I agree to an extent but why dont we try out our Mayuka factor, or Rodriquez? Unless of course we have bought poorly. And we need quality defenders not gambles.
Not too sure what will happen in January. We had to take out a loan, presumably to aid cashflow, so can't see us splashing the cash...that was all done on JRod and Gaston. As any loans/purchases will be done to correct lack of depth/quality in squad, all new arrivals will be what we need now not in the future. I'm expecting no more than 2-3 players (GK and defenders) probably on loan.
We will do, I'm sure. We're not half way through the season yet. Every signing is a gamble, but Distin is quality.
The best thing about the January transfer window is all the players who are unhappy at not being played at their current clubs being transfer listed. I think the trick is to look for decent players at better clubs, who are 3rd choice in their position, but are more than good enough to be playing regularly for a slightly lesser side. That's how Stoke ended up with Shawcross, Owen, Palacios, Crouch.
Pretty easy to understand I think. Even the best players may fail to perform at a new club simply because they don't fit in. Signing a quality player never guarantees quality performance.
And paying huge wages as well, something we wont do and quite rightly so, if it means we stay up though and take that gamble I am all for it obviously seeing where exactly we stand in January. We pay pretty low wages for the Premiership.
Thats stating the obvious though dont you think, the better the player the less then gamble but the higher fee. We tried it the other way around in the summer on the vast majority of our players, albeit Burnley are still ****ing themselves laughing and New Boys are still in shock.
Not necessarily. There's also the older the player the lower the fee, and the less time remaining on his contract the lower the fee. Burnley are 14th, I think they'd be quite happy to have Rodriguez back.
QPR bought a bunch of PL big shots and look where they are. We're in touching distance of the pack with 2 very winnable games coming up - it's not a terrible position to be in. The top players want bigger clubs than us and/or higher wages than we can offer. Rule them out and we need to take a compromise either on pedigree, attitude or talent. West Ham got players like Diame, Jarvis and Carroll by paying them loads. It's not really worth comparing them to us.
Distin would be a great signing. His best days maybe behind him for a top 5 PL team but he is certainly still PL quality. Big fee's and wages don't always mean sucess Arsharvin, Torres, Carrol, Veron to name a few, so it is hard to find the right mix. I do think we went too far on the potential side of things in the summer. It has been a gamble as to whether any of our signings (Davis apart) can play in the Premier League. As quality as he is, Gaston is a big gamble, no PL experience and a hefty fee for a club like us. In January a couple of experienced Premier league players would address the balance IMO and we may have to pay a bit for them.
Distin would be an absolutely brilliant signing. Getting the balance right is just luck really. You guys are saying Michu is a "pedigree" player, but even he came from La Liga, and there have been countless occasions where players can't adjust tp the premier league. The only way you can guarantee success is to spend massive amounts and take a proven premier league player from a premier league club, which we aren't in a position to do. Until then it's just educated guesses and gambles. The only other thing I would suggest is that someone tries teaching Yoshida how to kick a football.
Michu is a much more English-style player than most Spaniards though so it's less of a gamble. He's big, strong, and direct so he has attributes which are suited to the English game. But he's got pedigree in that he's been successful in the Spanish league so he clearly has a bit of quality about him as well. As for Yoshida, he's not the answer to our prayers or anything, but he's come in, adapted quickly and done a decent job. I don't really understand the stick he's getting now.
Because if you miss place a pass or two in the same game, you get written off by a lot of Saints fans now. These fans that have never made a mistake. I think Yoshida has adapted quite well and is developing an understanding with Jose, who has played very well for several games now.
Yoshida is getting experience and has recovered from a difficult start where he was played out of position. He'll be fine. Adkins wasn't giving much away about the January window...just said we do things quietly (whoever would have thought it!). I'm not expecting much activity to be honest...another defender or two perhaps.
I think he will be ok as back up but that's about it, We need a better defensive partner for Fonte. If we can bring in two Cb's it would bring in much more competition for places. As Fonte and Yoshida have no one to contend with.
