[Archived] Realistic Summer Moves

[Nate]

Jimmy Bullard please

I spat Campari and Soda all over the screen

[Hughesy]

While Bullard isnt a bad player, I think that if we have serious ambitions of top 6 then we need a better midfielder than him.

Id also like Hughes to look at the posibility of Milner. He's young, English and could be a useful asset.

[philipl]

From the BBC gossip page:

Juande Ramos has ordered Tottenham sporting director Damien Comolli to find him seven new players in an attempt to secure Champions League football next season. Ramos has also told chairman Daniel Levy that only five players Dimitar Berbatov, Alan Hutton, Robbie Keane, Ledley King and Jonathan Woodgate are bullet-proof if anyone fancies raiding the Spurs squad in the summer. (News of the World)

Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill will head the queue to snap up Jimmy Bullard for a bargain £3m if Fulham fail to stay in the Premier League. (Star on Sunday)

The rumour linking Rovers to Gravesen is there again.

Back to this thread and Dunnfc mentions some of the players I have been most impressed with this season whom I would believe would be realistic targets if nicko's £10m figure is correct.

Nicko's comment about a speedy forward as well as a central midfielder possibly points at Michael Mifsud coming from Coventry.

I would have thought an up and coming attacking right back has to be on the shopping list.

[Martin]

Would love to see Huddlestone sign - but there will be others sniffing and would cost.

I like Doyle at Reading - he'd be worth a go if Reading drop - too expensive otherwise.

Kewell would be an interesting one if Hughes could keep him fit.

A young midfielder I liked is Surman at Southampton, was promising once but seems to have gone quiet recently.

[RoyRover]

Fode Mansare - Tricky skillfull winger, plays for Toulouse and is willing to run at the full backs, competition for MGP.

Hilton - Plays centre back for Lens and is a quality player who can organise the defense well.

Andreas D'Allesandro - Currently on loan at San Lorenzo following a fall out with Real Zaragoza's manager, would be a class signing at a knock down price.

Jefferson Farfan - Can play on the wing or upfront and has pace to burn also helped dump Spurs out of the Uefa cup.

Frazier Campbell - Might be worth a loan signing gamble, has pace to burn again and been awesome for Hull this year upfront.

Etiene Didot - As much to Tugay as you like with his passing, currently at Rennes.

Marek Sapara - Plays for Rosenborg and is quality with his passing and set pieces helped to beat Chelsea last year.

Mickael Chretein - Plays for AS Nancy and was a good player i thought last year but this year in the ligue 1 hes been awesome plays at rb and is quick with a great cross.

Albert Crusat - Quick as anything and can play left wing where he tears the oposing rb to pieces, also can play upfront but looks a little light weight there. Plays for Almeria.

Other optitions Bellamy at a knock down price, Djibril Cisse, Obafemi Martins,Aruna Dindane.Yuri Zhirkov and Andrey Arshavin.

Some good shout outs to players in Ligue 1. Fode Mansare has always looked a dangerous player with his pace and ability to go past people. I've been to see Rennes a number of times and Etienne Didot has always impressed me. He was the captain at the start of the season, but since Pierre Dreossi vacated the mangers position and Guy Lacombe took over, he has been warming the bench. With Hughes looking to add more quality to his squad and only having £10 million to work with, then he may have to look abroad to places like Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga. Nuremburg's Bosnian international Zvejdan Misimovic is pure class and is one of the top goal scoring midfielders in the league. He could bring the creativity and goals from the centre of midfield that we have been lacking. Marko Pantelic is another player who could be a hit. The guy s a pure predator in front of goal and is looking like he wants to move on. The Russian players that you have mentioned would also be worth considering as well as their central midfielder Bilayadinov, who was the best player in the England games.

Players like Henchoz, Berner, Tugay, Gallagher and Ritgers will probably leave in the summer. Jason Roberts is a good striker to have in the squad and has been a very successful impact sub, but there is no way that he will settle for this role and could leave. Aaron Mokoena can move on as well if he likes, but just as long as he is replaced. I don't want Vogel to be the only defensive option that we have in midfield.

[Hughesy]

Cant see Rigters leaving - young and one for a year or two - hopefully will shine at Norwich, even if he doesnt i dont think he will be off.

Henchoz, Tugay - will probably be allowed to leave

Gallagher - where is he? Stoke? Has he even played? Sell him for cheap with a big sellon clause.

