Knowing SAFC I reckon Whatmore will be one of our 4 strikers now. Nothing against Duncan, I'd be happier with him than Rhodes. I think before we get another striker in we will see Fletcher or Graham going. Our net spend if the £9 million is correct will be about £6 million so far this season. If Bridcutt, Buckley and Mavrias go as expected we would be about breaking even. Good for business but not good for our team. Meanwhile, them up the road approaching £40 million spend. Do we lack ambition? Fingers crossed we get two in, both who will be actual improvements and will go straight into the first 11. Both must be next level players, worth around £15 million each.
Price does not dictate quality! Lens could have cost us 15m if been at a club on a longer contract who didn't need to generate cash. Pure quality and a massive massive upgrade. Judge each transfer on it's own merits. The mags have just spent 25m on a couple of unproven kids who've done well in a ****e league. You want that? No we don't lack ambition. In fact, I think our business is slightly better than them up the road. We've signed a fullback with champions league experience, a centreback with top 6 premier league experience and a Uruguayan international for a fraction of the price they've paid for one kid. Not only does that represent ambition, it represents shrewd negotiation. Whether you like it or not the club will not do business on your time schedule, we have money to spend but a full squad with a full wage bill, we're in the process of shipping out players who never progressed for a very very good price. A full month of the window to go, will you give our club a chance? You're questions are valid, when the window closes, in the meantime I wish our own fans could give our own club the respect to get on with it's business without prematurely judging it and writing it off.
I hope you're right Funky. You certainly seem satisfied with our signings. Lens looks to be a good buy going on his appearance against Doncaster. The other three may be ok although in my opinion they are about the same standard as the rest of the current squad. I remember when we were linked with Wijnaldum and many on here were very excited saying that this was a next level player saying he was just what we needed. The reason I say we need a couple of £15 million players is that it is this price range where the next level players for us are to be found. We may unearth another Phillips but it's not very likely. We've tried up and coming players but haven't had a great deal of success, Stead for instance. Wickham may go on to be a top player at Palace but has not really done it for us apart from a couple of bursts. I don't know if him leaving is good or bad but if we were playing a game and he came on as a sub I wouldn't expect a game changer the way that AJ could. Austin may be a good move according to many on here but I reckon the mags have more chance of getting him than us. Rhodes is a no from me. If we got Van Dyke and Welbeck, they would improve us but I think, knowing how SAFC operate we will get more of the same in like Charlie Adams and Shane Long. As you say, there's time yet and I hope we get more in, my saying £15 million type players is an indication of the general standard of player that we should be going for. I know there are exceptions but usually you get what you pay for. We can't rely on lucky cheap buys like Phillips.
Disagree, we just got one for less than half that, judge the player not the price. Many a 15m player has flopped. Price means nowt what so ever imo. Look at coates. 2m for a Uruguayan international who cost Liverpool 7m who picked up an injury at the wrong time which saw him fall down the pecking order. No fault of his own, last year of his contract, showed his quality last season with some near perfect performances. It's a bargain for a player who has given us a taste of next level performances. Competition for jones, a lad who played magnificently against Barcalona against some to the best players in the world. In the last year of his contract, another bargain. Then we've got Lens, 7m for a Dutch international in the last year of his contract who told his club in need of cash he wanted to leave, a player who's either scored or created at a rate of 1 in 2 throughout his entire league career. Finally Kaboul who if can keep fit is streets ahead of any of our CB options. Perhaps the most important thing is our signings address major problems we we suffering last year and there's more signings to come and by judging by our business so far further address problems we have. Yes, I'm very satisfied with our business so far. It's all improvement with exceptional value which keeps vital funds free to strengthen further. And at this rate, we could even have emergency funds for January which would be fantastic in case we need to sure up or have a chance of pushing on. Great window so far with still a month to go
I'm sorry but Matthews has champions league experience but plays in the poorest league in Europe. Wijnaldum has played in the champions league and for one of the biggest nations in Europe, Mbemba & Mitrovic also have champions league experience and played in a stronger league than the SPL. Not saying they'r gonna turn out as great players, but to put Matthews as a safer bet than any of our signings isn't logical.
Both are stronger than the SPL, that was my point. Again, I'm not saying we've done better business, it's just that Matthews can't be classed as anything other than a risk given his lack of experience at top level football other than a handful of champions league games.
I'd agree with this, both stronger leagues than the SPL, there are women's leagues stronger than the SPL. I don't agree with 'anything other than a risk' mind, the kid was peanuts, not much of a risk at all considering they'd probably have no issues recouping the full fee.
I meant a risk in terms of ability to be fair. In that he's not someone that can be judged before he's played. Where as if either of us signed Austin/Berahino etc then you know exactly what you're getting before they kick a ball. But I get the point you're making, in terms of money spent then there isn't really a risk regarding Matthews.
Poor league? Too be fair, you've just spent 20m for two kids from a poor league, all your signings have come from poor leagues, bit daft for you to focus on league quality, I certainly haven't apart from the players with the only league experience that matters. Mathews cost us 2m and is fantastic competition for our rightback spot. Probably an area to tread carefully as I know which deals carry all the risk. I wasn't even comparing signings from both clubs player for player. Certainly not Matthews with Wij, the only comparable players is coates or kaboul with your new centerback and I haven't even done that. The only comparison I've made is saying that I think we've slightly done the better business and that's based each individual squads needs, how they've been addressed and the risks of the transfers. To add I've shouted from the rooftops there's still a month of transfer window to go so things can change very quickly. Your objections seem to based on you own misconstruction
Yeah, I think that's the point Bri was making. There's also the fact that you lot had money put away in an ISA after years of extreme couponing and super scrimping, Sunderland have been running in the red consistently so yeah, your gambles are going to be bigger this summer. In the past Sunderland had gambled big, with Wickham, Gordon etc. The trouble with signing players who will guarantee you success is that they cost more and are more in demand at the top, every now and again, teams like you and Sunderland need to take a risk and account for it going tits up and if it pays off, fantastic.
He's comparing a two million right back brought in for competition with a 20m outlay for kids that are also from a two club league then talks about risk. strange.
Not really, your original post stated "Matthews has Champions League experience" inferring that he's a safe bet. Where as our players were referred to as "unproven kinds from a ****e league" which is exactly what Matthews is other than he's a touch older so less likely to improve. It's not daft for me to focus on league quality. The Dutch and Belgian leagues whilst poor are two or three levels above the SPL. I'm not having a go, it just seemed odd that you implied you wouldn't want to have done our business because their unproven from poor league but your very next point was that Matthews has champions league experience, something all three of our signings have but you neglected to mention.
It's what scouts are for innit mate, they get all the credit if the players do the business in this league, yet when they fail, the club gets the blame. Probably worth doing any comparisons when the window is shut, preferably a few months into the season.
