Mornin guys, after what a lot of people thought was a weird TW (it was and I'll explain why) i thought went fairly well. We were told before and during not to expect too much, but no, we still have the excitables thinking Messi will appear! Lets get real, I read accusations of us 'embarrassingly scrabbling' around for players with the lower PL teams. I don't think this window was about getting players in....look where we are with what we've got, the first 11 hasn't changed!....so why change it, we've exceeded all expectation thus far and there seems little reason that we can't see it through the season, to finish in an automatic CL spot. If this was offered to us preseason...ripped off arms allround! A unique problem we have, those around us don't....we've only got PL games left (4 FA Cup doesn't come into it really)...no CL/EL. There is also a large International tournament this year, which 2 of our departures yesterday are desperate to play in. So behind the scenes upset was inevitable. I expect this was behind Pav's outburst, but was obviously that bad, his position was untenable. Charlie was more respectful with his moaning, and got his wish with a loan. Ade & Walker are number ones, you cannot expect Charlie and Pav to just sit there in hope for 1 game a week. The players in are clearly happy with a bit part, the others weren't, and happy is the operative word in a dressing room/training ground environment looking to get something out of this season. Money - FFP rules and new mega contracts for existing star players must be underway in Levy's office. So the notion of adding large amounts, to a just about even bank balance is also not going to happen either. We've been trying to get rid of some high wage fringe players for the last 3 or 4 TW's, and some are still here draining resources. The Bentley's Jenas's and Gio's have to leave, till they do and free up some wage budget, the marquee striker will be on hold....Don Tottenham! Its not as bad as it looks is all I'm saying, if you just take 5 to sit down and not keep thinking about....'title'. It is a remote possibility at this moment in time, but not one to get hung up on, if the others royally fuk up, fine, but we should consolidate where we are first.
Definitely a weird transfer window. Not disappointed with the signings, Saha fills the void left by Pav and hopefully his experience can help some of the younger lads and also chip in with the odd important goal when he has a chance, Nelson's potential signing is understandable as we all know our centre backs drop like flies and with Bass out on loan, the cover is more than welcome. I'm certainly not disappointed with outgoings, Pav has been awful, Pienaar should be playing in the Championship, Bassong has extremely good players in his position and Charlie won't have much of a chance while Walker keeps playing (sods law he goes off with an "injury", though be to be fair he did jog off and didn't look in too much discomfort). Would have liked to have seen another winger come in to add competition with Bale and Lennon but touch wood we're doing fine there and naturally it would have beeen nice to have got the elusive "Marquee" striker in but while we're still getting the goals from different angles I won't complain.
i honestly think that regardless of how much of a flop he is..Toress would be world class infront of a blistering midfield of Bale and Lennon providing crosses and with VDV's link up play....he needs a dynamic team not a bunch of plodders!!! as for the ransfer window..im happy with it..why spend for the sake of it..Saha will do a good job as 3rd or 4th choice..he is clinical and im sure he can churn out as many appearences as Pav would have got for us from now till the end of the season....plus more important than his goals will be his winning mentality and experience of title run ins with United no doubt. As for Nelson..another short term fix...just incase we need an emergency centre back...we saved a big transfer fee..and we have added experience in an important position...bare in mind Bassong was to leave and we needed an available replacement not wishful thinking then missing the deadline..he is a club captain and an international..therefore bags of experience and no doubt confidence. our team doesnt need strengthening in order to maintain our march...however..we need experience at this critical stage of the season...just look at city wobbling..who like us are in new territory..but as per usual United the old experienced heads are getting results when it is counting..i.e the second half of the season i expect big signings and money to be the talk of Spurs come this summer..what with CL as a lure COYS!
morning guys. for me, it's mixed feelings. there's positives and negatives that balance it out really. I'm not annoyed or p*ssed off with anything, but there's elements I'm confused by. i think you've summed this up well Notso. you're right, there's a major competition coming up and it was only fair to let them go. nelsen was a strange one for me. I understand that Bassong wanted to go, but with our known injury problems with ledley king, and the fact that gallas is out, i'm surprised we didn't go for someone a bit.. well... younger and better. - it's likely Nelsen could be called upon. I for one, don't feel confident. Saha on his day is a good player - but I just can't work out that signing. it's not due to his ability, but his injury proneness. we've been saying how "if we lose Ade to injury, we're short of options", but if Saha gets injured (highly likely judging by his past) we're in a worse position than we were when we had pav and no saha! if Ade then gets injured... it's a long season and it's now that the fatigue starts to kick in and little injuries occur - i hope we've got enough depth in the squad to cope.
