst the premiership..

Spurs hav bought Modric, who's a great young player, Dos Santos looks like he may be going to Man city from Barca... Why arent we in the frame for these young stars?

Instead we get linked every week to a lad from Bournemouth, who may be good, but wont go to the next euros or world cup......

I dearly hope that Carson gets sent back to Liverpool as he's simply not good enough.. He looks frightened to death, where as Joe Hart, who is younger, commands his area and shouts his head off...

May 08, 2008

jaf said:

Theres no way Crouch is worth 80k..! We are supposed to be going forward, not backwards... Santa Cruz is on 45k at blackburn. Also i dont think MON is iterested, himself and the scouting system seem to be getting down to the job in hand now (europe, theres plenty of good EU players now who dont need a work permit) a team the size of ours could probaley afford two 80k players. So i dont think MON will waste those wages on Crouch..!

May 08, 2008

jobiemcd said:

Hi Guys..... I see Rafa has put a 15million price tag on england's 3rd choice striker Crouchy..... Now does that not mean that GB our captain and a starter in the English team has to be worth in excess of 20million probably even close to 30million at this stage..... it just goes to show what they think of AVFC and how much he really rates GB, OK so if GB wants to go and MON is forced to sell its time to tell Liverpool what we want were not at a sunday market haggling over some knock off DVD's...... Its time the big four stop thinking they can hold the so called 2nd tier to ransom. So lets tell Rafa what we want and say meet that demand or else go take a run and jump and try hold another team to ransom for one of there star players.

May 08, 2008

Villain of the North said:

I'm not sure I really understand the purporse of this article.

To start with, you rightly said, you don't know if Crouch is a target for villa. We read everywhere, completely sure that Bosingwa was a target for villa. According to Porto, they've never had contact from us about him. There was never any proof we were in for Defoe, pure paper speculation.

There is simply NO knowing who we go in for until it is announced by the club. We WANTED the club to be run this way while doug was at the helm, now that it is, we don't seem happy that they deal in this silence. For whatever reason, they've chosen to do business this way and i like that ethic.

Second point, whoever says we missed out on ANY player under MON because of wages? If anyone has to argue that, i want definitive proof or a darn good argument. I mean, i don't even know that there is a wage cap at villa these days, there was under doug but things have changed. Villa doesn't seem to be restricted by anything these days other than 2 things to my knowledge :

1) who MON has identified as a realistic target
2) whether they'll come to us or not.

It just doesn't seem to me like finances are the underlying tone why we've not signed the players we've yet hoped for.

May 08, 2008

Villain of the North said:

And for what it's worth, i disagree with you Jimmy. I think crouch doesn't use his head anywhere near as much as you'd expect a huge guy. You look at his goals, he likes the ball played to his feet, turns and shoots. Granted he plays back to goal, but that doesn't favour the long ball tactic you mention.

I don't know if crouch is a target, i don't think he'd be a bad signing, even after we sold him for pittance.

May 08, 2008

Morton said:

Don't want Crouch is not worth the money, we have crew there is just no need... we need a proper striker and if they pay 15mil for him then there mad.... completly bonkers....

May 08, 2008

simonridley18 said:

jobiemcd ur spot on!! Rafa is a complete joke in my eyes. He plays for one thing and one thing only each season in (the champions league) and then goes and not only insults villa with a ridiculous bid for barry but then has the cheek to say crouch is worth 15m. Rafa.. do us all and favour and jog on.

May 08, 2008

magnumopus said:

Don't get over excited about trades and player costs guys.
Barry isn't worth over 20 mil. give me a break!
There are no clubs that will pay that much for him.
He will be gone this summer so lets just hope it is fair for all three involved.
That means that all parties are happy!

May 08, 2008

pazzler said:

sorry, i really do not see the merit in signin crouch wen we hav carew an harewood. for me there are better options out there, irrespective of whether we hav a chance of signin them - which is a bit of a contradiction/flaw in my arguement - but i just dont see crouch as a player who can help take us forward.
smilies/cry.gif

May 08, 2008

RSamVillaFan said:

Back page of todays Daily Star:
I WILL NOT SELL BAZZA
The jist of the story is MON saying that people think that whatever Liverpool want they get, well not in this case.
He goes on to say that he is prepared to offer 80k per week to hang on to Barry and that he will do whatever it takes to push on with the backing of RL.
MON rocks!!!

