| For the sake of 7 million quid 11:51 - Sep 3 with 3939 views | The_Flashing_Smile |
Would we have been better off keeping Hirst?
I talk like £7m is nothing, but you know what I mean?
He was decent in the Prem last time. So far I've seen nothing to suggest Akpom's a better bet, and Emersonn's young/raw and possibly injured. |  |
| |  |
| For the sake of 7 million quid on 11:57 - Sep 3 with 2983 views | DanTheMan |
As horrible as it is, we need more than decent.
Emersonn, to me, looks to have a higher ceiling, so bringing him on for particular games or for the last 30 minutes will be good.
Flemming is a proven scorer at this level.
There's an argument as to whether to keep him or Akpom and it looks like GON prefers Akpom for whatever reason, and we could get really quite good money for Hirst.
Don't think we've made the wrong choice and hope Hirst smashes it at Stoke. |  |
| |
| For the sake of 7 million quid on 11:57 - Sep 3 with 2983 views | pingu67 |
Didn't Akpom have an obligation to purchase upon promotion though
If we didnt agree to that in the initial deal, in reality he would have gone to Birmingham who had already agreed a deal I believe |  | | |
| For the sake of 7 million quid on 11:58 - Sep 3 with 2964 views | dirtyboy |
Firstly, we knew we needed a striker, so Hirst and Akpom were 100% going to drop down the pecking order regardless and we'd just had our obligation on Akpom, so selling Hirst was the only real profitable option. Plus I doubt anyone would have paid anywhere near what we did for Akpom.
One had to go and Hirst was probably a victim of finances more than anything else attached to ability comparisons between the two of them.
Akpom has done just about ok, but pretty pleased with Flemming and Emersonn is only a doubt. [Post edited 3 Sep 12:01]
|  | | |
| For the sake of 7 million quid on 11:58 - Sep 3 with 2958 views | NedPlimpton |
Depends if the player is happy to sit around and be third choice
Also whilst I appreciate you saying you've seen nothing from Akpom, I also don't think we'd have seen much more from Hirst at the moment. He's hideously out of form.
So personally I'm happy with Akpom attempting to play himself into form but also content with knowing he's third choice |  | | |
| For the sake of 7 million quid on 11:59 - Sep 3 with 2954 views | MattinLondon |
No. GH is 27 and probably just wants to play as much regular football as possible. Considering how big a role he has played in the club regaining its status I don’t think the club would’ve been correct in standing in his way.
I guess he could well have played a small bit part this season but a good season at Stoke could well see a bigger club outing in an offer for him.
I’m assuming that the club didn’t force him out from here. |  | | |
| For the sake of 7 million quid on 11:59 - Sep 3 with 2953 views | BlueBlood90 |
Why would we keep Hirst for the sake of it? We have Emersonn and Flemming as our main options and Akpom is perfectly fine as third choice.
The fact Stoke were seemingly the only club to stump up any real offer Hirst tells you he's no where near the required level that we need. A great servant to the club but 100% the correct decision to move him on. |  |
| |
| For the sake of 7 million quid on 12:00 - Sep 3 with 2928 views | tonybied |
The trouble is his level just hasn't been good enough for the last couple of seasons, be that due to unavailability due to injury or poor form. It was probably a choice between Hirst and Akpom to ship out, and George likely had the higher value, and was likely more wanted by potential suitors. Both would likely end up our 3rd choice and unlikely to feature very much. George probably feels, and deserves to be more than 3rd choice too. |  | | |
| For the sake of 7 million quid on 12:01 - Sep 3 with 2915 views | MattinLondon |
Also I know that £7M isn’t a lot when compared to the standard PL transfer but it’ll help the club keep within FFP (or whatever it’s called now). | | | |
Login to get fewer ads
| For the sake of 7 million quid on 12:14 - Sep 3 with 2765 views | Billywitch |
I can only assume you didn't watch Hirst for Stoke Vs Norwich the other night.
