Just browsing a few sites and was quite impressed by a few names, upon further research. What do you guys think? 1) John Guidetti, scored 20 goals in 23 appearances, while on loan to Feyenoord, who finished runners-up in the Dutch League. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Guidetti. He will definitely be loaned out this season, as Man City have a host of strikers ahead in the pecking order. That is a tough league and to score 20 goals in a season while just 20 in such strong company is quite special. He would probably cost too much too buy outright, but season-loan would be a good choice, with Man City paying anything over (if he earns above our wage cap). 2) Danny Guthrie. Played 92 games for Newcastle, was signed for £2.5m, now available as a free agent. Seemed to be a good player, in the enforcer role. "Guthrie was an out of favour player with Newcastle after the signing of Cheick Tioté. The consistent form of Joey Barton and Kevin Nolan also kept the 24 year old on the bench throughout much of the season". Let's be honest, Tiote and Barton (pre-fall out and QPR-merc) would have kept anyone else in that situation. It would be interesting to hear Newcastle fans' opinions. Quite frankly, we have all discussed season-long on how we need another DM player in the Johnson-mould, Fox just isn't suited for that role, and to pick him up on a free would be a bargain. Premier League experience too, added bonus. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Guthrie. 3) Gunter (RB). Transfer value probably at £2.5m-£4m. (Reason age & 133 appearances for Forest) 4) Chambers (CB) - Option if No.5 doesn't materialize. 5) Curtis Davies (CB). If Chris Hughton rate him highly, then he is good enough for Premier League football, simple. He was also in the Championship team of the year. Would add much needed steel to our defence, and be a great foil for both Ayala and R.Bennett. £3-4m transfer fee, perhaps added attraction is to follow Hughton and of course, Premier League football. --- So, I have tried to think outside of the box, away from the usual suspects, Rhodes, Rodriguez, Snodgrass, Naughton, Phillips, Ince, etc. If Holt stays, getting this Guidetti chap for a season would be worth a shout, if it doesn't work out, we can always send him back. We would solve the DM problem. We would bolster the CB position, with an arguably better replacement to Whitbread. And, we would solve Naughton's absence at RB. Then of course, you could get a wide player (Snodgrass, £2.5m), another RB (Naughton, £4.5m, he will be sold for more later, so you would definitely recoup this for those of you who are balking at the fee) and I think that would be a good transfer window for us. Thoughts? Guidetti FW (Loan) Snodgrass L/R AM (£3m, Bates would snap our hand off, besides they are Feeds United ) Guthrie DM (Free) Naughton RB (£4.5m) Gunter RB (£3.5m) Davies CB (£3m, strapped for cash club, must sell to buy) Estimated cost £14m. Solves the problem areas, and is within our transfer budget.
Oh and to add further impressive achievement for Guidetti, he was selected for the Swedish Euro 2012 squad, before withdrawing due to a virus. Remember he is just 20 years old. "The Feyenoord hot-shot, on loan from Manchester City, would have been in serious contention for a place in Sweden's starting lineup. As it is, he has not recovered from an infected nerve which led to a loss of feeling in his right leg. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, forever the main man, should soften the blow of Guidetti's loss." Sounds like a great player!
I like it mate, still not 100% about Gunter but I'm definitely interested in Davies and Guthrie, and I'll have to be honest and say I'd never heard of that Guidetti bloke, but he sure sounds the business as well I see Fulham and someone else (can't remember who, might be WBA) are fighting it out for Liam Bridcutt, he would be useful I reckon though if there's a bidding war going on perhaps better to look at other targets.
Thanks! Bridcutt, good shout, would be delighted if we got him, always another option, exciting times at the moment. Gunter, my transfer choices would enable Naughton (1st choice), with Gunter and R.Martin perfect competition to keep them all on their toes. He would hence be afforded the chance to be gradually introduced to PL football, just like R.Bennett.
Big fan of Guthrie from what I've seen of him on the box. Don't know about this Guidetti but the figures sound impressive. Is Davies going to step into the 1st team? A late type of developer and only now being a regular 1st teamer albeit in a lower division. We have promise with Ayala and Bennet so he would I imagine only be back up so we wouldn't want to spend a lot on a reserve. Snodgrass is a good shout, money being a probable sticking point. I don't see Naughton coming back somehow. I'm sure Lambert will try and nuy him for Villa.
Good list, I'd be happy with all of them. I like Gunter tbh, admittedly after only watching him a couple of times. The only thing is that I suspect our transfer budget isn't around £14m. I think unfortunately it will be a bit lower than last year due to this £10m payment of the deferred interest/loan from 2009, even though our league position will have put us in a very good place. This season was always going to be a bit of a struggle on the finances front because of that- I'm beginning to think this is why Lambert left- he wanted to kick on from last season, but the board said no, aim for 17th, it will have to wait until next season. We know Lambchops is not a man to be kept waiting! I think redruth's right unfortunately, we probably won't get a chance with Naughton, which is a real shame.
I think the summer budget is around the £20m mark ? Lamborghini was told he had an extra £10m to spend ontop of last seasons, which was around £10m.
Wasn't Guthrie the player who got sent for Newcastle against us last season. Not that that should rule him out.
Find 20 million hard to believe...decent list though...what about Jordan Mutch - had a bit of a stop start season but hughton seems to rate him...Davies feels like a good fit for me - I'd be delighted if we got him - although i'd be more delighted if we could get caulker using our rotten ham connections - naughts would be nice, but I think he'd be one PL could move for as I can't see Hutton being to lamberts liking...think my top target would be Matt Phillips - surprised nobody has gone in for him already...Heard someone mention zigic - which wouldn't put a smile on my face...
