I wouldn't say Kayal is like Taraabt at all, actually. He has the ability to go forward, do the 360 spins in tight spaces, etc, but he's more of an in-yer-face, busy, energetic midfielder. Weird thing is, a lot of Celtic fans take him for granted now - we're a bit spoiled in midfield just now but he's one of my favourite players despite last seasons injury issues. Given that we no longer need to play R*ngers, there's no L*e M*Cul**ch to deliberately injure him and the "injury problems" mentioned about him stem from one pretty shocking incident, really. He's much better than Ki or McGeady and Swansea gave us £8m for Ki and Spartak the same amount for McGeady.
well i don't think hooper is going to happen - certainly not in january anyway. graham is a newcastle fan if i remember correctly, so that's not good if they are interested! kayal is a good player - not so much like taarabt, more like scholes i would say but a much better tackler!
Hooper - I really, really, really hope we don't lose him. The Kayal/Scholes comparison is a really good one, actually
i think i'm right in saying that hooper has 18 months left on his deal. i think he'll move back to england in the summer so celtic get some money for him. can't see him staying up there too much longer. whether he'd come to us i'm not sure - we are probably amongst the calibre of club who will want him - norwich, saints, villa etc, so i wouldn't be surprised if we do try an approach at some point - i just don't think it will be in january if we do. also, his wages probably are going to be too high for us at this stage. if we stay up this season then i'd imagine he'll become more attainable.
Danny Graham and Grant Holt follow each other on twitter and I believe both are friends with each other so it would make sense for him to join City if he wishes to leave Swansea
Well it looks like all the rumours about Chamakh were (not that any of us took them seriously), well wide of the mark, as he's joined West Ham on loan.
Saying Kayal is a better tackler than Scholes is hardly praise - I reckon 99.99% of the posters on this site are better tacklers than Scholes! However I would not be disappointed to see him or Hooper in Yellow and Green as he would give a bit more creativity in the midfield without sacrificing the solidy CH has put in place. Hooper is a natural finisher but you won't get a Holt-esque shift from him. My only reservation with Kayal would be using a large portion of our budget strenthening an area where we already have depth. If you offered me him or nothing I'd take him but him or a decent striker and I'd take the striker to see us through the winter.
well obviously he's a better tackler than scholes. my dog tackles better than he does! my point is that he is the kind of midfielder who we will want on board if we are ever going to try and stay in this league long term. he does everything and does it all well. were it not for injuries i suspect he'd be playing for someone like arsenal. £5m may well be a large chunk of our budget but i'd say its better spent on one individual who will be a key player than one or two who are just here for competition for places. this nonsense about him playing in a position where we have enough players does my head in - did anyone see how we coped without johnson at the weekend?! we need better midfielders too, not just better forwards. its going to be bloody difficult to secure the services of a striker who improves our side during the january window - i don't think people are aware of that. some people seem to assume we'll just buy one or two... people don't want to sell their best players!
I never said Hoolahan wasn't creative, the point was that that Bolton don't play with creativity so Butterfied didn't fit in. I say we don't play with creativity because we play to formulas and structures, not individualism which lends towards that style of play. Hence why we score so few goals and are defensively sound. I don't think there's anyone on this entire board that likes Hoolahan as much as me.
Liam bridcutt is having a great game vs the toon. Breaking up play and controlling the midfield Would love to sign him up!
MOTM today, played brilliantly, would be an improvement on Bradders if today was anything to go by. Would love to see him join us
Just seen a rumour that Swansea are intersrted in Kenwyne Jones from Stoke Seems dead unlikely - he's surely made for Stoke City, but if there is a shred of truth in it, it may be because Danny Graham will need replacing?
Soccer Sauce ‏@soccer_sauce We understand that both #NCFC & #SAFC have submitted bids for Gary Hooper. #Celtic have accepted the #NCFC bid after rejecting the #SAFC one
Yeah, and scored his third goal in three games. I personally think Swansea would be absolutely crazy to sell him, but you never know....
