No wonder Suarez suddenly wants to stay at Liverpool. He's only been interested in Madrid surely, he was never going to Arsenal.
we may well be getting elmander (which i can't say im that chuffed with tbh) but the one thing thats certain is that twitter account is very fake. He discusses contracts, announces how much other players are on, talks about the club and its dealings as 'we', and then every now and then links to a money making scam! Look at the backdrop image on his twitter page. It looks like a 14yr fans bedroom wallpaper. Hell, i wouldn't be surprised to see he's tweeted during games he was playing in!
The less active account has a bit of Swedish but its def not Elmander, unless he requires Google translate to speak his own language.
Er, sorry I must have missed Strihavka's 70 odd international caps? That's a terrible, lazy comparison based on nothing more than them both being from overseas as far as I can see . I wouldn't have expected that from someone who has named himself after another of our foreign imports from yesteryear. How do you think Cedric would have cut it in today's PL?
I'm in a state of disbelief over how ridiculous some of the responses to us potentially signing Elmander have been. We've already spent over £13 million improving our strike force (a tremendous amount of money for us) and are now bringing in a player who has played at this level before effectively. And yes, it was effectively. Goalscoring stats aren't the only basis by which you should judge a striker and I think it is good that he will come into the squad and add something a bit different. Also, the "we may as well of kept Holt" brigade don't have a leg to stand on either. 1) Holt wanted to leave; 2) do people really believe that Elmander would have done any worse a job up front on his own than Holt did last season? I'm betting he'd have been more effective in that role if anything.
Ouch. I wasnt really dissing elmander, merely seeing if anyone remembered the days when our transfer targets were a little less glamorous. Gaetano Giallanza also springs to mind. Anselin couldn't cope with the pace of a mid 90's championship. It'd be like watching Thomas Brolin in the premiership again.
You're 'betting' based upon what? When did you last see Elmander play? He can't play as a lone striker - see my previous posts on his role at Gala. I've seen many of his appearances over the past two years - so how in any way are my posts ridiculous? Last season the guy was utterly useless against teams that would struggle in the Championship. He has no pace, created nothing, gave the ball away constantly, just giving up rather than tracking back - he's like a taller version of Hoolahan in so many ways. Did you even see him in the Emirates Cup? Admittedly pre-season but as it was for everyone. I was there, the guy was dire. He was picked for the Emirates squad purely to 'showcase' him in England - he and it failed dismally. Please explain why only Blackburn and Hull were the only other English teams linked with him, when he's been on the transfer list for months? Simple: because he's not very good.
I must assume that he's not been very good because he has only been linked with two other English teams? One in the Championship and on in the Premier League. Well in that case I guess Hooper must be awful too seeing as he was linked only linked to two other sides, one in the Championship (QPR), and one in the Premier League (Hull). Without wishing to overstate the point, that is quite clearly a flawed way of trying to determine the quality of a player. I'm not really convinced that he has been as terrible in the past two years as you make out either. In his first season at Galatasary he scored 12 goals in 36 games. 1 in 3 is a perfectly decent ratio! Perhaps he struggled a little last season but I don't think that alone demonstrates that he is no longer capable. Sometimes that happens. Good players can have bad seasons and may need a move away to recapture their form. There are countless examples of this. Also, I'd like to stress again, he would only be THIRD CHOICE in our squad. We could definitely do a lot worse.
I've written my thoughts about Hoolahan before - when it seemed he was beyond the merest reproach. The most overrated player in the squad. Yes, he gives the ball away constantly, he can't tackle. runs around (slowly) achieving virtually nothing; continuously runs into 'blind alleys' going nowhere. As I said previously: He has quick feet, but not, unfortunately, the quick mind to go with it. Luckily, I don't think he will play much and will be on his way in 2014.
