Berbatov | Fulham player

Bryan_Munich

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The amount of starts and pitch time suggests he very much is fourth choice. I see him more as Rooney's understudy, simply because Hernandez and Welbeck offer us something else upfront such as movement and pace, which doesn't leave him a whole lot of pitch time.

As for paying his wages, of course we can afford it. Except it's not about him but the whole team and the total amount of wages. Does his current role at the team justify those wages, or could they be used better for a different player? It's not a bottomless pit.
The Scot also assured fans that Berbatov is content with his current role at the club, reminding them of United's treble-winning 1999 side, which also boasted four strikers who were all heavily involved.
"He has no complaints. The boy is a great professional and we are happy for him to be here."
"You need a good number of strikers in the modern day. If you look back to 1999, we had four great strikers. They all played their part. That is exactly what will happen today."
Sounds to me like Fergie believes he's getting value for his £5m a year.
 
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From football365. Pretty harsh and dismissive.

Dimi Berbatov
A specialist in cheap feats. In the past 13 months, Berbatov has registered just 11 league goals, with three of them scored against 10-man Wigan, another as the fifth in a five-goal rout at Fulham, a second hat-trick being netted in another five-goal hammering of a team destined for relegation, and as many as five in the 7-1 hammering of Blackburn last November.

Forgive, therefore, the absence of acclaim for his latest act of flat-track bullying.
Liverpool would love a flat-track bully if that's what they want to refer to him as
 

Amir

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Sounds pretty conclusive to me.
So was this... On Tevez.

'There is no question about his long-term future here,' Ferguson said.

'David Gill (the club's chief executive) has spoken to his agent and told him we are very happy with him.

'The fee is in place. I won't tell you what it is but it is still cheap.

'I want to make this happen. He has impressed everyone with his appetite for the game.

'He'll get me 15 goals this season and what's more, they'll be important goals.'
 

Amir

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What's the rush?
Why delay? Is it healthier to leave him in limbo? Being able to talk to other clubs in a few days time ahead of a summer move, but not knowing if he'll actually get a free transfer at the end of it?

Sounds to me like Fergie believes he's getting value for his £5m a year.
Sounds to me like Fergie - aside from the fact he'll normally say encouraging stuff about his plays - is enjoying having that sort of qualify player in the squad. Wages don't come into it. If he'll want to sign someone they will, because we'll have to trim somewhere.
 

Bryan_Munich

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So was this... On Tevez.

'There is no question about his long-term future here,' Ferguson said.

'David Gill (the club's chief executive) has spoken to his agent and told him we are very happy with him.

'The fee is in place. I won't tell you what it is but it is still cheap.

'I want to make this happen. He has impressed everyone with his appetite for the game.

'He'll get me 15 goals this season and what's more, they'll be important goals.'
Why does that mean he's 'lying' this time?
 

Lance Uppercut

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The amount of starts and pitch time suggests he very much is fourth choice. I see him more as Rooney's understudy, simply because Hernandez and Welbeck offer us something else upfront such as movement and pace, which doesn't leave him a whole lot of pitch time.

As for paying his wages, of course we can afford it. Except it's not about him but the whole team and the total amount of wages. Does his current role at the team justify those wages, or could they be used better for a different player? It's not a bottomless pit.
And we aren't fecking Portsmouth, either. We are arguably the biggest club in the world and run as such.
 

Lance Uppercut

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So was this... On Tevez.

'There is no question about his long-term future here,' Ferguson said.

'David Gill (the club's chief executive) has spoken to his agent and told him we are very happy with him.

'The fee is in place. I won't tell you what it is but it is still cheap.

'I want to make this happen. He has impressed everyone with his appetite for the game.

'He'll get me 15 goals this season and what's more, they'll be important goals.'
I would imagine that was before he started acting the cnut.
 

