No disrespect but why would he stay at the blues ??? Because its his dream to play for his boyhood club ?? Its utter nonsense .. The facts are you were relegated and players want to play at the highest level. Surely you cannot knock him for that. Any player would do the same .. Remember Wayne Rooney ??

It just means he's not a real fan.

Craig Gardner is not a good enough player to be remembered for his unbelievable footballing ability. He COULD have been remembered as a Blues legend had he stayed around and got us back up.

He will be forgotten by footballing history in time, but not as quickly as he'll be forgotten in Birmingham.

I know there's a lot of text above, but you might want to read what has been written ... I've got not beef with any player that wants to get the best out of their profession as I said, I have however got an issue with the likes of this sort of player who bang on about it being their dream and then do one; what's the harm in either being honest or just not saying any of the "I love this club" rubbish in the first place

It hurts ill say that but Im not getting on the lads back, he did more than most to keep us up, without his goals we would have been decimated last season.
Good luck to him and as a club we need to move on.
Also, as a club under a worrying board and a pathetic manager who walked out to the villa I can see why he did jump ship to a premiership side on the up, Sunderland are a decent club at the mo.

No disrespect but why would he stay at the blues

-----------------

Because he was part of the team that got us in this mess?
He is the one who came out said he is a Blues fan, why utter rubbish if your just gonna jump ship?

I would rather have players on my team who want to be here, like Gomis. Yeah, he tried his best last season, I'm grateful, did he do enough, no.

Don't slam the door on your way out Craig, and please don't give the Mackems a chance to hate you when Barca come knocking and you've 'been a catalan since childhood'

^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Slightly harsh m8, he couldnt keep us up on his own,respect your beef though, he must have really pi55ed you off.Other fans say the same mind....

KRO

I agree with what has been said, when we were relegated, and it became obvious we would have to sell some players, I ( like a fool) thought Gardner was the one player who would stay and battle to get us back in the prem. I can't believe he can't stay till jan at least. Thanks Craig, thanks for nothing

Was being harsh.

But then again so is Gardner, if he is a Bluenose like he says he is, why not stay and fight to get back to where he wants to be, with a European adventure inbetween?

Falls into a little scenario:

Stay with the club you supposedly support, get picked every week, stay a fans favourite, go on a European tour, live in the area where your family and childhood friends are.

OR

Move to an unknown area hundreds of miles away from home, possibly spend most of your time on the bench, nothing to look forward to next season

I know which I would prefer.

Don't forget though, if CG is still on 20k a week and Sunderland are offering the same, that's when you should question his integrity.
If Sunderland are offering say 30k a week then you have to question his greed.

good point that one, IMHO its usually money, as it is with many a player, we shall see

Maybe theres a lot more going on down at our beloved club than meets the eye.
Its always done my head in watching players at the end of the season crying etc on the pitch for the cameras after you been relegated, they already know full well that theyre going so they really aint that bothered.
However i will say sometimes a club wants to sell the player rather than the other way round.
Also i believe players should have some moral obligation to get you out of the mess theyve put you in, not just jump ship at the first sign of trouble.
All that said, i never had mcleish down as a bottler and i would have thought he would have stuck around if his relationship with the board was all it should be.
I really am worried as to whats really going on and believe eventually it will come out, but i do think all our players are definitely up for sale to be replaced by free transfers and cheap wages.
Not sure how they expect chris hughton to get us back up on a budget of nil, but good luck to him.
Hope im completely wrong, but i dont think we know the half of it.

kro

I think Gardner and AM, and all players and managers in general, are a reminder to us all, to not get taken in by their BS. Oops, I almost forgot the Directors aswell! Just take everything with a pinch of salt and then be pleasantly surprised if they deliver the goods.

I do not want Graig Gardner to leave.

But, at the end of the day money talks.

Forget loyalty. That went a long time ago. Back in the days of testimonials every year. They do not happen much these days,

Loyalty is dependant on who has the biggest load of cash to offer.
Loyalty is how much the players agent can engineer a move. Not for the good of the individual but the for good of the bank balance.
Loyalty is forgetting the club you support (again for CG?)

I wish him well in his new surroundings but I think we all know he will be the little fish in the big sea.


KRO

Here mate have a nice lemon to suck on it might sweeten you a bit

I think he will be a regular starter in Sunderland.

