Stoke Have £2.5 Million Bid For Beattie Accepted
In a move coming largely out of the blue, the Potters have had a bid of £2.5 million accepted for Sheffield United’s former England international striker James Beattie. The 30 year old, who was loosely linked to Stoke a few weeks ago, was at the Britannia Stadium this afternoon discussing a contract, and talks are said to be in advanced stages. The deal was reported to have hit a slight snag though, meaning the transfer was not completed before the deadline which would have allowed Beattie to line up against Liverpool tomorrow.
Beattie celebrates a goal from his Southampton days and chases down the ball for the Blades.
The deal, which looks likely to be completed on Monday is, in my opinion, a very good one for Stoke. When we were first linked with Beattie, the fee was rumoured to be around £5 million, so a sum of half that amount seems something of a bargain, particularly as he cost Sheffield United £4 million just two years ago. Despite his age, though he’s by no means old, he still knows where the goal is, finishing as Championship second top scorer last season with 22 goals. He is also very strong in the air, and has helped out Stoke in the past, scoring a comical own goal in our 3-0victory at Bramhall Lane just over a year ago. If he can find the net a few times during the second half of this season and it helps us to survival, the expenditure will be more than justified.
There is some suggestion that a Stoke player will move in the other direction as part of the deal, which explains the low price, with Richard Cresswell or even record signing Dave Kitson being muted as likely candidates.
Whatever the terms of the deal, should this transfer go through, which it looks like it should very soon, we are acquiring a proven goalscorer with Premier League experience and five England caps for a surprisingly low price, so, to use a cliche, it’s all good.
One doubt cast by the move though hangs over the future of Ricardo Fuller, whose place at Stoke has been in jeopardy since he struck out at club captain Andy Griffin in the 2-1 loss to West Ham two weeks ago. Fuller has been linked with a move to Celtic and Beattie’sarrival may facilitate this. If this is the case I would be most disappointed. While fuller’s actions were inexcusable, and in an ideal world he would be sacked, we are in a fight for survival and need as many of our best players to stay performing for the club as we can, and Fuller is definitely one of those.
Beattie on one of his five England caps
Hiya VeeJay,
Just a couple of points. Firstly, I agree with you that Beattie is a good signing. Powerful in the air, and good on the ground, he might be your saviour. Think you still need another striker though. Fuller, Beattie, Cresswell, Pericard, Kitson – doesn’t exactly strike fear into other teams!!
About the Fuller incident. I disagree with you when you say he must be kept because he is an important player. Stoke, in my opinion, have a choice to either sack him or to back him. They cannot afford to say that just because he’s important, he should say. Because what happens if another not-so-good player does the same thing, and he gets sacked. It will separate the group, knowiing that you are treated differently if you are a better player. You either have to back every player, or sack every player.
Don’t fancy our chances tomorrow – think Liverpool, if they score early, will be all over you. Best you can hope for is that they’re off form and you get a draw.
Firstly, you’re forgetting Sidibe, who will still play regularly for us. We have been strongly linked with a move for Henri Camara, which should happen after Wigan get a work permit for Rodallega. He, in my opinion would be a good signing as he has a good scoring record and would come cheap at £1 million.
It’s my hope though that a kitson/Beattie partnership could have some success. Kitson has done very poorly playing mostly alongside Sidibe, as he’s just not the player to chase down flick-ons and scrap for the ball in the way whoever plays alongside Sidibe generally has to do. Playing alongsside Beattie, however, he could come into his own with a bit cultured strike partner.
Also, with the signing of Etherington and Lawrence returning from injury, the service our forwards receive should be much improved, so hopefully we should get a few goals from those sources.
On the Fuller matter I don’t believe the options are to sack him or to back him. There’s no way you can back a player who has shown such poor discipline and done something so wrong. The options are either to sack him, or to discipline him heavily then forgive him, the latter being the choice we have made it seems. I diagree with the back every player or sack every player comment. You must consider each case separately and take appropriate disciplinary action thereof. Pewrsonally, half of me wants to see Fuller sold immediately to thehighest bidder and the other half wants him to stay and keep scoring for us. It’s a harsh world at the bottom of the table, as you know only too well
and we need to put aside any idealism for now in an attempt to get as good results as we can for the rest of the season. All all honesty, what’s the chances of a similar situation happening again soon anyway?
I’d agree on the Liverpool front, i think a narrow loss like the one to Man United is the most likely result, but we held them at Anfield so we know we can get a result here.