Amir

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Why does that mean he's 'lying' this time?
Just my hunch. He's shown he'll do that in the past, more than once. I just don't see the point in SAYING we'll do that. Why talk about? If it's so easy, we've got a clause and we just need to exercise it - do it. Free the lad's mind. We've signed so many new contracts, far more complicated, over the last two years. Why is this one delayed?

To make it simple, I can't see us resigning Berbatov if the role we plan for him is the same he's played since Ferbruary.
 

A grade

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With the latest goals scored, Berba has 73 goals in the EPL in 5 and a half seasons, with this he has surpassed Eric Cantona who had 70 goals with Leeds and United. Ronaldo had 84 goals in 6 full seasons.

Come on Berba, you have 11 more to go before the end of this season to reach Ronaldo:D
 

Amir

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And we aren't fecking Portsmouth, either. We are arguably the biggest club in the world and run as such.
True, but why is it hard to accept we also have limits? That we already have a huge squad and we can't just sign new players without others leaving? That we can't pay 100k a week for a striker who is down the pecking order and gets 5-6 starts in half a season, most of them in the league cup? Or that if we do decide to keep him for those wages, it does come at the cost of signing someone else?

We're not fecking Portsmouth. We can afford to spend far more than Portsmouth. But there's a celing to us as well. It's one we have placed on ourselves and it's part of us being a healthy club financially. We don't spend more than we can afford.
 

Bryan_Munich

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Just my hunch. He's shown he'll do that in the past, more than once. I just don't see the point in SAYING we'll do that. Why talk about? If it's so easy, we've got a clause and we just need to exercise it - do it. Free the lad's mind. We've signed so many new contracts, far more complicated, over the last two years. Why is this one delayed?

To make it simple, I can't see us resigning Berbatov if the role we plan for him is the same he's played since Ferbruary.
It's not delayed. I'm sure talks will have already taken place behind the scenes and it may be virtually done for all we know.

Personally I can see us triggering the option for the reasons I've already stated.
 

devilish

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I agree with Amir on this. We're a big club but I doubt that we can (and should) have a 100k a week 4th striker
 

Lance Uppercut

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True, but why is it hard to accept we also have limits? That we already have a huge squad and we can't just sign new players without others leaving? That we can't pay 100k a week for a striker who is down the pecking order and gets 5-6 starts in half a season, most of them in the league cup? Or that if we do decide to keep him for those wages, it does come at the cost of signing someone else?

We're not fecking Portsmouth. We can afford to spend far more than Portsmouth. But there's a celing to us as well. It's one we have placed on ourselves and it's part of us being a healthy club financially. We don't spend more than we can afford.
You have absolutely no idea what that ceiling may be. The club isn't run by naive idiots. We don't spend what we can't afford. I suggest you stop worrying about what Berbatov is being paid and let the club handle it.
 

finneh

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He is not 4th choice striker in my opinion. And we can obviously afford to pay his wages which is why we offered them.
Regardless of what "choice" he is he has been limited to 2 league starts, 2 Champions league starts and 3 League Cup starts. Out of these starts only Stoke away was a game where you wouldn't expect us to beat our opponents relatively comfortably (Leeds (a), Aldershot (a), Stoke (a), Otelul (h), Benfica (h), Crystal Palace (h), Wigan (h))

Seems to me that currently he isn't been trusted for any tough fixtures and to pay £100k a week for someone who isn't trusted when it matters doesn't make financial sense. Whether we can afford it or not is immaterial, to paraphrase Fergie it's a question of "value".

As I said before it will be a question of whether or not Fergie has someone else on his radar. There would be no point moving him on in January and only having Rooney, Hernandez & Welbeck as our attack force for the run-in. If one of Fergie's attacking targets is available at the right price I'm sure Berbatov will be the first in line to be the fall guy.
 

rcoobc

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You have absolutely no idea what that ceiling may be. The club isn't run by naive idiots. We don't spend what we can't afford. I suggest you stop worrying about what Berbatov is being paid and let the club handle it.
May as well shut down the forum then.

