Okay, what do you think to the signings of the newly promoted teams?, any of them have a chance of staying up?
The joke is, although they are hogging the back pages every single day.... I can't see any of them leaving before the transfer window is shut. I think it has been the most boring transfer window purely because the sagas don't seem to be getting anywhere. Although probably the best window for Norwich in a long long time I would imagine.
I think Cardiff will, I like Caulker, I think he will be an England regular. I like Cornelius also but don't think he will get many goals this season as he is young. Medel I don't know much about to be honest, looks like he will add bite to their midfield.
cardiff have the best chance, as most people seem to think. they've spent (relatively) big on a young striker, young england CB and defensive midfielder. Palace, despite holloway's randomness, are doomed i think given their existing squad and who they have bought (so far) Hull, not sure about them. Steve Bruce has a lot of experience and has done well in the transfer window e.g Figueroa, Davies, Graham. Probably give them the second best chance after Bardiff there's always at least one of the non-promoted teams who struggles, read Wigan last season and wolves/blackburn/bolton the previous year. this season, it could be one of many it's so tight in that middle pack - us, Fulham (i think they will struggle more this season),sunderland, saints, Stoke, maybe WBA or newcastle. I hope it's not us - but if it is, so be it and we move on.
Still not sure why Palace spent 8.5 million on Dwight Gayle, it might pay off or it could be a big risk. I do feel they might struggle though. Hull and Cardiff have both strengthened their squads and I think will do well. Going to be another tough season again and I'm not sure we'll be that comfortable but will be ok.
Cardiff's policy of signing just a few quality players could either go very well, or very badly. On the one hand it introduces quality without abandoning their promotion squad, but I expect the new signings are on significantly higher wages, which could create QPR-like rifts in the squad. Also, should these signings get injured, you're left with just the championship side. I'm not sure whether they'd have been wiser to have bought 6 ~£5m players than 3 ~£10m, although I guess that kind of spending worked for Southampton 12 months ago. They appear to be building a strong spine to their side though, and they already had some players in their squad who should make the transition to Prem reasonably well. Palace, the only signing that I'm interested by is Campana, he's the Spanish youth captain, but I fear he can't be that good or he'd be at a bigger club. Up front, Phillips surely can't be relied upon as a regular striker, Gayle is young and very inexperienced (and overpriced), and Murray is out until January. Thomas is probably Prem standard, but I don't think he's got the ability to carry some of the others. I think promotion came too early for them, so they're using the money to improve the stadium, training facilities, etc, so they're better placed for a promotion tilt in the following season. Hull I think have made better signings than Palace, and I think have more players capable of making the step up. I think they've got the firepower, but perhaps lack in other areas. Overall, Hull remind me of ourselves and Swansea when we got promoted, Cardiff are closer to Southampton, West Ham and QPR, whilst Palace are most like Reading. Whether they'll perform similarly to those teams or not remains to be seen, and will probably depend on a team or two collapsing, as well as their own efforts.
Of those I'm going to tip Stoke, WBA and Newcastle. Stoke have strengthened defensively, but they were already pretty good there, so that seems a bit odd. I think their fans want to get away from the Pulis philosophy, but they've not signed anyone who suggests a different approach, so a chance of discord there if early results are poor and the style doesn't change? I think Anelka is a poor replacement for Lukaku at WBA, and I can't see them starting as strongly as last season. Newcastle have done little and the Kinnear-thing feels like it could blow up at any moment as to the others, Sunderland's massive squad overhaul could create issues, and Di Canio is unpredictable, so I've no idea about them. Fulham appear to have done reasonable business but nothing outstanding. I think Southampton have made some decent signings, and a lot of their young talents are going to be a year more experienced which will help. Perhaps a striker short, but I see them have less problems than the others mentioned.
Agree with the Sunderland comment, it's going to be tough getting so many new players to gel so quickly, considering so many are foreign to? I can't see Stoke doing to well either, but I don't think WBA will be down there le sulk should still be good for a few goals. I fancy Fulham to struggle this season, just can't see them scoring enough.
Yes, great news about Hooper, but I hope it's convinced all concerned that we need another striker at the minimum. Three isn't enough.
Three is certainly not enough to play with two upfront, probably Ok if your sticking to a constant 4-5-1
It looks like the 3 main targets this window have been missed, nobody's fault, we just are not big enough. I'd expect a token gesture signing for a forward just to give us the numbers.
"3 main". Disagree. I don't think we wanted both Quags and Toivonen, either, or. Our main target was obviously Hooper. And I can't help but feel Alderweireld was more a punt to see if we could get someone class by offering cold hard cash before the likes of Tottenham turned up (as with RvW). I feel like we've really only missed out on Toivonen in terms of disappointment because Alderweireld was a long shot, but as you say it's because we are not "big enough". Mind you it's not over til the burly damsel warbles.
Johan Elmander had a fantastic 6 months at Bolton then was never heard from again on these shores! I recall an outstanding flowing move that he finished back in 10/11 I think it was. Maybe 11/12. Anyway, it was pure class. He is the spit of Holt aswell! EDIT: He didn't score the brilliant passing move, did a nice little back heel though. He did score that brilliant individual goal though, which is actually the one I was thinking of. Here is his goal incase you hadn't seen it. His is number 8. [video=youtube;BynvcCOyGVM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=BynvcCOyGVM&t=185[/video]