Enckleman - id allow to leave to help promote the youth keepers to 3rd choice.

Roberts - if he continues to perform then sell for £4m.

Mokoena - sell if we have some cover coming in.

Berner - Crap - sell him.

[T4E]

Putting my Maltese bias aside, Mifsud from Coventry. I was sceptical about his move to the UK, but I think he has adapted to the game well. He would give us much needed pace.

I went to watch Coventry - Norwich a couple of weeks ago - not massively impressed by Mifsud. Coventry played very well too. He looks quick but very lightweight.

[Bazzanotsogreat]

Yuri Zhirkov

Roman Pavluchenko

Steve Sidwell

James Harper

Giles Barnes

Moussa Dembelle

Jefferson Farfan

Tom Huddlestone

Nedum Onuha

Mauro Zarate

Rodrigo Palacio

Marek Sapara

[krislu]

I'm sure we can pretty much attract every player who are playing in France, Holland and Germany if we look outside the top 3-4 clubs. I hope Hughes will look there rather than overvalued English based players.

As for selling/releasing our own players:

McCarthy => £3m - £5m

Gallgaher => £1m - £1.5m

Berner => £300k

Henchoz => free

Roberts => £3m - £4m

Gamst => £5m - £7m (still have a good reputation among others, a case of selling if we get a good offer imo)

Obviously it will be a bit silly selling both Benni and Roberts, but one of them should go. I think we would be in a good position if we could raise about £5m - £6m from selling a good copule of players...

[philipl]

We are assuming the market will be more fluid than it was in January or last summer. I think it will be a better market to buy in but there is no guarrantee and it will probably open up in stages.

The advantage of having a pot is that Rovers can buy first before off-loading and I am certain every club which can afford to do so is going to take the same stance unless they have a huge war chest to spend. Even so, I would be pretty sure Spuds would need to have signed Huddlestone's replacement and a reserve before Rovers could grab their man.

Therefore, I suspect Enks and Gallagher will move early and perhaps the Axe as well if he puts up a big stink about slipping down the midfield order of preference.

But that would be it unless an offer comes in beating Rovers' own valuation of either Benni or Jason. Unlikely but by no means impossible.

So I fully expect lots of moanings and groanings until Rovers' transfer action happens in August.

[1864roverite]

Phil, I suspect that Rovers dealings will be well and truly underway right this very moment,as will many other clubs. I am sure Rovers have their targets in sight as well as the p45's being readied in the club.

I do agree with the rumblings bit, thank god I am away most of July !

[tony gale's mic]

Sell Benni for £3 million and Gally for £1.5 million together with Berner and Mokoena for a combined £1 million. That should mean we have around £15 million to spend when added to the £10 million hopefully Hughes will get.

Get a young striker for £4 million, a full back for £3 million, a left winger for £5 million and a young centre mid for £3 million. Hopefully will get a free transfer in a position aswell.

Keep Gamst and Roberts. Gamst has been very poor this season but we need backup even if we get someone new, plus maybe with competition his drive will increase. Roberts has won more points for us this season than Benni hands down.

[tcj_jones]

I watched some of the Spurs - Pompey game yesterday and I still don't have a clue why people rate Huddlestone so highly. All he does when he gets the ball is look up and try the same lofted through ball / pass over and over again and it's intercepted every single time. I'd have Reid, Dunn and Tugay over Huddlestone.

Bullard is a good player and I'd like to see us go for him.

[joey_big_nose]

I would like to see us take Kewell for free providing a few things:

a) reasonable wages

passes a medical

c) assessed to have the desire to play for Blackburn.

In many ways the ideal signing for Rovers- can play on the left or up front, quality player with pace which we need and free. Huge question marks over him fitness and temprement wise but Sparky excels in extracting the best from players moving out of the big time.

Needs serious assessment but could be an inspired signing and he is, unlike many mentioned, in a market we can definately afford transfer fee wise.

Selling wise it's interesting. Benni and Pedersen have not really done so badly as to make us force them out the door (and if they had we would get next to nothing for them anyway), but I am sure Hughes is open to offers should anyone want to force our hand. I think we would seriously look at 4m for either of them. Mokoena will not be considered a key part fo the squad so I am sure he can leave if anyone wants him, if not I am sure he will stay. Roberts will wait to see whether he is getting enough games before declaring his position. Apart from that I reckon everyone is staying.

