Mladen Petric, isn't that the guy that scored an outstanding 30 yard free kick against us in the semi-final? If he can do that regularly I'd have no problem taking him. His is the wrong side of 30 though.
That's my point, DR. Duff was something of a sicknote when we signed him and I felt we overpaid at the time. However I was wrong and he's been great for us.
Surlyc - but you could have easily been right about him. On paper he'd bounced from team to team after Blackburn, never impressing or settling in the starting 11, both serious warning signs. When we signed him I was optomistic about him - he was devastating at Blackburn and we'd obtained him on the cheap from Newcastle (compared to what Chelsea had paid) - but he could have turned into an expensive benchwarmer like so many players with that profile. Steve Sidwell also fits that profile: big-potential player who never quite made his mark at Chelsea, only to bounce from team to team until settling with us. Only time will tell if Sidwell works out.
I think it's harsh to say Duff never made his mark at Chelsea. He played in more than half their premier league games in all three seasons there and won two league titles. It's only because they had such competition for wide players - him, Robben, Joe Cole and (I think) Jesper Gronkjaer - that he didn't play every time. His form when he did play was good too. At Newcastle, for whatever reason, he didn't live up to expectations, but that wasn't the case at Chelsea.
Captain, I, too, remember him playing some games for Chelsea - Sidwell, too. But I don't remember him being their first choice. And when he was sold off to Newcastle, Chelsea received just 5 million after paying 17 million.
Apparently Chelsea are releasing Kalou and Bosingwa. What are people's thoughts on these two? Kalou has never really impressed me, and I don't think Bosingwa would be worth the high wages he'd want.
Put like that, I can see your point! I don't know if the fee was in any way related to a contract that was running out. I know he played a lot of games - between 23 and 30 each season in the league alone - for Chelsea, and that they had a pool of wide players who all saw plenty of action. He wasn't an automatic fixture though, that's certainly true. Anyway, he's ours now and he's been great for us. He scored the first Fulham goal my eldest ever saw - the equaliser in a 1-1 draw with Bolton in the Europa final season. It's a great memory!
How come Swansea keep setting up deals like this and we are not even around sniffing ? "Manchester City striker John Guidetti, 20, could move to Swansea on loan after scoring 20 goals in 23 games while at Feyenoord last term"
All I can think of Cottager is that Swansea scouting staff have a better eye than ours has, in this instant time will tell. The more important point is that I feel we will loose the double Ds in this close season,and this could be very difficult to replace, and if having a good start ,will Ruiz get itchy feet. No doubt Jol has plans for all our comings and goings,all we can do is wait,and praise or castigate in the future.
How are we meant to progress as a club when our best players are longing to leave the club? We are in a disadvantageous position with D+D because we neglected to offer them extensions on their contracts earlier. Now we are in a position where we sell for a lower fee than what they're worth or let their contracts run down and leave no money available to spend on a replacement. I sympathise with teams in the SPL that aren't Rangers or Celtic for this reason, whenever a player shows some quality or potential, they get snapped up by one of the Old Firm, and they then have the right to complain about wanting to move to the PL? If they didn't snatch the other teams best players then maybe people would be more interested in a fairer SPL. I think there should be a limit of how many players teams can sign from the same league. Man City for example are single handedly trying to destroy Arsenal by signing their best players. Newcastle have done very well this season, especially after getting rid of the likes of Barton, Carroll and Nolan. But the big teams will be in for Cisse, Ba, Ben Arfa and Tiote, how are they meant to progress then?
There were some reports in Costa Rica (where I think he is at the moment) that he was "unhappy at the Cottage" and even rumours of a return to FC Twente - quickly refuted I should add by their boss. Price apart form anything else will keep him here but, as you say rosc, he needs to get off to a good start. Most of all Jol has to decide what his best position is - I find it vaguely amusing that the Club, despite claims that he was not bought as a striker, persist in including him among 'the No 9s' in the profile of players.
If Ruiz has said that then that's unbelievable. It was bad enough that he admitted earlier in the season that he only came here for the money and wouldn't have joined had he known he couldn't play for us in Europe but this takes the biscuit. Jol has persisted with him in the team despite his performances being nowhere near the standard of a 10m player and he repays the club by spitting his dummy out? If he doesn't hit the ground running next season then cut your losses and get rid.
I know Bidders but there's no smoke without fire. Comments he made when he joined irritated me but as long as he performed on the pitch then so be it. Dembele also said he was using FFC as a stepping stone but if he makes us a better team while he's here then feel free, Ruiz doesn't help the team therefore has no right to make these comments if he has done.
The key bit of that sentence is 'if he said that.' Bidley's right - let's not tar and feather him before we find out what substance there is. No smoke without fire? You just need to look at the names we've been linked with for transfers in the last couple of years to see that that's just not true!
It's different with transfer rumours Cappy. Journalists make those stuff up purely to fill pages. We need a right back so we are being linked with every tom dick and harry going. Of course a player can be misquoted, or something gets taken out of context, but he does have history of putting foot in his mouth when talking about FFC.
Could have sworn that was him performing for Norway tonight - in the other competition - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ke-P6Qpxw4
Of course there could be "fire" at the bottom of his smoke. But after listening to a Yaya Toure interview where he said that if Barca wanted him back he couldn't say no to them and hearing that spun as him wanting to leave, let's take a step back. It is likely that Ruiz said he was disappointed with his first season at CC, which he had every right to say after his early struggles and later injury, which is spun as him being unhappy. The media twist anything into the story they want. It happens far too often to take most of these stories seriously, especially when they "give an interview to local press".
