N'Daw in town for talks

Saw him a few times last year, kept Birmingham in the game against Wet Sham. We need height in the team, Tuesday night made that quite clear and you don't play nearly 40 times for senegal by being a donkey. he probably won't be the most skilful player, but he will be a useful addition defensively without question and we can't not sign a player just because we have Luke Hyam playing in the same position.

He still has the Clegg barrier to get over as yet!

 

I agree with Spanish, not really what we should be looking for. Other areas need cover, not CM. It's like we're only really looking at him 'cos he's tall.
I also agree with ptc about Drury being brought in for the next game in place of JET. Let Jay have one game on the bench to reflect on his recent performances. He does seem like the type who needs to play all the time though, just to find some form. Plus, we have gotten good results starting with JET and bringing Drury on later, so it's a difficult one. Would it have the same effect bringing Jay on late?
Oh and Guru, you can play many times for your country if they don't have many options, Delaney springs to mind.

 

Luke Hyam back on the bench after his man of the match performances. Just what we need another bloody loan singing

He was a flop at Brum. Why why why oh why? This is Saint Etienne trying to offload him to us and we've taken him because no-one else wants to sign The only place we DON'T need to strengthen is the middle of the park.

 

If he comes in as a Centre Back then I reckon that would make a lot of sense and I welcome his power and strength. Unfortunately this is Jewell we are talking about so all logic goes out of the window! I heard Jewell say that he is coming in as a CM! We already have 3 decent CM's so why the **** do we need another one?

 

If it's a loan to be made permanent should it work out then it's low risk, but we would be better off strengthening anywhere but CM. It would be a nice option to have someone taller in the team should we come up against sides with height, but not to be used all the time, unless he turns out to be better than we already have. If he turns out to be better than Hyam then so be it, I wouldn't want us to turn him down out of sentimental feelings for Luke, or any other player. We should always look to get stronger.

 

Brilliant loan signing and looks very much like it will happen !

MUCH MUCH happier about this signing that donkey Edu that's for sure.

" I just hope we haven't signed another Manu Thetis or George Santos! " That won't happen as he's come to play central midfield...........

Now I realise a certain person fancies and wants to take Luke Hyam to bed with him, however we're threadbare at central midfield. Stevenson appears to be playing just off the striker, Jewell doesn't fancy him directly at CM.

So that leaves us, with Drury Hyam and Luongo. That is literally it.......... it's patently obvious we need one more at central midfield now Bullard has gone. This guy is a physical presense, 6'3, great engine and will help us pick up points away from home. He'll clear a hell of a lot out of the area on defending set pieces, beast of a player.

Now I hear you all say " what about Hyam and Luongo " Well, I know before Luongo arrived people didn't even want him to bother coming. People moaned about Hyam not getting played back then. What's happened since? BOTH are playing. However, they are BOTH very young and are they always going to play well? Can you guarantee to me right now Hyam is going to have this form the rest of the 44 games of the season? Obviously not. Competition is essential. We have a limited squad, and this signing I believe will be terrific. I don't believe he's the best ON the ball, and is quite clumsy. However, he will be brilliant OFF the ball and will certainly add a physical presence.

Obviously I want another 2 or 3 signings ontop of this, however should this go through, I'll for one be delighted!

 

Why are so many supporters always ready to believe the worst? Where is this assumption that he's automatically going to take Hyam's place coming from? It certainly isn't coming from PJ:

Makes perfect sense to me. Luke is playing brilliantly at the moment, but what happens if he gets injured or picks up a suspension, or even if he just plain loses form? We need options in the squad as it's far too threadbare and so we've bought a player who can DM or CH if needed. Good signing for me.

 

Just been reading the Green ‘un article on this and if the reporting of what PJ’s been saying is correct he’s here primarily to play in central midfield. He can also play central defence, but it doesn’t seem to be where he features in PJ’s plans. PJ also claims he might cure our vulnerability in the air at set pieces.

I’ve no idea how good he is, but he might be handy cover for midfield and (hopefully) defence. If he’s as decent as he sounds I’d be far less panic stricken before matches if I knew Delaney was unlikely to feature.

I’m a tad miffed that he’s intended for central midfield. We already have one loanee there and if he turns out to be good then that’s one of Hyam, Drury or Stevenson that’s even less likely to get a game.

If he plays in midfield and does improve us over and above what we’ve already got there, there are two possibilites:

1. We’re better than we would have been without him but still don’t get promoted. In this case, he’s been a waste of time (unless the alternative without him was relegation – always a possibility with PJ and his pals). We’re still in the Championship, Hyam, Lawrence, Stevenson or whoever have been denied games and are disillusioned.

2. We’re better than we would have been without him and are promoted. In which case everyone’s happy.

Of course, this is completely obvious and applies to any loan; I merely point it out as central midfield is the one area where we have numbers and options already with players that are actually ours, we have youngsters like Lawrence there (not to mention Thor who might get a contract this season) and we already have a loanee in that position.

