Those who know me will know that I am very much a glass half full, happy clapping rose tinted glasses wearer but I am uneasy my friends and its all about impressions. No not Rory Bremmner the other sort, the sort I fear we are sending out, its like this and lets not get bogged down with, I would not want him or its only gossip. Stoke reported with 12 mil offer for Dan. Wolves with offer for Gardner. WBA with offer for Vuaghn and linked to a number of good names. We could look at a few clubs and in depth at who they are after but all, IMO, are giving the same impression, they mean business, they are ambitious for success. Maybe Iâm to close to Sunderland to see the truth but so far its sell Henderson, offer 12 mil for 3 United players but nothing seems to happen, go for Ngog but nothing seems to happen. Yes Iâm sure lots of things are going on behind the scenes but itâs back to that word, impressions, it gives me the impression of a club thatâs not ambitious and I wonder, is that the impression players are getting. Could really do with the club lifting me and changing my impressions.
Hendo to liverpool = approx 48hrs, Demba ba to scumbags = approx 48hrs, nolan to whu about an hour and a half. Like you say offer the money stop fannying about and get them in. No doubt we will get most of them in and announce them all together when/if we get a marque player in. Nobody notices the odd ****e signing then
I think you made a sensible point a week or so back Syd, judge this transfer window when we're about to kick off at Anfield. As well as a football club SAFC is obviously a business, and all the responsible parties from the top down will be aware that expectations are rising as we become an established premiership club. There's no way that they will let the best opportunity Sunderland has had in many years to push on pass them by. Reading points made by Quinn & co I know many think it's a play on words to drum up extra season card sales, I personally believe he is genuine and SAFC fans will be pleasantly surprised. Give it a few more weeks and I'm sure the activity levels surrounding the club will go from pedestrian to full throttle!
I've a feeling that season ticket sales may be well below expectations which is holding the club back a bit. it's one of those Chicken and egg situations where by a great signing might bring the fans back (although the Gyan signing didn't do that last season), but on the other hand, the lack of activity may make even more people not renew.
Okay. In the last 2 weeks I have been accused of being Mr Doom and Gloom for exercising my feelings that all was not what it should be at the club and even accused of being a mag or asked to go away and support another club. All heat of the moment stuff and forgotten but it shows the nerves are very frayed at the moment amongst us all. I questioned the need to sell Henderson unless money was tight. If as our chairman states it isn't, then I question the ambition of the club long term. Selling Henderson, despite the large sum of money, set a terrible precedent IMO and gave the impression we are a club happy to sell its emerging talent. I have gone on record as saying I believe JH has all the ability to become a top, top player and that should have been with us not Liverpool. He didn't want to go but was allowed to have his head turned by the club. Once the decision had been suggested to him, is there any wonder he leaped with great haste? I certainly didn't want to be so miserable but I cant make a silk purse from a sows ear and what I see is nowhere near silk. I DO think season ticket sales are poor and the last 4 months of the season will have done nothing to recruit or maintain their sales that's for sure. Selling Bent in January, now latterly JH and buying only Muhammady (not exactly marquee signing either) is hardly the greatest sales campaign I have ever seen. Yes, there are lots of promises but I have a deep feeling that we will fail to land any of the better linked targets and a whole lot more of the lesser ones in the next 4 or 5 weeks. I said over a week ago, that Quinny would be wheeled out to perform the Irish equivalent of the Charge of the Light Brigade as far as selling season cards no one is interested in and low and behold, we got that yesterday, with even more promises of jam again tomorrow. Well, we got the same old blather last year when he said we were not a selling club anymore. I wont comment any further so as not to upset those that think the club and the chairman, regardless of the outcome, can do no wrong. Other clubs are pressing ahead with their summer recruitment. We are, as of today, to make 1 single signing outside of the loan to permanent deal for Al Muhammady. The clock is ticking (your words last week Syd) and I see precious little activity. We will be forced to make panic signings in the Tore Andre Flo mould if we are not careful and we all can remember that outcome. I wait with baited breath for the delivery of these players that I am assured by NQ will make is a top team/squad but I wont hold my breath, as I would be deader than the Dodo before I could breathe with comfort again.
Im holding back on worrying until the window officially opens. Apart from one or two, most deals seem to be free transfers.
I agree with most of this and do kind of think Quinny is doing the old PR trick promising excitement and all that. Im just hoping that we are in control of the situation and that Quinn and Bruce arent worried and are just holding their cards close to their chests as usuall! We always take ****in ages to sign players but i believe thats because we sort out the contracts properly rather than the scunks up the road who offer 5 year deals to any old unproven french youtube prodigy! And by the way the french league is utter ****! Also i remember when we bought Bent and when we bought Gyan they were kind of out of the blue really!
