Yeah, you certainly have to take these youtube videos with a pinch of salt. You could probably make Mark Fotheringham look like a decent player in one of those compilations.
Always a risk getting in a youngster from a weaker league. As previously stated RvW looked like a world beater on YouTube before we signed him and whilst I accept we probably did not set up to suit his style of play and he was unlucky with injuries he still did not look the part at all in the EPL. That said most of us were hugely pleased when Hooper joined - experienced player at the top of his game having scored in the so-called Champion's League (I am now treating the Champion's League in the same manner the BBC treat Islamic State - just saying you are something does not make it so) and his career seems to have petered out. If we are spending £5m - £15m on a forward it will still represent a gamble. We just have to accept it or else only shop in League 1 as even a decent Championship forward seems to be £10m+ these days but with all the rewards for being in the Premier League all of the clubs in the bottom half will be getting their cheque books out to try to invest enough to hang on for another season. On another matter I reckon if we were to beat Villa it may well have quite a profound effect on both their January window and ours - no player with aspirations of playing in the PL will want to go there and our survival hopes will appear to be far more likely and so our potential targets may be more inclined to join us. If it goes the other way however.....
It's true that spending large amounts of money on a couple of players is risky, but NOT spending the money is not risk free. The cost of regulation this year is greater than ever before. I guess if you think we would come straight back up than the risk lessens. For me I'm not convinced if we were in the Championship this year with the team we've got that we'd be challenging for automatic promotion. Unfortunately the type of money we are looking to spend to just stay in the PL is very similar to what top Championship teams are paying
Anyone else remember the Fozzy flick? I think our fixtures into the new year could have a dramatic effect on our recruitment. If we were to manage a point at Spurs, and follow it up with wins over Villa and an out-of-form Southampton, we'd suddenly be looking an awful lot healthier.
Apologies in advance for my second essay in as many days... The little I know about Haller, he's a completely different player to RvW in terms of style. RvW looked like a great player to sign because he had a silky touch, looked very technical, very Dutch. It's not hard to see why it went wrong with him when you look at the pace and brutality of the PL and then add it to the combination of limited support in our playing style and untimely injuries. Haller is a bit of a beast. So I think that makes him lower risk, in that he has a better chance of coping physically. Of course it also means it's potentially lower reward, but frankly IMO we need someone who will hit the ground running and score 5+ goals in the second half of the season, not necessarily someone who will make us £10m profit (though that would be nice too...) And of course he could still be a disaster if it turns out size is his only attribute and he can't cope technically. So I'd be pleased if we got Haller, but I think Afobe is even lower risk (although of course as with any transfer still risky). Look at Wolves' fans' comments online about him and despite a seemingly quiet season they're all saying that without him they'd be relegation material and he's been surviving (and scoring a decent number) on scraps. So he'd be my ideal striker signing, but inevitably will be more in demand with bigger spending Swans and Newcastle interested. As DH says, points now might make the difference.
Hey, chaps, shall we all club together and get Rob a new thesaurus for xmas - he's worn the last one out!!
But why the need for gambles, and expensive ones at that? Why spend money for the sake of it just to give some of our fans stiffies as you seek to be endorsing? I've never said we don't need to strengthen, we almost certainly need to, but I'm more interested in identifying the type of players that will come in and strengthen our first team, not bothered about how much they cost. If the players Alex wants to sign cost a lot of money then so be it, but also if he identifies players that are freebies or inexpensive (such as Holt, Hoolahan and Martin, a point I made but which you conveniently chose to ignore) and they improve us as a football club then all the better in my opinion.
I agree with this, although I think the club was in a very different place when we bought Holt, Hoolahan and Martin than we are now. I don't want the club to spend money just for the sake of it. Although I do think we need a CB & striker who would be first 11 starters. I also think we possibly need a RB if Martin wants to insist he's a CB. I think there is quiet a bit of dead wood that we could get rid of (RvW, Hooper, Grabban, Whittaker,etc), although whether anyone would want them is another question.
I wouldn't say it would be 'spending money for the sake of it' far from it, if we get relegated there's no guarantee we'd bounce straight back next time. Basically what I'm trying to say is that we should do everything we possibly can to stay up, even if that means paying over the odds for a decent CB and frontman to enhance our chances. Don't forgot that staying up this term is going to be worth mega bucks to the club and Colney which I have to admit does need millions spending on it, can be transformed once more to a state of the art complex. It's not as if the gamble would be the ruin of us if it didn't work out, just my opinion and I'm sticking to it.
