[Archived] Big Fat Sam's Shopping List

[Hughesy]

Best get safe quick then and then we can get moving.

Looks promising though, looks like we are putting alot of good ground work in already - unlike under Ince when he hadnt seen any of the players and then wanted week long trials to then decide they were poor.

[nicko]

Best get safe quick then and then we can get moving.

Looks promising though, looks like we are putting alot of good ground work in already - unlike under Ince when he hadnt seen any of the players and then wanted week long trials to then decide they were poor.

To be fair to Paul Ince he came into the job 'cold.' A year ago he would not have been planning Premier League signings.

Maybe that should have been considered when the appointment was made.

[Lathund]

What areas are mainly being looked at, besides strikers? I would hope that we're looking hard at central midfielders.

[T4E]

To be fair to Paul Ince he came into the job 'cold.' A year ago he would not have been planning Premier League signings.

Maybe that should have been considered when the appointment was made.

Along with the fact that he's thick as pig ######.

[joey_big_nose]

What areas are mainly being looked at, besides strikers? I would hope that we're looking hard at central midfielders.

I find it a bit bewildering we are looking at strikers. We have loads of them - Roque, Jason, Benni, Derbyshire, Diouf. Even pedersen can play wide left in a 433. We need midfielders! And a right back. The only way we should buy strikers is if we sell some (which we probably should do....)

[Hughesy]

I find it a bit bewildering we are looking at strikers. We have loads of them - Roque, Jason, Benni, Derbyshire, Diouf. Even pedersen can play wide left in a 433. We need midfielders! And a right back. The only way we should buy strikers is if we sell some (which we probably should do....)

Roque - Probably leaving

JR - Prem Standard? Probably not.

Benni - Lazy, will Sam boot him out?

Derbyshire - lacks quality - again maybe allowed to leave?

Its kind of obvious why we would be looking to get some strikers of quality.

Right back shouldnt be a priority either as we have Emerton who can play there with ease.

[Billy Castell]

I agree about the striker analysis Hughsey, but I do think we need to sort out our midfield 1st. Tugay started his career under Suliman the Great whilst all the other players are crap and/or crocks. A stronger midfield would mean better service and more chances for a striker.

I don't know why we're linked to a goalie either. Karemi is good, but our priorities must be elsewhere.

[Silencio]

I agree about the striker analysis Hughsey, but I do think we need to sort out our midfield 1st. Tugay started his career under Suliman the Great whilst all the other players are crap and/or crocks. A stronger midfield would mean better service and more chances for a striker.

I don't know why we're linked to a goalie either. Karemi is good, but our priorities must be elsewhere.

We need players from goalkeeper to upfront and just because we are only linked with a striker today does not mean we aren't looking for midfielders...

[Billy Castell]

I know Bish, but we are always on a very limited budget, so the emphasis on links with strikers is baffling. I think our goalie and defence are OK (but not great), but our midfield and our quality of strikers are awful.

[laughatthedingles]

Basically what we need to do is secure premier league football as soon as we can so we can make decisions on our own players (i.e. new contracts) then get ahead of the game in terms of summer signings, however Roque and his knees could well hold this up.

Make no mistake Sam will favour 4-1-2-2-1 again next season. Make no mistake he wants a big strong striker who is good in the air.

If we are playing premier league football next year then here is my analysis of our current squad:

(bare in mind RSC is not definatly going, due to his knees and limited possible takers thus we will have a definite budget of only around £5million which makes it tricky)

Keepers:

Robinson - not overly convinced me but is ok, if the Espanyol keeper is better and on a free then ship him out - (possible +£3million)

Bunn - good enough to step in if the main man is injured? If he is then keep him and lose Brown, if not then vica versa.

Brown - as above. Surely a youth teamer must be able to step up to 3rd spot??

Defenders:

Simpson - no thanks.

Ooijer - keep.

Samba - good player and key to Sam's style of playing.

Nelsen - has improved under Sam, keep.

Zurab - still think he should be a first team starter, however, the people who see him everyday dont, good back up.

Givet - hopefully can afford to sign for around £1-2m. However if Warnock returns to Left Back, can we afford Givet as well?

