'Inverness hold Niculae talks'

[Exiled ICT]

Why not go for it and try our best to sign him? I think we've gone as far as we can with scrimping and saving players form the Highlands and it's about time we took a bit of a gamble with our signing targets.

You've got to speculate to accumulate.

[Guest TinCanFan]

When people say he's experienced I hope he's not now past his best and runs up and the pitch like a oil-tanker like McSwegan.

[caleyboy]

A friend was speaking to Grassa at the Inverness Golf Club 4 balls on Friday.   Niculae is wanting £4,000 a week and we'll only be signing them if they can get a sponsor involved i.e. Alan Savage and Orion Engineering.     So hopefully Mr Savage can find the cash from somwhere!

So our D of F is discussing players wages on the golf course (or clubhouse).  :33:

If £4k is fact, it just confirms that we were never at the races for this guy. Charlie could get another 5 or 6 decent players in if he had that sort of budget available. I have said all along that this is a very funny PR exercise but we should put it to bed now.

[Guest TinCanFan]

Does anyone actually think that we will sign this guy?

[Pele_Is_God]

Unlikely, but the management and board should be congratulated for a bit more ambition. They just can't win with some fans!

[Harry Chibber]

Would love for us to do it just to shut caleyboy up but think that the wage demand might be slightly too high... if it was really just a PR exercise then Niculae wouldn't have bothered coming to Inverness for negotiations.  Could it not just be that the club are striving to give the fans something to look forward to next season but unfortunately the offer handed to Niculae was under his valuation.

I think we should cocentrate on a centre half now (Bamba) and try and sneak a last minute super signing to add to the fire power up top.

[caleyboy]

Would love for us to do it just to shut caleyboy up but think that the wage demand might be slightly too high... if it was really just a PR exercise then Niculae wouldn't have bothered coming to Inverness for negotiations.  Could it not just be that the club are striving to give the fans something to look forward to next season but unfortunately the offer handed to Niculae was under his valuation.

I think we should cocentrate on a centre half now (Bamba) and try and sneak a last minute super signing to add to the fire power up top.

Wake up man - you are obviously caught up in all the hype. If we seek out realistic signings the fans (including me) will be more than happy. Big name (and big money) signings will only cause problems with the players who have done us proud. You can spend a lot of money on so called "super signings" and get no more than a journeyman performance (Graveson), something we can't afford! Sorry for voicing my opinion Chibber but if you don't like it - too bad. :016:

[Scotty]

If the figure of 4K is correct (and it sounds feasible) then I think that is too much for this player especially if you delve deeper into his stats .....

His stats at Bucharest and Sporting are excellent but Standard Liege and Mainz look pretty grim for some reason.

If he were to sign for ICT then its no secret that his aim would be to try and stop the downward spiral, get his scoring rate back up, get back into the national side and ultimately hope for a move to the OF or England and on that basis perhaps 2K per week (1 from ICT (within the wage structure), 1 from a sponsor) would be a fair offer ......

Dinamo Bucharest (1996-2001) Romanian Division A:

Domestic: 100 games - 43 goals

UEFA Cup: 7 games - 5 goals

International: 18 games - 10 goals (inc 5 goals in 6 games in 2000 - 1 V Latvia, 4 V Algeria, 3 V Hungary, 2 V Slovenia)

Sporting Lisbon (2001-2005) Portuguese SuperLiga:

Domestic: 59 games - 14 goals (7 in 1st season, 3, 3, and 1 in following seasons)

UEFA Cup: 6 games - 3 goals (all in 1st season)

International: 8 games - 2 goals (against Andorra)

Standard Liege (2005-2006) Belgian Jupiler League:

Domestic: 26 games - 4 goals

UEFA Cup: none

International: 2 games - 0 goals

Mainz (2006-2007) German Bundesliga:

Domestic: 6 games - 0 goals

UEFA Cup: none

International: none

[caley100]

Personally i cant see this going through, aint too worried as long as the Austrians turn up and look good.

Somebody on a bigger wage if they deserve it can be acceptable to the other players, a player on a hugh wage (in comparison) will cause a rift, this was the case with Fetai, who thought he was way above playing for ICT.

[metalgecko]

Nothing wrong with a short term contract including performance related bonuses to take his wage near to what he wants. If he say's he can score goals for us then it's up to him to do it if he wants a big wage.

Even if he lasts only til next window and is sold in January he may have scored plenty to give a good start in the league. Speculate to accumulate they say!

