Houghton

[Rovers91]

I think he will sign permo in summer, didn't he buy an house in area in summer?

[selby]

  With McCollough coming back  it is a good option, at the end of the season it could work out just right for us , and Jordan may find that the market place is full of out of contract players who cannot demand the same wages as in  January.
 Mason can also play there,although I do not think he is as good as those two, and Amos although very young has shown  he is capable of playing in that position.
  McGahey is looking an even better fit if we get our  skates on, if we are interested in good young players playing at our level now that is, I think he would see us as a step up from Rochdale anyway.
  That's where we were good at spotting players at our level in the past, when Sir John was our chairman, we always looked at the players already in our league, that were good players playing with the smaller clubs.
  Doolan,Gregg Blundell,Coppinger, and others were scouted while playing against us  or in and around our division, but were capable of playing at a higher standard.
  Anyway it is no good getting upset about players who don't belong or play for you, just move on to the next one.

[IDM]

Nearly a double whammy! But, this can only be further bad news, just as we were building some momentum on the pitch. We will probably be outbid for his services, come the end of the season.

We will have yet another rebuilding job on again in the summer, which does not help our progression. I thought Houghton was an absolute no-brainer!

The window between seasons is much longer and is the time to rebuild squads.  January is for enhancing and firefighting for the rest of the season. 

We need Houghton now, and it looks like we will have him for the short term at least..

[pib]

A few ways of looking at this and it can't be easy for DRFC or JH with his Chelsea contract up at the end of the season.

He'll be on decent money at Chelsea and will want to maximise that before he's released.  Who can blame him?

We can have him for the rest of the season on loan anyway so we're saving a bit of money in the short term. Should we speculate to accumulate?  Maybe, but it's a tricky balance for DF and the board when other areas of the team clearly need strengthening.

We may well be priced out in the summer but it's a calculated risk that the club obviously feels it has to take.

Unless as someone has already pointed out it's a Marquis-esque negotiation scenario and the loan is just to make sure he's here and available while a deal is thrashed out.

For me, if it's between prizing Houghton away now at an inflated price from his lucrative Chelsea contract and having no money to get a striker/left back in, vs loaning him for now and hoping he will give us first dibs on his services in the summer when we've freed up some money, I'd take the loan.

[Alan Southstand]

I suppose theres still the possibility another club could come in for him

That is the biggest worry, Filo, except of course if that Club is us. Maybe they've had a bit of a handshake on it - I bloody well hope they have.

With McCollough coming back  it is a good option

Don't hold your breath on that one, Selby, Luke's been out one hell of a long time. We're more likely to see Kiwomya before we see McCullough (that's if we see him again this season!).

[GazLaz]

Where’s this McGahey nobsense come from? I could name you 3 better midfielders at rochdale alone, hence why he doesn’t play there for them.

Is it because he did a nice touch on the half way line last Friday night?

[pib]

McGahey's a CB/full back isn't he.  And not one that appears to pull up many trees either.

[Alan Southstand]

We need Houghton now, and it looks like we will have him for the short term at least..

See Filo's comments above. We may only have him for a few days!

[since-1969]

Ferguson: "We did agree a deal with Chelsea to make it permanent but we couldn't agree personal terms. It'll be a loan until the end of the season. Time wasn't on our side, we had to move quick on this." #drfc

It.s looking like he will be elsewhere next season . Personal terms is always going to be stumbling block .

[mrfrostsdad]

Save on the transfer fee to put into more agreeable personal terms in readiness for his contract to run out.

Barry, would we not have to pay a transfer fee anyway because of his age??
I think we need to be very careful here. Yes, we want him to sign permanently in the summer, but not on crazy wages. It seems we blew the majority of the budget on Marquis in the summer and he's not pulled up any trees this season. Williams has been on good money for two and a half years and has been one of our biggest disappointments for me over the last two years.
My guess is someone may come in for him in the summer who can pay him more than we can. A lot more

[GazLaz]

Some absolute tubes on here. Personal terms is a very broad term. It could possibly be that he’s due a loyalty bonus, like players often are, if he gets to the end of his Chelsea contract. It may be worth him running down the contract to get that lump.

