I know Sullivan and Gold have claimed Parker is not for sale and maybe they meant it when they said it...in fact maybe they still do. But if Liverpool, Villa and Tottenham move into a bidding war, would it really make sense to retain "Mr West Ham" as one poster calls him? It seems odds on that one of Parker or Behrami will be sold, would it really make sense to part with Valon rather than Scotty?
I am not a huge fan of either, it must be said. Both are good players but neither are great. Neither scores often enough to qualify as a top notch midfielder in the modern game and neither plays enough killer balls. Both are prone to dwelling on the ball too long, running head down rather than picking out a pass and both are prone to giving away free kicks in dangerous defensive areas because of poor technique in the tackle.
Before I move on, I can hear the howls of derision already but, moan as much as you like, the statistics confirm all these criticisms. What both offer is high energy, box to box enthusiasm. Both are dynamos, both would be perfect for a Duracel advert, both look better than they actually are because of their total commitment. But effort is not enough, which is why Parker was overlooked for the World Cup.
One of Zola's major errors was trying to accommodate both in his midfield. Behrami was played wide right and wide left but he is a winger who cannot cross, a wide midfield player who cannot shoot either. Whilst Parker is every bit as goal shy. Behrami's true position is in centre midfield, breaking up the opposition's play and releasing the ball quickly to somebody who can do something with it. Much the same as Parker. How many times last season did we see both running up blind alleys and falling over in the hope of winning a free kick, rather than playing an intelligent pass? How rarely did we see a killer pass or cross into the box from either? Yes, you will find examples - the Parker pass in the Burnley game for example - but there weren't enough examples. Collison, when fit, is a more creative player than both.
So why should we sell Parker rather than Behrami? Well Parker's stock is high and Valon's is low. If any of Spurs, Liverpool or Villa offer anything above £12m, we should take it. This time next year, Parker will be worth £6m to £8m tops. In a reasonable team, his errors rather than his commitment to the cause will stand out; and he will be heading towards 31, with, at best two more years in the game.
Behrami, on the other hand, is better than he appeared last season. To be seen at his best, he needs better players around him, unlike Parker who benefits from being the best amongst dross. Behrami is a cuter player, winning more free kicks than Parker, and will play to his limitations if told to do so. Parker thinks he is Gerrard, Behrami knows he aint! If we sold Behrami now, we would be lucky to get £8m, but this time next year, he could be worth £15m if Grant can get him playing to his strengths. Time is on Behrami's side, it is very much against Parker.
So ignoring the fact that Parker is English and Behrami is Swiss, I would take £12m for Scott and say to Valon, now you're our top man.
46 comments:
kevin in manchester writes..
I agree for 12 mill I'd gift wrap him- good player but not great plus not only Behrami but also Noble and Collinson, when he comes back , can sub
Shut up you idiot.
You have proved time and time again you are a know-nothing, attention seeking cock.
It is impossible to be as moronic as you are with views so pathetic, you are quite clearly a wind-up with too much time on your hands.
Please do us all a favour and stop this drivel.
I do agree with you on the moeny and age side of things, and quite rightly agree with you on the value of Behrami next season if he were to play Parkers position. Howver I dont think Parkers value will drop 4 million, if you rate him at 12 now, I would rate him closer to the 15 mill mark which is beign tipped to be the price that G&S are supossedly standing at. If spurs came in with 15 mill I'd let the Yids have him for that. I feel on this G&S would have the value spot on. English players in general these days are that bit more pricey. Also with the new rules he would be classed as one of eight home grown so the big boys would need him more so adds a bit more value. I just feel Parker would have another great season, like the last even if you aren't a a massive PArker fan. and he can also help the young crop of youngsters. but liek I said if a big offer comes in even if they asay he'snot for sale they aren't that stupid and know the money could go elsewhere.
The difference is Parker makes the midfield and the WHOLE team tick, whereas Behrami just doesn't.
Totally agree, but I wonder if S&G are making a statement that West Ham are not a selling club.
Maybe they choose Parker as the statement because they knew no-one would pay the very high fees being asked and is a fans favourite because of his committment.
I think it would be a surprise to S&G if Spuds, Liverpool etc actually started bidding for Parker at those quoted rates.
What an obscenely over the top and ill mannered response "Jerome". Strangely, others seem to agree with me. How foolish and discourteous have you made yourself appear? Silly boy!
