Liverpool FC Forum

by **crazyhorse** » Wed May 24, 2006 1:02 pm

OK. We all know we need a front man capable of knocking in 20 goals plus a season, and that a couple of our present front men will be leaving over the summer (Cisse, Pongolle and Morientes are most likely in my mind).

Robbie is capable of scoring plenty of goals but IMO he can only start 20 - 30 games a season in all competitions.

Crouch is a fit lad but not prolific.

We have gambled several times and payed 10 million plus for unproven PL players, and had out fingers burned - Cisse, Heskey, Diouf ect ect.

Andy Johnson would be available, Palace say they want 12 million but i reckon 10 would secure his signature, and we could reduce this still further if we threw in a squad player or two on part exchange.

He scored a lot of goals for Palace the season they went down, and was responsible for single handedly keeping hem in the hunt to stay up until the final day of the season. He is a proven goalscorer at PL level, and is a box player - a poacher who has the ability also to score from outside the box. I have watched him in the Championship this season and he is strong and has good distribution.

I reckon he would be worth looking at, compared with a lot out there we are talking about i do not think we could do any worse.

Discuss.

by **Ola Mr Benitez** » Wed May 24, 2006 1:05 pm

Didn't he score about 10 pnanlties that season??

I don't think he is good enough and is deffo not worth 10 mill... 4 maybe?

by **Dundalk** » Wed May 24, 2006 1:05 pm

No I dont think he his good enough for LFC, he is not great in the air of the Premiership goals the scored a few seasons ago how many were penalties.

I think there is better out there for the same money

by **EddieC** » Wed May 24, 2006 1:07 pm

I don't think he's the answer.

The guy wasn't even top scorer in the championship this season. He had one good season in EPL & everyone got all excited about him. Maybe if he was cheap he'd be good backup, but £10mill? I'd rather re-sign Heskey!

by **7_Kewell** » Wed May 24, 2006 1:09 pm

he's worth 6-7 million at most! 12 million?! I don't think so, most of his goals came from penalties and i think Rafa could buy 2 strikers of his quality for that price.

by **crazyhorse** » Wed May 24, 2006 1:13 pm

These are Johnsons stats from 2005.

Year : 2005
Games : 37
Starting Line-up : 37
Substitutions : 0
Goals : 21
Penalties : 10
Yellow Cards : 4
Red Cards : 0
Minutes Played : 3330

He has been Crystal palaces top scorer for five years running.

I am not a massive fan, but given the chance he may do a job.

by **7_Kewell** » Wed May 24, 2006 1:22 pm

crazyhorse wrote:These are Johnsons stats from 2005.

Year : 2005
Games : 37
Starting Line-up : 37
Substitutions : 0
Goals : 21
Penalties : 10
Yellow Cards : 4
Red Cards : 0
Minutes Played : 3330

He has been Crystal palaces top scorer for five years running.

I am not a massive fan, but given the chance he may do a job.

maybe he will....but 12million quid is a LOT to pay for a player who 'may' do it for us.

by **crazyhorse** » Wed May 24, 2006 1:27 pm

Hey, i am not suggesting we should rush out and buy him.. Just throwing an idea out for discussion.

by **The Ace1983** » Wed May 24, 2006 1:30 pm

Too much for too little. At £5m or £6m, that would be acceptable, but he's never worth £10m or 12M.

by **RedorDead** » Wed May 24, 2006 1:37 pm

He might be worth 5-6 million to some clubs (he's apparently worth 8-9 million to both Bolton and Wigan) but to us he wouldn't be worth more than 4 million in my opinion. Yes he is a good player and a starter for some teams but I cannot see Rafa spending over £6 mill on a player who would only be back up and no better than the back up we have. Cisse scored more goals this season on less starts in a more gruelling season that Johnson did for Palace.....worth a thread? maybe, worth a punt at LFC? No way!

by **7_Kewell** » Wed May 24, 2006 1:46 pm

judging from the press reports, he's off to Wigan. Which sounds about right for him

by **XSD** » Wed May 24, 2006 2:02 pm

3 clubs have already bid 8m for him and been turned down. There is no way he is worth 8m so might as well forget him.

by **ivor_the_injun** » Wed May 24, 2006 3:51 pm

latest... (from BBC)

Palace accept Wigan's Johnson bid

Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan has accepted Wigan's £8.5m offer for Andy Johnson and warned Bolton and Everton they must raise their bids.

Bolton have offered £8m for the 25-year-old striker, while Everton are prepared to pay £7.25m.

"Wigan are in the box seat," said Jordan. "Everton and Bolton are very keen to have the player's services, but they need to get a move on.

"Wigan have offered money I consider reasonable and on the terms I want."

He added: "It is predominantly those three clubs who are interested in Andrew, although I believe there is also interest from Portsmouth."

Johnson is on standby for England's World Cup squad and left training with the national team on Monday to discuss his future with Jordan.

However, it is reported that the striker, who scored 21 goals for the Eagles in their Premiership season in 2004/05, would prefer a move to Everton.

Everton were interested in Johnson last summer, but he was persuaded to sign a new deal in a bid to ensure Palace made an instant return to the Premiership.

But Palace were consigned to another season in the Championship after their loss to Watford in the semi-final of the play-offs last season and clubs have quickly moved to try to lure Johnson.

by **ivor_the_injun** » Wed May 24, 2006 3:55 pm

My own view is that he's not good enough.

He only managed 17 goals in all competitions last season. Playing in the Championship, that sort of tally isn't worth £10m of anyone's money. You're essentially paying for his form from 18 months ago, and as many people have said, a LOT of those goals were penalties, many of which he earned himself going down far too easily.

£10m will go a long way towards securing a far better striker, IMO. The Wigans, Evertons and Boltons can all slug it out between themselves for him. I don't see him as the kind of player we'll rue missing out on.

by **stmichael** » Wed May 24, 2006 4:06 pm

forget that season at palace. the guy is too one dimensional to play at a very top club. hell his success at palace came playing as a lone striker. stick him with a partner and he comes across as a difficult guy to play with.

he'll do well at wigan. that's about his level. much higher than everton anyway.

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