Transfer Rumours JANUARY TRANSFER THREAD

Newcastle? Comes across as a Newcastle type signing

 

And about Mané not too long before that.

If Ralph wants him and he's prepared to come back and work in the way the Hütt wants, I'll welcome him home.

Vin

PS As for his off-field antics, anyone who wanted to slap Mark Hughes in the mouth is just fine with me.

 

Players that can create something on their own out of nothing are a rare commodity and very much misunderstood by fans. they can try things frustrate and fail for the entire 95 minutes but it is that one moment of creation that makes it all worthwhile and could make the difference of getting a result or not.
Lawrie Mac said that you need a mixture of virtuoso violinists and roadsweepers to make a team, Boufal definately comes in the former catagory.
He lost his way at Saints initially because he never fitted Pellegrino's rigid and regimented gameplan and then already frustrated with lack of game time he fell out with Hughes early on....He is definately worth a look at working with Ralph IMO.

 

Spot on SA. I wonder how Le Tiss would have fared in a team coached by MP2.

 

Bompey? Maybe Wilson is off, so they need another body

 

Sorry DL but if you can’t see that he is a hugely talented footballer who just didn’t quite work out, then you really are missing something. A massive talent. He’s not delivered yet and he has an attitude problem but if you think he is just poor then you either don’t understand football technique or you have the English disease.

Just because he acted like a dick doesn’t make him a poor player.

 

Ronsey, sorry mate, he wasn’t dreadful. See above. Talented footballer, who worked hard sometimes, bad attitude and neither he nor his coach found the best from him.

Dreadful? No.

He did run into blind alleys a lot, but he also had the skills to create problems. A player needs a coach as well as himself to find the best way to make it work.

 

i Keep reading that fans want entertainment. Boufal and players like him can deliver that, but then fans moan because these players lose the ball tooo much, don’t stick to the rigid plan, have a bad attitude....

Make up your minds.

 

Boufal is a talented footballer who needs the right man manager to get the best out of him. I hope he gets a 2nd chance because we need creative talent as well as work horses. He needs better end product but the talent is there. Not sure is he right for ralphs style but who knows.

 

Agreed but Boufal is/can be a hard worker too, I'd love Ralph to get a crack at him if he's sorted his head out.

 

With Boufal when he got the ball you had no idea what would happen next. He's the sort of player who's capable of winning a game on his own - he's proved that twice for Saints. I'm keen to get him back here now he can work with a very good manager.

 

Boufal might not be right for Ralph and he may have burned his bridges with Saints. All I am saying is that I find it sad when I read people calling him poor or dreadful. It’s an English thing. He is a huge talent and we need to be finding players like him and trying to coach them to get the best from them. Beating players, creating chances and scoring goals is the most exciting part of football. It seems when we get someone who may be able to deliver that, a lot of our fans moan about them, expect perfection straight away, or give up too soon.

I’d rather we try again with a Boufal type than find another Shane Long.

 

He was also being miscast. Boufal shouldn't be a one-man dribbling exhibition against a set defense; he should be driving the ball forward on the counter, making runs off the striker, that sort of thing. We had a racehorse and tried to attach a plow to him.

 

I don’t disagree that he had talent but lacked end product and I have no doubt will lack the discipline to survive in Ralph’s new world.
No real point keep batting this around, we will find out in the summer when he is sold or reintegrated

 

Apart from the two worldies that showed what he is capable of....

Question though: what discipline do you mean? Work rate, or following instructions?

As for no pint batting it around, it’s a discussion, that’s all. Why not have it?

 

I'll stick with my prediction of a couple months ago: Palace. In the South, could use a striker, have no problem with paying massive wages.

 

I’ll play, I’m going Huddersfield

 

Man City must be desperate for a striker, their top 4 strikers have only scored 54 goals this season.

 

I'll also say, on the striker-acquisition front: if we don't think that a big target is available until the summer, it wouldn't be a bad time to add someone who is primarily one for the future, but who may already have the quality to contribute now, rather than signing another backup-calibre player at their peak.

So I'm saying that we should sign Josh Maja at Sunderland. Our current striker situation is in flux enough that we'd be an attractive landing spot, as a team that isn't afraid to give youngsters a chance that also plays a pacey sort of game that suits his talents.

 

I'd definitely take a punt on Maja.