Simon Mignolet - signing confirmed

[red_maradona]

It's certainly a priority if reina is leaving

are we forcig him to leave, or the other way round?

 

[SummerOnions]

are we forcig him to leave, or the other way round?

Ask Ayre

 

[gkmacca]

granted he is talented, but we are forking out 10m for: (a) an area which is not a priority; (b) for a player who stuggles to be on the same level

That's part of the problem, isn't it? We just don't know that it ISN'T a priority. Maybe the club is sure Reina is leaving, in which case it obviously becomes a priority.

 

[red_maradona]

That's part of the problem, isn't it? We just don't know that it ISN'T a priority. Maybe the club is sure Reina is leaving, in which case it obviously becomes a priority.

sure, but the latest vibes for pepe were that he was clear he wanted to stay.

 

[keniget]

If anything, Mignolet is better as he's played consistently at international level for a team with a few good keepers

According to the caps on that Sunderland forum, there isn't much to choose from between Mingolet and Courtois in terms of international caps. Mingolet is also 3 years older.

 

[Fabio]

According to the caps on that Sunderland forum, there isn't much to choose from between Mingolet and Courtois in terms of international caps. Mingolet is also 3 years older.

Really? I thought courtois couldn't displace him

*proved wrong by mackems *

 

[keniget]

I don't know one way or the other. They were having an argument about it on their forum so could be wrong.

 

[Fabio]

To wiki!

 

[Gary25]

I'm all for this (proposed) signing. Mignolet's a very talented keeper with Premier League experience, is a good age and will only get better.
The majority of Sunderland fans are gutted that it looks like they're losing him which is always a good indicator of a player's ability.

Also, with no disrespect to a great servant but I wouldn't be unhappy to see Reina leave. Patently obvious he's not the keeper he was between 2006-2010. Too many costly mistakes and moments of indecision.
The spark and hunger in his game isn't what it once was imo, and move back to Spain would be best for all parties imo. Maybe fire him up again.

 

[Whirly]

Looks like they debuted for the national team around the same time, and have been splitting caps since.

 

[Fabio]

Mignolet 13 caps

Courtois 10 caps

So there's fuck all in it.

 

[Modo]

Mignolet 13 caps

Courtois 10 caps

So there's fuck all in it.

Courtois is their first choice keeper though.

 

[StevieM]

Plus any guy who starts the season so overweight has obviously lost his hunger and is in the comfort zone. That was just disgraceful and I lost respect for him since then.

I'd say losing his hunger is the last thing that's happened else he would have come back skinny.

 

[Ryan]

@Ryan would ask you why isn't Barcelona trying to sign Mignolet in that case?

Because Mignolet didn't play on loan at Barcelona last season, nor did Barca have an option to buy Mignolet like they did with Alberto.

Stick to the quasi-Ally McBeal cases Dantes, football's not for you son.

 

[Rosco]

why next 5 yrs? Reina is better and next season he could be the difference between champs league footie or more. we need to pick the best.

Reina hasn't been the difference between us and anything since the FA Cup Final win over West Ham in 2006.

 

[Rosco]

I think everyone knows that Reina isn't going to last five years.

The question is - is now the right time to sell?

There doesn't seem to be an obvious destination for Pepe this summer (unless I've missed something) and would we really get any less for him next year?

Mignolet on the other hand - according to the Sunderland fans - has apparently stated that he's not going to renew his contract so his value is unlikely to increase.

The right time to sell was when Arsenal were waving 20m+ at us 18 months ago.

Now isn't a great time to sell at all, but it's not going to get any better. If we can essentially swap him for Mignolet while probably saving 40k+ a week on wages we have to do it.

 

[Hyena]

Buying before you *have* to sell is the way to go.
That way no one gets to play mind games with you.

Buying to replace a player you have just sold is what gets you Andy Carroll for 35m.

 

[Hyena]

Having two great keepers has never killed anyone. Having none on the other hand...

 

[King Binny]

http://www.sunderlandecho.com/sport...tgomery-mignolet-has-been-top-class-1-5773629

JIMMY Montgomery says if Simon Mignolet leaves Sunderland, the Belgian can go with a clean conscience – knowing he did his bit for the Black Cats.

The Belgian is the subject of an aggressive bid from Liverpool who are determined to land the 24-year-old this week and seem certain to get their man.

Reds managing director Ian Ayre cancelled a business trip to Brazil at the weekend in the belief that the deal can be finalised this week.

But while Montgomery would love to see Mignolet stay at the Stadium of Light, he says Sunderland fans cannot reproach the young stopper if he moves.

“I don’t want Simon to go,” the club’s leading appearance-maker told the Echo.

“I think he’s a tremendous talent who is only going to get better and I’d love to see him playing for Sunderland for many years to come.

“But if he does go, I hope Sunderland fans will say ‘good luck to the lad’ because I don’t think anyone could have done more to keep Sunderland up last season than he did.

“Supporters voted him Player of the Season by a distance and I’d agree with them.

