ToffeeWeb - Season 2007-08

The Mail Bag

No Brainer

The Echo is carrying the story that Alan Smith is holding out for a £6M move to Everton (as opposed to going elsewhere). A choice between Smith and Nugent (for £6M + if PNE have their way) would see Smith arriving at Goodison if it was up to me. Seasoned Premier League player versus "potential". No brainer.
Steve Guy, Harrogate Posted 02/07/2007 at 15:43:00

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Tom Emanuel
1 Posted 02/07/2007 at 16:27:13

I’d agree with that personally. I just get the feeling that he would be a better partner fot AJ than Nugent. But to be honest, at the moment I’d take either.

I really feel we could do with a couple of full backs too. But I shouldn’t get carried away. After all, this is Everton!

John Holmes
2 Posted 02/07/2007 at 16:46:02

I think either would be an equally good signing. Smith is a seasoned Premiership player but, in my view, his time at United has proved he can’t cut it at the very highest level. Nugent is untried but has plenty of potential. I still have a lingering suspicion over his quality and still feel £6m is excessive for a player who has done well in the Championship without steam-rolling it and has never played in the Premiership.

More important than any of those considerations though is that unless we sell Beattie and if our budget is as low as some are suggesting then we shouldn’t be spending £6m on any striker when we have 6 in our first team squad already and regularly only play one.

Roberto Birquet
3 Posted 02/07/2007 at 16:48:44

The Beeb has just flashed that Sunderland have withdrawn their offer for Nugent.

Still want fernandes, me. £12 million just won’t happen, will it? Let it go...

Mike Oates
4 Posted 02/07/2007 at 17:43:01

I’d take Nugent , if for nothing else than the day of the bustling, good header , let them know your there type player is dying.There is no way Smith will get anything from any European Ref let alone half of the Premiership lot.

Nowdays you need someone with pace , and good feet to cut it at the top , Nugent might have it , Smith doesn’t.

Nick Stanley
5 Posted 02/07/2007 at 17:42:16

Centre anfdleft midfield are the top priorities for me, followed by a long-term replacement for Stubbs. I do not think we should use ?new? money to buy either Smith or Nugent. To buy either of these (preferably Smith), we need to offload the deadwood first. Wright & Pistone have already gone but there are at least 3 others who contributed little or nothing last season: Beattie, Naysmith & VDM. They are all expensive deadwood ? get rid of them. If we gan scrape enough together from these three, then buy Smith (or Nugent), but only if it does not adversely affect our ability to fill the priority positions.

Gavin Ramejkis
6 Posted 02/07/2007 at 18:04:08

Any statto types out there want to guess how much we have saved in wages since the departures of Messrs Kilbane, Davies, Wright and Pistone, add that to the insider leak from Doddy aka several others and we might have an idea of how much the club might have to play with. I agree with the poster about Smith hustle and bustle, he gets away with murder at Utd but would pick up yellows galore at Everton. Then again Nugent doesn’t strike me as the finished article but does have some time to learn/develop.

Gerry Western
7 Posted 02/07/2007 at 19:24:26

For me its not a contest, Smith is currently not guaranteed a place in the Mancs starting eleven. With Saha seemingly injured for a prolonged period and no other strikers of any real quality at the club I think this speaks volumes. Indeed Smith has played as many games in the middle of the park as he has upfront. I strongly suspect Ferguson would be only too glad to offload him over concerns for his future fitness. Nugent is much more than a striker his all round contribution far exceeds that of Smith. It will be a real missed opportunity if we fail to secure his signature. With Sunderland now out of the frame we should really be looking to press home our advantage.

John Patrick McFarlane
8 Posted 02/07/2007 at 20:40:18

I think Smith is in the Barmby, Bellamy and Jeffers bracket, i.e. Money is better than medals brigade. I would much sooner sign Nugent at the right price of course which isn’t more than 3.5 million. We can’t afford another JB which is what we’ll get if we buy Smith. My biggest worry about all these semi-official links with strikers is that AJ may well move on by deadline day. McFadden , Beattie and Smith would hardly represent value for money as far as strikers are concerned.

Andy Callan
9 Posted 03/07/2007 at 12:42:02

Fuck em both off. Neither are good enough or worth the money. Plus Smith is a right horrible cunt - we don’t want him the twat.

sam morrison
10 Posted 03/07/2007 at 16:51:23

I would rather Nugent. Admittedly he might be a bit of a gamble, but he’s young and improving. I think Smith is a decent link-up player but has no pace or dribbling skills to speak of. Credit him for clinging on at Utd for so long, but as several posters have pointed out, he would be a liability discipline-wise.