Is that holding back through a total confidence we will make these signings, or more just in the hope that you are right? I am less than convinced that the club are being totally honest with us as far as finances and ambition. They are talking a good fight once again but all I see is top players leaving the club and very,very average ones being linked. I need not remind you that I desperately hope I am 100% wrong and you are 100% right kidda.
I am quite happy to trust Bruce and Quinn, I fully expect to start the season with a very good, well balanced team with more goals from midfield and more options up front from last year. Its about time in the Bruce management cycle where he finds a hidden gem, its been a couple of seasons now.
I'm not worried but I am becoming uneasy, the reason I'm not worried is that I just cant beieve that Quinn is all PR and I do think he is with us. The unease comes with clubs siging or being linked to players, good or bad, and the time it takes for us to sign anyone. The Henderson sale is fine by me because I did not and still dont see that 20mil player, I thin k we played a blinder with his sale. The same with Bent, I blame Bent and Bent alone but thats all water now. Its the recruitment that makes me uneasy, or more the lack of it, The clock sure is ticking an we badly need to see some movement by this time next week.
Holding back because very few other clubs have made significant moves in the transfer market. I think two of the main reasons we worry so much, is because; A. We do need a hell of a lot of players still, this is true. More relevant to this feeling however is; B. We endlessly compare our own success and measure ourselves against Newcastle, who have made early, promising strides in their transfers. Compare ourselves to Stoke, Everton, Villa, and other mid-table clubs in a similar position, and look at how many signings at all, let alone top class, big name signings they have made. Then put things in perspective.
Everton have no money. Everyone knows it so expectation is always reduced; Villa have been a bit preoccupied looking for a new manager not players; Stoke City and Bolton havent sold 2 of their best players in the last 6 months and will be looking for maybe 2 or 3 maximum signings to take them on a stage (what we should have been doing after 2 years of the current managers regime) so none of these are relevant. The reason the mags are mentioned (and forgive me but they too are a mid table team as well) is because they are in the press daily and especially here in the NE. SAFC's position is further put at peril due to the fact that after 2 years, we are still looking for a complete squad overhaul and are approx still 7 or maybe even 8 players short of where we should be. Thats Quinn and Bruce's fault not ours or anyone else's, so because of this, we needed to be much more proactive in the transfer market and have had 2 or 3 months to get it right. I see nothing yet to suggest we will be on track to have a squad or team capable of being fully prepared for August 14th and the new campaign. Bruce can ill afford to start slowly and especially a defeat at home to the unwashed on match day 2. He will be rightly slaughtered if we have another no show on August 20th, due to the club being under prepared. Quinny IS a salesman and I understand he has a balancing act to perform. He sold SAFC to Ellis Short and has to convince him the business model is working but then he has to convince us fans that all is full steam ahead as far as team building is going, in order to fill the seats and keep the snowball rolling. I appreciate that he is 'piggy in the middle' a bit here and we have to be patient but if we are being fed a bit of the 'auld blarney' to keep us in tow, I'll be a bit miffed. Rather he just came out and said look there is no money, we had to cash in on Bent and Henderson to balance the books and these are the players we are replacing them with - even if they are not the top players we all want. I'm a realist and will support the club whatever. What I dont want to hear is the promise of top players and then be fobbed off with a shower of ****e in the end. That will boil my piss hugely.
I will say this, if you look semantically at Quinns recent promise, like I said in another thread, "exciting" doesn't necessarily mean expensive, top class, proven, or any other of the qualities that may calm some people down. Quinn really is treading carefully with his wording. Obviously its an over reliance on loans (Which many fans predicted waaaay in advance) That has left us in such need of players. Perhaps loans will be our "saviour" this year, only we might have more luck signing them at the end.
Its the same for almost every other club though, nobody has done much business except the mags keep signing potential crocks.
Semantics or not though if Quinny is playing on words to express the thought we are in for these 'marquee signings', only to then produce 5 or 6 2nd rate players, I will be ****ing stotting mad. I'd rather a bit of honesty. If money is tight or we dont plan to go out and get these top players we all want and the club seem to be inferring they are after, then just say so. We love the club no matter what but if our expectations are being manipulated to sell season tickets, or simply pull the wool over our eyes, I think we reserve then right to go ballistic about it in the end. You cant on one hand say that we are going to have a team and squad we can all be proud of then fuill it with players that cannot live up to that expectation and expect the fans to just come along for the ride anyway, just because he is Niall Quinn. That would be the ultimate betrayal surely.
I am not worried. Quinn = World class manager we get keane who was unproven Quinn = we are going to get SKP = goes to West brom instead Keane = Nugent is coming = he turns us down I just think they have learnt their lesson over the past 5 years and are keeping stum so they dont get gazumped or build our hopes up and it doesnt come off.
