[Archived] Blackburn Rovers Transfer Topic

[Kelbo]

As much as I agree, I think it's fairly clear that Allardyce doesn't think the midfield is a priority. We've got a huge number of bodies for our midfield: Dunn, Grella, Reid, Diouf, Andrews (ugh), Warnock, Emerton, Pederson, Judge, Doran, Gallagher, Olsson. And this summer we've brought in Van Heerden and N'zonzi, as well as the returning Hoilett. If we were to sign anyone else (and we desperately need a playmaker), I expect we would have to ship someone out first. (Looking at that list of names, we really are outrageously weak in the middle of the park.)

I don't need to reiterate that I think Pogrebnyak would be a fantastic signing, however I think he'll cost at least £5m, even with his contract up in November. I can't see how anyone would have reservations about the guy, he's performed exceptionally well in European and international competition.

I've even read some people claiming they're not impressed with Arshavin! Unbelieveable.

Mido would be an absolute horror signing. How many more chances should the guy be allowed?

I have heard tonight that the Russians are asking £10,000,000 for Pog!!!!!!

That may be too much but £7,000,000 would get him and thats cheap as he is far better than Jones etc!

[S15]

The midfield issue is a tough one. On one hand I think we've got so many players that can play there that there MUST be a successful (and hopefully fit) combination in amongst all of them. On the other hand looking at the individual players it looks horribly devoid of creativity and I think it must be our next priority after a striker.

However, regardless of the midfield, we cannot go into the season with only 3 players whose natural position is striker, especially when one is at championship level.

Thing is, all the midfielders, with the exception of Diouf and Emerton (Who is still better at Right back) aren't good enough. This is a big problem for me, but seeing as Sam likes his quarter back tactics I guess it isn't a big problem for him.

[spencey7]

I have heard tonight that the Russians are asking £10,000,000 for Pog!!!!!!

If that's what it takes - pay it. We won't find anyone near as good for that money.

shilito15 - I completely agree with regards to the midfielders. I'm really shocked that we've managed to amass so many completely average players.

[Blue n White Rover]

Thing is, all the midfielders, with the exception of Diouf and Emerton (Who is still better at Right back) aren't good enough. This is a big problem for me, but seeing as Sam likes his quarter back tactics I guess it isn't a big problem for him.

I'd say they are good enough. but they aren't fit enough. When was the last time our manager had Dunn, Reid and Grella to choose from? We know the quality is there as we have seen Dunn and Reid perform very well in midfield, there are question marks over Grella, but time will tell if he is actually good enough.

[The Prof.]

I don't think we're quite in the position to cut our nose to spite our face.

That said, a strike force of Mido, Di Santo, McCarthy and Roberts isn't half-bad. The only problem is, would the money be invested elsewhere? As I posted earlier, it doesn't look likely with the numbers we already have in midfield. And can you see Sam offloading anyone any time soon?

? - It's a shocker, Mido is a wastrel, Di Santo untried and if he does hit the mark he'd be back to Chelsea in a flash, Benni is a year older and a year slower, Roberts can't hit a barn door with a machine gun. A 20 goal a season striker is what we need and that lot won't hit 20 goals between them.

How many games would you get from them - this year I bet all of them together didn't start 40 times.

Anyone any stats?

[S15]

I'd say they are good enough. but they aren't fit enough. When was the last time our manager had Dunn, Reid and Grella to choose from? We know the quality is there as we have seen Dunn and Reid perform very well in midfield, there are question marks over Grella, but time will tell if he is actually good enough.

Dunn, not since 2002. Reid, not since 2006.

You do the math.

[Iceman]

If that's what it takes - pay it. We won't find anyone near as good for that money.

shilito15 - I completely agree with regards to the midfielders. I'm really shocked that we've managed to amass so many completely average players.

Shakes his head in disgust. Soon to be out of contract, and yet you want us to spend 10mill just because we are desperate.

[Blue n White Rover]

Dunn, not since 2002. Reid, not since 2006.

You do the math.

It's more of a matter of fitness than quality. You orignally said in your post that our midfield isn't good enough. I beg to differ, on their day both Dunn and Reid are good players and have an impact on the game. We saw Dunn have that impact in the few games he played last season. It's just a matter of them being able to stay fit for 30+ games, which at this stage, looks impossible.

[Amo]

? - It's a shocker, Mido is a wastrel, Di Santo untried and if he does hit the mark he'd be back to Chelsea in a flash, Benni is a year older and a year slower, Roberts can't hit a barn door with a machine gun. A 20 goal a season striker is what we need and that lot won't hit 20 goals between them.

How many games would you get from them - this year I bet all of them together didn't start 40 times.

Anyone any stats?

Mido has the ability, and could prosper under Sam's man-management.

Di Santo has a lot of potential, and if he does well I don't care when he returns to Chelsea.

McCarthy scored a few last season in a depleted side, starved of service.

Roberts is a handful up front, for all his other misgivings.

