Maynard - Call Time

Or a flamboyant and unreliable England cricketer of South African origin...

It might be that Jay Bothroyd wants the Premier League, but so does Nicky Maynard.

A cheeky offer to JB might focus the minds of the Bristolians whether it's successful or not.

Sky sports claim JB wants £3mill a year!! He ain't worth that..!?

£5m is too much with only one year left. I thought Andy Johnson was mooted at one stage.

60K a week? Surely our owners aren't that daft…

Leicester_Ed is back on the 606 scene!! Ive rated Bothroyd very highly for a long time, and he would be my first choice to lead the line. However, i think he genuinely wants premier league football now, and dont think money could persuade him. Maynard at £5m is a lot- but he is proven quality and, if he leads our line in the premiership for the next 7 years, then its a shrewd investment.

However, i think he need to calm on him now. Bristol know our stance, know our money, and after Matt Mills know we can be held to ransome to pay huge fees. Wait now to see if Maynard hands in a transfer request or another club moves. Because if he doesnt sign a contract it takes a very very silly and immature chairman to turn down a £5m offer, knowing in 6 months theyll get no more than £2m and 6 months after that nothing!

If Bothroyd thinks he will get a contract worth 50/60k a week he's living in cuckoo land.

Reality check concerning Maynard:

Over his last two full seasons at championship level including cup games, Maynard has averaged 0.35 goals a game.

Over the same period, for a player around the same age, a certain Mr Fryatt has averaged 0.36.

Even if you include Maynard's 6 in 13 games from last season, it only takes his average over two a bit seasons to 0.37.

This isn't me saying we should have kept Fryatt, or Fryatt is as good as Maynard; but basic stats such as goals per games don't lie, and can't really be manipulated.

So taking this in to account; Fryatt valued at £1.2m a few months ago, Maynard at over £5m - don't think so.

But then some chairmen are a sandwich short of a picnic - John Madejski after the play off final stated that Long was worth £20m, this is after ONE good season in his career.

I'm sure Sven has his fingers in a few pies on the continent, maybe he can unearth a gem, and the fact is we still have Vassell, Waghorn, Gallagher and Nugent who if playing, you'd expect to get 20/30 between them at least...and the possibility of Schlupp bursting on the scene!

"basic stats such as goals per games don't lie"

No, but they can conceal a lot of the truth. 10 goals scored by a player in a team struggling to beat relegation may demonstrate a lot more ability than 10 clocked up by a player in a free-scoring promotion side, yet they will get the same stats. Similarly, 10 goals scored in open play by a man who never gets to take penalties is more impressive than four from open play and six more because you are the team's designated penalty-taker.

Not saying anything about either Maynard or Fryatt, here – I haven't analysed the figures for either player – just that there's always a wider picture than raw arithmetic, and sometimes you need to adjust your verdict to account for it.

Can't say I'm that fussed about Maynard. But for all we know, Sven is using him to demonstrate to the owners how inflated the market is (though that penny really should have dropped after they saw the Mills fee).

I think this transfer now hinges on Maynard. If he indicates he wants to leave then I think we could bid down to £2/3 million and Bristol would have to think about accepting. Obviously, if he signs the contract he won;t be coming to us.

At the moment, I think he's waiting for Premier League offers before telling Bristol he wants to leave. If he were to come here, I'd think it'd be late in the window after not getting a PL club or after we offer an eye-watering amount (£6 million plus maybe?) and they can't refuse.

As for replacements, I think Yakubu is now a matter of principle for the owner and the club who don't want to bow down to his wage demands and the sort of signals it would send out if he did. Bothroyd I'd take in a heartbeat but if he wants 60k a week then forget it. Andy Johnson I think would also be a good signing but West Brom are also keen.

A valid general point fatfox, and perhaps my inclusion of that particular statement has detracted away from what should have been a specific point concerning Maynard's valuation in comparison to other strikers.

I wonder if we have convinced ourself that we want and need Maynard so much that we would be willing to pay over the odds.