Reading back through this thread definitely gives me a Michael Winner moment. Calm down dears! Well done Maarty and AliMac and a big Thanks to Chairman Mo.
Yeah all good. Great work and as always many thanks to MAF for putting the money in... Hopefully £10m well spent. Was worried that Newcastle might spoil the party but thankfully he made the right choice. Maybe he had a word with Duff Come on Fulham.
Yes, well said. Thanks to Chairman Mo for his generosity toward the FFC fans. Things are looking up for us.
The Squad has been enhanced by the new signings. A good mixture throughout the squad. Good to see Baird and Dempsey didn't leave. A lot of good reports coming out of Holland about Ruiz, lets hope he can adapt to the Premier League. Have a friend in Holland who says he has two good feet, and good heading ability. Good in the area at shuffling the ball with both feet and quick reactions to score. Along with Suarez was the top player in the Dutch League for the last 2 years.
Leaving aside the individuals concerned, this is the first transfer window in a long time that I can recall the club getting in exactly what some of us were saying we needed at the end of the previous season. I can remember saying that we needed a back-up keeper if either Schwarzer or Stockdale left, one or possibly two full-backs, a replacement for Murphy in midfield, a goalscoring striker to partner Bobby and a back-up targetman. We also needed to rejuninate the squad, possibly adding pace on the wings. If Ruiz is going to play as a striker rather than a winger, and if Sa has the know-how to match his physique as a potential targetman, the forward positions are taken care of. It looks like Kasami might be an answer to the midfield needs, Grygera and Riise the Elder cover the full back positions and Somogyi is the goalkeeping cover. There are big unanswered questions about many of the signings, but no reason to doubt any of them at this stage. We've had lots of comments questioning whether Jol knew what he was doing. It looks like he did. Now we'll just have to wait and see where he intends to play Ruiz and whether all of the new boys are as good as we are hoping. I'll admit, I didn't think we had a lot of chance of bringing Ruiz in, but I'm delighted to be proved wrong and I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do. Life is good.
Certainly an exciting and successful window. Like others I'm impressed at the way the club goes about the transfer business quietly and efficiently. Ruiz is obviously the star of the signings and I'm really looking forward to seeing what he can do, especially if he's playing with a fully fit Bobby. Finally, the fact that we didn't lose anyone we wanted to keep (especially Clint and Baird) makes it doubly successful.
I watched a few of his YouTube videos of Ruiz last night and he looks like a solid player. Ruiz doesn't have the explosive pace and power of the Freiburg player (Cisse) we were in for, but he's a calm, intelligent, two-footed player with good control and vision. He's also tall - 6'2". His style will remind you of Dempsey. I think Cisse would have been an immediate success - he's one of those can't miss players. But Ruiz will be good for us, too, though it might take longer for him to settle into his role. I'm not sure where he'll play. He plays left wing and withdrawn striker, same as Dempsey.
Can you imagine an attack where Big Bobby holds em up and Deuce and Ruiz follow into the box? Also watched various clips of Ruiz - he is very "aware" (in a sniffer Clarke way)
I"m looking forward to seeing Ruiz play for us. That's going to be a very exciting moment ... Sa and our new RB, too. It's like Christmas when the new players come out and play for the first time.
Good to see so many good comments here reflecting on a successful few days. I'm still really pleased with the outcome (notwithstanding The Times rubbish this morning saying we'd come out of the period poorly), especially for retaining our key players. All the concerns in the early stages of this thread over the past days reminds me of the great Micky Adams line (altogether now): "Keep The Faith". So let me reiterate the congratulations to MJ and Mo for getting the job done. I'm looking forward to the Blackburn match even more.
Much agree with everyone, worrying amounts of negativity and anxiety had started to spread around these boards in the last few days/weeks so hopefully these signings will give everyone connected with the club a boost. A potential front 4 of dembele, dempsey, zamora and ruiz if all fit and in form of all sudden sounds rather promising.
What did the Times say, Gera? Blackburn look stronger at the back, signing Dann was a fantastic move. And of course they've kept hold of Samba.
Been away since Sunday and only had my mobile to catch up with the tooings and frooings. So glad that there were not too many frooings from the club. Clint staying is a huge bonus, i was worried that we may lose him. Sends out a great message to the players that we want to grow as a club. As for the signigns, agree with everyone above. The club has done so well, repeat the congrats to Ali Mac and Big Mo. Also to MJ. We have covered all that needed sorting out. Ruiz is a goal scorer, through and through. We have not really replaced Saha or Mcbride since they left so this guy is a breath of much needed fresh air. Well done to all involved with pulling these transfers off. Proud to be Fulham. COYW
Whilst I echo Frogman's serious sentiments I had to smile at Ali Mac, Big Mo and MJ. Sounds like the club is run by a jazz trio!