“Goalkeepers can’t get you three points – not unless they score a penalty or go up for a late corner, I suppose – but what they can do is earn you a point by keeping a clean sheet.

“And few keepers kept more clean sheets in the Premier League last season than Simon.

“It’s a team game of course, but there’s many a game Sunderland would have lost had he not made one or two truly outstanding saves.

“In my view, he saved us plenty of points over the course of the season and that was probably the main reason we stayed up.

“If he does go, then he leaves a legacy of Sunderland still being in the Premier League and for that, he deserves our gratitude.”

Liverpool have kept on coming back to Sunderland after an initial offer of £6.5million, gradually raising their offer to £8m and now £9m, with Sunderland holding out for £10m and they look set to get it, one way or another, although much will depend on how the deal is structured.

And club legend Monty says it is the way of the world for players to move on in the modern era.

Monty, who was on Sunderland’s books from 1958-77, said: “In my day, it wasn’t that uncommon for players to spend almost their whole careers at the one club.

“But times have changed and it is sad but unrealistic that players regularly move on these days.

“The best chance you have to hold on to players is to be successful and I think that’s the challenge facing Sunderland now.

“Paolo Di Canio is looking to build a new team and good luck to him on that.

“Simon Mignolet kept the old one up and if he does move on, then maybe his transfer fee will help support the create of a new and more successful side than the one which finished fourth bottom last season.”

 

[OLD_Lewy]

Genuine question, as I hardly ever look at other forums - aren't members of fan forums likely to despise any other teams' fans? Are we targeted for that any more than anyone else?

i think we are particularly despised, whether its because we tend to be in the news more or for some other reason is anyones guess.

 

[Molbystwin]

Id rather we didn't fix things which aren't broken.

 

[DHSC]

Of all the monikers thrown at Liverpool, one stands true above all: Liverpool are a club fettered to tradition.

It has been used throughout time as something to be proud of, something to celebrate, the foundation of the fabled Liverpool way. Tradition is the reason players want to sign at Anfield; it is why the stadium used to vibrate and reverberate through the foggy Champions League night sky, why opposing goalkeepers always approach the Kop to applause.

Tradition is now a curse, according to some -- particularly when tradition inhibits how to conduct business. Business is a dirty word in what was once a game so pure, but that is what the game has developed, manifested, distorted into. Tradition dictated Liverpool's official club store was closed the day after their fifth European Cup, losing out on a massive amount of revenue; it stopped them, several times from the 1990s onwards, from constructing a new stadium.

Most important of all, tradition forces the club to look after their own players at whatever cost, a blind, naive loyalty to those they employ; This is Anfield, where ruthless decisions are often shunned and egos are fluffed further. Maybe they need a bigger sign in the tunnel.

That was the reason Kenny Dalglish was handed a three-year deal by Fenway Sports Group; that was why the final embers of Jamie Carragher's career burnt away on the pitch week-in, week-out. That was the reason Lucas Leiva was given a long-term, handsomely paid contract extension after recovering from two serious injuries in the space of a year.

That all is not necessarily true: Dalglish was fantastic in his half-season as caretaker, Carragher was the only realistic option after Martin Skrtel’s season of woe and Lucas is 26 with an extended contract always likely.

No matter. Perception can be king. While tradition surrounding Liverpool sees ink weep from quills over how different -- indeed, special -- they are, it is also a byword for being a little bit soft, a club that is failing to adapt to the dramatic shift of the landscape over the two decades previous.

Other clubs know this and take advantage. The belief Liverpool should always play with two strikers cost them £20m for Robbie Keane in 2009, while the notion that players will not happily see their contracts run down was disproved when losing both Steve McManaman and Michael Owen to Real Madrid for less than £10m.

But with Liverpool’s perusal of Sunderland goalkeeper Simon Mingolet comes a jarring change.

Pepe Reina has been the club’s first-choice goalkeeper since 2005 -- a fine servant of the club, one who has won two trophies and widespread admiration. Tradition says his flirtatious glances at Barcelona are to be met with subservience by Liverpool, like a father who pushes his daughter into the arms of her first love.

Instead, Liverpool have shown proactivity, targeting the Belgian goalkeeper and making their intentions clear.

Some will argue that it is a blatant disregard to all Reina has done for the club, a disrespect of a player who has kept 177 clean sheets in 394 games. There will be a feeling that if this is to be the end of his career at Anfield, it deserved to end with more decorum than being forced out by circumstance. Maybe that is Liverpool's intention. Maybe Liverpool no longer want to be associated with the sentimentality and tradition that lines their history.

There are other factors for the expected departure of Reina, of course: His contract, widely thought to be in excess of £100,000 a week, is quite large for a player who turns 31 in August. By signing Mignolet -- or another young, highly-rated goalkeeper -- the club shed yet more figures from the wage bill, albeit at the expense of shedding experience as well. There also remains the unshakable theory the Spaniard is not what he once was, despite an upturn in form since Brendan Rodgers’ arrival.

