Exactly! Meaning we'll keep him until Jan and see if we can attract a better bid. He'll go, but Peace is just trying to screw as much as possible from it. He Hope there'll be somebody desperate enough to pay top dollar in Jan.
If West Brom didn't want Berahino unsettled perhaps they shouldn't have run to the press each time we bid! All the leaks have come from their end.
Son is quite a left field signing, surprised to see his name resurface after we were linked with him a few years back, but he ticks a lot of boxes - quick, hard worker, has quality off either foot and from what little I've admittedly seen of him looks like he has the intelligence to make the best use of those attributes too. I don't get the hate for Austin, for between £10-£15m he'd be a strong signing if Berahino doesn't come off. We're not going to find anyone else of a similar PL goalscoring record for a good price IMO, and his lack of out and out pace (a problem that would have been rectified by Berahino) can be compensated for by playing quick players like Son or N'Jie. At the end of the day we need a striker and I'd be ok with Austin, especially if Berahino is being quoted at north of £25m. I like him but if we sign other quick, threatening players, then its too much. And seriously, if we get a £6m loan fee and potential £14m loan-to-sell clause from Inter for Lamela, then that is magic business. Fazio goes too and its a decent window. Bit miffed we sold Stambouli given our current options in midfield, but apart from that its all good, especially if we find exits for Lennon and Ade too, which I think might happen on deadline day. The only thing thats mucked it up is the late timing if these deals...
It's common knowledge that WBA are looking to shift Ideye and Anichebe before they'll even begin to worry about Berahino. Peace's statement hints at that: if they'd sold Berahino they still would've gone after a 5th striker as they feel that what they currently have can't compensate for his loss. Which is fair enough I suppose. I think NSIS hit the nail on the head: Peace knows that January is the last chance to get top dollar for his player, whose time at WBA is surely now winding down after so many bridges have been burned. He hopes that Saido will perform between now and then, and some desperate club will put in an inflated January bid for the player. It's a high risk game he's playing there though; the player could essentially sulk for 3 months, thereby putting off all interest and eventually leaving for a fiver at the end of the season. The fact that Peace came out with this after we'd shown through Son that we aren't as desperate for Berahino as everyone thought makes me think that he'll blink after Levy on this one, which may well be a PL first! I'm more than happy with Son and Austin, diverting the money saved into a last ditch Wanyama bid.
Austin is just unfashionable, while most fans get excited by foreign players (they haven't seen perform) as they sound exciting and could be great, but more likely to flop. If we end up signing Austin then I'll give him a chance but would clearly be a panic buy.
I'm sorry Boss, but buying a 2nd choice striker a few years off his peak whose goalscoring record is better than most teams' first choice striker is absolutely not a panic buy. A panic buy is signing Saha on a short-term contract
If we're looking for a striker and we can't sign our main targets, leaving us short as the transfer window is about to close, then signing Austin would of course be a panic buy as he is the only striker available for a quick and easy purchase. Signing Saha wasn't a panic buy, that was Levy only allowing the manager to make short term signings (with the squad short due to Injuries) as he was already looking forward to next season in terms of player purchases.
We need back up - competition, for Kane. We've once again left ourselves in a situation where we have to almost take what we can get ( I really can't believe this **** is happening yet again! ). In short, Austin would be far from my first choice, but were effectively up that well known creek without a paddle.
Fair enough. I think we just have different definitions of 'panic buy'. I'd label any player who is brought in to more or less pacify the fans (i.e. make idiots out of us) is a 'panic buy'. Whereas, a player whose arrival clearly addresses a gap in the squad and clearly has the ability to fill that gap isn't justifiably a 'panic buy', rather a 'necessary purchase'. Granted, Austin isn't going to be the player who gets us CL football; but he'll be signed to address the complete absence of a player who can play the lone striker role like Kane. Can he fill that gap? Absolutely. Bringing in Clint Dempsey and Moussa Dembele to fill a VDV and Modric shaped gap was clearly a panicked and inevitably doomed attempt to pacify the fans and is therefore a 'panic buy'.
But who is there out there realistically within our price range, who can lead the line on his own, would be happy enough playing second fiddle to Kane, and knows the league well, and is better than Austin? Answers on a very small stamp, please
Depends if you're trying to find an alternative lone striker, or give yourself more options as to your playing formation. But yeah, as a stand in for Kane, there ain't much around that's a better option. I'd still rather have Berahino, though.
Yeah, no worries, just wires crossed as I view a panic buy as signing a player (last minute) due to realising the squad is short after missing out on your main targets, meaning we simply have to sign the best available, even if that player isn't what the manager actually wants. I'll admit, I don't rate Austin as highly as others but not trying to talk down his quality from last season, more that he has been available now since QPR went down, price has been set at 15 million, if any premier league club had him identified as a main target they would have signed him. Austin still has to prove he can perform at a big club, he may not perform well when playing in a team that dominates possession in the premier league while he won't benefit from being the main attacking target (like at QPR), were the team was setup around Austin Anyhow, i'm not actually convinced he is a target, seems the fans are interested but not the club.
He would certainly enjoy the languid, comatose pace of our football when Dembele and Lamela are playing behind him
Truth is it's very, very difficult for a manager of a club other than City, Chelsea and United to walk in with a list of the players he wants and expect to actually receive the majority of entries on that list. Even if that manager has a good understanding of the club's budget, wage structure, age range etc, there are so many external factors that could take things out of his hands. WBA digging their heels in over Berahino is one such example. Third party ownership problems with Moutinho and Damaio is another. Abramovich pulling up outside Spurs Lodge with a kalashnikov and a burlap sack following Willian's medical is another. I'd imagine most managers have to by necessity take a very flexible and open-minded approach to targets. After all, a senior scout might fly in the day after the manager has submitted his shopping list to the chairman with a report on several starlets that the manager didn't even know existed - that report could shift the goalposts drastically. The way I see it, the main cause for 'panic' is when the manager and the DOF have different wish lists and different ambitions for the squad - a recurring problem at our glorious club.
I could imagine Poch going to scout him and seeing him take a sublime touch which simultaneously controls a looping pass and also takes him between two defenders, lay off a disguised pass to a team-mate, stand still to receive the return, turn as he receives the ball then he lashes it into the net. At which point Poch asks "Can I see his stats for tracking back? Not sure I like the way he stood still to receive that pass either". Afraid the days of us seeing a player like Berba are long gone. If we still had a Docherty-type player who could play CB or striker I think many a modern manager in Poch's mould would be salivating at the thought of literally playing 10 CBs in a team. Big fellas who can keep possession and win it back anywhere on the pitch - mmmm. So much better than wingers, say. CBs can tackle wingers, wingers can't tackle CBs. So CBs are better. Football is easy.
