It has been reported on the BBC Gossip column that Defoe will be allowed to leave in January. Now I know it seems unrealistic but reports are that he could be move to the MLS or QPR so why not us? If he harbors any ambition of playing at the World Cup then surely we would be a better bet than those two options and would be cheaper than Shane Long, albeit he is quite a bit older.
Rhodes would be expensive and unproven in the Prem. Fletcher will be on a wage out of our structure and probably not for sale and seemingly with long term doubts regarding a shoulder injury. Longs name will be mentioned more and more but is he really Premier League quality? His record doesn't suggest he is. I'm not convinced anyway
Fletcher would be great but would require a large fee and large wages. Defoe would be cheaper although his wages could be higher. Maybe a cheeky loan bid should we make Livermore permanent
I really don't get the whole 'unproven' argument... surely every player at some point is unproven to the Prem? He has a fantastic record at very level he has played. Should be given a chance which I think he would take.
£6m fee to add to his 4 year deal at £40k per week (£2m per season) Not sure we're at the stage to splash £14m yet. We've gambled that much once before...
We've had two fortunate pens and an own goal in our five home games - that's 3 out of a total of 4 goals. Only Davies v Cardiff has been our goal from open play. That's too slender a margin. Can't keep getting lucky pens and own goals- it's not sustainable. Sorry.
True, fine margins, but taking each game on its own merit, we did what was required and leading 1-0 early meant that we did not necessarily need to find a second goal to win. Norwich â we needed to close ranks and we came very close to a second v WHU. It is clear that maintaining our solidity is at the expense of our creativity. For me, this is using our resources to near maximum effect and is a correct trade. On the flip side, we scored a good team goal at Everton and also scored three goals at Newcastle, all different really well worked goals at a team who shut out Chelsea yesterday.
We clearly need a striker who is a goal finisher - these are hard to come by, they are both expensive and in high demand. We're still in a relegation battle (one which I'm sure we'll win), but natural finishers do not usually go to clubs whose first priority is finishing 17th. However, I think having Bruce as manager, the start we've had and marquee signings such as Huddlestone will give some people more confidence in coming, hence it may be easier to recruit in January than it was in Summer (as long as the price is right). Second, its not all about the strikers. Although I think DG has been guilty of missing too many opportunities this season, against Sunderland there really weren't that many clear cut opportunities made (NP's poor abdominal control aside). This came from poor tactics and a lack of preparedness/experience of breaking down a team who have parked the bus. We were very slow in attack in the second half which gave Sunderland ample opportunity to reform their defence (back-to-wall mentality for new manager helped). Sunderland should be congratulated on forcing us to take long range shots (Figueroa being guilty of taking that on every time - very unsuccessfully). I think our lack of a decent striker is a major issue (and we'd be higher in the league with Van Persie in our team), but I don't think its one that SB has missed and is not the sole reason for our troubles in front of goal. We essentially have a choice, go for PL experience who is not a 20 goal a season striker, a championship player who is better than all the other PL clubs think, or find a gem in a random league elsewhere Football Manager style (?Benteke). Personally, I'd go for Shane Long, we know he would come, he can finish, he's available for a reasonable price and he can play up top on his own without getting disheartened when he's isolated - which will and does happen for HCAFC (he's used to it). Just my 2 pence worth.
Very difficult to argue against this. But we do play nice football even when containment is the target - which I enjoy.
Fine margins, but it;s worrying we can't put a game to bed.... Norwich and SAFC may well be bottom 3 at the end of the season, apart from Palace we're unlikely to play any worse teams than these. It appears to be commonly-accepted wisdom that ALL promoted teams run out of steam in the second half of the season (not just us in 2008/9 for all the silly ****s who rubbish PB), so we need to be thinking that we need some firepower in and need to pile up the points while we can. We need 10 wins- we've now got 4.
I was surprised to see Proschwitz come on yesterday, I thought against nine men, Gedo was the perfect player to bring on.
Not all – they’ve been some notable exceptions – the aforementioned Stoke for one and a good few others from very recent seasons. But I do think the notion needs to be rightly regarded and if possible, guarded against in January. Of course, we all knew this would be the problem area before the season started and I wouldn’t disagree that we do need new signings: a new centre forward and in my opinion, another winger. Can we source/afford them though is the next age old problem.
I'd like to see Gedo given a game along side Sagbo, maybe not against Southampton but Palace would be a good game to try it. I have a feeling Aluko's going to be out for a while.
