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FORUM / RUGBY /  Goosen going to Montpellier soon - the top rugby player in France Top 14 in 2016

Goosen going to Montpellier soon - the top rugby player in France Top 14 in 2016

Started by clevermike6 REPLIES973 VIEWS· 14 Mar 2018, 09:15
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CL
clevermike
Coach57,555 posts
CL
clevermikeCoach57,555 posts
14 Mar 2018, 09:15
#1
14 Mar 2018, 09:15#1

I think Montpellier has had enough of Fat Fransie at flyhalf and is now paying Racing Metro circa R29 million to get them to release him from his contract with them.   He has not played any representative rugby since the beginning of 2017 and the following report from News24 provide info on him and his future with Montpellier:-


"Former Springbok Johan Goosen says he feels like a new person as he looks to resurrect his rugby career. 

Goosen is still just 25, but already his career has been blighted by controversy. 

A Springbok with 13 Tests to his name, Goosen stunned the rugby community towards the end of 2016 when he retired from the game and was thus released from his contract with Racing 92 as a result.  The French club was furious at the time, and Goosen was in the spotlight for all of the wrong reasons. 

There have been numerous reports since then surrounding a possible return to the game for Goosen - and that time finally appears to have come. 

Goosen is currently training with the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein, but his future lies back in France where he has agreed to join Montpellier.   

"I feel like a new person, it was a very dark time in my life and I'm just glad everything has been concluded so that I can start playing rugby again," Goosen said in an interview with OFM Sport. 

"Franco Smith and the Cheetahs are giving me the opportunity to train with them and I must say that I can also learn a lot from them.

"If I can teach these players something in return, it would be nice, but I’m not at that level yet. I would like to get back to the level that I know I can reach, so there is still a lot of hard work that lies ahead."
I think the agreement in fact was that Goosen would join Montpellier at the start of the 2018-19 season of the top 14 competition and one can foresee that he will be their first choice flyhalf.   The problem between Racing and him arose from their refusal to play him at flyhalf and keep using him as outside center or full back and since he is a natural flyhalf he believed that he was put at a disadvantage from a career perspective .
Mozart and his dofdoos side-kick will go ballistic about this one,  but anybody who pays R20 million just to get a player on contract must see real value for their money.     

 

BL
bluebok
Pro3,977 posts
BL
bluebokPro3,977 posts
14 Mar 2018, 11:26
#2
14 Mar 2018, 11:26#2
I still reckon this kid has potential. One forgets how young he still is. 
CL
clevermike
Coach57,555 posts
CL
clevermikeCoach57,555 posts
14 Mar 2018, 12:32
#3
14 Mar 2018, 12:32#3

Bluebok

I always believe that Goosen is a top class flyhalf - but he suffered too many injuries since he came on the scene.  His departure for Racing kept him out of the SA rugby scene and he was not a real candidate for Springbok selection.

Coetzee did not help him either - he picked him for the Irish series in 2016 and used him at full back  - not his strongest position.   Despite that Goosen had the highest try-scoring and try-assist record of any of the backline players.

I think that playing at flyhalf Goosn can rebuild his career and even play himself back into contention in the Springbok selection stakes.

The candidates for selection are not really over-flowing in abundance:-

*   Pollard is beginning to show quality in the role - but he is not yet where he was in 2014

*   Du Preez last year showed some promise last year when playing for the Stormers,  but he yet has to show his 2017 form in the present series.

*   Jantjies is a serial flop on test level - he lacks the required temperament and his defense is seriously defective

*   Willemse is the new kid on the block with massive potential - to my mind he is already better than Jantjies.

My order of preference thus far is -

*   Pollard

*   Willemse

*    Du Preez

*    Jantjies 


MO
Mozart
Captain49,914 posts
MO
MozartCaptain49,914 posts
14 Mar 2018, 16:01
#4
14 Mar 2018, 16:01#4
I guess he found management too physical.
TH
TheTraditionalist
Pro4,003 posts
TH
TheTraditionalistPro4,003 posts
16 Mar 2018, 14:16
#5
16 Mar 2018, 14:16#5

So many inaccuracies in this thread.


The player was not released by  retiring from rugby. He was offered a better contract by his next club which was not ready though to pay a release fee(one million euros)

The player tried to break his contract by pulling out a trick and getting a long term job as a commercial director in SA. It did not work.

As a result, he was trapped in a no man's land, his former club no longer wanting him to stay at club and willing to get compensated for contract breach. He could not play.

The situation ended when the club owner decided to pay not only the release fee but only a loan the player was provided. To a total of 1,4 M€.

It is said that the club owner also paid the now commercial director c 50k€ per month during the situation.

The operation could be near 2M€, poor business that is as the club owner was held accountable for the player's doings.

There is no connection between the money paid and the value of the player. From the start, the club owner did not think that the player was worth his one million release clause. He did not agree with paying it as he approached the player with a better salary.

At the end of the day, he was left with the bill: he had to pay the one million euros fee plus the loan taken by the player plus the money spent to support a guy during nearly two years.





TH
TheTraditionalist
Pro4,003 posts
TH
TheTraditionalistPro4,003 posts
16 Mar 2018, 14:19
#6
16 Mar 2018, 14:19#6

The club already signed a world class NZ fly half. On the issue of the position, considering how much the SA player cost his next club, it will be worth a look to see if he plays diva and wants to play a specific position.

One could think that the player would be well advised to keep a low profile and do as his coach demands but nothing is guaranteed.

TH
TheTraditionalist
Pro4,003 posts
TH
TheTraditionalistPro4,003 posts
16 Mar 2018, 14:22
#7
16 Mar 2018, 14:22#7

The former head coach did a lot for this player.


In exchange for a 400k€ loan, the player had agreed to surrender the SA squad. The former head coach managed to convince him otherwise.

Without the former head coach intervention, this guy would have simply traded off the SA selection against money.

— END OF THREAD —

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