Tom Lawrence

[swaledale]

Media rumours he will be gone in January, wages said to be £37,000 per week, no wonder the clubs in financial trouble! How many millions have the club paid in wages for players who never came close to earning that money?

Lawrence has never come close to being worth those wages.

[Andy_Faber]

Media rumours he will be gone in January, wages said to be £37,000 per week, no wonder the clubs in financial trouble! How many millions have the club paid in wages for players who never came close to earning that money?

Lawrence has never come close to being worth those wages.

Outrageous if anywhere near true

[Trickytreesreds]

Outrageous if anywhere near true

Read in a few places.
One Forest discussion board suggested we should buy him? To the fury of many responses.
WTF would anyone pay him 37k a week in the Champs?

[ramAnag]

Tbf the average wage in the Championship is said to be £35k per week with some players attracting up to £70k.

Tom Lawrence, an established international, was bought for between £5-7m over 4 years ago when we had (however unrealistically) genuine ambition, so his wages should perhaps not be so surprising.

Of course I agree, £37k per week has never been remotely justified and he has always flattered to deceive imo. Almost certain to be gone in January I would imagine, but might that be a good thing? Can’t see us having anything other than pride to play for in the second half of the season so with alleged big earners like Lawrence and Marshall off the books might this help with the early days of rebuilding?

[Ramshank72]

Lawrence is, for me, highly talented, and needs to be in a high performing team where he isn't solely relied upon for all creativity. I disagree with many fans on his defensive effort levels, I watch him off the ball, and he is intelligent with his work-rate, making important defensive interceptions and positional play, rather than running in circles for the sake of it. His type of player will always blow hot and cold, otherwise they'd be playing for Man City, but he's good enough to be in a promotion side and potentially bottom half of prem side.
It's not fair on him to waste away his career in a low performing team, nor can we afford his type of luxury in an almost certain relegation season, and League 1 thereafter.
A January sale may be better for all involved.

[MadAmster]

He has been better defensively this season Ramshank. I'm pleased about that as in the past almost every tackle was a foul. That added to his fragile breaking point which sees him confront opposition players or purposely foul them or get involved in afters for next to nothing...... A joy to watch in full flow but doesn't do it often enough for me.

[Andy_Faber]

those with long memories may recall John Robertson filling a similar role to Lawrence, equally badly

[swaledale]

Well he partially answered the crticism today! Just the rest of the season for him to show he is worth whatever he is being paid.

[swaledale]

Lawrence is, for me, highly talented, and needs to be in a high performing team where he isn't solely relied upon for all creativity. I disagree with many fans on his defensive effort levels, I watch him off the ball, and he is intelligent with his work-rate, making important defensive interceptions and positional play, rather than running in circles for the sake of it. His type of player will always blow hot and cold, otherwise they'd be playing for Man City, but he's good enough to be in a promotion side and potentially bottom half of prem side.

It's not fair on him to waste away his career in a low performing team, nor can we afford his type of luxury in an almost certain relegation season, and League 1 thereafter.
A January sale may be better for all involved.

Well you have a point to an extent, he is very hit and miss and it seems Kevin Phillips who has coached him agrees in the local West Bromwich paper he had this to say apparently.

Kevin Phillips coached Lawrence during his time at Derby and despite being optimistic about the 27-year-old's potential, he warned his former side against paying a fee for his services in January.

Lawrence's current contract is due to expire at the end of the season, at which point he would be available on a free transfer.

"If they get him for free, yeah [sign him], I'd be very sceptical if they had to pay a fee," Phillips told West Brom News.


"I worked with him [at Derby], he's a very up and down player. When he's up, he's very good. I think he's probably been a player that has lacked a bit of consistency in his career.

"If they can get him for free - the wages are not going to be astronomical - he's a player that, on his day, could hurt anyone."

I'd say that summed Lawrence up accurately, good on his day but not consistent enough, which is why Fester sold him for about twice what he was worth!