I couldn`t believe the title of the posting so I just had to have a look....wish I hadn`t wasted my time now....WHAT A TOTAL AND UTTER LOAD OF CRAP YOU WRITE.
football is all about winning. so if we keep selling our best players every time someone makes a bid for one and we keep weakening the team then wots the point. we might as well pack up now. we dont need to sell parker. so why should we. we are a big club who should be able to keep our best players. west ham have lacked to much ambition in the past and its about time we had some ambition dont you think. it makes me mad when we sell our best players to teams like tottenham. tottenham who the hell are tottenham for god sake. their not man utd or arsenal. we should not be selling our best players to teams like tottenham. because lets be honest west ham are as big if not bigger then tottenham. so no we should not sell parker. so as that answered your question hammersfan or shud i say spursfan.ps stop putting this great club of mine that i love down and making us sound crap all the time. we are west ham united ffs
if tottscum come in with a reasonable offer Parker will ask to go same scenario with Liverpool "mr West Ham" don't make me laugh Parker would show the same commitment (and limited ability) whoever he plays for thats the type of player he is; even £10mill is silly money £12mill G&S should help him pack
On the contrary...selling Scott Parker simply DOESN'T make sense!!
Just as the following contradiction doesn't make sense......
Today HF, you write, '...I would take £12m for Scott and say to Valon, now you're our top man.'
Whereas in your post dated Sat 10th July and entitled 'The Pieces Of The Jigsaw Falling Into Place', you wrote....
'The squad still needs fleshing out and I can't see a place for Behrami, unless he took the Kovac role.'
In today's offering, you quite categorically denigrate Behrami's ability as a professional footballer by claiming that he doesn't score often enough, doesn't play killer balls, dwells too long on the ball, runs with his head down, gives away too many free-kicks due to poor tackling technique, can't cross, can't shoot, runs down blind alleys and then falls over!?!...
I, for one, am mystified by how you can portray the guy to be so inept on the one hand, and then imply that the offloading of Parker would render Behrami MVP on the other?!
Behrami and Parker are both good players that we should keep. They add something different to the team. I hope Avram can utilise them both. There are many more we could sell but not those two. We could do without Cole if we find a better striker, we could do without Kovac or Faubert and most surely we could without Gabbidon and Spector. Valon and Scotty are both essential for a robust West Ham team. So, it's not really one or the other. I say neither!
funnily enough I'm with Sav on that one
Sav, I fully agree with you on the sales of Kovac and Spector, and reluctantly Gabbidon, but Cole and Faubert are essential too in my opinion, as obviously, are Parker and Behrami!
Deane 14.31, are you the same Deane as in Deane 14.19??
Because at 14.31 you agreed with Sav (read Sav's post again!!), whereas at 14.19, you suggest Sullivan and Gold should 'help Parker pack'?? Just a hint of contradiction there methinks??!
HF, by the way..... 'Parker thinks he's Gerrard'??
Probably the daftest statement you've made today?!
Have you been playing manager with your subbuteo set again. If Parkers had his head chewed of and Behrami has been stood on why dont you just paint a couple of new figures.....oh and leave the managment to those who can :)
Shaun, I quote you quoting me to show my consistency:
Whereas in your post dated Sat 10th July and entitled 'The Pieces Of The Jigsaw Falling Into Place', you wrote....
'The squad still needs fleshing out and I can't see a place for Behrami, unless he took the Kovac role.'
In today's offering, you quite categorically denigrate Behrami's ability as a professional footballer by claiming that he doesn't score often enough, doesn't play killer balls, dwells too long on the ball, runs with his head down, gives away too many free-kicks due to poor tackling technique, can't cross, can't shoot, runs down blind alleys and then falls over!?!...
Now, doesn't that description of Behrami sound like a pretty fair description of Kovac? So, as I said in my earlier article, the only place I can see for Behrami is in the Kovac role! Consistent or what?
The point you are missing is that we now have Derr Hammer as well. A midfield 5 of Dyer (or Faubert or Collison), Noble, Behrami, Derr Hammer and Barerra looks balanced to me. Behrami's job would be hold aka Kovac. Would Parker suit that role? If used elsewhere, would he contribute the necessary number of goals in a 5 man midfield? I don't think he would. That's why I go with Dutch's idea of Ireland or KPB, both of whom will get the side a lot more goals than Parker. Behrami can run around and break up opposition attacks so I would take the £12 to £15m.
The trouble with those gobbing off is that no thought is given to team shape and the suitability of certain players to do the RIGHT job for the team.
That should read I would take the £12m - £15m for Parker. I wouldn't let 'Arry have him for £12.50!
No HF, it doesn't sound like a 'fair' description of Kovac! You're implying that they're 'like for like' and play the same role! They don't!
Kovac is all too wooden compared to Behrami. All Kovac seems interested in, when he and Parker are both playing, is stabbing short passes to Parker and letting him create! Fine, if that's ALL he's been told to do, but it's a tad limited. Behrami is a quality utility player and has far more strings to his bow!