Emerton - hopefully will return as good and at right back, problem solved.

Holding midfielders:

Tugay - cant afford him anymore for his limited impact, goodbye.

Mokoena - (based on him being at the lower end of our wage scale) why dont we keep him, does a decent job and never seems to get injured, good back up.

Grella - Sell, sell, sell. Not good enough, cant keep possession and cant hack the premier leagues physical demands. (potential £2m)

Midfielders:

Dunn - one of the best at his job when fit, other than Hughes, Sam is the best man to sort this.

Reid - never really understood the hype when he was really fit, ship him out.

Andrews - (see mokoena)

Pedersen - Barring interest which leads to a £4m+ offer, can we really do any better?

Diouf - Not convinced, wins free kicks, doesnt give the ball away, gives 100%, not much end product.

Treacy - good god, goodbye.

Strikers:

Villanueva - goodbye.

McCarthy - our best striker if he sheds a few stones.

Derbyshire - seek offers around £2m.

RSC - £15m+. goodbye.

Roberts - seek offers around £3m. Doesnt score enough.

There is a potential return of around £25m but would leave us with:

3 keepers - fine

5 defenders - Givet would be 6, still not enough.

1 holding midfielder - mokoena, not good enough to play every week.

3 Centre mid - two of which are Dunn and Reid, the other Andrews - enough said. Gems needed for less than £10m between them. If RSC does not go, god help us here!

3 wide mids - one is treacy, worried!

1 Striker with (RSC gone) around £12m to spend. oh dear.

All in all, it is clear we aren't going to be able to have the clear out we'd like. We have to be realistic and understand that we need to prioritise. If we can get Kameni and ship out Robinson that would bring in surprise funds.

However it is imperative we keep Ooijer and Mokoena, or find similar freebies to replace as we simply cannot afford to do so otherwise.

I am worried already.

[Eddie]

Ooijer is going to PSV, so not point putting him in your keep category.

[Guest Vinjay606]

It has been stated that isn't a foregone conclusion but certainly the one I expect.

[Hughesy]

I agree about the striker analysis Hughsey, but I do think we need to sort out our midfield 1st. Tugay started his career under Suliman the Great whilst all the other players are crap and/or crocks. A stronger midfield would mean better service and more chances for a striker.

I don't know why we're linked to a goalie either. Karemi is good, but our priorities must be elsewhere.

He's a freebie - so its a good idea. Especially if we can ship out Brown for say £1m.

No point the midfield creating the chances if we have nobody good enough to convert them. Roberts & Derbyshire have both missed some easy chances when through on goal this season. I agree we need midfield signings too - but I think we should be looking at - Roque out (£15m in), 2 midfielders (minimum) & maybe 2 strikers - add to them any loan or freebie signings and we should have a much improved squad.

Also if anyone wants Roberts for £3m+ snap their hands off!!

[Eddie]

We need to central midfielders and a pacey striker. If we lose Santa Cruz will need another striker unless Blackman is actually able to play in the first team, which seems unlikely. We need a pacey option out wide and with the ability of MGP and Diouf to switch from left to right midfield reasonably well that would mean we'd have decent options on both wings. A right back is obviously the other spot we need to fill. So it's a summer where we need to bring in 4 players to slot into the first team in my opinion, but possibly 5. With Ooijer leaving cover and centreback will be needed if Givet doesn't sign. If we managed to get Givet, a right back, two central midfielders, pace out wide and pace up front (no small task obviously, but certainly doable), then I would really like the strength and depth of our squad.

[DE.]

It's worrying how many players in the current squad I'd like to see the back of. Some could remain as back-up, but to have an effective team a major clear out is in order, with most if not all transfer funds going straight back into the squad. I'd definately want to keep Robbo, Bunn, Givet, Nelsen, Samba, Emerton, Warnock, MGP and Diouf... the rest, are all up for potential sale. Obviously, that doesn't mean I want all of our strikers or all of our holding midfielders shipped, it just means I think we could sell any one of them and not feel majorly aggrieved about it, assuming we got good money and bought a suitable replacement. If we sell RSC, we could probably keep Benni Mac, Roberts and Derbs. If we didn't sell RSC, I'd expect at least one of those three to go. If we go into next season with mostly the same strikeforce and/or midfield as this year we'll struggle again.

