[Archived] Sam's January Targets

[modes98]

Save the 2.5 million and spend 6 on a striker in the summer.

I like that interest rate, who are we saving with because I want one of those accounts!

One point though...

To the guy who said £6,000,000 on a striker in Summer, are you serious?

One point....

We spent £6m on Kalinic last summer

[waggy]

SO MUCH FOR LARDARSE SAYING BENNI WAS NOT LEAVING TILL A REPLACEMENT WAS FOUND,ANOTHER LIE

[PAFELL]

You brought in Linganzi, who is not expected to play immediately, and Basturk, who has not been playing reguarly for a couple of years or so.

You needed a class midfield operator...your choice is virtually the same as it was in the first half of the season.

The kid Nzonzi is a find but is being asked to play too much, you had Emerton and Pedersen in central midfield too often recently and the options are Andrews, Diouf and the rarely-fit Andrews and Grella. I count Dunny as a 'support striker' these days.

I don't even consider Treacy in any equation.

I think it has been accepted that Pedersen is playing better in central midfield - so his move there is like a signing in some ways. Also Ollson is doing well on the left midfield. Emerton has a decnt engine, just cannot cross a ball. So maybe the centre is the best place for him. He can also play right back.

[BPF]

I like that interest rate, who are we saving with because I want one of those accounts!

One point....

We spent £6m on Kalinic last summer

After we got 18m for Santa Cruz?

So on the same math...

We have £666,666 to spend on a striker this Summer.

Scary number...we might as well sell our soul to the devil....

[gumboots]

Ah, no probs.

It is a subject that goes beyond this messageboard. It's not just a few miserable gits on here that are annoyed.

The LT has had over 160 posts on yesterdays transfer dealings.

LT comments.

Thing is, we're all annoyed but it doesn't do any good to just say we should have looked further afield as there are plenty of strikers out there. No doubt there are but there are also work permit issues if you look at South America or outside the eu generally. There are also language issues, settling in issues etc. We needed someone who could hit the ground running and i suspect that's why we were looking at the 3 we were supposedly looking at. They would not have needed to settle in, language would not have been a problem etc. If you bring in a player with minimal english early in summer he has time to settle and start getting to grips with the language, time to get his family settled and get to know the rest of the team in preseason. At this time he would not be able to do that as easily. I'm not happy with what we've got and can see that we are stacking up longer term problems for ourselves if we do not address the problems soon, but for now we have what we have and will just have to hope that longterm injuries don't hit us.

[Gav]

Like we were guaranteed that Niko would work out well - for £6m? Moses or Beckford for £2.5m or so would both have been well worth a punt.

Both Moses and Beckford are simply not rated Mark.

[waggy]

Both Moses and Beckford are simply not rated Mark.

by you and den

[magicalmortensleftpeg]

Beckford and Moses are gambles we didnt need to take. The squad we have at the moment got us into the top half and should be able to continue there especially when you consider that Sam is now playing Kalinic regularly.

We do need a creative midfield demon but there arent many of those about.

Benni leaving does have an impact but not a big one. He was a bit part player in the first half of the season and now that Kalinic is getting a run its not like he would have played more often. Ideally this window could have gone better, but it could have gone much worse.

If we were in the relegation zone then i think some of the flak Sam has been getting would have been justified, but we're not. We're safely in midtable and have a squad which is good enough to keep us there.

Its far too early to speculate about transfer funds for the summer and will be until we know where we finish. Sam's done well with the money he's been given so far with the likes of Kalinic/Chimbonda/Givet being our costliest purchases, so Im confident that given the funds, he will find what we need.

[unluckymorton]

by you and den

It's not GAV and den who make the decisions, it's professional football clubs, THATS who doesn't seem to rate Moses & Beckford.

A colleague of mine is a ST holder at Elland, he say's Beckford would be out of his depth in the top flight. He say's Beckford get's lots and lots of service in League 1 against inferior defences and terrible keepers. That's why he looks a decent player.

[Wing Wizard Windy Miller]

One point....

We spent £6m on Kalinic last summer

....and who can we sell for £17 million this time to fund our £6 million signing?

[TimmyJimmy]

Such a lot of heat being generated by so little fire.