[GazLaz]

Save on the transfer fee to put into more agreeable personal terms in readiness for his contract to run out.

Barry, would we not have to pay a transfer fee anyway because of his age??
I think we need to be very careful here. Yes, we want him to sign permanently in the summer, but not on crazy wages. It seems we blew the majority of the budget on Marquis in the summer and he's not pulled up any trees this season. Williams has been on good money for two and a half years and has been one of our biggest disappointments for me over the last two years.
My guess is someone may come in for him in the summer who can pay him more than we can. A lot more

Save on the transfer fee to put into more agreeable personal terms in readiness for his contract to run out.

Barry, would we not have to pay a transfer fee anyway because of his age??
I think we need to be very careful here. Yes, we want him to sign permanently in the summer, but not on crazy wages. It seems we blew the majority of the budget on Marquis in the summer and he's not pulled up any trees this season. Williams has been on good money for two and a half years and has been one of our biggest disappointments for me over the last two years.
My guess is someone may come in for him in the summer who can pay him more than we can. A lot more

We won’t have to pay a fee in the summer as Chelsea haven’t offered him a contract. The fee we would have been paying now would have probably to cover loyalty payments that Chelsea would have to pay him. Common practice. These things aren’t straight forward.

[GazLaz]

Baring in mind this could be Coppingers last season, that mat free up fortunes.

[selby]

  Gaz, if you look at my post I am not suggesting he plays in midfield, I am pointing out that McCullough and Mason have played there, and he would cover the right back/centre half position to allow them to do so.
 Like Perkins he is just a suggestion, do I think  we will go this way NO, would I consider it YES.
  Hopefully our scouting system have the bases covered, I am sure they will have more than one player in mind. Time will tell.
 If I had my way it would not be an issue, because I would not let any loan players play in cup competitions, there must be many a side that has been knocked out  in the early rounds,  by teams fielding players not available to them in the later rounds. The same with the play offs.

[since-1969]

I suppose theres still the possibility another club could come in for him

That is the biggest worry, Filo, except of course if that Club is us. Maybe they've had a bit of a handshake on it - I bloody well hope they have.

With McCollough coming back  it is a good option

Don't hold your breath on that one, Selby, Luke's been out one hell of a long time. We're more likely to see Kiwomya before we see McCullough (that's if we see him again this season!).

Money talks not hand gestures!!

[bpoolrover]

Not being funny but no point expecting anything off lm when he is fit as unfortunately he keeps getting injured

[big fat yorkshire pudding]

If you were him would you sign now? I wouldn't.

Probably not because it would probably mean a big pay cut

He will be on plenty at Chelsea, it’s his second contract I think, they were paying 18yo’s 5k a week 20 years ago. 

Exactly. Mate of mine had a neighbour who was at arsenal. Guy never played above league 1 but was picking up 7k a week in their youth sides.  Madness.

[steve@dcfd]

Houghton here for the rest of the season. If we lose him in the summer then that’s because we can’t offer him the wages he wants. The CEO and club have the rest of the season to talk and sort it out. Losing Whiteman has forced the clubs hand to get this loan sorted quickly.
In the summer some of the high wage earners will be off the books and may allow a deal to be done.

[Filo]

Houghton here for the rest of the season. If we lose him in the summer then that’s because we can’t offer him the wages he wants. The CEO and club have the rest of the season to talk and sort it out. Losing Whiteman has forced the clubs hand to get this loan sorted quickly.
In the summer some of the high wage earners will be off the books and may allow a deal to be done.

Can't offer the wages he wants, or can't offer the wages he's accustomed to?