Except Bentley who I think is an absolutely banker to go for 15m plus in the summer. He had a great game on saturday but much more than that he now has that buzz about him which makes managers want to sign players. Very similar to Wright-Phillips, Duff, Joe Cole, Lennon. Genuinely massive buzz. Someone will take the risk on him, unless his form dives again, probably Chelsea or Liverpool. THe press seems to lead these sorts of moves and they love our david.

If it happens it will be interesting to see what Hughes does with the money.

[Lathund]

a) reasonable wages

passes a medical

c) assessed to have the desire to play for Blackburn.

And how likely is that?

Anyhow, I haven't got much in the way of names, but I'll just list what I think we need, in order of importance, with the assumption that we don't lose anyone important.

1) Central midfielder - Bullard if Fulham go down would be my choice. Albelda if we don't want to pay a transfer fee maybe.

2) Specialist right back - Competition for Bert, but mainly because Bert is backup at right wing and we want Ooijer/Zurab in the centre and not on the right for when Bert isn't playing

3) Striker - Someone who works well alongside Roque. A Bellamy type of player would be ideal. However I think most our problems with scoring goals stem from the supply and support, not necessarily the strikers themselves. With MGP actually being in the game, like he has finally started to be in recent weeks, we look far more dangerous than when he was crap. A central midfielder who can create chances (Or a holding one to allow Reid/Dunn some more freedom) would help a lot. That being said, if we find a good target and get a decent fee for Benni or Roberts we should definitely go for it

4) Left back / left winger - An improved Bruno Berner, if one is available at a decent price.

5) Central midfielder - Could move up or down depending on if Moko/Tugay stay or leave, and whether Vogel turns out well.

6) Centre half. If Nelsen gets back to his old self we're fine at centre half, although grooming someone to replace Ooijer eventually would be wise.

Outgoing I'd echo what most people seem to think:

Enckelman - Brad is never injured, and having two senior backup keepers is a bit much for a club our size. Brown has played well the few times I've seen him, and Nielsen and Fielding are apparently promising players.

Mokoena - Wants to play, but isn't likely to.

Berner - Probably wants more playing time, and Olsson/Treacy could take over his backup role.

Tugay - His time has probably come, sadly enough. Even if he stays he'd just be a bit-part player, although his influence could surely help

Those are fairly given I think. We can expect a couple of youngsters to leave, but won't go into that. Some other possible ones:

Rigters - Might not want to give up on him this soon, but seems likely to me that he'd be gone, whether on loan or permanently

Gallagher - Hughes apparently rates him, but the question is always where he's going to play; doesn't really fit into our style of play. Having him around as backup for the strikers and right wing instead of signing new players for that wouldn't be a bad thing either.

Peter - Again, would probably want to be playing more than he'll be likely to here.

McCarthy/Roberts - See the striker part above.

And then there's Bentley. Him leaving would change a lot, obviously making the primary target RW. Would also increase the quality of the target we'd be looking at signing, perhaps letting us go for two top central midfielders, or a quality striker without having to sell one first.

There are several unknown factors involved though. How happy Bentley, Roberts, Mokoena, Peter, Brown or god forbid RSC are to stay would have a big impact on what players we'd be looking at. And with the exception of Mokoena I don't think we can be certain about any of them, not even Bentley despite the signs coming out. Likely to be gone? Yes. Certain? No, quite far from it.

[Dunnfc]

If it happens it will be interesting to see what Hughes does with the money.

You can bet clubs end up bidding 10 million for Bents because the press will decrease his value i mean lets look at the facts:

Plays for BRFC.

Stalling on a new contract.

Even if he went for 15 million thats still below his value imo because Duff went for 17 million and SWP for 24 million and an aged Beckham for 25 million. If we got 15 million wed have 5 mill for transfers while the board pocket 10.

Bents is a bloody good player but i wish he learned to keep his mouth shut.

Agree with your suggestion about Kewell and how he could fit in.

[philipl]

Who said Bents is stalling on a new contract?

[Tim Southampton Rover]

From what i've read, he's close to agreeing a new contract.

No mention of stalling at any point...just the fact they are agreeing terms. There is a big difference!

