Apparemtly an £8m bid for Hooper has been rejected - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2187428/Fulham-turn-attention-David-Ngog.html?ITO=1490&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter So it seems we do have some money to spend (or are expecting some to come in?). However, I still can't accept the follow up story that N'Gog at £3m is our next target. There are still some better free transfers around. Or splash the money on somebody like Graham of Swansea Indeed if we're going to spend and I know he's not the same playing position I'd much rather see us use the money on Whittingham.
Apart from Rhodes Hooper & Fletcher,we seem to be linked to an awful lot of dross. Hopefully its all paper talk,and 90% of those mentioned over the last couple of months stay well away from the cottage
I'm not so sure, Bandit. Everton are well stocked for midfielders and can probably afford to let Rodwell go, particularly at a good price. Apart from that young playmaker type who featured a few times at the start of last season (Barkley is it? think so), they've got Fallaini, Neville, Gibson and Osman who are all good for the central positions, plus Pienaar, Coleman and (again) Osman to play out wide. Add in Naismith to link up play between the midfield and Jelavic and selling Rodwell hardly leaves them short-handed. If this money means they can afford to say no to any united bid for the much harder to replace Leighton Baines, Moyes might be quite happy about it.
I presume the club have forced Lukaku to WB- surprised if he has chosen Birmingham over south west London. I think Everton have been trying to offload Rodwell since last summer- remember reading that he was available for £12m so they could raise funds.
Don't forget that West Brom's new manager has long-standing Chelsea connections, which may have helped to reassure Chelsea that he would be in a good environment for his development. Not that I'm saying Jol and Fulham wouldn't be similarly regarded, simply that Steve Clarke's Chelsea past can't have done them any harm on this deal. It's also entirely possible that Fulham decided not to pursue the loan deal. We'll probably never know, but I'm not too disappointed. I'd rather we signed a new striker than borrowed one.
I'm sure you're correct Captain and the loan deal was/is based on him getting a guaranteed number of games. Like you I'd much prefer to sign someone - trouble is we seem to be fast running out of decent options.
The Soap Opera ... last I read, Liverpool might part with Charlie Adam and cash for Dempsey, who's apparently been frozen out of the starting 11 and isn't slated to play in the season opener. I'm not sure how much money is involved, but I think Adam (26) would make a good replacement for Murphy. I think he's a good player, plus he's tough and durable, unlike Sidwell.
We had a Liverpool fan on the board a couple of weeks back asking after Clint. He didn't think Adam was all that. The gist seemed to be that he was good going forward, but a liability defensively and with a bit of an attitude. Before that, I would have been very happy for that exchange, now I'm not so keen.
I didn't mean he would be fuming at having to sell a midfielder, I agree they are well stocked in that area. I was referring to the fact that only half the money has been made available. In my opinion Everton need at least one more striker. Naismith is fine as back up but they need someone to replace Saha/Cahill's goals.
Captain ... I think replacing Murphy will bring heartache to many of us. I'm not sure any midfielder will make everyone on this board happy, but from the available lot out there, I'd say Adam fits the Murphy mold about as well as anyone. He's got the skills and the guile, plus he seems to hold up to the wear 'n' tear of the season rather well. Unless we're counting on getting a healthy complete season out of Sidwell (fat chance), I'm not sure we're well situated in the midfield for next season. Diarra's a good defensive midfielder, but nothing I've seen from him so far tells me he can distribute like Murphy. Dembele doesn't fit the mold, either. ... and when has a Liverpool fan ever been happy?
On the subject of Adam and Murphy; I think they are two very different players. Murphy's best attribute was his short passing, he could dictate the pace of the game from midfield and knock it over the top when neccesary. Adam is a hollywood pass man, I watched him when Scotland played Brazil, even though Scotland had no width and one up top he was slill launching them toward the wings. If you consider how narrow we play and the size of the pitch at CC, I can't see how he would fit in. Adam is perfect for Stoke.
I completely agree with that, silkship. Adam seems to take the Gerrard approach to passes, with long hollywood balls which more often than not end up in losing possession (but can lead directly to goals, some of the time). He seems incapable of holding possession and sitting as a playmaker. Add to that the ego boost of time at Liverpool (and the bloated wages) and I don't see him being a very good signing for us. I know we need someone to sit in Murphy's role, but Adam doesn't seem to have the right skillset for it.
I think we have enough quality in the middle to try bring some youth through, immerse them in Jol's style of play, and then let them grow in stature. With Sidwell, Diarra and Dembele we have quality so the pressure wouldn't all be on the shoulders of the young player. I vote Huddlestone, unless AVB tries to build around him, I reckon he would take the chance to work with Jol again. He's got the capacity to hit a great long ball, and he feeds the wings well, but he's also got a good short passing game and a cool head.
I would love for us to sign Tom Huddlestone. I think he would be a great replacement for Murphy. Unfortunately, I cannot see Spurs selling him. Even if they did, he'd probably be out of our price range.
Totally agree with what you say about Murphy, DR - and also the question mark over Sidwell. However I've got to side up with the others about Adams and he did actually have a fair bit of time out last season with injury. We might as well accept Danny won't be directly replaced. What I think is needed is more strength defensively on the left and in my book Whittingham fits that role as well as being able to hold the ball and has really good distribution. We should insist Liverpool pay the full whack for Dempsey and up our bid to Cardiff (they've got Bellamy now so may feel more at ease in a deal).
Moussa Dembele Real Madrid are reported to have made contact with his Agent (thought these things had to go through the Club??) - http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11095/7988552/ This may well be just game play because Real are getting frustrated with the Modric thing and are trying to force Spur's hand .. or not?
