As the season draws to a close,the management must be looking at who to bring in, in the close season. Mj has now gone past the consolidation stage, and must now be looking at building a team that can make a challange. I feel there are 4 positions we could and should definatly improve on A quality goalkeeper, as the current crop on our books,are never will, or to young. A versatile full back. Creative midfielder And a playmaking ,winger,inside foward. My choices GK Vorm or Krull Full back,not sure on this one Midfielder,I would not be adverse to having Clint back, ( next season at spurs he will slip further down the pecking order) Foward Remy ? why not we paid 10m for Ruiz,who performs 1 game in 4. I would like to see Jack Grimmer,and Dan Burn eased inti our side ,as i feel they could learn a lot from Brede & JAR. As at the moment it is still a white knuckle ride when Senderos,an oposition player,and the ball, all meet up in the penalty area.
I fully expect Chris Baird, Mahamadou Diarra, Simon Davies, Mladen Petrić and Csaba Somogyi to be released. I expect David Stockdale and Pajtim Kasami to be sold. I do not anticipate us signing Stanislav Manolev based on what we've seen thus far, but I think Enoh looked worth signing. Riether is an absolute no brainer. We have no option on Frimpong or Emanuelson. So this leaves our 25 man squad something like the below. This includes 9 "home grown" players, so that is not an issue with regards to new signings. Goalkeepers (3): Mark Schwarzer, Neil Etheridge, new player x 1 Defenders (8): John Arne Riise, Philippe Senderos, Brede Hangeland, Matthew Briggs, Aaron Hughes, Sascha Riether, new player x2 Midfielders (9): Steve Sidwell, Giorgos Karagounis, Kieran Richardson, Damien Duff, Ashkan Dejagah, Alex Kačaniklić, Eyong Enoh, new player x 2 Forwards (5): Dimitar Berbatov, Bryan Ruiz, Hugo Rodallega, Marcello Trotta, new player x 1 Under 21s: Kerim Frei, Muamer Tankovic, Dan Burn, Cauley Woodrow et al. This summer is make or break for Matthew Briggs. Either he is good enough, or we call time and look to acquire someone else to compete with Riise. We need cover for Riether (although this could be through a CB who can play RB like Hughes used to, or through a youngster) and a CB to partner Hangeland. Dan Burn is on the outskirts, but next season should be the transitional one for him. We need to sign a winger to compete with Duff, Dejagah and Kaca. We certainly need to sign another midfielder to compete with Kara, Sidwell and Enoh; honestly Kara is our most creative CM and we absolutely have to address that. Whilst I have gotten over the Dempsey issue from last summer, I just don't think we can accommodate Dempsey in a team with Berbatov & Ruiz. I think we'll retain Trotta but he may well be on loan. I would love to see Tankovic or Woodrow (both seem better prospects than Trotta now) start to get some time in the first team, so another striker would be added for depth rather than looking for that 20 goal a season man (that is what Berbatov is). So in short... I pretty much agree with C58. EDIT: I of course meant I agree with Rosc in this instance! Although I generally agree with you too, C58.
Just on U21s, I'd add Jack Grimmer (aged19) who is outstanding at CB at the moment but actually came as a right back so could cover for Riether and Chris David (aged 20) in midfield. Alex Kacaniklinic I think technically still qualifies as U21 (DoB 13 August 1991). Matthew Briggs doesn't now of course and I reckon he will move on so we will badly need a LB (not at all sure about Richardson). PS I think you meant rosc, Surly but anyway I agree with both of your assessments.
Yeah I pretty much agree, we can improve across the board really. As long as we keep our best players I think we can look to push on next season.
I agree about Grimmer, from what I've seen. He could be the centre back/right back cover I referred to. Kaca will not be an under 21 next year. The Premier League rules define a player as under 21 for a whole season depending on their age on 1 January of the year the season starts. For the 2013/14 season, players born on or after 1 January 1992 will qualify as under 21, regardless of their precise birthday.
I just worry that Berba may move on during the summer and if he should then we will have a pressing need for a 20 goal a season man.
I hope I'm not made to eat these words, but I'm not worried. He's not getting any younger, he turned down Fiorentina, Juve and Spurs to join us and it seems as though he's enjoying his football here. Keep calm, Fulhaman
Absolutely no way would Berbatov leave this summer. Main reason being that he is in his 30's (no sell on value) and teams would have to stump up between 7-10 million to prize him from us, with his wages on top of that. Absolutely no chance.
Looks like you're correct about Stockdale, Surly, which I don't think will surprise anybody. Especially if Hull hold out on the promotion place. "Hull City could be close to securing their first signing of next season, with reports emerging in some of the national press circles that the Tigers could well make a permanent swoop for current on loan goalkeeper David Stockdale from Premier League side Fulham." Source: http://www.hullcityindependent.net/?page=news&news_id=1191
It appears we are definitely in for a goalkeeper in the summer transfer window. In todays football blogs there is an article saying that next season, Cesar of QPR wishes to continue playing in the premiership,and would like to remain in london, is this a veiled hint that we are on the lookout, personally i say steer well clear. My reason: he is both a flapper, and a puncher, very rarely catching, & positional sence debatable. Begovich,my personal choice. What say you FFC 606rs,choices, and reasons
Yes agree - Cesar is a typical Latin American keeper - all flamboyant saves and punches/parries straight to an opposition forward following in. Begovic is great, but I think he's off to one of the big boys.
I would agree about Cesar. I certainly don't think he's all that much better than Schwarzer. As for Begovic, I think alot depends on whether Stoke plummet like a stone to the Championship or remember how to play football. I just don't see a place for him at a top club: Chelsea have two top keepers, City have Hart, Spurs have Lloris, Everton have Howard & Wenger hates spending any money on a proven keeper. His only option is United, if they feel they need someone to push De Gea. Would Begovic rather play for a mid-table team or sit on the bench at a top team? That's a question only he can answer. But if Stoke go down, their keeper will be Butland and Begovic will be gone. If they stay up, I would not be surprised if Begovic stayed.
I seem to be the only one who doesn't think a keeper is a top priority this summer. Sure, Schwarz is getting on a bit but he's got one good season left, surely?
Well, regardless of whether Schwarzer has that one season left in him (and I think he does), we can't go into next season with just him and Etheridge. A keeper is a top priority, but maybe a new starting keeper isn't. Either way, it'd be foolish to overlook a proven 25 year old keeper (Begovic) if he's available and actually in our price range.
Catch 22. Begovic will only come if he's guaranteed No.1 - Schwarzer will only sign a new contract if he is guaranteed No. 1 Jol will have to decide, unless he thinks he can manage the pair of them.
