Now, then. I haven't heard anything about his rehab since the initial diagnosis of six months or so sometime about last July. Is it still his achilles or has he suffered another injury. Has he even run out for the reserves - there seems to be a radio silence from the club which just makes me worry a bit. Anyone know what is happening with this guy - is he another Lee Cook? (albeit more talented).
I did hear a few weeks back that Senderos had had another setback and will probably be out for the rest of the season.....
Looks like another sicknote to me, imagine if we had sold Hangeland and bought Senderos as his replacement? We would have had to start Halliche for the entire season.
I heard he was ready to go, so he laced up his boots and ran onto the field, tripping over a blade of grass along the way and tearing his ACL. I've seen him play once; he's as graceful as a drunk stumbling out of a pub, then falling down a flight of stairs.
A little harsh there DR. Granted he certainly isn't the finished article, he was never a terrible player for Arsenal. I was quite excited when he signed. We needed someone to challenge Hughes and Hangeland for the centre back spot, but I guess that hasn't happened.
I thought he would be great cover for Hangeland and Hughes. But he seems quite comfortable on the injury table!
He got rave reviews when he first broke through at Arsenal, then it all seemed to go a bit wrong for him. I'm reserving judgement until he gets fit and gets a chance with us. I was delighted when we signed him, as he seemed like precisely the kind of player that Hodgson was good at bringing the best out of. Of course, that never worked out the way we thought it would. At least we've got plenty of cover at centre back, as well as perhaps the Permier League's best pair of CBs outside the Champions League clubs.
"Right signed on today,"after getting over my mental distress when the old 606ended,nice to see some old names appearing,have not seen frogman up yet. Well straight to it . Will AJ still be here next season. rf steele
Froggy's here too & good to see you back rf, hope you're well. Don't know how you feel about MH these days, but if we qualify for Europe again through the Fair Play league, I would imagine there'll be a few comings & goings, hopefully more comings, especially in terms of quality. Presuming the manager stays, and I believe he will, he seems to have a commitment to cup competitions, but as the league will always be priority no.1 we will need to strengthen. Will Mo finance it, indeed, under these new financial rules coming in soon, will it affect us?
Welcome back RF, we've missed you. I think Kamara and EJ will be gone. AJ seems to be behind Dembele in the pecking order to partner Zamora now. I think if we sign or promote from the youngsters a couple of decent strikers, AJs chances will be few and far between. I think he'll go if we get any reasonable offers, but other than that I think he'll stay and be a squad player, much like Nevland was for much of his time with us. Do you want AJ to stay or go, RF, or is that a stupid question?
Senderos from his Arsenal days was very good in the air and scored a few goals. The fans always said he was not good enough at Arsenal. However they were competing against the likes of the Milans, Utd in their pomp days - I think we are being a bit harsh. Would our H & H step into a top 4 side - I doubt it. After the 17m in bad debt I cannot see Mo pulling his wallet out too often. Bargin buys more like I'd say.
Good point about our finances, CC. As I recall, at Blackburn Mark Hughes was always pretty good at spotting unknown gems and signing them relatively cheaply. It will be interesting to see who he turns his eye on this summer. Generally speaking, I'd say I trust him in the transfer market, so let's see what he can do.
I'd like to see Senderos in action. He got a bad rep at Arsenal with a few errors, but people always forgot his age. He spent a season on loan at AC Milan so he's got a decent wealth of experience and time to improve too. Like Captain said, he was the ideal player for Roy to get the best from - let's hope he gets to full fitness so Sparky can make him solid.
I think MH had anticipated Dembele having the same effect RSC had when he signed him at Blackburn and to be honest it looked like he would after a blistering start, but now, not so much. With Hughes, Hangeland, Senderos and Burn as our centre backs, I think we can sleep safe. I would loan out Halliche to get him used to English football.
I'm not so sure we'll see Burn in the first team next season, Bandit. Briggs is probably ahead of him for a centre back place, and (I hope) Baird as well. Burn looks like he's one for the future, not a ready-made first teamer.
Morning all, Great to see you here Steele and cottagecravens, has 606 closed now? I think that Senderos, if fit, will be a real acquisition to our squad. The swiss tea is made around him. His influence within their team i huge Yes, he was a bit of a " Zat Knight " at Arsenal, better known for his mistakes than his quality contributions. I think a lot of Arsenal supporters will tell you when he was good, he was very good. The biggest issue is that he is very injury prone. I hope this does not hinder his time with us. He is still only 26 and was a free. So get him fit and we could have a useful player for some years to come. Chances are he will not play for some time as Hughes and Hangeland have been quality again this season. Steele, what to say about your favorite player !!!! I concede defeat, AJ certainly put a shift in when Bobby was injured, but if as reported WBA are willing to pay 3 million for him, I would bite their hands off.
Bandit you might be right ... but the one time I saw him play, he was a disaster. It's intersting how well Smalling has done for ManU. He might be their signing of the year at just 6 or 8 million (can't remember the figure). Center backs are a lot like 'keepers in the sense that, once they've made a hash of things, managers and the public are quick to lose faith in him. Sendros could make 20 great plays in a row, but miss one challenge or tackle and cost the team a goal and the public forgets everything that's gone before. That's the nature of the game. It's the opposite with stikers -- if he loses the ball 9 out of 10 times, misses the target 9/10 times, the public will forget all that if just once every game he puts the ball in the back of the net.
I must admit Sir Alex has surprised me this year. Both Smalling and Hernandez look an absolute steal. The guy's still got the knack of finding these gems. I agree to an extent with you about centre backs and mistakes they make, although I wouldn't say we are being too harsh on both Salcido and Pantsil as both have made NUMEROUS mistakes this season which have resulted in goals conceded. Whereas Hughes and Hangeland have made one or two errors that we forgive them for instantly, probably due to their past service, something which Salcido cannot fall back on being a new signing at the club.
Isn't Briggs a centreback? He certainly seems like a centreback from what I've seen, he is just covering the fullback roles as a lot of young centrebacks do. I know he played at centreback for the England under-19s, with Joe Mattock playing at left back. I'd be surprised if Briggs didn't transition to the middle in the medium to long term.