And right there, I wonder if you've hit the nail on the head. I said the other day that perhaps we didn't need somebody better than what we've currently got in that CAM/ second striker role, we needed someone who better complements the rest of our side. With Holt as an obvious target for long balls, it didn't matter if Wes was too short, he was there for the knock-downs. With Van Wolfswinkel up front, he's not the same target (I think he lacks the strength if not the height of Holt), so with him and Wes together, the defence have no out-ball when under pressure. We saw against Sociedad Hughton experimenting with Fer in an advanced role, as he offered that target, so perhaps that's the reason behind Elmander signing? What I've just said kinda explains why I thought Toivonen would be such a good signing, as he'd offer both the height and creativity. If that ship has sailed, or we've spent the money elsewhere, then perhaps Elmander is the cheap alternative? Orrr, maybe this is the club putting pressure on Toivonen to make his mind up, by making it seem like we're close to signing a player who Toivonen presumably knows pretty well, and would do a similar job at the club. But that's probably just wishful thinking... Edit: Amazing how we all picked up on the Hoolahan comment! I should probably add I'm not that knowledgeable about Elmander to know whether he could be used in the way I'm suggesting, I've just got that impression from reading a few other bits and pieces.
Again, based upon what evidence? How many times did you see him play? Not very often based upon you 'betting' he would perform as a lone striker better than Holt. He has never played in that position. Indeed, as I have said, he is very similar to Hooper and RVW in that his natural position is playing behind a striker, indeed as he did for Gala initially - he was then notionally moved alongside Baros when the latter was struggling, but even so, he played behind Baros. He has never played for Gala as a lone striker or in the advanced role in 'a two', simply on the basis that he can't. Your comparison with Hooper is fatuous. Hooper has no experience of Premier League football, isn't an international with something like 70 caps and wasn't available on a free transfer.
My evidence was the 1 in 3 goal ratio in his first season at Gala. I did then accept that his second season was not as good but then said that I don't think that alone is enough to suggest that he is suddenly a poor player. Also, the second part in bold, I'm not sure what any difference any of that makes to my underlying point? All I was saying was that my opinion should not be affected by what other clubs he has been linked to in the press.
Interesting thoughts. Elmander is taller than Holt - RVW the same height as GH but as you say lacking the physique and strength - and his size, I think, naturally leads to people assuming he can play as a lone striker but he doesn't, I've even seen him play deeper in midfield. I think where I would struggle with your excellent point is where he would actually fit in the team. I don't see Hoolahan playing much as I don't think this is a role - even one played more effectively than Hoolahan - there's a need to fill. Surely, that, as the link between midfield and a striker, picking up knock-downs, is part of RVW's and Hooper's natural style of play? Sorry for keep repeating it but Elmander plays very much like those two, so to me, is an alternative to them. So, unless we play without a main striker or sign one, (or Becchio plays), one of the three is going to have to adapt their game at Norwich, playing more forward. But, I would guess it's more likely to be RVW or GH, otherwise, despite what everyone is saying, Elmander would certainly not be third choice striker. Without the adaptation, I don't think GH and RVW will play together, as their natural styles tend to be very similar, Hopper drops further back and Ricky has a better first touch, but they play very similarly, taking up similar positions etc. Given Hooper’s tendency to collect the ball from the right side of midfield, I think RVW is more likely to play in front of him but there remains a danger, RVW is simply too lightweight (in terms of strength) to play up front in the Premier League, unless he is surrounded by stronger, more physical players. Hooper is very strong and physical for someone his size, but he’s what 5ft 8 or so? So if this is Elmander, again, that doesn’t make him third choice. But whichever way they line up, if it’s together, I don’t see a place for Hoolahan or anyone who’s a stronger, more powerful version of him, which as you said is a role that Hughton has tried to use Fer in pre-season. Other than not rating Elmander based upon what I've seen of him, - which is a fair bit over the past two years - I'm struggling to understand Hughton's thinking in signing a trio of similar players. What happens when that doesn't work? What is the contingency?
