The Curious Case of Steven Caulker

[aliyid]

Of all the things that could have been handled better this year, trying to keep an unsettled player on the bench is very low on the list.

It's the sort of thing we've done before with Jenas, Bentley, O'Hara, etc... and sitting on the bench didn't work out for them either (although O'Hara did take the club bike with him when he left).

He wanted to play and we got a very generous offer for him. Win/Win from both sides, good luck to him

 

[thinktank]

I get that, and I don't want to settle for mediocrity any more than you do.

But I do think that it was more unnecessary disruption in a summer of huge disruption.

I really don't think it made any difference. Tim's reign trumps all.

 

[Frozen_Waffles]

If I could turn back time (and could find a way) I would have kept Caulker and Huddlestone. Although I think Chriches is going to be class we needed a bit of stability.

To be honest I think DL will have a buy back clause in his contract if Cardiff go down, we get him back in the summer and then it will turn in to the most expensive loan in history.

 

[idontgetit]

The sensible thing would have been to keep him but offer to let him go in January if he wasn't getting game time.

Instead of course......

 

[Roynie]

Centre backs don't really come into their prime until their mid 20's as there is so much to learn, a lot of which comes from hard lessons learned in games.
I do worry about his pace, but then he is no slower than Terry and his goals are a bonus. Dawson will be gone in the summer whoever takes over I reckon so Caulker would be a good buy if we can get him. Not too many other talented young centre halves around, and Verts looks like he has lost interest - shadow of thre player we saw last season.

You beat me to it. It should be borne in mind that he is only 22.

 

[whitesocks]

They are footballers FFS.
If you are stupid enough to invite them onto your yacht and expect that they pass the port
and cheese in the correct direction, then they will disappoint.
Caulker would have got loads of games this season, and it was a shocking decision to move him out, imo.

 

[Neon_Knight_]

Caulker was given a decent run out at the start of last season, but couldn't hold down a place in the starting 11, even with Kaboul and Gallas out injured.

Sure, Caulker has an England cap, but Chiriches is captain of his national team and has Champions League experience. Chiriches has a better footballing brain, more pace and superior passing. As far as I'm concerned, we upgraded our 5th choice CB with someone who could well be 2nd choice next season, and made a tidy 0.5m profit.

There's not much point in highlighting Chiriches' mistakes this season, as Vertonghen and Kaboul have made just as many, if not more. If anyone thinks Caulker would have shored up our defence, they are deluded. We need to have a consistent back four and some decent defensive coaching and man-management. Having Sandro/Capoue fit to sit in front of the back four would be useful too...

 

[StanSpur]

I'd have told him to wait a year due to the major upheavals at Spurs that summer, and if he's good enough for a place in the world cup squad then he's good enough to become a first team regular for us.

Spurs are more important than Steven Caulker, surely?

The thing is footballers are humans not regular assets and therefore trading is not all about value to the club. There is employment law and duty of care for the individuals to consider with all players on top of transfer values etc. If he wanted to play week in week out in the prem and thought his path was blocked at Spurs then we couldn't keep him against his will. The same with Modric, VDV, Bale et al. they all wanted to leave rather than Spurs wanting rid and therefore we got the best deal for each of them that we could. £8m for a 21 year old CB with limited experience at top level (despite GB and England recognition) is/was a good deal for the club. Now given the situation with Verts and Kaboul this season do i wish we'd kept him? of course. Do i think there is a chance we'll get him back? Probably. I wouldn't be at all suprised if we have a first dibs on him or even a buy-back agreement. Cardiff may well have been paying in installments and with relegation may wish to cut their losses and sell him back for just the sum paid to date. We have previous with this with a certain Kaboul who we sold too soon and then brought back to the club so anything is possible. But the fact remains we had to do what was right with the player and that will always be the case for any team - human before club. Show me any player that has been forced to stay somewhere? If the club ever tried that approach the player would stop playing to their potential, their usefulness and value would drop and the club loses out!

 

[C-oops]

Anyone complaining about this obviously hasn't seen him play for cardiff this season... He has been poor.

 

[Rout-Ledge]

Anyone complaining about this obviously hasn't seen him play for cardiff this season... He has been poor.

Has Chiriches been much better?

 

[allatsea]

Anyone complaining about this obviously hasn't seen him play for cardiff this season... He has been poor.

Looks like several wanted him to be poor for us rather than Cardiff. Not sure why. I don't see what part of his game he excels in other than when his team are attacking at corners and set pieces. Much rather have Dawson playing for us than Caulker.

 

[C-oops]

Has Chiriches been much better?

Probably not but I'd say he is a better player with more potential. Caulker is going to be a sub Michael Dawson level I reckon.. Then again he has been left exposed in a poor cardiff team. Might actually have helped his development to stay with us.

 

[teok]

Has Chiriches been much better?

Yes.

 

[parklane1]

Has Chiriches been much better?

Yep, its been said before Caulker wanted first team football but he was told that he would have to wait for his chance, he was not prepered to do this and so he left.

 

[nicdic]

Pretty sure there were rumours about his attitude not being great either.

 

[parklane1]

Pretty sure there were rumours about his attitude not being great either.

There was that as well.

 

[JimmyG2]

Buy back Caulker?
Let's at least pretend we know what we are doing.
This season has had enough humiliations
to be going on with.
If he wasn't good enough at the start of the season
then he's not good enough now.

 

[mezza84]

No better than anything we have. Lets look forward not backward.

 

[double0]

I'd buy back Caulker and let Dawson go.

 

[SpursManChris]

yeah, I don't see why we couldn't have just loaned him. Were we THAT desperate for dosh that we had to sell him?