Critera: - Prem experience - physical presence - commanding; leader - distributor Sugestions: - Spearing - Parker - Ramsay - Gomez - Savage - Greening - Bring back Jan Molby
Savage?!?!?! In fairness the players on your list I'd either abhor seeing in a Swans shirt, or say we have no hope of securing their services, with the exception of Gomez who isn't that type of player. If Bodde or Augustien manage to secure that role, then brilliant, but it is an area where, at best, we should be looking to bring in competition at least. If Joey Barton wasn't such a scumbag he'd be perfect, if not a little teeny weeny bit out of our league, but I think we'd be looking at players out of contract with Premiership experience not necessarily a stipulation.
He was lined up to sign for Birmingham for 2mil plus a year or so ago, but injury made it fall through if my memory serves me correctly. Dutch u-20 and u-21, but hasn't quite lived up to what he promised as of yet... having said that I still rate the guy and hope he can put it together for us.
Dutch but wouldn't suprise me if his ancestry is either Suriname (like Davids) or Dutch Antilles in the Caribbean. I like him a lot.
Closer to 2 - 2 and half years ago now, highly rated, but yet to really fulfill potential. I do have a good feeling about this guy if he can keep his act together
It seems the consensus here is to rely upon Augustien and Bodde - IF FIT - A Risky strategy imo So, Who would you look to sign - over and above the original list above ? Hit The Road - from observation you seem to be the site's strategic thinker - what would you do?
I said before I'd like to see Michael Johnson, I think he'd be quality in our system. Stephen Ireland would have been good, but to be honest we just need someone who can tackle, short pass, and not get muscled! If they can do that, I'm happy!
We have plenty of players for those 2 CDM roles. Bodde, Allen, Britton, Gower, Agustien and Orlandi. It's at the back where we're a bit bare.
I just don't get this article at all. I don't get why you ask for a commanding leader with physical presence, and then highlight Spearing, Ramsay and Gomez as potential fits. Spearing and Ramsay provide no more physical presence than Allen or Leon, and only Ramsay actually provides more footballing quality in my opinion. And Gomez has, and will always be, an attacking midfielder - as will Parker. Savage is past it, but I will say that Greening would probably fit in quite comfortably. But can we afford to have an ageing, less mobile member of the team? I'm not going to suggest anyone myself because I don't see the point. Brendan has said he's looking for hungry players looking to prove themselves in the Premiership - it's pretty hard to guess who these may be. It's already been stated in this thread that this area of the squad is not the area that needs the most attention. Not having 2 senior keepers or 4 senior full backs is the main issue for me.
What we need in midfield is really dependent on its shape. With the Dobbie format we really have two deeper midfield players behind Dobbie. Without Dobbie, we tend to play with one holding. In the latter we probably need a Agustien / Bodde type, in the former we have more permutations. We're also not exactly sure where Routledge will fit into things - I have a feeling that he'll compete with Dobbie for that role, perhaps even Moore might be repurposed for that role. Across our back-line is where we have thinner resources and are going to be vulnerable to injuries. What I am not happy about is the fact that we got a late start, have two new players coming on-line that we have to blend in with only two weeks left before the first match and a damn international break to disrupt our preparation. We could do without that disruption.
Agustien is the player for the defensive midfield position but not sure how he will cope so hopefully we will bring in somebody who has proved themselves in that position.
Fingers crossed that Ferrie can make a comeback for us this season, for those 15 mins at Port Talbot he looked pure class and we'd benefit so much from him being at the heart of our midfield.
What I was saying when said Gomez holding role??? Was meant to mean no chance he's an out and out attacking midfielder. Maybe op never seen much of swans when gomez was here. Agree mostly with bigkidderz apart from bit with Parker. Yes he can play attacking but is mostly use as a holding player especially with England. Given more freedom with west ham
