According to a Greek sports site, Soto had a clause in his contract that stated that if he made 22 first team appearances his contract would automaticaly be renewed for a further year. http://www.sday.gr/page.ashx?pid=2&aid=38033&catid=60&sn=36 Think he well deserves it great £1.5m transfer imo.
Yeah he has been a good signing. He is a good backup saying that I would have him starting before Skrtel. Good in the air and always a threat from a corners.
I would love to thump the head of those responsible for clauses Not in this case though, he does deserve another year, handy back up to have
Perfect for 4th choice or to step a side if Kenny wants to try put the younger lads in for experience. Great all round for us , taking that the 1 year is Automatic and Kyriagkos has to accept it ? .. We could keep as back up and imo good back up or just sell on .... imo he will get offers if he doesn't have to accept the extra year ? and i think we could get £3-5m for him. Id be very confident on set pieces for and against with both Kyriagkos and Carroll attacking the ball , God help other teams. But their can be only 1
yeah i agree with the above he's never let us down when he has played should get another year no doubt
Defo agree deserves a new contract absolutely brilliant backup for any of the lads at the back always shows good commitment and has an eye for a goal too...
Well except for the last couple of minutes against Lyon last year. But he's been a great player, and is immense usualy.
Agree with Lally, usually those clauses are more a cause of anger than anything else, but this one sounds like a good deal for all. Our threat at set pieces is pretty much nothing when he isn't in the team, but himself & Carroll tearing into crosses, Jesus that's a thought.
He has become a bit of Cult hero and always gives his all. For the money we paid for him, he has been a good signing, however he is a not a quality defender. Himself, Jova, Poulsen, Konchesky are the type of signings made during the old regime. In my opinion , we need better than him to get back to where we where two seasons ago, nevermind anything better. Would you fancy him next season if we will up fighting for the league to come in and do a job against United, City or Chelsea? His pace is massive worry and is prone to rash tackles. Would rather see Wilson get his chance before the end of this season IF the King thinks he is going to make it.
Ill admit ,i was one of those people who questioned his signing, and having watched his debeut against Bolton i was very worried, as he constantly gave away free kicks, and was shirt pulling Quiet abit too.But over time he has cut those mistakes out of his game(Maybe not the shirt pulling) and has adapted to the premiership.Saying that he is still abit slow, but he is decent back up for when we are playing the Likes of Stoke and Co. Cant fault his attitude or desire or commitment to the shirt either, as he always tries to give 110% which i like about him. Would like to see him command the box abit better when it comes to corner and free kicks as he is a beast of a man, and i think he should be scoring a few more goals.
For a fourth choice centre half , i cant see any club doing much better. your not going to have a Vidic Agger etc as a fourth choice centre half imo . Most clubs would have to throw in a inexperienced kid ..
In my opinion we could do with an overhaul at the back in the summer. Four clean sheets in a row is excellent, however I think Skrtel has proved a liability in the last two seasons and I would not be too sad if he was moved on. Agger is good footballer and if he could stay fit I would keep him. Carragher is on the wane but he will still be around next season. I would keep him fresh for the big games. Hopefully Wilson can come on and maybe Ayala Personally I would ship Skrtel and Soto out, bring in Cahill/Hanngleland to partner Agger, which Jamie and Wilson/Ayala as back up.
Id replace Skrtel with another centre half , bringing in another top class centre half to replace Soto imo he wouldn't want to be fourth choice and why pay top class centre half wages for a 4th choice centre back.
I wouldn't be too happy about this, I'm not really a fan He's slow, awkward in the tackle, gets caught out of position alot and for a player who is meant to be good in the air, he got destroyed by carroll For 1.5m he's been a good stop gap but if we're looking to push on we can't accept players like him anymore We need at least one high class centre half during the summer and if we had the choice of a new lad / agger / carra / skrtel / wilson / ayala / kelly next year we'd be doing alright. Although in an ideal world i think skrtel would be moved on and we'd bring in two
Happy enough if we keep him. If you go through the squads in the premier league he's about as good as most other 3rd/4th choice centre halfs. Most back up defenders are going to be either younger and inexperienced or pushing into their 30's. No beef with the lad.
I'd get rid of Skrtel before I'd get rid of Soto, Skrtel won't be happy on the bench and doesn't offer anything different whereas at least in the Greek we have height.