I said yesterday that, if Watson has suggested he wants a move to the PL, the club would engineer an auction ... ... we're a long way from being the mugs we once were. People were outraged when 'we sold Stewart' and again when 'we sold Clarke' ... ... now it looks like Southampton and Ipswich had their pants pulled down
Don’t think he made any Norwich appearances but the arrangement needed to get him is probably too complicated to pull off this late in the window.
Maybe. But many have tried that path of reserves, loans, back again loan again and just disappeared. Up to him, at least I hope it is.
A bidding war for Tommy would be great. May allow us to push on deals we’ve already been trying on. Can’t help but feel someone we know well will have been in his ear. But maybe that person is doing it to free a space for JC return…
Or better still, not invest it until the summer when we know where we are... ... in the meantime we bring in the PL CF and perhaps Clarke if the deal can be organised.
Agreed there Smug. I always want to see former players do well, if they weren’t arseholes whilst playing for us, but maybe the club knew things we didn’t when they agreed their sales. As you’ve already said, we are a long way from the mugs that other clubs took us for not so long ago.
Might be that selling Tommy allows us to bring forward a summer target, that would be seen as jumping a ring in the ladder. Nice idea that.
Just told the Mrs **** all is getting done today. Too much going on on my football forum. It wasn't taken very well.
Speakman and team are going a good job here, no doubt about it. Going to be a mad 36 hours or so. Reckon speakmans BP must be on the edge, outgoings, incomings, his best mate heading out of the club!
I have had the look like. This is after being out with the lads all day / night down the sea front and town. Meant to be getting sorted to go for lunch anarl
Ngl, a would love a video documentary of speakman and the recruitment team on deadline day, would top top tier tv
If Watson has intimated, to his agent, that perhaps he should be looking at a move to the PL ... ... his feet won't touch the floor until he's sitting in a flat, down South, staring out of the window and wondering what happened. This is what happens when young players don't have the guidance that the likes of Jobe do. Watson has been in the NE, and at Sunderland, all his life and a big fish in our little pool ... ... if he uproots and goes to Brighton he'll be thrown in with the sharks and have to sink or swim all of a sudden. I hope he does well and we use the money to advance the club yet again ... ... gone are the days of players running down their contracts while we watch on looking helpless.
This idea that we are getting big money so must spend it baffles me, January is a sellers market, trouser the money and reinvest in the summer. It’s not as though he’s a regular 1st team player, no doubt a good player but we took a risk playing him because we had no choice. Good job we have people in charge with foresight
Speakman comes across very calm. He takes it in his stride positive and negative. He must know how vital this is though, opportunity knocks. If he’s behind League One to PL in 4 seasons he is right up there. If he blows this that’s damaged, if not destroyed. I trust the bloke fully.
Fair points. I think that the Dodds replacement will be very important. We cant afford to drop the standard of coaching or to drop the team spirit that Dodds has helped to create. It will be interesting to see if we promote from within or bring someone in. The easy option for KS would be to bring in someone he knows but I suspect that we will take our time and recruit to specific criteria. It's no longer jobs for the boys.
