So I've been thinking ( yes it was painful) out of the teams that looking at relegation who would you want to go down? And if we could sign a few of the players from a relegated team who would you like us to sign? For me the teams to go would be QPR Blackburn and Bolton. I know wolves are down but if only lol. I would like to sign hoilett or gamst pederson from Blackburn. No-one from QPR.
Probably Wolves, Blackburn and QPR (mainly because of Hughes and his ambition to manage a top club, (top of the Championship maybe). Wolves - Jarvis maybe Doyle. Blackburn - Robinson, Yakubu QPR - Hill, the rest are a bunch of mercenaries, most of whom won't stick around if they go down. if it were Bolton or Wigan Wigan - Al Habsi, Moses Bolton - Holden
If Dempsey goes in the Summer then either Hoilett from Blackburn or Jarvis from Wolves. Otherwise, there's a reason why those teams are where they are, and I'm not sure there are too many others who'd really strengthen us. The possible joker in the pack could be Taarabt from QPR, especially if we lose Dembele. Jol's on record as an admirer and signed him for Spurs. The jury has to be out after an indifferent season and his temperament is suspect but MJ knows the player and might be able to bring the best out of him.
Same as SBM, Blackburn, Wolves and QPR for me. Wolves should never have sacked McCarthy, Blackburn should never have sacked Allardyce and QPR should never have sacked Warnock. It would come as little surprise were Bolton and Wigan to stay up, the two sides that kept faith with their managers. Hoillet will go to a top 6 club this summer no doubt about it, although Liverpool are also interested (tee-hee) I would have said MGP, but we have Kaka and Frei now who can play down the wings so I'll pass on that one. Wouldn't mind seeing either Doyle or Fletcher come in from Wolves, and yes no-one from QPR. Blackburn have a few tasty young prospects though like Grant Hanley?
Certainly, I'd like Wigan and Bolton to stay up, in line with the majority consensus. Blackburn will probably join Wolves and I agree on Jarvis and Hoillet would be worth poaching. QPR might go either way, but there is no one I fancy from up the road.
Yep, Wolves, Blackburn and QPR for me. The only player I'd want is one of Matt Jarvis or Junior Hoilett.
I'd like Wigan and Bolton to stay up but have this feeling that QPR will manage to trade places with either one of them. Wigan's season hangs on the Newcastle match, I believe, and QPR's on Spurs. Whoever goes down the only players worth a shout would be Hoillet or Petrov, who is a fine winger and could give any one of ours a run for their money.
Has anyone thought of Villa going down? Not one of the favourites but ... Now that would give us a lot of opportunity to cash in on players!!
If the season went on for two weeks longer I would put money on QPR staying up and Villa going down. They have nothing going for them at the moment. They don't have a goalscorer so they play for the boring 0-0, which their fans detest so they get on McLeish's back. I can't believe they took four points off of us this season, Blackburn too.
I'm not sure that a lot of the decent players are in the positions that we need, and the really obvious ones - Hoilett, etc - are likely to go to bigger clubs than us. The exceptions are probably Jamie O'Hara and - my favourite - Steven Fletcher from Wolves, and perhaps Victor Moses from Wigan. I've heard Figueroa mentioned before, but I don't really have a handle on whether he's any good or not. I read that Martin O'Neill wants Fletcher and Moses (so perhaps I'd better stop casting doubts on his judgement of players, as it seems to coincide with mine at the moment), but has to raise money by selling before he can buy. If he does raise the money, I would be surprised to see the players choose us over Sunderland who I'm sure will be paying bigger wages. As for who I want to go down, Blackburn and QPR please. I thought that was what was going to happen as well, before the weekend's results. Now, if Bolton can beat Villa midweek, it's any two from five.
Yes, Moses would be a great addition. Pace, vision, control ... what's not to like? I like him better than Dembele, who underwelmed me against Wigan. I'm probably in the minority on this, but I'd take BZ back from QPR if we could get him on the cheap. If Pog stays with us, BZ would be a good backup for him. There's a kid at Bolton who's spent the last year recovering from knee problems. In 2010/11, though, he was quietly one of the best middle midfielders on the league, I thought - Stuart Holden. He's young and he's fantastic.
Like you DR, I have no lingering resentment against Bobby, but I wouldn't take him back. I don't see him happily being a back-up player here or elsewhere, and to sign him with that expectation would be storing up discontent within the camp. I think you've mentioned Holden before. He's not a bad shout, but I think Bolton will stay up and therefore keep him. If they do go down, we should give him a try. I've always liked Klasnic too, but I suspect Jol and his scouting network will be able to find something better up front.
DR, the main reason Zamora left was because of problems with Jol, why would this be any different were he to come back? That one is dead in the water I'm afraid. The only QPR player I would take at a push is Luke Young as right back cover if Baird were to leave, but that's about it. Taraabt has talent for sure and has worked with Jol before but he's so frustrating (although Dembele was similar last year) Holden is a good shout but don't underestimate what a long term injury can do to your ability. Just look at the likes of Michael Owen and Owen Hargreaves, never the same player after their injuries.
Just a thought, lots of people have over the years gone on about us, Bolton and Blackburn being the only trio of promoted clubs to all stay up. Something I've seen less comment on was that in the Micky Adams promotion year of 96-97, we just missed out on the 3rd division title to Wigan Athletic, and the team who missed out (to us, them and Carlisle) for automatic promotion was Swansea City. Delighted that all three of us are currently dining at the top table, so to speak. I hope Wigan stay up.
I have always liked Wigan and Martinez was the man I wanted to replace Jol earlier in the season (I know, I know). Turning down Villa to stay at Wigan was a truly honorable thing to do and I think he gained a lot of fans by showing some loyalty to Wigan. He has some exciting players there like Moses, Rodallega, Di Santo etc, the only thing holding them back is their fanbase, which truth be told is absolutely shocking.
I've said it before and I'll say it again; Martinez is undoubtedly an honourable gent, encourages good football and has generally made Wigan a likeable team - but this is the third season in a row his side have been pants until the last couple of months of the season. I honestly can't see why so many rave about him. Pulling a great escape once is an achievement, pulling it three times in a row is a sign something needs to be addressed, shirley?
The thing is, for a side like Wigan, they aim for nothing more than to finish 17th, relegation would surely cripple them due to their lowly attendances, so they almost have nothing to play for up until the final weeks when they suddenly find relegation almost a certainty. p.s. 1000 POSTS, YAY!
