If we're going to be plucking nobodies from Mickey Mouse leagues, I'd at least prefer them to be in their early twenties at the very least. We might as well go see if Barmby's willing to come out of retirement if we're that desperate for players.
Sorry Ellewoods, for a second there I thought somebody was suggesting that 29 was too old for a footballer. I'll try to be a bit more irrational in the future.
But why? If they're good enough to play for us in this league, why does it really matter if they're 21 or 29?
If we're going for experienced players in their late twenties and early thirties, it's best to get players who have played in the Championship or English football at the very least. Signing a sick note like Palacios is one thing but at least he's played in this country before. Signing a 29-year-old midfielder who's only played in the Maltese Premier League (by the way, they're ranked 51st out of 54 in UEFA club competitions) is ****ing pathetic for a club that just got relegated from the Premier League and 'supposedly' have aspirations to get promoted again. I don't know, let's see if San Marino have any good part-time strikers/part-time bricklayers we can sign.
The club should be trying to shift our 3 strikers. Hang onto the rest under contract and bring in some fats and loans. Not that hard a task.
But you're assuming that he isn't a good footballer. I've never seen him play, but I'm guessing SB has and wouldn't have bothered buying him a ticket to Austria if he didn't deem him worthy of having a look at. It might seem like an odd choice or location to pluck a good footballer from, but don't assume that because he's played in Malta he isn't a good player when you haven't even seen him play. We signed N'Doye to play in the Premier League at the age of 29, he'd played in Russia, Denmark and Greece, not exactly the standard of the EPL is it? Have a bit of faith.
Quite happy to give the lad a go, after all he cant do any worst than the big time Charlie's did last season.
I'm basing my opinion on the quality of Maltese football. 51st out of 54 UEFA club competitions; only Gilbraltar, Andorra and San Marino are worse. Russia is 7th, Denmark is 24th and Greece is 14th so at least N'Doye has played in leagues with quality in them. Are you really trying to compare N'Doye to this guy? No offence to him but if he was good enough he'd be playing for a club in a league that wasn't 51st out of 54 in UEFA's club competitions right now and not still stuck playing in Malta.
Or maybe he hasn't been scouted, or maybe clubs have gone for him and he's turned it down, you have no idea of the circumstances. The standard of the whole league isn't representitive of all the players who play in that division. He's scored 45 in 92 from midfield, that suggests that, if anything, he's too good for that league. I'm not comparing N'Doye to him in terms of player ability, but most people hadn't heard of N'Doye before he came to us and he did alright, coming from a league not as good as ours.
Kevin Nolan would be great in this league. Promoted out this league at least 2-3 times and he scores goals.
Got family who are dye hard west ham fans, say that over the last two seasons Nolan is the shadow of the former player he was and his legs have gone, now we already have a very pedestrian Huddleston in the middle, while I`m sure his desire would be good I just don`t think pairing him with the likes of Thudd would be a good move, the same really with Palacios. If we are going to get some midfielders in then IMHO we need someone who has the ability to go box to box but also has a bit of pace about them to `cover` for Thudds lack of it.