Yet, it was evident in your team selection that Kovac was your preferred choice was it not? He wouldn't be in my midfield and I'm hoping he won't be in Grant's either!
I can assure you I'm not 'gobbing off' for the sake of it, and I'm not missing any point concerning Hitzlsperger, not that you made one!
I have already stated on a previous post that it is my firmly held opinion that a strong central midfield pairing of Parker and Hitz would benefit and improve the team no end! Neither would be expected to return a Lumpalard haul of goals, as with the right set-up around them, it would be the forwards who profit!
You now overlook the 5 man midfield Shaun. Originally, I was thinking 4-4-2 but Gant has been playing 4-5-1. If you set up 4-5-1, your midfield has to contribute 30 goals plus, even if your sole striker chips in with 20. Now, if you need 30 goals from midfield, can you afford to select both Behrami and Parker? That means the other three have to chip in with 9 each! That's asking a lot! If Behrami (or Parker) contribute just 3 (optimistic on previous form), you are still looking for the other four to get seven each. That, in itself, is a big ask. That's why I favour the inclusion of Diamanti in the hole, but that's another argument.
You were not intentionally included in those "gobbing off".
You also have to look at Parker's injury record which isn't that great and won't get better with age. He can probaby put in an average performance for a whole season or a very good performance for half a season.
Overlook it HF? Where do I specify otherwise?! I made a general reference to 'the set-up' around them...I didn't speculate at what or who it might be.
If only your 'numbers' were so simple eh HF? The game would be totally predictable...West Ham would be Premier League contenders...based purely on statistical requirements and preset targets!
As if Grant is now going to shy away from a certain selection based on who scored how many last season!?
You can't apply such definitive quotas whilst simply assuming the formation will be 4-5-1 with those players! Unconditional cosmic football with no contingency for change....ground-breaking stuff? Fecking mind-blowing more like!
You don't know what formation or what players Grant intends to play!
..and indeed you don't know who else may come in before the season starts!
I am an England fan and I am proud that West Ham won the World Cup. This summer was embarrassing and showed that something has to be done to protect and develop the England national side. In the past, West Ham have not needed legislation to force us to play Englishmen, it has been a proud tradition of the club to do so, therefore keep Scottie for he is English!
1336 hear hear - you make perfect sense - he DOES make the whole team tick - we'd be lost without him
Very good 2106 but I quote the last sentence of the article, "So ignoring the fact that Parker is English and Behrami is Swiss, I would take £12m for Scott and say to Valon, now you're our top man". So, you see, I acknowledge the "conflict" already! You have to get up earlier in the morning to catch me out mate!
Shaun, I don't care who else is in that midfield five, if Grant is favouring 4-5-1, he can't have both Parker and Behrami paired together in that midfield for the statistical reasons I give.
We are not just talking about last season. In his West Ham career Parker has scored just 4 goals in 85 games. That is a pathetic return. Behrami has netted 3 times in 55 games.
In fact, Parker has only scored 19 goals over his whole career! 19 goals playing in midfield! That is shocking! At £12m, somebody would be paying £1.5m per goal! Behrami, meanwhile, has netted just 9 club goals so far in his career!
You ignore stats like that at your peril, as Zola discovered!
I don't see a problem with what I said Shaun I do hope we keep Parker but and its a huge but if anyone offered even 10mill for him I'd snap their hand off that is megabucks for a player of Parkers ability we could get plenty of players of that standard for 4-6 million he ain't that good he just shone in a piss poor team last year
HF... Avram CAN play whoever he likes in his midfield AND he can play whatever formation he sees as the best for the team...because he's the MANAGER, and he knows better than you and I!
We'll agree to disagree as I'm confident that BOTH Parker AND Behrami are in his plans and he won't have any reservations in playing them in the same side!
That said, if he based his selections solely on your 'statistics', we'd have NO midfield because they're simply not prolific enough and have nothing else to offer...oh, and they're not 'top quality' either?!
Deane, I didn't say I had a problem with what you said...I was just puzzled as to it's contradictory nature. You, like HF, obviously have an unjustifiably low opinion of Parker, which I'm finding hard to swallow, so we too will agree to disagree.
Yes he is free to repeat the mistakes of Zola.
You sound like you're already willing the guy to fail HF?!
.....but this is BOUND to make you more positive!!....
