Theo Walcott

[qwertyell]

1 hour ago, modern matron said:

 Theo has something to prove,

Could've fooled me with the way he's half-heartedly ambled around for Everton.

He's 31 and playing out time in his career. If Ings got injured, I'd certainly back him to be more effective in that role than the three other goal-shy strikers we've got on our books who I doubt will score 5+ all season. But it's not a move that makes much sense in relation to the manager's aggressive, high press against the ball - Walcott is perhaps the most namby-pamby, after-you-Claude, ducking-out-of-challenges player I've ever seen.

Hey ho. Underwhelming, but what can you do?

[Donatello]

Yes, not a name anyone would've suggested at the beginning, middle, or final week of the window, but with a few days left, and now a few hours, it definitely makes sense as a low-risk upgrade on Tella/Smallbone (when he plays RM). He was a squad player for a team that finished just below us last season, so it's likely he's still good enough to be a squad player for us - although, with a hands-on coach like Ralph, I would expect some improvement. 

[Ivan Katalinic's 'tache]

15 minutes ago, qwertyell said:

Could've fooled me with the way he's half-heartedly ambled around for Everton.

He's 31 and playing out time in his career. If Ings got injured, I'd certainly back him to be more effective in that role than the three other goal-shy strikers we've got on our books who I doubt will score 5+ all season. But it's not a move that makes much sense in relation to the manager's aggressive, high press against the ball - Walcott is perhaps the most namby-pamby, after-you-Claude, ducking-out-of-challenges player I've ever seen.

Hey ho. Underwhelming, but what can you do?

Once Ralph has beefed him up with a red meat diet, like he did with Prowsey, he'll be like the Hulk on acid on the right wing, I reckon...

[Lighthouse]

22 minutes ago, aintforever said:

This thread reminds me of the negativity when Ings signed.

26 year old Danny Ings with a proven, albeit patchy scoring record. Not 31 year old Walcott who even when fit struggled to get into a mid table Everton side.

TBF it also reminds me of the negativity when we signed Carrillo.

[stevy777_x]

10 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

26 year old Danny Ings with a proven, albeit patchy scoring record. Not 31 year old Walcott who even when fit struggled to get into a mid table Everton side.

TBF it also reminds me of the negativity when we signed Carrillo.

Except that Theo has a track record. Carillo hasn’t so it is completely different.

Is your obsession with Cedric still there or have you got over it?

[striker]

Well, I guess we needed to sign someone to keep up appearances, so why not him?

[Saint Garrett]

28 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

26 year old Danny Ings with a proven, albeit patchy scoring record. Not 31 year old Walcott who even when fit struggled to get into a mid table Everton side.

TBF it also reminds me of the negativity when we signed Carrillo.

Tbf, pretty much only from you...

[The Cat]

I don't have a problem with him coming in to bolster the squad. Will be interesting to see what Ralph can get out of him.

Has Harry Redknapp popped up on Sky Sports to take credit for giving him his debut yet?

[beatlesaint]

50 minutes ago, qwertyell said:

 If Ings got injured, I'd certainly back him to be more effective in that role than the three other goal-shy strikers we've got on our books who I doubt will score 5+ all season. 

So basically with this sentence you have answered your own argument. He’s crap but less crap than Long, Adams and Obafemi, that’s what you are saying? Therefore it is an option which Ralph thinks will strengthen the squad.

Edited 5 October, 2020 by beatlesaint

[tajjuk]

It is odd, I wonder if he knows he probably won't play. 

[aintforever]

35 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

26 year old Danny Ings with a proven, albeit patchy scoring record. Not 31 year old Walcott who even when fit struggled to get into a mid table Everton side.

TBF it also reminds me of the negativity when we signed Carrillo.

This is what you said about Ings:

"I regard Vydra as the Czech Billy Sharp, although he might be worth a punt. I'd also rather him than Ings"  

Here are some other SWF classics:

no thanks. we don't need another injury prone striker.

Very bad bit of business, if true.

 Average in terms of ability, very poor in terms of injury record. He’s also a bit of knobhead as well.

He had the chance to join us when he moved to the victims to earn and wedge and sit on the bench.

Avoid.

No thanks.

If we were looking to sign Ings as our frontline striker and were prepared to pay Liverpool’s 20m asking price then it would be folly.

Hopefully not.......

Liverpool must be smoking crack if they think they will get £20 million for Ings. He’s got worse knees and a worse scoring record than £4million Austin. Bung them £3million and tell them to spend it on new bench cushions for their new substitute Shaqiri.

Laughable if true.

 Just when you think we've turned a corner

Buying yet another crocked striker! Will they ever learn......

