With all the in/out articles about Bruce flying about, I thourght it would be good to see peoples opinions on his signings. Most managers are judged on their signings and taking the injury situation out of the equation, are brucies signings good enough for our club, obviously no manager can get every signing right but here we go: Bent- masterstroke, such a shame the way things turned out Gyan- great signing, a guy with class Cattermole- I love the man, always puts fight into our side, never seem the same without him. Campbell- looked good, shame with injuries. Turner- hit and miss, a fully fit turner is a good premier league defender. Bramble- good start to season, but them seemed to be atleast 5-10 yards behind play all the time, not the defender to take us forward. Cana- good initial impact then dropped off. Mig- good young keeper at a good price. Zenden- great bosman, good couple of years for us. Riveros- not up to premier league standard, but judged on a few games. Angerlie- what was the point in spending money on a player that dosent actually play? Strange one. Elmo- worth 2mill, a good squad player which you need in this league. Sess- could turn out to be another very good signing for us. Welbeck- I questioned this one at first, but what a player when fit. Muntari- could have gone the other way and been great, but something wasn't quite right. Kilgallen- 4million for someone to play about 4 games, crazy. I find most of his signings good enough and have improved our side, some signings wernt up to it, shame about the injuries because it could have been a very good season. So just judging purely on his signings and nothing else, is Bruce good enough for us, forget tactics and the rest of it, just the signings.
Judging just on the signings, yes, he's bought some good players, and see what else he buys in the summer...
After a ****e opening gambit the other day, this is a very good post today and well thought out. In fact so much so, you'd think you had run it past me first to gain my approval? (Ha! Ha!) I agree almost wholeheartedly with much of it although I don’t see Turner as anything other than a donkey at this level. However, given that his signings have been this good, is it not more lamentable that his 2 seasons have been less than impressive? Even given the injuries (and they haven’t all come at once) we have under performed hugely in the last 18 months. I think Shorts patience has worn thin (along with many fans) and SB is frantically looking to recruit and rebuild now. He will need to show that things are better very quickly but if he does, then this poster will be one of the happiest men on the planet to put his hand up and say he was wrong. If not he wont see 2012 as SAFC manager and thats a fact. We shall see.
Didn't realise that Kilgallon cost that sort of money. If so, a big minus mark. Also, didn't he sign da Silva? A minus there, too. Fair summation, though, I think.
The good signs are that the forward players he signed, Bent, Gyan, Welbeck & Campbell to an extent, have all scored goals so I trust Brucey on getting us the right forwards this summer, midfielders however I am not convinced
On signings alone, certainly. I agree with all but one of your comments and that is of Bramble. You're probably not aware that when Bramble broke down with his injury he had been carrying an injury problem all through the season. Something to do with a cartiledge problem in his knee. IMO, a fully fit Bramble is an excellent defender.
I thought Killgallon was closer to the 2m mark than 4m? I may be wrong but its highly unlikely of course.
Correct me if I'm.wrong but killgallon cost nowhere near 4m, we got him from sheff utd with only 6 months to run on his contract and I fairly certain the fee was around the 2m mark
Crestiamackem I read your mind, and new that this article would be fine by you ha Dorset It just looks like he always has a mistake in him, a lapse of concentration or a bad position. He's fine if you want to be lower mid table or aiming to stay in the league, but to progress he's not the man that should be in our defence. Ask the likes of villa, everton, stoke, tottenham, fulham (established clubs wanting Europe or champion league) if they would want him, I don't think you would be able to pay them to have him. Same as Ferdinand, could be ok for a couple games, and then a mistake will cost you 3 points.
ITS CESTRIAMACKEM FFS? Lol I think Bramble is a good defender and EPL quality but as gbsafc says, he always has a mistake in him which more often than not costs dearly. He would be a great squad player IMO but I think both him and Turner should be replaced with more mobile and athletic defenders who can defend aerial threats. I'd be happy to see Upson or Cahill (we dont have a chance with him I know) and Turner and Bramble on the bench..
Matthew Kilgallon Sheff Utd 2.024.000 ã hd my terrible 2 year old on my knee so just coppied and pasted that, but we bought him as our defence was decimated through, yes you guessed it, Injuries last year, he didnt make it, mind you he went to boro and never even made it there, been on loan at doncaster this season, how fortunes can change eh. (I quite liked him when he played for Shef as well, just never happened here)
I agree that there is a mistake in Bramble, but he has put in some great performances since he arrived here from Wigan. A lot of the stupid mistakes he made earlier in his career seem to have been eradicated from his game with experience. He is definately better than Turner and Mensah, so still deserves his starting place in the team when fit. All defenders have a mistake in them, for example Vidic at Man U, regarded as one of the worlds best CB's, but he's had a few howlers this season. We have higher priorities in other areas of the pitch that require strengthening, so I expect we'll see Titus at the heart of our defence next season, if he's fit in time!
Killgallon didnt really get a chance to be fair, he was tipped to be like Jakielka. The South Americans were poor buys but i would have too say he has bought well for the future as low down as too the academy level where we are bringing these players in stealing them off their clubs.
