I don't want to sound prematurely negative but I'm beginning to think that Nige's approach to transfers (in the Premier League) may be beyond his capbilities. We all know what great talent he has brought in whilst in the Championship but we also know the Premier League is a different kettle of fish. You can't rely on the bargains as you can in the Championship and players are going to cost more. Our reluctance to splash the cash could really come back to bite us. Nige has come out saying different things and rather contradicted himself thus far; He said he will get all his business done early on... Well the team is now away "bonding" in Austria so where are these new players or is our business done? He said you wouldn't have heard of most of the players... Ulloa, Wickham and Austin are the latest to be linked and i think we know who they are. He also said he will only buy players that are right for the club, then later said he is not scared to make signings that have a reputation (or something along those lines). So the question I pose is do we think Nige has got the right policy to get the players in we need for the first season in the PL? Is this tight purse approach going to serve us well or end up costing us with lack of squad depth/talent? I'm ready to be proven wrong but I don't think Nige and his team has the know how for the big buck demands of the PL... All I know is that, despite being a way off right now, the closer we get to the window closing the more and more prices will inflate for the panic buying of deadline day.
Are you expecting us to be challenging Man Utd to sign Videl or something? Our target this season is survival not Champions League qualification so all we need to do is be better then 3 other teams - once we've proven our worth, next season we will be more attractive to the bigger name players. We have been destroyed by a manager splashing the cash (Peter Taylor) so I for one am glad that NP is being sensible.
Its difficult to attract the bigger names down in your first season in the Prem, as players aren't going to tie themselves down to a 3 year contract when 2 of those years could be in the Championship. Bruce had the right idea last year, get the better players on loan and see how the first season goes.
I'm happy with what we have done so far tbf ... i also think that Ulloa is a sound target for us ... Mickey adams raided Prem squads for non-first choice players last time we went up - a policy doomed to failure by definition ... I'm much rather see us signing non Prem players with 'potential' than Prem squad members that are passed their best - reserving judgement on Upson who still appears to be capable based on his form last year for Brighton ...
I'm happy with Albrighton being a replacement for Dyer, Upson being a replacement for Whitbread and Hamer being a replacement for Logan. We need to improve the squad MORE then improving the first 11. I genuinely think we only need to add 2/3 new first teamers.
I don't think you quite understood the point I was making... I didn't mention "big names". To make it simpler the points I was making were: A.) Nige has openly explained his transfer policies but then contradicted himself, indicating he lacks confident in his approach(es) B.) When targets have been identified we have then, admittedly, missed out on them due to our financial restraint; Campbell, Ulloa, Pelle and Slimani. Rightly or wronlgy we have failed with these signings as we haven't met clubs/players demands C.) The final point was about the squad depth, which we lack and the amount of players (3-4) we need takes time and although the window has 5-6 weeks left, that last week inflates players prices and causes some (hopefully not us) to panic buy Whether they are championship, premier league or foreign players there seems to be "going rates" which we don't seem to want to meet. I just think personally this is because NP and the backroom staff do not have the PL experience when it comes to negotiating and weighing up extra cost against the team's need to invest asap in order for the team to bond.
I'm quite glad we pulled out of the Campbell deal because of wages. He has a value, him and the club didn't agree on that so we didn't give in. It'll be the same with other players. These players aren't worth the inflated prices they are commanding.
When you build for ongoing improvement, year by year, you dont shake the foundations. NP said after we clinched promotion that we would be able to add some players early on. He didnt say he would get all the players he wanted early on. The comment about we would not have heard about them was a bit tongue in cheek. The wage cap has never been publicised by the club, but £40k per week for Campbell? No way!. It is obvious that our main target is Ulloa, but as he is contracted to a club, and that club do not want to sell, it makes it more difficult. Does Ulloa want to come? - he has stated that he wants Premiership football, so obviously we are an attractive proposition for him. NP also stated that he would not get involved in any auction for a player, making it clear that we will not pay over the odds. I am more than happy with that stance, after once seeing our illustrious team nearly being wiped off the face of the earth. The other 'targets' have been promoted by the press. Do we know we made offers for them or that we were even interested in them? The answer is no. Quite simply, I do not believe that NP would either set a wage cap, or baulk at paying a large transfer fee, but this surely is not down to him. That is what Terry Robinson is there for, to try and negotiate the best deals for players that NP has identified. There is obviously a cost ceiling, as there should be with any business that Harry Redknapp is not involved with. We will get some right thumpings next year - Arsenal conceded 6 in one game last year, as did Man U the season before. Not a problem, as we will not be challenging for top 4. Would much rather we develop what we have - players and team spirit, with minimal additions and aim for 17th place and above. So do I think he is a Championship manager? - I actually think he is a dour, sensible bloke who is loyal to those around him and who sets sensible targets.
My own view is that ww will have 5/6 new faces by the time the season starts... what we do have is a fairly young current squad where I expect there to be considerable organic improvement (i.e in contrast with QPR where many of their players have arguably already 'peaked' in past years) ...
But if you think about it - imagine you are burnley coming up or even a team like Villa and you managed to sign Schmeichel, De Laet, Drinkwater, James, Mahrez or Knockaert and you would think that you have signed an absolute coup - well thats 6 of our starting 11 and some more to add and players like Morgan and Moore who i imagine will be up to the task an promising players like Schlupp and to a degree the addition of Albrighton and its a great core. Maybe add a LB, CB and a striker and we are looking strong.
I don't think Villa fans would be too happy if they signed six Championship players. Moore is the only player in your team that I would like Hull City to sign, the rest wouldn't improve our team at all, or Villa's for that matter. Burnley are preparing for relegation by the looks of it, Sordell and Jutkiewicz are hardly awe-inspiring signings.
You have to remember good players can be found anywhere. You don't have to buy from the Premier League to find a premier league class player. Steve Walsh has found us many bargains like Mahrez, Knockaert and Wasilewski Pearson will always do things his way and won't pay the big prices unless he thinks the deal is right for both the team and the club. He is the only Leicester manager since MON to have a proper transfer strategy. We have all praised how he signs players in the past so why criticise him for it. The squad isn't a million miles off so we don't need to go mad in the transfer market. We just need to strength in a few key areas not sign a new squad Nigel's way has served us very well in the past and got us here. Why would you change what has served you so well
I got Algeria in the World Cup sweepstake, I thought he was quite average to be honest. He's fast but he often ran into dead-ends and his delivery was piss-poor, he was dropped after the first game and wasn't played again.
Mahrez is a class act. He had a "quite average" game against the the team who finished 2nd place. Hardly going to have to face that standard often next season so to judge him on that is ludicrous
Urrrrmmm ... hes saving it for the premier league ... *cough* I thought he was poor too tbh, he had a good last friendly game before the WC that seemed to get him picked. Its not like a 22-23 year old is going to win the world cup though ...
Brucey did it the right way IMO. Kept the strong core base of the team and just added dots of Premier League experience here and there. I think Huddlestone was the key to us doing so well, then adding Long and Jelavic in January. Every window, there should be one or two Premier League players added, and it gradually builds. Keeping the core of last Season means the players are more enthusiastic and play for each other as we did, but then the strong backbone added gives the necessary know-how to succeed. Nige looks like he's doing it the right way at the moment, but you need a "Huddlestone" type signing if I was going to be critical. Ulloa would be a good signing, I'd have taken him to replace Fryatt, but not for that price.