[Sir C the 3rd]

I don't think the issue of Grassa discussing wages has much relevence,  I mean all top teams announce players wages when they sign so i don't think that is a problem to be honest.

I think the reason he hasn't scored many goals recently is because he can also play as a midfielder I seem to recall hearing.  So perhaps the last few seasons he has been in midfield.  Looking on his website, one of the goals he does score for the Belgian team he does seem to cut in from a right wing position

[Murchison]

Surely if he is looking for £4000, and we had actually offered it to him, there would have been no delay and he would have signed. If he is away to think about it then we are either not able to or not willing to match that yet. I doubt if any deal is struck the full details will be made public (although there are always people "who know people") but the club have always dealt with these things in the right way before and will continue to do so.

It is common knowledge about the wage structure of the club and the basic wages payed, but it is not really known how much bonuses are, so I don't know or care to know what each player actually walks out with each week.

[SMEE]

I would love it if they paid the guy the 4 grand in some ways, reason being................................it will be a right UP YOURS to dargo! :021: :crazy07:

[PullMyFinger]

:018:

It wasn't about money!

:sillywave: :015:

[alimci]

My pal in Mainz thought he had only started six times because he wasn't good enough. And given that Mainz 05 had a striker crisis (they lost their leading forwards last summer for various reasons) which probably led to their relegation, then possibly his form wasn't great whilst he was there.

[CaleyD]

The more I read the more I discover stuff that makes me nervous.

According to the Mainz site...

The 05er sign on the Romanian national player Marius Niculae (in the picture left). The 25 year-old left-footed player changes on a free transfer and signs a contract with Mainz 05 for the other half of the season with the option to play two more years afterwards.

If he had an option for a 2 year extension then why did he not take it up/was not allowed to take it up?

Reading more from various sites it appears he suffered at least 2 different injuries in his time with Sporting Lisbon which seem to have haunted him since -  one Ankle injury and one Knee (ACL) injury - possibly the reason he wasn't able to take up his 2 year extension at Mainz?

Marius Niculae, who might expect to replace him, has an ankle injury and is doubtful.

Source - UEFA.com article from 2004

Romania striker Marius Niculae will miss both legs of Sporting Clube de Portugal's UEFA Cup first-round match against SK Rapid Wien after injuring his left foot in training today.

Final session

The 24-year-old picked up the injury in Sporting's final full session before tomorrow's fixture at the Estádio José Alvalade, the venue for this season's UEFA Cup final.

Source - UEFA.com article from 2004 (diff article from above)

Sporting loaned him from Udinese in January 2002 to replace Romanian striker Marius Niculae, who suffered a serious knee injury in December 2001 and was ruled out until the end of the season.

Source - some obscure Greek football trivia site 2001

Coach Victor Piturca has also called up Ghioane’s team mate,uncapped young defender Cristian Irimia, while Sporting Lisbon striker Marius Niculae returns after recovering from a knee injurywhich has sidelined him for almost a year.

Chinese Official Olympic Comittee website - article from 2005

I know we signed Dargo despite fears of his recurring knee problems but it was for a heck of a lot less money than we are looking at here and it looks Niculae has suffered a catalogue of injuries and continued problems with a knee AND and ankle (his left ankle non the less, which is even more worrying when you consider he is left footed)

[alimci]

Strangely, transfermarkt.de already have him listed as a Bursaspor player.....

clicky

[kencar]

Perhaps he's signed for them then although I have no idea who they are or  even where they are from  :rolleyes02:

[Scotty]

or you could believe this site .....

http://www.romaniansoccer.ro/players/n/niculae_marius.shtml

[Pele_Is_God]

I think they are a Turkish team Kencar. I'm sure we will know either way soon.

[Scotty]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bursaspor

[alimci]

or you could believe this site .....

http://www.romaniansoccer.ro/players/n/niculae_marius.shtml

:015: :015: :015:

Don't you just love this time of year?

[Guest TinCanFan]

Maybe the Romanians know something we don't!

[RossP]

If he does go to a different team, lets hope CC doesn't reignite his interest in John "Budgie" Stewart.

Budgie in trouble again

Didn't he get arrested for a racist attack in Aberdeen a couple of years ago. Something about stamping on a guys head?? Off to investigate...

[PullMyFinger]

Bursaspor are Turkish and they are limitted to only 6 non-Turkish players in their squad according to wikipedia page. Are they not yet in the EU? Could be a stumbling block for them signing Niculae as they have a few non-nationals in the squad already. Here's hoping. :024: