As for Jelevic, no thanks. He had a moment when he first arrived at Everton but since then has done nothing much. I'd rather we pushed the boat out for the guy from Wolves than settled for Jelavic. And Only if it is within the budget, of course. Personally though I'm genuinely not worried about getting any more signings in because I have so much confidence in Alex Neil.
This kinda helps underline my point from earlier The fact that you (quite rightly) state that we would be unlikely to be able afford his wages, yet these were wages a club like - absolutely no disrespect intended here - Hull clearly could shows that we really struggle to compete with even clubs of this stature, so when we come up against the likes of Spurs or even Swansea and Southampton these days we stand absolutely no chance. I rate Jelavic, and think he could definitely do a job in our formation, I wouldn't break the bank to sign him though, and 55k would be a step too far unless we can shift the deadwood big earners first - which we seemingly can't right now.
I really think some of you should have a lot more faith in Alex Neil, as regards transfers, or in this case, for some, lack of transfers. We know how meticulous he has been from day one with his match day planning, and I´m sure he´s just as meticulous when it comes to working out where we need strengthening, who would best fit the bill without breaking the bank, and who, if any we need to let go. Comparisons with Watford and Bournemouth seem rather pointless as they both came to this league in quite a different condition to us. While we were basically a Premier League side that had gone down, they were both Championship sides who had suddenly gone up, naturally they are going to have to strengthen, and pretty severely at that. For us it was never going to be that sort of dealing, and as Neil said quite early on, it´s not just about getting ´players´ in but all about getting the ´right´ players in. The fact that we have found it difficult in some cases to make any real progress, either by being priced out, or by players choosing other options, is just one of those things. Certainly the little we´ve so far seen of Dorrans, Mulumbu and Brady, would suggest that Neil knows exactly what he´s doing, and add to that Wisdom, who is equally as comfortable at CB as he is at RB, I´d say we don´t look too shabby in defence or in midfield. Whether at some point we can find this elusive striker, at a price that isn´t extortionate, and who can play in a role that Neil wants him to play, we´ll have to wait and see, but personally I see no reason to doubt his ability in finding the right man for the job, even if we have to wait until January to find him. - rather that than buying the wrong solution now.
To be honest I'm sure that McNally and Neil are also disappointed with the proceedings of this transfer window too. I don't question the ambition of either but... 1. Dorrans - Decent player, but in a position we already have plenty of quality. The fact that we're playing Johnson and Howson on the flanks demonstrates this. 2. Jake Kean - Only brought in as cover. 3. Mulumbu - Excellent signing, excellent piece of business. 4. Brady - I think we paid twice as much as he is actually worth, but we shouldn't be too quick to judge when he will probably play WL when Olsson is fit. 5. Wisdom - Unspectacular, but addresses a position we urgently needed to address. IF Neil doesn't rate Hooper then we need a new striker and to move on some of the ones we do have. Grabban isn't good enough and the rest, except for Jerome aren't favoured by Neil. McNally said we ought to have at least two players in every position, in which case perhaps we need a new winger since E. Bennett isn't rated. And finally anyone who thinks we don't need a new centre half is completely missing the point. It should be our number one priority.
Last season proved that the best position to play Johnson is wide left. He is in no way competition for Dorrans in our present set up, and certainly not Tetty or Mulumbu, or even O'Neill. His competition is now Brady and Josh.
Bristol City, the new Manchester United? Firstly snubbed by Dwight Gayle, now this: Pete O'Rourke @SportsPeteO 2m2 minutes ago Brentford striker Andre Gray has rejected a move to Bristol City. #bcfc #brentfordfc
To be able to afford the same as Hull, we would need a rich owner who would try to change our name #Hull Tigers
Not all wealthy owners / benefactors are complete eccentric dipsticks, though? Just those at Hull and Cardiff, to my knowledge?
I used it because Hull were the team in question! As you say, most are reasonable - until they get fed up with their play thing! Ellis Short anyone?
Quite right Cromer - I think he made the same sort of comment this week to local journalists. We came up with a squad of players with EPL experience and unless we can improve on their quality we would be spending money for the sake of it and we haven't got that money to spend. On top of that we are already one over the 25 limit and so have got to sell as well as buy and, at the moment, selling seems to be as much of a problem as buying. RvW on £40k a week and Hooper on £32k a week is going to frighten off any Championship Club and I can't see many Premiership Clubs wanting them.
I've just seen a story that the Boro manager has said he is "Lucky no Premiership side has come in for Ben Gibson." I don't know why he would come out and say that before the window closes, unless he wants to get a fair few million in to buy a few players. BUT I do like him. He has played well for a lot of seasons. He is tall and strong, he can play Left Back as well (a bit of a problem area at the moment) I'm surprised this hasn't come up before, or that I hadn't thought of it as someone we should target. Leader on the pitch, capped at under 21s only about 22 or 23. Looks very unlikely he will move on this window, but he would have been a great shout. A real Lambert/Neil signing I would have thought.
Latest rumour from the oh so reliable source that is the Daily Mirror, Hooper to Celtic in swap deal for Leigh Griffiths. Nope, I've never heard of him either. Mind you, I'd never heard of Alex Neil
I can't speak for others, but I found this more than a little patronising: " Is it really that hard to understand?" It says to me that 'My opinion is the only opinion, so understand it - discussion or disagreement isn't allowed.' This is a discussion forum ffs!
He is decent, scores a lot of goals for Celtic. Think they bought him from Wolves. I would not swap Hooper for him. I'd say there were either the same, or Hooper shading it, plus the Fact Hooper knows the players, City and club. I hope this is bulls**t. I think the only difference is, AN doesn't seem to like Hooper for some reason, but Griffiths would be one of his signings. So would play more, but I think if they played the same amount of Minutes, there wouldn't be much difference between Hooper and him. He doesn't fit the bill though. He is short, he is weak, he's not the striker to rival Jerome. He's like Hooper, a compact finisher. I'd doubt this was more than gossip.
I really wanted to see RVW have a cracking pre season and convince AN that's he's worth taking a punt on. Sadly it appears he hasn't done that after turning out for the U21's this week. If we sign no players between now and the end of the season, I am still very comfortable we'll survive this year. The one business I would really like us to do is tie down Redmond for a few extra years. If he gets a good season behind him this year he'll be gone next summer for £20 million minimum I reckon (which equates to £30 million for Liverpool).
Sweet Jesus, All this mud slinging and petty name calling is all getting a little sad! I'm sure very few are taking any real offence, but one or two seem to be getting overly heated. I agree with a few in so much as I think the windows has been a bit disappointing, at the very least, as it seems obvious we are after a striker the failure to land one as yet is an issue. But then it was on this day a year ago we signed Jerome so there is time yet and i'll keep my fingers crossed as the last few days approach that the merry-go-round kicks into gear and someone will hop off at City. Bah!
