I'm under the weather (chest infection) and house bound, so I'm now reduced to daytime tv and transfer gossip. It's got to the point that I'm trying to spot 'the move before the move' that might involve us. Does Chelsea's interest in Dries Mertens mean that we're actually going to buy the striking collosus that is Oliver Giroud?; or Is the rumoured sale of Jota by Villa in order to make space in their squad for Victor Wanyama? Help......
This should keep you going Tottenham have held talks over a shock deal for Real Madrid and Wales forward Gareth Bale, 30. (Mail) Hertha Berlin are close to reaching a deal with AC Milan for Poland forward Krzysztof Piatek, 24, who is a target of Tottenham. (Sky Sports) Hertha will land Piatek for £23.5m after Spurs would only offer a loan move. (Mail)
I'm afraid it's far fewer than 4 seasons DH. He has never played more than 30 PL games in a season. In terms of the modern game and for someone who rose (boom boom) to prominence at a very young age, he was a relatively late bloomer, only getting a decent number of games in 13/14 at the age of 23, after AVB had disastrously turned Benny into a pariah. He then flourished for 2 seasons under Poch, with 28 and 24 games in the following seasons. Then in what was our best season in PL history (16/17), he only managed 18 appearances before that knee injury which with hindsight effectively spelled the end of his career here. At first I'd thought his relatively low rates of appearances was down to Poch's heavy rotation policy at FB, but by comparison Kyle Walker played a lot more games across the same period.
I think with Rose it was a handful of games where he made a difference that raised his profile and reputation. Sunderland loved him and he was a better player when he returned but I have always felt that Davies was the better team player. We lost a cultured player when we lost Benny and it was managerial tantrums that caused it. Rose hit the headlines with his goal against Arsenal and the media fell in love with him just like they did with Trippier. Two liabilities we are well rid of IMO.
It sounds good to me! Cheers for the good wishes. I've got tickets for a gig tomorrow night. Currently, Mrs B isn't allowing me out...and she's right...again.
I mentioned last night that Willian Jose wasn’t in the squad again for Sociedad and the Independent (I know, I know) are now claiming we'll be making a second bid for him. I do have a feeling though we’ll be pushing for him now that Piatek seems Hertha bound. Getting in a striker will make this window a solid B+ in my opinion. A RB as well would’ve made it an A. Get well soon, Brian!
Sheffield Utd signing Sander Berge... Oof. Would’ve liked him at Spurs. Great signing for them. Bit concerning that all striker rumours are now declining. Journos saying it’s doubtful we’ll bring one in and that the only we might sign would be Giroud if Chelsea get a replacement beforehand (we all know how this will end up). Whilst signing Bergwijn and Gedson is great, I can’t comprehend how the club will have allowed us to go through January without signing a striker. Surely they’ve noticed in three of the last four league games we’ve not scored?! As I said above, this could’ve been a B+ window with a striker, it’s currently on the very of looking like a D at the moment.
Okay, anyone able to make sense of this? https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/11921706/pierre-emile-hojbjerg-tottenham-want-southampton-captain-in-late-move
I was pretty much on this page... https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1222880979720773633 ...he's their captain and they're still in the relegation mix.
All month to get in a Striker and its come down to the last day Sounds like no one is serious about providing Kane with competition. Getting sick of it now...let’s be honest Kane is officially ‘injury prone’ and we can’t accommodate for him taking 2 months off mid season every single year. Get in someone who’s hungry and wants to usurp Kane...competition is essential. The guy can take months off and walk straight back in...it’s not cute just because ‘he’s one of our own’
I like him, think he’s a solid DM and decent on the ball. Given Wanyama is crocked and Dier is awful, we could do a lot worse. Depends on the price of course. Galling if we don’t get someone up front though.
I hope KWP gets decent game time at Soton. As for Rose, well tis now about his personal drive to recover his form and try and stake a place in the Euro 2020 squad. Any pts he helps take from our PL rivals will be gratefully acknowledged.