Long to WBA

[Snowball]

Try again. That 2003 op was a minor cartilage snip
and the article says so. Hundreds of players get those
these days, a bit of arthroscopy in the morning and
you go home in the afternoon.

Hunt's op in 2009-10 was a far more major op to try and fix
his knee once and for all.

Ok, you're right and I'm wrong.

It was a minor op in 2003 and the fact that he didn't play for 7 months after it is misleading.
He looked strong and fit all through last season.
His knees are fine and he's worth £3m.
End of discussion.

Well for one thing, his op was two weeks before the end of the season, followed by the summer break:

Injury-hit Dunfermline Athletic have suffered another blow with the news that young striker Noel Hunt requires surgery in the summer.

The cartilage problem forced him to miss the Pars drew away to Dundee on Saturday and will not play in the two remaining games of the season.

Manager Jimmy Calderwood told his club's website: "He has to have an operation, which is obviously bad news.
"It shouldn't be a bad one and he will be fit for pre-season."

Presumably he then had a set-back?

[Royal Rother]

Well I guess so, as he didn't play again until the end of November that year.

That's my point really, knees are so bloody dodgy that a history of problems is likely to put a club off laying out a significant transfer fee. And it didn't look to me last season that he was really firing on all cylinders and that is likely to put off clubs concerned about his knees, whatever a current medical might suggest.

But as you say, circa 1 in 2 is excellent so I'll be more than happy if he stays.

Edit: Looks like he broke his ankle when recovering from the knee op!!! http://sport.scotsman.com/spl/Noel-in-h ... 2504943.jp

[Hoop Blah]

Either way, and for whatever reasons, Hunt just doesn't play enough games or minutes to be the man to build your attack around.

He might go on to have a wonderful season and play every minute of every game but to gamble on his fitness like that would be a bit foolish in my eyes. We did much the same with Ingimarsson and and Sonko back in 2005. It paid off of course but it was still a gamble at the time.

Those same fitness fears should mean clubs will be willing to pay less for him than they otherwise would if he played on a more consistent basis.

[under the tin]

Either way, and for whatever reasons, Hunt just doesn't play enough games or minutes to be the man to build your attack around.

I totally agree.
I also agree with Rother, in that no way is the bloke worth anything like the numbers rumoured.
Maybe the Hammers are prepared to pay inflated money for the marquee signings that their fanbase and profile demands;but perhaps the more austere regime running that club look at the whole package the way that Svlad describes. A player like Noel may cost them a £1-2M transfer fee, but he will certainly be low maintenance on the wageroll, on peanuts compared to what they would have been paying Robbie Keane, Noble, etc.

[BonBoh]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2008835/Steve-Bruce-sets-sights-7m-Shane-Long-shot-pip-Newcastle-Reading-striker.html

Allegedly, Sunderland preparing a £7m bid for Long.

[Ian Royal]

The thing is, the papers can say whatever they want about teams lining up potential bids for players. Or even bids being made. Who's going to prove them wrong? No one takes any notice when clubs deny it, just assume it's part of the cloak and daggers process, so even that doesn't do it.

The majority of the stuff in the papers is just made up, I'm sure. Some of it may get lucky and stick, some of it may actually be based on genuine inside knowledge. Best to ignore it really and wait and see what the clubs say.

[Svlad Cjelli]

The thing is, the papers can say whatever they want about teams lining up potential bids for players. Or even bids being made. Who's going to prove them wrong? No one takes any notice when clubs deny it, just assume it's part of the cloak and daggers process, so even that doesn't do it.

The majority of the stuff in the papers is just made up, I'm sure. Some of it may get lucky and stick, some of it may actually be based on genuine inside knowledge. Best to ignore it really and wait and see what the clubs say.

There as still as many sports pages to fill at this time of year as in the season ... and most football people are on holiday, so no wonder most is just made up.

[Ian Royal]

The thing is, the papers can say whatever they want about teams lining up potential bids for players. Or even bids being made. Who's going to prove them wrong? No one takes any notice when clubs deny it, just assume it's part of the cloak and daggers process, so even that doesn't do it.

The majority of the stuff in the papers is just made up, I'm sure. Some of it may get lucky and stick, some of it may actually be based on genuine inside knowledge. Best to ignore it really and wait and see what the clubs say.

There as still as many sports pages to fill at this time of year as in the season ... and most football people are on holiday, so no wonder most is just made up.

It's a sad state of affairs, but then half the stuff outside the sports pages is at least part made up as well, so its no surprise.

[Snowball]

Either way, and for whatever reasons, Hunt just doesn't play enough games or minutes to be the man to build your attack around.

No, not "either way", that's (once again, going on gut without looking at the facts.

A cartilage injury can happen to any player.

That in itself doesn't make Hunt injury-prone.

Breaking an ankle on your come-back is downright unlucky.


