All up in the air about whether we can keep Jos. No return date for Seaborne and anyway will take some time for him to get match fit again. We tried and failed to get someone in the summer...Jos was only brought in on deadline day. If the worst happens and Celtic wants Jos back or the price/wages are too high, who is there that could do a job for us. Genuine question as I know little about other teams players. I'm presuming Nicola and Nigel have a plan B.
The sad thing is, we all forget how weak our CB line up is because of how good Jos and Jose have been playing... behind that we have nothing, Martin is not good enough to start at this level, Seaborne isn't brilliant and we have no idea how long he's out for, and Jaidi, I love the guy but he's not what we need.
I'm thinking sign Terry and Anton Ferdinand and Rio as back up and maybe Evra, Bridge and just for fun Suarez, wage bill may go up a little but i'm sure the boys will have a laugh together.
Unless we have an academy lad ready to come through, we could do with keeping Jos and getting another player in. This being top of the league is doing my head in...I see disaster round every corner. Anyone got any anti-dither pills for Nicola?
Martin has potential, he played well against Leeds and in the CC. Seaborne is probably ok for the Championship but no higher when he is fit again. Potential signings for me: Dunne from Millwall, McCarthy from Palace, Amougou (formerly Bikey) from Burnley.
Martin has shown that he's good enough to be a centre back for a team trying to get in the Premiership, really?! He's a long way behind Fonte and Hooiveld, if we were to lose either our team would be weaker for it.
whenever he has played, he hasnt let us down - he's young, he has potential, he's going to improve was our team weaker for it when Fonte went off against Reading? not really
Nothing wrong with Martin, has he made any fatal mistakes ? No. He is still learning but has learnt enough to play at this level but it is difficult to see him in the side at the momment because Fonte and Hooiveld have formed a strong partnership.
As far as I can see, Martin doesn't play with the same authority. It was/is the same issue with Dan Seaborne. You could put that down to several things, but the most important reason is that, at the moment, they're not quite good enough. I imagine Saints will make every effort to keep Hooiveld, in January. It might be an extension to the loan, until the end of the season, or it might be permanently. The trick with Hooiveld is that he has already done the settling in bit. To lose him in January would be like having a major injury to an existing very important squad member. I think Saints will end up paying over the odds for him, and probably understandably so, to secure him. It'll be cheaper than failing to achieve promotion, and him not being here might make the difference. Would you want to gamble with that possibility..?
Whether or not Martin is good enough is only half the issue. There is no way that I would want to go Jan - April with just Fonte, Martin and Jaidi (and Seaborne, if available). All it would take is one injury...
Agreed. Adkins isn't stupid, he knows he needs to either keep Hoiveld until at least the end of the season or buy another CB (and another striker!)
All the signs are that Jos would like to stay. Because he is on loan, he has to be diplomatic when asked about Celtic as they still hold his registration. Given that Lennon doesn't rate him, I doubt he is bothered about how well he is doing down here, and will be happy to let him go in Jan for a reasonable sum. Lets hope Lennon doesn't get sacked before the end of Jan!
I've been worrying about that for a while now. I think I'm right in saying that Lennon has done next to nothing at Celtic so far - way below anything which MON or Strachan achieved - and that this season they could potentially finish 3rd in a two-horse race.
Hopefully Jos will stay but I remember a rumour of Liam Ridgewell. He would also fit the bill of being a left sided centre-back and Birmingham need the money.
