Value for Money?

[Dutch Uncle]

Since it's the silly season and transfer rumours and bids are flying I thought I would give my opinion on the relative value for money for the players in our history who have cost the largest transfer fees. I believe there have been 9 (possibly 10 or 11 - see later) players who have cost more than 100K in transfer fees and here is my personal assessment of value for money in reverse order - very very subjective and open to discussion.

9: Justin Jackson: 120K record signing when we were in the conference was big bucks and we expected one thing - goals. He delivered a measly 6 goals in nearly 50 appearances in two seasons and his commitment was also questioned.

8: Byron Webster: Easy to forget we paid SIAD MOST 100K fee for him as gamble for the future. It was probably a gamble worth taking - but very unfortunately it just didn't work. Byron - if as expected he leaves us this summer - may indeed turn out to be a great League 2 or even 1 defender, and I genuinely wish him well.

7: Sean Thornton:  175K record signing who gave us two inconsistent seasons - a few glimpses of what might have been (e.g. Villa), but not what we expected - not really value for money as he was released on a free.

Now it gets tough - IMHO all other signings have provided good or even excellent value for money, and the next 5 are all very close in my eyes:

6: Paul Heffernan: 125K and worth every penny. First player to score 50 goals for the club since Colin Douglas and Glyn Snodin in the early 1980's. The club's all time leading scorer in cup matches with great moments in the JPT final at Cardiff and against Villa, and his 10 championship goals of 2008-9 played a part in keeping us up. However in 5 seasons his highest league tally was only 11, and he was released for nothing.

5: James Hayter: 200K record signing who has given 4 years of sterling service and THAT goal at Wembley which was worth the fee many times over on its own.

4: Brian Stock: 150K signing who has been the directing force behind so many great performances and moments, and some crucial long range goals as well.

3: Billy Sharp.: 1.15M - the size of the fee and the fact that he has only been here one year already being the only reasons he is not higher on the list. IMHO the best striker at the club for at least 40 years and maybe best ever. If JR says relegation would have cost us 3M then we are in the black already w.r.t value for money. Likely to rise to the top of the list if he is ever sold for a profit.

2: James O'Connor 130K - arguably our most consistent defender over his 5 years at the club when allowed to play in one position. Occasionally versatility has cost him when asked to perform anywhere across the back four.

1. Matt Mills: Hard to argue against the 300K paid being turned into a 2M sale within 12 months after one excellent season in the championship being the best demonstrated value for money.

In addition to those above there is a possibility that we may have paid more than 100K for Dean Shiels (50K rising 160K depending on appearances according to Dare to Dream) and Steve Brooker (rising 125K depending  on appearances according to Dare to Dream). If they were to be put  in the above list I would put Dean at 6 behind Heffs and Steve at 7 behind Sean Thornton. In particular the clear gamble on Steve did not pay off, but was well worth taking IMHO - there was always the chance he could have given us even 25 very special games.  

Opinions invited  IMHO numbers 2 to 6 above could almost be in any order.

[Filo]

What about the £50K we paid for Copps


Edit: Forget that, i`ve just re read your post!

[Dutch Uncle]

Of course Copps and McIndoe and many others have been fantatstic value for money. It is a bit of a false analysis of course because these days wages are usually more than any transfer fee - maybe the best recent case being Wellens who we paid no transfer fee for and sold for 1.2M - but I am sure he cost a significant amount in wages. Hence why I only looked at players over 100K in transfer fees.

[BillyStubbsTears]

Excellent summary Dutch. Can't argue with your rankings. Just one point - I seem to recall that the official fee we paid Brid Town for Graeme Jones was £100k. No doubt it was our resident pyromaniac cooking various books, but Jones did prove himself to be worth that sort of money...














...after he'd left us.

[herouk87]

definitely can't argue with Mills. The best defender in the Championship and i think it proves that a good defender is (almost) priceless

[GM-MarkB]

What about the 50K we paid for the Lothario that was Carl Alford...I know it's not the biggest of transfer fees but I think he's worth a mention in any rundown of transfer fees paid...for all the wrong reasons

[Dutch Uncle]

What about the 50K we paid for the Lothario that was Carl Alford...I know it's not the biggest of transfer fees but I think he's worth a mention in any rundown of transfer fees paid...for all the wrong reasons

I agree - IMHO significantly less value for money than Justin Jackson

[Dutch Uncle]

Excellent summary Dutch. Can't argue with your rankings. Just one point - I seem to recall that the official fee we paid Brid Town for Graeme Jones was £100k. No doubt it was our resident pyromaniac cooking various books, but Jones did prove himself to be worth that sort of money...
...after he'd left us.

Many thanks BST

Actually I believe we signed Jones from Bridlington for only 10K so the 150K+ we sold him for was a great profit for someone.....

What is it with chairmen called Ken? You'd think other Yorkshire clubs would learn..........

[dijit8]

At the time 10K was the figure for Jones, but later it was claimed to be 100K.

Probably 10 to Brid and 90 to Ken The Firestarter