I'm going to wait and see on this one. Still scarred from the Jimmy Fat Piggybank saga - was so thrilled when we signed him, but look where that got us. Have always rated Fuller, but he is getting on, injury prone, not fit and can be sulky (even according to his adoring Stoke fans). But if anyone can make it work, then it is SCP - as long as it genuinely is his signing. Time will tell.
I'm surprised so many of our fans, don't appear to have ever seen Fuller play for Stoke. On his day (which admittedly may have been less than 10 times a season) he was unstoppable.
If he can get fit enough (remember what happened to Fortune after his achilles injury) & if he's up for it, he should tear this league up.
He'd definitely be my first name on the team sheet, if the above are in place.
According to the club shop my brother is the first with a "Fuller 19" shirt, so probably the kiss of death for this guy !! Today's game showed we could really do with something to change it up on the bench, hopefully that's just what Ricardo will be
Last April, with promotion all but confirmed, we had Eddie Youds, Mark Bright & Sasa Ilic to a Q & A session . The guests were asked what differences on the pitch we should expect in the Championship as opposed to Div 1, and Mark responded that he felt we would need to be more physical in games in order to compete.
I guess that Ric , with his physique & strength on the ball, would satisfy that criteria....
Interesting comments from the Stoke FM researcher...
Fuller has been quite demanding at times, his wage demands were part of the reason we didn't re-sign him. He did have a contract offer on the table from us, but it was very much based on him playing to get the full wage and it seems he had fallen out with Pulis meaning it was unlikely he would get that.
I think you'll have to have a couple of hefty bonuses in there, Ric will be confident enough he can cut it in the championship and goal bonuses as well as an appearance fee will probably bolster his wage considerably. It was only around a week ago there was some serious talk of him actually coming back to us and signing the contract offer so there must have been a good offer from yourselves, or he knew that with Pulis there was next to no way back. Maybe he'd be asking for around £10 - £12k a week basic and then quite a bit in bonuses.
If he's fit and given the free role he needs he will be an ok player, Ricardo Fuller needs to be the central figure though he needs fans who don't get on his back when he does get a bit mental (from time to time he will get sent off for stupid things) and he needs slack from the management - then he's happy and plays great. He doesn't lack in professionalism so much in terms of drinking, partying, going awol but in terms of being on time for training and putting 110% in training he certainly lacks.
I'm late to the Fuller party, but thought I would throw my two cents in.
Fuller had a trial with you lot back in 2000 or so and scored something like 5 goals in three reserve games but your physio's found a problem with his back so he had surgery which his agent paid for and then had a successful trial with Crystal Palace when he signed for them in 2001. He had knee problems and was let go after that season.
Signed for Hearts the next season became a cult hero up there; ask any hearts fan about Fuller.
Hearts had no money and he signed for Preston, became a cult hero ask any Preston fan about Fuller.
Had knee issues while at Preston but Redknapp signed him anyway for Portsmouth and then took Ric with him across town to Southampton where the fans didn’t understand his mercurial talents plus being a former Portsmouth player they started booing him. He went out on loan to Ipswich and scored two in three plus was red carded then came back to Southampton to score goals for fun at the end of the season.
Signed for Stoke and became a legend, ask any Stoke fan about Fuller.
So he has had many setbacks but always came back stronger, so this bit about him not being fit and 32, doubt him at your own peril. The man is a fighter.
If we just get a quarter of the player Stoke fans talk about we will have 3 great strikers in are team, we are normally lucky to have one over the years.
I do recall thinking when I saw him play for Stoke that he was unplayable. At this level, he is a terrific signing and a really good option to bring on against tiring defenders. We were missing that on Saturday with Haynes injured as well.
So has he proven to be a good signing? Not quite the Messiah many here believed he would be. I wonder how much he has cost............per minute played/per goal?
I don't think he is a jimmy fat boy but he has not pulled up trees. Has looked class at times but his injuries have stopped him from developing a presence. Don't think as a bench player Powell has made best use of him for the benefit of the team.
Think injuries have hampered him 80% of the time. Even when he has played he hasn't looked 100% fit. No doubting that he has great ability and skill on the ball though.
Very awkward player to come up against if you're a defender as he's not blisteringly quick but somehow finds a way of dragging it past you. His work for our 3rd goal at Watford was unbelievable.
His performance away at Ipswich is IMO the best individual display from a Charlton player this season. He was unplayable that day.
Badly used by Powell. Same as BWP. Imagine sitting on the bench last weekend watching your teammates running through treacle and not getting on ( in good time). I love SCP like everyone else, but lets call it as it is...
if he were to have stayed injury free i think he would have scored much more. He would be perfect up top on his own in this 4-5-1 formation. But Kerm has been doing well so would you drop him? Personally i think Fuller would be more of a threat than Kerm as a loan striker as he likes to try and do things on his own, when Kerm is more a player who brings other into the game.
Badly used by Powell. Same as BWP. Imagine sitting on the bench last weekend watching your teammates running through treacle and not getting on ( in good time). I love SCP like everyone else, but lets call it as it is...
Badly used by Powell. Same as BWP. Imagine sitting on the bench last weekend watching your teammates running through treacle and not getting on ( in good time). I love SCP like everyone else, but lets call it as it is...
Comments
Still scarred from the Jimmy Fat Piggybank saga - was so thrilled when we signed him, but look where that got us.
Have always rated Fuller, but he is getting on, injury prone, not fit and can be sulky (even according to his adoring Stoke fans). But if anyone can make it work, then it is SCP - as long as it genuinely is his signing.
Time will tell.
bench looked a bit weak last night ..it wont be with him on it..gives yann competition aswell ...if anyone can manage him SCP can
If he can get fit enough (remember what happened to Fortune after his achilles injury) & if he's up for it, he should tear this league up.
He'd definitely be my first name on the team sheet, if the above are in place.
Last April, with promotion all but confirmed, we had Eddie Youds, Mark Bright & Sasa Ilic to a Q & A session . The guests were asked what differences on the pitch we should expect in the Championship as opposed to Div 1, and Mark responded that he felt we would need to be more physical in games in order to compete.
I guess that Ric , with his physique & strength on the ball, would satisfy that criteria....
Fuller had a trial with you lot back in 2000 or so and scored something like 5 goals in three reserve games but your physio's found a problem with his back so he had surgery which his agent paid for and then had a successful trial with Crystal Palace when he signed for them in 2001. He had knee problems and was let go after that season.
Signed for Hearts the next season became a cult hero up there; ask any hearts fan about Fuller.
Hearts had no money and he signed for Preston, became a cult hero ask any Preston fan about Fuller.
Had knee issues while at Preston but Redknapp signed him anyway for Portsmouth and then took Ric with him across town to Southampton where the fans didn’t understand his mercurial talents plus being a former Portsmouth player they started booing him. He went out on loan to Ipswich and scored two in three plus was red carded then came back to Southampton to score goals for fun at the end of the season.
Signed for Stoke and became a legend, ask any Stoke fan about Fuller.
So he has had many setbacks but always came back stronger, so this bit about him not being fit and 32, doubt him at your own peril. The man is a fighter.
Not quite the Messiah many here believed he would be.
I wonder how much he has cost............per minute played/per goal?
Very awkward player to come up against if you're a defender as he's not blisteringly quick but somehow finds a way of dragging it past you. His work for our 3rd goal at Watford was unbelievable.
His performance away at Ipswich is IMO the best individual display from a Charlton player this season. He was unplayable that day.
Arguably he has been worth 6 points to us this season already.This has arguably kept us midtable.
Would we have beaten Ipswich,Peterborough or Watford without his goals or assists?
Very strange!