.....Up the League we go ...Now Baby... WCP understands that Town are closing in on the signing of former Wolves striker Sylvan Ebanks-Blake. The 27-year-old free agent has been at the club for the last two days and is understood to be undergoing a medical this afternoon.
Gone are the days of endless speculation about a player who then decides to go off somewhere else! The only reason SEB will sign for us is Mick McCarthy!
Is it just me? Could have sworn he was way older than he is! Hopefully a good signing and he'll have something to prove.
Certainly a signing of good pedigree, if he's fit it could be a great free signing. We may need to change our style of play a bit though to accomadate him and McG in the same team, we'll need to play it through the midfield more.
Am i the only one that doesn't feel too enthusiastic about this possible signing? Admittedly, if he is anywhere near his best, then it'll be a fantastic signing, but i think that an injury like he has had does such long term damage- phyically AND mentally, that it's extremely difficult to get your fitness back..especially for this season. I also feel that he seems the kind of player that would expect to be included in the first team, and therefore could upset the apple cart. It's taken a while for the club to get rid of the prima donnas in our squad, and it'll be a big shame if someone came in exptecting to be treated like a premiership player, just because he feels thats where he should be, whilst the rest of the squad, who have worked hard to get in the position we are in, are pushed to one side (subs bench).
Stretchy, I can see your concerns and with Hunt and Sylvan it does appear to be following a pattern we've all seen before, clear out the deadwood before filing the squad with 'Old Boys'. I think the difference is, risking sounding like JWM, is McCarthy, and where the philoshophy of having to work hard to get into the team is going to come into it's own. I get the impression if Jewell signed Hunt he would be in the first 11 all game every game.
TBH, I don't have any concerns because MM is very straight talking and the players will know where they stand. Lets put it this way if he is so straight talking in press interview, imagine what he is like behind closed doors. good signing.
" Am i the only one that doesn't feel too enthusiastic about this possible signing? " I can see it from your perspective sure. While I am delighted to have E Banks aboard, I do have a few questions in the back of my mind also. - Fitness - Money - Interest from the player However, I also absolutely trust the manager we have aboard with everything blue at Portman Road right now. Mick McCarthy is absolutely superb at this level. He's so well respected by players, they know what to expect and realise they will only play should they put the effort in. ( Take note Wordsworth ) Wolves have had the task of getting E Banks back to fitness for him to carry on his career, so I believe he will be in decent shape ( although clearly lacking match fitness/sharpness etc ) I don't think Mick would have signed him otherwise, he's a very smart cookie our Mick. I do wonder what £££££ he's on. This IS potentially a worry, however we've also tied up Hunt ( GREAT NEWS ) and Cresswell to a new deal so perhaps we are investing a bit of dosh back. I'd like to think E Banks Blake is motivated and interested. I didn't realise he did so well for Wolves last season to be honest! All things considered, I'm pleased we have him as another option. In the absolute worst case scenario, the deal is only until the end of the season so if he's a complete disaster it won't be the end of the world. We'd still have our Murphy/ McGoldrick combination, with Nouble appearing to be improving at a decent rate. Marriott would now appear set ( Mick has said as much ) for a loan spell to a league club. He's signed an 18 month deal, so at least it isn't another Rhodes scenario yet. I think he will be best developing for this season, and potentially being one of our 4 main strikers next season. Where does this leave Paul Taylor I wonder................
Just updated the wikipedia entry and stumbled across this, he should strike up a good partnership with Paul Taylor "In 2008 Ebanks-Blake was charged with causing actual bodily harm to a doorman in an incident at a Plymouth nightclub on 11 November 2007 while a Plymouth Argyle player. He was subsequently fined £1,350 with £650 costs and £500 compensation by Plymouth Crown Court on 4 July 2008, after admitting to having attacked the doorman with his girlfriend's handbag causing a three-inch cut to his head. In March 2013 he was arrested and questioned by police in Birmingham on suspicion of witness intimidation but released without charge."
Who the **** attacks a doorman with a girlfriends handbag!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! imagine the scenario, you get in a scuffle with a doorman, you have a decision what do i grab to help my cause, oh yeah the missus's handbag is the first thing to think off!
Wow, just wow!!!! I wasn't expecting that to happen so quickly. So much has changed at Portman Road in the last year. We have a manager who is bringing players in who want to play for him, not because they're having a gigantic carrot dangled in front of them. We need to be careful now, other teams are going to start to take notice of us. Even Billy Davies said after Saturday that he knew he was playing against a team who were "on fire" Welcome to the Town Revolution, Sylvan, you've come to the right place.