[LeChuck]

..................Robbo

Emerton Samba Givet Warnock

..................[new]

............Dunn.....[new]

....[new]...................Diouf

..................[new]*

Subs: Bunn, Nelsen, Zurab, Andrews, [new], Pedersen, [new]

*Assuming Roque goes

That's a semi-realistic view of what we need to do I think. Ideally average players like Pedersen, Dunn and Andrews would go, but we can't realistically overhaul that many in one summer. Even the number I've done is pushing it. We'd then have young players like Judge, Doran, Olsson, Gunning, Blackman etc backing up that squad.

The key to having a smaller squad (Sam talked about 18 I think) is not to have any injury prone players in it, so no more Grella type signings this summer.

Edit: Looking at that, if Givet is anywhere near £3 million then I don't see how we can justify it given the other areas that need fixing. Slot Nelsen in there and promote Zurab to first-choice sub defender. He deserves that role at least anyway.

[broadsword]

It's worrying how many players in the current squad I'd like to see the back of.

It might be easier to talk about who you'd like to keep

[T4E]

The key to having a smaller squad (Sam talked about 18 I think) is not to have any injury prone players in it, so no more Grella type signings this summer.

The smaller squad is most certainly the key, or wage bill/turnover ratio is quite horrifying. 18 senior players however is not enough, you need that exact amount on any given match day. A far better academy would help, of course.

At the moment we have Dunn, Grella, Santa Cruz and Reid all injury prone, all very likely on good to great wages (in footballer terms). Problem is, how do we sign players good enough to improve the team on our budget without having to look at rehabilitating the injury prone or out of form (another passenger type that we can't afford to carry). Finding gems like Samba for next to nothing is the answer, but is our scouting network up to that?

[incy wincy little spider]

I saw Sam today outside swallow hotel with a player i didnt recognise, he looked like a player who is out on loan but it cant be him surely. He looks quite slim in his rovers trackie, he aint BFS anymore!

[TimmyJimmy]

Basically what we need to do is secure premier league football as soon as we can so we can make decisions on our own players (i.e. new contracts) then get ahead of the game in terms of summer signings, however Roque and his knees could well hold this up.

Make no mistake Sam will favour 4-1-2-2-1 again next season. Make no mistake he wants a big strong striker who is good in the air.

If we are playing premier league football next year then here is my analysis of our current squad:

(bare in mind RSC is not definatly going, due to his knees and limited possible takers thus we will have a definite budget of only around £5million which makes it tricky)

Keepers:

Robinson - not overly convinced me but is ok, if the Espanyol keeper is better and on a free then ship him out - (possible +£3million)

Bunn - good enough to step in if the main man is injured? If he is then keep him and lose Brown, if not then vica versa.

Brown - as above. Surely a youth teamer must be able to step up to 3rd spot??

Defenders:

Simpson - no thanks.

Ooijer - keep.

Samba - good player and key to Sam's style of playing.

Nelsen - has improved under Sam, keep.

Zurab - still think he should be a first team starter, however, the people who see him everyday dont, good back up.

Givet - hopefully can afford to sign for around £1-2m. However if Warnock returns to Left Back, can we afford Givet as well?

Emerton - hopefully will return as good and at right back, problem solved.

Holding midfielders:

Tugay - cant afford him anymore for his limited impact, goodbye.

Mokoena - (based on him being at the lower end of our wage scale) why dont we keep him, does a decent job and never seems to get injured, good back up.

Grella - Sell, sell, sell. Not good enough, cant keep possession and cant hack the premier leagues physical demands. (potential £2m)

Midfielders:

Dunn - one of the best at his job when fit, other than Hughes, Sam is the best man to sort this.

Reid - never really understood the hype when he was really fit, ship him out.

Andrews - (see mokoena)

Pedersen - Barring interest which leads to a £4m+ offer, can we really do any better?

Diouf - Not convinced, wins free kicks, doesnt give the ball away, gives 100%, not much end product.

