Bare in mind this interview was right after the Swansea game, talks about potential signings wouldn't have materialised too far. Also consider the possibility that with creativity being the priority we don't want to sign Frimpong, and by saying he costs too much eases the blow of letting him go.
My worry for us is that Jol has proven over time that he has a way of getting the best out of the free transfer/loan market, so MAF will encourage him to continue doing so. Why would MAF give money to a manager who has proven he can cope without it? I hope I'm wrong.
Well look at it this way, we've signed 3 decent players and presumably still have this budget of - shall we say £10m? - to spend. I think Dejagah was £3m-£4m, and he turned out to be pretty good. I think MJ will look to the German and Dutch markets and try and get a bargain. If he can source someone of Dejagah's quality to play in the middle we'll be laughing. And I don't think this is down to Jol showing he can manage with a tight budget. The timing of the new stand and also MAF paying off all our debt is too coincidental. It is a bit concerning though, we've needed to slash a bit of cash since Dembele left, and it doesn't look like it's going to happen any time soon. But you never know, perhaps if Jol finds the answer and asks MAF for the wonga he'll stump up, all we can do (and are doing) is speculate! COYW
When I was posting something about Omri Altman on the other thread it crossed my mind that MAF/Ali Mac will possibly also be taking into account the money already (and still being invested) in the Academy. This was after all a big part of the "becoming self sufficient" strategy. In fact a number of players were bought in rather than brought through the full Academy route. For example, Jack Grimmer. One player, I certainly had forgotten in this category was Chris David please log in to view this image And, if I remember correctly, Jol said at the time he would be playing in the 'reserves' to get match fit. Chris has certainly been playing well for the U21s and could be set to step into one of the vacant midfield positions. Which would mean one less on the shopping list.
You make a good point, Cottager. When we talk about what transfers we need, that assumes that we won't be promoting from within to fill spaces. Others on this board are far better qualified than me to comment on which of our youngsters are ready to do a job for the first team. I'd still like to see us sign an experienced (but not too old) creative central midfielder, no matter who we've already got waiting in the wings.
I think if we can get Diarra back to full fitness and sign someone like Huddlestone, we may be set for CM, with Diarra, Huddlestone, Sidwell and Boateng as our four options, and promote players like Altman is an injury crisis emerges. I would have suggested releasing Diarra if we had kept Karagounis, but now that he's gone, we will need another CM to come in and I don't see Kasami being the man.
My "hot" tip Abdelloue has gone to Stuggart. Ah well, onwards ..(at least Reither was only £1.1m) "Stuttgart made their second close-season signing from Bundesliga rivals Hanover 96 when Norwegian forward Mohammed Abdellaoue agreed a four-year contract on Tuesday. "I hope we can continue playing in Europe and establish ourselves higher up the league," Abdellaoue told the club website (vfbstuttgart.de). Stuttgart finished 12th in the Bundesliga last season but will play in the Europa League after losing the German Cup final to treble-winning Bayern Munich. The 27-year-old Abdellaoue scored 25 goals in 80 league games after joining Hanover in 2010." Source: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/stuttgart-complete-another-hanover-transfer-swoop-150044955.html#LyN8Qf8
And now another of my tips Maynor Figueroa has gone to Hull on a 2 year deal. Guess I'd better stick to Fantasy Football...Oh, hang on a minute.....
I'm not so worried about Figueroa: there are only so many 30something left backs that a team can collect. If we're signing a left back this summer it should be a younger one.