For that price I'd rather take a punt on Vydra

 

Edited 5 October, 2020 by aintforever

[CB Fry]

Just the usual absolute forum bollocks that any player who gets slagged off at the point of signing inevitably goes on to prove everyone wrong and be brilliant.

Funny how no one ever talks about the people who wrote off Elyounoussi or wrote off Hoedt or wrote off Danso or Clasie every other player that proved fucking no one wrong because people thought they were shit and they turned out to be shit.

So unless you dins are saying that Theo will join us and end up back in the England team like Ings has, then I have no idea what point you are making.

Edited 5 October, 2020 by CB Fry

[aintforever]

Just now, CB Fry said:

Just the usual absolute forum bollocks that any player who gets slagged off at the point of signing inevitably goes on to prove everyone wrong and be brilliant.

Funny how no one ever talks about the people who wrote off Elyounoussi or wrote off Hoedt or wrote off Danso or Cladie every other player that proved fucking no one wrong because people thought they were shit and they turned out to be shit.

So unless you dins are saying that Theo will join us and end up back in the England team like Ings has, then I have no idea what point you are making.

Most people on here are clueless cunts?

[tajjuk]

I seriously doubt anyone but maybe Danny Ings and Danny Ings' mother thought he'd be as successful as he has been.  

Certainly no one on here was very optimistic and understandably, we'd just signed a guy who had spent the last two years battling through multiple knee injuries and barely played more than two games in a row, and had agreed to pay £20 million for him. 

I was a little more optimistic the second season when he'd managed to get through most of the season with only I think one hamstring injury and managed to put a few goals away.

But let's be honest, Ings was at least before he went to Liverpool on an upward trajectory in his career, he was unlucky and clearly has the talent to have probably established himself with that club and at 26 still had plenty of years left.

Walcott's career has been a downward trajectory for like the last 5-6 years, the last time he scored any meaningful amount of goals was 4 years ago. 

He might come good, he might find some form under a new manager in a less chaotic and more stable environment that he is more comfortable with (presumably many of his friends and family are still here) and have a little indian summer in his career but I seriously doubt it. 

He looks to me like a player who is on £100k a week and has been phoning it in till retirement, we'll have to see. Just looking at some photos of him he looked a lot more bulked up and stronger in photos for Arsenal in his mid 20s than he does now for Everton, which makes me wonder how much effort he is making. 

[Turkish]

2 minutes ago, aintforever said:

Most people on here are clueless cunts?

You added a question mark when none was needed pal. 

[aintforever]

1 minute ago, Turkish said:

You added a question mark when none was needed pal. 

I was suggesting an answer so it was.

[Saint_Jonny]

I can confirm that I am indeed a useless cunt.

[Turkish]

Just now, aintforever said:

I was suggesting an answer so it was.

It could easily have been a factual statement as well.

[Sidney Fudpucker the 3rd]

I think I'd have rather taken a punt on Danny Welbeck.

[trousers]

2 minutes ago, Sidney Fudpucker the 3rd said:

I think I'd have rather taken a punt on Danny Welbeck.

 

[rooney]

I wonder if his father has put his old Saints shirt back on.

[LuckyNumber7]

Open minded on Theo. Yes he is past his best but maybe coming 'home' and being coached by Ralph will rejuvenate him in the twilight of his career.

From a sentimental angle at least I love it, and am actually quite excited at the thought of Theo and Ings lining up together.

Either way it's low risk and if it doesn't work out we are not burdened with him for another three years. If he does well, the option is there to sign him on a free in the summer.

If Ralph wants him that's good enough for me.

[Manuel]

Will cost us what,  £1.5m or something to the end of the season?  For decent cover so we don't have to rely on Smallbone, worth it for that alone.  Add in that he might even add something special if Ralph can get him into shape.  Might even get a goal or two.  Contract nearly up.  Add a bit of nostalgia into the mix.  A no brainer.  

[Sidney Fudpucker the 3rd]

5 minutes ago, trousers said:

 

What's so funny? He scored a great overhead kick against Norwich at the end of last season. 😂

I was waiting for a load of abuse, but you've rumbled me and spoiled all the fun. Irony clearly not my strong point. 😉

[Killers Knee]

It's a good deal just to give Redmond much needed competition

[Lord Duckhunter]

45 minutes ago, aintforever said:

Most people on here are clueless cunts?

If only there were more like you, knowledgable, intelligent, interesting & modest. It would be a much better forum. 

[Super_Uwe]

15 minutes ago, Manuel said:

Will cost us what,  £1.5m or something to the end of the season?  For decent cover so we don't have to rely on Smallbone, worth it for that alone.  Add in that he might even add something special if Ralph can get him into shape.  Might even get a goal or two.  Contract nearly up.  Add a bit of nostalgia into the mix.  A no brainer.  