Anyway 100k may be too much for a 4th choice striker, but a striker that almost guarantees the demolition of smaller teams, and exudes experience when the majority of our team is now under 25? If we where to replace him, who would we replace him with, another experienced striker that will keep Welbeck out the team, or another potential player similar to the ones we already have. Either way, though their wages may be cheap the one off purchase fee might not be.

If we can find the right player for the right price, perhaps the club will let him go. If not, let him keep his 100k a week.
 

Amir

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You have absolutely no idea what that ceiling may be. The club isn't run by naive idiots. We don't spend what we can't afford. I suggest you stop worrying about what Berbatov is being paid and let the club handle it.
Over the years, we kept on talking about keeping our wages under 50% of our total turnover. Over the last couple of years, our wages were just under 50%. Now, if we decide to change the policy, we can obviouly choose to pay more than that. Until then, I'd assume we're keeping the policy.

I don't care what Berbatov is paid. If the club wants to pay 20-25 players 100k a week, that's fine by me. But obviously they won't and and the player's status in the pecking order is a factor when you look at how much he's getting and whether it's worth to keep him for that money.

And if Berbatov's status over the last few months remains unchaged, I can't see us paying him that sort of money. It's just makes economic sense, and we're a club that's run on economic sense.

I just read - quite late, I know - Fergie's book of the 94/95 season, and early on he's dealing with Dion Dublin. He didn't want to sell him, he thought he may need him because of the European campaign, but Coventry offered us such good money he couldn't say no. Money considerations do come into it.
 

I'm always right

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Ah I see the old "SAF has lied in the past therefore we cannot believe anything he says" argument is getting a good airing today.
Well yeah. That is always the case with SAF. He's in a job where it often pays to hide the truth.

Nothing odd about that at all.
 

rcoobc

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Hmm too close for comfort, could be that we want to cross the deadline so we can negotiate a contract extension on different terms i.e Wages, App fees et al.
Good point, is he likely to find his current contract elsewhere with FFP coming in? Possibly very shrewd by the club.
 

Lance Uppercut

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Over the years, we kept on talking about keeping our wages under 50% of our total turnover. Over the last couple of years, our wages were just under 50%. Now, if we decide to change the policy, we can obviouly choose to pay more than that. Until then, I'd assume we're keeping the policy.

I don't care what Berbatov is paid. If the club wants to pay 20-25 players 100k a week, that's fine by me. But obviously they won't and and the player's status in the pecking order is a factor when you look at how much he's getting and whether it's worth to keep him for that money.

And if Berbatov's status over the last few months remains unchaged, I can't see us paying him that sort of money. It's just makes economic sense, and we're a club that's run on economic sense.

I just read - quite late, I know - Fergie's book of the 94/95 season, and early on he's dealing with Dion Dublin. He didn't want to sell him, he thought he may need him because of the European campaign, but Coventry offered us such good money he couldn't say no. Money considerations do come into it.
You may be right. As I said earlier, it is curious that we (apparently) have yet to exercise the clause.

I hope we do, but I don't understand the wait. In the Tevez case the argument was that it was foolish NOT to wait until the last minute in case the player suffered a severe injury. I don't know if that holds water.
 

Amir

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Ah I see the old "SAF has lied in the past therefore we cannot believe anything he says" argument is getting a good airing today.
I just think it fits this situation. It shouldn't be complicated, Berba's contract, if he does have that clause. So why do we need to talk about it rather than do it? The more you talk about a situation being 'easy', the less easy it actually is in reality.
 

Shimo

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Obviously money comes into consideration - as am sure it did with Ronaldo - a player any person would hate to sell. But, it's more than money, the player also maybe wants to move on and other things like the fact Berba is a top class striker - experienced - that is currently backing up another top class - experienced - striker.

Hope we don't let him go on a free. Class player, class attitude, fits the class club.
 