May 08, 2008

jinksy said:

You pay peanuts you get monkeys as the saying goes. Thats why we've got Reo joker,Zat Knight & Petrov. If we want to challange we need top players & we need to pay top wages to get them. It's not rocket science

May 08, 2008

RUDDY91 said:

well you've got to keep your best players to have any chance of beating the rest. in my eyes GB is our main player at the moment and no matter how much they offer we should refuse. like C RONALDO if MAN U were offered 80m for him i'm sure they would reject because he is clearly there best payer and as far as i'm concerned BARRY is our best player and yes we should sign CROUCH.

May 08, 2008

Damian said:

Villain of the North

Read it again then, if you don't understand. It's not rocket science.

As for how things are done these days; do you think this Barry to Liverpool thing is a complete surprise to Barry? If you do, you're on a different planet. Basically everything is concluded before an official bid/offer goes in.

Liverpool are not making a bid not already knowing that Barry wants to join them and how much money he is going to want, over what length of contract. It's simply a case of agent and Rafa getting together saying, you'll probably get him for £15mn. but start low and you never know.

As for Defoe, how would you like that proof, let me send you the email shall I with the name of the person that told me? You either decide to believe it or you don't.

The point of this post is, if you want to play in the Champions League you've got to pay players that can get your there Champions League salary.

May 08, 2008

brett said:

no we shouldnt, defoe wasnt worth 80k, diarra certainly wasnt and neither is crouch

im gutted that today eto'o gets linked with spurs, dos santos with man city, and we get linked with 2 leicester players

if we are serious about finishing 4th we should stop looking for other prem teams cast offs and go big abroad

May 08, 2008

I HATE BLUES said:

The club can demand what it likes for season tickets and if we want them we have to pay them ,surley the same principle here if you want a player and thats what he wants then you pay it or go without.

May 08, 2008

Villain of the North said:

Damian, don't get me wrong i really like this site. It's one of only 2 villa sites i regularly frequent and will continue to do so. In essence i agree with what you say in the article about paying the wages required to purchase a chosen target. I think there is a line you should draw where you wont go above in obtaining a player. Players are already greedy and possess too much control in my opinion and stands do need to be taken.

Do i think Barry to liverpool is a surprise? Do i think it's pretty much a case of signing on the line? I'd guess no and yes. But that isn't my point. I'm talking about the way villa as a club do business. MON plays his cards a lot closer to his chest than under previous management, hence us lot rely on pure speculation. That's fine, but for the average "not in hte know" like your fortunate self, we have to pick and choose what sources to believe. I personally believe there is far more talk of targets than we actually go in for.

And to tie this into my original post, who says we're in for crouch? if we are then your article stands somewhat more valid and i'd still kinda like to know your sources regarding this. If we have no proof we are in for players and missing them because we're being unreasonable on wage demands, then i back you up pal.

May 08, 2008

Villa_Rules said:

Liverpool want 15 Million for him would u really pay that and then the 80k a week infact can u really see martin o neill doing that ?

Martin o neill in the transfer market talks the talk but dont walk the walk all mouth no action why dose anyone think this transfer window will be diffrent ?

May 08, 2008

Villain from Texas said:

Villain of the North:

MON turned down Diarra because of wages. According to MON, "When the agents for Lassana Diarra, who is a good player, told us what they were looking for, I just couldn't do it and I dismissed it."

May 08, 2008

Stuartavfc said:

Liverpool would hate to sell him to us if they don't get Barry. I don't believe he was ever part of the Barry deal either. I can't see how he could be.

Liverpool value Crouch at £15M. I would value him at £12M and I do think we should get him. He would be a fantastic signing. For us to clinch the signing, we'd have to really go some though and I don't think the club will do that.