Clearly, when he arrived at RFC he was carrying some sort of knee problem
but he managed 13 goals in 2,200 minutes, a goal every 169 minutes. better than Doyles goal/minutes

Eventually he had the op.

This season, coming back from a major operation and clearly not getting a full-on pres-season
he has scored 11 in 2407 a goal every 218 minutes.

Overall (excluding his couple of game in 2008-09) he's 4,607 minutes, 24 goals and 13 assists

That's a goal every 192 minutes, very VERY good (for a season injured and a season coming back)

Add in assists and that's a goal or assist every 125 minutes. BRILLIANT.


The medical staff and the manager will know the truth of things. We don't.
But if Noel has actually beaten this knee issue and gets a full pre-season
he could easily be scoring 1 in 180 minutes (improving on 192 mins) and
would be an interesting bet for the league's top-scorer.

[Snowball]

Long 8-1 favourite, Hunt 25-1, Church 28-1, Manset 40-1


Some whacky odds though, Kitson 50-1, Iwelmo 80s

[Big Foot]

Well I guess so, as he didn't play again until the end of November that year.

That's my point really, knees are so bloody dodgy that a history of problems is likely to put a club off laying out a significant transfer fee. And it didn't look to me last season that he was really firing on all cylinders and that is likely to put off clubs concerned about his knees, whatever a current medical might suggest.

But as you say, circa 1 in 2 is excellent so I'll be more than happy if he stays.

Edit: Looks like he broke his ankle when recovering from the knee op!!! http://sport.scotsman.com/spl/Noel-in-h ... 2504943.jp

Certainly put us off of Bradley Wright Phillips

[Hoop Blah]

Either way, and for whatever reasons, Hunt just doesn't play enough games or minutes to be the man to build your attack around.

No, not "either way", that's (once again, going on gut without looking at the facts.

The FACT is that he's only once started more than 30 games in a season, for whatever reasons.

There are reasons for each injury and each spell unavailable but they still mean he's missed a lot of games throughout his career and so represents a gamble if you're going to build your attack around him. Some players are just a bit fragile.

[SpaceCruiser]

Well I guess so, as he didn't play again until the end of November that year.

That's my point really, knees are so bloody dodgy that a history of problems is likely to put a club off laying out a significant transfer fee. And it didn't look to me last season that he was really firing on all cylinders and that is likely to put off clubs concerned about his knees, whatever a current medical might suggest.

But as you say, circa 1 in 2 is excellent so I'll be more than happy if he stays.

Edit: Looks like he broke his ankle when recovering from the knee op!!! http://sport.scotsman.com/spl/Noel-in-h ... 2504943.jp

So what?

Look at Nicky Forster - got injured in his first season and then got injured before the next season. Still managed to score 67 goals for us.

[Hoop Blah]

His getting crocked again against Wolves and us not having a viable attacking alternative probably cost us promotion though.

[SpaceCruiser]

His getting crocked again against Wolves and us not having a viable attacking alternative probably cost us promotion though.

True, although Pardew playing Jamie Cureton behind Andy Hughes in the second leg probably didn't help either.

[Colin Cheeselog]

His getting crocked again against Wolves and us not having a viable attacking alternative probably cost us promotion though.

True, although Pardew playing Jamie Cureton behind Andy Hughes in the second leg probably didn't help either.

With Darius on the left wing. Legendary tactics.

[Royal Rother]

Well I guess so, as he didn't play again until the end of November that year.

That's my point really, knees are so bloody dodgy that a history of problems is likely to put a club off laying out a significant transfer fee. And it didn't look to me last season that he was really firing on all cylinders and that is likely to put off clubs concerned about his knees, whatever a current medical might suggest.

But as you say, circa 1 in 2 is excellent so I'll be more than happy if he stays.

Edit: Looks like he broke his ankle when recovering from the knee op!!! http://sport.scotsman.com/spl/Noel-in-h ... 2504943.jp

So what?

Look at Nicky Forster - got injured in his first season and then got injured before the next season. Still managed to score 67 goals for us.

As usual, your reply to me makes absolutely no real sense in the context of what is being discussed apart from displaying your complete inability to debate with the most basic level of intelligence.

If you were able to keep up you would have noticed that my only point is that he has a worrying history of injuries and ongoing fitness concerns, and that, as a result, much as I value him as an RFC player, (Snowball's stats only serve to emphasise that value) I don't see him being bought by anyone for a fee anywhere close to £1.75m.

I don't want to be proved right or wrong because I want him to stay.

Clear enough for you Space (my brain is even smaller than my penis) Cruiser?

[Row Z Royal]

Clear enough for you Space (my brain is even smaller than my penis) Cruiser?

You guys!

[Royal Rother]

First one I've ever done, but I quite enjoyed it!!

Ahem. And I don't mean Spacey's cock.

[No Fixed Abode]

Sunderland not interested in Long. Seem they rate Wickham higher.