"Here mate have a nice lemon to suck on it might sweeten you a bit"


Thanks mate, but I had the haddock for supper yesterday. Plus my mom said I'm sweet enough!


Kro

The reason why clubs are not paying as much is Gardner has had one good season, based on Jeromes season he got 11 goals and then compared to others in the Prem that season we could all say Jerome is a £8-10M player but he is not, because the seasons prior and last season he did not do near as well.

Gardners first half season he was ok but never stood out to be a £5M+ player, last season he was good and worth £8M at least but how do clubs know that was not a one off season and thus also getting relegated means we may be forced to see players go thats life.

Reason why clubs have not yet been showing the ready money for Johnson is he had one good season, then half a good season and after Dann got injuried he never did aswell. Dan again 18months good but then injuried.

Clubs are thefore a bit reluctant to pay out top dollar.

Cahill when he went to Bolton for £5M, after his first season with them he never doubled his value he had to spend 2-3 seasons to prove he is a £15M+ player.

Had we stayed up and had Johnson and Dann had another good season and Gardner aswell then we would expect those high prices.

I expected about £7M for Gardner so £6M is a disapointment but hey its double what we paid.

And while Gardner would have been vital to keep and build a side around, well he is not that commited if he can leave is boyhood club before the Window even propper opens.

If he was really commited Bluenoese he would have said, i want to stay and try and get my club back up to the Prem and then see how things go from now till Xmass.

So for a player who is not really that Loyal to his boyhood club, well £6M will have to do

If Gardner does not get over 5 goals next season then his value would only be about £5-6M anyway.

And maybe we got a sell on clause, would be silly to not have one, as if Gardner played often and can get the same 8-10 goals a season or more on a consistant basis then he would be worth double what Sunderland paid if not 3X more.

The KiD

Carson thats a good point

Gardner is young 1 season or even half in the Championship will do him no harm as far as his carreer goes or Financially.

His beloved Blues are in Europe thats a dream for us fans, imagine what that should be for a player who is a fan, if he was a TRUE BLUENOSE surely taking part in HISTORY so he can say he was part of the Birmingham Team that played in Europe should surely be a bigger dream for him than to play in the Prem.

Will Sunderland get a Europa spot? They may do but its far from garunteed.

Would Blues ever get a Europa spot, maybe not, maybe never again so thats even more reason for a Bluenose to be happy to stay and play in maybe his only regular chance, but certainly as Blues player his only ever chance to play in Europe for us.

Us fans in years to come can say remember when we Won the Cup and played in Europe (even if only for a few games).

Well if Gardner is a Bluesnose then thats even better because he can not only say remember when Blues... he can say to his Grandkids, i remember when i played a part to lift that cup and played for MY CLUB in Europe, and maybe the only chance in Europe.

Who cares if we dont last long, come Xmass Gardner could then go to another club, chances are he would do really well in Championship and so his value would not go down.

The fans would have accepted that Gardner stayed around to have a go at Europe and Promotion but we get knocked out of Europe and by Xmass are not in Top 3.

Then fans would not blame Gardner for missing out on a chance to play in the Prem and move in January, the fans would be thankfull and he would go down as a HERO

But like McLeish he took the easy way out, two people i thought cared about the club

SO THE BIG QUESTION IS.....

Would Gardner prefer playing with Sunderland or Blues in the 2012/2013 Prem Season...

If its Blues (or if we stayed up he would have stayed with us than move to Sunderland) then HOW DOES GARDNER KNOW that we will not get Promoted.

And HOW DOES GARDNER KNOW that Sunderland are Garunteed Europe Football over next 2-3 seasons

The KiD

Kingbluemachine

Maybe your right, maybe something is not right at Blues, maybe McLeish and some/all players know something we do not, maybe they can SMELL SOMETHINGS WRONG! and thus wanting to JUMP A SINKING SHIP

But we dont have any proof we are a sinking Ship so all we can do is hope that the worst is not to come.

The KiD

cant believe he wants to leave his so called beloved blues.this really teaches us the only people who love the club are the fans.good riddence if he goes he never was one of us.kro sotv sojmc

The Blues website said we would be the first to know of any news , yet the Mail says that Gardners having a medical in Sunderland ,if so ,then the board must have agreed a fee , why havent they told us ,
its the same old story ,, nothing changes ,does it. kro.