Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2005 3:41 pmThinking back to the summer I don't think anyone can seriously sit there and say they weren't surprised when we were linked to Crouch, I certainly was. I had seen him several times last season, and while he always impressed when I saw him, I still had several reservations.
He had been at many clubs and not really fitted in. Both Spurs and Villa had written him off early in his career. In fact he was pretty poor at Villa, yet he seemed to do better for smaller clubs such as Pompey and Southampton, I worried he might have been a player that mentally can't hack it at bigger clubs and I thought he'd struggle at Liverpool at least initially, and he did. For all the clubs he had been at he had only really excelled for one half of a premiership season at Southampton, would it be a flash in the pan James Beattie style?
I also had reservations about the 7 million fee. I couldn't really see him becoming the number 1 striker at the club. A player for the tough away prem games I thought and 7 million for a squad player unless you're Chelsea is madness. Nevertheless I always thought he'd be worth a shot at around 3 million.
I'll eat my words now though, the boy is now the number 1 striker at the club in my opinion. He brings a hell of a lot to the team and now goals on top of that. If he carries on his current form for the rest of the season then 7 million will have been a bargain, I'm extremely happy to have been proved wrong on Crouch.
He had been at many clubs and not really fitted in. Both Spurs and Villa had written him off early in his career. In fact he was pretty poor at Villa, yet he seemed to do better for smaller clubs such as Pompey and Southampton, I worried he might have been a player that mentally can't hack it at bigger clubs and I thought he'd struggle at Liverpool at least initially, and he did. For all the clubs he had been at he had only really excelled for one half of a premiership season at Southampton, would it be a flash in the pan James Beattie style?
I also had reservations about the 7 million fee. I couldn't really see him becoming the number 1 striker at the club. A player for the tough away prem games I thought and 7 million for a squad player unless you're Chelsea is madness. Nevertheless I always thought he'd be worth a shot at around 3 million.
I'll eat my words now though, the boy is now the number 1 striker at the club in my opinion. He brings a hell of a lot to the team and now goals on top of that. If he carries on his current form for the rest of the season then 7 million will have been a bargain, I'm extremely happy to have been proved wrong on Crouch.
" (1)
actually had some impact in this forum, many where bashing Crouch (2). In that drought of goals, I defended him, because he convinced me. He indeed had good build up play, and both you and me talked that "nosense" to defend him IIRC 
, it's not nosense, although I agree goals are important. At that time, he really convinced me. The movements were good, he failed chances, but was in the correct place to fail them. It was a matter of time, and so I said. I also must admit, that I expected him to explode next season, but perhaps, I was wrong on that.