Exactly! Welcome home Theo (if it happens, which it might not 😆)

[westmidlandsaint]

Bloody hell there's a bit of an over reaction to Theo coming home!!

I've seen not a lot from the likes of Obafemi, Tella, Sims etc to say they are either ready or good enough yet. Theo will score more than Long. I for one am happy with this signing it may kick start his career coming back home. 

He's 31 not 37!! 

Reminds me of all the negativity around signing the injury prone Danny Ings...

Edited 5 October, 2020 by westmidlandsaint

[Lighthouse]

1 hour ago, stevy777_x said:

Is your obsession with Cedric still there or have you got over it?

Eh... What are you on about? I can't remember the last time I made reference to Cedric.

1 hour ago, Saint Garrett said:

Tbf, pretty much only from you...

What?! Loads of people didn't rate Carrillo. 🤨

1 hour ago, aintforever said:

This is what you said about Ings:

"I regard Vydra as the Czech Billy Sharp, although he might be worth a punt. I'd also rather him than Ings"  

 

Yes, my concerns were largely based on his fitness, which continued to be an issue for his first season here when he didn't even make double figures in the scoring charts. I was wrong and we were right to sign him, so what? All my opinions are now void? 

[HarvSFC]

Strange one. I’ve always been a big champion of Walcott since he left us and often wondered what if with him, if he had continued to play down the centre, rather than getting lumped out wide due to his pace, if he had stayed here a while longer to develop further and if he didn’t have his long term injury issues. However, bringing him back now seems/feels like a couple of years too late. I.e. he should have joined us when it was between us and Everton for his signature. But, now in hindsight and given his performances at Everton, I don’t really care that we missed out on him back then.

Additionally, if we were linked with Walcott at the beginning of the window, then we would have all dismissed it, like we did the links to Lallana, as he is as far away from our usual transfer incoming age bracket as possible. Although, I am in big favour of occasionally stretching that bracket and bringing in a quality experienced player where possible, as it has worked wonders with Ings. 
 

I suppose Walcott is just a loan and it is risk free if he does continue to suffer with injuries and recapturing his old form and hopefully he can force me to eat my words and show some of the class that he definitely showed in glimpses at Arsenal and for England. 

[aintforever]

48 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

If only there were more like you, knowledgable, intelligent, interesting & modest. It would be a much better forum. 

I'm as clueless as the rest of them, I just posted the laughably wrong comments about Danny Ings to put the negativity here into context.

[aintforever]

9 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

All my opinions are now void? 

No, just of little worth I would say.

[Colinjb]

Not feeling overly enthusiastic about this, but well, give him a go.

So unusual compared to our normal business. 

[S-Clarke]

Just now, Colinjb said:

Not feeling overly enthusiastic about this, but well, give him a go.

So unusual compared to our normal business. 

Yeah, it's a strange one in my eyes. Have been thinking about this all day and I still can't quite make sense of it, other than it being a bit of an emotional return. I guess he'll offer us more than Boufal, so it's an upgrade of sorts in that area....I dunno, jury is out. Need to see him play to understand if he's any good these days, the talk is that he isn't and his legs have completely gone.

[Lighthouse]

5 minutes ago, aintforever said:

No, just of little worth I would say.

Well, feel free to ignore them if you wish. Or continue spending however long you spent trawling irrelevant, two year old Danny Ings posts to try and prove Walcott is good by default.

 

Whichever you prefer.

[Colinjb]

1 minute ago, S-Clarke said:

Yeah, it's a strange one in my eyes. Have been thinking about this all day and I still can't quite make sense of it, other than it being a bit of an emotional return. I guess he'll offer us more than Boufal, so it's an upgrade of sorts in that area....I dunno, jury is out. Need to see him play to understand if he's any good these days, the talk is that he isn't and his legs have completely gone.

Would he?

In purely goal terms, maybe. Boufal had 3 in 70...... Walcott 10 in 77 for Everton.

No idea what kind of fitness Theo is in. Most comparable player in our team, maybe Redmond? Shades of Aaron Lennon when he went to Burnley. Solid enough, but not going to make a difference as such. Can only be a squad option.... a 60k a week, short term squad option. 

[Teddeer]

Don't get this idea that Walcott signing is risk free - if he comes we'll be paying him 50 grand a week.

[S-Clarke]

5 minutes ago, Teddeer said:

Don't get this idea that Walcott signing is risk free - if he comes we'll be paying him 50 grand a week.