[S15]

It's more of a matter of fitness than quality. You orignally said in your post that our midfield isn't good enough. I beg to differ, on their day both Dunn and Reid are good players and have an impact on the game. We saw Dunn have that impact in the few games he played last season. It's just a matter of them being able to stay fit for 30+ games, which at this stage, looks impossible.

The dates I gave were the last time we saw proof that these players are good enough. Last season Dunn didn't have an impact at all, even when playing, and he is literally 20% the player he was before he left. That 20% is not good enough.

Reid has had one good six month spell since signing in 2002. He has spent the rest of the time injured or being crap. Don't forget that, as glossing over the facts is what's seen us amass this largely average yet sizable squad we have.

[Ninjathunder]

Although it scares me to consider him seriously, Mido fits the bill of a Big Sam signing. Overweight, overrated, past it in many people's eyes and cheap. If anyone can get him playing to anywhere near his potential it's Sam. I'll keep repeating that when I wake up in the night in cold sweats.

[DeadlyDirk]

10m would be a rip off due to his contract expiring, but if we take that out of the question I'd pay it and just put it down to us being the victims of bad timing.

10m on Poggy still seems better to me than say 12m on Crouch, 15m on Bent, 10m??? on Davies etc.

The quicker we get him in now the more time he has to work with the squad in pre season.

They probably know that if we don't buy him we'll easily have to pay circa 10m on someone else so are playing hardball.

We need to forget contracts, if he's the best player we can get available then let's just pay it and move on.

If we can find someone better, then great but otherwise I'd be gutted if we let the chance go buy and got someone less talented just because it was a 'better deal'.

Finger crossed your wrong though Kelbo and it's 2m

[AJW]

as far as i see it , we have 5 central midfield players and there are question marks over ALL of them ...grellla dunn reid are they gonna stay fit for a season ? andrews ..is he good enough? n'zonzi ...lets be honest does anyone really know enough about him?

[Iceman]

Although it scares me to consider him seriously, Mido fits the bill of a Big Sam signing. Overweight, overrated, past it in many people's eyes and cheap. If anyone can get him playing to anywhere near his potential it's Sam. I'll keep repeating that when I wake up in the night in cold sweats.

Well its better than hearing people saying we should pay 10mill, for a player out of contract soon. I wont mention names

[S15]

I wouldn't be unpleased with Mido, he's a good age and if got fit enough and happy enough he is better than ANY of our current srikers. Sam has a impressive record with doing this, and he is certainly a better player than Davies, and Davies was in just as bad a state when he joined Sam at Bolton.

[Iceman]

10m would be a rip off due to his contract expiring, but if we take that out of the question I'd pay it and just put it down to us being the victims of bad timing.

10m on Poggy still seems better to me than say 12m on Crouch, 15m on Bent, 10m??? on Davies etc.

The quicker we get him in now the more time he has to work with the squad in pre season.

They probably know that if we don't buy him we'll easily have to pay circa 10m on someone else so are playing hardball.

We need to forget contracts, if he's the best player we can get available then let's just pay it and move on.

If we can find someone better, then great but otherwise I'd be gutted if we let the chance go buy and got someone less talented just because it was a 'better deal'.

Finger crossed your wrong though Kelbo and it's 2m

Tuncay is better than Poggy. I would rather negotiate with Southgate than those Russians. Desperation is on our radar at the moment

[bluefred]

The dates I gave were the last time we saw proof that these players are good enough. Last season Dunn didn't have an impact at all, even when playing, and he is literally 20% the player he was before he left. That 20% is not good enough.

Reid has had one good six month spell since signing in 2002. He has spent the rest of the time injured or being crap. Don't forget that, as glossing over the facts is what's seen us amass this largely average yet sizable squad we have.

i think we defo need new blood in midfield,the above mentioned

players are not upto the job anymore, to help us progress.we need fresh

hungry players and someone who as a bit of creativaty about

them.

[The Prof.]

Mido has the ability, and could prosper under Sam's man-management.

Di Santo has a lot of potential, and if he does well I don't care when he returns to Chelsea.

McCarthy scored a few last season in a depleted side, starved of service.

Roberts is a handful up front, for all his other misgivings.

Well Topman,

If Mido suddenly turned his life around and shocked us all I'd be surprised - can you see him getting 5 goals in the Prem - I can't.

If Di Santo hit say 8 in 10 he'd be going back - you'd care then. i don't see much beyond Drogba and Anelka at Chelsea and they will sulk. If he's succesful - he's back - like a retro virus!

Benni will poach a few alright but 10 max. this year - maybe less.

Roberts won't get double figures. That strikeforce won't hit 25 goals this season and you won't get 40 starts between them.

It's a scary prospect.

[DeadlyDirk]

Tuncay is better than Poggy. I would rather negotiate with Southgate than those Russians. Desperation is on our radar at the moment

You could perhaps argue he's a better allround footballer but he doesn't have the strength and power of Poggy, nor does he score enough goals.

