Pardew Confirms "No Striker in Jan"

Sounds good to me! Raylor up front, he has a cracking shot on him!

 

Vertonghen and Cissokho. That would be some combination to add to our ranks. Whether we have that kind of cash is another thing altogether of course. Therefore a Taiwo loan would seem more realistic. I'd prefer we bought though. We're on the cusp of having a really good squad.

 

Yep dont want to go down the mackem road of loaning 5 players

 

Tash knows what he's talking about, he talks plenty of it.

Maybe we should listen to what he says.

 

Ashley seems to not want to invest again, which is really frustrating. Surely the events this season have shown him what we could acheive with a bit of ambition. With a fully fit squad we were in the top 4 and have only really sunk because we lack strength in depth. Does Ashley not realise that if he gives Pardew, say, £15 million, we would have a great chance of Europe, which would make him money in the long run.

 

Perfect opportunity for Harper to make his claim for the no.9 then!

 

In my view, I think Pardew/Ashley are just being sensible and recognising that they shouldn't make false promises to the fans. I really don't think this necessarily means we won't still be looking for a striker in Jan, I just think it's a clever move from Pardew because now if we do bring in a striker the fans will be delighted, whereas if we don't it'll just be what we've expected. If it's 50/50 whether we can potentially bring in a striker its much better to play it down then tell the fans we're getting him.

 

I can't believe there are some people happily mentioning Lover and Shola as good backup. Mental!

 

Not necessarily good back up, but they do seem to be able to chip in with a few goals when needed. So adequate back up really, behind Best, HBA and Vuckic.

 

I guess it depends how we go through Ba's absence, we may get one in nearer deadline, never trust what Pardew says

 

I see Best has become the scapegoat now. Pathetic from some of our fans to be quite honest, football is a game played over seasons, not a couple of matches. Leon has a couple of poor games and now all of a sudden he's 'crap' 'useless' and all the rest of it. Best has put in some terrific performances, putting in great shifts despite not scoring much. You never know, Best/HBA could prove to be a very balanced partnership.

As long as he doesn't get injured I think Leon can hold down the fort while Demba's gone, and we've got Shola for backup. Not ideal but we're in a better position there than in centre back where if we lose one we're right up **** creek. Besides Pardew could be keeping his cards close, Ferguson has said he isn't buying any players in Jan but I don't believe him for an instant.

 

I for one look forward to seeing Best and HBA play together, think it could work quite well!

 

Also, if we get Chris Samba, he's competent upfront according to Football Manager 2012, problem solved!

 

was on the cards ever since the maiga deal fell through because he "failed a medical".....

 

What if HBA gets injured?

 

Ben Arfa Ben Arfa Ben Arfa in behind Leon Best. Ben Arfa needs games, this is perfect for him and he'll be banging them in!!! Just hope Pards doesn't go with 442 Best n Shola :|

 

With you on this one. Had we taken 6 points ( or had decent cover for Saylor ) from Norwich/WBA, we'd be 4th this morning

 

Yes, but we didn't, and other teams dropped points too. We're lucky that we're only 1 point behind the scousers.

 

I don't know why people blame Ashley. Imo it's all down to Llambias.

 

October/November we were beating these mid-table teams for fun. The wheel came off because of paper thin squad. Invest for success. Simple.