[Archived] Big Fat Sam's Shopping List

[Hughesy]

Pompey are seriously skint, you'd have to be mad to pay 12 mill for Crouch.

Agree with Bryan on this one. If we want him.. id be gutted if we paid £12m for him. £8m is plenty!

[DE.]

I've warmed to Crouch recently, I think he's actually a very good player. I wouldn't pay over 7 or possibly 8M for him though... especially with Portsmouth's dire financial situation.

[BuckyRover]

I would have thought that Sam would go for a player who was genuinely good in the air, not just tall.

Saying that, in a half decent side Crouch will score lots of goals against mediocre and poor Prem sides. He is drastically found out against quality opposition, though.

He would obviously fit in well here then.....

[Claytons Left Boot]

The key to Sam's style of football is to have the recipient of the long ball - the centre forward - capable of both holding the ball up and flicking it on for his partner (of sorts) in a 4-4-1-1 or the supporting midfielders in a 4-5-1.

With Santa crocked, we don't have a player who can play this way. Roberts should be able to. His upper body physique is second to none (I wouldn't want a belt off him) but he plays like a lamb. For all the past mockery on here regarding Kevin Davies, he has been moulded into the player he is by Sam and has proved to be vastly under rated by many. He is just what we need or he would have been had he been two or three years younger.

Beattie could play in that role but we missed the boat by dallying over Citeh's pieces of gold. Crouch could too, but instead we have a probable worthless asset up front. In fact you could switch him to the other side of the balance sheet and call him a liability.

Nothing would please me more than having a fit Rocky up front in a 4-4-2 with Rovers playing that attractive brand of football and the board being able to tell his suitors too eff off. It ain't going to happen. I wouldn't like to put money on him passing a medical at Blue Star, let alone Man Citeh.

At Stoke, I think we will set our stall out not to get beaten, play Benni up front and ask the supporting players to get up to when the opportunity arises akin to the wins at at Hull and Fulham. This is what Sam meant when he said the players have to listen.We need Samba at the back for obvious reasons. If only our lone forward could match his enthusiasm and to some extent, ability.

A defeat would be diastrous, a draw acceptable and a win priceless.

Long term, I am worried about where the cash will come from to play the Sam way. It is a real worry.

[LeChuck]

I think people are too obsessed with the idea of a strong target man.

The one time Sam had money to spend at Bolton he went for Anelka, who is nothing like a stereotypical target man. If we do sell Roque and he's given the majority of the money then it's by no means a foregone conclusion that he'll buy a Crouch type centre forward.

[Hughesy]

I agree le chuck, cant see it happening either. I think someone with abit of skill or pace is more likely to be in Sams sights.

Im optomistic as to what he can do in the market - that keeper is a good sign of things. Add to that Givet on a permanent deal. Maybe Danny Murphy on a free too?

[Majiball]

FFS!! No thank you. Far better talent available for less than that.

LOL.

Funny reading all of these Reid posts, they could have been copied and pasted from last year

Reidy was playing so well that year, it would be great to get him back and firing, it would also be like signing a 10M pound player. I hope he makes it.

I've warmed to Crouch recently, I think he's actually a very good player. I wouldn't pay over 7 or possibly 8M for him though... especially with Portsmouth's dire financial situation.

He is a good player definitly, but is he a player we need? I want pace first (we have to sign some) then a RSC replacement and a Benni one. Oh and Roberts!

I agree le chuck, cant see it happening either. I think someone with abit of skill or pace is more likely to be in Sams sights.

Im optomistic as to what he can do in the market - that keeper is a good sign of things. Add to that Givet on a permanent deal. Maybe Danny Murphy on a free too?

Have we signed a keeper??? Where were we linked to Murphy? hes had a good year TBH.

[Claytons Left Boot]

When Sam signed Anelka at Bolton, he didn't buy a forward like Kevin Davies because he already had Kevin Davies Mk 1 who has stood the test of time and been consistently the best forward of his type in the PL.

If Sam changes his style next season to a footballing 4-4-2 with the midfielders/defenders ceasing to hoof the ball up front, I will eat humble pie but I don't think a change is on the cards.