Amir

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Hmm too close for comfort, could be that we want to cross the deadline so we can negotiate a contract extension on different terms i.e Wages, App fees et al.
It would make sense, except I honestly don't think we'd need to cross the deadline in order to do that. I mean, does the deadline mean that if we wanted to offer Berba a new, better deal two years ago, we couldn't?
 

JayWalker

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It would make sense, except I honestly don't think we'd need to cross the deadline in order to do that. I mean, does the deadline mean that if we wanted to offer Berba a new, better deal two years ago, we couldn't?
No, we can do that now. But I'm assuming we can't go up to a player and say we don't want to opt for the easy option and trigger the contract extension rather we want to pay you less and get you on a fresh extension. Soften the blow.

Of course, this is just a guess. Could be any reason behind the fact that we haven't triggered the extension yet. But if we take everything that is said in the press (by SAF, Berba, the club) on face value, then this is quite plausible.
 

Treble

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not enough stats in that thread :)

the third goal vs Wigan was Berba's 99th goal in English football (46 Spurs, 53 United)

only RVN and Berba have scored in premier league games 4 hat-tricks at Old Trafford
 

Drifter

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Bayer Leverkusen chief Wolfgang Holzhauser says reports linking Dimitar Berbatov with a return to the club are "pure speculation".

Berbatov's representatives told Bild on Wednesday that there has been contact with Leverkusen over a potential return.

The striker, who spent five years with the Bundesliga side before moving to the Premier League with Tottenham in 2006 and on to Manchester United two years later, was last season's top scorer but has made just two league starts this term to spark uncertainty over his future.

The Bulgarian's Old Trafford deal expires at the end of this season but United have the option to extend it by 12 months, which Sir Alex Ferguson has said he is keen to do.

Holzhauser has played down claims made by one of Berbatov's representatives, Ivan Dobrinov, that a Leverkusen deal is in the offing, and says any contact with the 30-year-old has been purely friendly.

"A transfer of Dimitar Berbatov to our club is pure speculation and we will not partake in this gossip," he told Deutsche Presseagentur.

"Things have been forced by his agents and it displeases me to know that.

"We have remained in close contact with Dimitar since he left the club but this is purely on an amicable basis."




Looks like the Agent looking for a lucrative deal for his client.
 

mariachi-19

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Bayer Leverkusen chief Wolfgang Holzhauser says reports linking Dimitar Berbatov with a return to the club are "pure speculation".

Berbatov's representatives told Bild on Wednesday that there has been contact with Leverkusen over a potential return.

The striker, who spent five years with the Bundesliga side before moving to the Premier League with Tottenham in 2006 and on to Manchester United two years later, was last season's top scorer but has made just two league starts this term to spark uncertainty over his future.

The Bulgarian's Old Trafford deal expires at the end of this season but United have the option to extend it by 12 months, which Sir Alex Ferguson has said he is keen to do.

Holzhauser has played down claims made by one of Berbatov's representatives, Ivan Dobrinov, that a Leverkusen deal is in the offing, and says any contact with the 30-year-old has been purely friendly.

"A transfer of Dimitar Berbatov to our club is pure speculation and we will not partake in this gossip," he told Deutsche Presseagentur.

"Things have been forced by his agents and it displeases me to know that.

"We have remained in close contact with Dimitar since he left the club but this is purely on an amicable basis."




Looks like the Agent looking for a lucrative deal for his client.

I'd say its an agent opening his trap when he should have kept it shut. Pure speculation of course, but if something is agreed, and Berbatov's shit cnut agent 'they all are' is not so pleased with the conditions of a potential move, then sending out the warning signal may interest a more lucrative client for his player.
By saying Bayer are having a good look, he's trying to suggest that it's open market.


Unless that deal is activated by sunday, Berbatov will either have to be content with a pay cut or look elsewhere. It's no wonder his agents are dribbling shite.
 

CnutOfAllCnuts

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Berbatov is staying until the end of the season.

Liverpool is signing on a free transfer in the sumer.