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1298169/West-Ham-offer-Scott-Parker-20m-deal.html?
well shame that we havent been playing 4-5-1 we have been playing 4-3-3 in a style that is when you are defending it becomes 4-5-1 the official sites match reports have all said 4-3-3 aswell
2213 what you talking about - one minute you're saying we need a backbone of Englishmen and the next minute because you've said "ignoring the fact" you're all up for selling our best player?!!? hardly makes sense now does it? and today it looks like I'm up earlier that you this morning :)
Oh BTW it looks like they've offered Scotty £20 million in wages over the next 5 years
On the contrary Shaun, I am desperate for him to succeed of course! That's why I don't want a 4-5-1 formation to include both Behrami and Parker.
Fred 4-3-3 or 4-5-1 is the same thing in the modern game. It is 4-5-1 if the two wide men are midfielders. It would only be 4-3-3 if we were picking Cole, Piquionne and McCarthy in the same team.
0926, listen closely, I ADMIT TO MY OWN INCONSISTENCY IN THE PARKER ARTICLE. Understand now? You MUST HAVE BEEN THE KID AT SCHOOL WHO WAS ALWAYS PUTTING UP HIS HAND TO GIVE AN ANSWER THAT ANOTHER PUPUL HAD ALREADY GIVEN!
"Sir, sir!"
"Yes?"
"It's 27!"
"We know, Johnson told us that 5 minutes ago!"
Next time you wake up early, try not to leave your brain on the pillow eh? There's a good chap!
As for Parker's contract, if the Mail says it, then it must be true eh guys? I will remember that the next time they run a story about the club!
0134 of course he wants them to fail - that's where he gets his kicks so he can tell everyone "told you so"
Haven't you seen through him yet? he always wants West Ham to fail - nothing gives him greater pleasure.
That's why he has so many haters and detractors - they know that he is the West Ham Antichrist
This is a statement by Sullivan regarding Scott Parker:
David Sullivan said: "I made a promise that I would not sell Scott and I will not, for any amount of money, break that promise to the West Ham supporters. Scott is not for sale at any price, to anyone. West Ham supporters, for far too long, have had owners that sell their best players and promise one thing and do another.
"This is a new era. We are building a bigger, better West Ham and when we make a promise, we honour it."
If he really means all that, then I will surely become his biggest fan. But we need deeds not words. I can't complain with what I have seen them doing so far however. Keeping my fingers crossed that finally after so many years West Ham is in the right hands and on the right track.
I hate to bang on about this and I simply hate to say 'I told you so', but here's what the OS has to say...from the 'horse's' mouth!!
http://www.whufc.com/articles/20100728/statement-on-scott-parker_2236884_2104072?
Right, so now we've established he's staying!!
But would you mind telling me just WHO your 5 man midfield would contain? Oh, and can you insert the number of goals they have scored in brackets just to see whether your 'statistics' stack up?! Thanks.
Sav, looks like you beat me to it! But he's hardly going to renege on his word after a statement like that on the OS is he?! I would be really interested to know just how derogatory the bid actually was, added to the fact that Levy had already been told that his interest was not welcome!!
See my latest article Sav.
And you Shaun. Why did West Ham break the story!
Tell me Shaun, why did we alert the World to this bid? Do explain please!
'Alert the world'? Far too global and sensational that HF!
How about simply let the West Ham fan-base know, via their own web-site and NOT a rumour rag, that this 'top quality' player is going nowhere!
I, personally, don't need to explain it. It's all there, in black and white. Try reading it again without the pessimistic and 'anti-Parker' stance! Call it positive PR? Call it what you will?!
Myself...I rather like it!!
Check out the News Now board Shaun. No reports on the Tottenham offer UNTIL we released that statement, then a rush odf stories. Tell me, what did Sullivan expect? Stop wriggling man, admit it! This stinks! If the other stories came first, then Sullivan responded, fair enough!
HF.... I don't wriggle, although some things on here do make me squirm at times!
If the story had been 'Sullivan ACCEPTS bid from Tottenham' you'd have messed your jockey-Y's and been banging on with 'I told you so' until the cows came home!!
Why don't YOU man up and admit that you were wrong on Parker, and no amount of smoke-screening and conspiracy theorising is going to alter that?!
...AND HF, I see you conveniently evaded my 10.17 question as to your '5 man midfield'?? (Complete with the stats of course)
"If you set up 4-5-1, your midfield has to contribute 30 goals plus, even if your sole striker chips in with 20. Now, if you need 30 goals from midfield, can you afford to select both Behrami and Parker? That means the other three have to chip in with 9 each! "
HA HA HA!
HF once again proving the depth of his knowledge on football could be written on a solitary key that he uses to write his blog!
SHAUN
It's not worth it, HF NEVER admits he's wrong, and will NEVER go back on his word.
He's not man enough to admit that sometimes (allbet it far more often than that in my opinion) he can be wrong.
This is why he deserves no respect at all.
“This is a new era. We are building a bigger, better West Ham and when we make a promise, we honour it.”
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