Also, why do people have to be so negative about Whittaker? Haven't the last three years shown us that the fact that we make a "surprise" signing of someone none of us fans would have really considered is not a cause for alarm and writing the guy off?
I disagree with the OP and think we have to remain patient, like many others, Clyne is the only player I am peeved about. RobbieBB, to be fair, I am one person who is not convinced with Whittaker signing, I hope he is going to be back up at right back because he was pplaying in SPL ,which is a **** league, and a few Rangers fans said he was the guy who let them down a lot. I know, they were being bitter and what not but they only had good things to say about Naismith. Willing to give him a chance of course and really hope he turns out well but I am fairly dubious of that signing.
to calm your nerves, i know many rangers fans who stated that jelavic was a waste of money for everton because he wouldn't cut it in the premier league, yet he was one of the best players i saw last season. i also know that most i've talked to rate whittaker as a £2m player (who we got for nowt) and that he is great going forward. they have doubts about him defensively but then i have doubts about almost every full back in the country over their defensive ability, so its nothing new to me!
Reading between the lines, I think Whittaker is a great signing. His flexibility will be needed more than once next year. Injuries and suspension demand a squad that can be versatile. I think hes a correct injection of quality, butterflield equally is a finally a young challenger to hoolahans abilities, snodgrass will be a welcome addition to our midfield and I wOuldnt be surprised to see a cb and striker before the start of the season. Happy days for me
I hope your right Supers, but I just have a bad hunch about him. But nonetheless will back him and sing his name at CR.
he won't be as good as naughton, but then naughton was a £5-6m player so we can't expect him to be as good! don't expect miracles and you won't be disappointed...
The squad just needs a couple more players to strengthen it - I would have liked to have taken Clyne as he would have been a welcome and valuable addition in an rea where we do need to "beef up" (sorry Beefy), so, like others on here I'm disappointed he's gone to the Saints. We don't need to buy quantity, we need to buy quality. 2-3 more will do it - possibly Snodgrass, Davies and one other. Vaughan (if he stays fit) will be a new signing this season (he only played 10 mins or so last season so it hardly counts), as will to all extents Ayala so there's no need to panic (at this stage) and what needs to be done will be done.
Naughton wasn't without his down points He had a tendency to fire shots off pretty wildly and would lose the ball occasionally. Delivery was good but I honestly don't think as good as Tierney on his day, goddam that bloke can put a ball in. I loved naughton, and I would have had him back, but it's his own silly fault to stay at tottenham. He's never as good as walker and won't get a lot of chances, think Lansbury mkII.
I'm with this too. keep the faith. The last two seasons we've been in the comfort zone by now, as lambert had done all of his transfer activity early in the summer. we are not in that position now, which doesn't lie comfortably with a lot of us! the whittaker and butterfield deals may have been in the pipeline before Hughton arrived, so he may not have done any business yet and will want to put his stamp on it
I do worry that Whittaker will have to compete with a little something I call "Fraser Forster syndrome" A player comes in on loan, does very well, we try to get him again, can't, then the permanent replacement we get is constantly compared to him. Pretty standard in football.
Not saying he will be as good as Naughton and not expecting miracles. I didn't even mention Naughton. I don't think hoping Whittaker will be a solid right back is a miracle anyway, like I said I just have a hunch he won't cut. And AGAIN I hope I am wrong. Yeah fair enough he is a free transfer but I hope we have another rightback coming in. I like Naughton and would love him back, another thing about him he always got caught when players would cut inside. That was a bit of a problem with him.
fact is, we have a new manager who wants to assess what he has and we don't need that many new players! of course business will be slow!!
My point is that you could have said that about the vast majority of our signings over the last three years. The SPL may not be the greatest league in the world but there's no need to regard anyone who plays in it as, in carrabuh's words regarding players in our Leagues 1 & 2, a "monkey". Or if they are monkeys, then you have to say a lot of our monkeys have done us proud in the Premier League. Furthermore, we have an excellent scout, and an assistant manager who managed in the SPL. Whittaker is not an unknown quantity and we haven't taken on a pig in a poke.
beefy's point, which i totally agree with, is that others will compare the two. just cos you haven't doesn't mean the majority won't.
Not bothered in the slightest, we've got the same squad as last year plus a couple, so surely it means that the team ethic is stronger than before, everyone knows everyone and how they play, settled squad etc etc. I have a lot of faith in Chris Houghton, he's an inspired choice as our new manager, we have to give him time. I honestly believe that we've got a good enough squad to carry on where we left off last year. ILD OTBC
Why when people are disappointed we missed out on Clyne for a tribunal fee do they get tarred as "we need to avoid panic buying"..becoming a very popular and meaningless sentence on this board recently.
Seems to me that some people misunderstand how well-run clubs like ourselves approach the business of adding to their squad. It is an ongoing exercise with constant reviews of the current squad, ages, lengths of contract, form, injuries etc. etc., together with a continuous process of scouting, identifying, and costing of potential targets for strengthening the squad. The fact that we haven't gone for Clyne (if indeed we haven't, we don't know), doesn't mean we've somehow failed to notice a massive opportunity; more likely it means we have looked at it at some stage and decided against pursuing it. I don't understand why people keep saying what a great job the board and management team are doing and how much trust they have in them, on the one hand, and then immediately post things that show they have little or no TRUST at all! You lot are a great mystery to me.