I've said before about Tuncay, although a talented player his best position is probably in the old fashioned italian number 10 role which English teams don't really use.

We need someone to try and get us 15 league goals and I don't think Tuncay would do that.

[madddog]

IMO the midfield arguement is based on one word: "if".

if dunn's fit it'll be pretty good, I've got fate in him. if grella is fit, and good enough - which we haven't seen proof of yet - it'll be good. if diouf stays hot and pedersen returns to the old style it'll be great. if n'zonzi and van herden manages EPL we're good too.

but if it's like the fall, and the spring too really, all we have in the middle of the pitch is andrews basically. that's not good at all.

[Amo]

Well Topman,

If Mido suddenly turned his life around and shocked us all I'd be surprised - can you see him getting 5 goals in the Prem - I can't.

If Di Santo hit say 8 in 10 he'd be going back - you'd care then. i don't see much beyond Drogba and Anelka at Chelsea and they will sulk. If he's succesful - he's back - like a retro virus!

Benni will poach a few alright but 10 max. this year - maybe less.

Roberts won't get double figures. That strikeforce won't hit 25 goals this season and you won't get 40 starts between them.

It's a scary prospect.

We had mid-table form under Sam last season with only Benni, Roberts and Samba up front. And last season we scored more goals than Fulham who qualified for Europe.

[S15]

Well Topman,

If Mido suddenly turned his life around and shocked us all I'd be surprised - can you see him getting 5 goals in the Prem - I can't.

If Di Santo hit say 8 in 10 he'd be going back - you'd care then. i don't see much beyond Drogba and Anelka at Chelsea and they will sulk. If he's succesful - he's back - like a retro virus!

Benni will poach a few alright but 10 max. this year - maybe less.

Roberts won't get double figures. That strikeforce won't hit 25 goals this season and you won't get 40 starts between them.

It's a scary prospect.

You're point about Di Santo is just nonsense, and takes any credibility away from anything you say.

A contract for the season will be drawn up. Do you really thing that :

A. We would enter an agreement which would allow such an event to take place?

B. Chelsea would take a young player out of a team that he's on fire in to stick him in their reserves?

And can I see Mido scoring 5 or more? History suggests so, so of course I can.

[Iceman]

Well Topman,

If Mido suddenly turned his life around and shocked us all I'd be surprised - can you see him getting 5 goals in the Prem - I can't.

If Di Santo hit say 8 in 10 he'd be going back - you'd care then. i don't see much beyond Drogba and Anelka at Chelsea and they will sulk. If he's succesful - he's back - like a retro virus!

Benni will poach a few alright but 10 max. this year - maybe less.

Roberts won't get double figures. That strikeforce won't hit 25 goals this season and you won't get 40 starts between them.

It's a scary prospect.

Well Prof

Benni could suddenly rediscover his 1st season form. Roberts could suddenly or miraculously(sp) beat a keeper in one on ones and we still could sign my Luca Toni all ifs and buts, so yo never know.

[brian_gallagher85]

I don't understand all this talk of having to pay the Russians stupid money for Poggy when he has such a short time left on his contract with them. Granted they may be difficult to deal with but getting a decent amount for him, say £5-7 million would surely be more appealing to them than him leaving for nothing in less than 6 months. I also don't think they'll rip us off too much when you look at the money Arshavin cost, 15million was it and I'm sure he had a lot longer left to run on his deal.

Also, I hope I'm wrong, but I have this naggin feeling that we may being used as bait to try and lure a bigger club into going for him,

[DeadlyDirk]

As for the midfield I think were all in wishful thinking.

He's said time and time again that his first priority is a striker and if that uses all the budget so be it. He also said it doesn't matter how good your buildup play is, if you don't have someone to stick it in the net then you'll struggle, indicating that he doesn't think our buildup play is that bad. (I know many of us disagree and that service to a striker is going to be a problem, but were not the manager.

If we manage to get someone on the cheap say under 5m we might have some money left to strengthen with but anymore and I think it'll be kept to one side to give us some financial safety.

If BFS had made talk more about needing a striker AND a midfielder then I could see it happening but he doesn't seem particulary worried about the midfield and I don't think JW will throw more cash at him after paying out a lot of money for a striker if he suddenly starts wingeing about the midfield.

He's already brought in N'Zonzi, Van Heerden plus got Hoillet back so you'd argue he's had the chance to strengthen it otherwise surely JW will be questioning why he added these players to the wage bill.

JW has already commented that Reid and Dunn will be offered new deals, Andrews has just signed one while Grella and N'Zonzi are Sam's signings without even adding the likes of Emerton and Warnock to those 5. There's no sign of any midfielders leaving so it's hardly likely any are going to be coming in.

Were not the kind of club who can afford to have people on 20-30k a week not even making the bench.

It's not great news because I agree that our center midfield isn't good enough at the moment but when you take into account the players that we have who aren't going anywhere I think it's a case of getting a striker in and then anything else will depend upon a deal coming up that you can't refuse.