[Archived] The Transfer Window

[tcj_jones]

Please mods, before a knee jerk reaction and a thread closure, think about the number of off topic posts on Nicko's thread and others for that matter. This is a good way of discussing the transfer window proper.

Anyway, I'm angry, I'm seriously angry. The club knew that Bentley would be leaving AT LEAST three months ago, maybe as much as six months ago. I'm gonna sound like a broken record here, but we should have had a number of replacements lined up, scouted extensively, and maybe even have entered preliminary talks regarding transfers, regardless of whether Hughes and his team left us. We obviously didn't prepare at all, a huge short sight.

There is no excuse, absolutely none, for not bringing in a right winger. Even a loan for a second rate Championship player would be better than Brett Emerton on the right wing. I won't buy any of this 'there wasn't the right player available BULLSHIT, that's exactly what that line is. Utter rubbish. For god's sake, spend some money and buy a player. By all accounts, Pennant was available, yet we didn't even bid.

Right midfield aside, we now have EIGHT central midfielder (Oh, and not one right winger!) Oh yeah, we also have a forward that doesn't want to be here, that's overweight and doesn't care and yet we seem intent on keeping him as fourth choice striker with no intention of replacing him.

We're in trouble, I honestly feel that a long term injury to Roque could see us finish as low as 16th.

I don't feel as though I over-react that often on this board, maybe those who have been around will recognize that and confirm it, but I am so god damned angry right now.

Ince no longer has my confidence and no longer does the board.

It's irrelevant. They've got a job to do, and so far they've not done it. It doesn't matter how hard they are trying.

If a player tries hard but doesn't get the job done, we don't excuse him due to his workrate, we call him the second coming of Ashley Ward and boot him out the door.

Hang on...

When we desperately needed quality up front, Hughes brought in Bellamy. When Bellamy needed replacing, we got McCarthy, Roberts and Nonda. When Nonda went we got Santa Cruz. The only time he faltered was when Savage wasn't sufficiently replaced...but that was obviously due to lack of funds available at the time.

Ince hasn't addressed our problems adequately at all, with the exception of replacing Friedel. The right side of the field is a shambles. There is absolutely nothing to suggest Simpson is ready for first team football, so we're left with the same out-of-position players there, and we're going to be back to Bert Mk1 on the wing.

I don't enjoy saying this, but Hughes wouldn't have left us in such a sorry state if there is as much money to be spent as we're lead to believe.

Emerton can play on the right wing, so from the board and Trustees point of view it's problem solved.

Obviously, you are disaproving of this situation?

With this and your other post, you're making it sound like we've brought in genuine quality to the midfield over the summer. The reality is, we've sold one of the most creative players in the league (certainly in terms of assists) and replaced him with a mid-lower table Serie A water-carrier, a player who's only ever performed well in League Two, and an unproven South American who will take time to adjust.

I could accept the lack of right sided player if we'd brought in quality elsewhere, but we haven't. Man City showed what the addition of an exciting winger can instantly bring to a team, I seriously think you're underplaying how much it's going to effect us having crap out there compared to last season.

It seems as though the same people are displaying the same wisdom as usual.

[Tris]

Oh calm down.

The season isn't decided in the transfer window and never has been. Go and play computer games if you think differently.

It's decided on the pitch. Stop stirring against the club - there are countless threads open already.

[tcj_jones]

I'm 23. Regardless of age, I've never really been all that into computer games. Why don't you go play hide and seek.

[RibbleValleyRover]

I have to agree with you TCJ, I'm extremely disappointed that we haven't replaced Bentley. I only gave my backing on the decision to sell Bentley because i thought we would use the money to find a decent replacement. We have had plenty of time to look both domestically and abroad to find a winger to bring in, Bentley looked like he wanted out before the end of the season due to the stalling on his new contract offer.

I think we are going to have to look at changing our formation, i can't see a 4-4-2 system working with Pedersen (in his current form) and Emerton/Reid on the wings.

[Billy Castell]

Whilst it is good we haven't spent £8m on Pennant or some other daft deal that would be over the odds, its effing annoying that we don't have a proper right winger. The signings we have got may improve the team as a whole, but we needed someone. i'd have loved Kightley, but I doubt Wolves would let him go. Even a loan for someone like Pennant would have helped. Bentley should not have gone until we had another deal lined up.