We've just got Carillo off the wage bill, Boufal and Hoedt to follow.

We should be able to afford 50k per week for 12 months. We've freed up quite a large % of our wage bill now. Risk free for 12 months, then see if he fancies taking a big pay cut next year.

Cheaper than Boufal who was on around 65k p/w according to reports.

Edited 5 October, 2020 by S-Clarke

[Saint-Armstrong]

1 minute ago, S-Clarke said:

We've just got Carillo off the wage bill, Boufal and Hoedt to follow.

We should be able to afford 50k per week for 12 months. We've freed up quite a large % of our wage bill now. Risk free for 12 months, then see if he fancies taking a big pay cut next year.

Cheaper than Boufal who was on around 65k p/w according to reports.

Sounds like Gunn is going out too, so Stoke will be giving us some weekly pay for that too.

[S-Clarke]

Just now, Saint-Armstrong said:

Sounds like Gunn is going out too, so Stoke will be giving us some weekly pay for that too.

Reckon we'll be seeing Butland coming as part of that?

Which would be odd, cause we'd then have McCarthy, Forster and Butland. Having 3 keepers of that rep is unheard of, even for top clubs.

[Lighthouse]

1 minute ago, S-Clarke said:

We've just got Carillo off the wage bill, Boufal and Hoedt to follow.

We should be able to afford 50k per week for 12 months. We've freed up quite a large % of our wage bill now. Risk free for 12 months, then see if he fancies taking a big pay cut next year.

He won’t be getting his Arsenal/Everton wages from anyone else, so he’ll have to take a pay cut somewhere. I’d be surprised if we took a 32 year old permanently but stranger things happen.

[S-Clarke]

Just now, Lighthouse said:

He won’t be getting his Arsenal/Everton wages from anyone else, so he’ll have to take a pay cut somewhere. I’d be surprised if we took a 32 year old permanently but stranger things happen.

Depends how he does. Maybe we'll have a bit more $$ to play with next summer and we can buy someone like Rachica. This whole signing feels very 'romantically' driven though, rather than what he could offer us on the pitch. It doesn't feel part of any real strategy, which is odd for us.

Although our 'strategy' hasn't worked that well in recent years.

[Whitey Grandad]

22 minutes ago, Teddeer said:

Don't get this idea that Walcott signing is risk free - if he comes we'll be paying him 50 grand a week.

But it’s not my money so it’s risk free for me

[aintforever]

28 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

Well, feel free to ignore them if you wish. Or continue spending however long you spent trawling irrelevant, two year old Danny Ings posts to try and prove Walcott is good by default.

 

Whichever you prefer.

I never said I thought he would be good or bad, just pointed out the similarity to the Ings thread in terms of the negativity.

[Portugalsaint]

A return to Saints has been the making of Danny Ings, he was injury ridden, now a game every week.  Maybe, Walcott will produce the same.

Its always possible that Saints Medical team are second to none even compared to the top clubs and therefore underrated.

[Sinned]

My fourpenneth.     I admit that I couldn’t understand us going for Theo.    BUT if Ralph has sanctioned this, and I am sure that he has, then I trust that Ralph sees that he has something to offer.   And that’s enough for me.

[The Kraken]

1 hour ago, LuckyNumber7 said:

Open minded on Theo. Yes he is past his best but maybe coming 'home' and being coached by Ralph will rejuvenate him in the twilight of his career.

From a sentimental angle at least I love it, and am actually quite excited at the thought of Theo and Ings lining up together.

Either way it's low risk and if it doesn't work out we are not burdened with him for another three years. If he does well, the option is there to sign him on a free in the summer.

If Ralph wants him that's good enough for me.

Yeah this is where I’m at. Not expecting him to rip up trees. But everyone knows we are short of decent options beyond the first team, so if he adds to that with minimal up front fee and a decent deal on the wages, then fine.

Adams finished last season looking like he’d found his mojo, but aside from a few bright spots he hasn’t quite found it again yet since the restart. Still think there’s a player there but he seems to thrive on confidence and it’s not quite there just yet. I see him and Theo maybe vying for the CF2 spot alongside Ings. If not then it’s a decent option to have instead of Redmond Armstrong and Djnepo (who has a long way to yet).

Not the Blockbuster transfer some were hoping for but there’s at least a bit of promise, and we’re not saddling ourselves with a multi year liability.

Edited 5 October, 2020 by The Kraken

[The Curse of St Mary's]

 

[Golac's Cunning Stunts]

2 minutes ago, The Curse of St Mary's said:

 

Got to laugh at the bloke following him with a phone in each hand and a mask that only covers his mouth.

[trousers]

Is that a Pompey shirt on the wall...?