Brentford fans are already getting bored of the Forshaw affair. With the opening match of their first season in the second flight fast approaching, the transfer debacle is in danger of overshadowing Brentford’s big day.
However, with Peterborough recently selling their top striker Britt Assobolonga to Nottingham Forest for £5.5mill with no fuss, it made BillytheBee think. Why are Posh allowed to command a fee of £5.5million for their top player … And Brentford are not?
There was a tweet flying around recently … Minutes after Peterboro had snagged £5.5million from Nottingham Forest for their highly rated striker Britt Assombolonga.
The tweet went:
McLean
Mackail smith
Gayle
Bennett
Assombalonga
Coutts
Taylor
Tomlin
=£2,600,000
Sold for £27,000,000 #pufc”
Basically it “bragged” how Posh had bought 8 players over the past few years for £2.6million and sold them on for a collective fee of £27million.
That’s a profit of £24million … For a small club like Posh that’s some going.
Assombolonga’s transfer was timely.
It was used as the perfect example of “A reluctant selling club being able to set the price of a player then drive a hard bargain” …. in the banter that went down on the @beesotted and @tns_wafc (This Northern Soul a Wigan blog) twitter timelines on Wednesday evening in a heated discussion over the Forshaw scenario.
Love Posh or hate Posh … Their chairman Darragh MacAnthony has done some brilliant business over the past few years. They don’t ever deny they are a selling club. Posh have able to do business because MacAnthony is hard nosed and tells people where to go if they’re not talking the same talk.
Power comes in the ability to negotiate. And sell when the ball is in your court. Not the other way around.
Assombalonga was still in contract with Posh.
Just like Forshaw.
Posh didn’t want to or have to sell.
Just like Brentford.
Assombalonga wanted to leave.
This bit has not been officially confirmed one way or the other for Forshaw .. But it’s highly likely he has asked for a move if you read in between the lines of all the articles written and management statements.
Forest came up with the dough.
This is where the similarities stop.
We have been following Posh all season as some of you may know. We have seen the moments when MacAnthony has lost his rag on the back of a Posh loss berating the fact that certain players weren’t pulling their weight despite the heavy price tag around their necks.
Tomlin was one of these. Assombolonga took a bit of a pasting as well.
Talented players .. With questionable attitudes. But still fetched decent cash.
Even John Verral from creditable Posh podcast “On the Glebe” tweeted
“Unfortunately a club of Posh’s size has to accept a bid of £5.5 million. A lot of money for a player with as many flaws as Assombalonga”
But someone was prepared to splash the cash for a ‘flawed’ player with no real experience any higher than third tier football.
For a player who, despite his goals, didn’t even make the the Top 3 in the Football League 1 Player of the Year.
So let me bring this back to Brentford and the Forshaw situation.
Brentford has also always been a selling club. The only difference is … We always seem to get shafted when we sell our players.
DJ Campbell immediately comes to mind.
Great prospect. Scored goals. Up pop Birmingham City and offer a p!sstaking £500k when we were riding high in League 1 and set for promotion. And we accepted the deal because we had to. Or we would have gone bust … Apparently.
So when they say a player is under contract, what does ‘under contract’ mean?
I hear people say a contract isn’t worth anything.
Well that’s not true.
A contract is a legal document. An agreement.
And it actually means a lot.
OK a contract doesn’t mean that a player who has decided he wants to move onto another club should change his wandering feelings overnight. That’s not realistic.
But what a contract does mean is … Someone has made a pledge to support you over a set number of years financially, creatively plus more. And if someone else wants to come in and encourage you to break that contract, then they have to jump to the beat of the drum and come to an agreement that suits the person with the initial contract.
The problem is … Everyone has always seen Brentford as push-overs. We’re that little club in West London with not many fans and people shaking buckets outside the gates to keep paying for electricity for the floodlights.
No one has really taken us seriously. In all the 30 plus years I have supported them.
Even when we got promoted to the second tier 20 years ago, we weren’t really taken seriously. Not surprisingly really. We sold our top scorer Dean Holdsworth for £650k (sold on for £3.5mill a few years later) and bought goal-shy Murray Jones for 50p …and subsequently got relegated after one season.