I can't understand some of the negativity I am reading. I think both signings are very wise-if nothing else they were free and both players will be on lower salaries than the two players going out. Both Pav and Bassong wanted out, how much have they played this season? So we got two replacements who are equal to them, who have more experience and know there place in the team is on the bench. Saha is better in the air than Pav so if we are chasing at the end of a game , he will be better at those set pieces that presently we are useless with. As for injuries, it can happen to anyone, Pav has had his fair share this season. He played plenty last season and is not injured now. In the pecking order he is after Ade, Defoe, and VDV. Nelsen similarly is low down the order, after King, Kaboul Dawson and Gallas- so he might not even get a game. We only have 15 PL games left. it's a long season and it's now that the fatigue starts to kick in and little injuries occur - i hope we've got enough depth in the squad to cope. The season is long but we are more than half way through it- these players are hardly fatigued as they haven't played much. And lastly we know how Harry gets the best out of players, especially ' has beens '.
"Did Nelsen sign for Spurs? I can't see it reported as a transfer yet." No Luke he hasn't, apparently Blackburn paid out his contract making him a free agent. I'm not sure of what happens now, can we still sign uncontracted player outside the TW? Someone will tell us.
i'm not disagreeing that the two we've brought in help the wage bill and we've got rid of players who want out. - we've done a pretty good job on the clear out this month. I think you've missed my point B&W. Nelsen is low down the pecking order, yes. BUT, we now have no cover for walker, other than Kaboul. Walker appears to be an absolute machine, but if he gets injured - kaboul will be playing right back. Gallas is currently out and King has injury problems that we're all aware of. That would leave Dawson and Nelsen. It's highly likely Nelsen could be called upon, even if we don't see an injury to walker, because King and gallas seem to have constant problems. - therefore, it concerns me that a 34y/o player who couldnt even get in to blackburns team is our next choice. - a choice that we may well have to call upon. all I was saying is that i don't like the thought of that over the course of the next 15 league games, with some of our toughest fixtures coming up. "in the pecking order we have Ade, Defoe, VDV". - again, VDV is constantly in and out with injury and went off AGAIN last night and Saha has been plagued all his career. - it's the same point as above. yes, any player can get injured, but we've gone and signed someone who's injury prone, as opposed to signing someone who's not injury prone! we may well be over half way through the season, but now is when it'll takes its toll on those who play week in, week out. it was just a concern over injuries as we've seen it time and time again at this period in the season. - as have lots of other clubs.
we may well be over half way through the season, but now is when it'll takes its toll on those who play week in, week out. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I feel I only need to add to this one point Roo, you are right, on the basis of 2 games a week, one as is our case, no, i disagree. It would seem everyone wants International top class belt and braces cover, 3 fold for every position, just incase this and that happens. Its just impossible to plan for, or cater for. There's an element of risk in everything....to dare is to do, COYS!
yeah very true Notso, agree with most of that. BUT.. regardless, we don't help ourselves by signing an injury prone player over one who isn't! you say "it's impossible to plan for, or cater for", but this part of it is preventable. It's probably just me, I'm desperate for us to finish a comfortable 3rd and worrying!!
I have concerns obviously, but I don't think he'll be called on that often, so its just one we have to deal with. Our options were very limited, and squad harmony is ultra important now, a subject not considered by far too many.
January transfer windows are best left alone, unless you're in trouble. We've done the right thing, letting a few unhappy fringe players go and getting in cheap, temporary players to tide us over to the summer when players like Rodallega, Hoilett, etc will be out of contract and Samba will be all the more determined to leave, possibly playing for a cash strapped Championship team.
As for Nelsen (who Friedel says has signed ) he is only needed till the summer when Caulker will be back an improved player. Back up for Walker is the only real concern but Harry must have that covered otherwise he wouldn't have let Vedran go. Saha replaces Pav and Nelsen covers Bassong. We can't know who Harry plans to play RB in the case of...But I trust him even if HMRC don't.
Livermore played there for awhile again last night but if Daws and King are fit, I think Kaboul would play there.
I thought it was a crap window and followed on from the missed opportunities of the last one, to be honest. I understand the ideas behind signing Saha and Nelsen, but we failed to sell any of the dead wood, we're still stuck with some miserable players and we've weakened the squad. We don't even have youth players to cover for some of our departures, as we've loaned them out, too. Hopefully Redknapp will be able to steer us to an excellent finish to the season regardless, but while I'm happy with our first XI, the squad's in need of some serious work in the summer. We need to have dependable and ambitious competition for our starters, but they also need to have a bit of patience. It's a tricky balancing act.
Well I'm quite pleased with the window,as I said last night it was really a clearing out exercise,so agree with Notso.The players coming in are happy with the roles they'll get,the one's who went out weren't.In all it should make for a happier and easier to handle squad.
The problem with this window PNP is that the prices we would have had to pay for replacements,would have been silly to say the least.Also is Levy being very careful with all the Harry business going on? The summer is a different matter and we will need to strengthen our squad.
Chelsea and Torres is a good example of why not to buy big in Jan, they loaned Sturridge to Bolton and bet they wished they'd kept him now. Torres has lost his mojo here and needs to piss of back to Spain and start again out of the limelight imo. Being under the intense scrutiny of our media has done him.
