Looking at this story, it does seem that he has more than one iron in the fire.

http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/story-12995767-detail/story.html

I'm not clear from that piece whether Sven is actively inviting a bid for Howard or merely saying 'If anyone was in for Steve, don't you think that both I and he would know about it?'

FGS

If Sven thinks we can still get Maynard he should still pursue him. You say there are others out there but the fact is there aren't a lot of options who are as good on the face of it. There might be better bargains out there but there's always a risk when you go abroad for example. At least we know Maynard can cut it in this league.

Why are you so desperate for him not to come? He's a good player, could get 20 goals, could help fire us to promotion. But you don't want him because he's taking too long to decide and you're panicking? Chill out, if you truly have faith in Sven than have faith in him to make the right decisions. He obviously has a number of targets, some are more of a priority than others. There's no point him going for his second choice if his first is still a possibility. Besides, I'm sure he's got his next move planned if he realises Maynard is a no go. I've got a feeling we'll just re-open negotiations with Yakubu if this one doesn't happen. And who else would you go for? Sorry but I can't think of too many great and realistic options. Most of the other names banded about are overrated or just plain average.

Lets not forget the Yak was messing us around a few weeks ago, we obviously wanted him but got fed up and left it for a while - in other words we moved onto another target which we had already identified. The method is still the same now.

And how does it effect the Routledge deal? He's a winger. Sven was obviously not that bothered about him, there's quite a bit of evidence to suggest that.

I for one will be delighted if Maynard signs for us, and if he doesn't we'll get our second choice. But I'd rather get our second choice and say we did all we could to get our first, that get our second choice because we got stressed out and panicked.

Who is your second choice?
Maynard would be a great signing though, worth 5mil not like mr mills!!

it would help if maynard himself had the balls to tell his chairman what he wants to do. Sign a new contract or move to another club!! surely he must know out of those two options what he wants to do.

I would prefer Routledge personally.

"I'd rather get our second choice and say we did all we could to get our first, that get our second choice because we got stressed out and panicked…"

I can see where you're coming from, but this scenario assumes that our second choice has no other options. Yet if he is any good, presumably someone else will be interested in him. So, what if we switch the comment to: "I'd rather get our fifth choice than give up on chasing Maynard while our second choice is still available"?

Insofar as I think that (a) people are a bit too dismissive of the front line that we already have; (b) we won't find it hard to pick up a decent Prem loan striker – I'm not too fussed. I'm just pointing out that anyone who is determined that we should hang on for Maynard to the bitter end can expect a if they come back in 10 days and say "X has just signed for Birmingham City – why on earth didn't we grab him while we had the chance?"

fatfox, what I am saying is that Sven is aware of these possible scenarios, and will have a plan of action. I'm sure he has a time frame as well, he will know when he must drop the Maynard chase and move in for his second choice.

It just seems to me people are panicking that there's 2 weeks to go til the season starts and we haven't got our main striker. But I'd be surprised if Sven doesn't know what he's doing, so saying we should stop going after him is a bit pointless.

As it happens I think if Bristol show no interest in this last bid that will be it.

Certainly this last proposed bid for Maynard must be a final take it or leave it offer.

If Maynard wanted to stay at Bristol he would have signed the contract by now, and if he wants to run down his deal then I'm sure Bristol will sell to the highest bidder to avoid losing him for free. I still think that were Bristol to get an offer from a PL club they'd accept it without hesitation but it's the fact that they'd be selling to another Championship club that's detering them because of the message it would send out about them as a club.

If no PL club comes in for him before the start of the season and he hasn't signed a deal, they'll have no choice but to sell to us. The only qusetion is (as fatfox said), is Sven willing to wait that long to get his no.1 target. To me that depends on who the alternatives are. I certainly can't think of too many with the scoring pedigree of Nicky Maynard (he also scored 6 in 13 after just returning from serious injury last season as well) but we obviously can't wait too long on Maynard to avoid missing ou ton the next target.

We'll also have to wait to loan striker's in from the Prem so if Sven wanted an instant option to play vs Cov then I'd suggesst Billy Sharp. But, there are better alternatives if Sven is willing to wait. I can't see Yakubu coming back unless he agrees to sing on our terms. As for Prem loanees, I can' really think of too many that would be viable options for us. Simon Cox has been mentioned but West Brom haven't really got an abundance of strikers at the moment and Cox finsihed the season well for them.

As for others, the one name that springs to my mind is Carlos Vela. Any others??

If Maynard really had a desire to leave Bristol and play for us then he'd already be speaking to us. I said above that, if I was a betting man, he'll either sign for a PL club or sign a short extension with BCFC.

The £5m investment is a hell of a lot for one player who could get injured on day one. For that money we could sign two £2m players and still have some left for wages.

Yes, I'm sure Sven has a plan Emilio, but so do the managers of the other 43 clubs in the top two leagues who have a great opportunity to get ahead of us in the running for our 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th choice targets.

Greatness: It's not a question of who's spare at Prem clubs at this moment, but who's spare come the end of the window. That will depend on how much late transfer action there is, but there are a few managers (eg Harry Redknapp) who you just know will sign someone at the last possible second, squeezing one of his strikers out of the capped squad.

That striker will then be stranded on the books of (in this example) Spurs, leaving his manager to loan him to a rival Prem club or (preferably for Spurs) a Championship club until they can sell in January – or even next summer. We are one of few Champ clubs likely to be able to afford the wages on a Prem player – as per Yakubu last season.

So the reason I'm not putting any names forward as loan players is that we won't know who these squad-cap casualties will be until the time comes. But if we haven't signed Maynard, it's a fair bet that we will be able to find the salary budget to mop up such a player.

If Maynard dont want to come, then leave it but if Sven thinks he can get him, then he should stick with him.
If not, get talking to someone else, we could do with a striker but if Maynard isnt bothered, dont continue,