As for the money? It has probably gone on running the club since no-one goes to our games. Unless the whole stupid money bubble bursts, and clubs start screwing up with debts or bored owners, Premiership football will become a memory for Blackburn in 5 years time. The only way we can survive in this expensive circus is to have a billionaire owner. That will not happen, even if we invite shady characters who sell dodgy AIDS pills to the 3rd World or guns to Zimbabwe. So however good Ince will be, we will ultimately struggle to stay up as all the other clubs get all sorts of rich people into their club whilst we have nowt. We will be consistent relegation battlers unless some serious poo hits the fan in the world economy.

Mind you, whilst relegation will be a very bitter pill, at least we will be away from the vile, grotesque Premiership, and have proper football issues to think about. Death to the Premiership, death to TV rights and RIP the so-called beautiful game. I wish I had Sky. Then I could watch some rugby instead of this ____.

[tcj_jones]

I hope that Ince develops into a top quality manager, because anything less and our immediate future in the Premier League is in serious doubt. Again, I don't feel as though I am over-reacting.

[DeadlyDirk]

I agree we are completley in turmoil and overnight we have gone from challenging for europe to being relegation fodder because we sold a couple of players.

We needed to bring in some quality signings this summer like Berbatov and Robinho like other clubs have, why didn't we go in for these sort of players?

Kaka was reportedly going into Chelsea at some point so we could have made a bid as well, its not that crazy as Man City managed to get Robinho from under Chelsea's noses.

Owen doesn't look like he is signing a new contract, because of the low transfer fee we could have doubled his £100,000 wages or something and I'm sure he would have been interested.

Even Lampard looked like he might leave Chelsea at some point, maybe we could have tempted him with a new challenge and also give him the chance to stay in England.

Pedersen has struggled lately, Barry was available for the right price and is another we could have looked at.

We should have shown an interested in all of these players as well as many more and signed at least 3 of them to have any chance of staying up this year, Ince should be sacked now before it's too late.

[Mr. E]

I'll make a comparison.

Last season we were a tree, competing with much taller trees and a few skyscrapers. This season, the top half of our tree was chopped off to make the taller trees into skyscrapers themselves, added with a multitude of other resources. So now we're a small broken tree surrounded by skyscrapers and 3-4 trees somewhere our size.

Good luck surviving.

[tcj_jones]

Funny man, I wonder if you'll be laughing when we face Arsenal with Brett Emerton at right wing and Andre Oiijer at right back. Laugh it up. Isn't our current position hilarious?

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA.

[DeadlyDirk]

Funny man, I wonder if you'll be laughing when we face Arsenal with Brett Emerton at right wing and Andre Oiijer at right back. Laugh it up. Isn't our current position hilarious?

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA.

I just assumed that this was the place for ridiculous posts with no perspective on anything.

[tcj_jones]

Well you were wrong. I've had three months to gather some perspective. I didn't judge the manager or the board until the transfer window shut. Now that is has, I am making a judgement: the club's conduct has been embarrassing.

[DeadlyDirk]

Well you were wrong. I've had three months to gather some perspective. I didn't judge the manager or the board until the transfer window shut. Now that is has, I am making a judgement: the club's conduct has been embarrassing.

Why, because we are not prepared to throw money at mediocre players?

[stuwilky]

Sorry tcj, I think you are completely way off the mark.

And in fact, Id go even further than that and refer to the post as sensationalist.

For the figures bandied about for the likes of Pennant and the ridiculous wages Id prefer you to play on the wing than that player.

[tcj_jones]

I respect your opinion, obviosuly, StuWilky. But since when did anybody (other than Nicko, a sensationalist Red Top journo) report accurately on Pennant's wage demands? Since when was any prospective player's wages reported in the national press? I don't believe that Pennant was demanding £50k even for a second. Even if he was, he is a quality player and would immensely improve our right flank, more so because Emerton could be moved to right back, where he is actually adept at playing.

Even an obscure League Two player would give us some depth on the right. I do not believe that there was not one single player available within reason that would have improved our options on the right.

For Christ's sake, we don't have a single right winger in our squad! Please tell me you are extremely worried about this situation?

