Scanning the sports pages over the last couple of days,a re occuring theme, Zamora moves on in the transfer window. It appears that he is not happy with us, "so off you go". Hopefully 8/9 mil. My old mate AJ 2mil. = a combined wage saving of 90/95k per wk. Although not the manager, or having any say in the transfer market, this is my senario Nat Clyne of Crystal Palace 3/4mil. Berbatov on loan until seasons end . What then, evaluate our position, and buy. If Jol is still with us, he would then have more idea,who within our price range would be suitable.
What about Mounir El Hamdaoui? We were linked with him in the summer and MJ signed him for Ajax but since De Boer took over he hasn't played so he would certainly be available and probably at a good price. He had a great partnership with Dembele at AZ and I remember Dembele saying he was the best player he ever played with. Looks like a no-brainer to me. Has pretty much a 1 in 2 goal ratio throughout his career. We could do with someone like that.
Rumours are that Man Utd are interested in Clyne. If that's the case it may mean an uphill struggle (at best!) to persuade him to come to us. I still suspect that Jol has someone in mind - possibly El Hamdoui, possibly Gignac - for either a permanent transfer or a half-season loan with an option to buy. I don't think we'll make a loan signing that isn't likely to become permanent, which is what I think Berbatov would be. Although like everyone else, I'm shooting in the dark here and have no insight into what has been discussed behind closed doors!
January is going to be a tricky time for Martin Jol. He has a really difficult situation to deal with: We are lacking goals - We have a very good goals against stat, but only scoring 16 goals is not enough. We need a goal scorer or two. Reducing the age of the squad - We still sit 19 out of 20 when it comes to having the oldest squad. Working on a tight budget - We will not have loads of money to spend. Keeping the door open for the youngsters to break through - Trotta, Hoesen, Dalla Valle, Donegan could all be knocking on the door. Frei and Kacaniklic have been in the first squad. When Jol talks of Fulham being his biggest challenge yet, I imagine these are some of the difficulties he faces. Defensively, we have cover on the left with Briggs and Baird and Kelly have played well defensively this season but may lack the ability to get forward that Jol wants. The goals against column does not lie, we are fairly solid still. As for goals, it goes without saying that we need to get the ball in the net. We have created more than enough opportunities to be placed higher up the league but have not finished well enough. I think there is a bit of truth in the BZ stories, and still reckon he might go back the Brighton. We will not pay AJ big wages so he may go. Agree about El Hamdaoui, but question why MJ did get him before. I think he was at Spurs with him, so may be he does feel the prem is the right league for him. Berbatov will never happen, too old. Gignac is the most obvious, hopefully a loan deal at first to how he adapts and Trotta and Hoesen fair on loan. If AJ goes another fox in the box will be needed. I think MJ will possibly look at a midfielder, probably central. Rumours suggest that Mark Noble could be the target. Good player, 24 and got prem experience. If we could get him for 5 million, would be great signing. Frei will be a regular feature soon as he has looked very exciting. Reports suggest that Donegan has been excellent so may be he will get some game time as well. Jol will have to earn his money in january, going to be very hard to get a balance between all of the demands. In Jol we trust. COYW
I can't see Al Fayed cracking open his wallet for another striker unless we unload a couple of people first: namely AJ and BZ (not that I'm advocating such a move). Jol has spent money, big money, already this year. We have Duff, Dembele, Dempsey, Ruiz and Sa, all of whom can score goals, along with AJ and BZ. Buying another striker just muddies the water. I could imagine a player exchange, though. If Sunderland really want BZ, perhaps we can swap Bobby for Darren Bent plus some cash. Bent is good, I just think he's on the wrong team right now. His pace up front would help spread the defense making room for our goal-scoring midfielders.
Um, are you sure you mean Bent, DR? He left Sunderland for Villa last season! I can't see Villa (or Sunderland, for that matter!) swapping him with us in any case, even if reports of their interest in BZ are true.
BBC on BZ: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/16166147.stm Just listen to the opening statement:"With me (Jol) what you see it what you get". This is no politics atmosphere that some players find hard to accept.
The Independent's report on the same press conference, with the same Martin Jol quotes, had the headline 'Jol hints at an exit for Zamora' while the BBC labels it 'Jol plays down Zamora rift talk'. Make up your minds, journos.
That speaks books. Anyway, it looks like one of our strikers are off soon, and we're looking at bargain basement, so loans may well be on the cards. I'd love to see Gignac at the Cottage. We also need a right back now that Grygera is injured. I wouldn't mind seeing Kelly play there for the rest of the season, and for us to get a backup.
I agree regarding Kelly. He's done well so far and deserves a run of games to prove himself. If he gets that starting tonight, we'll have time to get someone in the window if he isn't working out. I'm also positive towards Gignac, although that's entirely based on heresay rather than actually having seen him play. He sounds like he might be a good fit for us though.
Just a word of warning on Gignac, he got injured in November with a torn leg muscle in the same leg that he had an operation in May on. According to UEFA CL website he will be out for 4-6 weeks. Deschamp hasn't been playing him that much, and I think Gignac had fallen out with him hence the reason we put in for a last minute loan in the summer which fell through due to the player Marseille were going to buy to replace him with getting injured.
With the European Championship looming we should be targeting strikers who need to be visible for selection by their national teams. Was hoping BZ will be motivated by the same reason but...