Yep spot on. It's an excellent point that when we bought those players it was rather different circumstances. In League One I bet the £300,000 odd we spent on Holt was one of the biggest transfers in that league at the time. Now it's peanuts because we're in the PL. So I think we need to be careful about making a song and dance about how little those guys cost because if Holtyhad bombed and we'd stayed in League One that £300k might look like an awful lot of money. However, that doesn't alter the fact that it was sensibly placed funds, which I think is yours/Munky's point. Spend big money if it will get us value, but let's not disregard the likes of Mulumbu and co just because they don't cost so much
It doesn't seem like anybody is saying don't take the cheap options if they look like they'll help (I don't recall anybody saying Mulumbu was bad business, or Jarvis), but equally there's a realisation that freebies in January are few and far between, and with the money currently in the Premier League players do cost sizable sums. I'd like us to sign proven Premier League players who can come in for sensible fees and make a difference. Naismith may be an example of that, but I think I'd run out of players in that category before I got to 5 or 6, and fewer still in the positions we need bolstering. The next option is championship players who can make the step up, or overseas. A championship player can easily cost £5-10m these days, and that money goes a heck of a lot further on the continent. Sure RvW was bad business but I'd argue Fer wasn't as he retained value if nothing else, Garrido and Tettey came from overseas for modest sums and were good signings. Of course we need to be extra certain the players are right before bringing them in, but to write off all continental players because we've been burnt before is going to drastically reduce the pool of players we can recruit from. We've been into a January window before with little money to spend on strikers or centre backs, and in came the likes of Yobo, Kamara and Becchio. All poor additions but perhaps the best we could afford. This January we will have reasonable money available, so why not spend it? The board aren't going to sanction deals that will cripple the club, but there's money available because of prior prudence. I've little doubt that we'd go down as strong as last time, and in the summer the manager would have about £5m to mould a championship squad, plus whatever can come from sales. Our club is run well enough for that. Even if we accept relegation as inevitable now, doesn't it make sense to spend money? We can attract a higher calibre of player as a Prem relegation battler than as one of many championship promotion hopefuls, and I trust Neil and McNally to identify players prepared to stick with us in the championship. Afobe might well be one.
Afobe is the one I really want, and I'm completely confused by those who don't want him. Any of you guys a member of the ncfc Facebook group? Got an invite a few weeks back and it's strangely addictive - if only for the thoughts of some of our 'fans'. I didn't bother with the pinkun but imagine it's of that ilk - plenty of 'none of our players are good enough', 'we're definitely down' and 'I want Peter crouch' comments. I say addictive, actually it's terrifying. Like a written Canary Call.
Some very interesting comments and all valid - that's the beauty of a forum. I trust AN when he says that he is looking to do business early and let's hope that by the time Citeh come to CR we have at least a couple of additions to the squad who'll slot straight into the team. Yes, at the time Holt was a massive gamble at the time with us close to (thanks Gunny!!!), but how handsomely did it pay off?? I don't believe anyone is suggesting we do a 'QPR/Portsmouth/Leeds), but we may need to spend a significant sum to get the players AN wants.
Daily Mail reporting just now that we have agreed a £2.5M fee with West Ham for Matt Jarvis, evidently it's a 3.1/2 year deal.
That would be good news if true. I know he's older now, but he cost them £10m a few years back. He showed enough to certainly make that look like good value, IMO.
Is Would be keen on that. He's looked good when he's played. Struggled to get going as West Ham and clearly the change has done him good. £2.5m would be good business.
The report i have read says a 4.1/2 year deal, which seems a long one these days. would have expected more like 2.1/2 plus 1 optional. AN must be really pleased with his contribution.
I agree with everyone else. He has really surprised and impressed me. He is the kind of player we need, whether it be this league or the Championship. 2.5 is a very good price in my view. Also, does that mean we open up a loan space?
Wet Sham has confirmed the deal. We've missed him while he's been out and it's great that he's back in training and will be available next week. At 29 Jarvis is still in his prime and I agree with DH that we need experienced PL players at this time. AN has done very well to bring in 5 of those to strengthen the squad and I'd like to see Naismith for the same reason. There could be other bargains becoming available as more established PL teams strengthen next month.