He was absolutely woeful. And spent a large percent of last season being average at best. [Post edited 3 Sep 12:18]
| | | |
| For the sake of 7 million quid on 12:19 - Sep 3 with 2661 views | Bellevue_Blue |
It's boring but the decision was entirely an accounting decision. Akpom's book value is £2.3M each year. Hirst's book value was less than £500k.
Therefore selling Hirst for £6M on a three-year deal is worth circa £2M a year for accounting purposes.
Akpom would have been negative on the books if they had done it the other way around. [Post edited 3 Sep 12:40]
| | | |
| For the sake of 7 million quid on 12:22 - Sep 3 with 2626 views | Bluemike31 |
Go and look at Stokes forum, fed up of him already, especially the perceived lack of effort.
100% the right call moving him on, we got the best of him 2 years ago. | | | |
| For the sake of 7 million quid on 12:23 - Sep 3 with 2591 views | HighgateBlue |
We wouldn't have kept Hirst in addition to the current three number 9s, as our squad places are full. So who makes way?
Flemming scored 11 in the Premier League, has been on an upward trajectory, and has already scored 2 in 2 in the league this season. Emersonn has started really well, already scored in the Prem, and is only going to improve at his age. We spent £40m-odd on those two.
We had to purchase Akpom, and I doubt anyone would have taken him off our hands for £7m, even if we could have convinced him to go somewhere else (outside of the premier league doubtless). He wasn't effective for us last year, but may well have been used ineffectively by Kieran (along with SS). GON clearly was impressed by his attitude/fitness/qualities.
In that context, getting £7m+ for Hirst is surely good business. He's started 3 games for Stoke (and one sub appearance in the league cup) and is goalless. Subjectively most of us thought he was on the wane last season, and there was insufficient evidence that he could have been really effective in the Prem. He contributed to some extent last time round (3 goals in 26 appearances but to be fair only 5 were starts), but I think we're looking for better.
I for one would not have been any happier if we had let Hirst run his contract down and sold Akpom at a substantial loss. I would not have been at all confident of getting this year's Hirst fee at a later date for him. The Akpom deal was a sunk cost. It remains to be seen whether he was a waste of money or not, but to be fair to him, he's already scored a Premier League goal (at Old Trafford) in only 69 minutes of football. I wonder how Hirst's record will compare at the end of the season. |  | | |
| For the sake of 7 million quid on 12:28 - Sep 3 with 2550 views | SuperKieranMcKenna |
Akpom had a decent pre season, and scored at the weekend. I don’t massively rate him but he’s done what has been asked l, presumably GON likes him.
I really liked Hirst, but he’s had a track record of injuries and didn’t look at his best as our main talisman last season. The fee was too good to turn down IMO. | | | |
| For the sake of 7 million quid on 12:28 - Sep 3 with 2541 views | mellowblue |
Unfortunately, Hirst was never going to be the answer if we wanted to better our squad season by season. He never really developed from the raw CF who joined us in league one. And CF is such a key position. Akpom certainly is not a better bet, but we were obliged to buy him anyway, which probably hastened George's departure. Hopefully Flemming will be an upgrade, time will tell on that one. | | | |
| For the sake of 7 million quid on 12:34 - Sep 3 with 2454 views | tractor_lady |
Absolutely not his form has been woeful and that has seemingly continued for Stoke. The ball has been bouncing off him! Akpom has shown he can really hold the ball up well and is a thorn for defenders, he just needs to re-find his clinical boots! I have no issues with him coming off the bench and using his hold up play to protect a lead, i wouldn't say the same for Hirst. | | | |
| For the sake of 7 million quid on 12:39 - Sep 3 with 2409 views | Lion |
We had to buy Akpom ( and Kipre ) as part of the loan agreement if we got promoted which is kind of a nice problem to have as it meant we got in the prem. I know what you mean though re Hirst v Akpom, but as we had the former it meant Hirst was going to go; if we had been offered 10 mill including add ons for Akpom then we would have had a decision to make | |
| |
| For the sake of 7 million quid on 12:43 - Sep 3 with 2376 views | ThatMuhrenCross |
I can't really fault Akpom's contribution since O'Neil has been in charge, aside from perhaps lacking a little confidence in front of goal. Clearly the manager feels he's a better fit for what he needs. |  |
| |
| For the sake of 7 million quid on 12:46 - Sep 3 with 2342 views | homer_123 |
I like GH very much.