Treacy - good god, goodbye.

Strikers:

Villanueva - goodbye.

McCarthy - our best striker if he sheds a few stones.

Derbyshire - seek offers around £2m.

RSC - £15m+. goodbye.

Roberts - seek offers around £3m. Doesnt score enough.

There is a potential return of around £25m but would leave us with:

3 keepers - fine

5 defenders - Givet would be 6, still not enough.

1 holding midfielder - mokoena, not good enough to play every week.

3 Centre mid - two of which are Dunn and Reid, the other Andrews - enough said. Gems needed for less than £10m between them. If RSC does not go, god help us here!

3 wide mids - one is treacy, worried!

1 Striker with (RSC gone) around £12m to spend. oh dear.

All in all, it is clear we aren't going to be able to have the clear out we'd like. We have to be realistic and understand that we need to prioritise. If we can get Kameni and ship out Robinson that would bring in surprise funds.

However it is imperative we keep Ooijer and Mokoena, or find similar freebies to replace as we simply cannot afford to do so otherwise.

I am worried already.

Ouch, my jaw just dropped and hit the bar. What are you saying, sell the club cat and we'll have a complete clear out. With our massive transfer budget we could then buy the whole of the Accy Stanley squad and relax, job done.

Looking at what we will have in the bank and what we start with in the squad how could we do better in defence than Robinson, Emerton, Samba, Nelson and Givet with Zurab, Oooijer and Warnock as cover. Star line up in my book.

Midfield - Grella is going to be a top player for us I have no doubt of this, he just needs to get fit for next season, a top player in my book. Peds, OK I see the problems but on balance you have to appreciate the defensive cover work that he puts in plus he draws a lot players around him to mark him out of the game = more room for the rest. Diouf, I don't like the person but the footballer is top class. Dunny, Tugay and the rest are now squad players, sorry but age has caught up, that's just the way it is. Andrews is OK for cover and we hope he grows and grows into something decent. WE NEED TWO NEW SIGNINGS HERE METHINKS.

Strikers - There's really nothing wrong with what we have, we just need to hold on to them and let Sam do his development thing on them. Anyone who can turn Davies into a semi decent striker deserves respect, when I watched him in training at BRFC he was worse than dire. A new fresh face wouldn't go amiss (Nonda where are you). Carlos WILL be a very good player a la Tevez but he needs time to develop and at 4 million I'd like to do it but if funds are tight that's one sacrifice we may have to make, but I hope not.

Conclusion, you have been a bit radical with you surgery. For me, two good midfielders, keep what we have (if poss) and pounce on a new striker if one pops up (if not bring derbs back). Europe here we come.

[herbergeehh]

Any team news available for tomorrow? NICKO?

[DE.]

It might be easier to talk about who you'd like to keep

And I did.

[RevidgeBlue]

I disagree very strongly that we should keep Ooijer and Mokoena. They need to be removed from the wage bill asap imo.

Hopefully we can bring Givet in which would leave him Samba and Nelsen competing for the centre back spots and I would also offload Zurab if poss which should leave enough leeway to bring in a younger defender with Ooijer leaving as well. Bert Samba Givet Warnock looks quite strong as potential first choice for next season.

Upfront I'd be quite happy to get RSC fit and keep him but if he goes we should be able to get a decent replacement with the money. Similarly if Benni can get himself fit I'd be happy to keep him but if we got a big offer again I wouldn't be too upset. Ditto Roberts. Also quite happy to keep Derbs and Gally.

The real disaster area is midfield. God knows where you start there, it's a problem 5 or 6 years and no investment in the making. Fantasy Island time: We get Grella Dunn and Reid fully fit and in form on a long term basis. Not likely to happen though.

[LeChuck]

Bert Samba Givet Warnock looks quite strong as potential first choice for next season.

Who do you plan to be backup for them in that plan?

[RevidgeBlue]

Who do you plan to be backup for them in that plan?

Simpson will presumably be offloaded so cover at RB will presumably be brought in.

Nelsen as cover for one CB spot

New younger CB as cover for other CB spot

Olsson cover at LB

Only my view which probably means nothing like that whatsoever will transpire.