Howard Everton/S'land (R)

As has been noted, they didn't need to take the offer at that time. Nor did Jozy need to accept the high money if it was to a club of questionable pedigree.

 

They didn't have to but why would they not? It seemed to be the right amount of $$$ for Jozy. And it was a side in England where he could be a starter and pay him on time and with little to no racist incidents unlike in Russia/Ukraine. Also for Jozy his marketing/sponsorships are aided more by England than in Russia.

 

Again, deciding not to rush into anything was clearly an option. Jozy is not chattel and has the right to refuse any transfer he doesn't like. Sunderland were always a bad option for him simply because they didn't have a strong pedigree of winning or even playing well. They are at best a yo-yo club and at worst, as is currently the case, they are poorly run and even worse managed: DiCanio was a nutcase and ownership didn't bring in enough good players to create a balanced, effective squad. In other words, money wasn't enough to justify this transfer. I said it last summer and I'm saying it again. This was a bad move. You also have to look at this from the macro view of his entire career. He had already been through tough situations at Villareal, Xeres, Hull and Bursaspor. He was finally in a stable situation. While he's not back to square one after this season, he is once again falling off the pace. I'm sure Sunderland we're saying they wanted to score goals, but that is a far cry from actually going somewhere that they know how to score goals. This Sunderland team doesn't have a clue.

 

Jozy and his agent were sipping the Di Canio flavored Cool Aide and looking at the Benjamins (or Elizabeth's??? in GB) when they signed with Sunderland. TBF, Sunderland is a massive club, has a great stadium, and a huge fanbase, and from the outside, in July of 2013, with a new coach having some momentum from the last season, and with PDC probably being a pretty good recruiter, I can't say that I blame Jozy for making this move. In the 20/20 goggles of hindsight, the move was about as bad as it could get. I mean even with a major injury it wouldn't have been this bad from a confidence and PR standpoint. The best news for Jozy, is that he has a guaranteed FAT paycheck for the next, what 3-4 years, based on his time at AZ. It may be his last FAT paycheck for playing soccer, but it probably sets him up for his post soccer career at least.

 

This may be the longest Tim Howard game thread since he played at Man U.

 

They may be "massive" in that overhyped EPL sense that adds so much import to anything that bears the logo. In the greater scheme it was a poor destination for him, a provincial corner of Britain and a club with a very inconsistent record. He should have done his homework.

I didn't drink that Kool-Aide and neither did a lot of people I know. It was at best a 50-50 proposition it would work out and they'd be a mid-table club. But that fat paycheck you're talking about only works if the club survives in the EPL. If not, it's toast. In any case, players who are only in it for the money rarely are worth following closely. It's a distinction between wanting to make more money and only wanting to get paid. Too much weight is being given to the latter consideration. I stop short of blaming him completely for that decision. He did indeed drink the Kool-Aide, but it was hardly a foregone conclusion. He not only had the opportunity but the prior experience to weigh his options. The fact that he has been involved in so many of these bad deals suggests that his agent is in large part also to blame. But this mantra keep repeating about how it is all about the money is a red herring. It was however foreseeable that things might not work out and that could end up costing him financially. What it wasn't a result of aiming too high, but rather aiming too low.