[thenodrog]

Basically events are overtaking us and we are getting out of our depth in the cash sodden Prem. The fact that the arabs have bought the square root of FA at Man City for twice the money that they could have bought BRFC ground, players and all means that we in our present state are a dead duck for investors. Credit to the club but we have quite simply punched above our weight for long enough and cannot be expected to continue indefinitely.

The situation is surreal. The country is by all accounts descending into a deep recession / depression, people will lose their jobs, houses etc schoolleavers will lose their futures yet Prem football is defying gravity by somehow blithely sailing in the exact opposite direction.

[tcj_jones]

I feel my adulthood will be spent watching Rovers in the lower leagues

[Billy Castell]

Is it possible for a club to resign from the Premiership? Right now, I'd love us to do that. The Premiership has killed English football, and it is time to let those billionaire toys go and play in their Euro Super league or whatever. I know I'm sounding mad and all that, but I have had enough of all the corruption, greed and general bull that goes on in top flight football. From the egos of the players to the arrogance of 'loadsamoney' owners with dodgy huan rights records to gobby fans constantly postering over whose club is the 'biggest', the Premiership has turned what was an interesting game that enthralled the masses to a fashion icon for insecure gobsh_tes to shout over. All the rubbish with Man City over the past few weeks have re-enforced this view I have of the game, and the sooner it all dies the better. I have said all this before, in a rant a few months ago, but it has all come back to me now.

This has little to do with the transfer window, or our lack of a right winger, but all the nonsense from Stroke boy to the Arabs has confirmed that football is no longer a game or a sport, but an excuse to make a bunch of t__ts rich. English football 1862-1992 RIP.

Re tcj_jones: I now believe that no matter how good Ince will be for us, we will either be relegated, or just escaping relegation around my 30th birthday (April 2011).

[thenodrog]

Much of mine was.

[DeadlyDirk]

I respect your opinion, obviosuly, StuWilky. But since when did anybody (other than Nicko, a sensationalist Red Top journo) report accurately on Pennant's wage demands? Since when was any prospective player's wages reported in the national press? I don't believe that Pennant was demanding £50k even for a second. Even if he was, he is a quality player and would immensely improve our right flank, more so because Emerton could be moved to right back, where he is actually adept at playing.

Even an obscure League Two player would give us some depth on the right. I do not believe that there was not one single player available within reason that would have improved our options on the right.

For Christ's sake, we don't have a single right winger in our squad! Please tell me you are extremely worried about this situation?

Pennant wants to stay at Liverpool, if he was going to go anywhere then he certainly isn't going to take a paycut, 50k is probably what he's on there or there abouts.

This board has a divided opinion on him, some don't want him at all while some do, he definitely wouldn't have been a guaranteed solution.

I don't know if Ince would move Emerton to right back, he said he wanted a genuine specialist rightback and in pre season played Steven Reid there with Emerton in midfield. He obvously doesn't fancy Emerton there, although he could always change his mind, it's not as though Ooijer is a specialist right back.

As long as he doesn't stick Reid on the right of midfield I'll be happy to see him give Emerton or Judge a decent run and see how they do. We have plenty of time to line up a long term replacement for Bentley now in the January transfer window, meanwhile we have plenty of options, even if they aren't perfect.

Maybe he'll put Villanueva out there? If he's too attacking to play in the center and he wants to continue with RSC and Roberts then he has to put Carlos somewhere.

Let's wait and see, I'm still optomistic.

[stuwilky]

I respect your opinion, obviosuly, StuWilky. But since when did anybody (other than Nicko, a sensationalist Red Top journo) report accurately on Pennant's wage demands? Since when was any prospective player's wages reported in the national press? I don't believe that Pennant was demanding £50k even for a second. Even if he was, he is a quality player and would immensely improve our right flank, more so because Emerton could be moved to right back, where he is actually adept at playing.

Even an obscure League Two player would give us some depth on the right. I do not believe that there was not one single player available within reason that would have improved our options on the right.

For Christ's sake, we don't have a single right winger in our squad! Please tell me you are extremely worried about this situation?

I didnt mention a figure, however am 100% certain that the digure Mr Pennant would have wanted would not be less than he earns at Liverpool (if we wanted to purchase him).

You would prefer an obscure League 2 player to Emerton or even any other player on the right wing? Seriously? I would rather hope you didnt like that and its just a late night for you.