But things have changed now. They’ve changed a lot.
For a start, we’ve acquired some business acumen. We also have cash.
Brentford value Forshaw at around £6m. Where did they get that figure from?
From their heads. That’s where.
I seen Wigan fans tweet things like “He’s never played above Division 1”
Er. So what? £6mill
“Worth more than Jordon Mutch? QPR paid £5m for a player who was a regular and scored in prem. £2.5m with add ons”.
Er yup. £6mill
“A house that’s worth £2m in London will sell for ten bob oop north. Value is relative.”
That’s lovely for you. £6mill please
“Assombalonga is a striker. He scores goals. That’s why he’s worth £5.5mill”.
Er. So you are saying strikers are the only players of value in a football team? So Beckham wasn’t worth as much as Emile Heskey because he didn’t score as many goals as him? Give me a break. Was Assombalonga Division 1 player of the year? No! £6mill please.
So £6mill is the price we value Adam Forshaw. Where did we get that figure from?
Maybe £1m of that is the value for spotting him early when no-one was remotely interested.
Then £2 million is the value of nurturing him over the last 3 years.
Maybe £2million is for the talent as yet still untapped in the young lad.
And the final £1m is the actually financial cost over 3 years to get him to this place.
I’m joking yeah? Not really.
You asked where the £6million came from. I have no idea. So I came up with some justification of my own.
However, the reality is … It doesn’t really matter. The figure is the figure.
What do you think Daragh MacAnthony said when folk were throwing all these p!ss poor excuses at him in order to get him lower the transfer fee of his assets?
“Pay up or shut up” I think the phrase is.
And being the seller with the upper hand, he knows if the right fee doesn’t come … He isn’t gonna sell.
Forshaw is one of the most gifted players to pull on a Brentford shirt. He’s talented. Has a fantastic temperament. And is nowhere near to filling his potential yet.
Wigan know getting him for £1.5 mill would be an absolute steal.
Brentford have done a million deals. None of them have caused anywhere near the storm that this deal has. Why?
Having worked closely with Brentford, Wigan know very well that we would never release Forshaw for £1.5million. So why put such a low a bid in? Because putting such a low bid in will cause a load of sh!t and bad feelings?
Unless now here’s a thought ….
What if Wigan thought …. By putting in a low bid … And getting everyone upset .. And by getting the player knocking down the door of the manager for a move … And by putting Brentford in a really arkward predicament with a potentially unsettled side just before the start of the season …. That would make the manager uncharacteristically angry … And shout … That would force us into making a snap shot move …. and they would get their man.
Blimey. If that were the case … It’s not really cricket is it.
Did we hear in the press that Forest had initially bid £1.5mill for Assombalonga?
No chance.
They did the right thing. And came up with the proper cash. Then they announced the deal. With no public feather ruffling.
Back in the old days that tactic would have worked. Brentford would have crumbled.
The Brentford of new is a different case in question.
And all it has done has prompted the management team to dig their heels in … Just in the same way Darragh MacAnthony would do whilst racking up his £27million …. whilst telling the poacher:
“We didn’t say we were selling. You came knocking on our door. OK if you really really really want him … You can have him … That will be £5.5mill please? How did I come up with that price? Er … Because I did”
It’s simple really ….
Wigan fans seem upset that we have been “too arrogant to accept their paltry offer” and “have set our price too high”
Er Hello. Fulham just bought Ross McCormack for £11mill. Who set that figure? Leeds did. And Fulham paid it.
We could go on.
The ironic thing is … If Forshaw was playing for Wolves … And had won Division 1 player of the year …. And had everyone raving about him … No-one would balk if Wolves said they wanted £6million for him.
In fact they could probably ask for £10mill and someone would pay.
The long and the short of it is …. Brentford have a prized asset that someone wants to buy badly.
We don’t want to sell
….
But if we have to …..please please please don’t condescend us ….. We’ve had 30 plus years of it …
Just give us what we’re due ……
And we can all move on ….
Simples …..
BillytheBee
@billythebee
You can catch Brentford and Charlton fans in pre-match banter (12.30pm Saturday 9th) live from the pub on the Beesotted YouTube channel right here (click) …