I must admit, I'm a bit sceptical about that. I've no doubt we've got money to spend, but that all sounded a little optimistic. There's a very good article on Vital football about our finances this season that explains that we're pretty strapped compared to last season. If we can stay for another year, however, we'll be in a fantastic position.
that was dan gosling i like guthrie, underrated player. on a free you couldn't really get much better to be honest. as normal with all these players, the price of getting them is fine, we can afford them all, but what will their wages be...
I think Mohamed Abdellaoue is a decent player too, looked good against England the other week and seems to have goals in him. I know he has just had a pretty succesful season too. I have a feeling we will look abroad this year, I still think we'll get a few players from Championship too. Tom Ince and Matty Phillips would be great, Curtis Davies looks decent too. I would like us to get Martin Olsson from Blackburn, think he is a quality player.
I've said it a few times before, but if people think we are going to start next season with a 21 and 22 year old who have just 15 Premiership games between then as our first choice CB partnership in the toughest league in the world then we could be in trouble if you ask me. We will sign an experienced CB, very possibly someone like Davies who is 27 and should now be maturing into his peak, to play alongside Bennett with Ayala as the back-up
100% agree, I think Ayala and Bennett will benefit more as in and out of the team players. If they perform fair enough, but I think playing every week and if they hit a bad run of form could really halt there development.
I guess if our wage cap is as tight as has been reported, all of our spare cash can go into transfer fees as opposed to wages. If you pay out £5m on a transfer and are then committed to paying £3m for 3 years that comes to £14m in total whereas the same £5m tranfer with a £1m wage for 3 years equates to £8m. Clubs across the board are getting into trouble because their turnover to wages ratio has spiralled out of control. Just a thought but it seems to be the sensible way to do business. Perhaps we are setting the new benchmark?
i think curtis davies is the most likely birmingham player to follow hughton to norwich. its a position we need new personnel in and he's a good age too, within budget... it all makes sense. i'm intrigued to see who hughton goes in for to be honest!
There's not a hope of getting Snodgrass for £3 million. Besides, given his connections to Lambert through Livingston, he will go to Villa. I'm not sure that any of the names really represents better than what we've already got - maybe Davies, who certainly adds experience compared to Ayala and Ryan Bennett (who can obviously also play right back) but what else? Have we paid £3+ million for Bennett to sit on the bench - doubt it, so what happens to Martin (who I think is a better centre back than full back) and Ayala? Yes, Ayala is young and inexperienced but he looks like a quality, ball-playing centre back and, injuries permitting, I'd like to see him used far more often. We do have a younq squad but is it primariy experience or quality we need? Yes, I know everyone will shout both, but that doesn't come cheap. Not sure how reliable the quoted £20 million is but is that transfer fees alone? Does it include signing and agents fees? Salaries for new players etc? Regardless of whether Holt stays or leaves and Vaugham is ever able to play, we need more depth in the striker department, someone who is capable of Holt like scoring stats - which certainly isn't Jackson and probably not Morrison (a problem for Morrison is perhaps a perception of being too similar to Holt and therefore not really given a chance) Not entirely convinced by Johnson or Crofts (actually Crofts should be allowed or made to go!), so a new 'holding' midfield player....However, whilst I appreciate football is a squad game, one thing I'm really hoping for is a more settled side, with far less 'chopping and changing' than from the Lambert days - which although often positioned as 'tactical genius' actually demonstrated the complete reverse. There were some shocking decisions of who did and didn't play, and a few instances of guys playing out of position....
snodgrass is out of contract next summer - i think £3.5m will get him but hughton may not fancy him. he does lack pace but the rest of his game is excellent so its a close call as to whether he would do well in the top flight as pace is so important. as for the defence, we certainly need another centre back - bennett and ayala are both young and ward is decent back up, as is martin but we need more than that and davies fits the bill, more so than ever before! agree we need at least one new forward, regardless of where holt is next season. we need a defensive midfield enforcer desperately in my opinion - i think thats an area we've been lacking in all season. interesting times ahead and because we don't really know hughton's transfer policy its very difficult to predict where he'll shop!
With Ayala's current injury record, I'm guessing our first choice CB pairing would be Bennett and AN Other, and I'd be very happy with Davies there. We need depth, and of our current CB's I'd argue really only Ayala and Bennett have, or have the potential to be, prem CB's. Having someone like Ayala who can come in and do a job when we have injuries or a congested fixture list is very handy.
Davrid, Personally think we can get Snodgrass for 3-4 Million, remember it'll be Ken Bates who'll make the decision. He loves money in the bank. I think Russell Martin will be up there with Bennett and Ayala if you add Davies to that you'll have Ward, Barnett, Bennett, Davies, Martin and Ayala. I do think Barnett will most probably leave though. I also think Morison might be a big player next year and I think Jackson can get a few more goals. Jackson's performances have been brilliant and if he'd had a few more goals I think he'd be one of the first names on the teamsheet. Also not convinced with Johnson is strange, he has had a fantastic season in my eyes. Has a blip in the middle of season but started brilliantly and was one of the best players on the park against Spurs at WHL. You're a bit doom and gloom Davrid not many negatives at all last year in my eyes, you've listed several there. Supers, I think Chris Burke may well follow Hughton too, which would probably rule out Snodgrass move if it did happen.
