According to the Evening News & Italian media City have been strongly linked with a £2m move for French central defender Michael Ciani who currently plays for Lazio. see link below: http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/spor...nternational_defender_michael_ciani_1_3227649
I know a lot of people may disagree, but do we really need another CB? I personally don't think we do, and think we would do very well to bring in someone better than the three we currently have, and if we bring in someone inferior or at the same level I don't really see the point. Ryan bennett is only going to get better and better with games and if he suddenly becomes fourth choice then that's going to stunt his progression - not to mention royally piss him off!
He's at least as good as Bassong, with Champions League experience. He's not incredible, but seeing as we only have 3 genuine CBs (one of which is injured), why not get him?
i'd like one if they are likely to be a big improvement. i guess this is the debatable thing. we paid £3m for Ryan benett - is this chap going to be much better (which is what munky is saying)?
Also don't forget Ryan Bennett's age, he is only going to improve and get better with experience so if this guy is deemed marginally better than him at the moment then surely Ryan's development would be stunted?
Not if it's Bassong who's dropped! And anyway, if we sign Ciani, and Bassong and Bennett play well together for the next few games, then I don't have a problem with Ciani sitting on the bench until there's an injury or a drop in form. He would be a good option to have (even if he is coming from Lazio - yuk).
This guy has a lot of experience though looking at the details, Ligue 1, France U21, Serie A, Champions League and Europa League.
Talks 'confirmed' by both TuttoMercato and Novantesimo (Italian soccer news sites). EDIT: TuttoMercato seem to think Fiorentina are after him too.
I think it's based on purely my interpretation of how Hughton has set up our defenders - he appears to favour a "left-sided CB" and a "right-sided CB". Currently we have two left-sided CBs (Bassong and Bennett) - and one right-sided CB (Turner). The idea appears to be that the right-sided CB is tall and strong, whereas the left-sided CB is fast and situationally aware. Just my view of the situation, but I think it matches up and there is a logic and balance to this. Based on that, while both Bennett and Martin can cover at right-sided CB, it is not the position they are supposed to be in. On this logic, we need a back-up to (or improvement on - my preference) Turner - i.e. a tall and strong right-sided CB, who is also better on the ball than Turner and more controlled. The back-up to Turner would therefore not push Bennett to fourth choice CB, it would leave him as second choice left-sided CB, but push him to third choice right-sided CB. The logic behind signing Ciani would be he fits this bill exactly - he seems to be pretty massive (around1.90m/6'3"). Whether he counts as an improvement on Turner, I don't know, because I don't know anything about him. But judging by his stats, he's not too bad. I'm not sure he has CL experience, but he certainly has a lot of Europa League experience. The other logic is that he appears to be familiar with the 3 CB system, which none of our current CBs are. If that's the case, and Hughton is considering it (wishful thinking, I know), then he would also bring flexibility and I suspect that would not be to the exclusion of Bennett (who, my guess, would be the preferred CB in a triplet with Bassong and Ciani). I can't imagine Ciani's on obscene wages either, but I agree finding significant improvement on the, so far this season, excellent Turner (save for his injuries) for good value could be very difficult.
I think it would be a real shame that Bennett isn't given the chance to develop and I don't want to see further centrebacks getting in the way. Like Hoolahan and RVW, he is immune to criticism from me. I think he's a great player for us. One of my favourites.
I would hope that the player who gets dropped to fit him in is Bassong, he's still no up to where he was last season, Bennett seems to improve as he gets a run in the team and then regress the minute that he has to sit on the bench for a month or so. However if were gonna have a defender making mistakes better he's developing an will learn from it. It could also be argued that the opportunity to play with better players will help his development anyway. I agree with you on Wes and RvW, in particular, part of out fan base seem to think he's terrible because he hasn't scored much but when you watch his control and movement he's the best we've seen in a very long time.
This needs to be said more in my opinion. With the injuries and the messing around of formations and the general lack of high quality football, RvW really hasn't had much chance to shine. However, now he has actually had a run in the team he is clearly getting more involved and his touch and passing are fantastic. We just have to hope him and Hooper now start combining and getting the goals their quality deserves.
I think several of us have really. I was super impressed with him against Hull, apart from a couple of hurried finishes, he barely put a foot wrong. Every time he received the ball he seemed to control it perfectly and pass to feet. Movement was great again too. He also showed some really determination and fight too. In particular when Snodgrass went down in a heap, RvW sprints back and covers Snodgrass' defensive duties, tackling the Hull left back.
There haven't really been a large number of people turning on him on here but if you look on twitter, Facebook, the Pinkun etc. then there are lots of people referring to him as "terrible" or "Our worst signing ever" I've only been to a few games this year but I've noticed that his movement is a lot easier to see when at the game than on tv where his runs that aren't noticed by the midfield tend to go ignored by the cameras too. The thing I've been most impressed with is his ability to get the ball under control very quickly even when pinged in to him quickly.
I don't see what the problem is, I agree with the support people are giving Bennett as with the exception of the Liverpool game his been our best centre back, but competition is a healthy thing as a squad and if there is any centre back who should make way it's Bassong.
Really enjoyed that analysis Rob, thanks. And Ciani's current wages are estimated at £17k p/w, so perfectly manageable. What I'd like to see is Ciani come in and partner Bennett, with Bassong given some time out of the side. Captaincy doesn't suit him, perhaps because he's focussed on too many things other than just his own game. Martin at the moment looks like our best RB, and was fine as captain before, so I'd reinstate him as captain, and let Bassong go away for a few weeks and work on getting back to his best. That gives time for Bennett to establish himself in the side, so when Bassong tries to come back, he's got real competition to do so. Hopefully Turner would then be back to full fitness, giving us competition for LCB and RCB. Genuine competition in both roles should help push all of our defenders to be their best, and mean that we can maintain the balance Hughton seems to want when we've got injuries.
That winds me up immensely some of our fans are absolute twats sometimes, they all want some Iwan Roberts/Grant Holt hybrid they are a pack of uncultured pricks and in my opinion they should all **** off and watch pub league football instead. Some players take a while to adapt to the league it's either a question of toughening up or getting used to the pace of the league etc, people need to remember that Cristiano Ronaldo was shocking in his first season for Man Utd.
No player should be immune to criticism! But yes, Bennett keeps getting better. As I say above, though, I don't believe signing another CB in Turner's mould (but better on the ball) would hinder Bennett's development at all, because currently the player Bennett is back up to is Bassong. Spot on. No worries - should say again it's all speculation, but the "little and large" system does seem to be the norm with CBs these days. As you say, competition is the key thing. I've no doubt that with Bassong's injury record Bennett would continue to get plenty of game time in any event, even if Bennett can't seize his starting spot.