Along with Steven Gerrard, he is only remnant of life before Tom Hicks and George Gillett. They are the only survivors of that tumultuous time which saw Reina's Spanish international teammates -- Xabi Alonso, Alvaro Arbeloa, Fernando Torres -- leave, as well as Rafael Benitez and goalkeeper coach Xavi Valero.

The departure of Valero in particular seemed to correlate with Reina's loss of form more than anything else; reports would often reflect well on their relationship, particularly in the meticulous nature of Valero’s coaching. It was thought Valero would offer Reina compilations of strikers and their actions when in front of goal, as well as insisting on Reina taking tiny, miniscule steps in a particular direction depending who had the ball and where he had it on the pitch.

But above all, Liverpool are doing this because they can. This is an opportunity for Liverpool, still in the infancy of new ownership and management, to show ruthless aggression in the transfer market. The reality of this situation -- Reina and the current Spanish champions sharing a mutual appreciation of each other, Liverpool having to find a replacement -- is now distorted. It also ensures any potential bid for Reina is at their premium price, regardless of whether that is regarded as correct or not.

Discussion on whether Mignolet is better than Reina is lined with pesky caveats: mainly, Mignolet has not yet signed and playing for Liverpool could see his performances improve or deteriorate ten-fold. The defence he would play behind is yet to be assembled either. Statisticians will suggest statistics which say Reina’s performances have deteriorated while the Belgian’s compare favourably.

Romantics will remind people of the romance, of how Reina’s game is not one that can be gauged by numbers alone and his two trophy wins are all that matter; of how he did not possess the adamantine ways of his first few seasons, but he did keep 14 clean sheets in the league.

Nobody is right, nobody is wrong. That debate will be held constantly if Mignolet joins; its answer only fully available over a long period of time. There is little reason to start it prematurely.

But what is fully available is the clear shift in Liverpool's attitude to those who have been at the club for a fair while. Skrtel is playing a cat-and-a-mouse game without realising his tail is forever in their grasp; Lucas and Glen Johnson would also leave if suitable bids were received. Even Luis Suarez’s constant pandering to Real Madrid has prompted a benumbed, business-like response.

There is no telling whether the expected departure of Reina and arrival of Mignolet will be the right move, but what can be told is how Liverpool are hoping to break with their perceived tradition. Without Champions League qualification in four years and no league title in 23, that may be no bad thing. Much like the goalkeeping question, its answer will only be told in time.

Kristian Walsh from ESPNFC

 

[Frogfish]

Id rather we didn't fix things which aren't broken.

The key to continuity is fixing them before they break .. ask Ferguson.

 

[RedStar]

Spotting a player who has peaked and moving them on before every man and his dog realises it is good management. That would have been the case had we sold Reina 3 years ago, at this point it just makes sense rather than hanging onto him and watching his value decline further

 

[keniget]

Understand the point he's making and it's not a new one but didnt like the tone of that article at all and some of it like the fluff at the beginning was shit.

So in short - rubbish.

 

[Ryan]

I watch quite a bit of Sunderland cos my dad's a lifelong fan so I've always taken an interest in their games.
Like I said in some other thread, Mignolet's good. Solid, unspectacular, a good shot stopper, technically sound, and mostly reliable. My old man's furious, claiming Mignolet's the first good Sunderland goalkeeper he can remember them having. So that's reasonable I suppose.
I guess I'd be more excited about the prospect of Mignolet if we didn't have a keeper or if we badly needed one. Sure Reina's gonna need replacing at some stage, but I'd always thought he was good for another 2-3 years yet, so what's the panic?
As it is we seem to be buying Aspas, Alberto, this Mikhailgorbachev chap - all of whom are attacking units, and now we're about to spend 9M on a goalkeeper that we aren't in dire need of.
WHERE ARE THE FUCKING CENTRE BACKS BRENDAN.

 

[Whirly]

Simply put, Mignolet is better at this juncture, and will probably end up being cheaper within a season or two. Even if we spend 10M on Mignolet, we will most surely make the money back between Reina's transfer fee and the lower wages we will be paying Mignolet.

 

[Ryan]

Simply put, Mignolet is better at this juncture, and will probably end up being cheaper within a season or two. Even if we spend 10M on Mignolet, we will most surely make the money back between Reina's transfer fee and the lower wages we will be paying Mignolet.

All true. But if any part of this inhibits on our ability to pay for a top centre-back this summer when we badly need one, then we have an issue.

 

[rurikbird]

CBs will come - it's quite clear Rodgers understands it's a priority. We've been linked to a shitload of CBs recently, but our #1 target just had a set back recovering from a knee injury - so we are waiting and reassessing the situation, it's normal. The deal for Illori seems to be in the works.

I have to say I really like that we started doing our transfer business so early. Good teams do it this way, going hard after players they want instead of waiting until the last day for an odd bargain.

 

[Fabio]

Don't be concerned Ryan. We've got toure to partner agger