Niculae poised to turn down

[Scotty]

To get back on topic ..... (a topic with a title I take slight issue with).

As Niculae himself has said ... its not up to him what deal the club accept or turn down. The interview is decent but smacks of a player on his way out, especially with a noticeable comment in the past tense in the very final paragraph. Its all going to come out eventually but my own feeling on the matter is that if Marius does go it will not be a footballing decision rather a decision with its roots in last season's boardroom politics.

NICULAE - Sunday Mail

His Future: "I know about things but do not want to be disrespectful to Inverness. I have a year left and it will not be a problem for me to stay next season. But if clubs make official contact with Inverness it is up to them what they decide to do. I will wait and see what happens. I'm just thinking about the Euro Championships for now as I'm enjoying it out here."

ICT Fans: "Marius thanked the Caley fans for supporting his battle and making his target of playing at the Euros come true. He said: "My work permit application was rejected by the Home Office and I had to make a personal plea. I told them I would get into the Romania squad for Euro 2008 if they allowed me to move to Scotland. It also helped that Inverness fans signed a petition. They eventually reversed their decision and it all worked out. I felt I did well for Inverness and my determination to play at the Euros paid off."

ICT (and the horrible past-tense wording ... lets just hope its a language thing): "Niculae was signed by Charlie Christie and credits Caley with resurrecting his career. He said: "When I arrived in Scotland my confidence was low and I had missed a lot of games in Germany because of injury. But Inverness raised my spirits and made me enjoy football again. It was a pity when Charlie left because he was a good coach who had the players on his side. Craig Brewster is the same and it has been great to work with two managers who were strikers. I was happy with my contribution at Inverness. I hope to help the club to success but you never know what is round the corner."

[Alex MacLeod]

I think your being a little pedantic there Scotty. Some could read that bit as 'I was happy with the way I performed but I hope to do better and help..................'

[Scotty]

I hope so Alex ... as I said "lets just hope its a language thing"  :004:

I am hoping to see at least one game this coming season and would like to think that Marius will still be wearing the #18 shirt (after signing a contract extension)

[Hiro]

It's Torino today. Wonder who it will be tomorrow, might be worth a sweep.

Daily Ranger Story

[Scotty]

It's Torino today. Wonder who it will be tomorrow, might be worth a sweep.

Probably Celtic or Rangers

[Harry Chibber]

I've been saying to my mates for a while he's destined for Celtic... I'd prefer he went to Sporting Lisbon and developed his career again

[Scarlet Pimple]

If ICT can get a minimum of half a million they should accept it. If Marius stays and ICT do not have the money to get a good striker to pair with him where will we be?

But with the money we may b :rolleyes02:e able to get two good strikers and maybe a good centrehalf thus strengthening these weak areas.

And where would we ever again get a player of Marius' value? :023:

[Govan Jaggie]

Sell him and get the cash.  Thanks for what you have done (IHE asks what is that) and thanks for getting ICT mentioned on the telly but the money is very useful.

[CaleyD]

ICT have money in the bank, they don't need to sell Marius to bring in the other players needed to bolster the squad for next season.

[Yngwie]

In the same way that I have money in the bank and don't need to win the lottery.

[Kingsmills]

I'd love to see the club showing ambition by offereing Marius a contract extention but if they don't or he's not prepared to sign one then better to get a substantial fee for him now than to lose him at the end of the season for nothing.

[Harry Chibber]

In the same way that I have money in the bank and don't need to win the lottery.

:clapping03:

[CaleyD]

I'd love to see the club showing ambition by offereing Marius a contract extention but if they don't or he's not prepared to sign one then better to get a substantial fee for him now than to lose him at the end of the season for nothing.

I agree, but we also have to offset the financial gain against what it would cost to bring in a replacement, the quality of that replacement and whether or not it would weaken the team to the extent of making us sure fire relegation candidates.

I understand that I might be seeing this a little more one sided as I strongly believe....in fact I'm almost entirely certain....that Marius would sign an extension and I just can't get my head around the fact that the club don't seem at all willing to even consider it.  We could still do very nicely, if not better from a deal in 12 months.

This is a player who has only just started his comeback, he's performed at the Euros and will be a near cert for inclusion in the World Cup Qualifying squad for Romania.  There's already interest from big teams, so people do think he's got more to offer and is only going to improve.

There's teams out there far "bigger" than us who would be delighted to be in our position and have the chance to hold on to a player like Marius, but it seems that ICT can't see the woods for the trees.

[Kingsmills]

I couldn't agree more let's hope that all us cynics are mistaken and that someone from the club sits down with Marius or his agent in the very near future to discuss all options.

[Scotty]

A contract extension would certainly be a huge boost in PR for the club.

It would offset those arguments that some people quite legitimately have about us losing him for nothing come the end of the season and it would also go some way to showing that the boardroom politics are not affecting the football side of the club.

[Kingsmills]

It's probably those self same boardroom politics that will ensure that it simply will not happen.

[kencar]

I can fully understand why some folk would want to cash in on Niculae now rather than risk losing him for nothing but what concerns me is the fact that we traditionally find it 'difficult' to attract players up here at the best of times