I don't think he's been the same player since injury or since Delap joined.
He seems a shadow of his former self. |  |
| |
| For the sake of 7 million quid on 12:54 - Sep 3 with 2255 views | hype313 |
We were essentially lumbered with Akpom, and as you say ,out of the 2 as 3rd choice I'd prefer GH, but that sort of figure we couldn't really turn down given his age.
Lets hope Flemming and Emmerson smash it to pieces so we don't have to rely on a 3rd choice. |  |
| |
| For the sake of 7 million quid on 12:55 - Sep 3 with 2252 views | Lion |
| For the sake of 7 million quid on 12:46 - Sep 3 by homer_123 |
I like GH very much.
I don't think he's been the same player since injury or since Delap joined.
He seems a shadow of his former self. |
Yeah Homer i think his confidence is very low, did you see his shocking penalty for Stoke in the cup? I hope he can turn it around and does well. Stoke fans are aware that they paid a lot of money for him, i hope they don't turn on him, back in the darker days we were really excited when we managed to sign him permanently and he played a big part of the journey to get where we are today and was a big part of the band of brothers | |
| |
| For the sake of 7 million quid on 13:05 - Sep 3 with 2133 views | Gary_Knows |
Think Joe summed it up perfectly at the time. We’d just signed Akpom for £7m, with little to no resale value on that this summer - Hirst on the other hand sat on the books for very little and banking an almost £7m profit on him enabled us to do further business. |  |
| |
| For the sake of 7 million quid on 13:06 - Sep 3 with 2122 views | earlsgreenblue |
A bit of realism here I think, simply, if it wasn’t for the obligation to buy, Akpom would not be an Ipswich player right now.
I’ve no idea where his level is, over the last couple of seasons it would suggest Championship at best probably 1st Division top end.
Blazing it over one season & since he’s been here indicates that, hope I’m wrong for the teams sake but I fear not! | | | |
| For the sake of 7 million quid on 13:06 - Sep 3 with 2118 views | Guthrum |
I like Hirst and am unwilling to say rude things about him, but not sure he is really better than Akpom, certainly not his first touch, which is notoriously "bouncy". That being very important when hold-up play is needed. |  |
| |
| For the sake of 7 million quid on 13:06 - Sep 3 with 2116 views | Steve_M |
I suppose we'll see based on how Akpom does but I think Hirst could probably offer more too. Certainly he was one of the bright spots about the last months of 24-25. Neither is more than third choice at this level though and those players are the upgrades we would make were we to stay up is to have the whole squad of PL level players.
And as for judging Hirst at Stoke on the back of two games, yeah that's always the best way to do it. |  |
| |
| For the sake of 7 million quid on 13:14 - Sep 3 with 2031 views | Churchman |
| For the sake of 7 million quid on 11:59 - Sep 3 by MattinLondon |
No. GH is 27 and probably just wants to play as much regular football as possible. Considering how big a role he has played in the club regaining its status I don’t think the club would’ve been correct in standing in his way.
I guess he could well have played a small bit part this season but a good season at Stoke could well see a bigger club outing in an offer for him.
I’m assuming that the club didn’t force him out from here. |
I agree with you Matt. He needs to be playing and the club would have been wrong to stand in his way. I thought he was undervalued when we sold him, given today’s market.
As it goes, a new challenge may well do him the world of good. He’s a better player than some supporters gave him credit for. My only real concern was he was a little injury prone.
Selfless, hard working he fitted McKenna’s way perfectly. His goal return wasn’t brilliant but given how he brought others into the game and made chances, it wasn’t bad. He scored some crucial ones too.
I hope he goes on to have a really good rest of career. [Post edited 3 Sep 14:26]
|  | | |
| |
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.
