Jon Walters

[The Great Mass Debater]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/stoke-city/11815839/Stoke-City-reject-1.5-million-bid-from-Norwich-for-Jon-Walters.html

1.5m bid rejected according to Telegraph

 

[Scott]

Not a bad player but doesn't score an awful lot.. Plus he's ex scum

 

[derehamyella]

seems to me we are getting well down the barrell now.    surely he is about 6th or 7th choice...

 

[Indy_Bones]

Not a bad player but doesn't score an awful lot.. Plus he's ex scum

Averages about 8 a season either from the wing or playing off a front man, which isn't bad to be fair.

Not what we need however, and better spending the money and wages elsewhere.

 

[The Great Mass Debater]

He's a Dorrans type signing though, not going to make the headlines (Ipswich connections aside) but you know what you are getting from him. He's a very capable and hardworking player. Not sure which position we would see him playing, but that in itself might be why were looking at him. Alex Neil seems to like versatility and he could contribute from a number of roles. Think this is unlikely to happen as he wont necessarily be losing his place, but this will be his concern. Id be happy with this signing if it happened

 

[KeiranShikari]

I'd say another big, reliable forward is exactly what we need. Would rather we had Walters starting than Grabban, Hooper and he'd certainly be real competition for Jerome.

Couldn't care less about his history down the road.

 

[Din]

To be honest I doubt he'd want to come here after today seeing as if he does play he'll get booed every time he touches the ball.

I think he'd be a great signing for us though, but he's apparenly set to sign a 2 year contract extension, so looks as if this one's dead in the water as well.

 

[splutcho]

We'd soon forget the ITFC connection if he came, but don't think he will. Shame though because he'd be a good signing for us.

 

[Canaryboy]

I'd rather us go for players with their best years ahead of them, Walters is 32 next month.

But he's a good player and if its all we can get then I'd take him. He can play out wide too which is a bonus, as we don't have an abundance of wide players. 

I really thought that we'd be looking to bring in a few younger players this summer because our squad is getting no younger, we've got loads of players approaching their 30's and a few 30+. 

Robbie Brady ticks the box, but look at our squad and there aren't many that you'd expect to be with us in 5 years, worries me that we might find ourselves in a situation where the squad needs a major overhaul one year (doesn't always end well).

Jerome 29, Bassong 29, Martin 29, Johnson 28, Whittaker 31, etc.  

 

[Boyerboy]

I agree but the first priority is staying up.  I am very comfortable with signing experienced players who can do the job now.  We have plenty of younger players and there are always more coming through.  Walters knows how to win in the Premier League and that is what we need most of all next Saturday.

 

[splutcho]

I can see where people are coming from in one sense, but I feel like experience (in the right measures) is massively underrated on this board. You talk of the future, well surely having some players that have been there, done it and got the t shirt is going to be massively beneficial for the learning of our younger players, as well as giving us a couple of years of a good quality player.

Also, players are written off too early. Walters turns 32 soon, but players can still play some of the best football of their career in their 30s. One of our most important players is 33.

 

[Canaryboy]

One of our most important players is 33.

And he was 26 when we signed him, which is why I'd prefer players with their best years ahead of them who could potentially be here in 5 years time.

But I would take Walters for the short term and agree that his experience could be valuable to us, he's a good player.

We could see him as a vast improvement on Kyle Lafferty. 

 

[splutcho]

True, but if Hoolahan was doing what he's doing for us, at another side, and we signed him right now, I'd be ecstatic!

 

[Canaryboy]

The Mirror are reporting that Walters is in a dispute with Stoke because he wants a 2 year extension, Stoke only want to give him 1 year. 

Which begs the question, do we really want to be giving Walters a 3 year contract? 

That would take him up to pretty much 35 years old.

He's a player whose game involves basically covering a lot of ground, when his legs start to go he doesn't have much left to offer. 

I don't think we should be giving him 3 years (if the Mirror haven't made it up). 

 

[The Great Mass Debater]

Second bid of 2m rejected apparently today. Stories like this and our opening gambits with Hull over Brady really make me wonder about the stories saying we're willdy throwing huge amounts of money at players like Afobe. Just doesnt seem consistent. We do seem to have been persistent though

 

[KeiranShikari]

I think we're still 1.5m-2m away from a bid that they'd even consider, if this is truth.

 

[derehamyella]

£2 mill seems a bit low.  a red herring while other deals are taking place ...?

 

[Canaryboy]

£2 mill seems a bit low.  a red herring while other deals are taking place ...?

I wouldn't actually want to pay too much more for him, he's 32 next month in the last year of his deal, and he wants to leave Stoke because they won't give him a 3 year deal (two year extension).

I think any transfer fee has to reflect that we will have to give him a year longer than he will probably be useful for. 

It reminds me of the Holt transfer in a way, £2m to Wigan so he could get his last big payday (3 year deal),and then went downhill on the pitch. Not saying that Walters will also decline like that or that it is in his nature to just down tools, but there is a chance that it will happen and handing 3 year deals to 32 year olds is a risky business, feels a bit like it should be a QPR signing (pre-Ramsay). 

Could argue all day about players going on a bit longer at the top these days, but Walters is a player who's entire game is effectively based on covering more ground than the other players on the pitch, he doesn't have enough talent to just convert into a centre midfielder when his stamina goes, and once his legs start to go that's him finished.  

Paying a big transfer fee for Walters on a 3 year deal is one I'm skeptical about. It would be my Plan C perhaps, better than signing nobody, but I'd actually prefer that we paid over the odds for Afobe. 

 

[Canaryboy]

It would upset Ipswich fans though, that's one positive. 

 

[derehamyella]

in today's market that is low.. 2mill.. often seems like the agents cut lolol.

 I am not convinced in anyway over this,  just think we can get a lot younger plus is he any better than what is here.