that mirror article is so lame, apparently we are going to use the bulk of our transfer kitty to get hooper.
I'd also be tempted to call Toivonen overrated Having watched him play a couple of times for PSV and Sweden, he's not the sort of player I'd be too bothered about signing. Then again I don't seem to be keen on any striker for some reason
i go through phases like that! to be fair to toivonen, he's not really a striker. he plays better in either the hoolahan role or wide left. when you say you think he's overrated, what do you mean? general consensus would value the player at around £8m (which i personally think fair) yet we are being quoted £4m - surely that would be a bargain, no? if you're talking about a top quality striker then sure, he isn't that, but he is a very talented player who would pretty much walk straight into our side
any player we spend £4m+ on should walk straight into our side. and that should be what we are looking for. it is no use spending millions if at the end of August we are left with a team no better than last season.
A little dangerous to dismiss a player after seeing him 'a couple of times', BHW. Like Supers, I was attracted by his versatility as a striker and an attacking mid-fielder, but I hadn't realised that he can play on the left flank as well. That would perhaps allow City to go for a 'marquee player' at ACM and still fill the LB and CB slots as well. As for his being Barton-like, he only had 2 yellow cards and no reds last season, so maybe a reputation from his younger days? I'd also be surprised if he would get 33 caps for Sweden if he had a poor attitude. I'd be happy with either Hooper or Toivonen though.
You're probably right to be honest, hadn't really taken the fee into account. He's a good player I just... I can't really justify myself. Hadn't realised he had played LW or CAM so that does make him more interesting. I'd prefer him to Hooper, but honestly I don't see another forward as an immediate priority. I'm sure we're looking at other areas too though! @RiverEndRick - yeah, it's dangerous to dismiss him after a few games but not as dangerous as what many people do with everyone we're linked with - judge them from their wikipedia. What I mean is he failed to stand out for me in that PSV team, Dszudszak, Bakkal, Afellay, Manolev, Hutchinson, Pieters, Marcelo, Engelaar, Lens are all players I would have chosen first. Obviously a good few of those have moved on to better things (ie Dinamo, Dinamo, Barca/Schalke, Fulham/PSV, and the rest are still there), but he didn't stand out for me then. Maybe he's changed!
You're right BHW. We're all a fickle lot on here one way or another. Like those who dismissed Ruddy and Turner because they struggled in their first games for City and at the other extreme, even more so than Wiki summaries, are the YouTube goal compilations. What striker wouldn't look good on one of those! I think that Ola has struggled to get noticed behind Ibrahimovic (who wouldn't?). But if he can play in 3 key positions, and perhaps more importantly feel comfortable anywhere up front, perhaps we'll see more movement up front in the attack. If City do go for him, I feel sure that it will be because the scouts and the coaches have watched him enough to 'know' that he's the sort of player we need. The rest of us will have to wait and see. Speaking of which, Sweden is playing the Faroes Islands tonight at 18.15 for those who want to see for themselves as Toivonen is expected to start alongside Ibrahimovic.
A Netherlands paper is reporting it as a done deal: http://www.voetbalprimeur.nl/nieuws/item/psv-accepteert-norwich-bod-op-toivonen
we are evolving to a more international squad now, excluding UK / ROI players, last season we had bassong, garrido, jackson and tettey this season, rvw,maybe toivonen, others ???
what i like about this is the calibre of clubs we are competing with. everton, fulham, west brom - all established premier league clubs - this is where we are trying to position the club. they all know how to make a canny move in the transfer market and so does chris hughton.
I have to say, when our style of play improves with CH's own choice of players, there are one or two instances when I'm going to enjoy saying "I told you so!"
