first of all, i very much doubt we are in for elmander and if we are it certainly won't be at the fee being quoted which is preposterous. and secondly, why the hate for the guy? have any of you watched him? he's a cracking player. 70-odd caps for sweden, strong, great touch, good in possession - he's basically a holt lookalike (literally) but as good at all the aspects holt was good at. he's not prolific, no - so if you only go by his goal record then you obviously won't want him - but look beyond that and there's a good player. i do think sometimes some people hear the name and think 'i don't like him' without thinking about who he is and what he brings. even at 32 i reckon he's worth at least £3m, probably a bit more (not nearly £7m though!), and i think he'd do a good job in the premier league for any bottom half side but as i say, i think this is a made up rumour anyway.
Good player - the Baggies need some fire power and he's got something about him. Good signing for them.
I agree with most of that. Though I still wouldn't go up to £3mil. £2mil tops for me. I really liked him at Bolton though. And only partly because of the Holt look-a-like thing.
i'm just suggesting he's a heck of a lot better than some are suggesting. i think one or two of our fans are beginning to get a bit 'snobby' when it comes to transfers
If we get a 4th striker, then in my opinion that striker will be behind Wolfswinkel, Hooper and I have Becchio as 3rd choice. So anyone coming in will just be back up imo and I don't expect another big name signing.
yeh, could well be a loan, maybe a player from the Championship?, especially if their forth choice but if they got a decent striker wouldn't they just bump Becchio down to forth choice striker?
I'd like to see Becchio get a proper chance this season, as I think he's good enough. So that's why I think he should be 3rd choice and just bring in a back up 4th striker.
I think Becchio deserves more playing time too. Say what you like but he has been very good in the championship (I think hes got something like 51 in 118 games). If we arent brining in a better player I would settle for a loan striker or give Carlton Morris a run out if it really came to it.
I saw Carlton Morris and some more of the youth team at the Panithinikos game, they were mingling at halftime in the middle of the Jarrold. Was taking pictures with fans etc..... nice guy.
I agree about Becchio, not sure what has gone on behind the scenes regarding him settling in and all that but I certainly think he's a lot, lot better than many people give him credit for and thought he did ok in the very limited appearances he made for us. I'd still like us to bring in Nick Powell on loan, though whether Moyes would loan him out to not be a guaranteed starter is another question.
I think I read comments about Becchio being nowhere near the expected fitness levels when he signed? I guess that, combined with Kamara's reasonable (I can't call it more than that!) form, meant he was limited in opportunities. I think he had a couple of knocks too. Certainly if you were looking at championship strikers at Christmas, he'd have been one of the most attractive, and there must be ability there somewhere to explain that. I keep coming back to him, but this is why I think Toivonen would have been such a good signing. He comes in more as a CAM, and offers a different option to both Howson and Hoolahan, but should we have a striker shortage, he becomes the 4th choice. Unless that happens though, Becchio feels he's third choice, and Hoolahan and Howson wouldn't be pushed completely out of the picture a la Fox. The agreed fee sounded reasonable, just a shame nothing happened!
Hull appear to have sorted out a loan for Jake Livermore and signed Tom Huddlestone permanently. That's a big move.
Quote: "I sometimes think Arsene Wenger is the only sane one" [no, not me; David Pleat talking about this summer's mad mega buck transfers and the insistence on buying ready-made in preference to giving home-grown youngsters their chance].
without wishing to start another war of words about arsenal, can you tell me, apart from ashley cole and jack wilshere (both of whom were blatantly going to be world class) and maybe you could make a case for kieron gibbs, how many 'home grown english players' arsene wenger has brought through the youth ranks at arsenal since taking over in 1996? he's very good at buying young players for huge fees though...
how much of that was down to your team being crap though? didn't you make andros townsend look poor that year too? having said that, he's a player i don't quite get the fuss about. he's ok but huddlestone on the other hand is a class player but injuries are a huge concern.
could have been down to poor management, but like you say supers very,very over rated player in my opinion. Townsend was in the darklord era, that will explain most things!