The only players available in any January window are either useless has-beens, total non-performers or bad eggs. Meaningful purchases only happen in close season when the balance and makeup of the squad can be properly assessed. IMO only the desperate buy so called big name players in January, if they were that good then they wouldn't be for sale would they, if the purchasing club weren't desperate they would be stumping up the cash - which for every non top 6 club is at critical levels. These are survival purchases - a Hail Mary.

Thank G*d we didn't get Dindane or Benjani, we would have been three games into the rest of the season before many on here would have been screaming for their blood because of useless performances or injuries, and of course Sam would have been to blame for the panic buying. Beattie I could have lived with as he would have added something short term, but at his age his cost per game would have been pretty expensive. Bullets dodged all three.

Not long ago we were all saying that the problem area was MIDFIELD ! Blind men on galloping horses we said could see this. So we buy a couple of midfielders in the window and now all of a sudden that was wrong choice, we needed attackers. Really? If we'd bought a striker we would have had to have played him. Given we are only going one up front would we have been happy if Nico was left out or that Di Santo couldn't get a sniff?

Benni was a rotten egg and he was having a big negative effect on the changing room. Simply getting rid has improved the squad no end. Saying he couldn't sign until we found a replacement pushed WHAM right up against the deadline and ensured we got our asking price. Saying the club is unprofessional is non-sensical (to me at any rate). We have one of the best in charge in JW, I wouldn't want anyone else, I trust him.

Sam's going to bring in good young upcoming players at leisure when the timing suits him not the 'I want it all, I want now' brigade.

We are in good'ish shape points wise with improving player performances, players coming back from injury, and we have winnable games in the offing. Keeping our powder dry until close season is a good call (IMO).

[waggy]

It's not GAV and den who make the decisions, it's professional football clubs, THATS who doesn't seem to rate Moses & Beckford.

A colleague of mine is a ST holder at Elland, he say's Beckford would be out of his depth in the top flight. He say's Beckford get's lots and lots of service in League 1 against inferior defences and terrible keepers. That's why he looks a decent player.

well i've seen beckford twice v man u and spurs and he looks better than any of our forwards

[unluckymorton]

well i've seen beckford twice v man u and spurs and he looks better than any of our forwards

I'm glad Big Sam doesn't think like you, sign a player after 3 average cup appearances.

They were cup finals to him pal. He didn't even look that good in those games so as far as I'm concerned your a bad judge of player.

If you got off you lardarse and actually went to Ewood and watched Kalinic & Junior you'd see what exciting prospects they are against top flight teams week in week out.

[LeChuck]

Moses or Beckford for £2.5m or so would both have been well worth a punt.

Leeds said it would take silly money for them to sell him this transfer window, other teams offered £2 million so I doubt that extra £500k would have made any difference. He's not PL material anyway.

Moses...not really a striker, more of a right winger. I'm not sure who's responsible for over-hyping this lad, but he's a long way from being a regular Premier League player. Might come good in the future but he is a gamble.

[unluckymorton]

Leeds said it would take silly money for them to sell him this transfer window, other teams offered £2 million so I doubt that extra £500k would have made any difference. He's not PL material anyway.

Moses...not really a striker, more of a right winger. I'm not sure who's responsible for over-hyping this lad, but he's a long way from being a regular Premier League player. Might come good in the future but he is a gamble.

Tony Finnegan has been touting Moses for the last 12 months. A young forward going for £2m to another Championship club say's it all. If he had real promise he'd be at Chelsea, Man Utd or Man City as soon as he became available.

....and who can we sell for £17 million this time to fund our £6 million signing?

DOOOOOM!!!!

[Gav]

by you and den

Don’t you start arguing with me

Only 1 premiership manager went for Moses, that tells its own story.

[den]

by you and den

I don't remember seeing him Waggy.

My point at the time was that for such a talent [as many were telling us] there was virtually no interest from PL clubs. That's all.

That's all Gav was saying as well.

[booth]

well i've seen beckford twice v man u and spurs and he looks better than any of our forwards

Come on, Kalanic is looking brilliant these days. Is it his fault that he's stuck up front on his own? When he's supported by his team mates he scores goals.

I doubt very much Beckford could do a better job in that role.