[The Harwood Yankee]

I'd love to see us sign Jimmy Bullard if Fulham go down but I can anticipate bigger and wealthier clubs having too much interest in him. Outside of the top 4, the 2 players we've played against this season who have really impressed me are Bullard and Martin Petrov at Man City. It'd be great if we could find a left winger of that quality to replace Pedersen who, for me, has been our most disappointing player this season.

If anyone offers any decent money for Pedersen I'd let him go. Same with McCarthy. I'd be more than happy having Roberts & Roque as our first choice starting forwards with Matty as cover and (unless Rigters improves significantly at Norwich) a new forward brought in.

How about retaining Tugay as a player-coach? He'd be a great influence on youngsters coming through and it would be good to retain his services as a squad numbered player we can bring in as a sub at least if there's 1 or 2 injuries.

Mokoena hasnt really made the cut but we might want to see how Vogel does for us before considering letting him go, esp with losing Roberto de Savage.

Henchoz and Berner seem destined to go and make room on the wage bill for more likely first team starters.

Retaining Bentley and Santa Cruz will be this close season's biggest challenge. If we sneak into the UEFA cup I think we'll have no problem keeping them both. Certainly we'd be wanting silly money before any deal happened. Incidentally, notice how the 2 players we were sorry to lose in recent years - Duff & Bellamy - have both become injury-ridden yesterday's men. The curse of Ewood perhaps? Shearer won nothing after he left...

[Poita]

I spat Campari and Soda all over the screen

Thats what you get for drinking campari. Thought you guys from Queensland only drank XXXX

[Nate]

Thats what you get for drinking campari. Thought you guys from Queensland only drank XXXX

God no! I'd rather drink my own pee thanks

[RoversFanUSA]

I hope that Fulham doesnt go down ( for oboiuos reasons) but i think dempsey would be great for us. Hes tall powerful and can score goals. I dont really like Huddlestone but think Nolan and Haper would be good. Martins i think will cost a little to much but god he is fast and is very strong.

I hope that Santa and Bently dont leave as itll put us in a hard spot to replace them. Sparky i think knows this and will do whats best for us. As for Tugay, I think that the setament that hes pretty much dome is sad but but. Hes done great for us but no longer has the pace or age to keep up with the youngsters in the leauge, will be sad when he leaves.

What ever happened to Righters? I thought he was gonna be some badass that was gonna come up and kick ass but have yet to see him even break first team (correct me if im worng). Seems like a bit of a waste of money unless saprky has future plans for him.

[S15]

What ever happened to Righters? I thought he was gonna be some badass that was gonna come up and kick ass

You've echoed all our thoughts.

[Poita]

God no! I'd rather drink my own pee thanks

Hehe I totally agree, XXXX is rubbish.

[Lurid Coat]

Ideally, I'd like us to strengthen the following positions:

Right back and centre back - I think it's glaringly obvious that we need to use Ooijer as a centre half, as he's our best man in that position. Samba has been below par for large parts of the season, and Nelsen has been off form (when he's not been out with injuries). Zurab is decent, but I still think we look a bit short in centre half, also considering the fact that Ooijer is 33. A specialist right back would also be an ideal acquisition, Emerton could do with some healthy competition. Some realistic targets who might possibly be within our price range:

- Philipp Degen (Young Swiss international, right back, Borussia Dortmund)

- Steve von Bergen (Swiss international, defender, Hertha Berlin)

- Johnny Heitinga (Dutch international, Ajax)

- Kew Jaliens (Dutch international, AZ)

- Brede Hangeland (Norwegian international, Fulham - I doubt he'll want to stick around at Craven Cottage if Fulham gets relegated)

Central midfield - even with Vogel coming in, I reckon this is our weakest position. Mokoena is dire, the legend Tugay might retire, and Dunn and Reid are both injury prone. Possible targets:

- Sebastian Kehl (German international, Borussia Dortmund)

- Mark Bresciano (Australian international, Palermo)

- Tom Huddlestone (Spurs)

- James Harper (Reading)

Left wing - MGP has been pretty terrible this season. A new left winger should be a main priority, unless Peter/Treacy step up and make the cut.

- Moussa Dembélé (Belgian international, AZ)

- Jefferson Farfan (PSV)

Forwards - both McCarthy and Roberts might move on, which means that we could do with another striker, such as:

- Theofanis Gekas (Greek goal machine, Leverkusen)

- Alexander Frei (Swiss goal machine, Dortmund)

- Kevin Doyle (Reading)