And no, Im not "extremely worried" about the lack of a world class right winger in our squad. I believe we had a target but they decided not to accept what we were offering. Id prefer not to lose even more money by offering more money than we can afford.

[tcj_jones]

Pennant wants to stay at Liverpool, if he was going to go anywhere then he certainly isn't going to take a paycut, 50k is probably what he's on there or there abouts.

This board has a divided opinion on him, some don't want him at all while some do, he definitely wouldn't have been a guaranteed solution.

I don't know if Ince would move Emerton to right back, he said he wanted a genuine specialist rightback and in pre season played Steven Reid there with Emerton in midfield. He obvously doesn't fancy Emerton there, although he could always change his mind, it's not as though Ooijer is a specialist right back.

As long as he doesn't stick Reid on the right of midfield I'll be happy to see him give Emerton or Judge a decent run and see how they do. We have plenty of time to line up a long term replacement for Bentley now in the January transfer window, meanwhile we have plenty of options, even if they aren't perfect.

Maybe he'll put Villanueva out there? If he's too attacking to play in the center and he wants to continue with RSC and Roberts then he has to put Carlos somewhere.

Let's wait and see, I'm still optomistic.

DD, without knowing anything about you or your length of history watching the club (and I am not making any preconceived judgements here) but did you watch Rovers on a regular basis two / three / four seasons ago when Emerton was played at right wing? Because, honestly, he was shocking, consistently poor. He has been even worse this season. At West Ham my blood was boiling, not at him personally because he is a quality right back, but at the situation whereby he was played on the wing.

I applaud your optimism, I am probably one of the most optimistic on the board, but this right midfield situation has destroyed my confidence in the club.

I didnt mention a figure, however am 100% certain that the digure Mr Pennant would have wanted would not be less than he earns at Liverpool (if we wanted to purchase him).

You would prefer an obscure League 2 player to Emerton or even any other player on the right wing? Seriously? I would rather hope you didnt like that and its just a late night for you.

And no, Im not "extremely worried" about the lack of a world class right winger in our squad. I believe we had a target but they decided not to accept what we were offering. Id prefer not to lose even more money by offering more money than we can afford.

It's all a matter of individual opinions, but I don't agree with you on the first point.

I can honestly say, YES, I would prefer an obscure League Two player over Emerton on the right wing. He is so inept in this role, it is unreal. I'd play Pedersen, or Roque or Judge over an obscure League Two player for sure, but not Emerton. I honestly feel he is that poor in this role.

Finally, you're taking words out of my mouth. I never said I wanted a 'world class' right winger. Are you at least worried? Before you answer, maybe you'd like to take a moment to remember that we do not have a single right winger in our entire squad. Every single club in the league is more adept on the right than us.

[RevidgeBlue]

The fact that the arabs have bought the square root of FA at Man City for twice the money that they could have bought BRFC ground, players and all means that we in our present state are a dead duck for investors.

Is that comment not a complete contradiction in terms?

[stuwilky]

Finally, you're taking words out of my mouth. I never said I wanted a 'world class' right winger. Are you at least worried? Before you answer, maybe you'd like to take a moment to remember that we do not have a single right winger in our entire squad. Every single club in the league is more adept on the right than us.

I never said that you said anything?

And no Im not worried, Im not even concerned.

Id also disagree with your final statement, but we are entitled to our own opinions. Id perhaps prefer to see things pan out and what the season has in store for us.

[DeadlyDirk]

I've watched them for a long time, and although he isn't the greatest I don't think he is as bad as you are making out. However I would be happier seeing him go back to right back and seeing what Judge can do out there.

At the end of the day if the right player isn't available at the right place then you can't just magic a signing out of nowhere.

We are not going to be buying players for big fees, look at other right midfielders who have recentley moved, Milner for £12 million, Wright Phillips for £10 million.

Quality unfortunately comes at a high price these days. Ince said from the start he is behind the rest of the premiership due to taking over later than the rest so probably didn't have the time to completley scour the world for a bargain.

[RevidgeBlue]

And no, Im not "extremely worried" about the lack of a world class right winger in our squad. I believe we had a target but they decided not to accept what we were offering. Id prefer not to lose even more money by offering more money than we can afford.

Fair comment, but at 500k per place plus loss of support there's always the risk we will lose just as much or more in place and gate money than we could ever save by being over-cautious and not filling a glaring gap in the team.