Right, We all know the score, it's every NCFC transfer window. 1) Sell our best players for bargain basement prices. 2) Insult clubs by offering derisory amounts that only NCFC would accept. 3) Panic buy a load of ****, semi-retired, ex-premier league footballers. Then there's number 5. Panic loan any youth players that are not getting games in th PL. See Bamford/Kane. Come on, don't act all surprised.
Can't see any new strikers coming this January. AN probably believes he has enough and/or the Board have told him they can't afford it unless we sell, sell, sell!
AN doesn't want strikers. Lets bring in more poor standard Championship midfielders and then say that we have no money.
Getting back into the summer window groove then....................... "Have we signed a striker yet ?" Bah !
What you've got to ask is: a) is it a priority for Alex Neil? b)is it a priority for Jezza and Ricky? c) is Seb Bassong on far too ludicrously high wages for anyone who's not soft in the head to want / afford him? If the answer to all three is a resounding 'No' , go swivel!
I seem to recall that we signed a striker in the last window who has currently scored 7 goals in 7 matches. Just who are the "poor standard Championship midfielders" we have signed? This hysteria is getting ridiculous and more than just a bit embarrassing.
It's now't but gossip and rumour but while it's out there, some people will take it seriously (not on this forum, I hasten to add ) http://the72.co.uk/72044/newcastle-brighton-and-norwich-want-to-sign-star-championship-midfielder/ http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2016/11/2...sell-conor-hourihane-for-just-500k-in-januar/ I just wish there was an equal fervour in the tabloid press linking us to an LB and a CB
The Mirror, like most tabloids, isn't worth the paper it's printed on, Cromer. I'm still confident that, if Olsson leaves, a decent replacement will come in and we'll have money to spend elsewhere. The same for Brady, but until either deal happens, or not, nothing is going to happen from our end. Keep calm and have another beer. Spare a thought for Barnsley, though, who look like losing their best two players for 500k each.
A (large-ish) glass of Tempranillo, actually, but good spot Says 'smooth and mellow' on the label, so it and I should get along just fine
Not sure of you point here. Snodgrass, Fer, Redmond all left for a fair chunk of money. Brady is up to £13m currently. Olsson for $5m may be a tad low. Who have we recruited that is semi retired in the last three seasons? The derisory offers were by McNally, who is no longer with us, but hey, don't let the truth get in the way of a good rant.
But what makes you think he was anything more than the mouthpiece for our board? I don't know one for sure way or another but we need to give Poxey the remains of this window before slating what McNally achieved at this club
Cromercanary said: A (large-ish) glass of Tempranillo, actually, but good spot please log in to view this image Says 'smooth and mellow' on the label, so it and I should get along just fine please log in to view this image Spanish actually DD, and one of my favourites, so well chosen Cromer! As for transfers, I thought McNally did a good job and was a good CEO. Early days for Moxey, but I'll wait until the end of the window before passing judgement. The problem, as always, is summed up by AN in the Pink'un: “It depends on what is in the best interests of the club. The difficulty you always have got and I have had since I was here is there has to be an exit strategy or an exit route for players to go to. The fact is although there have been wage cuts since we came down, some of these guys have been in the Premier League for a considerable length of time. Their wages are high for this level. That issue remains the same, but it will be dictated by others taking them. I am not in control of that aspect.” We have an oldish squad on high wages, really, headed by Wes 34, Turner 33, McGovern and Whittaker 32, Martin 31, Jarvis, Jerome, Ruddy, Tettey and Naismith all 30, Mulumbu and Dorrans 29, Olsson and Howson 28 and so on, making it 14 players 28 or over. Younger players coming into the squad have helped, including Oliveira(25), Pritchard(23) and Canos(19) in the last window, as well as the Murphys and other young players now breaking into the squad, but we still need to work to get the age (and wage) balance right. Olsson for £5m makes sense to me from that point of view. Brady is a useful player for sure, but £10m+ is a lot of money to work with to help rebalance the squad. The key will be who comes in to replace them, but, ignoring the rumours journos make up, we can't judge that until it happens and Moxey's value as CEO will be judged by that.
Great post Rick and we really have to do something to move on SOME of the older players on high wages. I'd certainly like to keep Wes if only as an impact sub and to coach/advise some of the emerging talent we have in the youff - Maddison, Jaiyesimi, Middleton all seem players with potential; not to mention the Murphy twins. As for the others ..........
Some of that squad situation is self inflicted though. You highlight some youngsters who've come in, but what of Naismith, McGovern and Jarvis? Then I don't think it is a problem in ernest about their age. Any squad needs a blend of youth and experience, clearly Naismith was bought with experience in mind. Players between 26-31 should be in their prime, keepers you might even extend that upwards for a couple more years. The issue is over payment of a number of them. We have clearly got too many that are too expensive to be bought, have we had to pay too much because of who or where we are? Or is it just part and parcel of being a yoyo club. You have to find the best of the championship (Redmond) and beyond (Hooper) or the worst of the PL (Dorrans, Mulumbu) to bridge the gap, some will go on and excel (Snoddy? Bradders?) or at least show enough (Redmond) and people will come in for them, others will do enough to tempt others to take them off us but not pay big (Hooper) But others like Bassong who at times has done well are just getting too much money for others to take that risk. He was bought as a PL player, he's been found wanting at that level, so who the hell can afford to? The ones that truly worry me are the Lafferty's, never held down a place in the team and given wages that clearly have been putting people off for a number of seasons. Did we get hoodwinked into giving too much? It certainly seems so. My problem with the sale of Olsson and Brady is that these are players coming to their peak, the sort of players that can step up to the PL and we are going to lose them. And theres no way we are going to replace them with players as good as them. And that is the slippery slope we are now on. Instead of building a PL squad we are probably selling the few limited options we had with PL quality. £5m is OK money for Olsson, not great but if we don't spend it all on a replacement then for me that screams resignation to our championship fate. I'd love a happy Brady to stay, but the happy part seems unlikely so get what we can for him, I'd be disappointed with £10m with the market as is and it being January too. But anything above £12m would be good business. Bah!
Top post, General, especially top two or three paragraphs. All the supposed 'deadwood' that we'd love to ship out are on far to high a wage - from our yo-yo days (RIP) for anyone to a) want them, as they're not really good enough to be seen as upgrades on anyone, or b) afford them as despite the wage cut brought on by relegation last year, they're still out of most clubs (who may be prepared to take a punt) league financially. Good use of examples, (Fer, Snodders, Redders) and the single top post of 2017!! (Though let's not get too far ahead of ourselves, we're not two (2) weeks into the year yet )
Michael Bailey @michaeljbailey At Colney, just. please log in to view this image Listening to Alex Neil, I'm not expecting Martin Olsson to feature @ Rotherham. Says he has the squad to cover him Sat.