These young players need to accept if they don't make it in the premiership bubble they need to come back into the real world

[Jonathan]

I think Houghton is a different character to Conor Grant, and a vastly superior player too. Hopefully he’ll still be here longer term.

[steve@dcfd]

Houghton here for the rest of the season. If we lose him in the summer then that’s because we can’t offer him the wages he wants. The CEO and club have the rest of the season to talk and sort it out. Losing Whiteman has forced the clubs hand to get this loan sorted quickly.
In the summer some of the high wage earners will be off the books and may allow a deal to be done.

Can't offer the wages he wants, or can't offer the wages he's accustomed to?

These young players need to accept if they don't make it in the premiership bubble they need to come back into the real world

I agree with that but then we must be prepared he will not sign.

[GazLaz]

Houghton here for the rest of the season. If we lose him in the summer then that’s because we can’t offer him the wages he wants. The CEO and club have the rest of the season to talk and sort it out. Losing Whiteman has forced the clubs hand to get this loan sorted quickly.
In the summer some of the high wage earners will be off the books and may allow a deal to be done.

Can't offer the wages he wants, or can't offer the wages he's accustomed to?

These young players need to accept if they don't make it in the premiership bubble they need to come back into the real world

A lot of players in L1 aren’t on real world money.

Houghton is one of the best players in his position in L1, he should be payed accordingly. Whether that’s with us or elsewhere.

[The Red Baron]

Some absolute tubes on here. Personal terms is a very broad term. It could possibly be that he’s due a loyalty bonus, like players often are, if he gets to the end of his Chelsea contract. It may be worth him running down the contract to get that lump.

I dare say the "golden handshake" is something to do with it. However, if I were his agent I'd be advising him to keep his options open at this stage. There's likely to be something on the table for him here in the summer and there's the chance other clubs may be interested. We've got him till the end of the season and we'll have to take things from there.

[Wild Rover]

As stated above JH may be due a loyalty bonus from Chelsea at end of contract, if he is and that amount was 250K then JH would need to recoup that in wages from DRFC, which to me equates at roughly 5K a week for a 1 year contract with DRFC or 2.5K a week for 2 years ON TOP of a reasonable salary of say 3K a week. So there is no wonder the two parties cannot agree.

[since-1969]

It could well be just isn’t in our bracket .Loans are try before you buy but it’s a gamble as teams will be watching . Let’s face it we waited for Marquis to make up his mind and ended up with a player firing blanks.

[IDM]

FFS Marquis is doing a great job for the team..

Houghton is a key player this season and it is great he is here for the rest..

[bobbymax]

It could well be just isn’t in our bracket .Loans are try before you buy but it’s a gamble as teams will be watching . Let’s face it we waited for Marquis to make up his mind and ended up with a player firing blanks.

Yeah, useless that Marquis is! What good is he just terrorising defenders, holding the ball up, bringing others into play and setting up goals if he doesn't score 30 every season? Rubbish Marquis, bring back Curtis Main!

[since-1969]

Yeah !! Doh !

[Campsall rover]

A few ways of looking at this and it can't be easy for DRFC or JH with his Chelsea contract up at the end of the season.

He'll be on decent money at Chelsea and will want to maximise that before he's released.  Who can blame him?

We can have him for the rest of the season on loan anyway so we're saving a bit of money in the short term. Should we speculate to accumulate?  Maybe, but it's a tricky balance for DF and the board when other areas of the team clearly need strengthening.


We may well be priced out in the summer but it's a calculated risk that the club obviously feels it has to take.

Unless as someone has already pointed out it's a Marquis-esque negotiation scenario and the loan is just to make sure he's here and available while a deal is thrashed out.

For me, if it's between prizing Houghton away now at an inflated price from his lucrative Chelsea contract and having no money to get a striker/left back in, vs loaning him for now and hoping he will give us first dibs on his services in the summer when we've freed up some money, I'd take the loan.

Your spot on pub with the above. 100% agree with you.

[Campsall rover]

Sorry pib not pub.