May 08, 2008

dai said:

to be honest i wouldnt bother with crouch he couldnt do it before so why would he be able to all of a sudden plus if barry wants to go but liverpool wont meet our price i reckon martin should do a mourinhio and say either play and be happy or rot in the reserves just coz he has been here for ten years doesnt make it right that he can just jump ship he is contracted for 2 years to our club so neither benitez or barry have the last say only mon and randy and personally just to F**k them scouse twats id rise the price to 35m or sell him only to arsenal, chelsea or man utd or even better if he really wants champs league that much sell him to abroad

May 08, 2008

Sasa said:

I would never want Crouch back at Villa for those prices/wages!! We only liked him because we called him Rodney.

Bullard, Bent, Sidwell are the types of players we'll be going for so forget about getting excited when the transfer window opens.

May 08, 2008

kohoutek said:

Not interested in Crouchy much. Don't dislike him, but not the sort of player we need up front. He's good for his size, but we need a real poacher like a Nistlerooy and/or a silky-smooth Henry type to play up with Carew. I'd pay £4m for him, but not what Liverpool are wanting. That's a bit rich. Barry's definitely worth more than Crouch.

But yes, we'll have to pay the wages for certain players and we shouldn't be bothered. Just make sure they're players the rest of the club can accept being paid that much.

And I'm not entirely convinced Barry is gone. There's been a lot of smoke and not so much fire. It might just be posturing to save face with the fans, but MON's statements seem to imply decisions have yet to be made.

May 08, 2008

satch said:

Seriously what do you people see in crouch? He really isn't that good in my eyes. Yes he is talented but I just don't see him in england or claret and blue shirts. He has the odd great spell and months of pure poop.

May 08, 2008

Simeon said:

I have yet to read any of the previous 28 comments, so apologies for any duplication. Benitez has placed a £15 million price tag on Crouch. I guess this means he'd do business at £10-12 million - although even this seems a little high. The main point I want to make, however, is that this valuation, together with his/Liverpool's valuation of Barry smacks of the most astonishing arrogance. How on earth can Barry be worth 2/3's that of Crouch? Purely based on ability, I would suggest that Barry is worth at least double what Crouch is. Let's say double for the sake of argument. Next, factor in that Crouch is at best a squad player at Liverpool, whilst the Villa team is built around Barry. This I reckon halves Crouch's normative value, whilst Barry's is doubled. Even at a very modest starting price of £15 million for Barry, and £7.5 million for Crouch, after these considerations, Barry is worth £30 million, whils't Crouch's value has plummeted to £4 million. Villa don't need to sell Barry. This ramps Barry's price up further. Of course, if Liverpool don't need to sell Crouch (although is anyone certain this is in fact the case?), then his asking price rises, but still the disparity is immense!

I accept that, if Barry didn't want to stay, then we would be best to sell, but I don't think this means his asking price falls, as Barry is undoubtedly a model pro, and would continue to serve Villa even if he would rather be elsewhere. Personally, I think that if Barry wants to leave, he should be allowed to, despite the many intangible ways in which he is so valuable to us. But the price should be £30 million.

The salient comparison to make is with the Carrick situation 2 seasons ago. Tottenham finished 5th, but Carrick was sold. The price was £25 million if memory serves. Barry is a far, far better player than Carrick, and is Villa through and through, whereas Carrick was not a Spurs boy. Strictly speaking, we could put an astronomical price on Barry purely on this basis. I'm not suggesting we ask £50 million for Barry. I cite Carrick simply to illustrate that £30 million is more than reasonable.

I would however drop the asking price on two conditions. Firstly, that Barry was sold to a Spanish or Italian club - or any other European club who could afford him. And secondly, that this would not reduce the amount MON had to spend in the transfer market. I don't think anyone would begrudge Barry a £20 million move to the Bernabeu or San Siro, even if we all felt some regret that he hadn't stayed with us for the next ten years, broken the club appearance record and lifted a few trophies.

And btw, Crouch when he was younger and had potential might have been a goer (and ironically enough was a goer!), but not now. We need a couple of experienced players to add to our youth, but Crouch doesn't fit the bill. And obviously we have Carew already anyway.

May 08, 2008