[BRFCBOY]

could just imagine the uproar on here if it was ince going for a league one star

[thenodrog]

Anyway, time to move on. As someone else said earlier, come summer we will have only two strikers at the club. It appears from the latest statement from JW on the accounts document, that we should be back to a trading club by then. So where do we find the cash for two strikers, maybe a left winger and/or midfielder or two?

Worrying.

1. We negotiate with new players about to come out of contract thus negating actual transfer fees.

2. We follow the plan that SA laid out for a smaller squad. Instead of having a straight replacement for every position we continue to look for players like Givet, Samba, Emerton, Chimbonda, MGP etc who can easily play in more than one position. That way squad numbers and wages can be reduced. Obviously key positions like keeper and centre forward don't really enter into this equation.

3. We pay big wages to the best players but much smaller wages to the ones that we can readily replace. e.g. it'd be tough to replace Samba and Hoillett but much easier to replace the likes of Andrews / Reid / Roberts. I'm sure that we could replace the last 3 out of the Championship without too much difficulty.

at the end of the day, the money we got for Benni will disappear like all the other money has. Next season we will hear, we dont have money to spend on new players, and that Sam will have to look in the gutter for freebies.

Point being that like Mark Hughes it's what he does best.

[thenodrog]

SO MUCH FOR LARDARSE SAYING BENNI WAS NOT LEAVING TILL A REPLACEMENT WAS FOUND,ANOTHER LIE

OK Mardarse ........ How would you have dealt with a 32 year old player, who had had 2m bid by another club who were obviously pulling his strings, a few days before the transfer deadline and who went on strike very publically after you had made that statement?

Have you never stashed at cards when you have been dealt a weak hand?

well i've seen beckford twice v man u and spurs and he looks better than any of our forwards

He looked nothing special to me at all.

[den]

He looked nothing special to me at all.

I was sceptical about him Gord, but like Waggy, I was very impressed with him, especially at White Hart Lane. He looked quick and could hit a ball. Which is a combination that none of our strikers has demonstrated yet.

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

Such a lot of heat being generated by so little fire.

The only players available in any January window are either useless has-beens, total non-performers or bad eggs. Meaningful purchases only happen in close season when the balance and makeup of the squad can be properly assessed. IMO only the desperate buy so called big name players in January, if they were that good then they wouldn't be for sale would they, if the purchasing club weren't desperate they would be stumping up the cash - which for every non top 6 club is at critical levels. These are survival purchases - a Hail Mary.

Thank G*d we didn't get Dindane or Benjani, we would have been three games into the rest of the season before many on here would have been screaming for their blood because of useless performances or injuries, and of course Sam would have been to blame for the panic buying. Beattie I could have lived with as he would have added something short term, but at his age his cost per game would have been pretty expensive. Bullets dodged all three.

Not long ago we were all saying that the problem area was MIDFIELD ! Blind men on galloping horses we said could see this. So we buy a couple of midfielders in the window and now all of a sudden that was wrong choice, we needed attackers. Really? If we'd bought a striker we would have had to have played him. Given we are only going one up front would we have been happy if Nico was left out or that Di Santo couldn't get a sniff?

Benni was a rotten egg and he was having a big negative effect on the changing room. Simply getting rid has improved the squad no end. Saying he couldn't sign until we found a replacement pushed WHAM right up against the deadline and ensured we got our asking price. Saying the club is unprofessional is non-sensical (to me at any rate). We have one of the best in charge in JW, I wouldn't want anyone else, I trust him.

Sam's going to bring in good young upcoming players at leisure when the timing suits him not the 'I want it all, I want now' brigade.

We are in good'ish shape points wise with improving player performances, players coming back from injury, and we have winnable games in the offing. Keeping our powder dry until close season is a good call (IMO).

This post is spot on.

A couple of things to add :-

1. Dunny signed a new contract during the window - from what he said the contract is appearance based... hmmm maybe JW does know what he is doing.

2. Don't buy into this "we are safe" rubbish that some people have been talking about. We have an absolutely awful run in - if we don't make ourselves safe over the next few matches, we could be in real trouble.

[booth]

That was spot on

[bluebruce]

1. Dunny signed a new contract during the window - from what he said the contract is appearance based... hmmm maybe JW does know what he is doing.

I never saw any comments that suggested this, where did you? I hope it's true!