What do we need? Other than a goalkeeper along with Vito, a centre back for cover, a winger and a big striker?? As mentioned on another page on here I think having a go for King/Brady wouldn't be a bad move??
**** knows what we're going to do with no money. Want us to sign King & Mannone but doubt we can afford it.
I agree, Vito and Jakupovic, Gerrard, Hammill/Thomas and Brady and King. Outs are Harper, Basso, Adebola, Atkinson, McShane, Ghilas, Devitt and possibly Oli. I reckon Garcia needs a new deal, he was class today!
Completely agree with that!! Plus was it just me or was Hammill actually not that good when he came on today? Daws played very well against him!
Assuming we won't be changing tactics, that the big earners are to be ignored in the hope we offload them, and sticking to realistic targets: Starting keeper: Mannone - (loan, with a permanent next summer after we've been promoted) Sub/Alternate keeper: That kid from the former Yugoslavia on a free? CB/RB: Someone who can play as both so that Hobbs' injury is covered short term and Rosenior has someone covering/competing as well. (If we can't offload McShane then finances will dictate this is likely to be him whether we/Barmby likes it or not) CM: someone to complement McKenna, Evans, and Cairney - Norwood (loan) maybe? LW: Someone to compete with Stewart, Hamill (far to cheaply to get our own back for Hunt/Mouyokolo) RW: Kightly (free, yes let's really get our own back), and Brady (loan) ST: King (loan) Ideally someone to cover Koren as well (2 for each position), but with Koren, Brady, Stewart, Hamill, and Kightly for 3 positions it'd be exceptionally greedy. I'll come back with a name for the defender when I think of one. Obviously if McLean or Fryatt goes we need another striker as well. And I've just realised, with 1 player to find I haven't even spent £2M yet thanks to the loans and free transfers. Although I suppose I've agreed a fee for Mannone as well just to defer the spending.
Some guys behind us today saying they had insider information, 4 players already agreed moves away from the club, no money available to buy anyone. Mr Allam's not prepared to invest anymore. Also reckoned the dressing room is firmly split in two, one half for and the another against Barmby, all Pearson's signings being in the anti-barmby camp. Sounded really depressing 'if true'so started listening to the 'comentator' who's really class to listen to, if I could only see the game through his eye's it would be brilliant !!
The defender I heard we were interested in for that cover is Alan Tate from Swansea. Apparently been told he is surplus to requirements and can cover CB, LB or RB. Although I believe he is still vice-captain at Swansea.
On that basis, only 3 of the players in the team today are in the Barmby camp and have a contract with us for next season, compared to 5 in the anti-Barmby camp (Mannone and King excluded as an issue as they're loanees, and Garcia is out of contract) so it doesn't seem to be too much of a problem.
Three points. 1. I can believe the thing about Allam to be honest. People rightly see him as the savior of the football club, but what's he actually done since? Spent money on everything else BUT the football club! 2. Anti-barmby camp point... as about 85% of our team are Pearson signings this to me doesn't wash. After seeing the reaction of the lads after the game they're playing for the gaffer; whether we think he's good enough or not. 3. Ricardo... you're spot on.
Not that I'm saying you are 100% correct (it's just a guess/suggestion of what is possible) but this is the sort of plan we will likley look to in the summer. If we can offer decent wages then all these deals are possible. I think we'll certainly bring a few in during the summer, and hopefully clear the bulk of the dross. For me, more than anything, we need to strengthen the management team around Nick Barmby though. I really think it's a weak point. We don't even have a director of football who knows anything about football. That said - I am a fan of Adam Pearson, but he knows nothing about football as played on the pitch. We need an experienced, quality assistant manager in and asap.
If he's available he should be fairly cheap wages wise due to their wage structure, but yeah he'd be a great signing if we could pull it off. Even as a statement of intent (taking him from a PL club) it would be a good move even if it didn't work out for whatever reason.
If I turn out to be 100% correct on that then the lottery numbers that Saturday (after the last one signs) will be 6, 13, 24, 32, 44, and 46.
That sounds like nonsense to me. The 'dressing room split in two' thing is the most common rumour at any club, as soon as a team loses a couple of games this rumour always trots out. I think we're better off getting our inside information from OLM, PT, and Tickler to be honest. I'd like to see these positions covered: 2 GK (Ideally one of them Vito) 1 CB (Any ideas realistically? Or does anyone think Cooper can become a 'first-choice' option for next season at least until Hobbs is back?) 1 CM Either to do the job I wish Cairney got more chances to do or if we do start to use Cairney properly, we'll still need to replace Oli even if it's just for cover. Brady and King (I think we can get Brady permanently but might have to settle for another loan on King, just my gut feeling) Also maybe one more winger with a bit more technical skill (these are very hard to find on the cheap so I won't hold my breath) A big striker to do what Adebola was meant to do. New contracts for Dawson and Garcia. That's 5 new players plus 3 loans extended/converted to permanents and a couple of new contracts. That's 10 contracts in total, pretty unlikely I guess but if we could get rid of Oli, McShane and Ghilas we'd probably still save money overall. It'd be nice to have someone who can cover RB but since Rosenior will start every game when fit I don't mind too much if the cover comes from Garcia and East.
Cooper possibly could. But even if he does, if we haven't signed someone our 2nd backline is Dudgeon, Bradley, East and Townsend. Would you fancy playing til Hobbs comes back with that as our only cover? What happens if Chester gets injured in the first 15 or so games and misses a month? We're left picking up the pieces that the rest of the league haven't managed to sign up yet from the PL. That's the main reason I'm going for a two-for with the CB/RB, I dn't see the point of offering Garcia a new contract to play out of position if it's an emergency, when it wouldn't cost much more to sign a player that we need in the middle that can provide the same cover at the right.
Rob Hulse anyone? should be able to match his wages if a relegation clause kicks in, 33 in October so shouldn't cost a lot,is a big lad who would add some presence up front and he can also score goals at this level.
My question wasn't clear enough. I was suggesting we need a CB for numbers but was asking whether people thought Cooper could be the 1st choice and therefore we just needed one for cover or if we should sign a 1st-choice one.
