VI: PSV and Norwich agree to Toivonen deal

news from PSV say that Norwich has asked permission to talk personal terms with Toivonen, which has been granted. it would seem that, at the moment, we are in the front seat and just need to convince him to join us.

 

I've got this vision of McNally & Co, Toivonen and his agent sitting around a table with a bunch of meatballs and pickled herring in the middle, and glasses of Akvavit to wash them down...

 

Oh no, I mentioned a fish! I'm so sorry everyone, I think we agreed to scale back on the fish talk...

 

oh cod

 

No D'eel

 

all depends on how keen he is to move to norwich. i think we can probably compete with psv on wages, and probably west brom and fulham too (everton not so much) but we are still relatively new to the league and despite two mid table finishes, we have stayed under the radar a bit. the signing of RvW may change players view. i'm very intrigued to see if we get him to be honest, more so than any other player for years, simply because it will show how much the club has grown or if we are still a bit of an unknown.

 

With you on this Supers.

If we manage to sign him this would show serious intent and may even convince Hooper that we are serious about developing as a team. Fingers crossed on this one! Imagine if we managed to sign Toivenen and Hooper, what a front 4 with Holt.

Exciting times.

 

Hang on a minute. Front 4 + back 4 + GK + 2 wingers + at least 1 midfielder = 12. Very exciting times if we can get away with that!!

 

I meant not playing at the same time, but if we could get away with it great!

 

i had a little look on the pink un thread on this player, and gravycanaries was on it! legend (of BS)

 

Absolutely bang on pal.

Of course Holt got a decent amount of chances last season (but he was up front by himself - an absolutely thankless task) - he was playing up front, but robbie, neither of your 'facts' are true! He could have got double the goals he scored last season but only if he put every single one of his clear cut chances away and NOBODY, not Messi, not RVW or RVP does that!

And Supers, I appreciate that you've maybe watched the SPL more than me (although goodness knows why you'd want to!) but, whereas Hooper will certainly excel at some things I would say Holt is more versatile, better in the air and at holding the ball up. He can cross better too, which is useful when looking for the head of a certain Mr. Wolfswinkel!

Don't get me wrong, Holt's not perfect. But you should all be careful what you wish for; new is not always better.

 

you seem to misunderstand my viewpoint about holt. i'm not saying we should get rid of holt! i think he still has a very important role to play at the club. what i am saying is that we should not fail to pursue better strikers simply because we all like grant holt. holt is good at what he does but hooper is better at the things he does well, therefore we should buy him and have both to chose from. holt isn't going to be around forever and hooper, at just 25 is the perfect age for a striker who is about to come into his prime. there will be games where a poacher is needed, games where a more physical presence is required. its all about having options and last season we barely had any, and that is a primary reason why we struggled to score goals

 

Fair enough, but it's important not to throw money around unnecessarily. I appreciate that Holt and Hooper are very different types of players, but there are lots of clubs who have been relegated in the past because they spent a lot of money on players that were no better than those already at the club. As it happens, Holt is 32 and we need a fourth striker - I'm just not sure Hooper is the right man for the job. He's going to cost a fair bit of money, and, as I've stated quite vociferously, I don't believe he's good enough to start for us (although I do understand Holt maybe only has a year or two left in him).

 

£5m for hooper - in the grand scheme of things - would be a fabulous signing. he's a better striker than holt, becchio and vaughan. don't write him off without watching him first, that's all i'm saying

 

I like the fact that most of the players CH has signed or had an interest in are certainly an improvement on what we have. Or at least provide different options that we require. Important that we dont stagnate and rest on what we have got. We need to continue our development and the signs are very encouraging

 

I think there is room for all of the above mentioned players in the squad, At the weekend, I was talking to a couple of Celtic fans who both rated Holt as a better overall player than Hooper, but that Hooper was the better finisher/ poacher. I can envisage Hooper making more of the chances provided, he is more likely to get on the end of a cross than Holt, but having the flexibility will be key. There will times when each is the better option, making it more likely to sneak a win by the odd goal or to get a last minute equaliser and so on. I think having wolfie, Holt and Hooper as the three main strikers represents a major advance on our strike force from last season and the relative merits of the three would allow combinations/substitutions that would be a handful for any defence.

 

signing van wolfswinkel AND hooper would be a major upgrade for us! bloody massive. also, what happens if RvW got injured? we'd be back where we were this season. do we want that?

 

That's a good point Longsight, and I'd like to stress that I wouldn't be against the signing of Hooper; I just hope he doesn't flop if we do get him. I did watch him play five or six times last season (in both the UCL and SPL) and feel that he can go missing in games against the bigger teams - a criticism that I don't think you could level against Holt or RVW.

 

he does go missing - because he's a born poacher. i keep comparing him to defoe or maybe even fowler. neither of those players linked the play like holt does but give them a chance and BOOM. goal. natural goal scorers don't grow on trees so when a young, english one who is proven at every level he's played at becomes available at a reasonable price, we should jump at the chance. every signing is a gamble who could flop, but he'd still have a high sell-on value because he does score goals!