Would love to thnk it was the Defoe of 3 or 4 years ago but am i alone in thinking the lad is totally shot now? I think he would be an expensive, petulant and miserable flop at SAFC. I'd rather have Rodallega,Welbeck or Sturridge. They may cost more but they are still hungry for the game. Defoe looks a lost soul and coming 300 miles north will finish him. Not a player I would like to see in a Sunderland shirt.
I've suggested that a move to Sunderland for both Crouch and Defoe sounded likely for a while and I don't think that any move would have to include Gyan. It would probably cost you about £20m, though. The problem that the pair of them have at WHL now is not really down to ability, as both showed that they had that when we finished 4th with them as our main striker partnership. The main reason that at least one of them will be shipped out is that neither is capable of playing the lone striker role well and it's essential when we play with van der Vaart in our line-up. Someone has to hold the ball up and trouble an entire defence on his own, as the Dutchman often wanders the pitch and goes looking for the ball, leaving the striker isolated. Defoe's season was damaged by the injury that he picked up on England duty at the start, when he was already carrying one. He never got his confidence back and had very limited runs in the side, despite scoring some good goals near the end. If you could get them both, keep Gyan and either hope that Campbell has more luck with injuries or that your new Korean settles quickly, then you'd have a good array of talent up front for the season. A couple of extra additions (Larsson and replace Ferdinand?) and you'd definitely be pushing for a top half finish again and possibly Europe.
Defoe is a strange one, and for me it is a question of whether his dip in form last season was solely down to not being played on a regular basis, or is something else? If this deal came off, I would say that I would be pleased on the whole, but I would also have niggling reservations.
Nice one P N P, A well balanced and well thought out article, with no bias, very refreshing. By the way `WELCOME TO SUNDERLAND` and visit regular.
SUNDERLAND'S chances of landing Spurs striking duo Peter Crouch and Roman Pavlyuchenko appear to be dead in the water. On the plus side, though, so is the prospect of Cats hitman Asamoah Gyan heading to White Hart Lane in exchange. Despite the players being linked with the two clubs, all three appear to be staying put at their respective employers as neither switch seems likely to come off. Read More http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/spor...-sign-spurs-duo-72703-28868425/#ixzz1P9cvaM2I
I think Defoe would put the ball away on a regular basis, which is what we need. However, the reservations I'd have would be 1) I don't want to deal with Spurs if they are even the slightest bit interested in Asa; 2) he's not getting any younger. Probably on the whole a good signing, but like Cest I'd rather pay twice as much for a Welbeck or Sturridge, and like MrRAW I'd still have a few niggling reservations. Also fair points PNP, but I don't think either of your 2 would move up here without first-team football essentially guaranteed, so who would be starting with Gyan? We don't have the extra games that European football affords, so we'd find it difficult to keep all 3 happy I think.
Thanks for the welcome and pleasant reply. I never see the point in WUMing and I always try to be respectful on other teams' boards. The moderation on this site should help this to become the norm, rather than an exception. I think that you could afford to rotate between them, with Gyan starting most games and the other two competing for the other place. Whenever we've pushed for the top 6 places, which surely has to be your aim for next season, we've had a lot of striking options and plenty of competition for places. It keeps them on their toes.
Personally, I'm not Defoe's biggest fan but I'd take him. Strikers are all about confidence and when you are dropped at random and pick up an injury you can't quite get into your stride as has been the case with Defoe this season. 'Arry chops and changes his strikeforce weekly and Defoe has suffered from it. He's not going to get as many goals as B£nt did but he will score goals from various positions and contribute more to the team rather than Darren 'standing on the goal line' Bent. Plus you have to think we have Gyan who I'm expecting big things from next season as well as Sess who looked outstanding and chipped in with 3 goals in 5/6 games. Gyan - Defoe - Dongwon - N'Gog - Noble. Not a bad strikeforce at all although I do think we could do better than N'Gog, even with someone like DJ Campbell for £1mil who got more goals than Gyan last season!
I would be happy if we paid 12m for Defoe, lets get on with it, we got 24m for Bent, we would be getting a guy with almost exactly the same goals to game record but for half the price. He would be fantastic with Gyan too. Pay the money, no swaps no dodgy deals tell spurs to take it or leave it. As a previous posted stated they need to sell someone in order to bring in a new striker. Pav can play the lone role well, Crouch is plan B and Keane plan C. It would solve a problem for them as much as it would for us. I still can't see it happening though.
Plan B crouch? won't come here, Plan C Keane Wouldn't want him to come here. So as typical for Bruce it's Plan A or bust (hehehehe)