[Hughesy]

Have we signed a keeper??? Where were we linked to Murphy? hes had a good year TBH.

Not yet, but we did send a delegation to negotaite with the keeper of Espanyol I think it was. Kameni or something like that??

[American]

According to Williams, under current conditions, we will not spend 10mil plus on one player.

[Majiball]

Espanyol the spainish Rovers!!!

expected to easily make europe and currently bottom, well its similiar to us.

He's a good keeper would make good competition for Robbo, cheers for that.

Espanyol have a young paraguan striker called pablo he's sat on 48 goals this season, his first in Spain. We should sign him as well.

[Hughesy]

48 goals in the season??? In what league?

[RevidgeBlue]

With Roque likely to depart in summer it did cross my mind whether or not Sam would go in for Kevin Davies in the summer - and what the reaction would be if he did!.

Crouch would probably fulfill a similar role on the pitch but I can't see there's a snowballs chance in hell of the Trustees sanctioning a move for him - at 12m he's about 10m more expensive than we like to spend. We'll probably enquire about buying him for a ridiculously low amount then get elbowed out of the way when the serious suitors pile in.

Unless Sam has managed to bang some heads together in Jersey and the Boardroom. Because I can't see him sticking around too long if we fail to back his judgement.

[John]

It is likely we would be outbid by rivals for someone like Crouch.

[herbergeehh]

If we could get Reid back to pre-injury form

[RoversSG]

If we could get Reid back to pre-injury form (when United were looking at him, and Spuds offered for him) then we have a real midfielder on our hands. Here's hoping. He's a smashing lad, and deserves abit of luck.

I'll be a happy man if we can just get Reid uninjured

[Hughesy]

Blackburn are tracking 19-year-old Austrian striker Mark Arnautovic who plays for Dutch side FC Twente. (Daily Mirror)

Another youngster linked to us. Any ideas on him, Anyone seen him play? Is this one of Nicko's?

Nicko you got any other new information from Ewood?

[Majiball]

Same Kid

The new Ibrahimovic, apparently. 10M is a bit steep but hey if he is the new Ibrahimovic we'd get 20-30 if he hits 15+ for rovers. He can play wide as well as up front so thats a bonus.

His career

What about derb's plus some cash?????

[frosty]

Says he'd prefer to move to Italy, where Roma want him.

[67splitscreen]

The guy that scores the first goal must be 7' if he's an inch.

Perfect for BS.

[Hughesy]

£10.6m for a 19 year old who isnt that well known?? Dont make me laugh. 6ft 3, has a decent scoring record - maybe a live one nicko??

[LeChuck]

I'm not sure that figure would be far off, but the majority of it would be performance/appearance related bonuses.

I'd be very wary of taking that much of a risk on someone from the Dutch league though - if Afonso Alves can score goals there then it can't be that hard!

[Hughesy]

Correct - maybe an initial loan with a £500k loan fee, tied into that a buying fee come the end of the loan.

£10m wouldnt be a possible risk for us either.

I must say however im more impressed with the links to players in the last few weeks, it makes better reading than some dodgy keeper from MK dons being linked. Sam is obviously looking for better quality players which is promising.

[nicko]

Blackburn are tracking 19-year-old Austrian striker Mark Arnautovic who plays for Dutch side FC Twente. (Daily Mirror)

Another youngster linked to us. Any ideas on him, Anyone seen him play? Is this one of Nicko's?

Nicko you got any other new information from Ewood?

He is one of those being watched on a regular basis.

A good striker by all accounts.

I think Rovers will sign a couple of forwards in the summer.

Depending on the circumstances, obviously.

It's hard to plan on who to sign when you don't know what league you will be in - not being harsh there - or what budget is available - which will come down to Roque going or not.

However there are a lot of players being watched right now, ready for the signal to start serious talking.

[bennyboyt11]

He is one of those being watched on a regular basis.

A good striker by all accounts.

I think Rovers will sign a couple of forwards in the summer.

Depending on the circumstances, obviously.

It's hard to plan on who to sign when you don't know what league you will be in - not being harsh there - or what budget is available - which will come down to Roque going or not.

However there are a lot of players being watched right now, ready for the signal to start serious talking.

Quality players or more dross?