 

Edu or N'Daw and you go for N'Daw Westy, i guess your a kebab man and not a steak man.

As mentioned, its a loan so is low risk, all i can say is thank **** for that as wouldn't want to fork out money for this guy.

Would be interested in what the Brum fans think of him, cant imagine they would rate him very highly!!

 

Just checked out the brum site, was gonna ask the question but its dead over there!!

 

" Edu or N'Daw and you go for N'Daw Westy, i guess your a kebab man and not a steak man."

Well I have seen Edu play live and he was horrific. Seen Edu on the telly 3 or 4 times too, useless most, most Rangers fans want him gone too.

Seen N'Daw a good few times and always played well.

Have you seen either of these two play Spanish?

 

Only a bit on tv mate, i'm going more on who is generally rated better. Westy i saw Cruyff play live and didn't rate him but that don't mean he was crap, just wasn't very impressive on the day.

As i said, he is free and we, including me, should give him a chance, just think we need to concentrate on other areas and this signing hasn't exactly excited me, whereas i think Edu may have a little more!!

 

I agree with Westy on this one. Whilst i feel its an area we are not desperate for what happens if one of our Cms gets injured, we have no other options, we need to strengthen cm that is a reality!! I do hope however that this doesn't mean Drury and Hyam will be put to the fringes of the squad. I do think over the season though we will need 4 cm and that they will all get a decent amount of game time.

I do also like Drury, i think he is underrated and wouldn't mine him coming in for JET. But like you say Westy i think he is the kind of player who needs game time and also needs alot of the ball, which is why io actually think he would be far more effective centrally but unfortunately that would mean moving Martin and he imo is vital to how we play and the tempo we play at!!

 

Roger Osborne had Cruyf in his pocket all night!

 

Fair one Spanish!

I think a midfield four of Hyam / Luango / Drury + N'Daw is a good combination. Personally, I'd much prefer N'daw to Edu as he'd much better at the ugly side of the game. I believe we have the Edu styled players already, and need workers.

N'daw is 28, has wracked up a number of appearances in the French top division and also played for Zaragoza. Much bigger clubs than us, so clearly he has something to offer! I'd imagine he could help Hyam's game.

I agree that I certainly DON'T want N'Daw to go straight into the team at Hyam or Luango's expense, unless one of the two has an absolute shocker away at Blackpool.

Does this mean Drury goes down the order as a central mid, orrrr is he going to be given a chance out wide? I think I'm right in saying Carson hasn't been our star performer so maybe that could be a change for Blackpool?

It's plainly obvious we need another wide signing, probably in the Murphy mould. A bit of physicality down the left of the front three would work wonders.

 

Don't know too much about him, but he has Championship experience and has played 40 games for his country. Can't believe people don't think we have enough central midfielders. We have three, two of which are under 20 and have played less than 60 Championship games between them. Add the fact that none of them possess any height or too much strength, seems like a logical signing. What happens if one gets injured, and we have games Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday?

As for the concerns that he'll replace Hyam or Luongo straight away, read this comment from Jewell: “Whoever comes in, it doesn’t mean they go straight into the team, a place in the team has to be earned.”

Seems some of our fans have very selective reading.

 

Cruyf used to be alright until one day he started having funny turns .

 

Stevenson, Martin, JET (can play anywhere in midfield and upfront), Hyam, Drury, loanee Luongo with Lawrence apparently earmarked for some game time. That’ll be seven then. Not three. Oh, and if Hyam hasn’t got many Championship games, we’d better only play him six times this season, lest he get too much experience to go with his man of the match displays!

If it’s “height and strength” you want, then this new guy wants to be challenging first and foremost for a position in defence. For central midfield, “height and strength” is the stuff of the dark ages. Little wonder English football has been tactically and technically behind the rest of the world for decades.

Our current midfield might not be the best, but we have more cover there than anywhere else. If loanees make the difference between staying up and relegation, or staying down and promotion, all well and good. If not, they’re a waste of time unless filling a position where you're totally bereft. To maximise the chances of the former, at least get one where you’re desperate for cover and haven’t already wimped around for a loan. Loans are, after all, an admission of either bad squad management or a sign of club who can’t afford to be where they are.

I predict this feller (if he’s any good) will end up playing more games in defence than midfield, and quite rightly. That’s where we’re weakest where he can play.

 

people are forgetting that he can also cover another position aswell as centre midfield, a position we have been craving for to be strengthened. I know PJ has said he is being brought in mainly as a Midfielder, but he can cover defence if needed, not being funny who would you rather have Delaney?

 

Luke Hyam will be offered a new contract and Lee Martin wants to sign a contract extension. This will be the best bit of business of all. If these 2 commit to long termj deals I think we can be in for a very bright future!